Читать книгу I Do! I Do! - Jacqueline Diamond - Страница 8

When she got to the clinic, he might be waiting. Or on his way, driving from his ranch in the pickup truck.

Gina Kennedy’s step quickened as she hurried down Mayfair Avenue in the early morning quiet. Her shift in the intermediate-care nursery didn’t start for half an hour. What was her hurry?

His dark eyes would warm when he came in. The other nurses would sneak glances at him, but his smile would be for Gina alone.

On a humid July day like this, Austin, Texas, felt more like the Old South than the Wild West. Gina could feel her hair wilting, even though the full heat wouldn’t hit for hours yet.

She glanced at her reflection in a shop window. The straight, light-blond hair that brushed the tops of her shoulders was a bit damp, but holding its own thanks to a heavy dose of mousse.

Critically, she examined the way the nurse’s uniform clung to her figure. Gina knew that some of her friends envied her narrow waistline and well-proportioned bust, but she’d always wished she were taller. Tall enough to measure up to a big, brooding man.

He exuded power. It wasn’t only the intensity of his gaze, but the way he dwarfed everyone around him.

Yet he handled those tiny babies with such incredible tenderness that she couldn’t help wondering what kind of lover he would be.

Gina gripped her purse strap. Why on earth was she daydreaming about Mason Blackstone? This was the first time in her twenty-nine years that she’d fantasized about a man. Why did it have to be someone beyond her reach?

From the Austin Eats Diner, the smell of bacon, pancakes and maple syrup wafted toward her. Gina smiled. She would like to see Mason tackle a meal like that. No doubt he’d make short work of it.

To maintain her trim figure, she stuck to cereal or whole-wheat toast for breakfast. Still, she liked to see a man eat, a man who earned his Texas-size appetite through old-fashioned hard work.

Mason’s ranch was a two-hour drive northwest of here, he’d told her. Most nights during the past two months, he’d made the trip back there to ensure that everything was functioning properly.

Once in a while, though, he stayed over at a hotel in Austin. He’d never suggested that they get together after hours, which, Gina told herself, was a good thing. The two of them were wildly ill-suited. Besides, it would be inappropriate as long as she was caring for his premature twin nieces.

She would like to see him polish off a steak and potatoes just once, though. The possibility that he might choose her for dessert sent a small thrill down her spine.

Foolish make-believe, that’s what she was indulging in. A rough-and-ready guy like Mason needed a sturdy ranch woman who knew one end of a horse from the other. Once he took the little orphaned girls home, he would have nothing in common with a sheltered, daydreaming neonatal nurse whose brief relationships with men always ended when she refused to hop into bed with them.

Gina walked alongside the sweeping front driveway that led to the Maitland Maternity Clinic. After graduating from nursing school at the University of Texas here in Austin, she was lucky to have landed a job at the modern, family-run facility that served rich and poor women alike.

In her half-dozen years on the staff, she’d come to think of the clinic as home. She always looked forward to coming to work each day, more than ever in the two months since Mason and his little nieces had become fixtures in the nursery.

He hadn’t arrived yet this morning, she saw. Usually, his extended pickup truck with a covered bed loomed over the other vehicles in the parking lot. Still, he might pull in at any minute.

Heading for the employee entrance, she hurried inside to tuck her purse into her locker. In the corridor, she was about to dodge by Ford Carrington, the clinic’s pediatric surgeon, when he said, “Miss Kennedy? Could I speak with you a moment?”

Although he was handsome, with a reputation as a playboy, Gina knew him as a dedicated doctor, one who rarely had occasion to speak to her. “Yes, Doctor?” she said.

“I wanted to say I think you’ve done a superb job with the Blackstone twins.” Ford paused as if mentally reviewing the case. “Daisy’s made a much faster recovery from her hernia operation than I expected. From what Katie Toper says, your TLC has helped compensate for the tragic loss of their mother.”

“Their uncle’s the one who deserves the credit.” Gina didn’t believe she deserved praise for doing what came naturally, although she appreciated the good word from Katie, a fellow nurse who often assisted Dr. Carrington. “Besides, there’s something special about those girls.”

