Fortune's Fresh Start

His mouth quirked into a sexy half grin. “I appreciate—”

Suddenly, a woman burst into the lobby, clutching her very round belly. “Help me!” she cried. “I think I’m in labor.”

“Get a gurney,” Dr. Green shouted, elbowing his way through the crowd.

Becky took an instinctive step forward. Panic was clear on the woman’s delicate features, and Becky understood that panic could accompany childbirth. But she couldn’t leave her girls unattended.

Dr. Green straightened, his gaze searching the crowd until it alighted on her. “Becky, I need you,” he called across the lobby.

She nodded and turned to Callum.

“I’ve got the girls,” he told her without missing a beat. “Go.”

She worked to calm her racing heart as adrenaline pumped through her. “Are you sure?”

She gave each of the girls a quick kiss and the assurance that Mommy would be back soon, then hurried toward the first patient in her new job.

“They’re safe with me,” he assured her, and although she’d just met Callum Fortune, she didn’t doubt him for a moment.

Chapter Two

“Who knew Callum was such a spectacular nanny?” Steven asked an hour later, chuckling at his own joke.

Callum fought the urge to give his older stepbrother and business partner the one-fingered salute. Two adorable toddlers watched him from where they sat on a blanket he’d spread out in the pediatric center’s lobby, so he wasn’t about to model that kind of behavior.

The ribbon-cutting attendees had long since departed, the celebration cut short by the arrival of the pregnant stranger. Neither Parker Green nor the girls’ mother had made an appearance again, and he wondered at the fate of the soon-to-be mom and her baby.

“We all know Callum is amazing with babies and children,” Marci told Steven. “I’m not sure what I would have done without him when you all were little.”

Steven was one of Marci’s two sons from her first marriage, but Callum’s father had adopted both boys shortly after marrying his mother. The blended family had felt strange at first, but Stephanie’s birth had solidified the bond they all shared. When Callum’s construction business started to grow, Steven had joined him as a business partner, with Dillon coming on board soon after that. He’d changed the company name to more aptly describe their partnership, and Fortune Brothers Construction was still going strong.

“He’ll be a great father one day,” Callum’s dad added with a knowing nod, prompting Steven and Callum to share an equally exasperated look. It was no secret their parents were intent on seeing both siblings happily married and starting families of their own.

Callum hadn’t discussed future plans with his brother but got the impression Steven was as reluctant to settle down as Callum.

Stephanie walked through the doors that led to the center’s small cafeteria. “I found plastic cups and spoons,” she said. Callum had sent her in search of items to entertain the twins.

He took the makeshift toys and began stacking cups. The more confident of the girls, Luna, clapped her hands as if encouraging him to continue. He handed her a plastic spoon, which she waved in the air like a magic wand. One of the other nurses had told him the twins’ names and that their mother was Becky Averill.

He’d asked about calling a husband and had been shocked to learn that Becky was a widow and single mom. It made him feel like even more of a heel for chastising her about breakfast. Becky was clearly an amazing woman, raising two children on her own while balancing a demanding career. No wonder she forgot to eat.

The shy twin, Sasha, scooted toward him. He held out a spoon to her, his chest tightening when her bottom lip trembled.

“Don’t cry, darlin’,” he told her softly and then scooped her into his arms. It had been an instinctual move. Callum had held plenty of babies when his sisters were younger. Sasha went rigid in his arms. Had he made a huge mistake? Then she relaxed against him with a quiet sigh, smelling like baby shampoo and oat cereal.

The front doors opened and two paramedics strode in. A moment later, Becky appeared from the medical clinic wing of the center. She and Dr. Green were wheeling out the pregnant stranger. The woman, a pretty brunette with big blue eyes, kept her worried gaze fixed on Becky, who appeared to be talking the patient through whatever was happening now.

There was no baby, and the woman seemed stable, so Callum could only assume things were good. Glancing over, Becky’s expression softened as she caught sight of her twins. She said something to the pregnant patient, offered a quick hug and then walked toward Callum.

“How is she?” Stephanie asked immediately.

