that handsome smile, those broad shoulders on a regular, casual basis?
“This is how we want it,” Gail said, as if she sensed Christy’s reservations. “The kids will handle our absence better if they stay in their normal surroundings. That’s not to say they can’t spend a night or two elsewhere, but we’d feel better knowing they’re in familiar territory and in the same homey, two-parent environment.”
“We know it won’t be easy for either of you because you’re both so fiercely independent, so if it’s a problem, we can ask someone else,” Ty said.
Miss the opportunity to pamper Gail’s kids? Not a chance. Yes, Linc would probably drive her crazy with his rigid, no-time-to-stop-and-smell-the-roses attitude, but she was an adult. She could handle the inevitable clashes.
On the other hand, Linc went to work early and stayed late. Chances were they wouldn’t see each other until the kids went to bed. Afterward, they could each slink into their separate corners.
It was a workable plan, she decided. If it wasn’t, she’d dream up a Plan B. Emma and Derek’s well-being was what mattered, not her personal preferences.
“If you can handle the arrangements we’ve outlined—”
“Piece of cake,” Christy said, although the idea of living under the same roof as Linc gave her some pause.
“Not a problem,” Linc added. “We can learn to live with each other for a few weeks.”
“Good. Then it’s settled.” Gail beamed. “You don’t know what a relief this is for us.”
As Christy glanced around the table, Gail was the only one who seemed remotely satisfied with the arrangement. She saw a combination of speculation and caution in Ty’s eyes as he studied his brother. Linc’s squared jaw and the chiseled lines around his mouth reflected resignation rather than enthusiasm. No doubt her reservations were clear on her face as well.
Living under the same roof was only a two-month gig or less, she consoled herself, and those six or eight weeks were nothing more than a single pebble along life’s riverbed. She could endure anything for that length of time, because the benefits of being with Emma and Derek overshadowed the potential problems. If she could survive breast cancer, she could handle Lincoln Maguire’s idiosyncrasies.
“I know what you’re going to say.” Ty held up his hands to forestall Linc’s comments the moment the two of them were alone on the shaded back-yard patio, “but before you unload, hear me out.”
Linc took a swig from his bottle of cold root beer. “I’m listening.”
“You’re upset we asked Christy to help you, but honestly our decision is no reflection on your parenting abilities. You’ve had the kids before and they came back raving about the great time they had. They love you and I know you love them.”
He did. No matter how busy he was, he’d move heaven and earth for his niece and nephew. They were his family, and even if he wasn’t in any hurry to have one of his own, those bonds were still important to him.
“I can’t imagine a single scenario you can’t handle by yourself with your eyes closed and one hand tied behind your back,” Ty added loyally.
“Thanks for the vote of confidence.”
“After all,” Ty continued, “you kept us on the straight and narrow when you were hardly out of your teenage years yourself. Joanie and I weren’t angels either, if I recall. I’m sure there were times when you wanted to tear out your hair, and ours, too, but you didn’t. When you finally decide to focus on your personal life instead of your professional one, you’re going to be a great dad.”
Linc recognized Ty’s strategy. “You can stop heaping on the praise, pip-squeak,” he affectionately told his brother. “In the middle of all that, I know there’s a ‘but’.”
Ty grinned sheepishly. “I never could fool you for long, could I? The thing is, we’re talking two months. You don’t have the usual nine-to-five job, and we had to think of a contingency plan for the times you work late, go in early, or get called out in the wee hours, because we don’t expect you to put your doctor business on hold for us.”
Linc shifted in his chair, suddenly uncomfortable at hearing how lonely his life sounded, even if the description was uncannily accurate.
“I’ll confess that sharing the responsibility with another person bothered me,” he admitted soberly, “but your way is best for the kids’ well-being. I even see your point about asking us to stay here together.”
He saw the logic behind their request, but he didn’t like it, especially now that he’d seen those small scraps of silk Christy called underwear. How was he supposed to focus on the youngsters when a picture of her wearing a pair of those and just a smile kept popping into his head at the most inopportune times?
He might not find fault with her nursing skills, but taking care of patients wasn’t the same as maintaining a home and looking after the needs of two children on a round-the-clock basis.
Did she even know how to boil water? If the stories circulating about her were to be believed—and he didn’t dispute them because he’d heard her share some of them herself—she rarely sat still long enough for such mundane things. Canoeing down the Amazon, skydiving in California, white-water rafting in Colorado, cross-country motorcycle trips and a few laps around the Daytona 500 speedway were only part of her repertoire of experiences.
Lessons from Martha Stewart or Rachel Ray weren’t on the list.
Her culinary skills aside, he hoped she had more redeeming qualities than being Gail’s friend who was the life of every party and who owned a dog that Emma and Derek loved. As far as he was concerned, they could have handled the nights he was on call on a case-by-case basis, but if this was how his brother wanted it, then he would suffer in silence.
“I’m glad you’re being a good sport about this,” Ty said. “And when you feel your control slipping over the edge, think of your circumstances as some of the medicine you forced down our throats as kids.” He grinned. “It tastes terrible going down, but in the end it cures what ails you.”
Two weeks later, Christy made a point to hang around the nurses’ station to lie in wait for Linc. Ever since their dinner with Gail and Ty, he’d slipped in and out of their unit like a wraith. She knew he was extra-busy right now, with one of his partners on vacation, but she wasn’t completely convinced that he wasn’t avoiding her as well.
As of tonight they’d more or less be living together and she had a few issues she wanted to iron out before they actually became roomies, but those would have to wait. Her patient, Jose Lopez, a recent ruptured appendix case, concerned her.
Her patience paid off. Linc strode in shortly before eight looking more handsome than a man who had spent his day with sick people had a right to. His yellow polo shirt stretched across his shoulders and his hair had a damp curl as if he’d just got out of the shower.
He didn’t walk with a cocky swagger but carried himself with a quiet confidence that suggested no problem was too big for him to solve. She certainly hoped so because today she had one.
She immediately cornered him before he could disappear into a patient room.
“I don’t like
