Blessings

He hesitated. But what could he say? “Fine.”

“Dr. Darling, have I done something to offend you?”

One shoe dangled from his finger as he fought for control and a way to avoid the question.

“Why do you say that?”

“Ah, a true debater. Answer a question by asking another question.” She nodded, a knowing light glimmering in her eyes. “I’ll bet you get away with that a lot.”

“Obviously not enough.” He slipped his other shoe on and tied it slowly, taking his time while his mind whirred. Nothing. “I’ll stand by my question—why do you ask?”

“Because of your attitude, of course.” She sat perched on the edge of her chair not two feet from where he stood.

“My attitude?” Joshua frowned. She said it as if he’d been rude. There was nothing wrong with his attitude. “What attitude?”

She sighed. “Never mind. I know a block when I see one.”

“Dr. Brandt—Nicole. I have no idea what you’re talking about. I don’t have an attitude or a—a block, as you put it, about you or anyone else. All I want is a short-term assistant who can function within the parameters I’ve set out without causing additional stress.”

“Do you realize that in the past week you’ve reminded me at least three times, every single day, that I am not a permanent fixture in your office?” She leaned forward, eyes blazing in her beautiful face.

That spark of anger alerted Joshua; he knew he’d gone too far. He stayed exactly where he was and did her the courtesy of quietly listening, though it cost him dearly.

“Hear this, Dr. Darling. I am not staying. I will not be hanging on to your coattails, prevailing upon you to keep me when my six months are over, not even if you beg me on bended knee.”

As if that would happen!

But Joshua got the drift. She was mad. The air around her sizzled, and her blond hair flickered through the air just like the girls’ hair did when there was too much static. He almost smiled.

Big mistake.

“Don’t you laugh at me! I have plans for my future, Dr. Darling, big plans. And they do not include working for, with, or beside you after my term here has been served. There’s no way I’m prepared to give up my dream of surgery and remain secluded in this little town, meting out care to my patients in parsimonious ten-minute intervals. Not one chance in a thousand.”

Like you.

Joshua heard everything she didn’t say. He knew she’d seen past his pretense of doctorly concern to the cad he was beneath. He’d been going through the motions of caring for his patients, and she knew it! The thought galled him, but he couldn’t acknowledge it—not here and not now. He just couldn’t.

“I’m glad to hear that, Dr. Brandt, because as you know, I intend to find the perfect partner.” This time he left the remainder unsaid. “Girls! It’s time to leave. Now.”

They came from all corners of the house, black patent Mary Jane shoes tapping overhead, across the oak floors in a cacophony of scurrying steps. One by one, the girls bounded down the stairs and presented themselves in the front hall.

Joshua gulped at the sight.

They had on hats. Strange, gaudy-looking straw boaters that had originally arrived as Easter bonnets from Aunt Win, and had subsequently been decorated with fuzzy chicks of various rainbow colors, tiny bird’s nests and pussy willows.

He thought Rachel’s was almost decent, covered as it was by tiny pink bows and rosebuds. Until he saw the gaping hole at the back and remembered that Ladybug had sampled it. Straw stuck out, tattered and broken.

Deliberately Joshua moved on to Ruth Ann. She was artistic, creative. Surely—but no, her hat had obviously suffered from her one-handed state. The pretty blue ribbons that had once rippled down her back now hung wrinkled and dingy, their ends frayed. Her motif was chicks. Little puffy bits no bigger than Joshua’s pinkie rimmed the brim, peeping down into her face, their stick feet barely secured to the straw.

But it was his baby, his smallest angel, who’d gone all out to imitate their guest. Yards and yards of filmy white cloth not unlike the bathroom curtain swathed her hat, bent the brim so that it drooped down and created a beehive effect that swayed whenever she moved. A bit of the fabric draped over the front of Rosalyn’s hat, completely shielding her eyes and all but the very tip of her little pink nose. The entire concoction was held in place with a thousand safety pins that glittered and shone in the sunlight.

“Don’t worry, Dad. I helped her with the pins,” Rachel informed him with an artless smile.

