Sweet but Sexy Boxed Set Page 34
Chapter Eleven
What followed for the rest of the day entailed an infant’s two-week exam, a case of lice on Tommy Winthop’s blond head which had his mother muttering about shaving his head, kidney stones blocking Mae Chester’s urinary tract, a pregnancy test, which, to the delight of the forty-three year old woman was positive, and all five Barker brothers—ranging in age from seven to seventeen—coming in for stitches following what Sharon learned was a common way of settling their sibling rivalry disagreements. To Sharon’s dismay, the two oldest ignored their cast-covered broken arms while they wrestled with each other on the waiting room’s tile flooring as their younger brothers either egged them on or threw punches at each other. And all this while their mother was in the examination room with Jake because she thought she wanted official verification she was carrying Barker baby number six before imparting the delightful news to her husband.
Sharon knew she would have been horrified at the prospect, but through it all, the young doctor met and charmed not only Mrs. Barker, but all of his patients as well. All the females were more than half in love with him, and the men looked at him as if he were their best friend. Even the father of the seventeen-year-old girl, whose baby-daddy arrived unexpectedly for the infant’s first check-up, did a one-eighty after meeting Jake. Once the good doctor took Cecil Moore aside and they’d had a quiet discussion, the new grandfather’s entire demeanor changed from barely suppressed anger to dignified acceptance. She had to give Jake points for his bedside manner.
And for professionalism.
True to his word, Jake treated her with respect and nothing more. It was necessary. It was expected. And it was certainly what she wanted. But at the same time she found herself a little annoyed he was turning out to be everything she could have dreamed of in a man, and there was no way on God’s green earth she could do anything about it.
To add insult to injury, he smelled like heaven. A spicy sharp scent she knew well, as she’d worked part-time at Abercrombie the previous Christmas for additional income after one of her two other jobs cut her hours. The men’s fragrance was one she would have loved to have bought for her husband at the time since she’d had no clue what was coming, but they couldn’t afford such extravagances and she’d ended up buying him a couple pairs of boxer shorts instead, using her temporary employee discount.
Thinking about it now re-ignited a fury she still had to work hard to bury. She was certain he still wore her gifts, but he had made the excuse that he’d had no money to buy her a gift. That was true. He’d taken what little money she’d saved from all her jobs and bought his nurse a diamond engagement ring, which she’d learned about on Christmas day while cleaning out his scrub pockets to wash them. The receipt had surprised and delighted her until the day ended with him unexpectedly stating he needed to go back to work and her receiving nothing. Confused, she left her son in front of the television with his pawnshop game station and took the bus the three miles to the hospital. She never got off the bus because he and his nurse were out front, her laughing and repeatedly hugging him between long looks at her ring finger.
Sick, betrayed, she stayed on the bus until it made the rounds all the way back to her apartment. Her son had taken one look at her, rose, and asked what was wrong. She couldn’t tell him, afraid his anger would outlast her own. But in the end it hadn’t mattered. Once Nurse Nancy accepted the proposal, Gerald no long pretended to care. It was a very ugly beginning to an even uglier end.
Shaking off memories that could quickly become depressing, Sharon looked around her and still couldn’t believe how much her life had changed in such a short period. As soon as she left work this afternoon, which was going to pay more than she had made in her two previous full-time jobs combined, she and Kyle were finally going to get to move into the cabin Ms. Addie left her. And even though she still had every intention of putting it up for sale as soon as it made sense to do so, she suddenly wasn’t in as much of a hurry as she’d planned to be when she first decided to return to Legend.
She’d desperately needed a break. A home that was paid for, a job that would feed her and Kyle and then some, and to have her mother’s mess dealt with by someone other than herself were the biggest breaks she’d had. Ever. There was no way she was going to look these gift horses in the mouth. If she ended up with any biting results down the road, then she’d deal with them then. As long as no one made it hard on her son if they recognized her, she’d take the blows anyone wanted to send her way.
Sharon blew out a breath and smiled as Jake walked from his office and approached.
“Was that the last one?”
Sharon didn’t even have to look down at the appointment book. All fourteen of Jake’s appointments had shown up and were taken care of, as were the four walk-ins as well. “Done. It was a good day?”
Jake nodded. “Yeah, it was. I was concerned when I first agreed to take over Grandpa’s practice, thinking maybe his patients would go elsewhere. I guess that isn’t the case.”
Sharon grinned at him, wondering if he knew how cute his five o’clock shadow made him. “They all had the nicest things to say about your grandfather when they came in, and about you as they were going out. I think you’re a big hit.”
Jake walked over to the front door and turned the locks, flipped the sign from open to closed, and then closed the blinds. He turned back to her then and studied her. “They had some really nice things to say about you, too.”
Surprise lifted Sharon’s brows as well as increased the rate of her heart. “I just signed them in and out.”
Jake approached to stop right before her desk. “Seems a couple of them knew you from when you were a kid. Said you had a hard life and they were glad to see you were doing so well now. Said you are even prettier now than when you were in your teens. I told them I didn’t know you then, but I sure could agree now that you are a beautiful woman.”
