Читать книгу Hot Single Docs Collection - Lynne Marshall - Страница 55

MOLLY WAS IN AWE OF HOW well Dan had handled the wheelchair football game, along with the subsequent meal for Josh’s party, especially the not-so-nice kids like Craig Albert. Scary how much that kid was like his mother.

Just thinking of the way Dan had stared at her in horror when she’d mentioned Stephanie Albert made her feel warm and gooey inside. Clearly, he wasn’t attracted to the woman, not even one little bit. And he wanted a second chance.

With her.

And, heaven help her, she wanted that, too.

She let out a little sigh of relief when Dan pulled into the parking garage beneath his fancy high-rise apartment building. “You don’t have to carry those,” he protested, when she gathered a bunch of Josh’s presents into her arms. “I can make a few trips.”

The way he was falling over himself trying not to take advantage of her made her smile. “Dan, it’s fine. No scorecard, remember?” she chided lightly.

He grimaced and pulled Josh’s wheelchair out, before loading up on gifts and leading the way to the elevator. Josh wheeled himself alongside, with his remote-controlled truck sitting on his lap, as if he wasn’t about to be parted from the gift. She’d noticed that one was from Dan, and she silently approved of his choice. Perfect for now, with Josh being wheelchair bound, yet something he could still use once he was walking again.

Once inside Dan’s home, they stacked the gifts in the corner of Josh’s room.

“You realize you need to write thank-you notes for these,” she said to Josh.

He wrinkled his nose, his face falling in dismay. “I do?”

“Yes. You do.” She fought a grin as Dan sighed heavily at the news. “I’m sure your dad can get them to your teacher, who can hand them out to the kids at school.”

“We’ll work on them tomorrow, Josh,” Dan assured him. “The sooner we get them done, the better.”

“That’s probably best.” She glanced around, and noticed that Josh was bending over in his wheelchair, trying to massage his calf muscles. “What’s wrong?”

“My legs are sore,” Josh admitted.

“Really?” Dan scowled a bit and knelt beside his son’s wheelchair to feel his legs. “That’s strange because we didn’t play the ball game very long this morning. I would think your arms would be sore after the game of wheelchair football, not your legs.”

“Actually, using a wheelchair does exercise the core muscles along with the upper arms,” she felt compelled to point out. “But even with that, it’s possible Josh was unconsciously tightening his leg muscles while he played, especially when he was making those sharp turns on the field.” She turned toward Josh. “You’d better let me massage them for you.”

Dan looked relieved and nodded. “If you wouldn’t mind, that would be great.”

“Of course I don’t mind.” She helped Josh get settled on his bed while Dan brought in the bottle of lotion she’d used last time. “Do you have a heating pad?” she asked. “Heat helps to relax tense muscles, too.”

“I’m not sure, I’ll check.”

As Dan went in search of the heating pad she instructed Josh to roll over on his stomach. She began to massage his lower legs, starting with the gastrocnemius and then moving onto the soleus, which was only slightly less tense.

“Feels good,” Josh murmured groggily, as if he was half-asleep. She smiled, suspecting that the excitement of the day was catching up with him.

“I’m glad,” she said, soothing the angry, tense muscles with her fingers. As before, his right leg was far worse than his left.

“I found it,” Dan said in a low voice, bringing in the electric heating pad. He set it up while she finished the massage. She applied the heating pad to Josh’s right leg and within moments the boy was out for the count, sound asleep.

She followed Dan from Josh’s room, partially closing the door behind her. When they reached the living room, he surprised her by drawing her toward the sofa. “Please sit down for a moment.”

She sat, knowing he meant to continue the conversation they’d started during Josh’s party. She linked her fingers together to hide her nervousness.

He sat in the chair to her right so that he could face her. “Molly, there’s so much I want to say to you, I don’t even know where to start. First of all, thanks for everything you did today. Your idea for Josh’s birthday party was brilliant. And I’ll never forget the look on Josh’s face when he saw all of you standing behind the banner, yelling, ‘Surprise!’”

She couldn’t help but smile. “The look on his face was priceless, wasn’t it? And you did a lot of the work, too.” She paused, and then added, “I’m so happy when I see how you and Josh are together now, compared to the day we first met. You’ve accomplished a minor miracle, Dan.”

“You’re the miracle, Molly,” he said in a low, husky tone. “I owe everything to you.”

“No, Dan, I’m sure you would have found your way back together again, even without my help.” She lifted her gaze up to meet his. “You’re a good father. You love Josh and I’m convinced your love can get you through any thing.”