“We’ve given her something to slow her labor,” Becky explained. “The baby’s vitals are good, but Dr. Green thinks it will be better for her to give birth at a facility with a NICU. The paramedics are going to take her to San Antonio.”

Callum’s father nodded. “So she and the baby will be okay?”

“They should both come out of this healthy,” Becky told them.

“Thank heavens,” Marci added.

Callum stood, still holding Sasha in his arms. “It’s a good thing you and Parker were here for the ribbon cutting.”

“Dr. Green was essential,” Becky clarified. “Anyone could have done what I did.” She held out her hands, and Sasha reached for her, leaving Callum with an unfamiliar sense of emptiness.

“I doubt that’s true,” he answered. “You stepped in to help that woman without hesitation.”

“I also foisted my kids off on you, and I appreciate you volunteering to watch them.” She glanced down at Luna, who was still happily occupied with the spoon and cups, and then gave him a hesitant smile. “I’m Becky, by the way.”

“One of the nurses told me,” he said, that small smile doing funny things to his insides.

“You volunteered?” Marci stepped forward, patting Callum’s shoulders. “I’m so proud.”

“It wasn’t a big deal,” he mumbled.

“Your daughters are adorable,” she said to Becky. “I’m Marci Fortune.” She gestured to Callum’s father and siblings. “My husband, David, and our daughter, Stephanie.” Her smiled widened. “You know Callum, obviously. These are two of our other sons, Dillon and Steven.”

Becky’s caramel-colored eyes widened a fraction. “How many kids do you have?”

“Eight,” Marci said proudly and without hesitation. Callum had always appreciated that his stepmother never differentiated between the children who were hers biologically and the two boys she’d taken on after marrying David.

“Wow,” Becky murmured. “You must have been really busy.”

“It’s how we liked it,” Marci assured her. She put a hand on Callum’s arm. “Callum was such a help with his younger sisters. We also have triplets—Ashley, Megan and Nicole.”

Dillon stepped forward. “Callum’s nickname was Mary Poppins,” he said in a not-so-quiet whisper.

Stephanie laughed while Becky tried to smother her smile.

“No one called me that,” Callum told his brother with an eye roll. “Don’t you all have somewhere to be?”

“You’d think with eight children,” Marci said to Becky, ignoring Callum’s question, “that we’d have a few grandchildren already.”

“Gotta go,” Dillon announced in response.

“Me, too,” Steven added.

Stephanie grabbed her eldest brother’s elbow. “I’ll walk out with you.”

Callum silently cursed his siblings as each of them gave Marci a peck on the cheek, told Becky it was nice to meet her and then quickly made their escape.

“You know how to clear a room, dear,” David said, wrapping an arm around his wife’s slim shoulders.

Marci only laughed. “I’d be an amazing grammy.”

“Someday,” her husband promised. “But we should go, too. We have a long drive to the airport.”

Luna had lost interest in the makeshift toys and pulled herself up, then toddled over to Becky, who lifted her without missing a beat. “You aren’t from Texas?” she asked Callum’s parents.

David shook his head. “Fort Lauderdale, Florida. We flew in to see Callum’s latest success. It’s been quite an adjustment having four of our children move halfway across the country.”

“The pediatric center is amazing,” Becky said, glancing at Callum from beneath thick lashes. “It’s lovely that you came all this way.”

“Are you close to your parents?” Marci asked her.

Callum gave his father a look over the top of his stepmother’s head. As much as he loved his big family, their friendly exuberance could be overwhelming. He didn’t want to scare off Becky before he’d even had a chance for a proper conversation with her.

Before Becky could answer, David reiterated the need to get to the airport.

“I’ll walk you out,” Callum told them, then reached out and touched a hand to one of Luna’s wispy curls. “Becky, I’ll be right back.”

She gave a quick nod, then seemed shocked when Marci leaned in and enveloped both her and the twins in a hug.

Marci turned to Callum at the entrance of the pediatric center. “She seems like a lovely girl,” she said, her tone purposefully light.

“She’s a single mother of twins,” Callum felt obliged to point out. “And a widow.”

“Tragic,” Marci agreed as they walked into the cool January day. “I feel for those babies and for her. She deserves to find happiness again.”