“Thank you, dear.” Joshua never knew where the words came from. He only knew that his girls had worked feverishly to attain the same fashion statement as Nicole, and failed miserably.

He also knew that anything he said now would be wrong, so he clamped his lips shut, held open the front door and motioned them all outside.

“Thank goodness Ladybug’s gone.”

“Yeah, she would have wrecked our hats.” Ruthie led the way to the car, eased her way in, then turned to help Rosie.

Rachel followed in a stately saunter that threatened to trip them all up if they didn’t get out of her way.

Dr. Nicole Brandt stood beside him watching the procession, a smile twitching at her lips. Finally she looked at him. He was shocked by the merry twinkle dancing in her eyes.

“You did very well, Dr. Darling,” she whispered. “Now keep a stiff upper lip and everything will be just fine.”

“Easy for you to stay.” He didn’t bother to hide his pained expression. He waited for her to walk out the door, then went to close it. Her hand on his arm stopped him.

“Dr. Darling?”

“Yes?” He frowned. What did she want now? Hadn’t she wreaked enough havoc in his life?

“About the casserole.”

“I put it in the oven and set the temperature, as you said.” He tried to close the door again, but her delicately sandaled foot prevented that. “What?”

“You have to turn the oven on,” she whispered.

Her eyes met his in one quick glance, then she went sashaying down his walk as if she belonged there in her pencil-slim dress, fancy high heels and that ridiculous hat.

Joshua turned his back on them all and went inside to switch on the oven. He knew that—he did! It had simply slipped his mind…with so much else going on.

Discomfited by his own forgetfulness in front of his new doctor, he stomped back outside, slammed the door closed so hard the window creaked, and snapped the dead bolt home with his key.

“I love Sundays,” Nicole sang out as soon as he was in the car. “It’s so much fun to gather together and hear Bible stories. I always imagine what it must have been like in those olden days. I love it.”

“Me, too.”

Agreement with Dr. Brandt’s sentiments echoed through his car twice more. What was he raising—parrots?

Joshua kept his mouth clamped shut and concentrated on getting them all to church without disaster. Once there, he chose a parking spot as far from the door as possible in hopes that the wind would take care of the hat problem for him. Unfortunately, the day was totally calm and the hats remained firmly attached to his daughters’ heads.

The girls raced across the lot as fast as they could manage, calling to their friends as they went.

“I don’t think it’s fitting to take those, er, creations, into the house of God,” he muttered, staring up at the gigantic cross that sat atop the church.

“Why on earth not? They worked so hard making them. You should be proud.” Nicole frowned at him fiercely. “Every single time those girls go out of their way to make something special like this, you should be bursting your buttons with pride.”

“Their mother would kill me.”

Dr. Brandt’s eyes grew cool, frosty. The tension between them grew until he could feel the ice crackling.

“I doubt that very much. I think she’d be very proud. But even if it were true, their mother isn’t here. They are. And so are you. They need to know you love them, no matter what.”

What had caused such anger? he wondered. It came from nowhere. One minute she was smiling like a movie star, the next growling at him as fiercely protective as a mother cub.

“I do love them.” Why was he defending himself?

“Have you told them that lately?” She glared.

Joshua stalked away, a spurt of anger burning inside. What right had she to judge? She didn’t have three kids dependent on her. She was free as a bird.

“You can run, but you can’t hide.” The whisper came from behind his left shoulder.

“I’m not running. I just thought I might sneak into the back pew before anybody figured out the three in those ridiculous getups are my daughters.”

Her hand on his arm prevented him from entering the sanctuary. He looked from it to her eyes, and flinched at the challenge he saw there.

“‘Man looks on the outward appearance,’” she whispered. “‘But God looks on the heart.’ And I can tell you right now, Dr. Darling, that those three girls with their funny hats have the purest little hearts in this entire building.”

She stepped past him, walked through the doorway and disappeared inside.

Joshua grimaced at her invisible back. Dr. Nicole Brandt would make a good surgeon. She cut right to the quick without messing about.

The problem was, her condemnation burned all the way to his soul.