The Doctor's Reason to Stay. Dianne Drake

brought the lemons, just in case you didn’t have any.”

      “I’d rather help with the saddles,” Molly offered, almost shyly. “Aunt Grace let me do that sometimes, and I know how. And in case Rafey doesn’t know where all the tack is kept…” She stepped away from Edie. “Do you need some help, Rafey?”

      “Rafey?” Edie said, fighting back a laugh.

      Molly nodded seriously. “That’s his name. Rafey.”

      A look of undiluted sheepishness, along with a fierce, red blush, crept over Rafe’s face. The name Rafey wasn’t exactly the manly image he wanted to portray to Edie, or even to Molly, for that matter. But that machismo delusion was certainly shot all to pieces now, leaving him wondering why it even mattered. Because it shouldn’t. Yet it did. “That’s what Aunt Grace called me when I was a boy. She tried to stop when I was high-school age, figured it embarrassed me. Which it did. But it slipped out of her every now and again, and that’s probably where Molly heard the reference.”

      “Uh-huh,” Molly piped up. “Aunt Grace always called you Rafey.”

      “Rafey,” Edie repeated, smiling. “Well, it’s kind of cute, I’ll have to admit. Rafey…Rafey…” she repeated a couple of times, as if trying it on for size. “Has a nice ring to it. Dr. Rafey Corbett…lacks sophistication and pretense.” She grinned. “But it’s good.”

      “Maybe it’s good, but only when you’re five years old,” Rafe said, as the embarrassment dissolved into good nature. “Not when you’re thirty-five.”

      “So, then, what you’re telling me is that I can’t call you…” She liked the way his discomfort gave way to ease. Rafe was trying really hard to fit in, to relate to Molly, which gave her hope. It wasn’t a natural fit on him, but he was working on it and, at this point that’s all Edie could ask. For now, probably all Grace would have expected.

      “What I’m telling you is that you can’t.” Rafe gave his head a crisp shake in emphasis, and Edie couldn’t help laughing. Rafe Corbett was a big man sitting in the saddle who was saddled with a little boy’s name. It was so endearing and, for a moment, she saw some vulnerability there. A little bit of softness clouding his eyes over a nickname, perhaps? Or maybe he was only reminiscing about something nice from the time when Grace had called him Rafey. Whatever it was, it made him less stiff. Not enough to be considered loose or relaxed, but he was definitely not so starchy now. Definitely working on it, too.

      “You can call him Rafey,” Molly piped right up. “Aunt Grace did.”

      “Molly can call me Rafey,” Rafe interjected. “Only Molly.”

      He said it with a little twinkle in his eyes. Or was that a challenge? Either way, it melted Edie’s heart just a little bit, as Rafe clearly wasn’t comfortable with the name, yet he was going to put up with it from Molly. That was just plain sweet of him. So, maybe, just maybe, her job to help him realize that he did have all kinds of father potential wouldn’t be so difficult after all. She hoped so, because Rafe was a little awkward about it right now. Yet given some time, along with some good coaching…who knew? And in the future, well, who knew about that one either? Possibly, with some luck, Molly would be able to call him Daddy sooner than Edie had hoped for. That would be nice, Edie decided. What Grace would have wanted. But for a moment her heart clenched when she thought about Rafe and Molly together, just the two of them. No one else in that picture. It’s what she had to do, and that was what she’d have to keep telling herself. Getting the two of them together was what she had to do. What she’d promised to do.