Authors: Theresa Ragan
“I never would have figured you for a country girl,” Derrick said.
“That’s because you don’t know anything about me,” Jill said, annoyed by the entire state of affairs. “I’m a little bit country and I’m also rock ‘n’ roll all in one. I’m a wild woman, Derrick Baylor. A wild, wild woman.”
“Is that right?”
“She’s kidding,” Laura said, ruining Jill’s fun. “Jill has never done anything remotely wild. Never jumped out of a plane or skied down a Black Diamond trail. She never smoked a cigarette, let alone a joint. I can’t even recall ever seeing my sister on the dance floor.”
“Who are you?” Jill asked her sister, wondering if she had fallen into some sort of black hole.
“How about skinny-dipping?” Derrick asked. “Everyone has skinny-dipped at least once in their life?”
“Nope, not Jill,” Laura said. “She’s safe and predictable. No surprises there.”
“I have a voice,” Jill reminded her sister as she came to a stop at the light.
“Okay,” Laura said with a shrug. “Let’s hear it. Have you gone skinny-dipping?”
“That’s none of your business.”
Derrick looked over his shoulder at Laura. “Your sister just had a baby. Her hormones are still a little wacky.”
Jill rolled her eyes.
“Don’t get me wrong,” Laura said. “Jill has a lot of good qualities. Despite what my parents believe, she’s dependable and responsible. She’s compassionate, too. She’s just lacking a little when it comes to adventure.”
The light turned green and Jill stepped on the gas. “When Ryan is older,” Jill said, “the two of us are going to do many adventurous things together.”
“Sounds like Ryan is in for a good time once he gets out of those diapers,” Derrick said with a smile.
Laura chuckled.
Jill looked over at him and scowled. The sun was coming through the window and hitting his handsome face just so: sparkling eyes and dimples—a deadly combination. If Ryan looked anything like his father when he grew up, she wasn’t going to have time to ski down the Silverfox in Utah, learn how to rock climb, or bungee jump off of a tall bridge, because she was going to be too busy fighting off all the girls vying for her son’s attention.
The ride to the pediatrician’s office felt like hours instead of the twelve minutes it actually took to get there. The streets were crowded for a weekday, Jill thought, as she pulled into a parking space reserved for patients of the medical building. Derrick had a tough time getting out of the passenger seat, but she decided not to worry about him. He deserved to be uncomfortable for setting off fireworks inside of her and then dousing them with cold words and a handshake.
~~~
Although he did his best not to show it, Derrick felt like a heel. Sandy had warned him of Jill’s growing affections and yet he hadn’t tried to stop her earlier from pressing up close and kissing him. He already knew she could kiss like an angel, but he hadn’t known until today that she was a dozen sticks of dynamite waiting to be ignited. If it had been anyone but Jill Garrison, the mother of his child, throwing herself at him, he might have taken what she offered, and then some.
Hell, he never proclaimed to be a saint.
But Jill was nothing like the women he had spent time with over the years. Jill was way too sweet and innocent for the likes of him.
And besides, his heart belonged to Maggie.
Jill deserved to be with someone who could give her one hundred percent, someone who would always be there for her. If not for Maggie, he might think twice about applying for the job. But Maggie was always there, floating in his thoughts—even when he didn’t want her to be. Deep down, he knew his brothers were right. He needed to forget about Maggie—cut all emotional ties and let her go. But he’d already tried that and it hadn’t worked. Loving Maggie was like being addicted to drugs. He needed a twelve-step program if he ever wanted to break free.
There was an art festival taking place downtown and it took a few minutes to weave through the crowds and into the building. Before long, Derrick and Jill were in the examination room waiting for the pediatrician, while Laura waited in the lobby.
Derrick was glad he could finally feel the blood pumping through his legs again. Being in Jill’s car could be compared to being squeezed into a sardine can.
Jill paced the tiny room, back and forth, while Ryan cried his heart out.
“If you hold him closer to your chest, a little further to your right, I think he’ll—”
“I know how to hold my baby. Thank you very much.”
Stretching, Derrick hid a smile behind a feigned yawn.
“I’m glad to see you’re amused,” Jill admonished, “although I really can’t imagine how you could find Ryan’s discomfort comical.”
