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As quick as she had arrived, Darla was gone. Jordan patted Levi on the back and decided to take her pancakes to go. She and Levi had to be at the WIC office in twenty minutes.
She glanced across the street at Ash’s tidy office—with bright white paint and shiny black shutters. She wasn’t really sure what to make of their newfound friendship, if it was friendship. They’d forged a kind of bond, by caring for Levi.
But maybe it was just that, a mutual concern for a sweet, sad baby boy.
Whatever. She had more important things on her mind than Ash Sheehan. Things like building her therapy practice and making sure Levi healed. She didn’t have time to worry about Ash and their maybe-friendship. In fact, she was sure it wasn’t anything at all.
And just to make sure she remembered that, she was going to stay as far away from the handsome doctor as possible.
* * *
When Jordan got home, Levi’s caseworker was sitting on the porch steps with a file spread around her and a pencil between her teeth. Jordan had just spent three hours in the WIC office with a toddler who refused—understandably—to be strapped into a stroller. She was absolutely exhausted, and unlike her small charge, she couldn’t take a nap on the drive home.
Bartlet nickered at her over the fence. The horses were waiting for her. And so, apparently, was Reesa. Jordan hitched Levi higher on her hip and took a deep breath. “Hey, I didn’t know you were coming this afternoon.”
Reesa gathered the papers and pulled them into a stack. “I had to visit with the twins, Jamie and John, and Claire today, so I thought I’d drop in to see Levi, too. Save me a trip another day. How’s he doing?”
Pushing open the door to the cottage, Jordan let the dog out and tried to remember if she’d left anything embarrassing on the floor. “Come on in.”
She placed sleeping Levi on the crib mattress on the floor and went to the kitchen to pour two glasses of sweet tea, kicking a loose pair of socks under the couch as she went. “He hates the crib. We’re working on it.”
Reesa, in one of the chairs, waved a hand, dismissing it. “No worries. It takes time, sometimes more than you’d think, for them to adjust.”
“Are we going to have a lot of time? Wait. Don’t answer that. I know you don’t have any way to really know.” She held one of the glasses out to Reesa, with a napkin.
Reesa stuck a pencil into the pile of riotous curls on top of her head and leaned forward to take the glass. “Neither Mom nor Dad bonded out, so they’re still in jail. I’m going to see them later this week to get some names of family from them. If they still won’t give us anyone, we’ll try to get the judge to compel them to, but we don’t have a whole lot to hold over their heads. They’re already facing significant time with the drug charges and the child endangerment.”
“So we’re probably looking at six months with Levi.”
Reesa nodded, the colorful curls on her head bouncing wildly. “At least. Levi will be classified medically fragile and I have no idea what we’ll find when we start looking at family.” She paused and, with her customary directness, added, “Do we need to find him another placement?”
“No.” Jordan didn’t hesitate. In just a couple of days, Levi’s journey had become inextricably entwined with hers and she had to see it through with him. “He’s just starting to trust me. I’m not going to do that to him. He has enough to deal with without me adding to it.”
“Okay, good. Obviously, I think you’re the perfect person for him since you can help him with any kind of physical or occupational therapy that he might need at home.” Reesa wrote something in her notes and looked up again. “Now, let’s talk about him. You said he hates the crib. He will sleep out here, though?”
“Yes. I think it’s the thing about being enclosed. He freaks out in the car seat and high chair, too.”
“Poor guy. How are his burns?”
“Better. I’ve been putting the cream on them and they look less angry.”
“If you can snap some pics and send them to me, that would be good. I have the ones from the hospital, but I’d like photos of his progress. Is he eating okay?”
“He won’t eat solid food. I had a huge fight with WIC today trying to get them to pay for formula for a three-year-old. I’m going to have to get some documentation from the pediatrician that it’s okay for Levi to take a bottle, at least for now.”
Reesa looked up. “That really cute pediatrician who came with you to the hospital?”
“He didn’t come with me.” Jordan scowled. “He met me there.”
“Mmm-hmm. And what’s going on with you two?”
“What? Nothing.” Oh, man, she hoped that it wasn’t that obvious that she was so unbelievably awkward around him. She twirled the end of one of her braids around her finger, let it go and then picked it up, wrapping it around her finger again. Then again, maybe she was just awkward in general. “Ash and I—we’re just friends. His brother is married to my sister, that’s all.”
“He’s really good-looking. Maybe you should start something.” Reesa raised one perfectly manicured, pierced eyebrow.
Jordan sputtered out a laugh. “That’s entirely inappropriate! And seriously, I’m not his type.”
“Okay, I hear you.” Reesa closed her notebook. “One last thing. I know Levi just got out of the hospital, but you’ll need to make an appointment and get his intake form filled out by the superhot, there’s-nothing-going-on-there Dr. Sheehan this week.”
