Assignment- Baby Read online

  "What's wrong? Are you sick?"

  "Nothing like that. I'm just a little tired, that's all."

  "Maybe if you'd cut your schedule down and eat more regularly," he said out of the corner of his mouth so no one else could hear, "you'd have more energy."

  "I promise to take the joggers out on Monday."

  He searched her eyes, as if performing a lie-detector test, and after a long and hard stare, he gave a conciliatory nod.

  Relieved she didn't have to explain anything more, she nodded back.

  "Thanks," she said. And before he had a chance to think of any more questions, she read aloud the list of names for each group.

  After she'd finished, he approached her and whispered coarsely, "What am I supposed to do with Sophie?"

  His niece sat in her stroller, wearing a ridiculously sweet sunbonnet and baby sunglasses, which tied behind her head so she couldn't take them off. How did they make sunglasses so small? She'd tried her best to ignore how adorable the baby was, but today it was impossible. Just looking at her made Amanda's heart swell.

  "You mean sweet pea?" she said.

  Sophie slapped at the large colorful beads on her stroller bar, making them spin round and round to her delight. The sight made Amanda grin.

  Hunter smiled back at her. "She does look extra cute today." Turning his gaze, and growing serious, he cased Amanda from head to toe. She was wearing her tried-and-true gray sweatsuit again, leaving everything to his imagination. "Don't change the subject. What about Sophie?"

  "I'll take her," she said as though it would be a huge chore.

  "Hey, Doc." Jack Howling, a well-built fifty-year-old with more California-blond hair than gray, approached. "I wanted to tell you how much I like my CD. It really gets me jazzed up, you know?"

  Hunter nodded and grinned. "That's good news."

  "How about making one for nighttime?" another participant, Wendy, said. "I could use some help getting to sleep."

  "I'd be glad to help you with that," Jack said, wiggling his eyebrows and making the attractive middle-aged woman blush.

  "That's a great idea," Hunter said. "About the nighttime CD, I mean. I'll work on it at home this weekend."

  The weekend.

  What was Amanda supposed to do about the weekend? They hadn't discussed it when he'd moved in, but it only made sense that he'd return to his own house on the weekends. Fortunately, at the moment she was too distracted to think much about it.

  "Okay, everyone." She cupped her hands around her mouth and spoke loud enough to catch their ears. Several people had fanned out across the parking lot. Once she was satisfied she had their undivided attention, she read the joggers' names off her clipboard, followed by the walkers' names, and they gathered into their assigned groups.

  Hunter stepped in front of the joggers and began to run in place. His finely muscled calves and thighs tightened with each step. "Are we ready?"

  They responded with a group hoot.

  Some of the walkers looked to be in better condition than the joggers, but the groups had been divided scientifically by heart health and stamina, not physique. And looks could be deceiving. Even though slim and fit, a person could still have the cholesterol level of congealed fat and arterial plaque similar to the hard-water buildup in copper pipes.

  "Let's go," Hunter called out.

  He led the way, with his narrow hips and tight butt, and Amanda almost wished she were going with his group.

  Glancing down at her baggy sweats, she tried her best not to feel frumpy. She assessed her walkers, mostly ladies, but a few men included. Physical training was new to many of them, and it could save their lives. All she needed to do was get them hooked on the positive effect of daily exercise. "Okay, folks, check your pulses." She waited while everyone did as told. "Let's give our hearts a workout!"

  Stepping up behind Sophie's stroller, she took the lead with wide strides and a determined spirit, to whip these folks into shape over the remaining five weeks. Glancing over her shoulder, she saw they looked ready and willing to go along with the plan.

  Sophie squealed with delight, and once again Amanda couldn't help but smile. That kid was so darn cute. She'd resisted the little one's charms for more than three days, and had done a fairly good job of it, but something about the sunshine and her little hat made all Amanda's barriers tumble down. A recurring thought about how quiet the house would be without her gave Amanda a pang of emptiness. How would she handle being alone on the weekend?