“That’s not why I’m smiling.” What amused him was the way her eye twitched and her lip curled just the slightest bit whenever she was annoyed. He also couldn’t stop thinking about Jill’s reaction to what her sister had said about Jill not being adventurous. Jill clearly wanted to change all of that. He had some good ideas to help her break out of her shell. “I was just thinking about your family showing up out of the blue. Your sister is quite a character.”
“That woman waiting out there in the lobby is not my sister. My sister is graceful, delicate, and quiet to a fault. She sips Ming Cha tea and nibbles on watercress sandwiches. She never curses and she certainly doesn’t own a pair of leather pants.”
“She eats watercress sandwiches?”
The doctor walked in before Jill could respond. The pediatrician was a man—a young man Derrick guessed to be in his early thirties—a man who looked ridiculously pleased to see Jill.
“Jill! It’s great to see you again.”
Jill’s eyes lit up. “Nate Lerner,” Jill said. “I’m so glad you made it back in time to be here for Ryan’s first appointment.”
Before Derrick could introduce himself, Jill handed Ryan to him and then turned back to the doctor and practically leapt into his arms, hugging the man as if he were a long-lost brother finally returned from war. After she finally broke free, Dr. Lerner took a step back so he could take a good long look at Jill. “You look amazing. Absolutely stunning.”
Derrick held Ryan close to his chest and rocked him until he quieted.
The whole scene with the doctor and Jill seemed a little off, maybe because Jill hadn’t said a peep about Dr. Lerner and now suddenly the two of them were practically getting it on right here in front of him, as if he wasn’t even in the room. Derrick knew firsthand how out of whack Jill’s hormones were and he really didn’t want to stand here and watch her get all hot and bothered.
Jill put a hand to her chest. “You look exactly like your father.” She shook her head in disbelief. “It’s uncanny.”
Derrick cleared his throat, but nobody paid him any mind.
“We’ll have to get together soon and catch up.”
“I would love to,” Jill said with the brightest smile Derrick had ever seen as she clasped the good doctor’s hands between hers.
“So who do we have here?” the doctor asked, after thoroughly checking out Ryan’s mother.
“Nate, I’d like you to meet my friend, Derrick, and my son, Ryan.” Without making eye contact, she took Ryan from Derrick and cradled him in her arms in such a way that Nate could get a better look at her cleavage.
The doctor gestured toward the examination table and Jill obediently followed him that way.
“He’s a handsome boy,” Dr. Lerner said. “Let’s take his measurements.”
“Should I undress him?”
“Please.”
She took her time slipping Ryan’s tiny arms and legs from his blue cotton sleeper.
Derrick stayed where he was, watching from afar while the doctor measured the circumference of Ryan’s head before checking his soft spot.
“His fontanel is just as it should be,” the doctor said. “It’s safe to touch and should disappear in twelve to eighteen months.” Next, he measured Ryan’s length from toe to head, checked his charts, and then asked Jill to remove his diaper so he could weigh him. Dr. Lerner proceeded with additional tests while Jill fawned over the doctor and Ryan in equal doses. With adoring eyes, she watched Dr. Lerner as he used an instrument to look inside Ryan’s ears.
It was enough to make Derrick want to gag. Instead, he took a seat in the corner of the room. His muscles felt tense and it dawned on him that he was behaving like a jealous fool. The emotions he was feeling were absurd and completely out of character. He had no reason to be jealous because he didn’t feel
that
way about Jill. As she had just told the doctor, they were friends. Yes, Derrick liked her, and yes, she looked amazing today, but she looked amazing every day, whether she wore a sweat outfit covered with spit-up or baggy pants and fuzzy pink slippers.
After analyzing the situation, Derrick convinced himself that what he was feeling was perfectly acceptable and normal. He wanted to protect Jill. She was the mother of his son. Any man she showed interest in could be a potential father to his son. It made perfect sense that he might feel anxious under the circumstances.
It wasn’t long before the doctor was finished and Jill was pushing Derrick out the door.
“I’ll catch up,” Jill told him, leaving Derrick and Ryan to fend for themselves as he guided the stroller out of the examination room and toward the lobby.
Laura came to her feet the moment he appeared. “Where’s Jill?” she asked.
