quiet for most of the drive.
She pulled into the hospital’s parking lot fifteen minutes later.
“You can drop me off at the main entrance,” Jake said before she could ask the question.
“No!” Brooke suddenly shouted from the backseat. “Daddy, don’t go. Don’t go to the hospital.”
Jake turned as best he could toward the back of the car. “We talked about this, Brooke. I have an appointment and then I’ll be with you again. Millie’s going to take care of you until then.”
“No,” Brooke said again. This time Millie could hear the tears in the young girl’s voice. “You can’t leave me.”
Millie’s heart ached at those words. Jake met her gaze. “What do I do?”
“Brookie-Cookie,” Millie said over the girl’s sniffling, “we’ll walk your daddy into the hospital.” She parked the car in a space as close to the front of the hospital as she could find. “You can see where they’re going to do the physical therapy and the office where his doctor works. If you want, we can stay and wait for him.”
“Okay.” Brooke’s voice was a tiny whimper.
Millie could see a muscle tick in Jake’s jaw but ignored him as she unstrapped Brooke from her car seat and helped her out of the car. Brooke took her father’s hand as they walked toward the sliding doors at the front of the building. She sang a song to Bunny as she skipped along, once again content since she wasn’t being separated from her father.
Millie came to Jake’s other side. “She’s afraid of losing you if you’re out of her sight for too long,” she whispered.
“I could be here for a couple of hours.” He glanced at her. “Do you really want to hang out here all morning?”
“I’m hoping that if she sees the office and maybe meets some people, that will make her feel better and we can leave.” She shrugged. “If not, we’ll stay.” She made her smile bright. “You’re paying me a lot of money to take care of your daughter. I’ll make it work, Jake.”
He led them to the elevators and, once they reached the third floor, down the hall to the rehabilitation and physical-therapy offices. He walked forward, Brooke still glued to his side, to check in at the reception desk.
“I have a nine-thirty appointment,” he told the woman behind the counter.
Millie watched as the woman glanced up then did a double take. She could imagine Jake got that reaction quite a bit, although he didn’t seem to notice. “Oh, my goodness,” the woman gushed, “it’s really you.”
Jake’s expression remained blank.
“Don’t you remember me?” The woman smiled. “I’m Lauren Bell. We went to high school together. You missed the five-, ten-and fifteen-year reunions, Jake. And you were our valedictorian.” She tsked softly. “Of course, I see your brothers around town but never hear anything about you. I know you became a doctor and you travel all around the world. It must be so exciting.”
Jake glanced at Millie with a look that screamed for help. She shook her head.
“It’s...um... Yes, I’m a surgeon.” He held up his arm. “I was a surgeon.”
“Well, we’ll take good care of you.” Her smile faltered as Brooke stood on her tiptoes to see over the counter. “I didn’t know you had a child.”
“Me neith—”
Millie coughed.
“This is my daughter, Brooke.”
Brooke waved and lifted her stuffed animal in the air. “This is Bunny.”
“And your wife?” Lauren asked with a curious glance toward Millie.
“I’m not married,” Jake explained. “Millie is Brooke’s nanny while we’re in town.”
The predatory gleam that flamed in Lauren Bell’s eyes had Millie clenching her hands. “A bunch of us from the old group get together for happy hour at the Two Moon Saloon on Fridays after work. You should join us sometime. If the nanny does evenings.”
“The old group,” Jake repeated slowly. “Yeah, sure, I’ll see what I can do.”
Brooke tugged on his hand. “You won’t leave me, right?”
Millie saw him close his eyes for a moment. When he opened them, he gave a sweet and sexy—damn him—smile to Lauren Bell. “Since we’re friends, Lauren,” he said, leaning forward as if he were sharing a secret, “do you think it would be okay if Brooke had a little tour of the offices before I got started? Maybe you could introduce us to some of the therapists and she could see what I’m going to be doing while I’m here.” He winked. Millie suppressed a gag. “She’s kind of nervous and I’m sure you know all the ins and outs of how things work around here.”
Lauren stood and called over her shoulder, “Rhonda, watch the front desk for a few minutes.” She turned back to Jake. “Does the nanny need to come with us?”
He shook his head without looking at Millie. “Just you, me and Brooke.”
Millie was surprised Lauren didn’t do a fist pump in the air.
“I’ll take you back. Come through that door to the left of the waiting room and I’ll meet you there.”
Jake led Brooke past Millie. “Good start, right?”
She rolled her eyes. “For someone who has no charm, you really laid it on thick just now.”
“Who said I had no charm?”
“Personal observation.”
“I’ve got loads of charm, Fairy Poppins.” He wiggled his eyebrows. “But only a lucky few are on the receiving end of it.”
Millie coughed out a laugh. Without taking her eyes off Jake she said, “Your ‘old friend’ is dousing herself with body mist at the moment. Be careful how you wield that charm, Dr. Travers. It’s quite a weapon.”
He gave a mock shudder. “Let’s go, Brooke, and whatever you do, don’t let go of my hand.”
She saw Brooke squeeze his fingers tighter. “Be back soon, Millie,” the girl said, clutching Bunny to her chest.
Ten minutes later, the door to the waiting room opened again. Millie tossed aside the magazine she’d been pretending to read as Brooke skipped through the door, followed by her father.
“Look, look,” Brooke squealed, running forward to Millie. “I got a stressy ball, and a pen and notepad with the phone number here on it.” She thrust the notepad forward. “So if we need to call Daddy when he’s here, we can.”
“We don’t need to stay?”
Brooke shook her head. “Daddy’s going to text me pictures to your phone so I can keep track of him. And we’ll get lunch ready because he’s going to be really hungry