  * * *

  Two hours later, when the exercise portion of the day was complete, Amanda was still in her sweats and Hunter in his jogging gear. They worked in tandem to take and record blood pressures, pulses and short EKG strips for each participant. All the information would need to be uploaded into the computer, analyzed and compared with the prior data.

  They tried not to get in each other's way, but due to the large group and small room it couldn't be helped.

  After they'd dismissed everyone for lunch, they headed back to the office.

  "Oh, excuse me," Amanda said, coming face to chest with Hunter and feeling a subtle hum of energy.

  "Let me get that for you." He reached for several charts slipping from her grasp.

  Why did she allow herself to look into his eyes? Did he know what he was doing, seducing her with his tilted head and moony charming glance? Was it all in her imagination, or was he playing her?

  Whatever it was, she'd put a stop to it—as soon as he quit looking at her. In the meantime, she skirted around him and kept walking backward.

  His gaze grew alert. "Ah?" He raised his hand and gestured to the right.

  She finally broke eye contact and discovered she'd almost walked into a wall instead of out the office door. With her cheeks warming up, she glared at Hunter. "I'm going to run home and shower during lunch," she said, dropping the charts on her desk and scuttling out of the office.

  "Don't forget to eat something," he called after her. "And record it!"

  * * *

  Amanda came back to the clinic after lunch for the group discussion session wearing her favorite black pants and a white cotton stretch top that hugged her in all the right places. She'd even taken her hair down.

  The change hadn't gone unnoticed by her mentor, judging by the look on his freshly scrubbed face.

  Hunter must have found the doctors' lounge and cleaned up while she'd been gone. His dark hair was still wet, and he was back in his black trousers and forest-green button-up shirt, though he'd forgone the tie. He'd rolled the sleeves halfway up his forearms, and looked dead serious gorgeous.

  She glanced around the classroom and realized, even though most of the women were in their forties and older, she hadn't been the only one noticing Hunter's spectacular looks.

  Amanda made time in the afternoon to go over the diet journals with each participant, and while she did that Hunter led a venting session where the patients could vocalize their concerns or fears. Later, she'd transcribe significant statements and include them with each participant's file.

  "What if I go through all of this rigmarole and nothing changes?" one stout older man asked.

  "You'll still be better off," Hunter replied. "Because your behavior will be modified and over the long haul an active person is a healthier person."

  "Did you know that it takes three weeks for a routine to become a habit?" Jack Howling spoke up. The other man shook his head. "We're breaking old negative patterns and replacing them with positive life changes that will stick. Don't you think, Doc?"

  "Absolutely," Hunter replied.

  She loved every minute of being engrossed in her study—until she glanced at Hunter and remembered he'd packed his suitcase and Sophie's portable bed that morning. He planned on going home, and she'd be alone again.

  Instead of being relieved, Amanda brushed the thought from her mind and distracted herself by sending everyone away with instructions for the weekend. Once they'd left, Amanda and Hunter transferred all the da
ta back to the office.

  "I'm thinking I'll cut out early and leave around three to beat the Friday-afternoon traffic, if that's okay with you?" Hunter plopped a stack of charts onto his desk.

  Amanda covered her disappointment by doing the one trick she knew. Using a pencil from her desk, she wove it over and under her knuckles with ease, back and forth, as if nothing at all bothered her. "I'm sure Sophie would like to sleep in her own crib for a change," she said.

  "I've got some test results from one of my patients that will need my attention on Saturday, and Jade gets to make a phone call home on Sunday," he added, as if to justify his absence.

  She tapped the eraser tip on the desk. "Tell her hi for me."

  "Will do." He edged closer and placed his hand on her wrist to stop the escalating tapping.

  "Sorry." Now her foot started jiggling, to make up for the nervous energy.

  "Something bothering you?"

  "No." She exaggerated the word, shook her head and rolled her eyes. She felt like a kid denying the truth. Why hadn't she prepared herself for his plans to go home? How had he managed to move into her world and throw everything off-kilter in such record time? It only made sense that he'd go home on the weekend, yet she'd let it take her by surprise.

