“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 another 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