If he takes unnecessary antibiotics, he’ll build up a tolerance and they won’t work when he really needs them.”
“Okay.” Patty nodded. “Is there anything else I should do?”
“Push fluids. Diluted soda. Juice. Popsicles. Water. Make sure his diapers are wet. That means he’s good and hydrated.”
“I’ve been doing that,” Patty told him.
“And if his fever goes up to a hundred and two, bring him to see me in the E.R. at Mercy Medical Center.”
“As if,” Lucy said.
“What?” he asked.
“We can’t afford to go there,” Patty explained, looking apologetic. “No medical insurance. If either of them needs to go to the E.R. I’m not sure what we’d do.”
“Emily will know,” Lucy said. “She always finds a way.”
“I don’t know what we’d do without her,” Patty agreed.
Both girls spoke about Emily Summers as if she had wings, a halo and walked on water. But he knew better. Angels didn’t lie about having a guy’s baby. Just because she’d told the truth about the lump didn’t mean he could forget about the months of his daughter’s life that she’d stolen from him.
There was a knock on the door and Lucy went to answer it. “Hi, Em.”
“Hey. How’s Henry?”
“The doc says it’s probably just a cold,” the teen explained.
“The doc?” Emily took one step inside holding Annie in her arms. “Cal?”
“Hi.” He watched Annie babble something and squirm to get down, but her mom held her tight. That was a good thing since she shouldn’t get too close to Henry.
“What are you doing here?” she asked him.
“I was in the neighborhood,” he hedged.
“Right.” Her tone clearly indicated she didn’t buy that for a second. Without moving any farther inside, she handed a small, white bag to Lucy. “I got the children’s’ Tylenol for you.”
“Thanks.”
“I hope Henry feels better soon,” she said, sending a sympathetic glance in his direction.
“Me, too.” Patty handed him a sippy cup and he started drinking.
“I need to get this little girl home,” Emily said, backing out of the apartment.
Cal followed her, then looked back at the teens. “If you have any questions…”
“Thanks, Doctor,” Patty said. “I really appreciate you looking at him.”
“You’re welcome.”
He followed Emily into her apartment next door. As she bent over to pick up a toy, his attention was drawn to her shapely body. In her sleeveless, white-cotton sundress and matching low-heeled sandals, she looked like an angel. Although there was just enough wickedness in her windblown dark hair to speed up his heart. The wispy silky strands around her face reminded him of all the times he’d run his hands through it while loving her. Something tightened low and deep in his gut, and his hands ached to pull her against him, just like old times. Then he got a good look at the expression on her face.
“What are you doing here?” she asked again. “And we both know this neighborhood isn’t your usual stomping grounds.”
“I stopped by to see Annie.” Mostly.
She set their daughter on the floor. “It would have been nice if you’d called first.”
It would have if he’d actually planned ahead for this. “I’ll keep that in mind.”
As if registering her protest was enough, the indignation seemed to drain out of her. “Thanks for taking a look at Henry.”
“No problem.”
“The girls are barely getting by on welfare, food stamps and small subsidies from a children’s foundation. Without Helping Hands, they’d probably be in a women’s shelter. If they were lucky. The street is the only other option.” A dark look slid into her eyes. “So you can see that private medical insurance isn’t in the budget.”
“They told me.”
“And there’s not enough money to pay for an office visit.”
“Where are the kids’ fathers?” Cal asked.
“Lucy hasn’t seen Oscar’s dad since telling him about the pregnancy. Her parents kicked her out when she broke the news to them.” The disapproval on her face and contempt in her voice said loud and clear what she thought about that. “Henry’s dad, Jonas Blackford, is making minimum wage working for one of the local hotels and he’s taking college classes. An education is the only way to get ahead and make a better life for his son. Financially he does what he can and stops by to see the boy every day. They’re not married, but doing their best to raise Henry together. You have to respect that.”
Did he? When you made a mistake, you tried to do the right thing. That’s the way his parents had raised him. Annie was watching him while she chewed on the yellow plastic key that was hooked to a red, blue and green one. She took it out of her mouth and banged it several times, blinking as if she’d surprised herself. Then she threw them down and crawled over to where he and Em were talking, the first time she’d voluntarily come this close to him. Although from what he’d seen she had no problem with the teens next door. The baby put a hand on her mother’s dress and pulled herself to a standing position while staring up at him.
“So,” he said, “Annie seems pretty comfortable with Lucy.”
“Patty, too. She’s over there all the time. They watch her for me if I have to run to the store, or I get an unexpected call to work and haven’t lined up child care.”
“I could help with that.”
“You have to work, too,” she pointed out. “But I appreciate the offer.”
He smiled at Annie who was blinking up at him and out of the blue, she returned his smile. A big, warm feeling swelled inside him, followed by a free fall into never-ending tenderness. And a sensation of wanting to keep her safe from anything and everything that could hurt her.
“You know Henry’s probably contagious,” he said.
“Poor baby.” She sighed. “Yeah, I know.”
“Annie should keep her distance.”
“Of course. But it’s hard.” She reached a hand down to steady the little girl, then eased her to a sitting position. “She loves those little boys. The three of them are like siblings.”
And like a lot of what was going on lately he wasn’t sure how he felt about that. An instant later words came out of his mouth before he could think them through
