Unlocking the Surgeon's Heart

“What about Ria?” she asked. “I’d hate to board her for that length of time.”

“She’s welcome, too,” Ty answered. “In fact, I know the kids would be thrilled. They’ve been asking for a dog for some time, and looking after Ria will give them a taste of what pet ownership is about.”

Satisfied by how easily that potential problem had been averted, Christy relaxed. She imagined her Labrador and the kids playing Frisbee in the large Maguire back yard and could hear the children’s laughter interspersed with Ria’s excited woofs. They’d have a great time.

“Second,” Gail continued, “the fall term starts next week so the kids will already be in a routine before we leave the week after that. On the days Christy doesn’t work, you’ll have to take them to school and pick them up at four, which shouldn’t pose a problem.

“The days you both work are little trickier as there’s a two-hour window when Linc would be on his own. One of the neighborhood high-school girls—Heather— can come by around six-thirty to fix breakfast and take them to school. She’ll come sooner to cover that window if Linc’s on call, but you’ll have to let her know the night before.

“Then, at the end of the day, the kids can walk across the street to the church’s after-school daycare until Christy’s shift ends at five. The daycare is open until seven, so that works out well.” She smiled. “Repeat as necessary.”

“It sounds as if you’ve thought of everything,” Christy said.

“We tried,” Gail answered.

“Do Emma and Derek know you’re asking me?” As Linc stiffened beside her, she corrected herself. “I mean us?”

“It was the only way they’d agree to being left behind,” Gail admitted ruefully. “I suspect they think you’ll cater to their every whim. I know what a pushover you are, Christy …” she softened her statement with a smile “… so I’m counting on you to be firm.”

“Be firm,” she repeated. “Got it.”

“Don’t kid yourself,” Ty warned. “They’ll push you to the max. You can’t be the benevolent aunt and uncle. This isn’t a weekend vacation.”

“In other words, you expect us to give them a healthy breakfast, send them to bed on time, and eat dinner before dessert,” Linc said.

His sidelong glance made Christy wonder if he’d mentioned those things purely for her benefit. Didn’t he think she had an ounce of common sense? He obviously suspected she’d offer cookies and cake for breakfast, lunch, and dinner, and let them stay up as late as they pleased. While she didn’t consider herself a rule-breaker, she also knew that every moment should be lived to its fullest. If a few rules had to be broken on occasion, then so be it.

Now that she’d raised the question in her mind, she took it a step further. Did he have the same lack of faith in her nursing skills as he obviously did in her parenting abilities? There hadn’t been a single incident when he’d questioned her patient care, but she’d ask him when they were alone.

“We’re asking a lot from both of you,” Ty added, “but you were first on our list.”

“I appreciate the vote of confidence,” Christy said. “Count me in.”

“Me, too,” Linc added. “We only need to choose which days are yours and which are mine.”

She nodded, although she would have preferred having Linc suggest that she be their sole caretaker while he filled in when his schedule allowed. Clearly, he wanted equal, or as near equal, time as possible.

Darn the man!

“Actually, we want you both to stay here,” Gail said. “Together.”

Christy met Linc’s startled gaze and guessed that her own surprise mirrored his. “At the same time?” she asked redundantly.

Gail nodded. “That way, if Linc gets called out for a patient in the middle of the night, he won’t have to worry about the kids because you’re just down the hall. You two won’t have to rearrange and juggle your own schedules, so it’ll be less disruptive for everyone.”

They wanted her to stay here, in their house, withLinc? Christy had a difficult time wrapping her brain around that concept. While they were amicable enough to each other at the hospital, being together twenty-four seven meant they’d drive each other crazy within a week, and then where would the kids be? Most likely in the middle of a war zone.

What concerned her even more, though, was the simple question of how would she handle being in such close proximity to a guy she found so attractive? If seeing him in a scrub suit and interacting with him on a purely professional basis made her nervous and sent her imagination soaring, how would she manage if she saw that handsome smile, those broad shoulders on a regular, casual basis?

“This is how we want it,” Gail said, as if she sensed Christy’s reservations. “The kids will handle our absence better if they stay in their normal surroundings. That’s not to say they can’t spend a night or two elsewhere, but we’d feel better knowing they’re in familiar territory and in the same homey, two-parent environment.”

