asked Human Resources, but he wanted to see if she would balk about answering.
She named a place in the heart of Savannah.
“I thought you said you didn’t transfer.”
“I didn’t.” She gave a quick shrug. “I took a few years off and then decided I couldn’t live without nursing.”
She’d taken a few years off...
It hit him all of a sudden. His glance went to her ring finger. It was empty, but he was pretty sure there was an indentation there where a ring had once been. So she’d been married, but wasn’t any longer? She could have taken some time off during that relationship, but he had a feeling he knew what had caused her inordinate interest in that clock. “I take it you have a child.”
Her mouth popped open and then closed again, the color that had seeped into her face disappearing completely. “How did you know?”
“Just a hunch. The clock-watching had to be for a reason. And you took ‘a few years off.’ I wasn’t trying to pry.”
“It’s okay. She’s three. It’s my first time leaving her with anyone for this length of time.”
Including the child’s father? Something about that made the hair on the back of his neck stand up, although it was ridiculous. Maybe the man had traveled so much that there’d never been time to leave her with him or with anyone else. Or maybe the mark on her finger was a figment of his imagination.
It was also none of his business.
She gave a quick shake of her head as if reading his thoughts before meeting his gaze again. “Well, it was nice working with you, Dr. Bruen—”
“Call me Zeke. Everyone does.”
“Okay...” She drew the word out like it made her uncomfortable. Did she think he was hitting on her? Damn. Nothing could be further from the truth, despite that quick jerk to his senses after seeing her without her surgical mask for the first time. He hadn’t felt that since... Well, in quite a while.
Time to put her mind at ease, if that were the case.
“We’re pretty informal here at Mid Savannah.”
“I guess I’m not used to that. You can call me Lindy, then.”
“What’s your daughter’s name?” He had no idea why he asked that, and the last thing he should be doing was talking about baby girls with anyone. He never encouraged his colleagues to talk about their children, and most of the old-timers knew why. Maybe it was because of how reticent she’d been to talk to him. About anything.
“Her name is Daisy.”
Daisy. He liked that. His own daughter’s name had been Marina.
A shaft of pain arced through him and then was gone.
“Nice name.”
“Thank you.”
His glance went past her to see Nancy, one of the OR nurses, coming up the corridor, heading for them. She touched Lindy on the shoulder, only to have her give a squeak and nearly jump out of her skin. She whirled to the side, face white, eyes wide. She seemed to go slack when she saw who it was.
Her fellow nurse frowned. “Sorry. I didn’t mean to scare you.” She held up a phone. “Is this yours? It was left on the desk.”
“Oh! Yes, it is. Thank you.” She suddenly grinned, her nose crinkling on either side. That smile made her face light up in a way that made his gut jerk even harder. He kicked the sensation away, irritated with himself.
“And you didn’t scare me.”
He wasn’t sure he believed her, but he’d already shown far too much interest in her life—and her—than he should have. The last thing he needed was to have the new nurse get any wrong ideas.
Because there weren’t any to have.
And if he was going to get out of here, now was the time to do it without feeling like he’d abandoned her. “Well, I have a few other patients to see, so if you two will excuse me.”
“Of course.” Nancy sent him a smile, while Lindy seemed to take her time looking at him, her phone now in her hand, her expression wary once again.
“I’ll try to do a little less clock watching the next time we work together.” As if she couldn’t help herself, her lips soon turned up at the edges and those tiny lines beside her nose reappeared.
He swallowed. “Not a problem. If you have any questions about the hospital or how we do things, I’m sure Nancy, myself or any of the other staff members can steer you in the right direction.”
“I appreciate that.”
With that he gave the pair a quick wave, before turning around and heading in the opposite direction. Part of him wanted to solve the mystery of the newest staff member and part of him wanted nothing to do with those kinds of guessing games. Especially if it involved someone who’d recently broken up with their spouse or significant other.
Or who had a young daughter.
Better just to do his job and pretend not to notice what Lindy Franklin did or didn’t do. As long as she did her job, he had no complaints.
And even if he did, he was going to keep them to himself.
For his own good. And maybe for hers too.
LINDY WASN’T TOO sure about bringing her mom and Daisy to the hospital for lunch. Especially not after what had happened with Dr....Zeke. Would he think she was distracted again?
She was off duty, so it was really none of his business.
Besides, she hadn’t been distracted per se. She’d been well aware of what she was doing and what she was supposed to be doing. And none of that involved the hunky surgeon.
Hunky? Really, Lindy? She gave an internal roll of her eyes.
Besides, her mom wanted to see the hospital, and she could think of no good reason to tell her no. And Daisy had seemed excited about eating somewhere other than at her or Mimi’s house.
“It’s hospital food, so don’t get your hopes up.”
Her mom laughed. “I don’t have to cook, so I’m sure it’ll be great.”
“Poor Dad. Is he fending for himself today?”
“No. He’s headed to the lodge to see his buddies. Which leaves me with time to spend with my favorite daughter.”
“I’m your only daughter, Mom.” She flashed a quick smile. “But I’ll take whatever time with you I can get.”
Especially since she hadn’t
