Baby Experts 02 (6 page)

Francesca, dressed in jeans and oversize T-shirt with the Family Tree symbol stamped on the front, sank onto a stool at the eat-in counter of their kitchen, looking as if she’d been up all night. Her long hair was tousled, and she wore no makeup.
That
was unusual. Francesca was a perfectionist about almost everything and her appearance was out of character.

“Are you okay?” Tessa asked, picking up her mug and carrying it to the table.

Francesca considered her question. “I don’t know.”

“Do you want to talk about it?”

Instead of answering, Francesca slid from the stool and went to the coffee Emily had brewed before she left to go grocery shopping. She poured a mug and worried her lower lip.

“What happened?” Tessa prompted.

Her friend took a sip of coffee and grimaced. “No wonder Emily adds milk and sugar. This is strong enough for two pots.”

Turning on the faucet, she added hot water, then crossed to the stool and took a seat once more. “I went to a party last night.”

“That’s right!” Tessa remembered. “It was a reception for Kent Harris to celebrate the opening of his own law firm in Sagebrush. Do you think he snagged many clients?” If she could encourage Francesca to talk, maybe Tessa could discover what was troubling her friend.

“Possibly. There were so many people there that—” She stopped abruptly.

“What?”

Francesca stared down into her coffee.

Worried now, Tessa laid a hand on her housemate’s arm. “What’s troubling you so? Was Darren there and he wants to get back together with you again?”

The reason Francesca had moved to Sagebrush was to be with a man she’d fallen in love with. Darren was also a doctor at Family Tree. He’d met Francesca at a conference, and they’d conducted a long-distance relationship until he’d persuaded her to move to Sagebrush. She had and, for a while, their romance had stayed on an even keel. But when Francesca had moved in with Darren, she’d discovered he wasn’t the man she’d thought he was. He’d taken her moving in as a commitment, the next thing to marriage, and he’d seemed to change before her eyes into the type of controlling man she’d sworn she’d never date, let alone marry.

“Nothing to do with Darren,” Francesca answered her, but then frowned. “Or…maybe it does in a roundabout way.”

She ran her hand through her straight hair and sighed. “Why is it that just when I think I’ve learned from my past, that I’ve finally broken free from the kind of abusive home I grew up in, something happens that tosses me right back there again? Before I could talk, I knew my mother was under my dad’s thumb. When I was little, I learned why when I overheard Mom confiding in a friend, telling her my dad had forced her into marriage when she’d gotten pregnant. After Darren turned out to be controlling just like my dad, I swore off relationships.”

“I know you did. In the year since you’ve broken up with him, you haven’t even gone out on a date.”

“Yeah, well, I slept with a man last night. How is that for jumping into the fire?”

Tessa saw the panicked, troubled look in Francesca’s eyes. “You used protection?”

“Oh, yes, he had a condom.” Francesca sighed again and rubbed her face, then she shook her head. “Honest to goodness, Tessa, I don’t know what happened.”

“You mean he put something in your drink, or—”

“Heavens no.”

Tessa thought it was best if Francesca started from the beginning. “Who is this man?”

“Your dad probably knew
his
dad. In fact, you might even know him. His name is Grady Fitzgerald. His father was a saddlemaker and now Grady’s taken over the business.”

“Sure, I know him. Vince probably knows him, too. He worked in his dad’s saddle shop when we were married, though Grady was away at school then. My dad bought my first saddle from Mr. Fitzgerald and Grady delivered it to the ranch.”

“What was Grady like?”

“From what I remember, he wasn’t a joiner. Lots of girls had a crush on him but he seemed immune. He comes from a big family. He was a good rider and that’s probably why he’s so good at saddle making. He understands what the horse and rider need to be comfortable.”

Since Francesca was listening with avid interest, Tessa asked, “Are you going to see him again?”

She shook her head adamantly. “No.”

“Why not?”

“Because we’re very different people. We talked for a long time, Tessa, and I realized
how
different we were while we were talking.”

“Different how?”

“My career and the babies I treat mean everything to me. You know that. I’m on call more often than not, and I’d
never
say no when a baby’s in distress. It’s my life. Grady’s business is just a
part
of his life. He spends a lot of time with his family. Family has never done anything but hurt me…from my father’s abuse to my mom’s fear. I always felt I had to take care of my mom because she couldn’t take care of herself.”

Soon after Francesca and Tessa had become friends, she’d learned her story. Francesca had revealed that her mother had finally left her husband after he’d attacked Francesca when she was eight. But the years of being in the house with him, under the same roof, knowing he could control her mother because she was afraid of him, had scarred Francesca deeply. Her mother had died a few years ago from lung cancer and Francesca had once confided she felt like an orphan.

Now Tessa reassured her friend, “You have us. Me and Emily. You know you can count on us.”

“I know I can. But that’s different from what Grady has. He’s used to being part of a bigger picture. I’m used to being on my own. And it’s not just that. Grady’s about seven years older than me…in his midforties. He wants to stay in Sagebrush the rest of his life. You know I’m thinking about applying to Doctors Without Borders and seeing more of the world.”

Tessa let silence settle in for a few seconds. “So what’s the real reason you don’t want to see Grady again, in spite of all these differences?”

After a long moment, Francesca replied, “Exactly because I
knew
we were very different and something
still
happened. I was so attracted to him that differences didn’t matter and all we had was this…heat!” Francesca shook her head. “Besides, I’m not ready for a relationship. It hasn’t been that long since Darren.”

“It’s been a year.”

