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  Johnny ran into the room. Alex followed. Laurel caught her breath and lost track of the conversation. “I’m sorry...Could you repeat the directions...I see...See you at the agency at ten.”

  She hung up and looked at Alex. A scowl made his eyes darken. What had she done? Should she explain? She shook her head. Once she found a house and had a moving day would be soon enough to face losing him.

  *****

  Alex didn’t believe the direction his thoughts had taken. He’d known she wouldn’t stay in Eastlake, so why was he upset about her plans to leave? She had bought a car. He frowned. The staid sedan was hardly the kind of vehicle he’d imagined she would choose.

  He stabbed a piece of steak. She’d promised not to leave without speaking to Johnny. At least she wouldn’t abandon him the way Rhonda had. For months after his mother’s departure, Johnny had screamed in his sleep, been withdrawn and clung to Alex. Johnny was his first concern. His son loved Laurel. Alex groaned. How could he keep her from leaving?

  “Marry her.” Brady’s advice rang in his thoughts. Alex considered the idea. How could he hold a woman who had the means to escape?

  Chapter 6

  On Monday, Laurel visited three houses as bleak and as sheltered as the house where she had spent the first ten years of her life. On Tuesday, the realtor took her to four slightly smaller and marginally less oppressive houses. By noon on Thursday, she realized Anne Sutton had heard about her client’s financial status.

  “Three bedrooms, living room, dining room.” Laurel leaned across the lunch table. “There’s only me. I don’t need six bedrooms and four baths.”

  Anne Sutton nodded. “There is one house on a quiet street. It’s just...just one invests in real estate --” Her voice trailed off.

  “I’m buying a home, not making an investment.”

  The realtor sighed. “Then if you’re finished with lunch, I’ll take you to see it.”

  Laurel read disappointment on the woman’s face and knew only an agreement to take one of the mansions in an exclusive neighborhood would satisfy Anne Sutton. The realtor wouldn’t live in the house. Laurel knew she wouldn’t be happy in a house that was a replica of her childhood home.

  “Thank you. I’m ready.”

  As the realtor parked the car on a tree-lined street in front of a house whose red bricks had faded to rose, Laurel smiled. If she couldn’t live in Alex’s house, she could be content here. She hurried up the walk and paused on the wide front porch. Her thoughts filled with plans. A swing. White wicker furniture. Bamboo blinds that could be lowered for privacy.

  Anne Sutton reached the porch. “The house was owned by an elderly couple. Neither of their children wanted to live here so they put the house up for sale.” She opened the front door. “Unfortunately, though I advised them against selling the furniture, they refused to listen. A house shows much more to advantage when it’s furnished.”

  Laurel entered the front hall. The oak floor gleamed and the walls appeared to have been freshly painted. She glanced into a paneled room on the right side of the hall and decided this would be her study. A door on the other side opened into a well-lighted living room. A kitchen, dining room and powder room completed the first floor. Laurel’s footsteps echoed in the empty rooms and her thoughts raced with ideas for furniture and decorative touches. Upstairs, there were three bedrooms and a spacious bathroom. Stairs led to an unfinished attic.

  She stood in the upper hall. “I’ll take it.”

  “Are you sure?”

  Laurel nodded. “As you may have heard, I make decisions quickly. The house is perfect, and since there’s no one living here, I won’t have to wait to move in.”

  Anne Sutton shrugged. “Whatever. We’ll go back to the office and discuss your offer.”

  “No offer. I’ll pay their asking price. I have the money. Do you think we can close next week?” Laurel started downstairs. The sooner she left Alex’s house, the sooner she could banish her fantasies.

  “I’ll try to set things up.”

  “Thank you.” Laurel smiled. “I start at the hospital in a little over a week and I’d like to be settled by then.”

  When Laurel left the realtor’s office with a firm closing date, she drove to the mall. After buying uniforms, she spent the afternoon selecting rugs and looking at furniture. She wished she could call Megan or Jen to share the news, but one was away and the other at work. Would either of her friends be as excited as she was about the normal life she planned to live?

