A Home for the M.D.
“Good morning.” Dressed in a new-looking white shirt and khakis, his sandy hair still damp from his shower, Mitch greeted her with a crooked smile that crinkled the corners of his clear blue eyes.
“Good morning, Dr. Baker.” She removed the muffins from the oven with a potholder, setting the pan on a trivet. “I hope you like turkey bacon and scrambled eggs for breakfast. I wasn’t sure if you’d have to report to the hospital this morning, so I thought I’d have breakfast ready just in case.”
He studied the food with almost visible eagerness. “Looks delicious, but you didn’t have to cook for me.”
Having expected that comment, she shrugged lightly. “I was going to make some for myself anyway. Have a seat at the breakfast table. Do you drink coffee? Would you like orange juice to go with it? I have fresh-squeezed.”
“You certainly don’t have to wait on me. I’ll get my own coffee.” Moving to the coffeemaker, he poured a cup and carried it to the table.
Jacqui set a well-filled plate in front of him when he took his seat. “There’s homemade jam and apple butter in those little crocks. Help yourself if you want some for your muffin.”
Mitch picked up his fork, then raised his eyebrows when she didn’t immediately join him at the table. “Aren’t you eating?”
“I’m going to wash a load of cleaning cloths and then feed Waldo,” she answered lightly. “Go ahead and eat. I’ll have something when I’ve finished those things.”
Mitch set down his fork. “I’ll wait.”
“Don’t be silly, Dr. Baker. Your food will get cold.”
“So will yours.”
“I won’t be long.”
“Then it won’t be a problem for me to wait, will it?” Leaning back in his chair, he picked up his coffee cup and took a sip, looking prepared to sit there all morning.
“Fine.” Foiled in her plan to eat alone when he’d finished, she placed a spoonful of eggs and a muffin on a plate for herself and carried it to the table, setting it at the opposite end from Mitch. She retrieved her coffee mug from the counter, then took her seat.
Looking satisfied, he picked up a strip of bacon. “Just so we’re straight—you work for my sister, not for me. I don’t expect you to serve me or to wait until I’ve finished eating to have your own meal. Nor to address me as Dr. Baker. I answer to Mitch or Mitchell. I don’t think my sister or her husband ask those things of you, either, for that matter. I’ve heard you call them Meagan and Seth, and I suspect you’ve shared a few meals with them.”
“Well, yes,” she admitted, stabbing her fork into her eggs to avoid looking at him. “But you’re a guest.”
“Hardly a stranger. We’ve known each other more than a year. And you’re pretty much a member of my sister’s family. There’s no need for formality between us.”
She spread a little jam on her muffin, busying herself with the task to avoid having to answer.
The table faced a sliding-glass door, on the other side of which lay a rock patio and beyond that, an inground pool. Mitch nodded toward the grinning yellow dog watching them through the glass, tail sweeping the air behind him. “Waldo didn’t prove to be much of a watchdog last night. He never even barked when I parked outside and came into the house.”
Following his glance toward Alice’s beloved pet, Jacqui smiled. “As sweet as that dog is, I would never depend on him to guard the place. If he did catch someone sneaking in, he’d probably just bring up one of his toys and beg to play. I’ve always heard Labs are very territorial and protective, but Waldo … not so much.”
“Maybe he’d react differently if someone were threatening a member of the family.”
“I wouldn’t be surprised if he showed some spirit then. Especially if it were Alice being threatened. Waldo does love Alice.”
“Can’t blame him. She’s a great kid.” He reached for his coffee. “Anyway, if Waldo were any kind of a guard dog, I wouldn’t have taken you completely by surprise last night. Of course, that suitcase of yours did make a fairly effective warning system.”
The corner of her mouth twitched at the memory of him sprawled at her feet, staring warily at the brass candlestick in her hand. It hadn’t been funny at the time. She could still feel her heart pounding when she’d woken with the awareness that someone was in the room with her. But now she could see the wry humor in the situation. The way his eyes twinkled made her suspect he was struggling not to laugh.
Her humor evaporated when she remembered what had brought him there. “I’m sorry about your house. Alice and your mom told me it burned completely.”
