Claiming the Doctor's Heart

Samson suddenly let go of the leash, looked around and then pounced on Baloo.

Olivia reached down to pry the puppy loose.

Connor bent over, as well. Their hands connected atop Samson’s back. They both froze. Less than a heartbeat later Connor moved his hand and picked up Samson.

He passed the puppy off to Molly.

Holding the animal close, the girl divided a look between her father and Olivia. A speculative glint whispered across her gaze, but disappeared so quickly Olivia thought she might have imagined the whole thing.

She said goodbye to the twins, patted Samson on the head and watched as the entire family turned to go. A final wave in her direction from the twins, and they disappeared back over the hill.

Now that puppy teeth were no longer chomping on his ear, Baloo hopped to his feet with the agility of a dog half his age. Olivia absently scratched her fingernails down his back, earning her a canine sigh.

She sighed, too.

The Mitchells were such a beautiful family, yet she couldn’t help feeling a little sad for them. Cancer had left Connor to raise two young girls on his own. With three older brothers in the medical profession, Olivia knew the long hours he endured.

Not that it was any of her concern.

“Come on, Baloo. Let’s go home.”

On the walk back to the house, one thought kept running through Olivia’s mind. She’d come home just in time, putting her on the right path to finding her true purpose in life. A purpose she hadn’t considered when she’d been working fourteen-hour days.

The possibilities stretching before her were both exciting and terrifying.

It was nearly noon by the time Olivia guided Baloo into the mudroom at the back of their house. At this hour she wouldn’t run into any of her brothers.

Ethan was at the office seeing patients. Ryder was at Village Green Hospital where he shared E.R. duties with two other doctors. And Brody was out of the country working for Doctors Without Borders.

With the house to herself, Olivia could continue working her way through the list of Village Green businesses. She needed to determine if the type of tearoom she had in mind would be redundant or just what the town needed. No thoughts of single dads and or sweet little girls would be allowed in her head. Work, work and more work.

She’d just hung up Baloo’s leash when she heard a deep, masculine voice. “Olivia? That you?”

Her throat tightened. Of course Ethan would come home for lunch today, since he was the one brother she wanted to avoid most. Not that she didn’t adore him; of course she did. But he had a way of asking questions that struck at the heart of a matter. Questions she didn’t have answers for yet. Her emotions were too raw, and her plans too sketchy.

The fact that she hadn’t heard his approach was a bit annoying, but not entirely her fault. Ethan still moved with that creepy stealth he’d learned as an Army Ranger.

She turned and smiled at him. Dressed in navy blue dress pants and a white button-down, he looked very much like the successful doctor he was. As with all her brothers, the stark contrast of his black hair and light blue eyes turned more than a few female heads, including most of Olivia’s friends.

“Hey,” she said, hoping she’d caught him on his way out. “I took Baloo for a walk. I’m assuming that was okay.”

“Sure.” He nodded, smiling. “He needs more exercise than I can give him.”

Now that the pleasantries were over, she grabbed her laptop with the sole intention of heading somewhere else—anywhere else—to continue her fact-finding expedition. “Well, now that I brought him home, I’m heading out again.”

“You just got back.”

“I know, but—” she glanced over his shoulder, her gaze landing on the refrigerator “—we need groceries.”

His eyebrows pulled together. “We have food in the house.”

She rolled her eyes. Ethan was such a man. “Bottled water and cold pizza do not qualify as food.”

He ignored this observation and placed a hand on her shoulder. “Olivia. Come into the den. We’ll talk and—”

“I really should get going.” She shrugged out from under his grip, trying not to think about all she’d lost. The job. The perfect ready-made family that had seemed within her reach.

So she’d been downsized. So she and Warner hadn’t worked out. Maybe her breakup and job loss had come at an opportune time. Maybe even Divine Intervention, God working good out of the bad in her life.

“Stop worrying about me, Ethan. I’m simply between jobs.”

He considered this, considered her. “So you’ve said already.” He lowered his voice to that soothing doctor octave he donned so well. “I know that’s not the truth.”

She opened her mouth to argue.

“Not the full truth, in any case.”