  *****

  Alex closed the door of his office. “Excuse me.” He wedged his way into Richard Cooper’s monologue. “I don’t know where you’re getting your information.”

  “And you won’t learn. I understand this tramp arrived from Europe where’s she’s been flitting about the world on the arms of god only knows how many men.”

  “She’s Megan’s friend and a nurse. Do you have any idea who her family is?” Alex paced to the desk and sat on the edge.

  “I don’t care.” Richard’s voice vibrated against Alex’s eardrum. “You can do this easy or hard. Let me have Johnny without a fight and I’ll let you visit him. Fight and you’ll never see him again. You don’t have the resources to stop me.”

  Alex gripped the receiver until his knuckles blanched. “Why are you doing this? Does Marisa know?”

  “As much as she needs to know. Do you think she wants to see her step-grandchild hurt?”

  “Now just a minute. No one is hurting Johnny. He’s barely recovered from the trauma of Rhonda’s desertion.” For a minute, Alex couldn’t understand Richard’s shouts. Then they registered.

  “Threw her out. Forced her to sign her rights away. Had a string of women. She told me all you did to her when I held her in my arms as she died.”

  Alex swallowed. Three years ago, he’d sought to save his son and himself from a nasty custody suit. Had he made the wrong choice?

  “That’s not the way it was.” He gulped a breath before he spewed the things Rhonda had done. “Richard, I’m willing for you and Marisa to be part of Johnny’s life. There’s no reason you can’t visit him. He’d like that.”

  “If you’d been a better husband to my little girl, she wouldn’t have been unhappy. You forced her to leave her friends, buried her in a hick town and forced her to have your child before she was ready to settle down.”

  The tic at the corner of Alex’s mouth throbbed like a drum. “I couldn’t be the playboy husband she wanted. She was an immature, selfish person who thought life was one big party.”

  The sound of the phone being slammed reverberated in Alex’s ear. For a long time, he stared at the receiver. What had he done? Why had he argued with a man who wasn’t making sense? He jotted down all the things Richard had said. A chill slid from his spine and gripped his heart. Richard had threatened to kidnap Johnny. Alex dialed Brady’s number and explained what had happened.

  His friend groaned. “I told you not to talk to him and above all not argue. I’ll start some legal actions. Meet me at the Cove at six and we’ll discuss strategy.”

  “See you then.” Alex called Sarah and told her he wouldn’t be home for dinner. He spent a few minutes talking to Johnny. Then he hung up and walked to the examining room where his first patient of the afternoon waited.

  *****

  As Laurel crossed the lawn to the guest suite, she saw Johnny huddled against the door. She dropped her packages and stooped beside him. “Were you waiting for me?”

  He nodded. “Didn’t think you was coming.”

  She took his head. “I’d never leave without saying goodbye. You’re going to visit me, remember?”

  “Don’t feel good.”

  Laurel rose and unlocked the door. “Did you tell Sarah?”

  “Wanted you. Daddy’s not coming home for dinner.”

  How odd. During the weeks she’d been here, Alex’s routine had varied no more than a half hour. She grabbed the packages. “Come in and wait for me. What’s for dinner?�
�� She dropped the packages on the bed and returned to the living room.

  “Not hungry. Froat hurts. Miss Kathy said I’m cranky. Made me lay down. I fighted with Timmy.”

  Laurel sat on the couch and pulled him close. “With your best friend? Tomorrow you can tell him you’re sorry.”

  “Okay.”

  Though he didn’t feel feverish, his listlessness worried her. She rose and pulled him to his feet. “Let’s go see Sarah.”

  When Laurel entered the kitchen, she looked for Sarah. The older woman entered from the hall. She wore a bright flowered dress and carried a white sweater. Johnny slumped on the bench in the breakfast nook.

  “Glad you got back,” Sarah said. “Alex called to say he wouldn’t be home for supper. It’s pot luck and Bingo night at the fire hall. Our regular sitter’s sick. Do you mind staying with Johnny? If you do, we’ll stay.”

  “I don’t mind.” Laurel followed the older woman into the pantry. “Johnny says he doesn’t feel good.”

