Promises in Paradise

“Can I…now?” the woman asked.

“Give me a few more minutes.”

The woman nodded, staring blankly into space.

Diane managed to reach the door from her position behind it, and opened it to signal Ron, who stood talking with a resident near the reception desk.

“How’s it going?” Ron asked.

“I want to get her to the emergency room tonight for a more thorough exam.”

“What’s up?”

“I suspect a ministroke. There was at least one but there might have been more. I don’t think we should wait until the morning.”

“No problem. I’ll have someone drive her over right now.”

“Good.” Diane nodded briskly.

She used Ron’s desk phone to call the hospital to alert them to Nan’s arrival and to give her authorization that she be seen immediately.

“Come on, Nan. We’re going to take you for a little ride. Would you like that?” Ron asked.

Her eyes briefly lit up and she nodded.

“Before you go,” Diane said, retrieving something else from her bag. It was a small, flat, wrapped gift she held out to the woman. “Merry Christmas.”

“Ooooh. Like. Thank…you.”

She hugged the gift to her chest, smiling for the first time.

Ron turned her by the shoulders to guide her from the office.

“That was really cool of you to have something for Nan. She has no family, far as we know.”

“It’s just a little thing. I had an extra gift after taking care of some of my staff. Where’s the boy?”

“Look, you’re going to have to go to him.”

Diane frowned. “Why?”

“There’s a party goin’ on, and he’s not about to leave right now. We got Santa and everything.”

Diane laughed in understanding. “Okay. Lead the way.”

She took only her stethoscope with her as she followed Ron. There was music and a lot of loud conversation coming from a space at the end of a corridor. The noise from the other end only got louder as they approached. There was a room to the left that turned out to be the communal dining hall.

At the back of the room, near the door, the adults stood or sat watching the excitement of perhaps fifty children and adolescents at the front of the room as they waited to meet with Santa Claus and receive a gift.

Diane couldn’t help but smile at the cheerful chaos as kids roughhoused together, or shouted to be next, or played with gifts already opened, or sat staring dumbfounded at the man at the center of attention, Santa Claus.

She began to chuckle when she realized he was the tallest, thinnest Santa she’d ever seen. Not that that mattered to the kids. He was seated in a chair raised on an improvised platform. For all their hardships and deprivations, the children clearly believed in this Santa who’d made a special trip from the North Pole just to see them.

“That’s Qa’Shawn over there. The kid jumping up and down. I told him not to do that,” Ron said, worried.

“That’s actually a good sign.”

“Well, let me go get him. I told him someone special wanted to meet him ‘cause he passed out yesterday. He thinks he did something special,” he said, bemused.

Diane found a little spot by herself out of the way of the celebration. It was a moment before she became aware that Santa appeared to be sending covert glances at her. But then he went back to being jolly and attentive to the kids. They seemed to find it pretty cool that he was a black Santa behind the snow-white beard. He cast her another long look and then ignored her.

“Qa’Shawn, this is Dr. Diane. I told you about her. Say hello.” Ron gave the youngster a light nudge.

“Hello,” the boy murmured.

He was maybe nine years old.

“Hi, Qa’Shawn.” Diane smiled at him.

“You a doctor for real?”

“I am.” She held out her stethoscope. “See.”

“I know what that is. You listen to a heart with that. Can I try it?”

Diane placed the ear tips of the headset lightly into his ears and then put the diaphragm against the boy’s chest. After just a few seconds his eyes grew wide.

“I hear noise in there. Is that my heart?”

“Hope so,” Ron said. “If you don’t hear anything you’re in deep trouble.”

But the boy was too fascinated with the sounds coming through the instrument to try and figure out Ron’s macabre joke.

“Can I listen, too?” Diane asked.

Qa’Shawn relinguished the headset to her. Diane put it to her own ears and listened, using the tunable diaphragm to make adjustments. After a minute Diane removed the headset, looping the stethoscope around her neck. She grinned at Qa’Shawn. “Sounds like a lot of rushing water to me.”

The boy laughed but was already getting antsy to get away.

“I don’t want to keep you from Santa. Nice meeting you, Qa’Shawn.”

He shouted goodbye and took off like a shot.

“Well?” Ron asked in a quiet voice.