“Molly.” He reached over to rest the palm of his hand against her cheek. “You have to understand something. I don’t really know much about love. My mother—well, let’s just say I was a major inconvenience in her life. She never once let me forget how everything that was bad in our lives was my fault.”

She felt herself pale, and brought up her hand to cover his. “That’s terrible, Dan. How terrible of her to say those things to you!”

He rubbed his thumb across her cheek, but then pulled away, rising to his feet and turning his back as he began to pace. “Leaving home, going to college and then getting into medical school was the best thing I ever did. Everyone kept telling me what a great doctor I was, how much talent I had. I was at the top of my class, and then quickly rose to the top of my career. And when I met Suzy she claimed to adore me, so I married her.”

He turned to face her, his gaze full of despair, and her heart ached for him. “But she didn’t love me, she only wanted my money. I basically went from one loveless existence to another. Until Josh was born.”

“I know you loved your son the moment you saw him,” she murmured.

“Yes, I did. I do. I’ve been wrestling with guilt over the accident that put Josh in the wheelchair, even though I know the other driver was primarily at fault. Still, I’ve been trying hard to move forward.”

“Dan, surely you realize that the accident might have happened even if you hadn’t been distracted. The guy ran a red light, right?”

“Yes, you’re right. And I’m getting better there, but I’m afraid that without you I’ll fall back into my old patterns.”

“You won’t, Dan. I believe in you. And to be honest, I feel like having me around will only get in the way.” Saying the words, remembering how Josh and Dan had looked as they’d wheeled themselves down to Central Park that day, made her realize why she needed to leave.

Now. Before she lost any more of her heart.

“What are you saying?” he asked hoarsely.

She steeled her resolve. “I’m saying you need to take the time to concentrate on your relationship with your son.” She ignored the cracks rippling through her heart, breaking it into zillions of pieces. “Without allowing anything else getting in the way.”

“Is that really what you think?” he asked, his face pale.

She forced herself to nod. “Yes, that is exactly what I think.” She rose to her feet and forced herself to take a step toward the door. “I care about you and Josh. And I only want you to be happy.”

“Don’t go,” he said, and the tortured expression on his face nearly brought her to her knees.

“I have to.” She lifted one shoulder in a helpless shrug. “I’m sorry, Dan, but I think you need to come to grips with your past and your present before you can even begin to contemplate a future.”

He froze, as if pierced by her words. And in that moment she knew her gut instincts were right.

He wasn’t ready for a true give-and-take relationship. Wasn’t ready to be vulnerable enough to fall in love. For a moment her resolve wavered, because she could see just how clearly he needed someone to love him.

The way she loved him.

Yet didn’t she deserve that same love in return? She’d given herself to James and his sons, and for what? No, she couldn’t bear to have her heart broken again.

So she turned and left his apartment, intent on taking the subway home. And she wasn’t sure which hurt more. Leaving him when she so badly wanted to stay or the grim knowledge that he hadn’t tried to stop her.

The moment Molly left, Dan stared at the closed door, feeling more alone than ever before in his entire life. Worse than when Suzy had left him with their one-year-old son.

But the truth in her words resonated deep within him. Maybe she was right. Maybe he did need to resolve his past and his present relationship with Josh, before he could contemplate a future.

She’d told him he was a good father, but he wasn’t sure if that was really true. His relationship with Josh had come a long way, and he wasn’t about to lose the ground they’d gained, but instinctively he knew that having Molly around wouldn’t distract him. He fought a rising sense of despair. He needed Molly to help show him the way.

He needed Molly to love him.

The way his mother and Suzy hadn’t.

He’d grown beyond his mother’s bitterness, had managed to come out with a great career in spite of her, but for some reason Suzy’s betrayal seemed worse. Because he’d stupidly believed she’d loved him, even though she hadn’t.

He still resented her. For leaving him. For the way she’d spent his money and then tossed him aside as if he wasn’t good enough.

For distracting him the day of the crash. A crash that had almost killed Josh and had left him in a wheelchair.

He sank onto the edge of the sofa, cradling his head in his hands as bitter anger sloshed in his gut like bad whiskey. Maybe Molly was right. Maybe he needed to let go of his anger and resentment before he could move forward.

The image of baby Erica’s parents holding each other, drawing strength from each other, as they’d sat next to the tiny isolette flashed into his mind. He remembered doubting the ability of their love to survive the stress of having a sick infant.