  “That darn phone call.” Sarah put her hands on her hips. “Every time he calls, Johnny gets all quiet. Kind of like he’s scared.”

  “Who?”

  “His other grandfather. Talked to me once after you come to stay. Asked me a bunch of questions. Should have heard the answers I gave him.”

  Laurel frowned. “What questions and answers?”

  “That you were someone Alex picked up at the airport and you put Rhonda’s gallivanting to shame. That you’re beautiful and on your way to becoming Alex’s bed partner and you needed all Alex could give you.”

  A groan escaped Laurel’s lips.

  “Man has no business wanting to know who you are and what you’re doing here. Told him that.”

  “I think there’s more than the phone call. Johnny says he fought his best friend at school. He’s complaining about a sore throat.”

  Sarah took a loaf of bread from the keeper. “Fightin’s not a bit like him. You think we should stay home?”

  “No reason for you to do that.” Laurel stepped back into the kitchen. “Let me have the pediatrician’s number and the one for Alex’s beeper.”

  “Are you sure it won’t be too much? Weren’t so long ago you was weak as a newborn calf.”

  Laurel laughed. “I feel great. I start at the hospital soon and today, I found a house.”

  “That wasn’t the plan. Megan’s goin’ to be upset you and Alex didn’t take.”

  “She’ll live.”

  “That she will and make us all miserable.” Sarah removed two casseroles from the oven. “Chicken and dumplins for you and Johnny. Just leave the dishes.” She covered the second casserole with foil and wrapped it in a towel. “You know, you’re just what Alex and Johnny need.”

  Laurel shook her head. “Maybe Johnny.” She walked to the breakfast nook and smoothed Johnny’s fair hair. When she bent to lift him, Sarah stopped her.

  “Jake’ll do that. Sit and eat your dinner. I’ll pop him into pajamas.”

  Laurel spooned chicken and dumplings onto her plate, added applesauce and salad. With no company for diversion, she ate quickly. Before going upstairs, she filled a large glass with iced tea and stopped in the family room for a book.

  In Johnny’s room, she pulled the rocking chair to the bedside. Before sitting down, she examined the shelves that lined one wall of the large airy room. Books were interspersed with an assortment of toys. The elephants she’d given him stood on his dresser beside a red flashlight. She walked to the bed and brushed his hair from his forehead.

  He sat up and screamed.

  “Johnny, it’s all right.”

  The screams died to a whimper. “Mommy, Mommy.”

  Laurel lifted him into her arms and sat in the rocker. “Honey, it’s Laurel.”

  His cries quieted. She sat in the chair and rocked in a steady rhythm. He nestled against her. Her hand brushed his forehead. His skin felt warm.

  “Too hot.”

  “I think you have a fever. Is there a thermometer?”

  “In Daddy’s bafroom.”

  She put him on the bed. “I won’t be long.”

  She entered the room across from Johnny’s bedroom. Just inside the door, she stopped and inhaled. The room was rich with Alex’s scent and with each breath, her awareness of her feelings for him grew. Thoughts of Johnny banished her desire to sit on the bed and hold Alex’s robe.

  In the bathroom, she opened the medicine cabinet, grabbed the digital thermometer and stared at the bathing pool, a mirror of the one in the guest suite. How would she ever bathe in the pool again without thinking of Alex? With the thermometer and a bottle of children’s acetaminophen in her hand, she returned to Johnny.

  “Laurel, want my daddy. Don’t feel good.”

  She lifted him into a sitting position. “Let me take your temperature and look at your throat. Then I’ll call him.”

  When the beeper sounded, she looked at the readout. One hundred and three.

  “I’m going to put water in your bathtub. I need to get your temperature down.” She measured a dose of the fever medicine. “Stick out your tongue so I can see your throat.” She turned on the flashlight. “Say ah.”

  “Get my daddy.”

  “After your bath.” She held the medicine cup. “Drink this and I’ll be right back.”

  He swallowed and made a face. “Hurts.”

  “I know. Your throat is red. You’re a brave boy.”

