The Doctor's Christmas Read Free Page B

formal.”
    â€œMrs. Glenning—” he began.
    â€œCall me Aunt Elly,” she said. “Everyone does.” She grabbed her bulky gray sweater from the coat hook inside the door. “I’d better get, Maggie. Watch that pie. And you children behave yourselves, you hear?” She twinkled at Grant. “You two can probably fight better without me here.”
    She scooted out the door, leaving Maggie to face the music.
    Maggie gave Joey a gentle push toward the living room. “You go in and play a game with your brother and sister now. We’ll talk about this later.”
    Joey sent a sidelong look at Grant. “I won’t be far off, if you need me.”
    She tousled his fine blond hair. “I know. Go on, now.”
    When he and the other children were out of sight, she turned back to Grant.
    â€œWhy did you lie to me?” he asked before she had time to think.
    â€œI didn’t, not exactly.” Well, that sounded feeble. “You asked if I had any family. I don’t.” She pointed to the windowsill where the elderly calico cat slept,oblivious to the hubbub. “And you might have seen Callie.”
    â€œI might have, but I didn’t.” His frown deepened. “It’s obvious these kids are staying with you. Why didn’t you want me to know?”
    Part of the truth was better than none. “Their mother is a friend of mine. She had to go out of town for a few days, so I’m watching them while she’s gone.”
    â€œThat doesn’t explain why you didn’t tell me the truth when I asked.”
    â€œLook, I just didn’t want you to think the children would interfere with my work.” She hated saying it, hated sounding as if he had the right to disapprove of anything she did. “They won’t. I have plenty of people to take care of them when I’m working.”
    â€œYour system didn’t seem to work too well when the boy decided to take my furnace apart.”
    â€œJoey. His name is Joey.” She took a breath. He had a point, unfortunately. “I’m sorry about that. He’s interested in how things work. Do you need me to come over and fix it?”
    â€œI can manage.” There was a note to his voice that she didn’t like. “But I don’t want to work with someone I can’t trust.”
    She wanted to lash out at him, tell him she didn’t want to work with him, either. Tell him to take his changeable eyes and his chiseled profile and go right back to Baltimore where he belonged.
    But she couldn’t. Like it or not, she was stuck with him.

Chapter Two
    M aybe he shouldn’t have been that rough on her. Maggie’s face looked pale and stiff, her promise delivered through set lips. They’d definitely gotten off on the wrong foot, mostly her fault, but he didn’t need to contribute to it.
    Not being told the truth was a flashpoint with him, maybe because his parents had spent so much of their time either avoiding the truth or prettying it up until it became palatable to them.
    Still, he had to work with the woman for the next month, and he was the temporary, not she. He needed to establish normal business relations with her, or his time here would be even more difficult.
    He forced a smile. “Look, we’ve had a rocky beginning. What do you say we start over?”
    Emotions flitted rapidly across her face. Maggie wasn’t as impassive as she probably liked to believe. He could see her questioning his motives and wondering whether he meant what he said. He could see her distaste at the thought of cooperating with him. And then he saw her reluctant acceptance.
    Why reluctant? What made her tick? His own curiosity surprised him.
    She tilted her head, considering. “Maybe that would be best.” She took a deep breath, as if preparing to plunge into cold water. “Welcome to Button Gap, Dr. Hardesty.” She extended her hand.
    He took it. Her