No! Wait! He needed Gemma tonight! He rushed forward but too late. When she hung up the phone, he knew he was out of luck.
“Good morning, Dr. Morris. Now that you’re up, I’m going to leave. I have a lot of things to do today.”
It took everything he had to smile. “No problem. I take it you’re babysitting tonight for your granddaughter?”
“Yes, I love spending time with Emily. My daughter and her husband want to go out for dinner,” she admitted, sealing his fate.
Dammit, he wanted to go out for dinner, too!
“Well, have fun, then.” He watched her leave and then scrubbed his hand over his bristly jaw. He didn’t want to cancel his plans with Molly, but what choice did he have? Unless he could find another babysitter?
He didn’t want to leave Josh with a stranger, so he went back to his list of former nannies and found the number for Betsy, the one Josh liked best.
Unfortunately, Betsy was busy. So he went down the list. After calling several former nannies without success, he was about to give up when Josh’s tutor called to follow up on Josh’s progress.
“Mitch, I know you’re a tutor and not a babysitter, but would you be willing to stay here tonight with Josh?”
“I have a biochemistry exam on Monday, so my only plans were to study, so why not? I can always study after Josh falls asleep.”
Dan closed his eyes and thanked his lucky stars that Mitch had a biochem exam rather than a date that night. “Thanks, I’ll pay you your tutoring fee for the entire night.”
“Heck, Dr. Morris, that’s not necessary. The standard babysitting fee is fine.”
“I insist.” Dan could barely contain his excitement. Not only was he going to see Molly again tonight but Josh would be in good hands with Mitch.
A win-win situation all the way around.
He ate a quick breakfast and then called to make reservations at Valencia’s, a very small yet expensive restaurant that he’d stumbled upon by accident several years ago. Once he’d finalized his arrangements, he dialed Molly’s number, feeling more nervous than he had in a long time. She didn’t answer, so he left a message.
“Hi, Molly, I’ve made reservations tonight for eight o’clock. I’ll pick you up at seven-thirty if that’s okay. Please give me a call back to confirm.”
Having finished up what he needed to do, he went over to help himself to more coffee. He glanced up as Josh rolled his wheelchair into the room.
“Can we play Molly’s games, Daddy? Can we?”
He nodded, squelching a flash of guilt at knowing he’d leave Josh with Mitch tonight. So he decided to make sure Josh had a lot of fun today. “Sure thing. And afterward we can go to another movie if you’d like.”
“Really?” Josh’s face lit up like a neon sign. “Awesome.”
He sipped his coffee and waited, figuring Josh was going to ask again about inviting Molly along, but when Josh didn’t, he decided to count that as another win.
It was humbling to realize his son didn’t mind spending time with him alone now.
And he vowed to make sure that even once he went back to work, he’d still set aside plenty of family time with Josh. Maybe he hadn’t known much about love and family when he and Suzy had first got married, but he was determined to rectify that mistake.
Josh would always know what it was like to be loved. And wanted. Not like an inconvenience, the way his mother had treated him.
His own mother had blamed him for ruining her life after his father, an officer in the army, had died in Vietnam. Granted, his mother had gotten pregnant on purpose so that her officer would marry her, but being pregnant and widowed at the age of nineteen had been far more than she’d bargained for.
And throughout the years she’d made sure Dan had known that her misery was all his fault. Thankfully, he’d been able to lose himself in books and later in his studies, earning him the title of valedictorian of his high school graduating class.
He’d been lucky, he realized now, that he’d earned a full ride at New York’s top university. He’d worked hard to get where he was today, but somehow, with all he’d accomplished, he still felt empty. As if there was something inside him that made him unlovable.
Sure, Josh loved him. But Suzy hadn’t. And his mother certainly hadn’t.
Playing with Josh eased his thoughts about his upbringing, and as they played Molly’s kick-the-ball game, he was amazed that Josh was able to move his legs from side to side with far more strength than he had previously. For the first time in a long while he began to believe that Josh really might walk again.
His phone rang, and he jumped up off the floor, nearly tripping over his own two feet in his haste to answer it. When he saw the caller was Molly, he ducked into the kitchen for some privacy.
“Hi, Molly, how are you?”
“I’m good, thanks. How’s Josh?”
“He’s fine. Slept well after his nightmare and seems to be back to normal today.”
“That’s good. I’m sure that it was hard on you not being there for him.”
“Yes. But it was hard leaving you, too.”
There was an awkward pause and his gut clenched with fear. Was she going to try and cancel on him?
When she didn’t answer, he spoke in a rush. “Josh’s tutor Mitch has agreed to stay here tonight, so I hope the dinner plans I made are okay with you.”
“Oh, that’s wonderful. I’m glad Josh will be spending time with Mitch. Dinner sounds good and I’ll be ready by seven-thirty.”
His shoulders sagged with relief. She hadn’t cancelled their plans. “Great! I’m really looking forward to seeing you again.”
“Me, too,” she admitted in a voice so soft he had to strain to hear her. “I have to go, but I’ll see you later, okay?”
“Sure thing.” He hung up the phone, knowing there was a goofy smile plastered on his face but unable to find the energy to care.
He believed Molly cared about him, and not because he was a surgeon. Like him, she’d been hurt in the past, and he found he was desperate to see her again. To share a nice, romantic dinner together. Only this time, with a little luck, they wouldn’t be interrupted by any sort of crisis.
He could hardly wait.
Molly had spent the morning lecturing herself on getting involved with Dan more than she already was, and had fully intended to back out of their tentative dinner plans. But once she had been on the phone with him, she hadn’t been able to do it. For one thing, he’d already arranged for a babysitter, and she was glad that Josh would have fun with Mitch.
But the real reason she didn’t back out was because once she heard his deep voice resonating in her ear she realized how much she wanted to see him again. She’d been thinking about Dan when she’d fallen asleep, and he’d been the first thing on her mind when she’d woken up.
Doomed, she thought with a wry shake of her head. She was doomed and too far gone to turn back now.
Sally had called to apologize for embarrassing her at the fund-raiser. Of course Molly accepted her apology and they’d ended the call on better terms. But deep down she knew she and Sally would never be as close as blood sisters.
Or even sisters of the heart.
Dan would say that was Sally’s loss and she wanted to believe he was right. But she was the one who’d always wanted a family. Sally had no idea how lucky she was to have parents who