She thought about the tearoom of her dreams, the particulars still fuzzy, yet also thrilling, in her mind. “It’s a long story with a few twists and turns but eventually leading to a happy ending.”

She would make sure of it.

“Tell me more. I have time.” He checked the chunky wristwatch he’d worn ever since his days in the military. “I don’t have to be back at the office for another half hour.”

His tone was so calm, so reasonable, as if she could explain in thirty minutes or less why she didn’t want to take another job in banking. Why she wanted to try something that would require a leap of faith.

“How about I tell you everything tonight when you get home from work?”

“I’m not coming straight home. I have a meeting in Denver.”

“Tomorrow, then.” She patted him on the arm, relieved she would have more time. “I’ll stop by the office and catch you between patients.”

Giving him no chance to respond, she quickly exited the house, shutting the door on whatever response he’d been about to give.

* * *

Thanks to the tiny menace in a fur suit, Connor spent the rest of his day off in the emergency room, where he and the girls waited for news on Samson’s latest victim—their housekeeper, Carlotta.

The puppy had escaped his crate and had proceeded to bolt through the house. With the twins giving chase, Samson had eventually darted into the kitchen and slid directly under Carlotta’s foot, the one attached to her bad knee.

She’d gone down hard.

One look had told Connor he didn’t have the necessary equipment to treat her injury at home, or at the office. Hence this unexpected trip to Village Green Hospital’s E.R.

Connor would have joined Carlotta in the exam room, but she’d insisted he stay with the girls. He’d relented when Megan’s eyes had filled with tears and Ryder Scott, the doctor on duty, had promised to give Connor an update as soon as he knew more.

While the twins watched television, Connor retrieved his phone from his back pocket and thumbed through his contact list. If Carlotta’s injury was as bad as he suspected, he would need alternative child care.

“Daddy?”

He lifted his head.

Megan’s bottom lip trembled. “You’re not going to make us get rid of Samson, are you?”

“Not a chance, sweetheart.” He pulled her into a one-arm hug. “He’s part of the family now.” For better or worse.

So far, it had been mostly worse.

Eyes full of worry, Molly drew alongside her sister. “Samson didn’t mean to hurt Carlotta.”

Connor gave her a reassuring smile. “No, sweetheart, he didn’t.”

He wanted to say more, explain that the puppy needed obedience school stat, but Ryder joined them in the waiting room. The other doctor’s tight expression confirmed Connor’s suspicions. The news was bad.

He stood. Megan rushed past him and tugged on Ryder’s sleeve. “Is Carlotta going to be okay?”

Ryder glanced at Connor before answering, “Sure is.”

The other doctor smiled down at Megan. The gesture wiped away the tension on his face and relaxed his features, reminding Connor of the man’s younger sister. All the Scotts looked alike, but this one favored Olivia the most, right down to the blue-blue eyes, the color of the Colorado sky.

Connor had been thinking a lot about Olivia since their unexpected reunion this morning. Hard not to, since his daughters had chattered nonstop about her all the way home from the park.

She’d certainly made an impression on them.

The image of Olivia’s eyes crinkling around the edges when she smiled at them still hovered in the back of his mind.

“Hey, kiddo.” Ryder tugged on Megan’s ponytail, the only hairstyle Connor had mastered in his four years of solo parenting. “No need for tears. Your housekeeper’s going to live. She just busted up her knee.”

Connor tried not to groan at the description. “How badly busted up are we talking?”

“Broken kneecap, torn ACL. The orthopedic surgeon is with her now. He’s suggesting immediate surgery.”

Translation: months of recovery time.

The girls’ summer break had barely begun. Connor stuffed his phone back in his pocket. “I’d like to see her now.”

Ryder hooked a thumb over his left shoulder. “Third room on the left.”

“Be right back.” He stayed only long enough to determine how Carlotta was feeling, promise he’d take care of any medical bills not covered by insurance and assure her she had a job when her knee healed.

As soon as he and the girls arrived home from the hospital, Connor went to work on his child-care dilemma. He made the first call to his sister Avery a recent college grad home for a few months before she started medical school in the fall.