  According to Jack Howling, it took three weeks for a routine to become a habit, and she and Hunter had agreed to live together until Jade came home…for Sophie's sake. The realization made what little she'd had for lunch turn into a hard ball in her stomach. In three weeks, everyone else in the Mending Hearts Club study might be better off, but what about her?

  "Do you want to send some of this data home with me, so I can help?" he asked.

  "No." There was that breathy, overembellished response again, as though his offer to help was absurd. Fact was, she was depending on the work to keep her occupied. "I was planning on spending the weekend doing that, and hopefully I'll be able to start the journal article, too."

  "Aren't you scheduling any downtime? Going to a movie with a friend, or eating out or something?"

  "I promised myself if the grant came through I'd give my all to make sure this project was a success. I knew going in that I'd be working nonstop, pulling it all together. So for now my social life is nonexistent."

  Little did Hunter know that her social life had been pretty much nonexistent long before the study had begun. But that was an ongoing saga, and she never planned to bore him with the details. It would be too humiliating.

  "And I'm still scheduled to work the Urgent Care unit on Saturday night." She did her best to sound cheery.

  He gave an exaggerated and impressed nod. "Well, don't knock yourself out," he said, with a look she remembered as Hunter's version of subtle concern.

  When three o'clock rolled around, Hunter packed up Sophie and let her give Amanda a sloppy kiss goodbye.

  "Have a great weekend," he said, with a sincere smile and an encouraging wink.

  "Sure will. You, too!" How phony did that sound?

  And without a further word, Hunter whisked the baby away.

  * * *

  When Amanda walked through her door that evening, arms loaded with files and papers, she felt strangely depressed. Sophie had become a part of her life in less than a week. All the extra activity and sound had made her home come alive. Even with all her resistance to the baby, she'd brightened her world—a world Amanda hadn't realized had grown dull until she'd seen and felt the difference between living alone and living as a makeshift family. She immediately missed Sophie.

  And Hunter.

  It amazed her how his presence had filled up space so pleasantly, and how the house felt deadly quiet and empty now that he was gone. It felt too reminiscent of the time they'd separated. She shuddered at the memory.

  She'd already grown used to his quiet tapping on the computer keyboard in his room. In the morning, she took comfort in hearing classical music play as he prepared for the day. Even his new scent lingered in her mind—a spicy fragrance she had quickly grown fond of in place of his old aftershave.

  She walked into the guest bathroom and searched for the cologne. He'd taken it with him. Even so, she understood the bottled fragrance couldn't duplicate what his body added.

  Nope, that special touch of Hunter had definitely gone missing.

  A furry stroke against her leg made her look down.

  At least she still had Jinx.

  * * *

  Hunter took Amanda completely by surprise when he showed up at her house Sunday evening.

  "Hope you don't mind," he said. "But I couldn't bear the thought of Monday-morning traffic."

  Mandy squirmed on her doorstep, having been caught in jogging shorts and a skimpy T-shirt. Her hair was tied in a knot on the top of her head, and she didn't have a lick of makeup on. Why hadn't he called first?

  "Thought I'd be smart and drive out this afternoon."

  "You should have called. Let me know you were on your way." She wrapped her arms across her chest and held her shoulders. How obvious was that? If he hadn't noticed her bra less state before, he was sure to now. She scratched her neck and did everything but look into his eyes.

  "You're right. I'll call next time."

  Sophie squealed. Thank goodness for the distraction.

  "Hey, sweet pea, what's up?" she said.

  "We going in?" he asked, looking exceptionally handsome in jeans and a tight, pale blue polo shirt left untucked.

  "Sure."

  Once she'd gotten over the combined shock and rush of seeing Hunter, Amanda admitted she was pleased to have them back at home. One huge question popped into her mind. Had he planned this?

  "You know, if you're not doing anything tonight, I thought we could see a movie. Sophie would sleep through it, I'm sure."

