Chapter Seven

D r. Peyton Grey tapped her impeccably neat desk with a shiny gold pen. “Trauma nurse. Labor and delivery, then midwife? A lot of experience in fifteen years. We’re lucky to have you.”

“Thank you for considering me.” Susan beamed at Peyton’s compliments while marveling at her incredible sense of style.

Considering the construction in the hall, Peyton managed to keep her office neat as a pin. Minimalist décor with calming colors created a welcoming space, but on the bookshelves, windowsills, and side tables, small Pixar figurines added the perfect touch of whimsy.

After a crazy few days of paperwork, initial foster care classes, and multiple trips to the hospital nursery, sitting in the medical environment helped Susan find her footing again. “It’s serendipitous that you planned to open the birthing center when I needed a professional change.”

“It was meant to be. I’ve enjoyed working with your doctor siblings. I do have to ask.”

Here it comes. “What’s that?”

“Why did you become a nurse when the rest of your siblings went to medical school?” Peyton held a pen between her long, elegant fingers as though she were planning to write down what Susan confessed.

“Because I’m the smartest, most rational one.” Susan forced a laugh as her knee bounced to a quick beat.

Peyton smirked, but her amusement didn’t quite reach her eyes. Her future boss either didn’t believe her or she didn’t appreciate Susan’s humor.

Starting off with a bang. “I liked more of a hands-on position when it comes to patient care. More procedures-based brain. More direct interaction. Time to teach.”

Peyton’s beautifully sculpted eyebrows arched in understanding. “Not everyone is geared for direct bedside care.”

“That’s true. I mostly love the patient education. Teaching people how to self-advocate.”

The theme from The Incredibles blared out of Peyton’s phone. “That does take a special patience. Hold on.”

“Take your time.” Susan re-gathered her thoughts as she scanned the decor.

Although everything she said about becoming a nurse was true, Susan omitted that her role as caregiver didn’t stop when Peter left, and she prepared for college.

To ensure they stayed financially stable, always practical Susan plotted out the fastest completion to a medical-related degree. One that kept Edmund, Lucy, and their mother fed, clothed, and sheltered.

Since nursing solidly fell into that category, Susan started classes in high school, graduating with a bachelor’s in nursing just short of her twenty-first birthday.

The lawsuit from the car accident and initial community fundraising paid for their undergraduate degrees to state schools and only lasted so long with monthly expenses.

Acceptance to a medical program could take her across the country or even a state away. She couldn’t risk the change and refused to take Edmund and Lucy away from their friends or their mother away from her doctors.

It was hard enough just getting her mother out of bed to go to appointments. Changing physicians would have given her the perfect excuse to never go.

Plus, there was no telling how expensive it would be to live in some other place, and the medical school hours alone were grueling.

By the time their stepfather, Charlie, came into the picture and took over care of their mom until her death, Susan had already applied for her master’s in nursing, and Lucy and Edmund were off to college and focused on med school.

“Sorry, a staffing crisis I had to fix.” Peyton tucked her phone away in her Pixar-themed scrub pocket.

Susan pointed to a popular movie poster on the wall behind the desk. “Is that signed?”

“Yes. My previous practice was in Northern California. Took care of some of the people at the studio.” She tapped her pen on the desk before letting it drop. “Great group.”

The pounding of hammers and the footsteps of workers echoed outside the office. The faint smell of paint mixed with the crisp chill of the morning.

Susan pulled her coat tighter around her and wondered if she’d get to wear shorts again.

Extending her hand, Peyton gave Susan a quick shake and handed her a thick folder with C OPPER M OUNTAIN G YNECOLOGICAL AND A SSISTED R EPRODUCTION C ENTER printed across it. “Let me show you around. Then you can go home and fill out all this paperwork.”

Home. After this, she’d head to back Reynolds’s house, where she’d live with him and a newborn for the next few months.

She appreciated his input with their road to adoption plan, but the topic that remained unanswered was just how long they wanted to keep their co-parenting platonic.

It seemed jumping right into bed with him rushed things, but to be fair, they had known each other a year, and they were legally married.

“Susan? You in there?” Peyton’s forehead furrowed as she pushed her chair back, readying to stand.

“Yes. Sorry. Time changes. Crazy week.”

“With the emergency pitstop in Bozeman, I understand.”

“You understand correctly.” Nothing like meeting your boss for the first time and asking for adjustments on a schedule to accommodate a new baby. “How did you find out?”

“While standing at the nurses’ station, Dr. Nate received that initial call from his brother. He expressed his thoughts quite loudly.”

“Nate’s certainly outspoken on the subject, but I think he’ll be okay.” At least I hope so.

Even now, she wasn’t sure her own siblings were completely on board with this arrangement, but she didn’t doubt they’d show up if she needed them.

Peyton smoothed out her blouse. “Dr. Rey stopped by this morning on his way out the door. Told me you were brilliant with that entire crazy situation.”

Her cheeks warmed at the mention of his name. “An over exaggeration. I delivered a baby like I’d done hundreds of times before.”