“To the ground. It was a rental, a duplex. My neighbor in the other half is a few fries short of a kid’s meal. No one who’s ever met her was surprised that she caused the fire.”
She couldn’t help being a little amused by the analogy despite the gravity of the situation. “She really left candles burning when she left the house?”
He shrugged. “That’s what she said, and the fire marshal concurred it was the cause of the fire.”
“Was it a furnished duplex?” Because she’d spent so much of her life moving from place to place, Jacqui hadn’t collected many personal possessions. She always rented a fully furnished apartment. She looked forward to finally owning a home of her own that she could decorate with carefully chosen furnishings and maybe even a few nice pieces of art. Someday.
Mitch shook his head. “No, the furniture was all mine. Nothing too fancy. I’d lived there since my first year of residency and just gathered up what I needed to get by, but there were a few items I’ll really miss.”
“I’m sorry.”
Although she could see the regret on his face, he downplayed his loss. “I had renter’s insurance. I’d been considering moving to a somewhat larger place, anyway, now that I’ve finished my residency, but I didn’t have to sign a lease there and I liked that. All I had to do was give a month’s notice and I was free to leave at any time. Not many places let you do that.”
“Not many rental places, no,” she agreed, thinking of the one-year lease she’d recently renewed on her no-frills apartment. It was the first time ever that she’d stayed in one place long enough to actually renew a lease.
Recalling that Mitch had recently completed his surgical residency, she asked, “Will you buy a house now?”
He shrugged. “Haven’t had time to think about it. I’m not sure I want to commit to buying right now. I’ve considered working another year or so here in Little Rock and then maybe going somewhere else for a while.”
“Really?” She recognized the restless look in his eyes all too well, having seen that same wanderlust in her father throughout her first seventeen years. Still, she was a little startled that one of the seemingly tightly knit Baker clan was considering a move away.
“Because of school and family obligations, I’ve never lived anywhere else,” he admitted, scooping the last of his eggs onto his fork. “I’m not saying I will move, but it’s nice to have options.”
He’d leave. In her experience, once a man got an itch to roam, there wasn’t much that would hold him in one place. As for herself, if she made the kind of money surgeons and lawyers made, she would buy a nice house with a tidy yard and settle down contentedly for the rest of her life. She’d had more than enough of drifting from place to place.
“Can I get you anything else?” she asked, nodding toward his nearly empty plate. “Another muffin? More coffee?”
He grinned, and she almost blinked in response to the brightness of that smile. Here was a man who never lacked for female companionship, she’d bet. He wasn’t handsome, exactly, but definitely appealing. A single doctor with a killer smile—women probably lined up in hopes of catching his attention. She was surprised he was still single, but maybe he liked keeping his options open in that respect. Not that it was any of her business, of course.
“Didn’t I just tell you I don’t expect you to wait on me?” he asked teasingly.
She spread her hands and said matter-of-factly, “It’s my job.”
He studied her face a bit curiously but said merely, “Thanks, but I don’t need anything else. I have some things to do at my office this morning. But breakfast was very good, thank you.”
“I’ll be doing some shopping later today. If you’ll make a list before you leave, I can pick up any particular foods you like and whatever else you lack in the way of personal-care items. If you need anything—clothes, toiletries, whatever—I’ve picked up things like that for Seth when he was too busy to shop for himself.”
His brow rose a little higher. “You really do make yourself useful, don’t you? No wonder the family seems to think the house would collapse without you running it.”
“I take pride in my work,” she said a little stiffly, not entirely sure whether he was teasing or mocking her.
“That’s the way I was raised, too. If you’re going to do something, do it well.”
It wasn’t exactly the way she’d been raised—more a philosophy she’d adopted for herself—but there was no need to go into that. “There’s a magnetic board on the side of the fridge. The Llewellyns usually leave a note there if they’ll be home for dinner so I’ll know to have something ready for them before I leave each evening. Sometimes they prefer to do their own cooking, but I usually cook two or three nights a week. You can write anything you need there and I’ll take care of it.”
Was she babbling? She did that sometimes when she felt uncomfortable.
Standing, Mitch carried his dishes to the sink, rinsed them and set them in the dishwasher without waiting for her to clear away after him. She could see this man was accustomed to taking care of himself.
