The M.D.'s Unexpected Family

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Exactly like the one she’d wanted so desperately as a child. The badge was now tucked safely into one of the pockets of her large zebra-striped bag. As she pushed open the door to the salon, Cassidy resisted the urge to take the badge out and gaze at it one more time.

“Look what came for you,” Daffodil Prentiss, one of the stylists, announced before the salon door even had a chance to close.

Cassidy came to an abrupt halt. She widened her eyes to take in the huge bouquet of Gerbera daisies taking up most of the reception desk counter. The bright, flashy colors drew her to the flowers like a moth to a flame. Her heart skipped a beat. “These are mine?”

“Your name is on the card.” With well-practiced ease, Daffy put a customer under the dryer then stepped forward.

“They’re quite lovely, don’t you think?” Kathy Randall, Cassidy’s next appointment, piped up from her seat in the waiting area. Ignoring the magazine lying open in her lap, she stared at Cassidy and the bouquet with undisguised interest.

Cassidy had no doubt word that she’d received flowers would be all over Jackson by nightfall. Kathy was extremely well connected in the community. Her son, Tripp, was the mayor of Jackson.

Reverently, Cassidy touched the edge of a hot-pink petal with the tip of one finger. No one had ever given her flowers before, not even a basket on May Day when she’d been a kid. Of course, in her neighborhood, any basket left would likely have been stolen off the porch before the recipient opened the door.

She couldn’t imagine who would have sent them. A satisfied customer? Perhaps a bride, thanking her for making her special day even more special?

“Here.” Daffy reached into the bouquet then pressed the card she’d retrieved into Cassidy’s hand. “You should read—”

The waiflike blonde with the huge blue eyes and gentle spirit appeared to reconsider what she’d been about to say.

“Or do it later.” Daffy spoke quickly, her cheeks now a deep pink. “Your two o’clock is here.”

“I don’t mind waiting,” Kathy Randall protested.

Deliberately slipping the card into her pocket, Cassidy smiled at Kathy and spoke loudly enough for everyone. “Tell me that today is the day you’re going to let me add a pretty pink streak to your hair.”

The entire salon erupted in laughter at the thought of the mayor’s proper mother going pink.

Crisis averted.

While the flowers could be from a bride or a customer, the bouquet was too perfectly chosen to have come from anyone but Tim.

* * *

Cassidy didn’t have to worry about seeing Tim at the book club meeting at Mary Karen and Travis Fisher’s home the following night. While many of the women brought their husbands or boyfriends for a meal prior to the book discussion, Tim had no reason to be in attendance.

Jayne also wasn’t part of the book club group. For Cassidy, tonight marked only her second meeting.

When Hailey Ferris, speech therapist by day, makeup artist extraordinaire by night, had approached Cassidy several months earlier about joining the group, Cassidy had been hesitant. Granted, most of the women in the group were friends. They were also doctors and lawyers or wives of doctors and lawyers.

Snooty society women. Her mother’s slurred words echoed in her head. Think they’re better than us.

But Cassidy had reminded herself that second-class was merely a state of mind. And she refused to think of herself as less than anyone else.

She’d accepted the invitation.

Last month’s book had been difficult to get through and not at all enjoyable. But the book Mary Karen Fisher had chosen for this evening, Naked in Death, by J.D. Robb, had been devoured in one evening.

Cassidy identified with the spunky Eve Dallas, who’d had a horrible childhood but had made something of herself. She liked it that Roarke, Eve’s love interest, could see beneath the detective’s brash exterior.

She only wished Tim had been equally mesmerized by her. But as she parked her car and walked to the front porch of Mary Karen’s large two-story home in the mountains surrounding Jackson, Cassidy told herself that a relationship between her and the dedicated doctor apparently wasn’t meant to be.

That was why he’d sent the flowers, thanking her for a lovely evening and wishing her only the best in the future. It had been a brush-off, a classy one but a brush-off just the same.

While initially disappointed—the empty pint of Ben & Jerry’s Phish Food in the garbage was proof of that—Cassidy certainly didn’t want any man who didn’t want her. She had a lot to offer. If Tim Duggan was too nearsighted to see she was a gem, well, it was his loss.

Cassidy lifted her hand to knock only to have the door flung open before her knuckles reached the wood.

“Mo-om,” a boy about ten with thick curly blond hair and bright blue eyes bellowed in a surprisingly strong voice. “Another lady is here. This one has pink hair.”

Actually, it was only the tips that were edged in pink. Cassidy recognized the child as one of Mary Karen’s oldest set of twins. Since the boys were identical, she wasn’t sure if he was Connor or Caleb.

Mary Karen rushed into the foyer. The mother of five was a pretty, petite woman with a mass of blond curls and big blue eyes. Her husband, Travis, was a successful OB in practice with Tim. “Connor, there’s no need to yell.”

