Marrying the Playboy Doctor

Finally it was time to tuck Ben into bed. His eyes were practically sliding closed, yet he still talked about Dr. Seth.

“Mom? Do you think Dr. Seth would be willing to come over to play football with me and Joey?”

She reached over to smooth his hair away from the dressing covering the sutures above his left eye. “Have you forgotten your broken arm?” she asked dryly. “You won’t be catching footballs for a while. Once your cast comes off I’ll play with you.”

“But you’re a girl,” Ben protested.

A difficult point to argue. And, really, what did she know about football? Not much. “What about Joey’s dad? Doesn’t he play football with you boys?”

“Sometimes. But Joey’s dad goes on a lot of business trips. That’s why I was hoping Dr. Seth would play with us.” His earnestly hopeful face tugged at her heart.

“I don’t know, Ben,” she said, trying to let him down gently. “He’s a very busy doctor at the hospital.”

Ben scrunched up his face. “Doesn’t he ever get a day off?”

“I’m sure he does. But you have to wait a few weeks for your cast to come off anyway, so let’s not worry about that now. How about closing your eyes and getting some sleep? You’ll need to go to day care tomorrow. I bet the kids will be excited to sign your cast.”

Ben managed to smile, even as his heavy eyelids were already sliding closed. “G’night, Mom.”

“Good night, Ben.”

Two hours later she envied Ben’s ability to sleep. She was still tossing and turning. Even a cup of her favorite tea didn’t help. All she could think of was how much Ben must be missing having a father. Why else would he have become fixated on Seth so quickly?

She knew, better than her son, how much misplaced trust could hurt. Hadn’t Tristan left her when she’d needed him the most? Seth was a nice guy, but that didn’t mean he’d be a good choice to even consider starting a relationship with.

She needed to keep Seth at a safe distance.

For Ben’s sake and her own.

CHAPTER FOUR

SETH had picked up an extra night shift for Simon Carter, who’d caught some sort of flu bug. He didn’t mind giving up his Saturday—the ED staff possessed a strong culture of teamwork. The night had been steadily busy, but not crazy, giving him too much time to think about Kylie. Her image would pop into his mind at odd moments, making him wonder how she and Ben were doing.

Not his problem to worry about her son, but he couldn’t seem to stop himself from thinking about Kylie anyway. He’d even run into Cheri, the new nurse from the second floor, in the cafeteria during his night shift, but although she’d been openly friendly with him, indicating she was interested, he hadn’t asked her out as he’d originally planned.

Kylie Germaine was messing with his head, big-time.

He slept in on Sunday, and then prowled around his condo, searching for something to do to keep his mind off Kylie. Belatedly remembering his mother’s box of family photos, which he and his siblings had found after her death, he hauled it into the living room and sat down to sift through them. The pictures of his smiling, happy parents, along with him and his older siblings at various birthday parties and holidays, made him feel sadly nostalgic.

And the sad memories only reinforced the very real reason why he avoided relationships.

They’d lost their father too young. After all these years he still missed him. Missed both his parents. The loss made his chest ache as he looked back over the happy moments captured on film. Even the family camping trips, with all the problems they’d tended to bring, had been fun.

Nothing could bring them back.

Sorting the photos into three stacks, trying to be fair as he divided up the pictures for himself and his siblings, wasn’t easy. When he reached the bottom, however, he realized there was a piece of cardboard that didn’t match the interior of the box covering something underneath. Using his pocket knife, he gently pried up the cardboard, revealing some fragile letters on pale blue paper, a marriage license, and a grainy black-and-white photograph.

The photograph was of his mother, wearing a kneelength white wedding dress, standing next to a strange guy in military uniform. With a deep frown he stared at the picture, trying to see if the man might be a younger version of his father. But the dark hair—his father had been a redhead—and the very different facial structure convinced him they weren’t the same guy. He picked up the marriage license, shocked to discover his mother had gotten married to a man named Shane Andre the year before his oldest brother had been born.

What? How could that be? His father’s name had been Gregory Taylor, not Shane Andre. Angry and confused, he sifted through the papers and found a death certificate for Shane Andre, issued by the United States Air Force. There was also a medal of honor, given posthumously in Shane Andre’s name, for his bravery in attempting to save US hostages in Iran.

Stunned, he stared at the date of Shane Andre’s death for a long time. The truth was staggering. He’d been born mere weeks before Shane’s death. He, Tess and Caleb were all just one year apart in age. His mother had been married to Shane Andre for four years.

Which meant their biological father must have been Shane, not Gregory Taylor, as they’d believed all their lives.

Why on earth would their mother have lied to them? Why wouldn’t she have told them the truth? With an angry swipe, he shoved the paperwork and photos aside and rose with an agitated lurch to his feet.

There was no reason he could think of to hide the truth. Why on earth would his mother keep such a big secret?

The angry pressure was building in his chest so he began to pace, taking slow, deep breaths.