But maybe he had it backward. Maybe the reason his and Suzy’s marriage had fallen apart after Josh’s birth had been because they hadn’t loved each other the way they should have in the first place.

Maybe true love held couples together during times of stress, rather than pulling them apart.

He’d known that things between him and Suzy hadn’t been great even before Josh had been born. She’d made no secret of the fact that she’d hated everything about being pregnant. He’d hoped things would change once the baby was born, but instead they had gone from bad to worse.

He’d loved Josh the moment he’d first seen him, but he hadn’t been an easy baby. Josh had suffered from colic and for those first few months he’d cried for hours on end.

Suzy hadn’t been able to stand it, so he’d walked the floor with Josh, trying to soothe the colicky baby at night, while building his pediatric cardiothoracic practice during the day. He existed on little to no sleep, and it was by sheer luck he’d discovered that putting Josh in the baby swing and running the vacuum cleaner, of all things, had soothed his son more than anything else. Finally, they’d had at least a couple hours of peace and quiet.

Josh had grown out of his colicky phase by the time he was six months old, turning into a smiling, happy baby. But Suzy had still left just after Josh’s first birthday. And he’d tried to manage on his own.

With his growing surgical practice he’d ended up spending less and less time at home, leaving Josh to the care of his nanny. Except for his days off, of course, when he’d had to haul Josh from one sporting event to another. Something he’d started to resent until that fateful crash, where he’d almost lost the one thing most precious to him.

Which brought him full circle, to the day he’d met Molly. The petite firecracker who’d dared to yell at him, had ordered him to get a wheelchair and who’d shown him the importance of having fun.

And what had she wanted in return? Nothing but for him to love his son.

No, wait. That wasn’t exactly true. Over these past few weeks he’d learned a lot about Molly. He knew that deep down she wanted love and a family.

The knowledge hit him in the head like a brick. Of course Molly wanted love. She deserved love.

He was an idiot for not telling her how much he loved her!

He stood, and actually started for the door to follow Molly, before he remembered Josh was sleeping in his bed.

Spinning round, he went to find his phone. Okay, so he’d arrange for a babysitter. Josh might sleep the rest of the night anyway, and he wanted to talk to Molly. Now. Before it was too late.

Too late for what, he wasn’t sure, but the sense of urgency wouldn’t be denied.

He dialed Mitch’s number, hoping and praying the college kid had another exam coming up. Or at the very least, wasn’t already out partying on a Saturday night.

And if Mitch wasn’t home, he’d call every babysitter he knew until he found someone who would come over. Because he desperately needed to see Molly again.

She deserved to know the truth.

He loved her!

Molly was reading in bed, finding it difficult to focus on the murder mystery while trying not to think about Dan. When her apartment buzzer sounded, she started badly. With a frown she pulled on her robe over her pajamas and went over to the intercom. “Who is it?”

“It’s Dan—will you please let me come up?”

Dan? What on earth was he doing here? She glanced helplessly over her shoulder at her messy apartment, but pushed the intercom button again. “Uh, sure. Come on up.” She pushed the middle button, which unlocked the door, and then ran her fingers through her tousled hair.

She probably looked awful in her ratty robe and no makeup, but there wasn’t time to make herself look presentable. Besides, why should she care what she looked like? She’d spent the last two hours trying to forget about Dan and Josh, convinced she’d done the right thing by walking away. Giving them the time they needed. That they deserved.

So why was he here?

He rapped on her apartment door, startling her from her thoughts. Full of apprehension, she opened the door. “Hi, is Josh okay?”

“He was still sleeping when I left.” Dan stepped inside, forcing her back a few steps, and then closed the door behind him. “Thanks for letting me come up. I really need to talk to you.”

She glanced at him uncertainly. “Dan, I’m not sure there’s anything more to say—” she began.

“I love you,” he interrupted.

She blinked, opened her mouth and then closed it again. Was she dreaming? She must be because she couldn’t believe what she was hearing. Somehow she managed to find her voice. “Excuse me?”

“I love you.” He took a step toward her, and she instinctively took a step back. “I love you, Molly Shriver. I know you think I need to concentrate on my relationship with my son, and I will. But I don’t want to lose you, either.”

Her knees went weak and she tried to wrap her mind around what he was saying. She desperately wanted to believe him, but what if she was wrong? “I don’t understand.”

“Then I can’t be saying it right,” he muttered, and before she realized what he was about to do he pulled her into his arms and slanted his mouth over hers in a hot, deep kiss.