“I’m not a picky eater, but I like to have fresh fruit on hand—any fruit, I like them all. I’ll leave some cash for you to add to the tab. Neither you nor Meagan should have to pay for my food while I’m here. As for anything else, I’ll have to make a mall run eventually and pick up some things—like shoes,” he added with a wry glance at his sneakers. “I don’t even know what else I need yet.”
Despite her tendency to accumulate relatively few personal belongings, the thought of losing everything she owned was daunting. She was sure Mitch had lost things that were important to him in the fire. Sympathy made her speak a bit more warmly. “All right. But if you think of anything, just jot it on the list. Really, it’s no trouble at all.”
He gave her another one of those smiles that made her pulse trip a little. “That’s very kind of you, Jacqui. Thanks.”
Hiding her reaction to him behind a rather brusque tone, she turned away to rinse her own breakfast dishes. “You’re welcome.”
“I think we’ll work out just fine as housemates,” he said as he moved toward the doorway toward the stairs. “No reason at all to be concerned.”
Housemates. Just the word made her mouth go dry. Which certainly seemed to her like a reason for concern.
Chapter Two
Later that morning, Jacqui finished making her grocery list. She had a generous household account to cover anything they needed, but Mitch had insisted on chipping in toward his food. She had intended to leave for the store more than an hour ago, but she kept getting delayed by things around the house that needed her attention—houseplants to water, furniture to dust, floors to vacuum, beds to change, laundry to do.
She knew every inch of this house like the back of her hand. It might belong to Seth and Meagan and young Alice, but she was the one who kept it running like a well-oiled machine, just as she had the house Seth and Alice had lived in previously. She was the one who’d done most of the packing, unpacking and arranging when the busy family had combined their households. They had decided which furnishings to keep and which to store, sell or give away, but Jacqui had supervised that process while the Llewellyns were tied up with their demanding schedules.
She had been greatly relieved that there’d never been any question of whether she would continue working for them after the wedding. With Meagan’s hectic schedule as a general surgeon and attending physician in the teaching hospital, Jacqui’s help was needed with the housework and with Alice.
They had established a routine that worked well for all of them. When the family was in town, Jacqui reported to work at around 9:00 a.m., after the senior Llewellyns had left for their jobs. During the school year, Alice had already been dropped off at school by that time; Jacqui picked her up every afternoon. Now that Alice was on summer break, the teen spent the days here at home or being chauffeured by Jacqui to various activities. Every day, Jacqui did the daily cleaning and laundry, ran family errands such as shopping and dry cleaning, then cooked dinner before leaving unless they’d notified her they had other plans for dinner.
Some people might have found her daily schedule boring, but she enjoyed it. She liked the family very much, and they paid her well for her services. Most of her weekends were free and she had time during her workdays to read and knit while doing laundry or waiting for the oven timer to buzz.
She was lucky to have found this family when she’d been looking for a full-time housekeeping job just more than a year ago. Her last employer had moved into a nursing facility and she’d needed a new position quickly. Only twenty-eight years old then, she hadn’t been the typical housekeeper applicant. Her résumé listed many jobs in several states, only the latter two of which had been housekeeping positions. But the Llewellyns had taken a chance on her, and she was satisfied their gamble had paid off for all of them.
On the other side of the glass door, Waldo barked for attention, his feathery tail swishing rhythmically. He missed Alice today, she thought, stuffing the grocery list in her bag. He barked again, giving her his best please-notice-me grin. Caving, she set her bag aside. There was no hurry to go shopping; she might as well play with the dog for a little while to make him feel less lonely.
Waldo expressed his gratitude with full-body wiggles and eager swipes of his big, wet tongue. Laughing, Jacqui pushed him down. “You silly dog. You act like you haven’t seen anyone in a month. I just gave you a good brushing this morning before I fed you breakfast. And Alice will be home in just a few hours. You’re hardly neglected.”
Panting, he leaned against her, gazing up with happy dark eyes. She sighed. “Okay, I’ll throw your ball for you. But do not get me dirty. I don’t want to have to change before I go shopping.”
She didn’t at all trust the grin he gave her in response to that admonition.
