The Doctor's Family

He sure hoped Jasmine would consider coming to Denver. Maybe she’d like the big city.

Pulling into the less-than-stellar white clapboard boarding house with the faded green shamrock-shaped sign proclaiming it the Lucky Lady Inn, Jonathan wondered for the hundredth time if this had been the right thing to do.

He’d made a nurse mad after canceling their date to take a few days to come down here. He’d also made the chief of staff mad when he’d told the man he might need to take an extra week to work this out. How would Jasmine react? Would his niece want to get to know him, or would she scorn him the way her daddy had?

Legally he couldn’t force her away from a place where she’d lived her whole life. He was a complete stranger to this girl. But he wanted to be family to her. Jonathan needed this connection, needed to know that somehow he could make up for his past.

He might have to do that right here in Clayton. At least he could visit her here if she refused to come to Denver to see him.

He’d thought about becoming a family man a few times, and too many times he’d stopped himself. Most of the women he knew either wanted more than he could give or didn’t quite need enough. He always managed to drive them away, no matter their own agendas. He’d never found the right fit. But having a niece might bridge that gap and give him some experience in the commitment department.

He couldn’t wait to meet Jasmine. She was his closest living relative, after all. He wouldn’t let the girl think she’d been completely abandoned.

Not the way his brother and he had been abandoned.

The girl might not have a mother and father, and in spite of all the wedding talk she had an uncle who wanted to get to know her and give her a better life. Jonathan made a good living. He could help Jasmine receive a college education, offer her a safe place to live, take her out of this one-horse town and show her all the possibilities of living in the big city. First, he had to get to know her and her fiancé better. And to do that, he’d have to get past that perky brown-haired guardian who wore flowing skirts and apparently knew how to use a gun.

Chapter Three

“What did you say to that man, Arabella?” Jasmine asked the minute Arabella got back from dropping the girls off at preschool. “Cade and I didn’t stay to eat last night but I saw that silver car when we left.”

“I found out why he’s here,” Arabella replied to Jasmine’s rapid-fire question.

Yep, she knew why Jonathan Turner was here. Just thinking about the man had kept her up most of the night. He contradicted everything she wanted to believe about him. He’d gone about things the wrong way, but after talking to him she could almost understand his hesitancy. The man was single and a surgeon. Arrogance personified. Only he didn’t seem all that arrogant. He seemed lost and lonely.

“Who is he?” Jasmine munched on dry cereal, her eyes wide with worry.

Arabella stared at her own cold toast, wondering the same thing. “He’s a doctor from Denver.”

“Why is he here?”

“He was looking for a family member.” Asking God to help her find the strength to tell Jasmine the truth, Arabella closed her eyes and rubbed her temple with two fingers. “And … he’s found that person.”

Early-morning sunshine glinted through the kitchen windows, making Arabella wish she could enjoy the pretty fall day. She had to tell Jasmine the whole story, but so far she hadn’t found the courage. Grabbing her third cup of coffee, she took another sip.

Jasmine tapped her fingers on the counter. “You know something, don’t you? You’re not telling me everything.”

Arabella had to admire Jasmine’s shrewd no-nonsense detector. “There is more… . Go get dressed and we’ll talk.”

Jasmine frowned then headed upstairs, the slump of her slim shoulders breaking Arabella’s heart.

An hour later, Arabella sat with Jasmine in the kitchen. The old house was quiet, its bones creaking and shifting with a familiar kind of sway that usually comforted Arabella. But today it only added pressure to the tight fist holding at her heart.

“Talk to me,” Jasmine said, taking Arabella’s hand in hers. “Is that man here to stop my wedding? Is this something about my daddy?”

Arabella squeezed the girl’s hand, unable to speak.

Jasmine pulled her hand away, the tiny solitaire Cade had given her when he’d proposed twinkling like a baby star on her finger. “I won’t give up Cade. I don’t care how many spies Charley Clayton hires. I don’t care if my own daddy comes back and tries to stop me.”