“I hear a murmur. Could mean his heartbeat’s a little irregular. It’s not unusual and it’s not normally dangerous, but I’d like to see Qa’Shawn at the hospital.”

Ron frowned. “Not tonight.”

“No, it can wait until after the holidays, but I’d like to run some tests to see what we’re dealing with.”

Ron nodded solemnly. “I’ll make sure it happens. Anyway, if we try to pull him away before Hale finishes his Santa act…”

“Hale?” she asked faintly.

“Yeah. Hale Cameron. Good buddy of mine. I had to beg big-time to get him here, and threaten him if he didn’t wear the suit. I can’t help that it’s too big.”

Diane had already turned her attention back to the front of the room where Hale, unrecognizable under the Santa garb, was acting the part and talking the talk and keeping a lot of children very entertained. Except for those few moments when he was distracted by her presence, Hale was all about the business of being Santa Claus.

“He owed me a favor and I called it in,” Ron continued. “But he would have done it in the end. I just had to work on him a bit.” Ron laughed. “I want you to meet him.”

At that Diane headed out of the room, back to Ron’s office. “Some other time. He’s busy and I should be going.”

“Well, I’m not going to keep you. You’re probably on your way to a party right now.”

Not, Diane thought to herself.

They’d almost reached Ron’s office when he was called aside by a resident complaining that someone had stolen his sneakers and backpack. Ron had to deal with it. Diane quickly got her coat and bag. Running into Hale Cameron twice in as many weeks was starting to make her feel cursed. Before she got to the door, her BlackBerry silently signaled there were messages once she was back to the hospital.

Her position didn’t allow her to ignore them. Perching on the edge of Ron’s desk, Diane scrolled through her e-mails and text messages. Fortunately, there was no emergency, just several colleagues wishing her a happy holiday and friends inviting her to join them for drinks. There was another invitation to yet another party, and a request for the name of a particular doctor.

Totally wrapped up in responding, she paid no attention to the voices and conversation in the hallway. Diane was just finishing her last post when one voice stood out distinctly from the rest. She was instantly spurred into action, and she scrambled to grab her things and get away. The door was ajar and she put her hand out to pull it open. It was pushed from the other side, forcing her to step back quickly.

Santa Claus filled the doorway.

Silently, her heart palpitating with a fight-or-flight reflex, Diane stared at the man behind the guise. For a very long moment neither said anything and it was impossible for her to tell what was going through Hale’s mind since she couldn’t see all of his face or much of his eyes. She also made the quick observation of how funny he looked behind the fake snow-white beard.

Standing so close in front of him, she could smell the storage chemicals on the rented Santa suit and she could smell Hale’s cologne or aftershave. Plus a little bit of male heat.

“’Scuse me,” she murmured, not looking into his face as she tried to slide past him through the doorway.

“No problem,” he murmured back.

“Don’t move! Perfect! Man, I couldn’t plan this.”

Curious, Diane looked at Ron. He pointed to the door frame over her and Hale’s head. He looked up, too. The evergreen bouquet was fixed and ready. Ron burst out into loud, satisfied laughter.

“Don’t just stand there,” he encouraged. “You’re supposed to kiss each other.”

Diane’s gaze flew to Hale’s, her eyes wide with surprise. And fear. She was about to protest but never got the chance.

Hale suddenly seemed to swoop forward and she couldn’t move. The thick wooly beard was ridiculous, but soft and kind of ticklish. Through it she felt the firm, warm pressure of his mouth.

Chapter Three

Hale’s lips did not meet hers.

He kissed, instead, a corner of her mouth. Tantalizingly close, but safe and chaste.

And it was quick.

For Diane, it was that…and, oddly, seemed to take a very long time.

When Hale withdrew, standing back against the open door, Ron began to clap his big hands in loud and sustained approval. The sound seemed to echo somewhere in the back of her brain. Her heart was beating too fast, and even Diane recognized it was because of unexpected heightened emotions. Why was she just standing there, staring at…Santa?

Finally, the sounds of her surroundings, the noise and conversations and closing of doors and crying of babies rushed full force at her, until it all seemed too loud.

“…so I can make a formal intro between you two.”

“What?” Diane asked absently.

