The Doctor's Daughter

“You’re a friend of my mom’s. And you know her from a long time ago, so I just thought you might be my dad, that’s all,” Robert said evenly. He sighed and glanced up at her. She knew her face must be beet red.

“We’ll talk about this later, honey,” she said softly, about ready to die of embarrassment. Oh, Robert, why did you have to bring this up now? All she’d told her son about his father—and until now she’d seen little interest in the subject—was that he lived far, far away. Maybe Robert thought Glory qualified.

As though he knew intuitively that his question had unsettled the grown-ups, Robert went on, to Virginia’s dismay, “It’s just that I know I have a dad,” he said solemnly, looking up at Lucas again. “Everybody has a dad, right?” Lucas nodded and smiled encouragingly at the boy. “It’s just that I don’t know who he is.”

Robert folded his hands in his lap and looked straight ahead. Virginia met Lucas’s gaze again. He winked. “It’s okay, you know,” he said quietly. “I can handle tough questions. I’m a lawyer, remember?”

His remark, making light of Robert’s query, made her feel a bit better. Next thing she knew, Lucas pointed out one of the hydraulic pumpers that dotted the landscape and was explaining to Robert how it brought oil out of the ground.

Later at the department store, while Robert tried out some of the BarcaLoungers, Virginia tried to explain. “Look, I’m really, really sorry—” she began.

“Hey!” Lucas put one hand on her shoulder in a casual gesture and squeezed gently. “It’s no big deal. I can understand where the kid’s coming from. He’s just curious, that’s all.”

She looked into his dark eyes, waited a moment or two, then blurted out, “You wonder what the hell’s going on, don’t you?”

“Not really.” Lucas shrugged. “It’s none of my business, and to tell you the truth, who really cares? Except Robert, that is. It’s your business.”

“I’m not married. I’ve never been married. Robert was... well, he was an accident, I suppose you could say.” She stared defiantly at Lucas, daring him to comment. He said nothing. “I’m a single mother. I’ve always been a single mother.”

“I understand,” he said. “You don’t need to give me any explanations. These things happen.” He shrugged again. “Let’s go see the bunk beds, shall we?”

He steered her in the direction of the bedroom furniture, and Robert hopped off the BarcaLounger and followed them. “Oh boy! Bunk beds.”

Virginia bought a maple model with drawers under the lower unit and headboards that had space for a row of books. Two mattresses and a child-size wooden ladder completed the purchase. Lucas sought her advice on some leather upholstered furniture, then ordered a sofa and chair in dark green, to be delivered on Saturday. She wasn’t crazy about them and he said neither was he, but they’d do for his den. He also took Robert’s advice and bought a white-lacquered single bed frame, mattress and matching dresser the boy thought suitable for a girl.

Lucas murmured to Virginia that it was a little fussier than he remembered his niece being, but ordered it, anyway. Virginia was warmed from the inside out that Lucas took Robert’s opinion seriously. Robert had had very few men in his short life. Virginia had been so focused on work and on her son that she hadn’t had time to develop relationships with men. Not that, after her horrific experience with Johnny Gagnon, she’d had any desire to.

The department-store employees loaded Robert’s bunk-bed frame and mattresses into the back of Lucas’s pickup. Their delivery van would bring the leather sofa and chair, as well as Tammy’s new furniture on Saturday. Virginia settled on the passenger side for the return trip, wondering what questions her son would come up with on the way back.

Robert was quiet, paying attention to the landmarks Lucas pointed out, responding in his usual sober manner. Sometimes Virginia wasn’t sure what to think about her small, serious son. She hoped this move to Glory meant he’d finally be able to make some real friends. He spent far too much time with his video games and watching television, in her opinion. Kindergarten would be a big change in his life. They’d moved so often that it had been hard for Robert to establish the kinds of relationships that meant birthday-party invitations and afternoon play sessions with friends. When she’d worked in Red Deer, she’d placed him in a licensed day care, but Robert had become so withdrawn and miserable that she’d taken him out and gone back to relying on baby-sitters, as she’d done when he was a baby.

That was something else she’d have to think about—after-school care. Her experience working with lawyers had shown her that the hours could be erratic. She’d have to find someone reliable to pick Robert up from school and stay with him until she got home from work. Maybe Lucas could give her some leads.

She bit her lower lip and glanced sideways. She’d already presumed on her former acquaintance with Lucas far too much. Besides, what would he know about child care or baby-sitters? His niece, Tammy, was arriving Sunday and he’d find out soon enough how much was involved in looking after children.

