A Family to Heal His Heart
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Tina Beckett
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CHAPTER ONE
LINDY FRANKLIN’S PULSE HAMMERED, and she swiped at the alarm clock to silence it, just as she had every morning for the last two years, before falling back onto the bed in relief. Six o’clock. Just like always. Only now there was no reason to leap up and try to rush to Daisy before she woke up and started to cry. No reason to make omelets and toast for her husband. But she still needed to get up, or her mom would arrive, and she’d be late for her new job.
An actual paying job this time.
Moving back to Savannah had been the right thing to do. Even if admitting she’d been wrong was one of the hardest things she’d ever done. So had realizing that most of her old friends had moved on with their lives. And who could blame them?
Climbing out of bed and sliding her feet into a pair of fuzzy slippers, she went into the bathroom, where the words taped to her mirror caught her eye.
“New beginnings, Lindy. New beginnings.” She recited the phrase just as she had every morning. Ever since the judge had told her she was free to leave Fresno—and her old life—behind.
Today really was a new beginning for her. For the first time since the move to California she’d be able to practice medicine again. Her marriage had closed the door to a lot of things. Her release from it was slowly opening them back up again.
Mouthing her mantra one more time, she hurriedly showered and got dressed and fixed Daisy’s breakfast.
The doorbell rang, and she froze for a pained second. Then she laughed. It was just her mom coming to pick up Daisy.
She swung it open and there stood Rachel Anderson, as tall and elegant as ever.
“You’re early. I was just about to get her up.”
“I know. I wanted to make sure I was here in plenty of time.”
“You always are.” She grinned and drew her mom into the house. “I don’t think you’ve been late a day in your life.”
Unlike Lindy, who tended to run just a few minutes behind no matter how hard she pushed herself. It had been one of those “failings” that had been used as a hammer.
New beginnings.
“I’m not sure that’s true, sweetheart.”
She was pretty sure it was. But her mom’s sweet southern drawl spelled home the way nothing else ever had. She wrapped her in a tight hug.
“What was that for?”
“Just for being you.”
Her mother had been a huge help in making sure she got back on her feet, first by watching Daisy while Lindy had volunteered at the women’s crisis center. And now by insisting she apply for the nursing position at Mid Savannah Medical Center.
Lindy drew a deep breath. “I’ll get Daisy. And I’ve just put breakfast on the table. Do you want something?”
“No, and I told you I could fix Daisy breakfast at the house.”
“I know you did. But I want to try to keep things as normal as possible for her, since I’ll be away from home a lot longer than I was before.”
Normal. What a beautiful word. She’d only recently realized just how beautiful it was.
“And you will.” Rachel peered into her daughter’s face. “How are you holding up?”
“Good, Mom. Good. It’s just been crazy, trying to get settled in the new house. I didn’t expect to get an answer on the job so soon.”
Her husband had left her one good thing: a life insurance policy that had helped her coast along. It had made her squirm to take the money, but that money had also paid for therapy and sundry other things.
Mid Savannah Medical Center had asked about the three-year lapse since her last position in Georgia, but she’d covered by saying she’d taken some time off to be home with her daughter. Not exactly a lie. She’d gotten a surprise phone call the next day telling her she had her dream job as a surgical nurse in the pediatric ward. Her parents had cosigned for the loan on her little starter home—since she hadn’t had a job at the time. She’d vowed to herself that she’d make them proud.
“I told you it wouldn’t take long. Maybe you should have waited a little while longer before getting back out there. I’m sorry if I rushed you into applying.”
She gave her mom’s hand a squeeze. “You didn’t. I needed to do something, and this was the perfect opportunity.”
Her mom was a music professor at one of the local colleges. She’d been alarmed when Lindy had told her she wasn’t going back to work after getting married. She’d been right to be concerned, because Luke had wanted to pack up and move to Fresno almost immediately, effectively isolating her from everyone and everything she’d known.
But that was all water under the bridge. She was back, and she intended to stay back. Nothing or no one would ever change that again.
“Why don’t you let me get Daisy ready? I promise I’ll lock the doors behind me when I leave.”
She hesitated. Locking the doors herself had become her own personal ritual. One she wasn’t sure she was ready to give up. But she’d have to sometime. And the last thing she wanted was to give her mom more cause to worry. “Are you sure you don’t mind?”
“No. It’ll give me and my granddaughter some time to bond before heading out.”
Lindy’s chest ached. Living on the other side of the country meant that her mom hadn’t seen Daisy until she’d moved back home. Not for lack of trying. Luke had thought of every reason under the sun why her parents couldn’t come to see them, though: the house was too small; the trip would be too hard on them; he couldn’t spare the time away from work.