“It doesn’t seem like very long, and let’s face it, Tessa. I don’t trust men—not with my history with my dad and then not with Darren turning into somebody I didn’t know. He was so charming before I moved in with him, then he became controlling and manipulative and everything I didn’t want in a man.”

“You made a mistake.”

“Yeah, a big one. Apparently I was attracted to what I was trying to run away from. I can’t take the chance that that’s going to happen again.”

Tessa knew all about being afraid of making the same mistake twice.

The doorbell rang and Francesca’s eyebrows raised. “Are you expecting someone?”

“No, how about you?”

Francesca shook her head.

Before Tessa went to answer the door, she suggested, “Maybe it’s Grady.”

That comment drew Francesca through the living room into the foyer after her. But when Tessa opened the door, she didn’t find Grady Fitzgerald. She found Vince with Sean in his arms and a bag in his hand. She couldn’t have been more surprised.

Obviously seeing that, he explained, “We had our physical therapy with Carly Brennan this morning. She could fit us in first. It went really well. I just wanted to return your blouse and tell you how grateful I was for your recommendation.” He handed her the bag.

She’d mailed Vince’s shirt back to him the morning after their kiss. With Francesca almost hovering over her shoulder out of curiosity, Tessa said, “Why don’t you come in. Vince, this is one of my housemates, Francesca Talbot. Francesca, Vince Rossi.” The two shook hands as Tessa smiled at Sean, who seemed to be in robust health again. “How are
you
this morning? So you liked Carly, huh?”

Sean waved his left arm, tried to sit up against Vince’s chest and talked the baby syllables he knew best.

“He’s adorable,” Francesca cooed, always interested in babies. “Will he come to me?”

“He might,” Vince said. “He’s not shy of strangers.”

Tessa wanted to hold Sean, too, play with his little fingers and toes, brush his wisps of hair. But she knew she had to keep her distance. She couldn’t become involved with this baby any more than his father.

Francesca held out her hands to Sean and he went to her without any fuss. “I’ll take him out back to the yard. There’s a lot to look at out there.”

Sean seemed content with Francesca and didn’t even look back at his dad as she carried him away.

“She’s good with kids,” Vince observed, watching Francesca as she talked to Sean and he happily babbled back.

“She’s a neonatologist. She fills her life with helping newborns.” Then remembering ingrained manners, Tessa asked, “Coffee?”

“I had two cups while I was waiting for Sean. I think that’s enough for now.”

Tessa motioned to the sofa and Vince lowered himself to it. After setting the bag with her blouse on the end table, she sank down beside him, then realized she shouldn’t have. Their elbows were almost brushing. She turned sideways a bit but then her knee grazed his. Neither of them moved away. “Did Carly let you stay for the session?”

“Some of it. She spent a long while just making sure Sean was comfortable with her.”

“I understand that’s what she’s good at. She needs her patient’s cooperation and she usually gets it.”

Silence fell between them and when Tessa glanced at Vince, she felt all twittery inside.

“You look as if you’re going to jump up and fly away,” he remarked in a dry tone.

She made herself consciously relax and settle back into the sofa cushion. There was about a half inch of space between them and she was thankful for that, at least. She couldn’t move farther away without seeming too obvious.

“I feel like a teenager again,” he muttered, stepping into the void between them.

“Why?”

“I don’t know what to say or do with you, Tessa. At least when we were teenagers, I didn’t get the feeling you’d rather be anywhere else than sitting next to me.”

“That’s not the case,” she admitted, then wished she hadn’t.

His eyes darkened with memories and, gazing at him, she felt the old sizzle, the old pulsing awareness, yet something new, too. Still, she protested, “We’re not teenagers anymore. We’re old enough to know what’s right for us and what isn’t, what’s good for our lives and what isn’t.”

“Maybe we’re fighting too hard
not
to remember, fighting too hard
not
to regret. We can’t deny what we had, what happened. Don’t you think we can get past it? I can’t live in a vacuum while I’m here, Tessa. And Sean needs people around him who care about him.”

“Maybe I don’t want to care about Sean,” she confided. “Maybe it hurts too much.”

“Tessa,” he said gently, reaching out and touching her face, just like he used to when he was trying to comfort or console her. Her instinct was to back away, yet her heart was telling her not to move.

Could
they move beyond the past?

“I came over to do more than thank you.” Vince dropped his hand. “Remember I said I was in touch with Ryder Greystone?”

“Yes, you said he’s on the Lubbock P.D.”

“He’s having a party tonight and invited me. He told me I could bring a guest. Would you like to go?”

Could
she become friends with Vince? Could she get to the point where being together with him again was natural, not awkward? If he was going to be around town, she probably would see him and after all, Sean was her patient. But going to a party with him?

“Would this be a date?” she asked cautiously.

He tossed her a wry smile. “It would be whatever you want it to be.”

“Can I think about it and call you in a couple of hours?” She saw his frown. “Unless you’re going to ask someone else if I say no.”

“No. I’m not going to ask anyone else. A couple of hours will be fine.” After a look at her that told her better than words he was thinking about kissing her, he stood. “I’d better get Sean and take him home for lunch.”

As Vince turned to head toward the kitchen, Tessa clasped his forearm. “I don’t want to jump into anything I’ll regret.”

“I understand, Tessa, believe me I do. But it’s just a party. We’re simply going as friends. There doesn’t have to be more to it than that.”

Maybe that was true for Vince, but it wasn’t true for her. If she went to this party, she’d be saying “yes” to letting him back into her life. Would that be a foolish decision or a mature one?

She needed a few hours to figure it out.