Not knowing what to say, or ask for that matter as curiosity was mixed with trepidation, Sharon turned off the monitor to her computer and closed the appointment book. “So, you know then.”
Jake’s brows went up. “Know what?”
****
An acrobatic tampon was hardly the thing to have when you were trying not to call attention to yourself.
Her face flushed with heat, Sharon stared at the offensive object that had flown, flipped, and landed on the checkout counter between her and the teenage boy wearing the Piggly Wiggly apron over his shirt and jeans. She forced herself to take a breath, return the tampon to her purse, and remove the wallet she had been reaching for when the embarrassing incident happened. She kept her eyes lowered as she counted out the cash to pay for the few items she was purchasing, hoping no one in the very silent, long line behind her would speak to her before she made her escape.
“Sissy! Oh my gosh, Sissy! Is that you?”
Something hard and heavy hit the inside of her stomach. Even after all these years, the voice making the exclamation from behind her was unmistakable. Instead of acknowledging the girl who had once claimed to be her best friend, Sharon lifted her head as far as the black-lettered, white nametag on the clerk’s chest. It read Joey McClain, which meant the kid was related to Martin McClain, the local realtor. Of course being related to a McClain wasn’t much of a stretch in Legend. There were nearly as many McClains as there were blades of grass in the small valley town. She was almost certain there had been one in nearly every grade level from kindergarten to her graduating class way back when. No doubt the McClains were still busily populating the town.
Since she couldn’t continue to stare at the kid’s chest, Sharon turned to the woman whose voice had made everything inside of her cringe. Mary Broadbent still worked at the Piggly Wiggly too, if her smock was any indication. “Hi, Mary.”
“As I live and breathe! I thought you’d left town for good.”
You’re not the only one.
Knowing there was no way around it, Sharon took her change, lifted her bag,
and faced Mary fully as she stepped away from the counter. “I’m in a hurry, but it’s good to see you, Mary.” Not!
Of course Mary wasn’t having any of that. She was hot on Sharon’s heels as she headed to the doors.
“Wait! Where are you staying? How long are you in town? We need to catch up!”
Sharon tried not to let her horror show. The last thing she wanted was to chat with someone who would spread her return all over town. The confusion on Jake’s face when she’d asked him if he knew was enough to tell her he didn’t, and she didn’t need anything about her past, or her present for that matter, getting back to him.
Even though today had been her first day on the job, she’d loved it. She hadn’t had to clean out restrooms for eleven floors of corporate offices. She hadn’t had to wait tables and put up with groping hands. She hadn’t had to shampoo and clip hair that left her smelling like a dirty dog when she was done. No, she didn’t have to do any one of the long list of jobs she’d had to do over the past decade plus. For the first time in her life, she was working at something that had always interested her.
And she hadn’t had to go home to a loveless marriage at the end of the workday.
Instead she’d sat at a desk and started loading Old Doc’s patient files into the computer program Jake only had to show her once. She’d gotten to talk to people who treated her with respect. And she’d gotten an opportunity to see kindness in the way he treated everyone who came to him, regardless of financial circumstances or position. But if Jake found out the woman he’d hired was the disgraced daughter of the icky woman he’d treated, then he’d have no choice but to cut her loose, and she wasn’t ready to be cut loose yet.
Sharon quickly put her purchases in the passenger seat of her Jeep and relocked the door before heading down the street. She needed a moment with the lawyer Ms. Addie’s letter indicated held the keys to her future. She just hoped the cabin was in as good a shape as that dear woman had believed. New job or not, her till was barely in the black, and repairs would be outside of her means until she could save up a little. So her need for that particular job was legitimate, she assured herself, and it had nothing at all to do with the fact that she worked for an adorable doctor. None at all.
Twenty minutes later, keys in hand, Sharon headed back to her car, relieved to see the sidewalks of Legend were deserted as people were likely home from work preparing dinner, or perhaps already eating it. She couldn’t wait to pick up Kyle from football practice and head to the cabin to begin her own preparations for dinner. Of course they’d have to carry in the pots and pans still boxed up in the back of the Jeep, as well as the dishes and utensils. But Kyle could take care of carrying in all their belongings while she started the meal and then they’d see what was what.
According to Mr. Winchester, the cabin was completely furnished, the electricity had been turned on as soon as she called and told him she was headed to Legend, and the water came from a well that would allow them both the benefit of its spring fed purity, as well as there being no water bill. He assured her the additional electricity used to pump the water into her cistern, which also caught rainwater, was minimal as it only kicked on when the water level dropped. Since there was only her and Kyle, he’d felt she wouldn’t even notice the few cents more it would add each month.
Thinking life couldn’t get any sweeter, she returned to her Jeep and hurried to Legend High with a smile on her face and joy in her heart. Life had never been this easy. Not once.