“I said—” Ron began, only to be interrupted.

“I’ve got to get out of this suit,” Hale announced firmly. He allowed Diane to pass and closed the office door on both of them.

Diane scowled at Ron. He was beaming at her.

“So now you’ve met Hale. That was quite an introduction.”

“Yes, it was,” Diane said with as much grace as she could muster. “But I have to go.”

“I know, I know,” Ron conceded with regret.

He spread his arms that seemed to have the wingspan of a bald eagle. Diane, smiling in amusement, accepted his warm hug and thanks.

“I’d be happy to come by when I’m free and do a brief checkup on anyone you think needs it, Ron.”

He placed an affectionate hand on her shoulder as Diane headed to the exit.

“Hell, they all need it, Diane. You know these folks don’t have any health care. Anything you can do is always appreciated.” He patted her shoulder and waved her off.

Outside, Diane inhaled deeply several times, grateful for the sudden rush of cold air on her face. She headed toward her car, feeling bewildered by the experience of seeing him at the shelter playing the part of one of humankind’s most beloved icons. Right up there with Mickey Mouse. And Jesus.

The contradiction only confused her more.

Diane put her things in the trunk of her car and sat for a while as the engine warmed her. She stared blindly out the window. It was almost nine in the evening, four days before Christmas. There weren’t that many people about, but then it was cold and she was not in a highly commercial part of town. It was a depressed area that could sorely use gentrification…if anyone, resident or government official, could agree on the need for it.

The shelter was little more than a storefront, with the upper floors roughly converted into dorm-like rooms and shared facilities. It felt enormously sad to Diane that families, children, had to call this place home, let alone spend the holidays here.

People like Ron Jeffrey should be canonized, she considered. But with that also came the image of Hale in the Santa suit. Was he to be blessed, as well?

She was pondering this when the object of her thoughts exited the shelter, dressed down in dark casual slacks, heavy hiking boots, a barn jacket and baseball cap. A dark green-and-red plaid scarf was his only concession to the holidays. Leather gloves stuck out of a pocket of his coat.

She had never seen Hale like this, with the young black professional look, decidedly upwardly mobile. Nice clothes of good quality and well coordinated. Stylish. And handsome.

No, that wasn’t true. Diane remembered her surprise at seeing how well Hale filled out a formal tux at the affair in Baltimore. She frowned as her gaze followed his brisk pace. His car keys ready, he pointed and clicked and the lights of a black SUV blinked on.

Hale was climbing into his car when Diane, spontaneous, bold, determined and without a clue of what she was actually going to do, turned off her engine, got out of her car and hurried across the parking lot toward his.

“Hale! Hale, wait a minute.”

He stopped in midaction, turning his head to watch as she approached. Diane slowed her steps. She suddenly realized that Hale’s expression, what she could see of it in the shadows and under the eerie florescent public lights, showed him tight-lipped. His eyes were hooded. He didn’t say a word but watched her warily.

“I want to say something,” Diane announced.

He put his hand up to stop her. She did.

“Look, I’m sorry. Ron put us on the spot. I shouldn’t have touched you. So, if you want…”

Diane shook her head. “No, that’s not what this is about. Ron meant well. It’s the holidays and all that. You know.”

“Yes. I know.”

He still sounded suspicious.

“I…” She made a vague gesture with her hand. “I just want to say…you were so great with the kids.”

Hale stared silently at her.

“I mean, it was great. And…and dressing up like Santa. You’re kind of thin for the part…”

“Is that a compliment?” he asked dryly.

She chuckled nervously, rubbing her hands together, trying to figure out how to end the conversation that she’d begun.

“I guess it didn’t sound like one,” Diane agreed.

Hale wasn’t doing or saying anything to make this easy for her. He wasn’t being conciliatory or even friendly. Diane sighed. She couldn’t blame him. Two weeks ago when the tables were turned she’d given him no quarter either. In fact, she knew her response to seeing him after so many years had been way over the top.

“If you’re finished, I have to go,” he said, once again turning to his car.

“How’s Jenna?”

He turned sharply and pinned her with a cold stare. “Why do you want to know?”

Diane was shocked by his tone, as if she’d asked something highly personal. She shrugged, becoming annoyed that he continued to treat her like a pariah.