“Don’t sell yourself short, Gina,” he said. “You’ve helped give those little girls a fine start in life.”

“Thanks, Dr. Carrington.” It was almost seven, and after he turned away, she had to hurry to reach the nursery on time. It was worth it, though, to receive praise from a man she respected so highly.

For the last three years, Gina had been assigned to the intensive and intermediate-care nurseries. Due to the low staff-to-patient ratio, she had time to grow attached to her little charges, but none had affected her as much as Daisy and her twin sister, Lily.

Maybe it was the fact that their father had died in a car crash before they were born, and their mother had succumbed to her injuries less than a day after giving birth. Maybe it was because the little girls, struggling for life despite their fragility, reminded Gina in some ways of herself.

They seemed like the daughters she’d hoped someday to have but perhaps never would. Her future was a growing concern as she neared her thirtieth birthday, less than a month away, without a boyfriend in sight.

Gina pushed aside personal concerns as she entered the staff area of the nursery. Katie was already there, updating charts from the night shift.

“How is everything?” Gina asked.

“Quiet.” Her friend smiled. “Thank goodness. The Lopez girl is going home today and the Simmons boy’s temperature is back to normal.”

“By the way, thanks for putting in the good word with Dr. Carrington,” Gina said when Katie finished.

“He spoke to you?” The other nurse waited, as if hoping for more.

“He complimented me on showing affection to Daisy and Lily. It would have been hard not to!”

“How did he look?” Katie probed. “He didn’t get enough sleep night before last. Did you notice any dark circles under his eyes?”

“He looked perfect. As always.”

Katie sighed. It was well known among the nurses that she had a long-standing crush on the surgeon. His chosen companions, however, were stunning model types, not down-to-earth nurses.

Gina couldn’t help but sympathize. Not that she had a crush on Mason Blackstone. She was too practical, she told herself firmly.

Besides being her opposite in many ways, he’d never even hinted at wanting a relationship. So soon after the deaths of his brother and sister-in-law, it was unlikely he thought of her as anything more than a caretaker for his nieces.

After she pinned back her hair, scrubbed and put on a sterile gown, Gina went into the nursery. She was assigned to four patients, including Lily and Daisy.

“Good morning.” She smiled down at Daisy. “Let’s check those bandages and weigh you, shall we?”

The next half hour passed quickly, taken up with checking medications, weighing, feeding and changing all four babies. Matters were complicated by the fact that, before being handled, they had to be detached from monitors that warned if their respiration or heartbeat ran too low or too high.

As she fed Lily, Gina regarded a small bare patch on the baby’s crown, where, like Daisy, she’d been fed intravenously during her first few weeks. It seemed a shame that the girls’ earliest photos would be marred. Still, it was a minor flaw, and the hair would grow out quickly.

“You won’t even remember it by prom night,” she assured the baby.

“What won’t she remember by prom night?”

The baritone voice startled her out of her reverie. How had Mason heard her, all the way across the room?

“I was teasing her about her bald spot.” Gina tried to sound normal, although, as usual, Mason made her breath come faster.

Against the pastel decor of the nursery, he loomed large. The brawny chest and shoulders were developed as only a cowboy’s could be, strong enough to rope a calf or dig a post hole. As he reached to put on a sterile gown, she glimpsed a yoked shirt tucked into jeans, a leather belt dominated by a Mexican silver buckle, and a pair of polished dress boots.

He removed his Stetson and set it aside, crown side down. Thick black hair, a testament to his Native American heritage, sprang up defiantly.

Gina drank in every inch of his appearance. Soon, he and these precious babies would vanish from her life. Not too soon, though, she hoped.

“You’re already planning their senior prom?” Mason gave her a rueful smile as he crossed the nursery. “I can hardly think beyond how often to feed them and how many diapers to buy!”

She finished feeding Lily, noted how many ounces she had taken, then rolled the baby onto her stomach to burp her. At scarcely four and a half pounds each, the babies were still a bit fragile to hold against the shoulder.

“You’ll do fine,” she said. “Also, didn’t you say your housekeeper has experience with babies?”