Jordan dug deep to find some peace and took a cleansing breath. She would make it work with her schedule. Somehow. “Of course.”
“And now, I’m really sorry, but I have to see him awake while I’m here. Can you wake him up?”
“Yes. He’s been sleeping a lot. He’s healing, for one thing, but I’m not sure he had much restful sleep before. Let me get him a bottle before we wake him. He hasn’t had anything in a couple of hours.” In the kitchen, she got a bottle out of her new stash, quickly mixing six ounces of formula for Levi. “He’s not always happy to see me, so I’m just warning you.”
“You’re doing a great job with him, Jordan. He’s going to adjust. What are you going to do when you have to go back to work this week?”
“My hours are flexible and Claire has Mrs. Matthews, who’s agreed to keep him during the day when I have clients. Unfortunately, it will be another adjustment for him.” Jordan lifted Levi into her arms and tickled his foot to wake him up. He woke up scowling and opened his mouth to scream. She stuck the bottle in it.
Reesa laughed and gathered her stuff. “Good enough. You’re a natural, but I guess you’ve had some practice with all of Claire’s kids.”
“I have. Will you keep me posted if there are any changes?”
“I’ll do my best. And I’ll see you next month if not before.” Reesa let herself out the front door.
Jordan knew that Reesa meant well, but she also knew that information flowed slowly and usually in one direction in the system, from foster parent to caseworker, not the other way around. She looked into Levi’s big brown eyes, which were focused on hers. “I guess we’ll just have to wait and see. But you don’t have to worry, buddy. We’ll figure it out.”
She hoped she was telling the truth. She prayed constantly for this sweet baby, who so did not deserve what had happened to him. God, do Your will for him. Make it unmistakable.
Her phone buzzed on the table beside her. A text from Reesa:
Don’t forget about the pediatrician.
As if she could.
Chapter Four (#u96d88f8f-fbad-5e81-851e-9e39512f2257)
Ash stopped at the reception desk. His nurse, Marissa, slid a file to the bottom of the stack on the counter. A grandmotherly woman with a heart of gold, she was the organizational glue that held his practice together. “We have a new patient. Levi Wheeler, three years old.”
He glanced through the window into the waiting area and saw Jordan with Levi in her arms. He smiled. The other moms were dressed to the nines, having been taught from the cradle—according to his mother—not to leave the house without hair done and lipstick in place. Jordan was herself, boots and flannel, hair tied back, rebellious red curls framing her face. Levi had his head buried in her armpit. “Go ahead and put them in the red room.”
“But—”
They were overbooked. They were always overbooked because who could turn away a sick kid? So they went in order of arrival. Sometimes, though, you had to break the rules. “Marissa, take a look at him.”
His sweet nurse peeked over the counter and sighed. “Poor little one. He looks terrified.”
“He’s her new foster son. Let’s get the two of them in a room.” Ash stripped off his white lab coat and tossed it over a chair before picking up Levi’s thin chart. He opened the door to the waiting room. “Ms. Conley?”
Jordan’s eyes widened and darted around the room to the other moms, but she hastily made her way to the door. Jordan glanced out at the people lining the walls in the waiting room. “I think they’re planning a mutiny. Might want to send out some snacks or something.”
Ash laughed. “I’ll take that under advisement. We thought waiting in a room might be more comfortable for Levi.”
“You thought right. Thank you.”
“Hey, buddy.” Ash reached into his pocket for a sticker. He held it out to Levi, who looked at him from under Jordan’s chin.
The little boy’s eyes were huge in his thin face and seemed to question Ash’s motives, but he stuck his hand out and took the sticker from Ash’s hand. Ash considered that a victory. “You’ll be waiting in the red room, better known as the Giraffe Room. I’ve got just a couple of patients to see before Levi, but I won’t be long. Marissa?”
Ash’s nurse showed Jordan to the red room and followed them in. After an eight-month-old with an ear infection and a two-year-old with eczema, Ash knocked on the door. He pushed it open to find that Jordan had sketched roads on the paper cover of the exam table and was showing Levi how to make sound effects for his Matchbox cars.
When the toddler saw Ash, he pulled his car close to his chest and narrowed his dark brown eyes.
Tucking the pen and extra cars back into the diaper bag, Jordan smiled at Levi. “It’s okay, buddy. Dr. Sheehan is just going to give you a checkup. Remember how we watched the little girl give her stuffed animal a checkup on TV?”
“Time for a checkup, time for a checkup!” Ash sang the song from the kid’s show.
Jordan laughed. “See, Levi? He even knows the song.”
Ash pulled a couple more stickers out of his pocket, once again the pediatrician’s secret weapon. He held them out to Levi. “We’ll do as quick a check as possible today so I can fill out your form for the caseworker. I’m hoping he’ll get used to me so he’ll let me do a full exam soon without it being too traumatizing.”
“What do you need me to do?”
