Husband for Hire (13 page)

Gavin smiled. “If you gave discounts to every family member and extended family member, you'd never make any money. Anyway, a friend made the reservations. I didn't know we were coming here until we pulled into the driveway.”

“Yeah? What a coincidence. And now you've got Pancho?”

“Tell me you want him. You've got a little girl who'd love him, I'm sure.”

“I don't think that dog'll stay anywhere, with anyone.”

“He's in mourning, I figure. Whose dog was he?”

“Grandma Maguire.”

“Oh. I'm sorry. I hadn't heard. I liked her. She gave out the best Halloween treats.” Everyone had called her Grandma, an honorary title of respect for a woman who'd never married or had children, but who'd always looked out for the townspeople, especially the children. “She must've been about a hundred.”

“Ninety-seven. So, hey, do you want to come to dinner one night this week? I'd love for you to get to know Keri. I could ask Donovan and Laura to could come, too. We'll raise our glasses to our brother and your sister.”

“Thanks, but not this week. In fact, I'd appreciate it if you don't tell anyone I'm here. We'd like to be alone, you know?”

“Well, I can promise not to tell, but Honey's already spread the word. In the meantime, are you keeping the dog?”

“For now, I guess. But go ahead and ask around. If someone wants him, that'd be great. I don't have room in my life for a dog. It would be really unfair to keep him.”

Gavin ended the call and drove back to the cabin,
relieved that Jake had phoned when he did, when the conversation could be kept secret.

Gavin and Becca gave the reluctant Pancho a bath, played ball with him, discovered he took commands well and exhausted themselves. They all fell asleep on the couch in front of the fire.

Sometime around midnight Gavin woke up, roused Becca enough to get her into the bedroom, where he took off her clothes and tucked her into bed, then climbed in after her. She rolled into him, twined her legs and arms with his and went right back to sleep.

Just as Gavin was drifting off, he felt the bed move and knew Pancho had joined them. He didn't have the heart to order the dog to get down.

After a minute Pancho inched closer, set his chin on Gavin's leg and made a little sound of contentment, then so did Becca.

In parenting magazines, it was called the family bed.

He called it crowded. And good.

T
hree days later, Gavin sat across the breakfast table from Becca and knew he couldn't—didn't want to—put off telling her the truth any longer. They could deal with it over the last few days of their trip. There was plenty of time to discuss and resolve everything.

He figured she'd get a kick out of having chosen a doctor as her pretend husband, then finding out Gavin was one.

Then again, maybe not. He really didn't have any idea how she would react. He just knew dragging it out any longer wasn't fair to her—or them. He wanted an honest relationship.

He couldn't remember ever being this content, yet
at the same time, wound up. He'd had no responsibilities for days now, and he'd had the freedom to make love whenever they felt like it. Plus no one called or texted. He and Becca didn't go anywhere except for hikes, Pancho trotting alongside them, not even chasing a squirrel, as if he couldn't leave their side.

“How would you like to drive into Chance City today?” he asked Becca.

She looked up from spreading jam on her toast in that precise way she had, edge to edge, then frowned. “We can't leave Pancho here alone.”

The dog pricked his ears at the mention of his name. “We'll take him along.”

“What if someone recognizes him? Wants to take him?”

“It seems to me Pancho gets to make that decision.”

“He
is
a little headstrong, isn't he? And when I checked out the town online, it did look picturesque. Miners settled the place in the 1850s during the gold rush. There must be a lot of great old buildings. When do you want to leave?”

“Whenever you're ready.” He'd planned it in his head. They would drive to the middle of town, stop in front of the ice-cream shop. He'd tell her Chance City was where he'd grown up. Across the street was his sister Dixie's salon and spa, Respite. A couple of blocks farther, his parents' hardware store.

He was born here, raised here, grew up to become a doctor. The townspeople were proud of him for that.
He was one of their golden sons, and he'd barely paid attention to them in years.

That would change. He had an obligation to the citizens, one he hadn't been keeping lately.

Now he would. And he would start by telling Becca the truth, being the man his town expected him to be.

 

“Sit, Pancho. Sit,” Becca said as they pulled out of the driveway onto the highway. They'd gone for drives several times during the week, and Pancho had lain down in the backseat, not making any fuss.

Today he was up and looking around, worry in his eyes. But this time they were headed south instead of north.

“I think he knows where we're going,” she said to Gavin. “He's so smart.”

“He is that.”

Becca wondered what was going on with Gavin today. He was more restless than she'd ever seen him,
fidgety,
even, a word she never would've applied to him.

Even his eyes were different. Darker, more intense.

He flexed his jaw a lot. Everything seemed tied up with the trip to town, because he'd never acted like this before. But why?

“You're quiet,” he said, curving his hand over her thigh.

