a single mom,” Becky muttered. “Not dead.”
“So what are you going to do about it?” Kristen asked.
“There’s nothing to be done.” Becky placed the digital device she used for electronically entering patient data on the charging station. She wasn’t going to admit to these three women that she’d offered to repay him for his kindness and he’d all but bolted from her.
Maybe it had been the minivan or her silly musings about the pregnant stranger or the reality of a woman with two toddlers in tow. Any one of those would have been a turnoff to a man. Add to that her reputation in town as the grieving widow and it was no wonder Callum had made a quick exit.
She’d obviously mistaken the intriguing thread of attraction between them or it had been all one-sided. No one would blame her for harboring a few harmless fantasies about a man like Callum, but that’s all they were.
“My brother’s insulation company is working on all of the Fortune Brothers Construction projects.” Kristen tapped a finger to her chin, her green eyes sparkling. “I could get him to tell me when Callum is at one of the job sites and you could make an appearance there. He said all three Fortune brothers are really hands-on.”
Sharla laughed again. “I’d like some Fortune hands on me.”
Becky shook her head while the other two women joined in the joke. “I can’t just show up at some construction site. What am I going to say? Remember me and will you hold one of my babies while I change the other one’s dirty diaper?”
“Not the best pickup line I’ve heard,” Samantha admitted.
Becky hadn’t ever used a line on a man. Rick had been her first boyfriend. They’d met at freshmen orientation and dated through college, waiting to get married until after graduation because that’s what her family wanted. He’d been an only child and not really close to his parents, who lived on the East Coast. Her mom and dad had expected her to hold off on marriage even longer, and their constant reminder that she and Rick had their whole lives to settle down had irritated Becky from the start. If she knew then what she did now, she would have married him right away so that they could have had more time together as a family.
No one could have predicted the car accident that had killed him, and Becky would always be grateful for the years he’d been a part of her life. But often she stayed busy, gave everything she had and more, because she was afraid if she ever stopped moving it might be too difficult to get up again.
“I’m not interested anyway,” Becky lied. “I have too much going on to think about—”
“He’s here,” Sharla whispered.
All three of Becky’s coworkers glanced at a place directly behind her, then quickly busied themselves.
As the fine hairs along the back of her neck stood on end, Becky turned around and came face-to-face with Callum Fortune.
“Hello,” he said, running a hand through his thick mane of wavy dark hair. “I hope I’m not interrupting.” He was dressed more casually today in a blue button-down shirt, dark jeans and cowboy boots. Callum looked perfect and she was painfully aware of her messy bun and the shapeless scrubs that were her work uniform. She glanced down to see some sort of crusty stain—probably baby spit-up—on her shoulder. Great. He looked like he owned the place, which he sort of did, and she was a scattered mess.
“Nope.” Becky cleared her throat when the word came out a squeak. “I’m just finishing my shift and about to pick up the girls from day care.”
She gave herself a mental head slap. Like he needed a reminder that she was a single mom with two young daughters.
“I’ll walk with you,” he offered.
“Oh.” She stood there for a moment, trying to remember how to pull air in and out of her lungs.
“You remember where the day care’s located, Becky?” Sharla asked from behind her. “Far end of the building and to the right.”
She narrowed her eyes as she glanced at the other woman. “I remember. Thanks.”
Callum offered a friendly smile as they started down the hall. “How’s work going?”
“It’s great,” she said. “The facility is really great. The staff has been—”
“Great?” he asked with a wink.
“Sorry,” she said automatically. “I’m always a little brain dead at the end of the day.”
“Understandable. I can’t imagine balancing everything you handle.”
“It’s not a big deal.” She hated drawing attention to her situation. Becky found that the best way to stave off being overwhelmed was not to think about it. “I like to stay busy. What brings you to the center?”
She frowned as Callum seemed to stiffen next to her. Had she said the wrong thing again?
“Um… I needed to check on…some stuff.”
“Sounds technical.”
That drew a smile from him, and she felt inexorably proud that she’d amused him, even in a small way.
“I didn’t mean to rush off the other day after the ribbon cutting,” he told her as they approached the door that led to the child care center. “I think I interrupted a potential invitation for dinner, and I’ve been regretting it ever since.”
Becky blinked. In truth, she would have never had the guts to invite Callum for dinner. She’d been planning to offer to cook or bake for him and drop it off to his office as a thank-you. The idea of having him to her small house did funny things to her insides.
“Oh,” she said again.
“Maybe I misinterpreted,” Callum said quickly, looking as flummoxed as she felt. “Or imagined the whole thing. You meant to thank me with a bottle of wine or some cookies or—”
“Dinner.” She grinned at him. Somehow his discomposure gave her the confidence to say the word. He appeared so perfect and out of her league, but at the moment he simply seemed like a normal, nervous guy not sure what to say next.
She decided to make it easy for him. For both of them. “Would you come for dinner tomorrow night? The girls go to bed early so if you could be there around seven, we could have a more leisurely meal and a chance to talk.”
His shoulders visibly relaxed. “I’d like that. Dinner with a friend. Can I bring anything?”
“Just yourself,” she told him.
He pulled his cell phone from his pocket and handed it to her so she could enter her contact information. It took a few tries to get it right because her fingers trembled slightly.
He grinned at her as he took the phone again. “I’m looking forward to tomorrow, Becky.”
“Me, too,” she breathed, then gave a little wave as he said goodbye. She took a few steadying breaths before heading in to pick up the twins. Don’t turn it into something more than it is, she cautioned
