Patt Marr - Promise Of Forever

He’d heard about those hats, and he’d been invited to the Brennans’ New Year’s Eve party the last two years. If Merrilee had been alive, they would have gone.

Beth chose a shiny red beret with a coiled wire toy attached to the top. “What do you think?” she asked, moving her head so the toy sprang wildly from side to side. “Do you think this will distract a little kid?”

It would certainly distract him, and she wouldn’t even have to wear the hat. Man, the doc was cute. She didn’t seem to be wearing any makeup, but she was so naturally pretty with those caramel-colored eyes, straight little nose and truly terrific smile, that makeup sure wasn’t necessary.

“You know how difficult it is to examine kids when they’re frightened,” she said. “If we’re having fun, I’ll get to do my job and they won’t dread coming here. At least that’s the plan.”

“It ought to work.” If anyone could pull that off, she would be the one, and if Beth knew medicine as well as she knew kids, she was going to be great.

She took the hat off and ran her hand through her sun-streaked hair as if it didn’t particularly matter how it fell. He couldn’t imagine many women—or men—risking a hair style that casual, but on her, it looked great.

“What did you want to be when you were a little boy?” she asked. “Choose a hat, and you’re halfway there.”

He was halfway there already, at least when it came to feeling at ease with his new boss. He’d assumed that she would be intelligent, kind, caring, as most peds docs were, but it was her joy of life that drew him in. He’d felt like smiling from the moment they met.

He picked up a diamond tiara with a plume of feathers attached. “My daughter would love this.”

“Is she one of our patients?”

“Not yet.” But she would be. Kendi needed this doc’s sense of fun as badly as he did himself.

“Anytime she comes in, she can wear it, but she might surprise you. We girls don’t always want to be royalty. I would have picked this one when I was little.” She chose a football helmet and plunked it on her head.

“You liked to play football?” he asked, thinking how different that was from his little girl.

“Not as much as other sports, but I wanted my mother to think I was as headstrong and out of control as my brother, who did play.”

“Trey Brennan, out of control?” That was an image impossible to conceive.

Laughter burst from her. “Not Trey! He would never do anything my mother disapproved of! Golf and tennis were his games. It was my brother Ry who played football.”

Noah had forgotten that she had another brother. Ry Brennan, the family rebel, had been introduced at Beth’s reception nearly two years ago.

“I take it that you know Trey,” she said dryly.

Noah couldn’t stand the guy, but he probably ought to keep his opinion of her brother to himself. “When Dr. Crabtree needed a neurological consult, he used a doctor more familiar with peds patients.”

“Good! Our kids deserve somebody who’s nice.”

That was calling it like it was.

“Do you know my uncles?”

“Not well.” Why be candid when it could only hurt her feelings? Her womanizing uncle, Dr. Charles Brennan, was an excellent cardiologist, but the female staff had no respect for him. Her uncle Al was a brilliant orthopedic surgeon, but a patronizing, sarcastic know-it-all, as unlikable as her brother Trey.

“How about my grandfather? Do you know him?”

He knew the senior Brennan better than he was supposed to admit, so he said, “Everyone knows the chief! Your grandfather’s amazing. He makes a point of knowing all of the staff. He asks about their kids and their grandkids. You can tell he suffers a lot with his arthritis, but he makes it to the office every day. He’s the best.”

That brought a glow to Beth’s face. “He’s a hard man to say no to. He can talk me into anything.”

She wasn’t the only one. When the chief called last week and asked Noah to keep an eye on Mona, it hadn’t felt right, going behind Beth’s back even if her grandfather did have her best interest at heart, and there was genuine cause for concern.

“How about my dad? Do you know him?”

“Only because I was an ER nurse at Cedar Hills Hospital before I came here. The general consensus is that your dad can do no wrong. He’s very dedicated to his patients.”

“He is, isn’t he? Poor Trey—as James Thomas Brennan III, he’s had a lot to live up to.”

That could be part of Trey’s problem, but it had to be more than that.

“Do you know my cousin Collin?”

He nodded, smiling. “He’s engaged to a nurse friend from Cedar Hills.”

“I’m supposed to be a bridesmaid at their wedding, but I haven’t met the bride yet.”

“You’ll like Glenda. She’s great.”

“Collin’s not much like his dad, you know,” she said cautiously.

So she knew about her uncle Charlie’s flirtations. It couldn’t be easy for her, coming back to L.A. where so many people thought they knew her because they knew her family.

“Which is Mona’s desk?” she asked, leading the way to the front office and picking up the flowers. “In the interest of a peaceful transition, I brought these for her.”

The flowers were arranged in a container shaped like a dove. Noah smiled as he pointed out Mona’s desk. It looked as if the doc had done her homework and knew what she might expect from Mona.

“And I have this for Vanessa…”

It was a candy dish, shaped like a pair of kangaroos, their pouches full of candy. Beth placed it on the front desk. Vanessa did have a sweet tooth. How had Beth known that? Since she was batting two for two and there were a couple of gift bags remaining, he wondered what she might have for him.

“And for Noah…” The big bag held a long white box, the kind that long-stemmed roses came in.

Roses? For him?

But the “flowers” were big chocolate chip cookies attached to long green wires sprouting leaves. “Have you ever had a cookie bouquet?” she asked.

“No, this is a first,” he said, pleased with his gift. “My daughter’s going to love these.”

“I saw her picture on your desk when I was moving in. I thought she would like these even if you’re not a cookie kind of guy.”

Now, that was the way to his heart. A kindness to his little girl topped anything Beth could have given him. “Chocolate chip cookies are her favorite, but she’ll think these are too pretty to eat.”

“I know!” Beth said with that soft laugh he was getting to know. “That’s why I got these.” She handed over the smaller bag which held a commercial brand of chocolate cookies with icing. “These are for eating until the novelty of the others wears off.”

Three for three. She couldn’t do better than that. “I have something for you, too,” he said, unrolling his daughter’s sign.

“Oh, Noah!” Her voice rose in delight.

For a second, he thought his new boss might cry.

“Your daughter made this, didn’t she? And she signed her name, Kendra McKnight. We need to put this up for everyone to see.”

He couldn’t have asked for a better reaction. “I wanted to have it up before you got here.”

“Her drawing really looks like the clinic. How old is your daughter?”

“She just turned seven.”

“So, she just started second grade?”

He nodded. “She loves school.”

“It’s very advanced artwork for a child so young,” she said with that truly knockout smile, taking the picture to the bulletin board and placing it in the center.

A piercing screech came from the lobby. Noah took a deep breath and geared up for the storm. Hurricane Mona had arrived, and there was no telling the damage she’d do.