Those days were behind her now. And her parents had already spent the last two years getting to know Daisy. And Daisy—maybe because of how young she was—had adapted to her new life quickly. Her daughter hadn’t asked once about her father, for which Lindy was truly grateful.
“I think you bonded the moment she saw you and Daddy. But thank you.” She glanced at her phone. She still had twenty-five minutes to get to work, but Savannah traffic could be unpredictable. “Maybe I can be on time for once in my life. Hopefully they’ll like me.”
“Just be yourself, honey. They’re all going to love you. How could they not?”
And with those words ringing in her ears, she scooped up her keys, gave her mom a kiss on the cheek and hurried out the door.
Zeke Bruen was not loving the new surgical nurse. She’d done nothing wrong and was on top of every request almost before he asked, but he’d seen her eyes repeatedly stray toward the big clock on the wall. Counting down the hours until she was with her husband? Boyfriend?
Gritting his teeth, he ignored those thoughts. Some people did have a life outside the hospital. He certainly didn’t expect everyone on his team to be like he was. But when they were here, he expected them to be present. Especially when it was a certain person’s first day on the job.
Things had been so rushed getting into the surgical suite that he hadn’t had a chance to introduce himself, although he’d been told the new nurse’s name as he’d scrubbed in: Lindolynn Franklin. So maybe someone had told her his as well. Well, it wouldn’t hurt to have a little chat with her after they were done here.
And do what, Zeke? Confront her about looking at the clock?
He looked too, but it was to keep track of whether things were going as expected.
Maybe Nurse Franklin was doing the same thing. Somehow he didn’t think so. Those glances had seemed furtive and once, when she’d caught his eye afterward, color had flooded into the portion of her face visible above her surgical mask. The sight had turned his stomach inside out. That certainly hadn’t helped.
Returning his attention to his patient with an irritated shrug, he busied himself with reconnecting the pulmonary artery, making sure each tiny stitch he placed was secure. The last thing he needed was to close this little girl’s chest and have the repair leak.
A half-hour later he was done, giving a nod to each of his team with murmured thanks. Then he left the room and stripped off his gloves, relief washing through him. He’d done this particular surgery dozens of times, but each time he cracked open a child’s chest, a moment of doubt threatened to paralyze him. He’d always gotten over it, his muscle memory taking over until he could get his mind back in the game. Maybe that’s what had happened with the new nurse. The only thing to do was feel her out.
He propped a shoulder against the wall outside the double doors as the surgical team slowly filed out, many of them congratulating him. That wasn’t what he was waiting for, however. He was searching for an unfamiliar face.
There. Her eyes connected with his for an instant before she attempted to veer off in the other direction. Good try. He fell into step beside her. “Sorry. I didn’t get a chance to introduce myself before we got started.”
He held out a hand. “Ezekiel Bruen.”
“Oh, um, I’m Lindy Franklin. I’m new here.”
Lindy. That fit. As did the rest of her face, now that her mask was gone. Delicate bones and the subtle curve of her cheeks gave her a breakable air that made him uneasy, and he had no idea why.
“So I’ve heard.” He thought for a second she was going to ignore his outstretched hand, but then she stopped walking and placed hers in it, the light squeeze reaffirming his musings and making him hesitate. Maybe he shouldn’t say anything.
And if it had been another member of his team?
He stiffened his resolve, determined to keep things professional. “I noticed you were in a rush to get out of surgery. Not happy with where the administration placed you?”
“What? Oh...no. I mean yes.” That vibrant color he’d seen in the operating room reappeared, only this time he was actually able to watch as it flowed up her cheeks before receding like an ocean wave. “Why would you think I was in a hurry to get out of there?”
He ignored the quick tightening of his gut. “You were watching that clock pretty closely.”
The pink returned, darker this time, and white teeth sank into a full lower lip. “I was just...” She paused as if trying to figure out how to explain herself. “I didn’t realize I was. And I’m perfectly happy with where I’ve been placed.”
So she wasn’t going to let him in on whatever had kept her mind so occupied.
Well, if that’s the way she wanted to play it... “As long as you’re up to the demands of working with the surgical staff.”
Her back stiffened, and her chin angled up. Light brown eyes rimmed with dark lashes met his head on. “I am quite up to the demands. Thank you for your concern, though.”
That show of strength made him smile.
It wasn’t a true thank you, and they both knew it. But he’d gotten his message across. Time to revert to his normal, friendly self. If it even existed anymore.
“Have you been in town long?”
“I was born and raised here in Savannah.” The slightest flicker of her eyelids said there was something more to that story.
“So was I.” He studied her for a second. “Did you transfer here from one of the other hospitals?”
“No.”