She answered on the second ring. “Hey, bro. What’s up?”

After he explained the situation, she clicked her tongue in sympathy. “Ouch, poor Carlotta. Tell me what I can do to help.”

“Can you watch the girls tomorrow?”

“I can watch them all summer if necessary.”

“It won’t come to that.” He glanced out into the backyard. The twins were attempting to run off the puppy’s seemingly never-ending energy. Good luck with that.

“I mean it, Connor.”

“I know, Avery, and I appreciate it.” He tightened his hold on the phone. “But I promised you experience in the office before you start medical school, and I’m going to keep my word.”

Resolved to find a solution that would work for everyone, he ended the call.

Closing his eyes, he wiped the back of his hand across his mouth. He was suddenly bone-tired, as if the long, endless days he’d endured since Sheila’s death were finally catching up with him.

He missed his wife, missed her company and the deep, abiding friendship they’d shared since the third grade. Four years since her death, he was past the worst of his grief and moving on with his life. Some days were easier than others; most were just hard work.

He would tackle this latest problem as he did all the others. One detail at a time. He spent the rest of the night either on the phone or waiting for someone to return his call.

Unfortunately, he arrived at his office the next day with his child-care problem still unresolved. Connor would not rely solely on his sister. He would figure out another solution.

His mind on several options, he headed toward the east wing of the building where he had his personal office space. He stepped across the threshold and...

Stopped cold.

Olivia Scott stood beside his desk, seemingly absorbed with the task of writing on a piece of paper beneath her hand.

Connor’s heart took a quick, hard thump. Ethan’s sister looked like summer in a pair of white jeans, a fancy blue top and high-heeled sandals.

His mind went momentarily blank. “Olivia?”

She looked up and smiled. “Oh, Connor. Hi. I was just leaving you a note. Guess I don’t have to now.” She lifted the piece of paper beneath her fingertips, then tossed it in the trash.

She shifted a step closer. Her scent, a pleasant mix of lavender and vanilla, was very female and more than a little distracting. “Aren’t you going to ask me why I’m here?”

“Okay...” He angled his head, swallowed. “Why are you here?” He swallowed again. “And why were you leaving me a note?”

Leaning back against his desk, she rested her hands on either side of her. “I have a proposition for you.”

He simply stared at her, uncertain how to respond to that.

“I heard your housekeeper injured her knee yesterday.” Her gaze turned somber. “Ryder told me about the accident when he came home last night.”

Ah.

“I figure this probably puts you in a bind when it comes to child care for your daughters this summer.”

“It does.” He rubbed the back of his neck. “My sister is helping out for now. But I need to find a more permanent solution, at least until Carlotta’s knee heals.”

Olivia’s pretty smile returned. “That’s where I come in.”

He waited for the rest.

Her smile brightened even more. “I know the perfect person to watch your girls this summer.”

He tried to focus on her words, not on the fact that his heartbeat had picked up speed, or that he experienced a flash of insight, as if he were on the verge of something life-changing. “Who did you have in mind?”

“Me.”

Chapter Three

For the second time since entering his office, Connor found himself rendered speechless. Had Olivia just offered to watch his daughters for the entire summer?

He swept his gaze over her face, measuring, gauging. The teasing light had fled from her eyes, replaced by a look of unmistakable sincerity. There was also a twinge of excitement he didn’t understand.

There had to be something he was missing.

“Don’t you already have a job? In...” He tried to remember what she’d studied in college. Surely Ethan had told him. Marketing? Finance? “Banking?”

She glanced away a moment and sighed. “That’s right. For a number of years I helped failing companies with debt consolidation and financial restructuring.”

“Impressive.”

She shrugged. “Mostly just a lot of number crunching.”

“I’m sure there’s more to it than that.” He ran a thriving medical practice. He had a good idea what it took to keep afloat in a tight economy.

“Anyway, I’m not doing that anymore. I’m looking into other options for the future. In the meantime, I’m free to help you out.”

“Are you saying you’re unemployed?”

“I’m saying I’m in Village Green while I consider my next career move.” She didn’t expand. Nor, Connor noted, had she addressed his question directly.