“If you’ll pick him up and put him on your shoulder, I’ll look in his ears.”
Jordan lifted Levi, and Ash took a peek in one ear and the other.
“Great job, Levi. Jordan, if you want to hold him in your lap with his back against your chest, I want to get a look in his throat and nose. I’ll try to be fast.”
Jordan held Levi’s arms and hands still and Ash took a quick look in the little guy’s nose. Just as he was gearing up to yell, Ash got a look in his throat. “All done. Let’s put him on the table and we’ll see how far we can get with an exam. I want to check those burns if he’ll let me.”
She laid Levi on the table and Ash held his exam light up, pretending to blow it out. No laughs, but at least he got a little smile from the somber little boy. He gently checked one fragile arm and then the other. The burns looked better.
A quick check of reflexes and he would call it a day. Ash slid his thumbnail up the sole of Levi’s foot. His big toe curved back and his toes spread. Babinski in a three-and-a-half-year-old?
He tested the other foot. The primitive reflex was not as strong, but it was still there. With long practice, Ash hid his concern, smiling at Levi. “You did awesome, little man!”
“So, rainbow fingernails are in now?” Jordan pulled a T-shirt over Levi’s head.
Ash glanced down at his hands and yes, his fingernails were painted in rainbow pastel shades. His face flushed hot, but he laughed and shrugged. “It’s the latest thing, didn’t you know? I have a little patient going through chemo right now. She has specialists overseeing her care, but when I can, I go by to see her. Last night she was bored and her mom needed a nap, hence my new fashion statement.”
Jordan’s eyes were soft. “I’m sorry. That must hit home for you.”
“It does, a little,” he admitted. “And she’s a real sweetheart of a kid. I hate it for her. You ready?”
She pulled some soft knit pants over Levi’s scrawny legs and picked him up. “Now I am.”
“Good. I want to run a few tests on Levi. Because he’s so small and isn’t crawling or walking, I want to rule out some more serious issues. Marissa will call you once the appointments are set up, okay?”
Jordan stopped halfway out the door. “Should I be worried?”
He smiled into her already very concerned eyes. “Not yet. I’ll tell you when to worry. I promise.”
She nodded. “It’s just—He’s been through a lot, you know?”
“I do know.” Ash opened the door because feelings were churning in his chest. He saw dozens of patients every day and never had he wanted to take one of the mothers in his arms and reassure her that everything would be okay. He cleared his throat. “Jordan, I promise we’re going to take good care of him.”
He watched as she walked down the hall toward the reception area, her red head bent toward a dark, curly one.
“Doc?” Marissa shook his arm, startling him. “You have a patient waiting in two.”
“Right. I need to make some notes first. And I want you to go ahead and make an appointment for a CT scan for Levi—spine and hips.” Marissa noted his request and walked away. He stood there a second longer.
Jordan was so different from other girls—women—he’d known. She hadn’t had an easy time of it but she wasn’t waiting for life to come to her. Instead, she took life by the reins, making it be what she wanted it to be. There was a part of him that deeply desired that kind of determination and definitely admired it.
He called after her, “Jordan!”
She turned back and he was at her side in a second, before he had time to think about it, consider the consequences.
“Go out with me. Dinner on Friday?”
Jordan stared into his eyes as if scrutinizing his motives and he wondered what she thought she saw there. He didn’t even know what his motives were.
After a long minute, when every eye in the place seemed to be trained on him, she said, “No, thank you.”
No, thank you. That was what you say when someone offers you Brussels sprouts and you hate them, not what you say when someone you like invites you to dinner.
Over the rushing in his ears, he heard her say a few more words, and then over it all, the sound of an infant screaming in the room to his left.
Marissa put a merciful hand on his arm. “Room two is waiting, Dr. Sheehan.”
He turned and went to the door of the exam room. With his hand on the doorknob, he stopped. Struggling to come up with appropriate words, he finally said, “Okay, then, I’ll see you around.”
Color high in her cheeks, Jordan nodded and fled.
* * *
A week later Jordan was still thinking about that moment. He’d closed in on her with long strides, blue eyes smiling at her, those tiny crinkles in the corners. Stupid rainbow fingernails, making her feel all warm and mushy about him.
In her mind, when he’d asked her to go to dinner, she didn’t blurt out that he wasn’t her type. She didn’t even hesitate. She smiled slowly up at him and said, What took you so long? Or That sounds like fun.
Was that so hard?
She scowled and shoveled fresh pellets into Bartlet’s stall. “Yes, thank you, that sounds like fun.” See, how hard was that?
“Who are you talking to?”
She went still. She knew that deep voice. Slowly, she turned around, her cheeks burning. Ash leaned on the door to the barn, a bakery bag dangling from his relaxed fingers. He was absolutely spotless, as usual. Nary a crease would dare to mar his perfect khakis.
