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
