“Is something wrong, sweetie?”
Hopefully not; she wouldn’t let there be. “No. Like you said. I’m just tired.”
“It seems like more. As if something’s bothering you.”
She must look bad. That was the third time her mother mentioned it. “It was just a long day.” A change of subject would be good. “And an interesting first day for Dr. Clifton since Jamie Stockton came in with the triplets.”
And he’d handled it brilliantly, she thought.
“Those poor little motherless angels.” Glory smiled sadly. “The volunteers who help him out say that the babies are getting big and are totally adorable.”
“All true.” Dawn was relieved that her mom was distracted, as she’d intended. “Jamie is very grateful for the help.”
“It’s hard to imagine dealing with three needy infants at the same time.” Glory shook her head sympathetically. “I know how hard it is to be alone with one baby.”
“You said Hank wasn’t around much.” Dawn didn’t call him dad. He hadn’t earned it.
“That’s why I know about caring for a baby without help. But he and I were awfully young to be parents.” Suddenly her mother wouldn’t make eye contact.
“Mom?” Glory wasn’t any better at hiding things than Dawn.
“I heard from your father.”
“When?”
“I’m not sure exactly.”
“That means it’s been a while and you just didn’t say anything.” The knot in her stomach tightened. “Does Marina know?”
“Maybe.”
“Okay.” There was no need to get upset. “So based on his track record it will be months, maybe years until he surfaces again to bug you. So, no problem.”
Her mom looked up. “He’s got a handyman business in Kalispell. It’s doing really well.”
The town was about a twenty-five-minute drive south of Rust Creek Falls. That didn’t matter too much, but the building-a-business part was different. “Did he want something from you?”
“No. Only to help.” Glory tapped the paint chips on the table. “He dropped these off for me.”
“A prince of a guy.”
“I think he’s changed, Dawn.”
“Please tell me you’re not going to make the mistake of counting on him, Mom.”
“People make mistakes.”
For some men that mistake was humiliating a woman by using her to cheat on a fiancée. Dawn’s experiences with men had left an impression—a bad one. Dr. Jonathan Clifton probably had some good qualities, but she didn’t plan to take a chance on finding out for sure.
This time if she was forced to leave a job it wouldn’t mean commuting to another one. To find work in her field, she’d have to move away and leave behind everything and everyone she loved. And that was something she was not prepared to do.
* * *
Jon lowered himself into the chair behind his desk and let out a long sigh. It felt good to get off his feet. He loved being a doctor, couldn’t imagine doing anything else. But he was glad his second day was over. There’d barely been time to choke down a sandwich at lunch. How had the clinic staff managed to keep up with the patient load before he took over Pediatrics? Emmet, Callie and Dawn had been running all day, too.
Dawn.
Without her he couldn’t have done it today, but it was clear that she could do without him. And that was more than a little annoying. After his less than positive first impression, he’d made an effort to be nice to her, friendly, charming and that had made her even more standoffish.
Even though he had a bunch of sisters, no one would ever accuse him of understanding women. But this one baffled him. She’d been very friendly at first, right up until finding out he was the new doctor. Then she backed off as if he was radioactive and he didn’t know why. More often than not he got flirted with so it was possible this acute curiosity about Dawn was the result of a banged up ego. But he didn’t think so.
Maybe the time he’d worked at Thunder Canyon Resort had rusted out his ability to interact with coworkers. Although no one else at the clinic seemed to have a problem with him. It wasn’t as if he was looking for a life partner, just a work one. Friendly. Pleasant. Was that too much to ask?
He heaved another sigh and turned on his laptop, preparing to work. Before he could start there was a knock on his door.
“Come in.”
A moment later Dawn stood there. Since he’d been expecting to see anyone but her, he did a double take, closely followed by a hitch in his breathing. There was a wholesome prettiness about her that suddenly made him feel like a gawky teenager. Then the frosty expression on her face checked it. Courtesy dictated he should greet her, but all day she’d given him the “back off” vibe and he was irritated enough to let this move into the awkward zone and force her to initiate a conversation. That would be a first today.
“I’m sorry to interrupt,” she finally said. She had pieces of paper and a notepad in her hands.
“I haven’t started anything yet so technically you’re not interrupting.” He indicated the chairs in front of his desk. “Have a seat.”
“That’s okay,” she answered. “I’ll stand.”
“Okay.” That ticked him off just a little more and he waited for her to state the purpose of this unexpected visit.
“I have to return phone calls from patients. All of them involve questions about new babies from first-time mothers and Emmet said since we have a pediatrician on staff now we should ask him—I mean you. It’s all ordinary stuff but Emmet says we—I—need to know where you stand on these issues.”
So, she’d tried to get her answers in a way that didn’t involve interacting with him. Okay, then. Battle lines drawn. “Right. Ready when you are.”
She looked at one of the notes. “Chloe Thornton’s baby has a runny nose. He’s four months old and she has questions about fever.”
New parents were understandably worried and overprotective. This wasn’t his first rodeo. “She wants facts because that will make her feel more in control. Tell her if his temp is ninety-nine degrees she can give him acetaminophen to keep it stable. A hundred and one or more, she should call me. Anytime of the day or night. The clinic has an answering service, right?”
“Yes.”
He met her gaze. “Next.”
“Chelsea Dolan has red bumps on her face. She’s barely four months old and her mom read on the internet that it should be gone by now.” Dawn met his gaze.
“Of course we know that if it’s on the internet it must be true,” he said wryly. “The pimples are perfectly normal and can last longer than three months, especially in breast-fed infants. She should baby the skin, no pun intended.”
For just an instant the tension in Dawn’s expression disappeared and her lips twitched, as if she wanted to smile. “Anything else?”
“She should keep it clean and dry. No cream or lotion. Next question.”
She continued writing then looked up. “Alice Weber says her friend’s baby is sleeping through the night and has been since he was born. Her Finn is still waking up every couple hours and she wants to know if there’s something wrong or maybe she’s doing something incorrectly.”
“She’s