“When I met her she was very pregnant. I only wanted to know if everything is okay. I have a professional interest,” she quickly tacked on.

“Jenna is fine. The baby was born about a week ago. Twenty-four hours before her due date.”

Diane felt a little strange just then. Something had been irrevocably set in time. Hale’s future seemed fixed and tied to two other people in his life.

“That’s…” She stopped and forced a smile. “That’s great. Boy or girl?”

“A boy,” Hale responded, relaxing only a bit. “They’re both good. It was an easy delivery.”

“She’s lucky.”

“Right.” He nodded, was momentarily distracted. Abruptly he again started to get into his car.

“Any name yet?”

Patiently, Hale stood and turned to her. “Quinn. Elliott is the middle name. It’s a family name.”

“Quinn. I like that.”

“Are you done?” he asked softly.

“I was only trying—”

“Yeah, I got that,” he interrupted, arching a brow.

“Yes, I’m done. I wish you, Jenna and the baby all the best. Your wife is very lovely. What a great—”

“What did you say?” He frowned deeply.

Diane stared at him. “I was talking about your wife. Okay, I’m sorry. Girlfriend. Significant other. Baby Mama. Whatever.” She was feeling defensive again.

His mouth and jaw clinched tightly. His eyes were dark with a dangerous glint barely visible under the visor of his cap. She suddenly couldn’t take her gaze from Hale’s face. It was transforming, going through several different emotions but settling on something akin to resignation. Or defeat. Or even disappointment.

What did he have to be disappointed about?

She didn’t want to know.

“Sorry I bothered you. Good night, Hale. Congratulations,” Diane muttered, through with pleasantries. She turned to head back to her own car.

“Do you have to be someplace right now?”

She slowed and glanced back at him, puzzled. “Excuse me? No. I don’t have any plans. Why?”

“I need you to come with me. It won’t take long. Thirty minutes, tops. Get in.”

Diane’s mouth dropped open at this blunt delivery. Clearly Hale didn’t expect her to say no. He was already in the driver’s seat and had turned on the ignition. The motor idled. He waited.

Curiosity getting the better of her, Diane walked around to the passenger side and climbed in. She’d barely closed her door before Hale was on the accelerator, driving out of the lot.

“Where are you taking me?”

“If you were really concerned you wouldn’t have gotten in. Put on your seat belt and enjoy the ride.”

He said not another word. And although she was completely mystified as to where Hale was going, she felt no fear. Several times Diane cast long searching looks at his profile. The clenching of his jaw had not let up. He was upset about something but she couldn’t even guess at what.

Ten minutes later Hale’s car turned down a residential street of row houses. They were beautiful in architectural design but many were in need of repair and restoration. A few were being worked on. One was boarded up. The car slowed in front of a limestone, the entrance door light a welcome beacon on the otherwise dark street. He parallel parked and got out. Then he stood on the sidewalk silently waiting for her to join him.

“Is this where you live?” she asked.

Hale continued to ignore her question. He started up the stairs to the entrance and rang the bell twice. He waited about fifteen seconds before using a set of keys to unlock the door and slowly open it.

“Jenna?” he called in. “Are you home?” He stood waiting just inside a small mudroom space.

Diane, standing just behind Hale, was suddenly sorry she’d agreed to accompany him. From somewhere inside, a small voice called out. Diane could hear no more than, “I’m in the back.’”

“It’s me,” Hale shouted back.

He stepped inside and Diane followed. The first thing she saw was a brand-new baby stroller. Hale stood in the center of the foyer, a staircase to his right and an open room to the left, like a parlor or front salon room. Diane noticed there wasn’t a lot of furniture. No hung pictures although some were framed and leaning against the walls. There was a rolled-up area rug and packed boxes. It was hard to tell if someone was moving in or moving out.

A small figure appeared at the end of the hallway from the back of the house.

“I’m glad you’re here. Who’s that with you?”

“I brought someone who wants to see the baby.”

Hale gave Diane only a cursory glance and he didn’t see the surprised widening of her eyes. That hadn’t been her wish at all.

“You’ve met her before,” Hale said, beckoning to the petite woman, who now joined them near the front door.

