Assignment: Baby

“You think?” Truth was he didn’t have a clue how babies were supposed to look.

“How old is she?”

“Uh…nine months.”

Mandy kept staring at him, and he felt compelled to fill the silence. “Who’d have thought in a million years we’d be working together again?”

“If I can finagle it, we won’t be working together.”

He finally popped open the powdered formula can. “I told you—it’s a done deal,” he said. “Baby and all.”

Amanda pondered the incongruity of their current situation. When they’d married, they’d agreed to put their careers first and forever. And because she’d worked so hard the stress had caused her to miss a period. The fleeting possibility of being pregnant had changed her outlook on babies so drastically she’d known she could no longer agree to a life without children. Even though she hadn’t turned out to be pregnant, she’d already made that choice. She wanted a family, not just a degree. But Hunter hadn’t budged. “You promised you never wanted children,” he had repeated, over and over.

“Life is certainly full of surprises,” she said under her breath now, as she removed the soiled disposable diaper, thinking she couldn’t have made up a wilder story if she’d tried. She and Hunter working together while he took care of his niece? She shook her head. “Speaking of surprises, you’ll need to actually read my syllabus if you insist on being my mentor.”

He nodded. “I know. And I will.”

“I’ve got everything broken down day by day,” she said, trying her hardest not to think about how wonderful it felt to hold a real live baby in her arms. “Like I said, we’ll start with physical examinations tomorrow. I’ve arranged for two exam rooms on the first floor. You can do the men and I’ll do the women.” She concentrated on Sophie, cleaning her porcelain fine skin with a moist baby wipe, trying not to succumb to her charm. “We need to get labs drawn and EKGs.”

Back then all she’d wanted was Hunter and a baby…and an advanced degree. Wast hat too much to ask? And here they were.

“We’ll do stress tests on Thursday, and by Friday we should have our group divided for the physical training portion.” If only things could have been different. This could be their baby and they could be working as husband and wife… Where was she now? She didn’t dare look into his eyes.

“Oh, and you’ll have to follow the diet while you’re involved. I know how you like your double-double cheeseburgers, but that’s out of the question for now.”

He nodded while fiddling with the formula can and half- heartedly measuring out a scoop for the bottle. “As far as my eating is concerned, you’ve got me all wrong. Since Dad died from a stroke I’ve opted to change the one thing I have control over. My diet.”

“I’m so sorry to hear about your father, Hunter. Did you ever have a chance to work things out?”

He somberly shook his head.

Amanda had finished the diaper change and now sat yoga- style. Hunter attempted to join her and almost spilled the formula. His knees were high off the floor and his back was hunched awkwardly. Completely unnatural, and obviously in pain, there he sat. She tried not to think how silly he looked, and almost felt sorry for him. Almost.

Without being asked, Amanda took the scoop from his hands and read the label. Sophie, tired of playing with her toes, rolled over and crawled across the floor.

Amanda mixed the powdered formula into the water and studied Hunter. Why not state the obvious? “It’ll be tough working together.” She sighed. “But we’re adults, Hunter. And if you insist on staying, I’ll just have to get used to it.”

Shaking the bottle, Amanda tried to get Sophie’s attention. When the baby noticed, she immediately crawled over and sat. She grabbed the bottle with both hands and stuck it into her mouth. Amanda tried not to react to how cute that was. Glancing at Hunter, she noticed an apathetic glaze in his eyes. Obviously his mind was elsewhere, and he was no more interested in babies today than he’d been when they were married.

It being tough to work together was the understatement of the century. Mandy watched him with her sea-blue eyes and he remembered how he’d never gotten tired of looking at her when they were a couple. Being around her day after day would be torture.

He wished that things hadn’t gone so sour between them. But, like she’d said earlier, life was full of surprises. Like when she’d had a sudden change of heart about wanting babies. Both being young and stubborn to a fault, and compromise being a foreign word, they had foolishly lost everything.

And here they were.

She stood up and dusted her hands on her workout pants. His knees cracked when he joined her. Her pants seemed baggy. She clapped her hands together and stared him smack in the face.

“Have you lost weight?”

“Did you break your nose?”

They asked the questions in unison.

“Yes.”

They shared an awkward moment at having spoken at the same time twice. Eyeing each other suspiciously, they let their respective questions lie for another time.

Sophie dropped her bottle, crawled between them and slapped at Hunter’s pant leg.

He picked her up. “It’s way past her bedtime,” he said, letting his gaze linger an extra moment on Mandy’s face. Being this close put him off balance. “And I’ve got an hour’s drive home.”

She scratched her cheek and shifted her weight back and forth. “Right. Have you made childcare arrangements?”

He shook his head. “It’s going to be traumatic enough for Sophie not to have Jade around. I can’t bring myself to drop her off anywhere with strangers. My medical assistant and I have been working things out at the Mercy clinic.”

She nodded and lifted her chin. “Then we’ll just have to do our best to work around Sophie, too, I guess.”

Their eyes locked in benign accord. “Thanks for understanding.”

“No problem,” she said, and quickly glanced down. “Jade was my friend, too.”

But as far as Hunter was concerned, he did have a problem. A major problem. The very thought of being around Mandy day in and day out, with all the memories, concerns and longings it would dig up, made the monumental task of single-handedly caring for Sophie feel like a mere stroll in the park.

CHAPTER TWO

AMANDA glanced at the clock on the wall of the tightly packed office. Two desks had been crammed into a space that had once been an exam room. She and Hunter would be painfully close in here but would have to make do, since she’d go to any length for the heart study and her article. She could almost touch her dream, and if dealing with her ex-husband and all the baggage he brought with him was the price she’d have to pay to reach it, so be it.

Amanda had her reasons for advocating diet and exercise to avoid invasive procedures, and she’d put her nursing career on the line for the Mending Hearts Club program. Promoting holistic heart health was the best option, and nothing would stop her from moving forward as planned.

Not even Hunter.

Confronting Hunter last night had practically sent her into palpitations, and had come in a close second to the shock she’d felt after her recent diagnosis. Sure, they’d acted mature and civil toward one another, but the emotional storm raging beneath the surface of her carefully orchestrated facade had almost pulled her into its depths in the process.

Memories steamrollered through her mind. She remembered what a fine doctor he was, and how gentle he could be one moment, as well as how he could become an unsympathetic oaf the next. And she asked herself questions—questions about why they couldn’t have handled their dilemma differently, like agreeing to postpone a baby discussion for another time instead of both getting swept up in a temperamental standoff. She’d made the mistake of thinking they were soul mates. That if she’d been the true love of his life he’d have done anything for her. But they’d been young and headstrong. And once the baby bug had bitten Amanda, their future had changed, whether Hunter had been ready to deal with the fact or not.

A never-ending parade of thoughts had kept her awake most of the night. And a tiny voice still kept wondering if maybe their marriage could have survived.

She didn’t really know Hunter anymore. Their lives and circumstances had evolved, and now they were nothing more than business professionals working on the same project. But he’d made it clear he wasn’t involved with anyone. Why would he do that with a mere project partner?

She stepped outside the second-floor office and tapped on the first door—a makeshift exam room that used to be a supply closet.

“Mrs. Anderson, are you ready for me yet?”

Mrs. Anderson was Amanda’s second physical of the morning. Two of the male patients who had appointments with Hunter still sat down the hall, in a group waiting room.

“Yes. Come in.” The patient’s muffled voice could barely be heard.

Amanda’s eyes drifted to her watch. He was late—again.