She melted against him, wanting to be in his arms more than she wanted to breathe. When he lifted his head a few moments later, she swallowed a protest.

“I love you, Molly,” he said again, for the fourth time. And, heaven help her, she was actually starting to believe him. No one, not even James, had ever looked so serious and sincere when saying those three little words. Dan’s love beamed from his heart up to his eyes. “You’ve brought sunshine and joy back into my life. I know I don’t deserve you, but I can’t bear the thought of losing you.”

The conviction in his voice and the expression of hope on his face shook her to the core. Here was this dear man who’d never had anyone love him offering his heart to her. She felt awed and humbled to be on the receiving end of such a gift. “Oh, Dan—you haven’t lost me. I was only going to give you and Josh some time to be together, that’s all.” She realized that by walking out on him she’d done the same thing as his ex-wife. She couldn’t prevent her eyes from filling with happy tears. “I love you, too, Dan. So much that it scares me.”

“You do?” He looked almost afraid to believe her. “My career is time-consuming, but I want you to know that I plan to put my family first. You and Josh will always come first.”

“I know your patients need you, Dan. Josh and I will always support you, no matter what, because we love you.”

“Molly …” His voice broke and he swept her into his arms again, burying his face in her hair. “I love you so much.”

Before she could say anything more he picked her up, strode into her bedroom and kicked the door shut behind them.

The next week passed in a blur as the work that had stacked up while Dan had been away now teetered over him like a potential avalanche. He didn’t get nearly enough time to sneak over to share lunch with Molly or to get home in time to share dinner with Josh.

Thankfully, he wasn’t on call the following weekend and was determined to make up for lost time with Molly and Josh by inviting her over for dinner on Friday night.

He was grateful to Gemma, who’d made a beautiful pan of lasagna, which meant all he had to do was to toss a salad together and open a bottle of wine.

He was nervous because he’d purchased an engagement ring and was planning to ask Molly to marry him. Tonight. Which was probably rushing it.

He should wait. But he didn’t want to. He wanted the whole world to know she belonged to him.

When the door buzzer went, his heart leaped into his throat. “I’ll get it,” Josh shouted, as he hurled his wheelchair toward the door.

“Hi, Josh. Hi, Dan,” Molly said, as she stepped into the living room.

Conscious of Josh’s keen gaze, Dan gave her a quick kiss, despite how badly he wanted to linger. “Hi, Molly.”

“Something smells delicious.” Her warm gaze, full of love, settled his nerves. “What can I do to help?” she asked.

“Nothing. I have everything ready to go.”

As they wandered into the kitchen, she asked his son about his day, listening intently as Josh described how he’d managed to pull a B on his latest math test. As Dan poured the wine and then started the salad, he found he enjoyed listening to them.

“Mitch helped me a lot,” Josh said. “Some of the mistakes I made were stupid.”

“Well, don’t beat yourself up over them,” she chided. “Just remember next time to go slowly and double-check your work.”

As they sat down for dinner, Dan was struck by how much they already seemed like a family. His love for Molly overwhelmed him.

When they’d finished the meal, he took the dirty dishes into the kitchen, leaving Molly and Josh alone. When he returned a few minutes later he stopped in the doorway when he heard Molly talking to his son. “Josh, I have something very important to ask you.”

“You do?” Josh’s eyes widened, as if sensing the seriousness in her tone. Dan stood stock-still, just out of sight, wondering what she was about to say.

“Yes.” Molly actually looked nervous as she took Josh’s hand in hers. “Josh, I love you. And I love your dad. I want to ask you if you’ll let me marry your dad and become your new mother.”

“For real?” Josh whispered, his brown eyes growing even larger. “You’re going to marry my dad and be my new mother?”

She nodded slowly. “If you’ll let me.”

“Yes! Of course we’ll marry you!” Josh cried, and he launched himself at Molly, who caught him in a huge hug.

Dan watched them, his heart swelling with love, respect and pride. He stepped forward, capturing her gaze with his. “I think I’m the one who’s supposed to pop the question,” he murmured with a smile. He pulled out the small velvet box holding the engagement ring, opened it and slid it over to her on the table. “I was hoping to ask you later tonight.”

“Really?” she gasped, and her eyes welled up with tears. “I’m sorry.”

“Don’t be.” He reached over to pull the two most important people in his life close to his chest. “Just say yes.”

“Yes,” she whispered, burrowing close. “A thousand times, yes.”

He smiled with satisfaction as he held his future.

His family.