“I didn’t yell.” His jaw jutted out. “I—”

“You know, I believe I saw Finley taking a fresh batch of mozzarella sticks downstairs,” Mary Karen said, interrupting her son.

Connor’s eyes filled with alarm. “Not fair. Caleb will eat them all.”

The boy sprinted off, leaving the two women alone.

“I’m so happy you made it.” Mary Karen held out her hands to Cassidy, pulling her in for a brief hug.

“I loved the book,” Cassidy told her hostess as the two crossed the spacious foyer with the gleaming hardwood floors.

“It sure beats She’s Come Undone.” The pretty blonde made a face and they both laughed. “That one had me depressed for weeks.”

The Wally Lamb bestseller had been the previous month’s selection and Cassidy agreed with MK’s assessment. If it hadn’t been for the camaraderie among the women, Cassidy might not have returned.

That would have been a shame because this was a great group of women and Cassidy enjoyed them. The actual book discussion wasn’t even a large part of the evening. Mostly they drank wine, ate gourmet food and caught up on each other’s busy lives.

Mary Karen slipped an arm through Cassidy’s, leaned close and spoke in a conspiratorial whisper. “Just FYI, Lexi and Nick are in Texas this month so I made the entrée. If it tastes hideous, pretend to like it so everyone will agree it’s fabulous. Sort of an Emperor’s-new-clothes kind of thing.”

Cassidy nodded but wasn’t sure why Mary Karen worried. Food was food, right? While Lexi’s gourmet entrées were always the talk of the book club, Cassidy was easily pleased. She’d be satisfied with ramen noodles and beer.

They reached the great room just as loud cheers of the masculine variety came from outside. Cassidy slanted a questioning glance in Mary Karen’s direction.

“The boys—oh, I’m sorry—the men are playing basketball.” The hostess gave an indulgent laugh. “Though we all know they act more like little boys when they get together.”

“Mrs. Fisher.” Finley Davis, the teenage daughter of Dr. Michelle Davis, a local OB, came up from the stairs leading down into the basement. “Is it okay if Mickey and I start a movie for some of the smaller kids?”

“Absolutely.” Mary Karen gave the girl, apparently one of several babysitters for the evening, an approving smile. “Let me show you where we keep the remote.”

As Cassidy watched MK hurry off, she recalled the “rules.” Whoever hosted the book club hired babysitters to watch the children of the attendees. Cassidy was one of the few single persons in the group. Her thoughts slipped briefly to Tim.

What would it be like to share an evening like this—one surrounded by mutual friends—with him?

“Cassidy. What are you doing here?”

For a second she thought she’d conjured up Tim’s image. She blinked once. Blinked again. Huh, still there.

Despite the “have a happy life” bouquet of flowers brush-off, she was genuinely pleased to see him. Even with sweat beading his brow and that lean, muscular body clad in gray gym shorts and a faded green T-shirt, he looked amazing.

He stared at her expectantly and she realized he’d asked a question. Frazzled, she tried to recall what it was. Oh, yes, something about not expecting to see her here. “I came for the book club. What about you?”

“Basketball.” He wiped the perspiration from his forehead with the back of his hand. “And it gives the girls a chance to play with some of their friends.”

“Esther and Ellyn are here?”

“Downstairs.” He smiled, the way he always did when mentioning his daughters. “We’ll stay for dinner then head out.”

“Thanks again for the flowers.” Cassidy decided she might as well get the niceties out of the way. She’d called last night to thank him personally, but had been forced to leave a message when she’d reached his voice mail. “They were beautiful.”

“I had a great time.” He rocked back on his sneakers, looking suddenly uncomfortable. “I’d have suggested we see each other again but—”

“Hey, it was a one-night thing.” Cassidy waved a hand. “It—”

“One-night thing.” Dr. Travis Fisher appeared out of nowhere, as if conjured up by a magician’s wand.

A tall, lanky man with sandy-colored hair, Travis always held a mischievous gleam in his eyes. Despite being a father of five and a respected doctor in the largest OB practice in the region, Travis had a playful, approachable side that Cassidy found refreshing in someone so prominent.

Travis crossed his arms, looking decidedly un-doctor-like in his sweaty gym clothes. His gaze slid expectantly from Tim to her. “Details are necessary for absolution. Confess to Father Travis, my children.”

Cassidy rolled her eyes. “Sorry to disappoint, Father Travis. Tim and I simply attended Old West Days together. A bachelor-auction date, hence the one-night-thing.”

“I heard you’d purchased my partner.” Travis’s lips turned down in mock sorrow as he glanced from her to Tim and back again. “Perhaps next year, you’ll do better with your money.”