Leaning forward, Peyton braced her hands on her desk, her red lips thinned. “You know that’s an understatement. You delivered a baby under dire conditions in a dirty environment while coaching a scared, first-time mom through a quick delivery with minimal tearing. All while making sure a newborn baby arrived in a clean situation. And you confronted a gunman.”

“That does make me sound pretty amazing, Dr. Grey.” Like Wonder Woman.

“It’s Peyton. From what I can tell, you are.”

Susan’s stomach flip-flopped with her recent good deeds. Her usual MO of flying under the radar wasn’t going to take here. “It’ll be hard to live up to all that if that’s where the bar begins.”

“You’re good. Is the baby doing okay?”

“She is.” No issues or glitches from Lori so no reason to think otherwise.

Still. Her nervous fingers tapped her watch to check for missed messages. Nothing.

“You’re the kind of midwife I want. Thinks on her feet, improvises when she needs to, and doesn’t put up with bullshit.” Before she walked around the desk, Peyton opened the sheer decorative curtains behind her. An uninterrupted view of the snow-capped mountain range that overlooked the town appeared.

Susan gasped at its beauty. “This is gonna take some getting used to.”

“What’s that?”

“Not seeing the beach every day.”

“Grew up on the West Coast, but the mountains have their magic. It’s one of the reasons I moved my practice here.” Her thumb rubbed her bare ring finger, telling Susan a broken heart might have also been involved.

“Fresh air. Less pollution and traffic. Stress. Thought it might increase the chances of women having healthier pregnancies.”

“I’ve lived next to the beach pretty much my entire life, so this is very different.”

“You’ll do fine.”

“At least I won’t have to worry about hurricanes. Or the humidity.” She ran her fingers through her hair.

“So true.”

“It’s been quite a learning curve since I crossed the Montana state line.” That’s an understatement.

Peyton sat on the edge of her desk in front of Susan. “What’s this I hear about you and Dr. Rey being designated custodians of this baby?”

The mention of his name instantly raised the temperature of the room twenty degrees. “It’s a ludicrous, but endearing situation. The birth mother designated custody to us right after the baby was born. She’s supposed to have signed the relinquishment papers by now.”

“And then what?”

“The social worker will bring the child this afternoon. She’ll be in our care until the adoption is finalized. Hopefully.”

“Plan for the worst. Hope for the best.”

“What do you mean?” Susan’s knee began to bounce again.

Peyton shrugged. “Sometimes adoptions don’t work out for whatever reason but hold tight to the fact you’re providing a safe, nurturing place for her to be. Especially in these critical months.”

“Right. Of course. Reynolds and I have decided to take it one day at a time.” As practical as her boss’s advice was, Susan’s heart grew fonder of the idea of becoming a mother for the long term. And co-parenting with Reynolds was an added bonus.

“Your siblings explained you do everything with great passion and commitment. You stepping into a permanent caregiver role doesn’t surprise me.”

Really? “Thanks, but it’s happening so fast.”

“It is, but sometimes that’s what life throws at us, so we don’t overthink the obvious. We do the best with what we have.”

“We do.” The general outlook about life choices is sure different here in Marietta. Every day she spent here, it became increasingly difficult to deny her love for the place.

For the people.

For one particular person.

Love? No, a like for certain. A whole lot of lust, but love? Talk about irrational.

Peyton snapped her fingers. “Which reminds me, we’ll have a full-time social worker to help parents navigate any paperwork for WIC, Medicare/Medicaid, and any foster/adoption questions.”

“That’s amazing.” Every month after the accident, Susan spent hours filling out supplemental paperwork to get the basic needs and government assistance for her, her siblings, and their mom. She often wondered how anyone with less than a high school education completed any of it.

“I’ve also hired an amazing geneticist and a pediatrician, both of whom will be here in the next few weeks.” Peyton handed over a brochure with a brightly colored DNA double helix on the front.

“A geneticist? Here? You have that many babies in Marietta to support a specialist?”

Peyton flipped the brochure over and tapped the photo. “Because of the internet, consultations can be done from anywhere. Labs are drawn where the patients live. Grace Harper, my friend, has a huge client list. Plus, she wants to transition to the lecture circuit and write books. Wants more of a homelife. A family.”

In her photo, Dr. Grace Harper smiled like someone who hated having her picture taken. “She looks nice.”

“She’s very pragmatic, sometimes prickly, but has a great attention to detail.” Peyton touched her perfectly placed ponytail as her grin highlighted her amazingly white teeth.

“She’s moving here with her family?” Outside the window, a group of moms with strollers power-walked by. Susan’s heart pinched at the possibility of that being her one day.

Sooner than expected.

“She wants to start one. I think Dr. Nate went to medical school with her.”

“Small world.” Susan twisted the strap of her purse between her fingers at how much was at stake for her to fit in here. Then she wondered if she’d taken on too much.

“Keep me posted. We can figure out what work you can do from home versus your clinic hours. I’ll do my best to keep you on a set schedule, but of course, any babies that are due will arrive when they want to.”

