Claiming the Doctor's Heart Page 3

He missed his wife, missed her company and the deep, abiding friendship they’d shared since the third grade. Four years since her death, he was past the worst of his grief and moving on with his life. Some days were easier than others; most were just hard work.

  He would tackle this latest problem as he did all the others. One detail at a time. He spent the rest of the night either on the phone or waiting for someone to return his call.

  Unfortunately, he arrived at his office the next day with his child-care problem still unresolved. Connor would not rely solely on his sister. He would figure out another solution.

  His mind on several options, he headed toward the east wing of the building where he had his personal office space. He stepped across the threshold and...

  Stopped cold.

  Olivia Scott stood beside his desk, seemingly absorbed with the task of writing on a piece of paper beneath her hand.

  Connor’s heart took a quick, hard thump. Ethan’s sister looked like summer in a pair of white jeans, a fancy blue top and high-heeled sandals.

  His mind went momentarily blank. “Olivia?”

  She looked up and smiled. “Oh, Connor. Hi. I was just leaving you a note. Guess I don’t have to now.” She lifted the piece of paper beneath her fingertips, then tossed it in the trash.

  She shifted a step closer. Her scent, a pleasant mix of lavender and vanilla, was very female and more than a little distracting. “Aren’t you going to ask me why I’m here?”

  “Okay...” He angled his head, swallowed. “Why are you here?” He swallowed again. “And why were you leaving me a note?”

  Leaning back against his desk, she rested her hands on either side of her. “I have a proposition for you.”

  He simply stared at her, uncertain how to respond to that.

  “I heard your housekeeper injured her knee yesterday.” Her gaze turned somber. “Ryder told me about the accident when he came home last night.”

  Ah.

  “I figure this probably puts you in a bind when it comes to child care for your daughters this summer.”

  “It does.” He rubbed the back of his neck. “My sister is helping out for now. But I need to find a more permanent solution, at least until Carlotta’s knee heals.”

  Olivia’s pretty smile returned. “That’s where I come in.”

  He waited for the rest.

  Her smile brightened even more. “I know the perfect person to watch your girls this summer.”

  He tried to focus on her words, not on the fact that his heartbeat had picked up speed, or that he experienced a flash of insight, as if he were on the verge of something life-changing. “Who did you have in mind?”

  “Me.”

  Chapter Three

  For the second time since entering his office, Connor found himself rendered speechless. Had Olivia just offered to watch his daughters for the entire summer?

  He swept his gaze over her face, measuring, gauging. The teasing light had fled from her eyes, replaced by a look of unmistakable sincerity. There was also a twinge of excitement he didn’t understand.

  There had to be something he was missing.

  “Don’t you already have a job? In...” He tried to remember what she’d studied in college. Surely Ethan had told him. Marketing? Finance? “Banking?”

  She glanced away a moment and sighed. “That’s right. For a number of years I helped failing companies with debt consolidation and financial restructuring.”

  “Impressive.”

  She shrugged. “Mostly just a lot of number crunching.”

  “I’m sure there’s more to it than that.” He ran a thriving medical practice. He had a good idea what it took to keep afloat in a tight economy.

  “Anyway, I’m not doing that anymore. I’m looking into other options for the future. In the meantime, I’m free to help you out.”

  “Are you saying you’re unemployed?”

  “I’m saying I’m in Village Green while I consider my next career move.” She didn’t expand. Nor, Connor noted, had she addressed his question directly.

  Could this meeting get any more confusing?

  Her smile flashed again, quick and devastating. That smile, it made him think of silver linings at the end of a long, dark day.

  “This is a God thing, you know, my being available to watch your daughters like this.”

  Connor had no comment. He’d given up on God years ago. Or, more accurately, God had given up on him. It hadn’t mattered that he’d prayed nonstop for his wife’s return to health. Not only had she not gotten better; Sheila had died slowly, painfully. Even his efforts to provide her comfort at the end had failed.

  He did his best raising the twins on his own. But Molly and Megan needed a woman in their lives, one who would love them as much as Sheila did. That’s why he’d started dating, though he wasn’t really in the game, merely attempting to take the first step. A lunch every now and then when he had time, which was hardly ever.

  Olivia moved closer, the sound of her heels on the wood floor breaking through his thoughts. “I’ll take excellent care of your girls.”

  This seemed too good to be true.

  He opened his mouth to respond, but Olivia smiled at him again, a big toothy grin that gave him pause. Having her in his home every day might not be wise.

  He shoved his fingers through his hair and carefully stripped his voice of emotion. “Let’s say I agree to your offer. When would you be available to start work?”

  Her earnest gaze met his. “Immediately.”

  “What’s the rush?”

  “No rush.”

  He stared at her.

  She never blinked, not once. But he got the sense she wasn’t being completely candid with him.

  “What’s in it for you?”

  Now she blinked. Twice. Her hesitation was obvious. But then she looked at him again, smiled and said, “Let me take care of your daughters for you, Connor.”