“Bonita can manage, but she isn’t an expert like you.” He offered a finger to his niece, who gummed it happily. “May I take her?”

“Of course.” As Gina guided the tiny baby into his grasp, their hands touched. The brief contact sent heat flaring through her.

She struggled not to show how profoundly this man affected her. It would only embarrass them both. Maybe it was a good thing he didn’t feel the same way.

Gina had vowed long ago to save herself for the man she would someday marry. As the prospect of marriage grew more and more remote, she sometimes doubted her resolve. What she didn’t need was a man like Mason tempting her.

Lily nestled into her uncle’s arms and stared up at him. Although the baby hadn’t started smiling yet, Gina knew her well enough to read the alert interest that indicated the infant was emotionally engaged. That was a technical way of saying she loved her uncle.

As for Mason, his emotions were written across his tanned, high-boned face as he returned his niece’s gaze. There was enough warmth shining there to light the dark corners of the universe.

Gina snapped back to duty as the nursery door opened and Dr. Ephraim Rogers entered. The graying pediatrician scrubbed, donned a sterile gown and came into the main nursery.

By then, she had the charts ready for him. They discussed each of the other two babies, agreed on some minor changes in their care, and then moved to Lily and Daisy.

“You certainly are a devoted uncle, Mr. Blackstone.” The doctor shook hands with him. “These girls are doing well. Have you given any thought to who will care for them when they’re released?”

“I will,” he said. “With the help of my housekeeper.”

The doctor nodded. “She should come into the hospital to learn infant CPR.” Mason had already undergone his training. “Also, we’d like to show her how to use the apnea monitors we’ll be sending home with the babies.”

“Monitors?” His forehead creased. “No one mentioned this before.”

“It’s a precaution,” Dr. Rogers said. “It’s much simpler than these devices they use in the hospital. Just a belt that wraps around their chest. I can understand your concern, Mr. Blackstone, and I know you live out on a ranch. Aren’t there any female relatives who could take these girls?”

Mason drew himself up to his full height, which gave him the advantage over the doctor. “I can take care of them. My late sister-in-law’s parents aren’t in good health, and besides, I consider Lily and Daisy to be my own daughters. I’ll bring my housekeeper here for training.”

“In that case, I’m going to write a release order for tomorrow,” the doctor said. “Congratulations, Mr. Blackstone. It’s time to take your daughters home.”

With another handshake, he departed. Mason stood staring after him.

Gina was grateful that the girls had been pronounced well enough to leave. And devastated that she would never see them, or their uncle, again.

HE’D BEEN AWAITING this good news eagerly for weeks. Now that it had come, Mason felt a shock of dismay.

How would he sustain these tiny girls without the assistance of trained medical staff? He knew his own skills and capabilities as a rancher, whether it came to managing finance, tending an injured calf or repairing anything from a bridle to a pickup truck.

But babies? What if something went wrong? He could never forgive himself.

It also meant that, after tomorrow, he would never see Gina Kennedy again. Of course, he knew she was too delicate for ranch life. And that he wasn’t husband material.

Yet he’d grown to depend on the quiet strength revealed in her blue eyes. Each day, he felt he knew her a little better, until it seemed that she had been a part of his life forever.

It made no sense. Her upbringing, as she’d described it one day while they were chatting, was so different from his that she might as well have come from another planet. He was a down-home Texas man, through and through. She had an air of sophistication that had developed as her engineer father moved the family to Kuwait, Alaska and Japan before settling in Austin.

Mason ought to be glad he was free to take the girls home. Instead, he kept longing to spend more time with Gina, to touch her soft hair, to grip that tiny waist and lift her onto his lap, to kiss her until time stood still.

She replaced Lily in her bassinet. “That’s wonderful news.”

“Is it?” he asked.

“What do you mean?” Some emotion he couldn’t identify fleeted across her face and vanished almost immediately. “If you’re worried, you could arrange for a private nurse. There must be someone in the town near your ranch. What’s it called—Horseshoe Bend?”

“I wouldn’t need to go that far for help. The girls will have a ready-made family on the ranch,” Mason said, to reassure himself as much as her. “Some of my cousins live there.”