“That’s extremely generous of you, Peyton. My siblings have offered to help with any babysitting needs.” Butterflies danced in Susan’s chest at how quickly things came together.

This could work.

“Shelly, your brother’s fiancée, she’s got a couple of amazing kids. I bet they’d help out in a pinch.”

Yesterday, Susan met Peter’s beloved, Shelly Westbrook, and her son, Freddie, and niece, Tia. She also officially met her niece and nephew, Polly and Diggory.

Peter still wasn’t totally on the same page as Susan, but that didn’t stop them from being family. “Shelly’s kids are amazing. They get along great with Peter. Looking forward to getting to know them all more.”

“Polly and Diggory are a blast. I see them riding their bikes all the time.” After a bit of awkward silence, Peyton added, “Understand, all this is an entirely selfish gesture.”

“How so?”

With a shrug, Peyton tilted her head. “I figure if I solidly reel you in, you’ll stay for a good long time, put down roots. Like your siblings have.”

“Shrewd business tactic.” Now I get why she’s not questioning what I’m doing.

“But effective. So, you and Dr. Rey?” While she casually motioned to the door, Peyton’s simple question was anything but. “How is that going to play out?”

“You get right to the meat of the matter, don’t you?” The how is it gonna work with Dr. Rey question constantly tumbled through Susan’s head like socks in a dryer.

Platonic. Physical. Platonic. Physical.

There were moments when her interest in him sat this side of feral. Then a bit of rational thinking made her wonder if her intense attraction to him muddied common sense.

What if her willingness to go down this matrimonial-parenting road was grounded in a fairy tale? The one where she aimlessly chased the happily ever after that always eluded her.

So, why would it be any different this time?

Sadness threatened to derail her hope, but she shook it off because in about thirty minutes she was due back at Reynolds’s… their house. She and Reynolds. Reynolds and she.

It’s different this time because of him. Right? “Um, it’s a work in progress.”

“This isn’t the ER.” Wearing a local college T-shirt and high school letterman’s jacket, a teen shifted his weight as his body took up the majority of the doorway.

“Can I help you?” Peyton approached.

He held up his sadly bandaged hand. The frayed edges of the gauze and poorly placed tape indicated he tried to bandage with his nondominant hand or someone helped him and had no idea what they were doing. “Came to get some stitches out.”

“I’ll show you the way.” As Peyton stepped into the hallway with the kid, Susan tucked her purse away, but before she joined Peyton, a face caught her attention.

On a short bookshelf to the left of Peyton’s desk, tucked between two sets of larger medical books, rested that first responder fundraising calendar. After looking through it many times, Susan memorized every man of the month.

Seeing a shirtless Officer Rob Shaw dangling a pair of handcuffs wasn’t anything new. Good to know my boss appreciates local law enforcement.

Peyton and Susan watched the stitches kid lumber down the back ER hallway where Lucy waited.

Her sister’s smile lit up the morning, and she waved to Susan before escorting the patient to an exam room.

“Must be nice to be with your siblings again.” Peyton motioned toward an exam room.

“We’re a pretty tight unit. Always have been.” Life was always easier when talking to people who understood why brothers and sisters were close.

“How do they feel about the adoption?”

Susan wavered between annoyance and relief that Peyton shot from the hip. “Peter has questions every time I talk to him. More than Lucy and Edmund.”

“I can see that.”

“Reynolds and I have a plan.” Seemed as good of an answer as any.

“He’s a good man. There have been more than a few people in town who hoped to catch his eye.”

The man could easily tempt the most celibate of townsfolk. “No pressure, then.”

“None whatsoever. Okay, before I send you home with the binders full of exciting reading like our mission statement, OSHA requirements, etcetera, let me show you around.”

“I’ll brew a big pot of coffee for all that excitement.”

“Only one pot?”

“Smartass.” She was going to like working with Peyton. The woman had a sharp wit and a take-no-bullshit personality.

A brisk breeze ebbed and flowed through the wide-open, front double doors. Even in April, Montana’s morning air held a strong chill. Far different from Jupiter, Florida, where the humidity and the temperatures climbed well over eighty by this time of day.

Susan pulled her coat tighter around her as Peyton spoke. “We’re a little behind on construction. Going to delay the opening by about a week. We’re set for the Tuesday after Memorial Day. Let me show you what we have so far.”

The calming color scheme and themed birthing rooms offered a hint of distraction without being overwhelming.

Wide doorways would allow easy passage of wheelchairs or stretchers. Large windows brought in natural light as the view of the mountains sat in the background.

Susan visualized a happy family in here, waiting for the birth of a girl or boy. She soaked in the Zen of it all, but an ache nestled in her chest, for the experience she’d never have.

The truth punched her lungs hard enough that she had to hide a gasp.

You have to tell him before this gets too far.

Angst twisted her stomach as Susan tried to construct her words to explain why she wanted to go through with this adoption and give him a chance to back out.

She glanced at her watch.

And she had twenty-three minutes to figure out what to say.