Lucas dropped her and Robert off at her parents’ house at the top of the hill, insisting that he’d get a friend to help him unload the bunk beds at his old apartment. After that, he said, he’d have his hands full getting settled into his new place. He seemed about to add something else—had he been going to ask her to help?—but apparently thought better of it. She was amazed to realize she felt let down that he didn’t ask. It would’ve been fun helping him arrange his furniture, and a way to pay him back a little for the outing they’d had today.

Robert wanted to in the hammock that hung between two huge linden trees at the back of the Lake property, so Virginia went in through the kitchen door. She heard murmurs from the sitting room when she entered the house. Her mother must have company.

She’d paused to open the refrigerator door to inspect the contents for a cold drink when she heard the raised voice of her aunt Lily beyond the swinging doors of the kitchen.

“But, Doris, you have to insist she tell you who the boy’s father is. I know Virginia’s headstrong—she’s always been a handful—and I realize what you and Jethro have had to put up with over the years, but don’t you see? People are already asking. What am I supposed to tell them? That no one knows?”

She heard her mother’s soft, fretful reply and suddenly Virginia lost her thirst. She shut the refrigerator door quietly and went up the back stairs to the room she and Robert were sharing.

Busybodies. All of them. Especially Aunt Lily. What if Robert had overheard that remark? Virginia felt her face flush. They made her so mad. What business was it of theirs? What was it about small towns that made everyone so dam nosy? It’d been like that when she was a girl here, and apparently nothing had changed.

Had she expected it would have changed?

No. Lucas had said, “Who really cares, except Robert?” Maybe Lucas believed that. But Glory was the same as it had always been. She was sure unmarried pregnant girls were still said to have gone to the city to take a hairdressing course, or gone to stay with a distant aunt to go to school.

Some things never changed. But she had. And the town of Glory would realize that soon enough.

CHAPTER FIVE

LUCAS STEPPED OVER a cardboard box and nodded to one of Gus McCready’s employees, who was just clearing up the last of the paint, brushes, rollers and drop cloths, ready to leave after a week spent painting the place. Another employee had already carried ladders to the van.

The house looked terrific. Lucas took a deep breath, noting the pungent fumes of the last coat of cream semigloss that had been applied to the woodwork. The walls were a soft sage green throughout, with a deep mustard for his study on the main floor, room that had once served as a bedroom for the Murphy family. The kitchen walls had been painted a soft butterscotch color with the kitchen cupboards, doors and framework all done in the same cream color as the woodwork in the rest of the house. The Portuguese tile countertop and black-and-white-checkered vinyl floor were new and shining.

Lucas had always been drawn to color. He wasn’t sure if it was his native ancestry or just a personal preference, but color always made him feel good, and he wanted to feel good in this big Second Avenue house he’d bought. This was home now.

Lucas made his way up the broad staircase. He’d had the hardwood floors refinished on both levels, and the deep walnut tones gleamed in the latemorning sunlight. Upstairs, the four bedrooms were all painted in an off-white, except for his, which was a restful but rich café au lait, again with the cream woodwork. A small Oriental carpet added a touch of luxury. He was glad he’d bought the bedroom furniture at an auction when he’d first moved to Glory and kept it in storage while he lived at Mrs. Vandenbroek’s. Now, polished and sturdy, the old-Ontario armoire and dresser and chest of drawers fit into the room perfectly. The matching double bed was going into one of the bedrooms, which he planned to use as a guest room. Antique or not, Lucas had no intention of squeezing his six-foot-three frame into an old-fashioned double bed. A king-size model was coming this afternoon, along with the other furniture he’d ordered from Cooper’s.

Lucas strode into the en suite bathroom, which one of McCready’s crews had converted from a small bedroom or sewing room. Now the room was ready, complete with modern fixtures and ceramic tiles. Lucas felt something he’d never really felt before as he looked over his new home. Pride. Pride of ownership.

The house was too big for one person, no question. It had been the Murphy-family home for three generations. A lot of kids had grown up here, slid down the banisters, played in the attic, swung from the trees in the backyard.

Tammy would be here for a while, until Theresa was ready to take her back again. Who knew when that might be? Maybe he’d hire a housekeeper who could do the cooking and cleaning for him and his niece. And maybe one day he’d fill this house with his own children. It was a house that ached for family life. Lucas had enjoyed bachelorhood, but from time to time he felt that he should make a change. Get married. Settle down.

Somehow, Virginia Lake’s coming home to Glory had put the idea right back in his head.