“You, too. I guess we've talked ourselves out. And
I feel like I've finally caught up on my sleep. How about you?”

“I feel rested. And satisfied.” He winked at her.

Yes, the lovemaking had been phenomenal. Her body ached pleasantly. Her appetite was bottomless, for food and for him.

“Look at that! Take a Lode Off Diner. Isn't that a cute play on words? What a throwback. I'll bet it's at least seventy years old. We should have lunch there.” The central downtown came into view. “Oh, isn't it fantastic? Thank you for bringing me here.”

Gavin parked in front of an ice-cream shop. The sidewalks were wood plank, the storefronts shingled, almost like stepping back in time a hundred and fifty years.

They got out of the car, leaving Pancho in it, the windows rolled partway down, but they would also be keeping it in sight. He didn't whimper. Becca figured the last thing he wanted was to be let out here in the place he kept escaping from.

Gavin took her hand and led her to a bench just outside the ice-cream shop.

“What, no ice cream?” she asked.

“I need to talk to you first.”

His voice sounded tight, not at all like him.

“What's going on, Gavin?”

“This town, Chance City—”

He stopped talking as a car came hurtling out of control down a side street, heading right toward them. Gavin yanked Becca off the bench and ran, then kept
running until the car slammed into the bench, just missing her car with Pancho inside. Gavin let go of her to run back as she stood, shocked, seeing that the car's air bag had deployed and was draped over the steering wheel.

So was a woman.

People poured out of shops and cars and houses. She finally registered the scene enough to pull out her cell phone to dial 911.

“Already called it in,” someone said, rushing past her.

“I saw Doc Saxon's car at the Lode,” Gavin called out. “Get him.”

What? Doc who? Why would Gavin know that?

A teenager raced up the street toward the diner.

The front of the car was completely smashed in, the engine exposed. Becca couldn't tear her gaze away from the surreal scene. Gavin had taken charge and was ordering people around. The driver's door was buckled and jammed. He yanked the passenger door behind it open and climbed in.

“She's pregnant,” he called out. “Anyone know her?”

“That's Jennifer Morley,” a woman close to Becca yelled. “She's about seven months. I called her husband at work. He's on his way. Here comes Doc Gavin.”

Becca spun around, coming face-to-face with Gavin's sister Shana.

“Are you okay?” Shana asked.

She nodded. Nothing made sense.
My parents died in a car crash….

“Becca?” Shana said. “Do you need to sit down?

She shook her head, trying to let go of the image of her parents. “Gavin— We saw the car coming.

Out of control. If he hadn't pulled me away when he did…” She looked at the bench they'd been sitting on, now a mass of splintered wood. Her stomach roiled.

Her heart thundered. “Do you live here?” she asked, confused.

“Above the spa across the street. My sister Dixie's place. What are you doing in town?”

Honeymooning.
Becca almost laughed hysterically.

She couldn't say that out loud. “We were just—” She stopped. It all seemed so frivolous, when a pregnant woman's life was on the line.

“Do you think she's alive?” Becca asked.

“Gavin's acting like she is.”

Another man ran up, carrying a small black bag.

“Is that the doctor?”

“Doc Saxon. He's probably Jennifer's doctor. He's the only one in town.”

“Dammit,” Doc shouted. He dug into his bag, pulled out a blood-pressure cuff and handed it to Gavin, along with a stethoscope. “She was supposed to be at home in bed. She's preeclamptic.”

“Why doesn't Gavin get out of the way and let her doctor take over?”

“I don't think Doc would do anything different, do you?”

Sirens pierced the air, the sound getting louder, closer. A fire engine pulled up.

“Gonna need the jaws,” someone from the crowd shouted as the three-man crew hopped out.

There was mass movement, hectic and yet efficient, as if choreographed. Everyone knew their job, did their job, and in a very short time, the driver's door was popped open, a backboard brought close and the woman carefully guided onto it in what seemed like super slow motion.

“The ambulance is already on a run,” one of the firefighters said. “They've just arrived at the hospital.

They can't get here for another thirty, at least.”

Gavin pressed the stethoscope to the woman's abdomen. Someone yelled, “Shut up!” Silence descended for a few seconds.

Gavin looked at the doctor and just barely shook his head. “We need to take her ourselves. They won't have a fetal monitor on the ambulance, anyway.”

Confusion enveloped Becca like white-hot noise, filling her head like the aftermath of a nuclear explosion, weakening her knees as the truth finally sank in.

“He's a doctor,” she said out loud. “A real doctor.”

Shana gasped, then swore. “He didn't tell you?”

“He did, in a way, but I thought he was joking.
I thought he was playing the part I'd hired him to do.”

“He's an ob-gyn.” Shana swore again. “Did you know this was his hometown?”