She gave him a fleeting smile. “Does your housekeeper have children?”

“Actually, no,” he admitted. “She never married. But she raised one of her nephews, and she takes care of her mother. Nana lives with her in the village.”

“In Horseshoe Bend?”

Mason shook his head. “The village is a cluster of houses on my property, just down the way from the big house. My cousin Ed—he’s the foreman—and his family have their own house. So do a couple of ranch hands, and Bonita and her mother.”

“Aren’t there other children?” she asked. “For the girls to play with when they get older?”

He hadn’t thought beyond their infancy. Certainly playmates hadn’t entered his mind. “Not at the moment,” he admitted. “I can look for a family man though. I’ll need to hire someone to take my brother’s place.”

A wave of pain hit him, one that hurt no less for having become familiar during the past two months. No one could replace his brother, not in any sense of the word.

Gina dragged him back from his dark thoughts. “Get plenty of sleep tonight.” She took out a clean crib sheet, frowned at what appeared to be a freshly changed bassinet, and put the sheet back in the cabinet. “You’ll need it.”

She was, he realized, avoiding eye contact. He wished he knew what was upsetting her.

“I can manage without sleep if I have to,” he said. “I’ve done it before.”

“Not with two premature infants to take care of, you haven’t!”

Mason caught her shoulders. It was the only way to hold her still so he could address her. “Don’t tell me that you doubt me, Gina. Not you of all people.”

Trapped, she raised her face toward his. He’d never seen the blue of her eyes so brilliant and glittery. It was, he realized, the effect of tears.

“You’re going to miss them, aren’t you?” he asked gruffly.

She swallowed hard and nodded.

“You could…come and visit.” Even as he said it, he knew it wasn’t feasible. “Besides, a beautiful woman like you will have babies of your own. I’m surprised you don’t already.”

“Haven’t met the right man yet, I guess.” She ducked away.

At least he understood what was bothering her. It was Lily and Daisy. She’d grown to love them, just as he had.

Did she react this way when all of her patients left? He wished he could read her moods better.

“Mr. Blackstone?” One of the other nurses signaled to him. “Eleanor Maitland wants to talk to you.”

“Much obliged.” Through the glass window of the nursery, he saw the hospital administrator waving from the corridor.

A daughter of Maitland Maternity founder Megan Maitland, Miss Elly—as he’d heard her teasingly called in a reference to the TV series Dallas—was only twenty-five, the same age as the hospital. She wore glasses and tailored suits that made her look a bit older than her age, but not by much.

“Maybe she has some words of advice about the girls,” Gina said. “After all, she’s a twin herself.”

“I guess I’ll find out.” Regretfully, he turned away. He wished Gina could come into the hall with him. Heck, he wished she could come all the way to the ranch with him.

There was no point in deluding himself. Mason couldn’t picture the doll-like blonde living on the Blackstone Bar Ranch. And why would a pretty girl like her want to tear herself away from Austin’s music clubs and, no doubt, her many admirers?

On the way out of the nursery, he shrugged off his gown and dropped it in the laundry container, then collected his hat. Elly Maitland met him at the door.

“Congratulations,” she said. “Dr. Rogers tells me the girls are going home.”

“Yes, ma’am.” Mason gripped the hat in both hands. Give him a stray heifer to rope any day over the need to carry on polite chitchat.

“You know, there’s a good chance the press will be here tomorrow when they’re released,” she said. “There’s been a lot of interest in the twins.”

The deaths of both parents, orphaning the little girls, had stirred the public’s curiosity. Also, there’d been interest in the fact that two sets of twins had been delivered at the clinic on the same day.

Despite his absorption with his family’s double tragedy and his nieces’ medical progress, Mason had noticed the Winston boys, Henry and Hayden, and how their mother hovered over them. He hadn’t seen the father, though, and hoped matters had improved between the couple since the boys had gone home.

Elly seemed to be waiting for a response, so he said, “I’m aware of the media interest, ma’am.”

“If you like, we can arrange for you to leave by a rear entrance,” she said.

He shrugged. “I figure I can weather a few gabby reporters.”