That reminded him—he glanced at his watch—he’d promised her he’d put Robert’s bunk beds together after lunch. There wasn’t much to do, just fasten a few screws and do some assembly work on the ladder and headboards. He was happy to offer and even happier when she accepted. Her father could have done it or she could easily have done it herself if she’d borrowed a few of her dad’s tools, but he had the feeling Virginia didn’t get on too well with her folks. She seemed awfully anxious to move into his old apartment and get settled in with her son.

Lucas could see a person not getting on all that well with Doc Lake. He had to be close to retirement age, in his midsixties, but was still head of surgery at the Glory Memorial Hospital. He was tall, lean and iron-haired, and was said to have an uncompromising personality. Definitely he had a certain unassailable position in this town, as a senior doctor often did, regardless of his temper. Lucas had to admit his memories weren’t the best. Doc Lake had done all he could to blacken Lucas’s name around Glory when word had spread that he and Virginia had spent the night together after her graduation. It didn’t matter that his own daughter had told him nothing had happened or that Lucas had gone to his office and told him the same thing.

And even if something beyond a little moonwatching and stargazing and kissing had gone on, so what? It wasn’t as though the doctor’s daughter was the town virgin. Everyone knew how she’d carried on with Johnny Gagnon, and it wasn’t as though Lucas was from a part of town any worse than the Gagnon clan’s. Frankly it had irked the hell out of Lucas at the time, the doc’s attitude, considering Lucas had been well on his way to making something of himself.

Maybe some things were too hard to change—like a person’s skin color and the preconceived ideas of a small-town elite.

Well, those days were past, Lucas thought, whistling as he climbed into his pickup for the short ride over to Virginia’s new apartment. Now the town fathers were more than happy to have him date their daughters. Lucas didn’t harbor any grudges. He was too confident in his own abilities. But he had to admit he did enjoy their shocked expressions when he showed up in his BMW—ten years old but in perfect shape—with a big smile on his face and flowers for their womenfolk.

Virginia was at the apartment cleaning windows. She answered the door to his light knock—it seemed odd to be knocking at what still felt like his own door—dressed in shorts and a stained T-shirt, her hair tied back in a kerchief, her nose smudged with grime, her freckles vivid against her pale skin. She looked like a fairy-tale cleaning lady. Cinderella. He glanced down. Canvas sneakers. No glass slippers for this Cinderella—yet.

“Hey, didn’t think I’d catch you here,” he said, taking off his own sneakers at the kitchen door. He could smell fresh floor wax. “I’ll have Robert’s bed fixed in a jiffy.”

“I thought I’d give the place a final going-over before we moved the rest of the stuff in,” she said almost apologetically. “Robert’s over at Mother’s.” She smiled, a delightful expression that made him want to bend forward and kiss the end of her nose. “He wanted to help, but I thought I’d rather do this myself. Take half the time. Besides, I think it’s good that he’s getting to know my parents better.”

“I’ve got a couple tools with me,” Lucas said, walking toward the bedroom where he’d unloaded the bunk beds, still encased in their packing plastic. “A screwdriver and wrench.” He patted his back pockets. “If I need anything else, there’s a toolbox down in the truck. Don’t let me interrupt whatever you’re doing.”

“Okay,” Virginia said a little uncertainly, still holding her cleaning cloth. “I’ll make us some tea in a bit. Do you drink tea?”

“Sure.” Lucas started stripping the heavy plastic from the furniture. Sometimes he had a hard time seeing the assertive, act-now-ask-later girl he’d known in this rather tentative woman. Yet there was something appealing about her vulnerability, something that upped the ante on the protective, tender feelings he already had toward her. And he was certain he glimpsed the determination that lay under that quiet manner. Somehow he didn’t think Virginia Lake gave any more quarter now than she had then.

Assembling the bunk beds, he watched her from the corner of his eye. She had a serious look on her face as she attacked every glass surface with her cloth. She polished the windows in the living room, then went to work on the kitchen window, a little out of his line of sight. Which was just as well. It was a hot August day, but watching Virginia Lake in her cutoffs and skimpy T-shirt made the day a little hotter.

They worked quietly for a while and Lucas was just tightening the last screw on the headboard when Virginia came into the room with a tray containing two mugs and some store-bought cookies.

“You take milk or sugar?” she asked.

“Just plain.” He tossed down his wrench and she offered him a mug.

“Thanks. Listen, why don’t you help me lift this bed on top of the other one before we have our tea and then we’ll have more room and an idea of what this is going to look like,” Lucas said. He took the tray from her and set it down behind the door, where it was out of the way.

“Great.” Virginia seemed pleased. She grabbed the footboard while he went around to the headboard.

“Now,” Lucas began, “you just steady that end while I lift. I’ll help you with your end when I get this post onto the other one.”