Arabella winced at that declaration. “That man—he’s not a spy, Jasmine. He’s … he’s your uncle.”

Arabella hadn’t planned to blurt it out that way, but the girl was about to hyperventilate.

“What?” Jasmine held a hand to her chest, her eyebrows lifting, her mouth widening. “What are you talking about?”

“His name is Jonathan. Jonathan Turner. He’s a doctor in Denver and he only recently found out about you.”

Jasmine sank down in her seat. “You’re kidding, right? My daddy has a brother?”

“Honey, I’m not teasing you. I wish I were. And … there’s something else you need to know.”

The girl shook her head. “I can’t take anything else. I can’t believe he’s my uncle. So he’s here to see me, right? That’s why he was following us and hovering around?”

“Yes, but he didn’t mean to scare us. He only wanted to make sure he’d found you.”

“Now that he’s found me, what does he want with me?”

Arabella had to make Jasmine understand, but how could she when she didn’t even understand herself?

“Honey, he had some bad news.”

“What kind of news?” Jasmine backed away as if she already knew what was coming. “What else?”

“Your daddy … he died about a month ago. In a car accident.”

Jasmine didn’t move. She sat staring at Arabella, her mouth parted, her eyes vivid and bright, a raging river of doubt and shock. Finally, her voice cracked. “My daddy’s dead?”

“Yes. I’m so sorry.” Arabella reached for Jasmine but the girl pushed her away. “I … I need to talk to Cade. I want Cade.”

Then Jasmine rushed out of the kitchen and straight upstairs to her bedroom, slamming the door behind her.

Arabella tossed her cold coffee in the sink, then stood staring out at the fall leaves in the backyard. She didn’t want the girls to pick up on her tension. They’d be in preschool for a few hours, but what about lunch? She’d invited Jonathan to come here to meet Jasmine.

Deciding she’d tell their teacher to take them over to the Mother’s Day Out program a lot of the moms in Clayton depended on, Arabella breathed a little easier. That would get her through this awkward lunch at least. Then she’d get the girls and settle into some afternoon baking.

But everything would be different by then. Although she didn’t relish this new development, she squared her shoulders and decided to get on with things. Some changes you just couldn’t stop or fix—like death or divorce or feuding families. She’d tried to fix all of those things and failed miserably.

“I need You, Lord,” she said on a whispered breath. “I don’t know how to deal with this. I’m tough and You’ve seen that. I never knew my daddy and I watched my mother walk away. I watched my husband pack his bags. I stayed by my grandpa, watching him die when no one else would help. I’ve tried to raise my girls the right way. But this—this is throwing me for a loop, Lord. I need You to help me get through this.” Jasmine had come to mean so much to Arabella. She’d already been bracing for Jasmine’s wedding and now this. She’d miss the girl, whatever Jasmine decided.

But after trying with all her might to stop the wedding, Arabella had a change of heart. Maybe because life was so fragile and unsure or maybe because underneath all her bravado, she still believed in love. How would the formidable Grandpa George have handled this situation? He’d probably hire someone to run the doctor out of town. But George Clayton hadn’t been all bad. She remembered how he’d come into the hospital room when the girls were born. He’d stared down at the three little pink bundles without a word. But a single tear had fallen down his rusty old cheek. Then he’d turned and walked out of the room.

That tear had told her more than any words ever could.

Grandpa George loved his great-granddaughters. And he loved Jasmine, too. He’d want Arabella to fight for her home and for her children, including Jasmine.

Why had God allowed them to love Jasmine, to make the girl one of their own, only to bring Jonathan Turner here with bad news? Would he entice Jasmine with his wealth and position? Or would he promise her the moon but then leave and forget her? Jasmine had suffered enough.

Arabella had suffered enough, too. Was she being selfish, wishing Dr. Turner had never found his niece? Like it or not, Jasmine had grown up and was to be married in December. Arabella would have to let her go, one way or another.