“It’s not with me,” Callum said. “I’ve committed to staying in Rambling Rose until the final project wraps up. Who knows what will happen beyond then?”

“I like this town more than I expected to,” his father interjected. “Of course, we’d love to see you back in Florida or somewhere closer, but if Texas makes you happy, that’s most important.”

“What about your mandate that we stay away from the Fortunes?”

David quirked a brow. “The only Fortunes in Rambling Rose are you and your siblings. I can live with that.”

Callum walked them to the black sedan his father had rented. “Thank you both for coming to the opening.” He hugged Marci first and then his father. “I’m proud of what we’ve accomplished here in such a short time.”

“You should be,” his father said.

“We’re proud of you, as well,” Marci added. “We always have been. But you work too much, Callum. Don’t forget to take some time for yourself.”

He didn’t bother to argue. They wouldn’t understand that his career fulfilled him in a way nothing else had. He knew people considered him a workaholic. Hell, that had been the main cause of his divorce. His ex-wife, Doralee, couldn’t accept his hours or his dedication to the projects he managed.

But nothing made him happier than revitalizing older and historic commercial districts.

They said another round of goodbyes, and his parents climbed into their car and drove out of the parking lot.

As he walked back toward the entrance, Becky emerged, pushing the stroller.

“Thank you again,” she said as he caught up to her. “I’d really like to repay you for your help today.”

“No need.” He held up his hands. “Thanks for stepping in with that woman. She seemed so terrified when she walked into the center.”

A shadow seemed to darken Becky’s delicate features. “She was scared and alone,” she said, almost to herself. “And about to take on the greatest responsibility of her life.”

“She didn’t have a boyfriend or husband somewhere?” he couldn’t help but ask. He fell in step next to Becky as she walked toward a nondescript minivan at the edge of the parking lot.

“Not that she’d tell us.” She once again tucked her hair behind an ear and glanced over at him. “No family, either. I know how it feels to be alone, but there was something different about her. It was as if she was a speck of dandelion fluff floating in a breeze with no place to land.” She let out a soft laugh. “I’m sure that sounds silly, but the woman—Laurel was her name—seemed like she really wanted to find a place to land.”

“It sounds insightful,” Callum murmured. In a single instant, his attraction to Becky Averill had gone from a physical spark to something more, something deeper.

“Sleep deprivation has robbed me of too many brain cells to be considered insightful.” She pulled a key fob out of her bag and used it to open the minivan’s side doors and cargo hold. “But I do feel for Laurel. I hope she and her baby flourish wherever she ends up.”

Callum wanted to offer to do something to help with the twins and their stroller, but he felt like he needed to keep his distance. He’d been totally astounded by this woman today, but he had no place in her life and nothing to offer her. If his ex-wife had accused him of working too much, what would a single mother think of his crazy hours?

It didn’t matter, he reminded himself as Becky turned to him with a tentative smile. “Are you sure there’s no way I can thank you for today?” she asked. “I’m a pretty good cook and—”

“It’s fine,” he said, realizing how harsh he sounded only when her brows furrowed. “It was nice to meet you, Becky.” He made his tone friendly but neutral. “You have cute kids.” Without waiting for a response, he turned and walked away.

Becky finished with her final patient of the day, a three-year-old with double ear infections, and glanced at her watch as she walked toward the nursing station.

“Girl, you’ve been holding out on us.” Sharla, one of the medical assistants in the primary care wing of the pediatric center, wagged a finger in Becky’s direction. “We just heard Callum Fortune was your babysitter when that pregnant lady came in during the ribbon-cutting shindig.”

Becky willed her face not to heat, but felt a blush rising to her cheeks anyway. This was her third shift at the center, and so far she’d loved every minute of it. Dr. Green, or Parker, as he insisted she call him when they weren’t with patients, was an intelligent and caring physician. He had a rapport with both children and their parents, and Becky could see he took the utmost care with every patient.

Sharla and the other two nurses, Kristen and Samantha, were friendly and easy to talk to, and they all had good things to say about the doctors at the center. Becky had worked in enough different offices to appreciate the setup here.

