But, looking back, she wondered if quitting his job in Savannah had been the plan all along. There’d actually been quite a few flags that she’d missed along the way. All because she’d “fallen in love” and hadn’t taken precautions. Then, when she’d realized she was pregnant, she’d been too quick to say yes when he’d asked her to marry him.
But no more. If she ever found herself in a relationship again, she was going to make sure she let her mind do most of the work, rather than putting her heart in charge.
She had no desire to jump into that particular lake again. Maybe she’d wait until Daisy was grown up before dating. When she thought about what could have happened the last night she and Luke had been together...
She swallowed, her hand going to her throat as a phantom ache threatened to interfere with her breathing.
Stop it, Lindy. Daisy is fine. You’re fine.
Leading the way through the door to the cafeteria, she frowned when she spied the doctor she’d thought of as “hunky” just a few minutes ago. Great. Just what she needed.
She hadn’t had to work with him for the last several days, thank God. But she hadn’t really expected to see him here either.
Why not? The man had to eat, just like everyone else.
Just as she was ready to shepherd her mom and daughter back the way they’d come with a manufactured excuse, Zeke’s eyes met hers, narrowing slightly before moving from her to her mom and then to Daisy.
Then he frowned, deep furrows giving his face an ominous look that made her shiver.
Her chin went up. She wasn’t cowering ever again. She had as much of a right to be in here as anyone. She changed her mind about leaving and ushered her mom and Daisy over to the line and got behind them, swinging Daisy up into her arms. “What do you want to eat, honey?”
“Sheeshburger.”
“A cheeseburger? How many of those have you had recently?”
Her mom shook her head. “Hey, don’t look at me. We had plenty of fruits and vegetables to go with yesterday’s burger.”
Lindy’s dad loved to cook out on the grill, and his meals were always delicious. “I was teasing.”
Against her volition, her gaze slid back to Zeke, who she found was still watching her from the coffee bar. The frown was gone, and in its place... Another shiver went through her, this time for a completely different reason. When he snapped the lid onto whatever he’d just poured in his cup, he didn’t move away from them like she’d hoped. Instead, he headed their way.
The shivery awareness died a quick death. She had no desire for her daughter to meet any of her male colleagues. Especially not Zeke.
She wanted her daughter to have a good long stretch of stability to hopefully counteract anything she might have seen sensed or heard during her mother’s disastrous marriage.
Then Zeke was in line with them. “Hi. You must be off today.”
This time it was her brows that came together, until she realized she wasn’t dressed in scrubs. Although there were people who did bring their street clothes to work and changed into them after their shift. “I am. I thought I’d show my mom and Daisy around.”
“Good idea.”
There was an awkward pause, which her mom was quick to fill. “I’m Rachel Anderson. I take it you and my daughter know each other?” She shot Lindy a glance filled with curiosity.
Oh, no, Mom. Not you too.
“He’s one of the pediatric surgeons here at the hospital.” The words came out a little gruffer than she’d meant for them to.
Zeke held out his hand and introduced himself, making her realize that she should have at least told her mom his name. But the momentary awareness she’d felt a few minutes ago had left her flustered, and Lindy didn’t like it. She’d been flustered by Luke as well and look how that had turned out.
“Why don’t you join us?” her mom said as Lindy just stood there, staring at him. Damn. Soon Zeke was going to think he’d been right when he’d said she seemed distracted. She was. And this time it wasn’t by thoughts of her daughter.
It was by the surgeon himself.
“That’s up to Lindy.”
What? Why was it up to her? She did not want to cast the deciding vote. “It’s fine with me.” She shifted Daisy a little higher on her hip, keeping her close. But thankfully Zeke hadn’t shown much interest in her daughter. And Lindy would rather keep it that way.
They somehow made it through the line, although she no longer felt like eating. And it wasn’t due to the quality of the food on offer in front of them. She tried to take one of the two trays her mom was wrestling with, only to have Zeke take it instead. “I’m not eating much, so I’ll put mine on your tray, if that’s okay.”
Great. She guessed it didn’t matter since she’d already said he could join them. “It’s fine. No surgeries this afternoon?”
“I had one in the middle of the night and ended up staying. As soon as I eat, I’m heading home to crash.”
A surgery in the middle of the night was never a good thing. “Was it bad?”
He nodded, a muscle in his jaw tight. “Very bad. A teenager hung herself.”
“Oh, God.” Her mom was thankfully ahead of them, since her lungs had suddenly seized as remembered sensations washed over her. The cramping of muscles starved of oxygen. The blackening of her vision. The realization that if she passed out, it was all over.
Somehow she got hold of herself and swallowed several times to rid herself of the memories. She cleared her throat, somehow needing to ask the question. “Did she make it?”
“Yes. Her trachea suffered a partial separation, and we had to do a tracheotomy and then go in and repair the damage. But she’ll be fine physically. And hopefully she’ll get the emotional help for whatever caused her to do this.”
“How terrible.” Lindy had been fortunate that there’d been no permanent damage to her throat. Nothing to repair. Except her heart. And she was still dealing with some of the fallout from that. Like when Nancy had tapped her on the shoulder. Even after two years of freedom, she was sometimes easily startled. And she tended to walk on eggshells around people, afraid of making someone angry, even though she knew that fear was irrational. But, like her therapist had said, it would take time.
Lindy picked out an egg salad sandwich and a small cup of fruit, while her mom put Daisy’s picks on her own tray. And, yes, there was a cheeseburger. That made her smile.
She still had her daughter. There’d been no custody battles. No lengthy court cases. There’d been no need for anything, other than a coffin, in the end. Daisy would never know her father. But she couldn’t help but think that was for the best.
A minute or two later they were seated at one of the small tables. Zeke yawned and downed a healthy portion of his coffee.
“Sorry.