Becca shook her head. She couldn't talk to Shana about him. She had to think about it, about everything.

“There's only one ambulance?” she asked. “That seems so dangerous.”

“One of the disadvantages of rural living. All the firefighters are paramedics, though, so that helps. And then there's Doc, who never takes a vacation.”

A large SUV appeared and the woman was loaded in. She came to as the transfer was being made, screaming, begging Doc to save her baby.

“The baby comes first,” she yelled over and over.

Becca's throat burned. She didn't know how much distress the baby was in, but from the expressions on Gavin's and the doctor's faces, it didn't look good.

Gavin raced up, digging into his pocket as he got to her and passing her the car keys. “I'll meet you at the cabin later. I know there's a lot that needs saying.”

Then he was gone, hopping into the back of the SUV with the doctor. A car pulled up before they could leave, and a young man raced to the SUV and got in. Jennifer's husband probably, in full panic mode. Then the SUV drove away, their cargo precious.

“Do you want to come upstairs with me?” Shana asked. “You look like you're in shock. My little girl is with a friend because I work at the spa on Thursdays.”

“No, I can't. I've got Pancho with me. And I kind of have to absorb all this.” She gave her a perfunctory hug then headed to the car as if through a tunnel.

Pancho barked and wagged his tail, happy to see her.

She wanted to curl up next to him, press her face into his fur and hide.

Then anger took over, sweeping through her like a tornado, gathering speed and strength. She was worried about the poor pregnant woman and her baby, but that was out of her hands. What was in her hands was…a mess. She felt like such a fool.

He'd cleared the chaos from her life and now it was back tenfold.

How quickly life could change. Parents could die in an instant on an icy road one winter night. Beliefs could be torn asunder with one lie perpetuated by a man she thought she'd come to love.

She'd done the same thing to people she loved.

She'd lied to her brothers. This was payback, swift and cutting.

This was why she never let herself fall in love before. Why she would never love again. For a moment in time, she'd started to believe maybe she'd been wrong, that her life could be different. But now…

She made the drive back to the cabin, packed her
bags and loaded the car. Then she sat in a chair on the front porch, Pancho at her feet, and waited.

 

Gavin spotted Becca sitting on the porch as he was dropped off hours after the accident. Pancho raced up to him in welcome. Becca stayed in her chair.

“Thanks a lot,” he called out to the man who'd brought him home, then he greeted Pancho for a minute before he went to face the music with Becca. But as he walked past her car he saw her suitcase in the backseat. Agonizing shards twisted and turned inside him.

“How is she? How's the baby?” she asked right away.

“Amazingly strong, both of them.”

Becca closed her eyes, her shoulders drooped. “Thank God. What did you end up doing?”

“I don't have privileges at that hospital, so I mostly stayed in the lobby. Doc consulted with me some, but she pretty much came through on her own. The air bag and seat belt saved their lives.” He sat in the chair beside her. “I saw you talking to Shana.”

“Yeah. Funny meeting her here, huh? What a small world.”

Becca wasn't usually sarcastic, so it gave him a pretty good idea of how angry she was.

“I was just starting to tell you everything when the car crashed.”

“I think that qualifies as too little, too late, Gavin.”

He scanned their surroundings, noticed the quiet.

Even the birds had stopped singing. Pancho sat between them, facing them, looking from one to the other as they spoke.

“I saw your suitcase in your car. I appreciate your staying until I got back.”

“I wanted to know how the woman and baby were.”

Ouch. “May I plead my case?”

“I've given that a lot of thought. I decided I wanted to hear your explanation, because I deserve to know the truth. But I'll be leaving right after.”

“Fair enough. So. You know I grew up in Chance City, and you know I'm a doctor.”

“A little bird told me.”

“All I ever wanted was to be a doctor. I believe I'm a good one, but no matter how good we are, statistically doctors will be sued for medical malpractice on the average of about 2.5 times in their career, ob-gyns even more frequently. I guess you also know I really am an ob-gyn.”

“The same bird told me.”

He nodded. “When I told you I was between jobs, it was because I'd taken a leave from my practice.

I'd been sued. It was a very long process, almost a year. I worked until the hearing, during which I was exonerated, but it was as if my world caved in after it was all over. I'd held it together until then. Then I fell apart.”

She didn't say anything—made no comment and asked no questions—but she was listening.

“Every time my lawyer questioned me, and then later, my patient's attorney, I searched deep for answers, Becca. They always came back the same. I hadn't done anything wrong. In fact, I saved her life and her baby's. The mother had gone into premature labor, the fetus was in distress. I had to do a C-section. In the end, I also had to do a hysterectomy or she would've bled to death. It was touch and go for the baby for a long time, and now she has major health issues, which in fact were genetic abnormalities, not due to anything I did during surgery.”