“He offered to help,” she said with what she hoped was a casual shrug. “It wasn’t a big deal.”

“Are you blind?” Kristen asked. “That man is ten kinds of a big deal.”

“His brothers are just as hot,” Samantha added.

“They aren’t as handsome as Callum.” Becky couldn’t help the comment. Yes, the Fortune family had won the genetic lottery, but only Callum made her heart race. Every time she thought of the intensity of his dark gaze, her body seemed to heat from the inside out.

Sharla let out a peal of laughter. “I knew you had to notice.”

“I’m a single mom,” Becky muttered. “Not dead.”

“So what are you going to do about it?” Kristen asked.

“There’s nothing to be done.” Becky placed the digital device she used for electronically entering patient data on the charging station. She wasn’t going to admit to these three women that she’d offered to repay him for his kindness and he’d all but bolted from her.

Maybe it had been the minivan or her silly musings about the pregnant stranger or the reality of a woman with two toddlers in tow. Any one of those would have been a turnoff to a man. Add to that her reputation in town as the grieving widow and it was no wonder Callum had made a quick exit.

She’d obviously mistaken the intriguing thread of attraction between them or it had been all one-sided. No one would blame her for harboring a few harmless fantasies about a man like Callum, but that’s all they were.

“My brother’s insulation company is working on all of the Fortune Brothers Construction projects.” Kristen tapped a finger to her chin, her green eyes sparkling. “I could get him to tell me when Callum is at one of the job sites and you could make an appearance there. He said all three Fortune brothers are really hands-on.”

Sharla laughed again. “I’d like some Fortune hands on me.”

Becky shook her head while the other two women joined in the joke. “I can’t just show up at some construction site. What am I going to say? Remember me and will you hold one of my babies while I change the other one’s dirty diaper?”

“Not the best pickup line I’ve heard,” Samantha admitted.

Becky hadn’t ever used a line on a man. Rick had been her first boyfriend. They’d met at freshmen orientation and dated through college, waiting to get married until after graduation because that’s what her family wanted. He’d been an only child and not really close to his parents, who lived on the East Coast. Her mom and dad had expected her to hold off on marriage even longer, and their constant reminder that she and Rick had their whole lives to settle down had irritated Becky from the start. If she knew then what she did now, she would have married him right away so that they could have had more time together as a family.

No one could have predicted the car accident that had killed him, and Becky would always be grateful for the years he’d been a part of her life. But often she stayed busy, gave everything she had and more, because she was afraid if she ever stopped moving it might be too difficult to get up again.

“I’m not interested anyway,” Becky lied. “I have too much going on to think about—”

“He’s here,” Sharla whispered.

All three of Becky’s coworkers glanced at a place directly behind her, then quickly busied themselves.

As the fine hairs along the back of her neck stood on end, Becky turned around and came face-to-face with Callum Fortune.

“Hello,” he said, running a hand through his thick mane of wavy dark hair. “I hope I’m not interrupting.” He was dressed more casually today in a blue button-down shirt, dark jeans and cowboy boots. Callum looked perfect and she was painfully aware of her messy bun and the shapeless scrubs that were her work uniform. She glanced down to see some sort of crusty stain—probably baby spit-up—on her shoulder. Great. He looked like he owned the place, which he sort of did, and she was a scattered mess.

“Nope.” Becky cleared her throat when the word came out a squeak. “I’m just finishing my shift and about to pick up the girls from day care.”

She gave herself a mental head slap. Like he needed a reminder that she was a single mom with two young daughters.

“I’ll walk with you,” he offered.

“Oh.” She stood there for a moment, trying to remember how to pull air in and out of her lungs.

“You remember where the day care’s located, Becky?” Sharla asked from behind her. “Far end of the building and to the right.”

She narrowed her eyes as she glanced at the other woman. “I remember. Thanks.”

Callum offered a friendly smile as they started down the hall. “How’s work going?”

“It’s great,” she said. “The facility is really great. The staff has been—”

“Great?” he asked with a wink.

“Sorry,” she said automatically. “I’m always a little brain dead at the end of the day.”

“Understandable. I can’t imagine balancing everything you handle.”