Half an hour later, she was still outside, tossing a tennis ball for the dog, who seemed to never run out of enthusiasm for the mindless game. He would have liked even more for her to throw the ball into the pool; there was nothing Waldo loved more than to throw himself into the water after a toy, especially on a hot July day like this one. But she left the gate to the pool firmly closed despite his blatant hinting. With a wet dog climbing all over her, there was no way she’d stay clean enough to go shopping.
“Okay, Waldo, last throw,” she told him firmly, raising the ball in preparation. Like his owners, she’d gotten into the habit of speaking to the big yellow Lab mix as though he could understand every word she said. And like them, there were times when she suspected he understood quite a bit. “One more time, and then I absolutely have to go do the shopping.”
“Aw, just one more?”
Her heart gave a thump. She turned to find Mitch standing in the kitchen doorway, leaning against the doorjamb as if he’d been there a few minutes. “Don’t encourage him,” she said with a faint smile of greeting. “He’d keep me out here all day if he could.”
“Can’t blame him for that.”
Giving the ball one last heave, Jacqui turned toward the house. Waldo collected the ball and then, sensing the game was over, moved resignedly to his water bowl. Jacqui followed Mitch into the kitchen and closed the door behind them.
She washed her hands thoroughly in the kitchen sink, saying over her shoulder, “You’re back earlier than I expected.”
“I try not to work full days on weekends, unless I’m on call. Usually have to go in for an hour or two, but more than that is just begging for burnout. Of course, there are plenty of times I get tied up there all day even then.”
“I can imagine.” She glanced at the microwave clock, noting it was just before noon. “Have you had lunch?”
“No. After that nice breakfast you made for us, I haven’t been hungry yet.”
“I’m just about to leave for groceries. I could heat a can of soup for you before I go, maybe make a sandwich, if you like.”
“Have you had lunch?”
“Not yet. I’ll probably get something while I’m out.”
“Why don’t I go with you? We can take my car. We can have a quick lunch and then I’ll help you get the groceries.”
She blinked. “You’re offering to go grocery shopping with me?”
He laughed quizzically. “Why do you look so startled? How do you think I’ve gotten food for myself during the past decade that I’ve lived on my own? The grocery fairies don’t visit this area, as far as I know.”
“I just assumed a busy surgeon would pay someone to do that for him.”
Chuckling, he shook his head. “Until a couple of months ago I’ve been a student or a resident. My extra cash has been going toward paying off student loans. I do my own cleaning, my own cooking—when I bother—and my own shopping.”
“I’m sure you’d like to relax after working this morning. Just let me know anything you need, and I’d be happy to get it for you.”
“If you’d rather I stay here …”
Something about his expression reminded her very much of Waldo’s please-play-with-me face. She found herself just as unable to resist with Mitch. After all, she rationalized, he had lost his home. She supposed he was feeling at loose ends today, maybe in need of distraction, even if it was for fast food and grocery shopping.
“You’re welcome to come along,” she said lightly, tucking her bag beneath her arm. “That way you’ll be sure to get exactly what you like.”
He smiled. “Sounds good to me.”
Her steps faltered a little toward the doorway, but she lifted her chin and kept moving. It was too late to back out now.
They had lunch at a bakery-café not far from the supermarket where Jacqui usually shopped. Mitch had a turkey panini with chips and a pickle spear; Jacqui ordered half a veggie sandwich and a cup of vegetarian black-bean soup.
Glancing at her plate, he cocked his head in curiosity. “Are you a vegetarian? I noticed you skipped the bacon at breakfast.”
She shrugged lightly. “I’m not a true vegetarian. I like fish and chicken, occasionally, but I simply prefer veggies and fruits.”
“I like veggies and fruits myself. If you prefer cooking vegetarian, that’s perfectly fine with me.”
“I have no problems cooking meat. Your brother-in-law is most definitely a carnivore.”
Laughing, Mitch reached for his water glass. “Well, he is a lawyer.”
She smiled wryly. “Low blow.”
“Just kidding. I like the guy. I’m glad he and Alice are part of our family now.”
“The three of them make a lovely family.”