In two or three minutes the job was done, and Virginia’s face broke into a delighted grin. She looked about sixteen.

“Wait until Robert sees this,” she said. “He’s going to be thrilled! I think it should go against this wall, don’t you?” She indicated the north wall. “I don’t want him falling out the window.”

“Good spot for it,” Lucas agreed. “We’ll move it after our tea.” He picked up the tray and sank onto the floor beside the bed, legs crossed. They still had the mattresses to unpack and hoist onto the frame. As Virginia knelt on the floor opposite him, Lucas handed her a mug. “Robert’s never had his own room before?”

Virginia frowned. She took a sip of the hot drink. “I hadn’t really thought it was important to him, but everywhere we’ve lived, we’ve either shared a room or sometimes he’s had a sitter who stayed with us. When he was a baby we had a live-in sitter for a while.”

“Sounds like he’s looking forward to having friends over, that kind of stuff,” Lucas said casually. He took a swallow of his own tea. Virginia’s past life was of enormous interest to him, but he didn’t want to push her. He didn’t want to appear to be fishing for information. And none of it mattered, anyway. Not really. Curiosity aside, the only thing that mattered was that she was here in Glory.

“Cookie?” Virginia extended the plate to him and he took one.

“Thanks.”

For a few minutes they sat in silence, but it was a companionable silence. Lucas wondered what she was thinking about—beyond where to position the furniture and what kind of curtains to hang, if she intended to replace the rather grim vinyl blinds Mrs. Vandenbroek had installed. His own mind wandered a little, to a difficult property case he was working on, and to whether or not he’d written Tammy’s flight number in his day book—

“I want to thank you so very, very much, Lucas, for all the help you’ve been to me and my son since we arrived here.” Virginia’s voice interrupting his thoughts was low and urgent. She held her empty mug in one hand, and her eyes were troubled. “It was a huge thing for me to come back to Glory—I guess you know that. I only hope I’ve made the right decision. I’m determined to stay, no matter what happens—”

“Hey, Virginia.” Lucas held her gaze and felt something start to hum and burn inside his chest. She had this effect on him; she’d always had this effect on him.

“What could happen?” he asked quietly. Maybe it was time he told her he had no intention of being just a friend.

“I mean it. You’ve been terrific. And...and I really appreciate it. It’s meant a lot to us, especially since things aren’t always the way I’d like them to be with Mother and Father.” She paused and bit her lower lip.

Lucas had noticed that she always referred to her parents rather formally. It seemed odd, since everyone in town had always known how much Doc and Doris Lake had doted on their only child.

Lucas wanted to reach out and touch her. Suddenly he did. He leaned forward and placed both his hands on her shoulders and began to massage. She looked surprised momentarily, then relaxed into the pressure of his hands, as though her shoulders or her neck were tense and tight. Lucas continued to massage softly. “Listen, Virginia, I’m happy to be a good friend to you. But that’s not all I want to be.”

Their eyes, only ten or twelve inches apart, held. “Do you realize that?” he asked. “It’s way too early to kiss you, but that’s what I’d like to do.” His voice sounded hoarse even to his own ears. “I’ve been crazy about you ever since we were kids and I only had the one chance to show it. Your graduation. And we both know what happened then.”

He grimaced, expecting an answering smile, but she stared at him steadily, her eyes huge.

“You’re working for Pete Horsfall,” he went on quietly, “not me. I mean, you’re working with me, not for me. Do you understand? I’m giving you due notice of the way I feel about you. I owe you that. When we’re at work, I’m a hundred percent professional. You can count on that. But when we’re not at work—” he studied her eyes, noticed that her lips trembled ever so slightly “—I intend to court you. Seriously. Very, very seriously.”

He stopped massaging her shoulders and drew her a little closer. “Consider yourself warned, Virginia Lake. Unless you tell me that it’s right out of the question for you. That there’s no chance at all for me. For us.”

There was a moment or two of strained silence. Then, “S-seriously?” Her voice was very faint.

“Damn seriously.”

“Oh, Lucas...then kiss me. Please.”

He didn’t need a second invitation. He pulled her into his arms. Her trembling stopped and she met his kiss with her own, warm and soft and tentative. He shivered. It was way, way too early for this. What the hell was he doing? She was vulnerable, she was new in town, and she was hurting in some way he couldn’t begin to imagine.

Still, he’d made his intentions clear. Which was what he’d planned all along. Virginia moaned and he brought her even closer.

Well. He’d asked. And it didn’t look as though the doctor’s daughter was completely against the idea.

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