A Mistletoe Kiss For The Single Dad

“I do,” she snapped, feeling even more out of sorts thanks to the man across from her. “But since there isn’t a decent cup in this town, I’ll settle for coffee.”

He disappeared back into the exam room again, emerging moments later with a cardboard tray bearing two covered cups from a shop she’d never heard of and the stout man from the diner the night before following close at his heels. Nick held out the tray to her. “I ran up to Manistee after I dropped Connor off at school this morning. Consider it my peace offering. And let me introduce you to Mr. Juan Hernandez. He’s agreed to help us fix up the clinic.”

Belle shook the man’s hand. “Hello. You were at Pat’s last night with your family.”

“Yes. My wife and daughter.” Juan smiled. “Analia is my little princess.”

“Juan’s a great carpenter. Did all the renovations on my house here in Bayside. He’ll be a big help getting the clinic reopened.” Nick glanced over at Belle. “If you’re staying.”

“I’m staying.” She took one of the cups, lifting the lid to sniff the steaming liquid inside.

“It’s green tea,” Nick said. “You tried to order it last night, right?”

“Right.” She took a sip and couldn’t suppress a tiny sigh of pleasure.

“Good, huh?” The amusement twinkling in his warm brown eyes had her turning away fast. His continued effect on her was crazy. Stupid. Beyond inconvenient, considering they had exactly eight days until they reopened the clinic on Christmas Eve. After that, she’d be on the first plane back to California. She took another swallow of tea for fortitude. “This is very good. Thank you. Dr. Reyes gave me an extension on my bereavement leave through Christmas Eve. We have a little over a week to get the clinic ready to reopen. Thus, we need a plan.”

“‘Thus, we need a plan,’” Nick parroted back to her. “Since when do you say ‘thus’?”

“People change.” She walked around the receptionist desk, trailing her finger though a thick coating of dust. The paint on the walls was faded and the carpets were worn. The ceiling tiles above sported a few water stains, as well. One of the fluorescent lights popped and hissed ominously and a strange wheezing noise echoed from the heating vent above the desk. All in all, the place was a mess. “You weren’t kidding about the clinic being run-down.”

“When Marlene’s health took a turn for the worse, she had a hard time keeping up. I offered to help her, but she refused,” Nick said. “You know how she was. Always doing for other people, never accepting assistance herself.”

“Yes.” Belle headed down to check out the three exam rooms. The equipment had to be as old as she was. It was going to take a massive effort to get this all up to snuff. Good thing her can-do attitude was what had gotten her where she was today.

“Juan will oversee the repairs and any issues with the heating and electrical. What he can’t fix himself, he knows the people who can. My PA’s agreed to take on extra patients, which allows me to split my time between this place and my office.” Nick stepped into the small exam room behind her, his warmth surrounding her. “And my office manager, Jeanette, volunteered to handle the front-desk duties at the free clinic, so we can check that off the list. Between all of us, we should have all the boxes checked.”

Juan excused himself to inspect the rest of the clinic and Belle blinked at the anatomy poster on the wall, the paper yellowing around the edges. It had hung there for as long as she could remember.

“I just have one remaining question,” Nick said.

Belle looked back at him over her shoulder. “What?”

“Yesterday, you were all about leaving. What changed your mind?”

When she hadn’t been able to sleep the night before, she’d gone through more of her aunt’s things. Photos, letters, mementos. All of it had reminded Belle how much Aunt Marlene had loved this place. How much she’d loved Belle too. It had been enough to make Belle determined to see her aunt’s last wishes fulfilled, no matter how difficult it might be to have Nick hovering around her for the next two weeks. “You were right. My aunt deserves better. If reopening the free clinic one last time was important to her, I’ll make it happen.”

“Hmm.” Nick stepped closer and her pulse kicked up a notch. “Say that again.”

Belle frowned. “If reopening the clinic is important—”

“No. The other part.”

“What other part?”

“Where you said I was right. I don’t hear it often enough. Especially from you.”

“Too bad.” Belle walked out of the exam room and headed for the lobby once more, doing her best to focus on the job ahead and not the irritating man behind her. “We need to make a list of supplies to order, both cleaning and medical.”

“I can take care of the medical part.” Nick shrugged. “I have a shipment coming in for my practice next Monday. We can take what we need from that then I’ll restock again after Christmas. It’s only for one day, so we should have plenty to cover both clinics.”

“Okay. Then I’ll stop by the store in Manistee and pick up cleaning supplies when I go to the hospital later to spread the word about the clinic. Maybe I’ll stop by the office supply place too and have some flyers made up so we can post them around town to help us spread the word.”

“Sounds good.” Nick grinned. “Maybe we could see about doing a little promo at the Chamber of Commerce Holiday Ball next week, as well. I can talk to the mayor’s office.”

“Great. I need to be there anyway to accept Aunt Marlene’s award.”

“Right. We could go together, schmooze the locals, build some buzz for the clinic.”

It almost felt like old times, back when they’d both worked here after school, but she stopped herself. This was all only temporary. Things were different now. The sooner she remembered that, the better. She looked at Nick again for a moment before grabbing her coat. “Maybe. I should probably get going up to Manistee.”

“But you just got here,” he started, only to be interrupted by the front door opening.

A beautiful woman about Belle’s age, with long dark hair and sparkling onyx eyes walked in holding the hand of the little girl with Crouzon syndrome from the night before.

“I know you,” the little girl said, her words slightly lisped. She pulled free from her mother and headed for Belle. “You were at Pat’s last night. You’re pretty.”

“Thank you.” Belle crouched in front of the child. “What’s your name?”

“Analia,” the little girl said, reaching out to touch Belle’s red coat. “Red’s my favorite color.”

“Mine too.” Up close, she studied the little girl’s features—wide-set and bulging eyes, beaked nose, and an underdeveloped upper jaw. Classic Crouzon’s. The premature fusion of certain skull bones had resulted in the abnormal shape of the girl’s head and face. Nick had mentioned breathing problems too. Not uncommon. Belle had worked with two children with similar cases back in California, performing the complicated surgery and follow-ups to correct problems like Analia’s. Too bad she wouldn’t be here long enough this time.

Her heart tugged as she straightened. Part of her wanted to throw caution to the wind and take the case anyway. It would be simple enough to do a consult and examination, obtain the necessary releases, then book an OR in Manistee. But she already had more than enough on her plate to keep her busy during her short stay in Bayside and Nick had mentioned working the little girl in with his colleague in Detroit. The most prudent course of action was to let him handle it.

Instead, she introduced herself to Analia’s mother. “Dr. Watson. Please call me Belle.”

“Rosa Hernandez.” The woman’s grip was firm and sure. “We came to take my husband to breakfast, if you can spare him for an hour or so.”

“I think we can,” Nick said, calling over his shoulder. “Juan, your family’s here.”

The guy came out and picked up Analia, hugging her tight before kissing his wife. “I’ll be back. After we eat, I’ll swing by the hardware store and pick up what I need to get started.”

Belle watched them leave, then turned back to Nick. “She needs the surgery done.”

“She does. Too bad you won’t be sticking around.” Nick flinched. “Sorry. I shouldn’t have said anything. I know you’ve got other commitments.”