“That’s fine, then.” She cleared her throat. “There is one other thing, Mr. Blackstone.”

“If it’s about the bill—”

“No, no,” she said. “The paperwork’s gone through fine.”

He was glad to hear it. Every spare minute of the past two months had been spent on one form of paperwork or another.

Through the glass, he could see some other parents arriving in the nursery, asking questions of Gina. She answered them in the same kind, steady manner she used with Mason himself.

After tomorrow, he and the girls would be gone. But for Gina, everything would continue, undisturbed. For some reason, that prospect irked him.

“Mr. Blackstone?” Elly said. “Are you all right?”

“What?”

“You seem distracted.”

“I’m a mite tired.” That was the truth. “It’s a long drive between here and my ranch.”

“Well, that’s about to end, isn’t it?” she said. “One way or another.”

“Excuse me?” He didn’t like the sound of that phrase.

“I just received a phone call from Stuart Waldman,” she said. “That’s what I needed to talk to you about.”

“My brother-in-law called you?” The Dallas attorney was married to Mason’s older sister, Margaret.

After Rance and Amy’s funerals in Horseshoe Bend, Stuart had offered his legal services to deal with the couple’s estate. Neither of the Waldmans had visited Austin to see their nieces, however.

“Apparently someone notified him, as the attorney to your brother’s estate, that Lily and Daisy are being released,” she said. “He and your sister will be here tomorrow.”

“Why?” Mason hoped he didn’t sound as irritable as he felt. Eight years his senior, Marge still regarded him as her kid brother. Furthermore, since childhood she’d had a way of hogging the limelight, performing a small amount of work and expecting a large amount of credit.

“He said your sister intends to raise the babies herself.”

Mason’s gut tightened. He’d gone through so much with these little girls. What the heck did Marge think she was doing?

If she loved them even a tenth as much as he did, she’d have come to Austin long ago. She’d have camped out, as he had, unable to bear missing a single day with them.

“My sister has no right to these children,” he said.

“According to your brother-in-law, she believes she could provide them with the best home,” Elly said mildly.

“The best home is the one where they’re loved.” He couldn’t keep an edge from his voice.

“I won’t disagree with you,” the administrator said.

“Did Stuart happen to mention why they never brought this up until now?”

“According to him, your sister needed time to ‘clear the decks’ of other involvements,” she said. “Still that wouldn’t prevent her from picking up a telephone and calling you, would it?”

Mason knew quite well why his sister hadn’t contacted him directly—because she didn’t want to give him a chance to speak bluntly. Acknowledging painful truths had never been Margaret’s favorite activity.

“She wants to take charge and be the center of attention,” he said. “In a few months, she’ll get tired of playing nursemaid and turn them over to a series of nannies. That may sound uncharitable on my part, Miss Maitland, but I’ve known my sister for a long time.”

“You understand that, no matter where my sympathies lie, I can’t get involved.” She tapped a pen against her clipboard. “Mr. Waldman asked me to delay the girls’ release for another day, to give them more time to get here. However, there’s no medical reason to hold them, so I declined.”

“Much obliged,” Mason said.

“It was the least I could do.”

As the administrator departed, the full impact of this development hit him. He might lose the girls. If Margaret was determined to take Lily and Daisy, she would have the odds stacked in her favor.

A lawyer for a husband. An elegant home in Dallas. Three nearly grown kids of her own as proof that she knew how to raise children. A judge wouldn’t understand that, to Margaret, the baby girls were ornaments to show off, while Mason loved them with all his heart.

He must have been scowling when he returned to the nursery, because several people scooted out of his way. Gina didn’t budge. “What’s wrong?”

He became aware of the other nurses and parents around them. It was too personal a subject to discuss here.

“There’s a problem I’d like to discuss with you,” he said. “But not here. Could I take you out to dinner after your shift?”

Mason caught his breath, realizing that he’d just asked her on a date. Of course, she would refuse—politely and sweetly, but firmly. Why should she agree to spend time with him?

“Something’s wrong that affects the girls? Of course,” she said.

Suddenly it wasn’t a date, just a conference about the twins. He wished he didn’t feel so disappointed.