Jacqui had been a silent spectator during much of Seth’s courtship of Meagan. Meagan had initially interviewed Jacqui for the job as Seth’s housekeeper when his previous employee had fallen and broken her leg, but Meagan had been helping out only as Seth’s friendly neighbor at the time. From the relative anonymity of her job, Jacqui had observed during the next few months while Seth and Meagan had grown closer, then moved apart. The busy attorney and harried surgeon had been afraid their demanding careers and other obligations would be insurmountable obstacles between them. Jacqui suspected they had worried as much about hurting Alice as about having their own hearts broken. But love had overcome their fears, and they had become engaged at Christmas.
Jacqui had attended their small, tasteful wedding, and she didn’t think she’d ever seen a happier couple. Since that time they’d managed to arrange their hectic schedules to allow as much time as possible for each other and for Alice. Jacqui liked to think her capable behind-the-scenes management of their household had smoothed the way for them, at least to some extent.
“Hey, Mitch.”
In response to the greeting, both Mitch and Jacqui looked around. Three men in baggy shorts and T-shirts were passing the table on the way to the exit. All of them looked as though they knew Mitch, judging from the way they nodded to him.
“Hey, Nolan. Scott, Jackson. How’s it going?”
“Been shooting some hoops in J-ville,” one of the men answered for the group. “You playing football tomorrow?”
“Maybe. I’ll have to buy some shorts.”
“Heard about your house,” another man spoke up. “Sorry, bro. Anything you need?”
Looking as though he appreciated the offer, Mitch shook his head. “I’m good, Jackson. Thanks.”
“Let us know if you think of anything,” the first guy said again, looking at his companions as if for confirmation. They all nodded earnestly.
“Thanks, Scott. Maybe I’ll see you tomorrow.”
“Co-ed game,” Scott added with a flirtatious smile toward Jacqui. “Be sure to invite your friend.”
Mitch nodded. “I’ll do that.”
“Friends,” Mitch explained after the trio had moved on.
“Yeah, I got that.”
“Hadn’t even thought about losing all my sports gear yet.” He toyed with the remains of his sandwich, regret etched on his face.
“I’m sorry. It must be difficult to lose everything.”
“It’s daunting,” he agreed. “But I suppose it’s a chance to start fresh, too. Too much stuff just ties you down, you know?”
She wouldn’t know about that. She’d never really owned enough that she couldn’t throw everything in her car and move on a moment’s notice. But it wouldn’t always be that way, she promised herself. As soon as she could afford her own place, she couldn’t wait to buy furniture and decorations. Things that made a house a home.
“I guess clothes are my most immediate need,” Mitch mused. “I’m supposed to go on a trip to Peru in September, so I’ll need clothes and luggage for that.”
“Peru?” she asked, hearing a hint of excitement in his voice. He seemed to want her to ask him to explain, so she figured she might as well humor him for the sake of conversation.
He nodded. “Some friends are making a five-day Machu Picchu trek. Eight days total for the trip. It’s something I’ve always wanted to do.”
“Then you should go.”
“The fire came at a bad time—not that there’s ever a good time for a fire—but now I’ve got to make living arrangements and replace some stuff. Still, I think I’ll be able to put it all aside and take a week off for the trip. To be honest, it’ll be my first time out of the country, other than a four-day senior trip to Cancun, Mexico, the summer after high school graduation. Been too busy studying and working to go anywhere since.”
She wondered if that trip would assuage the restlessness she sensed in him—or merely whet his appetite for more traveling. From what she’d seen, when a man got it in his head that he wanted to travel, there wasn’t much that could hold him back. “I hope you get to go and that you have a great time.”
“Thanks. Have you been out of the country?”
“My dad decided to move us to Canada once. I must have been about nine. We stayed in Vancouver for about six months, then moved to Seattle for a while.”
“So you didn’t grow up in Arkansas.”
“We moved a lot,” she said somewhat evasively. “We lived in Arkansas for a year when I was in junior high, and it was always one of my favorite places, so when I had the chance, I came back here.”
“Where else have you lived?”
He seemed to be making conversation rather than prying, but it still made her a little uncomfortable to talk about her past with this man whose life had been so very different. “I’ve lived for at least a brief time in fifteen states.”