Читать книгу The Doctor and the Single Mum - Teresa Southwick, Teresa Southwick - Страница 9

Adam drove home from the clinic along Lakeview Road, and it hadn’t been called that for no reason. The street curved around the lake and the view was pretty spectacular. Hence the name. The thing was, no matter how difficult his day, looking at the sparkling expanse of water and the tree-covered mountains of Montana seemed to suck out the bad mood and pump up his spirits. At least that part of his career move had gone according to plan. As for the rest, time would tell.

He stopped at the two side-by-side Quonset hut-shaped boxes on the road leading to the house and retrieved his mail, then pulled into the driveway and parked beside Jill’s small, older, gas-efficient car. Somehow it suited her, he thought, copper-colored and compact. But her curves were the kind that kept him up nights because his imagination tried to fill in the blanks of what it would feel like to explore her.

After turning off the SUV, he headed for the house. Rounding the corner, he spotted C.J. sitting on the front step with a baseball glove beside him. His bony elbows dug into his knees, and his face rested in his hands.

Adam stopped in front of him. “Hey, champ.”

“Hi, Dr. Adam.”

“What’s going on?”

“Nothin’.”

“You didn’t get sick from all that ice cream you ate last night, did you?”

The boy shook his head.

“Are you okay?”

He nodded.

This wasn’t the never-still, never-silent child Adam had come to know. Something was up with him. “Why are you sitting here by yourself?”

“My mom is doing homework. She told me to go outside and play.”

Homework? A question for another time. “So, how come you’re not playing?”

C.J. shrugged. “There’s nobody to play with.”

And there was the downside of living on Lakeview Road near Blackwater Lake. The land wasn’t developed and there weren’t any kids right next door to hang out with like a tract home neighborhood. The closest house was almost a mile down the road. Even if a kid C.J.’s age lived there, a vigilant mom like Jill wouldn’t be comfortable letting him walk there on his own. Besides being cautious, she was a busy working mom, not a chauffeur, and badly needed a day off.