So much for being friendly. He guessed it was none of his business where she’d come from. She could have just graduated from nursing school for all he knew. But the way she’d handled those instruments said she knew her way around an operating room. That kind of self-assurance only came with experience. But if she hadn’t transferred from one of the local hospitals, where had she gained that experience? Unless she actually did have something to hide. Some kind of mistake that hadn’t shown up on her résumé? He didn’t want to go digging through her past or call her previous place of employment, but maybe he should. Just so he’d be aware of any issues before they cropped up and became a problem here. Or maybe he should just ask her outright.
“Where did you practice before this, then?” He could have asked Human Resources, but he wanted to see if she would balk about answering.
She named a place in the heart of Savannah.
“I thought you said you didn’t transfer.”
“I didn’t.” She gave a quick shrug. “I took a few years off and then decided I couldn’t live without nursing.”
She’d taken a few years off...
It hit him all of a sudden. His glance went to her ring finger. It was empty, but he was pretty sure there was an indentation there where a ring had once been. So she’d been married, but wasn’t any longer? She could have taken some time off during that relationship, but he had a feeling he knew what had caused her inordinate interest in that clock. “I take it you have a child.”
Her mouth popped open and then closed again, the color that had seeped into her face disappearing completely. “How did you know?”
“Just a hunch. The clock-watching had to be for a reason. And you took ‘a few years off.’ I wasn’t trying to pry.”
“It’s okay. She’s three. It’s my first time leaving her with anyone for this length of time.”
Including the child’s father? Something about that made the hair on the back of his neck stand up, although it was ridiculous. Maybe the man had traveled so much that there’d never been time to leave her with him or with anyone else. Or maybe the mark on her finger was a figment of his imagination.
It was also none of his business.
She gave a quick shake of her head as if reading his thoughts before meeting his gaze again. “Well, it was nice working with you, Dr. Bruen—”
“Call me Zeke. Everyone does.”
“Okay...” She drew the word out like it made her uncomfortable. Did she think he was hitting on her? Damn. Nothing could be further from the truth, despite that quick jerk to his senses after seeing her without her surgical mask for the first time. He hadn’t felt that since... Well, in quite a while.
Time to put her mind at ease, if that were the case.
“We’re pretty informal here at Mid Savannah.”
“I guess I’m not used to that. You can call me Lindy, then.”
“What’s your daughter’s name?” He had no idea why he asked that, and the last thing he should be doing was talking about baby girls with anyone. He never encouraged his colleagues to talk about their children, and most of the old-timers knew why. Maybe it was because of how reticent she’d been to talk to him. About anything.
“Her name is Daisy.”
Daisy. He liked that. His own daughter’s name had been Marina.
A shaft of pain arced through him and then was gone.
“Nice name.”
“Thank you.”
His glance went past her to see Nancy, one of the OR nurses, coming up the corridor, heading for them. She touched Lindy on the shoulder, only to have her give a squeak and nearly jump out of her skin. She whirled to the side, face white, eyes wide. She seemed to go slack when she saw who it was.
Her fellow nurse frowned. “Sorry. I didn’t mean to scare you.” She held up a phone. “Is this yours? It was left on the desk.”
“Oh! Yes, it is. Thank you.” She suddenly grinned, her nose crinkling on either side. That smile made her face light up in a way that made his gut jerk even harder. He kicked the sensation away, irritated with himself.
“And you didn’t scare me.”
He wasn’t sure he believed her, but he’d already shown far too much interest in her life—and her—than he should have. The last thing he needed was to have the new nurse get any wrong ideas.
Because there weren’t any to have.
And if he was going to get out of here, now was the time to do it without feeling like he’d abandoned her. “Well, I have a few other patients to see, so if you two will excuse me.”
“Of course.” Nancy sent him a smile, while Lindy seemed to take her time looking at him, her phone now in her hand, her expression wary once again.
“I’ll try to do a little less clock watching the next time we work together.” As if she couldn’t help herself, her lips soon turned up at the edges and those tiny lines beside her nose reappeared.
He swallowed. “Not a problem. If you have any questions about the hospital or how we do things, I’m sure Nancy, myself or any of the other staff members can steer you in the right direction.”
“I appreciate that.”
With that he gave the pair a quick wave, before turning around and heading in the opposite direction. Part of him wanted to solve the mystery of the newest staff member and part of him wanted nothing to do with those kinds of guessing games. Especially if it involved someone who’d recently broken up with their spouse or significant other.
Or who had a young daughter.
Better just to do his job and pretend not to notice what Lindy Franklin did or didn’t do. As long as she did her job, he had no complaints.
And even if he did, he was going to keep them to himself.
For his own good. And maybe for hers too.
