The Doctor's Accidental Family

“No harm done,” responded the bride.

Observing the sisters together, Nick was again struck by the similarities of coloring, height and mannerism, but also by the differences. Thinner, with reddish-brown hair a shade lighter than her twin’s, Zady had a more reserved manner and a trace of sadness around the eyes.

What was bothering her? Her gaze kept returning to the pink-blanket-wrapped baby girl nestled in Lucky’s arms. Longing to be a mother, too?

Ironically, Nick had had a son before he’d even thought about fatherhood. In the three years since then, Caleb had changed him. If only he could offer his son an ideal home, with two happily married parents, but that hadn’t been in the cards. Now Nick was determined to provide the boy with as much stability as possible, but it was proving an uphill battle.

Elaine Carrigan had led him through yet another song-and-dance routine about tomorrow’s meetup with Caleb. She’d seemed especially reluctant to have Nick visit their home. Only when Nick demanded straight out that she tell him what was wrong had she backed down and suggested he arrive after lunch for a play session.

The couple owned a large house in a semirural setting. Bethany had cited her desire to raise their son there as one of several reasons for rejecting Nick’s offer of marriage, and the Carrigans had emphasized how much Caleb loved the place when they’d urged Nick to let him stay with them after Bethany’s death.

But what was going on now? Had the house become unsafe, or were they trying to edge him out of the boy’s life? Worst-case scenario: they planned a bid for custody and, by reducing contact, aimed to portray him as an indifferent father.

Tomorrow, he’d find out.

Across the room, the twins were laughing again as they displayed the contents of an over-the-hill survival kit: fanglike teeth, bottle-thick glasses and Halloween-worthy black wigs. They called out thanks to the eminent Dr. Cole Rattigan.

When Nick had met him at the hospital, the man had inclined his head with royal coolness, leaving an impression of arrogance. Today, however, he beamed at everyone. No doubt both his attitude and the funny gift owed a lot to the elfin woman with him, also the object of the twins’ gratitude. That must be his wife, Stacy.

An older woman with graying dark hair brushed past Nick to scoop wrapping paper and ribbons into a trash bag. She was clearly the other housemate he’d heard about, a nurse. “Ready for cake?” she asked the birthday duo.

“You bet, Keely.” Thanking everyone again, Zora piled the gifts neatly, while Zady silently gathered the remaining wrappings. Struck by her reticence, Nick recalled that these were her sister’s friends. While everyone appeared to welcome her, he wondered if she, too, felt like an outsider.

Most of the residents and guests trooped into the den, where Nick had seen a cake on display. Only he and Zady lingered in the living room.

“I’d have brought a gift if I’d realized it was your birthday.” He bent to lift one end of the coffee table as she raised the other.

“Like we need more gag gifts?” She indicated a spot where the table legs fit into carpet indentations. “Don’t worry about it.”

Nick helped lower the piece gently. “You should go blow out candles and help cut the cake.”

“Those big-number three and zero candles? Zora can manage. As for cake-cutting, when my brother-in-law sees dessert, everybody better clear a path.”

“It’s your birthday,” he reminded her. “I’ll finish straightening here. Go eat.”

Zady’s wry gaze met his. “I’d rather wait till...”

When she broke off, Nick guessed the rest. “Till Marshall arrives?”

“Yes. I’d like to get that out of the way.”

“The tattling part?”

She blew a strand of hair sideways off her cheek. “Yeah. The part where I metaphorically stab you in your evil heart. Does that sum it up?”

“I haven’t yet thrown in my lot with the conspiracy,” Nick responded mildly. “Although I do agree that space should be allotted to other doctors.”

“That’s not my problem.” Zady planted hands on hips. “Anything else?”

Nick had trouble organizing his thoughts with her standing there, her face animated and her knit top stretching over her breasts. “Yeah. You look really cute.”

“How condescending!”

“Have trouble accepting compliments, do you?”

“Only from the devil’s minions.” She laughed.

“Hey, I’m a good guy. Mostly.” Judging by the noises from the den, everyone had dug into the cake. Nick was too busy enjoying the conversation to care about dessert. “I deliver babies night and day. Well, night and sometimes day if we’re busy.” He’d stayed until 10:00 a.m. once this week.

Zady studied him. “Why do you work such long hours? It must interfere with your swinging-bachelor life.”

“Is my cousin trotting out that old ‘He’s a playboy’ crap?” In all honesty, Nick was partly to blame for the image. At a family gathering years ago, he’d called Marshall a stuffed shirt and bragged about his own playboy antics—mostly invented—while sailing to the top of his medical school class at UCLA.

He’d been aware that his successes, which resulted as much from a top-notch memory as from hard work, had been a sore spot with his cousin. A year older and proud of his admission to Harvard Medical School, Marshall had assumed he should be superior at everything. Instead, he’d struggled with his studies until he hit on his true talent as a surgeon.

“Let me guess. Your goal is to get rich enough to buy your own hospital,” Zady said.

“Don’t forget the private fleet of jets.” Okay, enough teasing. Nick could see from her dubious expression that she half believed him. “I don’t come from wealthy parents like my cousin. I’m paying off med school and supporting a son. I have a three-year-old—no doubt he mentioned that.”

“In passing.”

“What did he say, exactly?”

“That you weren’t involved with raising your child.” Her guarded tone implied she was softening his cousin’s comments.

“I’m as involved as I can arrange.” No more light tone. “Caleb’s mother died six months ago in a boating accident. I let him stay with his grandparents, but I visit every week. However, during the last month, they’ve become—”

Although he wasn’t sure why he’d started to confide in her, he felt a flash of irritation when the doorbell interrupted. If that was Marshall, Nick doubted he’d get a further chance to explain. Still, he appreciated being able to correct a few of Zady’s false impressions.

In fairness, Marshall had no doubt only repeated what he’d heard from his mother, who must have drawn what she considered a logical conclusion from the fact that Nick didn’t marry the woman carrying his child. Neither his cousin nor his aunt was likely to give Nick the benefit of any doubt.

“I’d like to hear more, if you’re still speaking to me,” Zady said before hurrying to answer the door.

How much more should he share? Well, Nick could use feedback about his current concerns. He’d hate to misinterpret the Carrigans’ behavior and antagonize them needlessly. However, once Zady told Marshall about the forces allied against him, he would raise the drawbridge and release crocodiles into the moat.

Luckily, I know how to swim and dodge at the same time. Nick only regretted that the barrier between him and Zady, which had lifted briefly today, would once again slam into place.

* * *

DESPITE HER PLAN to share what she’d learned, Zady found that difficult as she welcomed her doctor into the house. His expression guarded, Marshall squared his already straight shoulders beneath his dark blue jacket and handed her two gifts decorated with satiny paper and elaborate bows.

“Happy birthday.”

“Thanks.” Zady cast an uneasy glance toward the living room, but Nick had vanished. “Come in.”

Now what should she say? She could hardly blurt, “By the way, while I was lurking in the pantry sulking about my ex-boyfriend’s baby, I eavesdropped on a plot.” How melodramatic.

Also, what Nick had said about his son gave her pause. While she doubted Marshall had been deliberately untruthful, he’d gotten his facts wrong. That was unrelated to the conspiracy, but was it wise to choose sides?