The Daddy Plan

On the way to Corrie’s apartment, Sam stopped at the pharmacy to have her prescription filled. She didn’t say a word from when they left the hospital to when they arrived at her town house. He couldn’t tell if she was hurting that badly or just upset with the whole situation.

Jasper greeted her when she unlocked the door. Sam imagined she usually stooped down to pet and play with the cocker spaniel when she came home. To offer her an alternative, he suggested, “Go sit on the couch and he’ll jump up beside you.”

Corrie gave him a look that told him clearly she didn’t want his suggestions. But after she took off her coat, she sat on the sofa and he had to hide a smile. Corrie might be independent, but she was reasonable, too. That was good to know.

Why was that good to know?

He tucked that question away.

She looked surprised when he removed his jacket. “Aren’t you going back to the clinic?”

“I’m going to make sure you have everything you need first.”

“I have everything I need.” Her voice was strained and he’d gotten the message she just wanted to be left alone. But he wasn’t leaving the same way he had last night. Today he’d make sure she was taken care of before he went back to work.

He strode into her sunny yellow kitchen, noticing the philodendron on the windowsill, the gingham place mats on the table and the matching gingham curtains at the window. After he opened the refrigerator, he shook his head. Yogurt and lettuce. Not a great combination in his estimation. The rest of the shelves were bare. Checking her cupboards, he discovered Corrie only bought what she needed. There was a can of this, a box of that and nothing substantial. Her freezer held two frozen dinners. That wasn’t food as far as he was concerned.

In the living room, he picked up his jacket. “I’m going to buy you some groceries.”

“No, you’re not.”

Crossing to the sofa, he crouched down in front of her. Jasper had jumped down onto the floor and was now pattering around him as if he wanted to go out.

“First, I’m going to take Jasper out. That way you don’t have to. Then I’m going to the deli and buy you real food.”

“Like the corned beef you like?” She wrinkled her nose. “Spare me.”

“You’ve made it clear several times you don’t think much of Reuben sandwiches. I get that. But they have great soups, their own baked turkey and an assortment of salads. I’ll bring a little of each.”

“It will just go to waste.”

“Not if I eat lunch with you.”

She turned questioning eyes to his, and her voice wobbled when she asked, “Why are you doing this, Sam?”

He could see she wanted a straight answer. The best he could come up with was, “I regret not taking you to the emergency room yesterday. I should have called emergency services after your accident. I let you convince me nothing was wrong—”

“Nothing was wrong,” she reminded him. “At least nothing I knew about.”

“You should have called me when you woke up and had trouble breathing.”

Rising to his feet, he zipped up his jacket. “You’re too independent, Corrie. If you’re even going to consider having a child, you need a network of people around you who can help out. I’ve seen it with Nathan. Sure Kyle needs his dad, but he needed a mother, too, and now he has Sara. My dad is always on the sidelines helping out and so is Val, Nathan’s housekeeper. I’m around when Kyle just wants to have fun, and Ben fills another spot he needs to have filled. We’re all necessary. Kids thrive when a variety of people care about them, especially if they don’t have brothers and sisters.”

She looked down at her lap, then raised serious eyes to his. “You and I grew up very differently, Sam. I was a loner. Other kids made fun of my hair and my freckles so I concentrated on schoolwork. I found friends in books and my mom was my best friend. After my parents divorced, she worked overtime to supplement what Dad gave us. I took care of myself. Would I want my child to grow up as I did? Maybe not. But I learned self-sufficiency and that’s a good thing.”

He studied those freckles that other kids had made fun of. Reaching out, he dragged his thumb over them. She went still, and he saw that same awareness in her eyes that he was feeling.

Straightening, he commanded, “Come on, Jasper. Let’s take a walk.” Picking up the dog’s leash on a table near the door, he attached it to Jasper’s collar. “I’ll be back in a little while and then we’ll talk about what you really want for lunch.”

Opening the door, he felt as if he were escaping from a powder-keg situation. One too many sparks and…what? He’d kiss her again?

When his imagination started running rampant, he gratefully let the January cold seep into him. Maybe he could freeze his libido into submission.

Sam walked into his brother’s house two hours later as he always did…without knocking. This time, however, he didn’t find Val in the kitchen cooking or Kyle in the living room playing with his fire trucks. What he caught sight of was Nathan and Sara on the sofa kissing. They were so absorbed in each other they didn’t even know he was there.

He cleared his throat…very loudly.

They broke apart like guilty teenagers and both laughed as they spotted him.

“We should have locked the door,” Nathan growled.

Sara rose to her feet first, her pretty face flushed. “Patches is over at the lodge with Kyle and your dad.”

“It’s early for you to be heading home for the day,” Nathan remarked. “Or has Doc decided he likes working at the clinic again and you’re going to shorten your hours?”

“No chance of that. I did have to call him today, though. Something came up and I had to leave for a while. I thought I’d take Patches back with me.”

“Why don’t I go get Kyle and Patches,” Sara suggested heading for the hook at the back door where her coat hung. She motioned to the canister on the counter. “Freshly baked oatmeal cookies are in there.” She stopped in front of Sam. “I’m glad you’re back in plenty of time for the wedding.”

“Have you decided on a honeymoon?”

When Nathan and Sara had come to the cabin after the New Year to tell him their good news and their wedding date, they hadn’t decided yet about going away.

“I made reservations in St. Cloud for two nights,” Nathan explained. “We don’t want to be away from Kyle any longer than that right now. He’s still adjusting to having Sara as a mom.”

“I’ll be right back,” Sara promised, opening the door. She blew Nathan a kiss and then was gone.

Nathan, looking happier than Sam had ever seen him, crossed to the counter and pulled out the cookie jar. “Interested?”

Sam was still worried about Corrie. He didn’t like the idea that she was at her place alone when she didn’t feel her best. “No, I’m fine.”

“Turning down homemade cookies? What’s wrong, Sam?”

“Nothing’s wrong.”

“Why did you need a few hours away from the clinic when you just got back?” Nathan asked, in that olderbrother, I-want-to-know-everything tone.

“As I said—”

“Something came up…” Nathan filled in dryly.

“Yeah.”

This morning, when he’d dropped off Patches, Sam hadn’t gone into detail about why he’d returned to Rapid Creek before Friday, when he’d planned to drive home. He could spar with his brother and sidestep his questions, but there was no point in postponing the inevitable. Sam didn’t keep much from Nathan or Ben and the same was true with them. They’d always been available for each other at the important times in their lives.

Unzipping his jacket, Sam shrugged it off and hung it around one of the chairs at the table. “You know Corrie Edwards?”

“Sure.”