  She grabbed his hand and a new kind of alertness took hold of him. “I promise to do right by them,” she whispered, releasing his hand. “And you.”

  He didn’t doubt her sincerity. But what did a bank exec know about kids?

  As if reading his mind, Olivia continued.

  “Back in high school I earned enough money babysitting to buy my first car. I love kids. Always have, especially girls around your daughters’ age. I—” She cut herself off and blinked slowly, as if the words were painful to say. “I really do love kids.”

  Her voice held a strange mix of sincerity and reserve, with a hint of hope underneath. Connor knew the feeling. He felt poised on the brink of something new himself, something life-altering.

  Some of the knots in his gut unraveled. Then he remembered that watching his daughters was only part of the job description. “You’ll have to take on Samson, too.”

  This seemed to amuse her. “How bad can one tiny puppy be?”

  “Bad enough to put my housekeeper in the hospital.”

  Olivia’s expression sobered. “Right.”

  Reaching out to him, she laid her hand on his arm. Something inside him shifted under her gentle touch.

  “Don’t worry, Connor.” She chuckled. “I know my way around dogs just as well as I do little girls.”

  The selfish part of him wanted to hire her on the spot. The wiser part of him whispered a warning to hold off making a final decision. She might have babysat in high school, but that was a decade ago.

  Even if she’d been a professional nanny all her adult life, something about Olivia Scott dug past the efficient facade he relied on to get him through the day. If he hired her, Connor could very well lose the fragile balance he’d carefully put in place.

  But he couldn’t deny the fact that his daughters liked Olivia. They�
��d made that perfectly clear after their time with her in the park yesterday. All things considered, her offer might be the perfect solution to his child-care problems.

  Still, Connor hesitated.

  “What if we do this on a trial basis?” she asked.

  “How would that work?”

  “I’ll watch the girls for a few days. At the end of that time we’ll reevaluate the situation.” She placed her hands on her hips. “If any of us aren’t happy with the arrangement, and that includes your daughters, then I’ll walk away.”

  He couldn’t say why the idea of her walking away bothered him, so he did a mental dance around the thought and focused on the matter at hand. “That could work.”

  “If our arrangement doesn’t suit either of us, then I’ll help you find my replacement.”

  “Before I agree to this trial run...” Was he really considering this? “I have a stipulation.”

  “Only one?”

  His lips twitched at her response. When was the last time he’d laughed? Really laughed? Yesterday, he realized, in Hawkins Park when Olivia Scott had saved an out-of-control puppy from possible drowning and made his daughters smile.

  “You mentioned a stipulation?” she asked.

  “Ethan has to agree.”

  “What? Why?” Her eyes narrowed. “My brother has no say in what I can or cannot do.”

  Maybe not. But as the oldest in a family of five siblings, and the only male, Connor knew firsthand the mind-set of a protective older brother. If their roles were reversed, and the other doctor was having this conversation with one of Connor’s sisters, he’d have a few reservations.

  “Ethan is my business partner and friend. He needs to be okay with this. Talk to him. If he has no objections, then we’ll give it a try.”

  She expelled an audible breath. “All right. I’ll speak to him, but only because you asked. I would never want to cause problems for you at work.”

  With a determined gleam in her eye, she moved past him. “This won’t take long.”

  Knowing how protective Ethan was of his one and only sister, Connor doubted that.

  * * *

  A rush of impatience surged through Olivia. What should have been a brief conversation was taking twice as long as it should. Waiting for her unusually long-winded brother to wind down, she slid a covert glance around his office. Nice. Masculine, tasteful, well organized.

  Very efficient. Very Ethan.

  Her gaze landed on a picture of him in full military gear, his arm slung over a woman’s shoulders. Even dressed in battle fatigues, she was a pretty girl, her smile nearly model-perfect. The two looked happy. They looked together.

  Where was the other soldier now? And why had Ethan never mentioned her?

  Observant to a fault, he caught her looking at the photo. With a swipe of his hand, he turned the picture facedown on the desk. The lines around his eyes seemed to cut deeper when he looked back at Olivia.

  “You’re a banker, Liv, not a nanny.”

  Oh, joy, they were back to that. “I babysat almost every night back in high school,” she reminded him a third—or was it a fourth?—time. She could tell him about all the time she’d spent with Kenzie when it had been Warner’s weekend with his daughter. How she’d loved and taken care of the girl as if she were her own.

  “That was years ago, Liv. And besides—” He crossed his arms over his chest “—I thought you were only home for a short visit until the job at the bank in Denver opens up again.”

  That had been true when she’d set out from Florida. She’d had every intention of taking a banking position similar to the one she’d left. But Olivia had experienced a change of heart on the cross-country drive. How did she tell Ethan she believed the Lord had given her a new passion to replace the old? One that would require considerable planning and a very large leap of faith?

  Remembering her father’s long-ago advice, Olivia shifted to offense now that her defense was running weak. “It’s my Christian duty to help out a friend in need.”

  “Connor isn’t your friend. He’s mine.”