“She and the doctor had some catching up to do. Why don’t we head on outside and get some fresh air while we wait?”
By the time Jill caught up to them, Derrick and Laura were outside and in the middle of the art festival. Brightly colored chalk drawings covered the walkways and vendors behind their exhibition booths were lined up on both sides of the street.
“Sorry I took so long,” Jill said as she anchored strands of hair behind her ears. “What did you think?”
“Of what?” Derrick asked.
“Of Nate?”
“I think he’s dreamy,” he offered.
Jill laughed. “I mean as a pediatrician. Don’t you think he’s thorough and professional? A doctor we can trust to take care of Ryan?”
“I can’t say I have met a lot of pediatricians in my day. I have nothing to compare him to, sorry.”
“Sounds like I missed all the fun,” Laura said.
“You two got along well,” Derrick said. “I suppose you and Nate have a date?” he questioned, although he was only teasing.
Jill’s eyes flashed like neon lights in Vegas. “As a matter of fact, yes, we do. We’re going to a movie Friday night.”
Derek felt a little nauseated and he wasn’t sure why. Jill was on one side and Laura was on the other while he guided the stroller through the main part of town. He didn’t have a destination in mind. Jill’s car was back the other way. He just kept walking, trying to keep his cool since he knew he had no business getting bent out of shape.
“Do you think you could babysit that night?” Jill asked.
“He’s my son. Of course I can watch my son. What time?”
“How about four o’clock?”
For some ridiculous reason he felt better knowing it would be earlier rather than later.
“That will give me time to take a shower and get ready. Nate is taking me to Crush, a new restaurant on Jasmine Street. I’ve wanted to go there ever since they opened six months ago.”
They stopped and waited for Laura, who they lost a few vendors ago. She was looking at handmade purses and bargaining with the salesperson.
“I thought you were going to an early movie?”
“I didn’t say that. I said we were going to a movie, which we are—after dinner.”
“How late do you plan on staying out?”
“Why? Do I have a curfew?”
“Of course not, it’s just that I thought you said that you and Sandy had a lot of work to do on the magazine.”
“Thanks to you, we’re all caught up. Sandy helped me write my column and Chelsey brought the pictures by late last night. You know—the pictures she took at the park the other day. We have lots of great photos to pick from. According to Sandy, the chili received rave reviews and so that’s a go, too.” Jill smiled. “I’m beginning to feel like my old self again.” She swung herself in a circle, arms in the air, face to the sun. “What a beautiful day.”
Yeah—a beautiful day
.
“Wow, look at that.” Jill headed across the street to one of the exhibition booths.
Derrick watched as she oohed and aahed over the ugliest bronzed figurines he’d ever seen. She brought one of the figurines over to him and held it up so she could show him the details. “That’s what I call artwork.”
His mother’s words rang in the back of his head:
if you have nothing nice to say, it’s best to say nothing at all.
“What’s wrong?”
“Nothing. Why?”
“I don’t know,” Jill said. “Ever since we met with Dr. Lerner you’ve been acting like a big gloomy rain cloud on a sunny day.”
“Maybe it’s because I’m wondering why you were kissing me one minute and then all but drooling over the good doctor in the next.”
“I wasn’t drooling. Besides, you made it perfectly clear that the kiss we shared was a great, big foolish mistake. So, why would you care about my interaction with Dr. Lerner?”
“I don’t know,” he said. “Forget I said anything.”
“Are you jealous?”
Nervous laughter escaped him. “Of course not. I just don’t think Dr. Lerner is right for you.”
That made her smile.
“What?”
“Dr. Lerner used to be on one of those Abercrombie and Fitch shopping bags.”
“On a what?”
Her eyes twinkled as she said, “All the hot guys are displayed on the A&F shopping bags.”
“What does that have to do with him not being right for you?”
She shrugged. “Just thought I’d mention it.”
“So you think he’s hot?”
She snorted. “Duh.”
“Is that why you like him? Because he’s hot?”
“It never hurts to be hot, but no, that’s not the only reason I like him.”
He felt as if he was pulling teeth. “So what else do you like about him?”
Derrick followed her back to where the woman waited patiently for Jill to return her piece of artwork.
“Beautiful work,” she told the artist.