A stirring of unease lifted its ugly head at the thought. Maybe this was all too easy. What if she got used to it and it was kicked out from under her again? She came here with no expectations but to get the money from the cabin Ms. Addie left her. That’s all she’d expected to begin with, and she knew she needed to remember that.
Sharon clamped her teeth together and shook her head to shake off the sudden panic. All she had to do was take one day at a time. Please the adorable doctor with her work ethic. Stay as far away from her mother as possible. Only go into town to shop when it was absolutely necessary. And save every penny she could get her hands on in case she had to grab Kyle and run. After all, she was back in Legend, and it would be dangerous to start thinking it could be permanent. Very dangerous indeed.
Chapter Twelve
The cabin was more than she expected. Neat, clean, charmingly rustic, the two-story structure had more than enough room for her and Kyle to live in comfort. Unlike the apartment she’d shared with Gerald for all those miserable years, there was room to breathe, to relax, and to enjoy a view of not only the woods and wildlife therein, but from the wide deck off the kitchen, there was also an amazing view of the lake and the town below.
The room she chose as her own was on the first floor behind the small kitchen that opened into the living room, separated only by an island long enough for the two tall stools. They sat on the lounging area side of the island, which meant Kyle could sit and talk to her while she prepared their meal. The island was deep enough to hold both a dishwasher, an amazing luxury she’d never had, and much needed storage for her pots and pans, plastic containers, and three drawers for both eating and cooking utensils as well as a place to store…whatever. The wall that backed up to her bedroom had a white stove that she was certain was older than she was, which matched the short, rounded refrigerator of the same era. That both looked as nice as they did, and worked as well as they surely ever had, was amazing.
The counter space was adequate, the sink deep and wide, and the cabinets above it all had once been remodeled, she supposed, as they had glass-fronted doors and interior lights that came on when she flipped the switch next to the sink that also lit the lighting over the sink. To her delight a small rectangular drop-leaf table sat against the log wall off to the right of the kitchen. There had never been a need to have a kitchen table before, but she loved the idea should she and Kyle decide to dine formally.
Sharon stared at the table as she remembered Ms. Addie’s gentle words the first time they were to share a meal and Sharon had refused. She’d just been placed in foster care after enduring the latest of Candy Clark’s endless embarrassments. She was so angry, so scared, and so defiant. But Ms. Addie hadn’t reacted to her anger with anger, which was enough to pull Sharon’s attention away from her turmoil. That was so different than what she’d been used to.
From that first day, through all the days that followed, when Ms. Addie spoke in that soft voice of hers, Sharon always found herself listening and learning. Even now, all these years later, Ms. Addie’s voice and words filled the room… “A dinner table isn’t just a table where you eat dinner. It’s a train station platform where you stay still waiting for the train as you evaluate your day. It’s where you think about where you’re going next when the train arrives. And, if you’re fortunate enough to have someone riding the rails with you, it’s a time to commune with them. Share your joys and burdens and share theirs. Speak aloud your dreams and encourage theirs. Reveal your sorrows but don’t wallow in them, and once shared, they often seem lighter. Breaking bread together is more than about food, sweetheart, it’s a place of connections. Both to ourselves, as well as others.”
As the soft voice faded from her mind, Sharon decided there was no need to wait for a reason to dine formally. Eating at a table, facing each other at the end of the day, talking about what was going on in both their lives, and building the relationship she should have found the time to build with him long before now would be a wonderful new tradition to start with her son. Thanks to Ms. Addie’s loving heart, she was no longer a prisoner of desperation. Instead of having to work around the clock just to eat, she could stop now and begin to live. And more importantly, make a good life for her son.
Sharon finished scrambling the eggs and peeked at the toast browning in the oven before lifting a piece of bacon from the paper-towel covered plate. She nibbled on the piece as she wandered around the cabin again, just to look at this and that, still amazed it was really hers.
“Mom? I’ve finished making the beds. Did you know there are these really puffy mattresses on them?”
Sharon turned and smiled at her son. His excitement at finding they owned not only their own home, but also several wooded acres around it, was evident from the moment they arrived. He was happy to help her get everything done quickly so he could explore his new surroundings. “They’re feather mattresses. Made from goose down. Ms. Addie loved feather mattresses.”
“Is something burning?”
“Yikes!” Sharon quickly made her way across the room to take the eggs off the burner, stirring them vigorously to keep them from sticking to the non-stick pan. “I’m so caught up in our new home I forgot there for a moment that I was making dinner.”
Kyle laughed. “I know. This is really cool, Mom. I don’t know who Ms. Addie was, but I sure do like her a lot.”
Seeing her son so happy for the first time in so long filled her heart with joy, but the smell of burning bread had her turning back to pull the cookie sheet with the black edged slices out. She looked from them to Kyle, and they both burst out laughing.
“Scrape or toss?”
Kyle’s brows shot up and he looked at her in surprise. “Really? We can toss them?”
Sharon nodded. “Yes. We can’t make a habit of it, because it isn’t right to waste food when so many people go hungry, but this time it’s up to you.”