  A movie? How could she get out of that? "Only if I get to choose which one."

  "Tell you what, you can choose the movie if you promise to have a large popcorn with it. Need to fatten you up."

  "Do you have any idea how much salt there is in that?"

  "And is there any reason you need to be on a two-gram sodium diet?"

  They stared at each other. The moments yawned into seconds. What was he getting at? Did he have a clue about her? If she told him about her WPW diagnosis, it would only reinforce his image of her being weak and unable to juggle a challenging schedule and have a normal family life. He'd made it clear when they were married he didn't think she could cope with a child and a career. Why would his attitude have changed now? No. It was best to hold on to her secret a while longer—or until she'd proved herself to him.

  "Okay. Popcorn it is. And we'll be seeing that new romantic comedy with that gorgeous British actor."

  Hunter rolled his eyes as if he'd just been defeated at poker. Amanda couldn't help feeling pleased to have something to do besides stare at her empty computer screen the rest of the evening. She turned to go shower and change clothes.

  Could it be Hunter had cooked up this arriving early scheme because he'd missed her as much as she'd missed him?

  Nah. He was just being practical for Sophie's sake.

  * * *

  After a surprisingly relaxing evening out together, a carefully orchestrated game of hiding without seeking took place the next morning. Hunter and Amanda went about preparing for their second week by avoiding being in the same room with each other until they both showed up at the front door at the same time.

  "Maybe we should carpool?" he said.

  "I don't think it would be a good idea," she said, scrambling for her briefcase.

  "Afraid someone might get the wrong impression?" He grinned at her with a twinkle in his eyes.

  "Get over yourself, Phillips. I just think we need to keep a professional distance."

  "Suit yourself," he said, opening the door and motioning for her to go first. Sophie, in her combination car seat/carrier, hung from his other arm and played with her toes. "Just seems kind of silly wasting the extra gas…"

  "Oh, all rig
ht."

  And, much to Amanda's chagrin, a new routine had begun.

  Amanda and Hunter cooperated professionally all day at work, and when the evening rolled around, they respected each other's privacy. When Amanda skipped dinner and dove right into research and catching up with the statistics, he didn't criticize her. And she didn't tell him how to care for his niece…un less he asked.

  Late on Wednesday morning, in a rare moment of downtime, Amanda fought off a grin at the sight of Hunter. He wore his white doctor's coat, and sat with his feet on the office desk with Sophie wrapped in his arm. She wanted to snap a picture and title it Man, baby, and a bottle.

  He'd leaned his head against the headrest and closed his eyes. The sound of Amanda taking her seat caused him to open them. "I never realized how relaxing feeding a baby could be."

  "I hear nursing is as good as taking a sedative," she said, pulling out her drawer and fishing for a pen.

  "That's one experience I'll have to miss. Darn."

  Sophie sucked away and Hunter distractedly ran his fingers over her head, playing with her flyaway tufts of hair. The sight almost made Amanda's heart clutch. Where was that dang pen?

  "You know," Hunter said, "I'm really impressed with this program of yours."

  She stopped fishing for the pen and gave him a surprised glance.

  "You seem so passionate about it. What made you develop the concept?"

  Amanda closed the drawer and folded her hands on the desk. "My mom."

  "Chloe actually encouraged you about something?"

  "You sound as jaded as me," she said with a wry laugh.

  "Well, I know your history."

  She nodded. True. Hunter knew everything about her ongoing battle for respect from her parents.

  "When my mom's doctor encouraged her to have an angiogram last year, I wholeheartedly agreed. Mom didn't want anything to do with it. She didn't care if she had plaque or a blockage. I had to convince her to sign the consent."

  Hunter shifted Sophie from the crook of his arm to his chest to burp her. The peaceful sight contradicted the storm in Amanda's stomach.

  "The ironic thing was, for once my parents listened to me as a medical professional." She shook her head. "And where did it get them? Mom suffered severe kidney damage from the radiopaque dye used in the procedure."