Struck By The Texas Matchmakers

JEFF WATCHED HER rush away, as if he carried a disease. She didn’t seem to like him much. When he’d seen her in her dress from yesterday, he’d intended to apologize and offer her anything he had. But breakfast—and his dream—had distracted him.

With good reason.

He hurried to the shower. He was anxious to see how his surgery patient was doing. Samantha had probably already checked her, but he would drop by her room before he reassured the children.

It was going to seem strange with children in the house. He’d always wanted kids, but his wife said she had too many children in her life as it was since she was a school counselor.

Maybe he’d find out he didn’t want kids after all. That would be good. It would erase some of the regret he felt.

After he’d showered and shaved, he dressed in fresh jeans and a knit shirt. It was wrinkled because he hadn’t gotten it out of the dryer in time, but he hoped no one would notice with his white coat on top.

Of course, his white coat was at the office.

It wouldn’t be the first time. His nurses always tsked at his appearance, but he ignored them. He wasn’t there for a beauty contest.

He went back to Paul’s room when he was ready to find Diane in a snug pair of jeans and a T-shirt, her blond hair pulled back in a ponytail. He thought she looked about ten years old…except for her body. All woman.

“Are you ready, Jeff?” Katie asked, distracting him from staring at Diane.

“Uh, yeah. How about you, Diane?”

“Yes.” She told her brother and sister goodbye and hurried out of the room in front of him. Which gave him an excellent view of her backside. Definitely all woman.

At the bottom of the stairs, she paused and asked, “May I move the child seat to my car?”

“Sure, if you think there’s room,” he agreed with a frown. “I suppose I could run you back here.”

“No, I’ll drive us. I may bring Toby back here and let he and Paul watch each other while I take Janie with me and do a little shopping. Will that be okay?”

“Probably. They can call me if there’s a problem.”

“No, I’ll leave my cell phone number with them.”

“Okay. If it needs charging, you can use my charger while you’re settling them in.”

“Oh, thanks.”

He decided they needed to get away from each other before they got so polite they couldn’t communicate at all. “I’ll see you at the clinic.”

Since it was only two blocks from his house, they wouldn’t have much of a break. At least he might have enough time to concentrate his attention on his patients rather than Diane’s body.

WHEN DIANE GOT TO the room where the two children had spent the night, she discovered a nurse trying to feed Janie while Toby struggled with his left hand.

Janie wasn’t cooperating.

When she saw Diane, the little girl almost leaped out of the nurse’s hold toward her, her little arms stretched out.

“Well,” the nurse said with a sigh, “finally we’ve found something she likes. You.”

Diane lifted the little girl from the nurse’s arms and soothed her. Her gaze went to Toby’s face and she saw loneliness and fear in his gaze. “Good morning, Toby. How are you?”

“Fine,” he mumbled, but his eyes were filling with tears.

“You didn’t think I’d forgotten you, did you?”

He shook his head, but he didn’t look confident.

The nurse surrendered her chair to Diane and picked up Toby’s spoon. “Let me help you finish your breakfast, Toby. You’re doing a really good job, but this way you can eat it before it gets cold.”

“And I’ll tell you why I’m a little late,” Diane added. “You won’t believe what happened.”

“What?” Toby asked, and the nurse slipped in a bite while his mouth was open.

Diane turned the fire into an adventure instead of the disaster it had been. “So we can’t stay with my Mom.”

“Cookie?” Janie asked.

“What a smart little girl you are to remember about my mama’s cookies. But I can make cookies, too. If you eat your breakfast.”

“So we can’t stay with you?” Toby asked, his voice wavering.

“Of course you can, but not at my mother’s house. So, for a day or two, we’re going to stay with the doctor. Do you remember him? He’s taking care of your mother.”

“We haven’t seen her.”

The longing in Toby’s voice brought tears to Diane’s eyes and she fought to keep them from falling. With a smile, she said, “When Dr. Jeff comes, we’ll ask him about her, okay? But he’s a good doctor. I’m sure he’s taking good care of her.”

“I appreciate that vote of confidence,” Jeff Hausen said from the doorway.

“The kids are worried—” she started, embarrassed.

“Yeah. Hi, Toby, remember me?”

The boy sort of nodded, but Diane saw the questions in his eyes.

“I just checked on your mom, and she’s still sleeping. If she were awake, I’d take you to see her, but she needs her rest. Do you mind waiting until later to see her?”

Diane’s heart swelled with pride as the boy bravely shook his head no. He was trying so hard to be the man in the family.

“Nurse, I’ll finish feeding Toby his breakfast,” Jeff said and soon took the nurse’s place. He and the boy had a rambling conversation, covering such topics as pets, favorite foods and friends.