Could this meeting get any more confusing?

Her smile flashed again, quick and devastating. That smile, it made him think of silver linings at the end of a long, dark day.

“This is a God thing, you know, my being available to watch your daughters like this.”

Connor had no comment. He’d given up on God years ago. Or, more accurately, God had given up on him. It hadn’t mattered that he’d prayed nonstop for his wife’s return to health. Not only had she not gotten better; Sheila had died slowly, painfully. Even his efforts to provide her comfort at the end had failed.

He did his best raising the twins on his own. But Molly and Megan needed a woman in their lives, one who would love them as much as Sheila did. That’s why he’d started dating, though he wasn’t really in the game, merely attempting to take the first step. A lunch every now and then when he had time, which was hardly ever.

Olivia moved closer, the sound of her heels on the wood floor breaking through his thoughts. “I’ll take excellent care of your girls.”

This seemed too good to be true.

He opened his mouth to respond, but Olivia smiled at him again, a big toothy grin that gave him pause. Having her in his home every day might not be wise.

He shoved his fingers through his hair and carefully stripped his voice of emotion. “Let’s say I agree to your offer. When would you be available to start work?”

Her earnest gaze met his. “Immediately.”

“What’s the rush?”

“No rush.”

He stared at her.

She never blinked, not once. But he got the sense she wasn’t being completely candid with him.

“What’s in it for you?”

Now she blinked. Twice. Her hesitation was obvious. But then she looked at him again, smiled and said, “Let me take care of your daughters for you, Connor.”

She grabbed his hand and a new kind of alertness took hold of him. “I promise to do right by them,” she whispered, releasing his hand. “And you.”

He didn’t doubt her sincerity. But what did a bank exec know about kids?

As if reading his mind, Olivia continued.

“Back in high school I earned enough money babysitting to buy my first car. I love kids. Always have, especially girls around your daughters’ age. I—” She cut herself off and blinked slowly, as if the words were painful to say. “I really do love kids.”

Her voice held a strange mix of sincerity and reserve, with a hint of hope underneath. Connor knew the feeling. He felt poised on the brink of something new himself, something life-altering.

Some of the knots in his gut unraveled. Then he remembered that watching his daughters was only part of the job description. “You’ll have to take on Samson, too.”

This seemed to amuse her. “How bad can one tiny puppy be?”

“Bad enough to put my housekeeper in the hospital.”

Olivia’s expression sobered. “Right.”

Reaching out to him, she laid her hand on his arm. Something inside him shifted under her gentle touch.

“Don’t worry, Connor.” She chuckled. “I know my way around dogs just as well as I do little girls.”

The selfish part of him wanted to hire her on the spot. The wiser part of him whispered a warning to hold off making a final decision. She might have babysat in high school, but that was a decade ago.

Even if she’d been a professional nanny all her adult life, something about Olivia Scott dug past the efficient facade he relied on to get him through the day. If he hired her, Connor could very well lose the fragile balance he’d carefully put in place.

But he couldn’t deny the fact that his daughters liked Olivia. They’d made that perfectly clear after their time with her in the park yesterday. All things considered, her offer might be the perfect solution to his child-care problems.

Still, Connor hesitated.

“What if we do this on a trial basis?” she asked.

“How would that work?”

“I’ll watch the girls for a few days. At the end of that time we’ll reevaluate the situation.” She placed her hands on her hips. “If any of us aren’t happy with the arrangement, and that includes your daughters, then I’ll walk away.”

He couldn’t say why the idea of her walking away bothered him, so he did a mental dance around the thought and focused on the matter at hand. “That could work.”

“If our arrangement doesn’t suit either of us, then I’ll help you find my replacement.”

“Before I agree to this trial run...” Was he really considering this? “I have a stipulation.”

“Only one?”

His lips twitched at her response. When was the last time he’d laughed? Really laughed? Yesterday, he realized, in Hawkins Park when Olivia Scott had saved an out-of-control puppy from possible drowning and made his daughters smile.

“You mentioned a stipulation?” she asked.

“Ethan has to agree.”

