His, Hers and...Theirs?

Dan didn’t know if she meant back to New York or the ranch, but he wouldn’t ask. The kids didn’t have any options about where they lived now.

Eva slipped an arm around Kaylee’s shoulder, and the girl leaned into her. It was nice to see her connecting with someone. She’d been a little standoffish with him since he’d brought her to Texas.

He supposed he couldn’t blame her for that. He didn’t know squat about kids, especially girls. And he had a feeling she wasn’t used to being around men, especially the rugged and outdoorsy type.

Moments later, an attractive redhead entered the room. She couldn’t have been much more than an inch or two over five feet tall, but she had a definite, take-charge presence.

She introduced herself to Dan and Kaylee as Dr. Nielson, then greeted Eva. “Is this your family?”

“No,” Eva said. “We’re just…friends.”

Dan would have corrected her if he could have figured out a better answer, but as it was, that would have to do.

As Dr. Nielson slipped on a pair of gloves, then examined the child’s wound, Eva said, “Kaylee’s a little concerned about getting stitches and looking like a pirate.”

“Don’t worry about that,” the doctor said. “I’ve got something much better than stitches for this cut. We’re going to use skin glue instead.”

Dan eased closer, wondering if he’d heard her right. Was she really going to close Kaylee’s wound with some kind of glue? Or was this all part of the magical princess-talk that Eva had been using on the child?

“Cool.” Kevin eased closer to the exam table on which his sister sat. “Can I watch?”

“You certainly can.” Dr. Nielson stepped aside, giving the boy a better view.

When the doctor was finished and Kaylee’s wound was thoroughly cleaned, then sealed, Kevin stepped back and grinned. “It’s too bad all the king’s men and all the king’s horses didn’t have that stuff when Humpty Dumpty fell off the wall.”

The doctor smiled at the boy. “You’ve got a point there. They might have been able to put him together again.”

“So that’s all there is to it?” Dan asked. “That bionic glue will hold together?”

“Yes, it will.” Dr. Nielson removed her gloves and dropped them in the trash. “We can’t use it on all wounds, but it should work out nicely for Kaylee.”

“Just like magic,” Dan said, realizing that it sounded as if he was slipping into the fantasy zone Eva had created. But that’s not what he meant. He was thinking about the marvels of science and modern medicine.

The doctor reached for a clean rubber glove from the box and blew it into a balloon. Then she took a black marker and made eyes and a mouth near the base of the thumb, leaving the fingers to poke up like a Mohawk.

“Cool,” Kevin said. “It has pokey hair like the nurse. Can I have one, too?”

“You bet.” Dr. Nielson handed the blown-up glove to Kaylee, then reached into the box for another.

Dan looked over the sealed wound on his niece’s forehead. He’d had plenty of stitches in his day—the gash in his knee for one—so he knew the routine for that. Kaylee would need an appointment for a checkup and suture removal. But what happened with skin glue?

“Does she need to come back?” he asked.

“Not unless you notice any unusual redness or swelling.” Dr. Nielson gave them some instructions about keeping the wound dry and protecting it. “In fact, after you check out at the discharge desk, you’re good to go.”

“Can I see my owie?” the girl asked.

Dr. Nielson found a mirror, then handed it to her.

As Kaylee peered at her reflection, she scrunched her face. “It still looks like an owie. You didn’t do anything to make the cut go away.”

“It takes time for it to get better,” the doctor said. “The red line will turn pink before it disappears.”

Kaylee didn’t appear to be convinced.

“I think it looks like a fairy kiss,” Eva said. “All good princesses have one, you know.”

The little girl brightened. “Okay. And it’s shiny because of all the fairy dust and magic.”

If Dan was going to have to make up stories to appease Kaylee, she would be out of luck. His brain didn’t work that way. He was more inclined to resort to one of the snide remarks Uncle Hank used to make when Dan had been a kid and had sprained a finger, scraped a knee or stubbed a toe. “Just go rub a little dirt on it and quit your whinin’.”

But Dan couldn’t say something like that to a little girl.

Besides, when he was twelve and had a cut along his thigh from a piece of barbed wire, Hank had used that line on him. He hadn’t realized the old man hadn’t intended for Dan to take him literally, and after following what he thought was sage advice from a real live cowboy, he’d gotten an infection along with a fever. He’d had his own medical emergency after that.

While Dan settled the account and signed the discharge paperwork, Kevin slipped up beside him. “When are we going to eat the picnic food?”

They’d had a late breakfast and hadn’t been hungry when the other picnickers had spread out their lunches. So most of the food Dan had packed for them was still in a cooler in the back of the pickup. But he didn’t feel like eating a bologna sandwich right now.

“I have a feeling that most of the people at the park have called it a day and headed home.” Dan looked at Eva. “You’ve got to be hungry, too. How about going out to an early dinner with us? After that, I can take you back to your car.”

The invitation seemed to take her aback, and before she answered she glanced down at her blouse, which was stained and crumpled.

“We’ll go someplace casual,” he added. “Maybe the Burger Barn or something.”

“Oh, please!” Kaylee said to her new friend. “Come with us, Eva. I don’t want to be the only girl.”

At the child’s request, the tension on Eva’s face eased, and Dan was again struck by her natural beauty. By the delicate arch of her brows, by the thick dark lashes, by the intoxicating color of bourbon in those expressive eyes.

The collar of her blouse, which she’d turned up after removing her scarf, now drooped, revealing the scar she’d probably tried to cover.

“All right,” she finally said. “And as luck would have it, I’ve got spare clothes in my locker at the lab. So if you don’t mind giving me a few minutes to change, I’ll go with you.”

Kaylee let out a joyful little whoop, and Kevin appeared to be just as happy, which only went to show that kids were better off with a woman than a man. Of course, that wouldn’t change the dynamics of the Walker household. They were stuck with two men.

“Do you want us to wait in the car?” Dan asked Eva.

“You don’t have to. Why don’t you come to the lab with me? You can see where I work.”

“Sure,” Dan said. He had to admit that he was curious about where the pretty scientist spent her days. Besides, he didn’t have anything else planned for today, other than grabbing a bite to eat and then heading home.

So he and the kids followed Eva to the elevator and down one floor to the basement, where the lab was located.

Eva let them all in, then asked them to take a seat near the entrance while she changed clothes. “I’ll just be a few minutes, and then I’ll show you around.”

Moments later, she returned wearing a cream-colored, lightweight turtleneck sweater and the same pair of jeans. She’d applied a touch of pink lipstick, and when she smiled, he noted a flush to her cheeks. He didn’t think it had anything to do with makeup.

“Are you ready to check out the lab?” she asked.