  “Same difference.” She snapped her shoulders back. “If we’re finished here I should get back—”

  He pointed a finger at her. “You’re hiding something.”

  “You’re paranoid.”

  “Now you’re deflecting the conversation back on me.” He stuffed his hands in his pockets. “What’s going on, Olivia?”

  Why did he have to care so much, see so much, when all she wanted to do was focus on the future, not the devastating events of the past that had brought her home in the first place?

  As much as she wanted to run from this conversation, to pretend she wasn’t still raw from all the losses she’d suffered, she knew she couldn’t keep putting her brother off.

  “I’m not sure I want to continue in my chosen profession.” There. She’d said it. The truth was out at last. “In fact, I want to take some time to think through my options. All my options.”

  “Are you telling me you quit your job in Jacksonville before you—”

  “I was downsized,” she admitted.

  “Olivia.” Tenderness filled his gaze, a look that spoke of genuine affection and brotherly concern. “Why didn’t you tell Ryder and me when you first came home? Why didn’t you just—”

  “Admit that I’ve been chasing the wrong dreams,” and the wrong man, “for all the wrong reasons? That I’m about to turn thirty with nothing to show for my life?”

  No job. No family.

  Nothing.

  “Olivia, you’re the most capable woman I know.” Hands on her shoulders, he squeezed gently. “And the smartest of all us Scotts put together. It’s only a matter of time before you’re back in the workforce, killing it with all the other financial whizzes in whatever direction you choose to take.”

  Needing a moment to process her brother’s unfailing support, she glanced out his office window. The view was spectacular on this side of the building, full of snowcapped mountain peaks, yellow-leafed aspens and thick Colorado pines. “I appreciate your confidence. But until I figure out what’s next for me, I’m free to watch Connor’s daughters. That’s what we financial whizzes call a win-win.”

  He didn’t crack a smile at her joke. If anything, the worry in his gaze deepened. “Be sure this is what you want to do before you commit to watching the girls. It’ll be too hard for Connor to find another replacement if you change your mind.”

  She wasn’t going to change her mind. Even if taking the position might be painful at first, a reminder of all she’d lost when she broke it off with Warner, two little girls needed her. “That’s excellent advice. Now, if we’re through, I need to find Connor and give him the good news.”

  “Olivia—”

  She shut the door on the rest of his words. Not running away, she told herself. She was merely walking away very quickly. At least she’d told Ethan the truth about her job loss and her desire to consider a different career path altogether.

  Feeling marginally better, she wound her way back through the twisting corridors of the building.

  Head down, her mind on all the things she and the girls would do together over the summer, she failed to pay attention to her surroundings. Which probably explained why she ran into an immovable wall of muscles wrapped inside a white lab coat.

  She mumbled a quick apology, then promptly lost her balance.

  Connor steadied her. “Easy, now.”

  She clutched at his arms. “Sorry.”

  “You already said that.” His voice sounded strained, much as hers had a moment before.

  “Oh...right. Anyway.” Cheeks on fire, she took that much-needed step back and looked everywhere but at the man towering over her.

  Maybe Ethan was right. Maybe she should take an
other day to consider the ramifications of working for Connor.

  You won’t be working for him, she reminded herself. Not in the strictest sense of the word. She’d be taking care of his daughters while he was at the office. In her free time she would work on her business plan and test out new recipes, maybe even try a few on Connor’s family. As far as she was concerned, that was the real win-win.

  “How did your talk with your brother go?”

  “Really great.” She let out a soft sigh. “He couldn’t be more on board if it had been his idea.”

  “It went that badly, huh?”

  She bristled. “I didn’t say it went badly.”

  “You didn’t have to. I’ll be right back.” He set out in the direction of Ethan’s office.

  She stopped him with a touch to his arm. “Please don’t.”

  “He’s my partner, Olivia. I won’t put a rift in our relationship simply to solve my current child-care problem.” He closed his hand over hers. “Nor will I jeopardize your relationship with him, either.”

  How sweet. And really thoughtful. But completely unnecessary. “Ethan’s not opposed to me helping you out.” She tugged her hand free from beneath his. “He merely suggested I take a day to think it over.”

  “That’s not a bad idea.”

  He was taking Ethan’s side in this? “I appreciate your predicament, Connor, I really do, but my brother will come around eventually. He’s already halfway there.”

  “I still want to discuss this with him.”

  “I don’t see why it matters.”

  “Because Connor understands the value of loyalty and friendship,” Ethan said, maneuvering around her to stand shoulder-to-shoulder with his longtime friend and partner.

  Her brother’s creepy stealth was going to get him decked one day. Probably by her.

  And there they stood. Two superior male specimens. Nearly the same height and build, Ethan’s dark to Connor’s light, the solidarity in their long-standing friendship evident in their similar stances.

  She frowned at them both.

  “Whatever this bro code is between you two—” she flicked her wrist from one to the other “—it doesn’t change the fact that Connor needs a temporary nanny for his daughters. And I’m available.”