  Once tepid water filled the tub, Laurel stripped off Johnny’s pajamas and carried him into the bathroom. When she lowered him into the water, he shivered. “Cold.”

  She sponged his face and neck with the tepid water. “It’s not for long.”

  Fifteen minutes later, she dried him and put his pajamas on. Then she carried him to his bed. “Be right back. I’ll call your father and the doctor.”

  In Alex’s bedroom, she reached for the phone. First she left a message on Alex’s pager and then called the pediatrician. She was surprised when the doctor answered.

  “My name is Laurel Richmond and I’m calling about Johnny Carter. He has a temperature of one oh three. I’ve given him acetaminophen and a tepid bath. His throat is red. I think it’s strep.”

  “Are you a doctor?”

  “A nurse.”

  “Don’t try to diagnose. Continue what you’ve been doing. Tell Alex if Johnny’s not better in the morning to call my office for an appointment.”

  “Shouldn’t he have a throat culture? Strep is nothing to take lightly.”

  “Young lady, practice your own trade. Don’t tell me how to do mine.”

  Laurel shook her head. She knew she couldn’t diagnose, but she was used to having her suspicions acted on. How could she perform her duties as a triage nurse if the doctors acted with hostility to her reports? Challenge number three, she thought and hurried back to Johnny.

  *****

  “I’ll file for a restraining order,” Brady said. “I have a detective looking into the matter. I’d like to know what’s behind this whole affair.”

  “So would I,” Alex said. “I can’t figure why he never acted three years ago, or immediately after Rhonda’s death.”

  The beeper in Alex’s pocket sounded. He stared at the message. “Come home.” His heart pounded. The tic at the corner of his mouth beat a steady rhythm. “Do what needs to be done. I have to go home.”

  “Your father-in-law?”

  “I don’t know.” Alex hurried across the restaurant and nearly collided with Sam Gray, the owner.

  “Alex,” the dark-skinned man began.

  “Got to go. Catch you later.”

  As he sped home, a number of scenarios arose. Most of them revolved around Richard Cooper. Had the man come to the house and made a scene? Had he tried to take Johnny?

  Alex pulled into the driveway and jumped out of the car. As he dashed into the dark family room, his worry deepened. Usually, Johnny watched television until seven thirty. Alex took the stairs two at a time. He paused
at the top to catch his breath. Relief flooded him when he heard Laurel’s and Johnny’s voices.

  “Love you, Laurel. You feel like a mommy.”

  “Love you, too.” Alex heard a catch in her voice.

  “Would you be my mommy?”

  “We could pretend I am.”

  Alex stood in the doorway. Laurel sat in the rocking chair and held his son in his arms. Maybe we can do more than pretend, he thought.

  *****

  Laurel sensed someone had entered the room. She looked up. The thoughtful expression on Alex’s face made her wonder how much he had heard.

  “What happened?” he asked.

  “Froat hurt,” Johnny said.

  Laurel brushed the child’s hair back. “Temp one hundred three the last time I took it. I was about to give him another tepid bath. It’s too soon for another dose of medicine.” She gulped a breath. “I’d say it’s strep.”

  “The pediatrician.”

  “Took exception to my diagnosis because I’m a nurse.”

  “He’s old school. Sorry.” Alex lifted Johnny from Laurel’s lap. “Start the water for the bath. I’ll do a throat culture and call Jim for a prescription.”

  By the time the tub filled, Alex carried Johnny into the bathroom. “I’ll run the culture to the hospital and pick up the medicine. Jim says he’s sorry he didn’t listen. Will you and Johnny be all right?”

  Laurel smiled. “Having one patient is duck soup compared to my usual assignment.” She stripped Johnny. “It’s into the tub, honey.”

  “Too cold.”

  “When I was in Africa, I watched elephants giving themselves showers. We could pretend you’re an elephant.”

  “Don’t have a trunk.”

  “I’ll fix that.” She returned to the bedroom and picked up a watering can from the toy shelves. She prayed this bath would lower the temperature. If the degrees rose, he was in danger of convulsions.