“It’s not a big deal.” She hated drawing attention to her situation. Becky found that the best way to stave off being overwhelmed was not to think about it. “I like to stay busy. What brings you to the center?”

She frowned as Callum seemed to stiffen next to her. Had she said the wrong thing again?

“Um… I needed to check on…some stuff.”

“Sounds technical.”

That drew a smile from him, and she felt inexorably proud that she’d amused him, even in a small way.

“I didn’t mean to rush off the other day after the ribbon cutting,” he told her as they approached the door that led to the child care center. “I think I interrupted a potential invitation for dinner, and I’ve been regretting it ever since.”

Becky blinked. In truth, she would have never had the guts to invite Callum for dinner. She’d been planning to offer to cook or bake for him and drop it off to his office as a thank-you. The idea of having him to her small house did funny things to her insides.

“Oh,” she said again.

“Maybe I misinterpreted,” Callum said quickly, looking as flummoxed as she felt. “Or imagined the whole thing. You meant to thank me with a bottle of wine or some cookies or—”

“Dinner.” She grinned at him. Somehow his discomposure gave her the confidence to say the word. He appeared so perfect and out of her league, but at the moment he simply seemed like a normal, nervous guy not sure what to say next.

She decided to make it easy for him. For both of them. “Would you come for dinner tomorrow night? The girls go to bed early so if you could be there around seven, we could have a more leisurely meal and a chance to talk.”

His shoulders visibly relaxed. “I’d like that. Dinner with a friend. Can I bring anything?”

“Just yourself,” she told him.

He pulled his cell phone from his pocket and handed it to her so she could enter her contact information. It took a few tries to get it right because her fingers trembled slightly.

He grinned at her as he took the phone again. “I’m looking forward to tomorrow, Becky.”

“Me, too,” she breathed, then gave a little wave as he said goodbye. She took a few steadying breaths before heading in to pick up the twins. Don’t turn it into something more than it is, she cautioned herself.

It was a thank-you, not a date. Her babies would be asleep in the next room. Definitely not a date.

But her stammering heart didn’t seem to get the message.

Chapter Three

Callum stood outside the soon-to-open veterinary clinic the following afternoon, frowning at the open back of the delivery truck.

“It’s all pink,” Stephanie reported.

“I see that,” he answered, then turned to the driver. “We ordered modular cabinets in a pine finish.”

“I just deliver what they give me,” the man responded, scratching his belly. “Where do you want ’em?”

“Not here.” Callum looked toward Steven, who was on his phone, pacing back and forth in front of the building’s entrance.

His brother held up a finger and then returned to the phone call.

“This is a vet clinic.” Stephanie gave a humorless laugh. “Not an ice cream parlor.”

The cabinetry for the exam rooms and clinical areas had been ordered more than a month earlier. They needed it installed soon in order to keep the project on time and within budget. Callum and his brothers were sharing the responsibility of the vet clinic renovation, working with the staff of the local practice to design the space.

A moment later, Steven joined the group. “Take it back,” he told the delivery driver before turning to Callum and Stephanie. “It was a clerical error. They typed in the wrong color code.”

“Whatever you say, boss,” the driver answered and pulled shut the overhead door of the delivery truck.

“It would have been my dream come true when I was eight,” Stephanie said as the driver climbed into the vehicle and pulled away. “Working in a pink vet clinic.”

“Where does that put us as far as the schedule?” Callum asked.

Steven’s mouth tightened into a thin line. “I can get it done.”

“I know that.” Callum nodded, understanding that his older brother didn’t appreciate being doubted. “I’m asking because if you need me to shift resources from other projects or change subcontractor timelines, we can make it work.”

Steven’s shoulders relaxed under his Western-style button-down shirt. “It’s going to be tight. The supplier is putting a rush on the order so the cabinets should be here in two weeks. I can have the crew work on the flooring and finish the exterior. It’s not ideal, but we’ll make sure nothing falls behind.”

“Let me know if we need to change our move-in date.” Stephanie addressed them both. She not only worked at the current location of the vet center, but also acted as the liaison with the construction crew. “It’s going to be all hands on deck at Paws and Claws to make it a smooth transition for our patients.”