Jenna appeared, small and lithe, dressed in jeans and a black sweater. Her hair looked like it hadn’t been combed, but was gathered haphazardly, twisted and secured with a clip. She was completely fresh faced and without makeup and looked incredibly young, sweet and pretty. She had on slippers…and was holding a very small bundle up to one shoulder, her new baby, gently petting him on the back. Jenna greeted them with a pleased smile but immediately reached up to Hale, who had to bend quite a way to accommodate her as they hugged.

Diane averted her gaze, pretending an interest in the pattern on the wood parquet floors.

“We met in Baltimore,” Jenna said to Diane.

“Yes. Yes.” Diane nodded foolishly. Hale then suddenly, carefully, took the baby out of Jenna’s arms.

“Diane was at the shelter tonight,” Hale said as he gazed upon the tiny baby in the crook of his arm.

Jenna laughed. “I bet he looked like something else in that Santa suit. When he told me what he was doing I had to laugh. I wish I could have seen that.”

Diane smiled slightly. “He did a good job. You would have been proud of him.”

Jenna looked vaguely puzzled.

The baby squirmed and fussed and fell silent again.

“Can I see?”

Diane stepped next to Hale and he obligingly tilted his arms so that she could peel back a thin, pale yellow baby blanket and peer into the sleeping face of the week-old infant.

She saw babies all the time on her rounds, with private patients and at clinics and shelters. They came in all shapes, colors and sizes, with and without hair. But they were still largely anonymous. Unless there was a problem that required additional visits or further treatments, the small wizened faces became somewhat interchangeable to Diane. But she found herself staring at this child, studying him and the sweet peacefulness of his face. A tiny fist was curled closed and sticking out of the folds of the blanket. She was tempted to reach out and…

“You don’t mind, do you?”

Diane realized that Jenna and Hale were looking at her. One had asked her a question.

“I’m sorry. What did you say?”

“I need Hale’s help. Will you watch the baby? Just for a few minutes.”

“I…well…sure.”

Hale stood poised to pass the sleeping child to her. Diane hastily took off her coat and turned to accept the baby. As Hale also removed his coat and baseball cap, she moved to a nearby chair and sat down. Hale and Jenna left her alone.

The baby slept. He was breathing softly, now and then working his little mouth in a small sucking motion. The fist open, the fingers stretched and then closed again. He sighed and kicked a leg as he slept. He was so small and warm.

Diane was fascinated. She could not remember the last time she’d actually sat like this and held a baby. Maybe when Bailey or Hayden were babies. She let her gaze roam his perfect features, looking for the parts that were like Jenna. And the parts that were like Hale.

She had no idea how much time lapsed before they returned to the front room, deep in a serious conversation. Hale was instructing Jenna who to call about a malfunctioning refrigerator.

“I’m not going to fool with it, Jen. It’s probably the thermostat. Sorry it wasn’t an easy fix.”

“Me, too.” Jenna sighed. “Especially with having to keep prepared bottles of his milk and formula.”

She reached to take her son from Diane, who released him but then sat feeling somewhat useless. She quickly stood to put her coat back on.

“I thought men knew how to fix anything that ran on power.”

“My husband is actually very good at that. Unfortunately, he’s on the other side of the world,” Jenna chuckled as she soothed the infant who was whimpering. She bounced him gently in her arms.

Diane stared at her. Then she looked at Hale. His expression said it all. She’d made a big mistake and a colossal fool of herself.

“Really? Where is he?”

“Iraq. Second tour of duty, but he got promoted to captain. You can see what happened when he was home the last time,” Jenna said wryly as she smiled, besotted, at her son. “He left me with a special package. Thank goodness for Skype, video calls and Hale. Colby got to see his son just hours after he was born. He said it was the best Christmas present ever.”

Diane didn’t dare look at Hale again. He didn’t have to say anything. Jenna had innocently, effectively, absolved him of all the transgressions she’d blindly heaped upon him.

“I’d say so,” Diane murmured.

“When are your parents arriving?” Hale asked Jenna.

“Tomorrow evening. They’ll be here for two weeks so I’ll get a lot done around here with their help. As you can see, Diane, I’m just moving in. I don’t have family in D.C. but this is Colby’s home. I’m so glad I had Hale to help me before Quinn came along.