“What? Why?” Her eyes narrowed. “My brother has no say in what I can or cannot do.”

Maybe not. But as the oldest in a family of five siblings, and the only male, Connor knew firsthand the mind-set of a protective older brother. If their roles were reversed, and the other doctor was having this conversation with one of Connor’s sisters, he’d have a few reservations.

“Ethan is my business partner and friend. He needs to be okay with this. Talk to him. If he has no objections, then we’ll give it a try.”

She expelled an audible breath. “All right. I’ll speak to him, but only because you asked. I would never want to cause problems for you at work.”

With a determined gleam in her eye, she moved past him. “This won’t take long.”

Knowing how protective Ethan was of his one and only sister, Connor doubted that.

* * *

A rush of impatience surged through Olivia. What should have been a brief conversation was taking twice as long as it should. Waiting for her unusually long-winded brother to wind down, she slid a covert glance around his office. Nice. Masculine, tasteful, well organized.

Very efficient. Very Ethan.

Her gaze landed on a picture of him in full military gear, his arm slung over a woman’s shoulders. Even dressed in battle fatigues, she was a pretty girl, her smile nearly model-perfect. The two looked happy. They looked together.

Where was the other soldier now? And why had Ethan never mentioned her?

Observant to a fault, he caught her looking at the photo. With a swipe of his hand, he turned the picture facedown on the desk. The lines around his eyes seemed to cut deeper when he looked back at Olivia.

“You’re a banker, Liv, not a nanny.”

Oh, joy, they were back to that. “I babysat almost every night back in high school,” she reminded him a third—or was it a fourth?—time. She could tell him about all the time she’d spent with Kenzie when it had been Warner’s weekend with his daughter. How she’d loved and taken care of the girl as if she were her own.

“That was years ago, Liv. And besides—” He crossed his arms over his chest “—I thought you were only home for a short visit until the job at the bank in Denver opens up again.”

That had been true when she’d set out from Florida. She’d had every intention of taking a banking position similar to the one she’d left. But Olivia had experienced a change of heart on the cross-country drive. How did she tell Ethan she believed the Lord had given her a new passion to replace the old? One that would require considerable planning and a very large leap of faith?

Remembering her father’s long-ago advice, Olivia shifted to offense now that her defense was running weak. “It’s my Christian duty to help out a friend in need.”

“Connor isn’t your friend. He’s mine.”

“Same difference.” She snapped her shoulders back. “If we’re finished here I should get back—”

He pointed a finger at her. “You’re hiding something.”

“You’re paranoid.”

“Now you’re deflecting the conversation back on me.” He stuffed his hands in his pockets. “What’s going on, Olivia?”

Why did he have to care so much, see so much, when all she wanted to do was focus on the future, not the devastating events of the past that had brought her home in the first place?

As much as she wanted to run from this conversation, to pretend she wasn’t still raw from all the losses she’d suffered, she knew she couldn’t keep putting her brother off.

“I’m not sure I want to continue in my chosen profession.” There. She’d said it. The truth was out at last. “In fact, I want to take some time to think through my options. All my options.”

“Are you telling me you quit your job in Jacksonville before you—”

“I was downsized,” she admitted.

“Olivia.” Tenderness filled his gaze, a look that spoke of genuine affection and brotherly concern. “Why didn’t you tell Ryder and me when you first came home? Why didn’t you just—”

“Admit that I’ve been chasing the wrong dreams,” and the wrong man, “for all the wrong reasons? That I’m about to turn thirty with nothing to show for my life?”

No job. No family.

Nothing.

“Olivia, you’re the most capable woman I know.” Hands on her shoulders, he squeezed gently. “And the smartest of all us Scotts put together. It’s only a matter of time before you’re back in the workforce, killing it with all the other financial whizzes in whatever direction you choose to take.”

Needing a moment to process her brother’s unfailing support, she glanced out his office window. The view was spectacular on this side of the building, full of snowcapped mountain peaks, yellow-leafed aspens and thick Colorado pines. “I appreciate your confidence. But until I figure out what’s next for me, I’m free to watch Connor’s daughters. That’s what we financial whizzes call a win-win.”