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“I need to get this little girl home,” Emily said, backing out of the apartment.
Cal followed her, then looked back at the teens. “If you have any questions…”
“Thanks, Doctor,” Patty said. “I really appreciate you looking at him.”
“You’re welcome.”
He followed Emily into her apartment next door. As she bent over to pick up a toy, his attention was drawn to her shapely body. In her sleeveless, white-cotton sundress and matching low-heeled sandals, she looked like an angel. Although there was just enough wickedness in her windblown dark hair to speed up his heart. The wispy silky strands around her face reminded him of all the times he’d run his hands through it while loving her. Something tightened low and deep in his gut, and his hands ached to pull her against him, just like old times. Then he got a good look at the expression on her face.
“What are you doing here?” she asked again. “And we both know this neighborhood isn’t your usual stomping grounds.”
“I stopped by to see Annie.” Mostly.
She set their daughter on the floor. “It would have been nice if you’d called first.”
It would have if he’d actually planned ahead for this. “I’ll keep that in mind.”
As if registering her protest was enough, the indignation seemed to drain out of her. “Thanks for taking a look at Henry.”
“No problem.”
“The girls are barely getting by on welfare, food stamps and small subsidies from a children’s foundation. Without Helping Hands, they’d probably be in a women’s shelter. If they were lucky. The street is the only other option.” A dark look slid into her eyes. “So you can see that private medical insurance isn’t in the budget.”
“They told me.”
“And there’s not enough money to pay for an office visit.”
“Where are the kids’ fathers?” Cal asked.
“Lucy hasn’t seen Oscar’s dad since telling him about the pregnancy. Her parents kicked her out when she broke the news to them.” The disapproval on her face and contempt in her voice said loud and clear what she thought about that. “Henry’s dad, Jonas Blackford, is making minimum wage working for one of the local hotels and he’s taking college classes. An education is the only way to get ahead and make a better life for his son. Financially he does what he can and stops by to see the boy every day. They’re not married, but doing their best to raise Henry together. You have to respect that.”
Did he? When you made a mistake, you tried to do the right thing. That’s the way his parents had raised him. Annie was watching him while she chewed on the yellow plastic key that was hooked to a red, blue and green one. She took it out of her mouth and banged it several times, blinking as if she’d surprised herself. Then she threw them down and crawled over to where he and Em were talking, the first time she’d voluntarily come this close to him. Although from what he’d seen she had no problem with the teens next door. The baby put a hand on her mother’s dress and pulled herself to a standing position while staring up at him.
“So,” he said, “Annie seems pretty comfortable with Lucy.”
“Patty, too. She’s over there all the time. They watch her for me if I have to run to the store, or I get an unexpected call to work and haven’t lined up child care.”
“I could help with that.”
“You have to work, too,” she pointed out. “But I appreciate the offer.”
He smiled at Annie who was blinking up at him and out of the blue, she returned his smile. A big, warm feeling swelled inside him, followed by a free fall into never-ending tenderness. And a sensation of wanting to keep her safe from anything and everything that could hurt her.
“You know Henry’s probably contagious,” he said.
“Poor baby.” She sighed. “Yeah, I know.”
“Annie should keep her distance.”
“Of course. But it’s hard.” She reached a hand down to steady the little girl, then eased her to a sitting position. “She loves those little boys. The three of them are like siblings.”
And like a lot of what was going on lately he wasn’t sure how he felt about that. An instant later words came out of his mouth before he could think them through or stop them.
“You and Annie should move in with me.”
Chapter Four
Emily stared at Cal for several moments. “I must be more tired than I realized. You’ll never guess what I thought you just said.”
“You heard right. It’s a good idea for you and Annie to move into my house.”
Once upon a time she’d have given anything to hear those words, but now they just gave her a bad feeling. “Why?”
“I know what you’re thinking.”
“Which is?” she asked.
He looked down at their daughter, clinging to her skirt. “That this is just because of Annie.”
“That’s not even close,” she told him. “But now that you mention it…”
“It’s a big house.”
She picked Annie up and balanced her on a hip, then went to the kitchen to get her some water. After settling her on the floor with an assortment of toys, she moved closer to Cal and looked up.
“I remember exactly how big your place is. I’ve been there. Maybe you forgot.”
“Hardly.” Heat flashed through his eyes for just a moment, a sign that he hadn’t forgotten the way they’d burned up the sheets. “But you told me once that it’s a pretty big place for one person.”
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