“We know it won’t be easy for either of you because you’re both so fiercely independent, so if it’s a problem, we can ask someone else,” Ty said.

Miss the opportunity to pamper Gail’s kids? Not a chance. Yes, Linc would probably drive her crazy with his rigid, no-time-to-stop-and-smell-the-roses attitude, but she was an adult. She could handle the inevitable clashes.

On the other hand, Linc went to work early and stayed late. Chances were they wouldn’t see each other until the kids went to bed. Afterward, they could each slink into their separate corners.

It was a workable plan, she decided. If it wasn’t, she’d dream up a Plan B. Emma and Derek’s well-being was what mattered, not her personal preferences.

“If you can handle the arrangements we’ve outlined—”

“Piece of cake,” Christy said, although the idea of living under the same roof as Linc gave her some pause.

“Not a problem,” Linc added. “We can learn to live with each other for a few weeks.”

“Good. Then it’s settled.” Gail beamed. “You don’t know what a relief this is for us.”

As Christy glanced around the table, Gail was the only one who seemed remotely satisfied with the arrangement. She saw a combination of speculation and caution in Ty’s eyes as he studied his brother. Linc’s squared jaw and the chiseled lines around his mouth reflected resignation rather than enthusiasm. No doubt her reservations were clear on her face as well.

Living under the same roof was only a two-month gig or less, she consoled herself, and those six or eight weeks were nothing more than a single pebble along life’s riverbed. She could endure anything for that length of time, because the benefits of being with Emma and Derek overshadowed the potential problems. If she could survive breast cancer, she could handle Lincoln Maguire’s idiosyncrasies.

“I know what you’re going to say.” Ty held up his hands to forestall Linc’s comments the moment the two of them were alone on the shaded back-yard patio, “but before you unload, hear me out.”

Linc took a swig from his bottle of cold root beer. “I’m listening.”

“You’re upset we asked Christy to help you, but honestly our decision is no reflection on your parenting abilities. You’ve had the kids before and they came back raving about the great time they had. They love you and I know you love them.”

He did. No matter how busy he was, he’d move heaven and earth for his niece and nephew. They were his family, and even if he wasn’t in any hurry to have one of his own, those bonds were still important to him.

“I can’t imagine a single scenario you can’t handle by yourself with your eyes closed and one hand tied behind your back,” Ty added loyally.

“Thanks for the vote of confidence.”

“After all,” Ty continued, “you kept us on the straight and narrow when you were hardly out of your teenage years yourself. Joanie and I weren’t angels either, if I recall. I’m sure there were times when you wanted to tear out your hair, and ours, too, but you didn’t. When you finally decide to focus on your personal life instead of your professional one, you’re going to be a great dad.”

Linc recognized Ty’s strategy. “You can stop heaping on the praise, pip-squeak,” he affectionately told his brother. “In the middle of all that, I know there’s a ‘but’.”

Ty grinned sheepishly. “I never could fool you for long, could I? The thing is, we’re talking two months. You don’t have the usual nine-to-five job, and we had to think of a contingency plan for the times you work late, go in early, or get called out in the wee hours, because we don’t expect you to put your doctor business on hold for us.”

Linc shifted in his chair, suddenly uncomfortable at hearing how lonely his life sounded, even if the description was uncannily accurate.

“I’ll confess that sharing the responsibility with another person bothered me,” he admitted soberly, “but your way is best for the kids’ well-being. I even see your point about asking us to stay here together.”

He saw the logic behind their request, but he didn’t like it, especially now that he’d seen those small scraps of silk Christy called underwear. How was he supposed to focus on the youngsters when a picture of her wearing a pair of those and just a smile kept popping into his head at the most inopportune times?

He might not find fault with her nursing skills, but taking care of patients wasn’t the same as maintaining a home and looking after the needs of two children on a round-the-clock basis.

Did she even know how to boil water? If the stories circulating about her were to be believed—and he didn’t dispute them because he’d heard her share some of them herself—she rarely sat still long enough for such mundane things. Canoeing down the Amazon, skydiving in California, white-water rafting in Colorado, cross-country motorcycle trips and a few laps around the Daytona 500 speedway were only part of her repertoire of experiences.