Page 41 of Guarding Over You
“Everything okay?” his mother asked.
“It is now that I got what I came for.”
She didn’t need to know the double meaning there. But the truth was, he wasn’t much better than he’d been before he arrived.
Did he need one more thing on his shoulders right now?
Trying to fix a problem that he might not be able to?
But he couldn’t walk away either.
13
STAY IN HER LANE
“Mom, is that Dr. Blaze?”
Arden swiveled her head to where her daughter was pointing. Gracie was riding her bike around the development and they were past their home and circling back when her daughter noticed the man who had been on her mind more than he should be.
“It is.”
She looked at her watch and saw it was a little after seven. Guess he got out of work on time, which surprised her since it was July Fourth.
Or maybe they had more than one doctor on for the weekend. She knew that there were more PAs working on the weekend, so that would move things along for minor issues.
“Can we go say hi?” Gracie asked, pedaling faster and away from her. That was a first in years for her daughter to want to approach any adult.
“Slow down.”
Her daughter wasn’t listening and Blaze had just gotten out of his SUV and turned his head, then waved.
She couldn’t be rude and not wave back.
Looked like he was waiting there for her daughter to arrive.
Don’t be embarrassed. Don’t be embarrassed.
Only it was hard even with the chanting in her head. She didn’t even have the excuse of alcohol making her spill her guts.
One can of hard cider wouldn’t do that and she never let herself drink much more than one of anything. Too many years of being scared by her ex and what happened to him under the influence kept her limited.
“Hi, Gracie,” Blaze said. “Look at you go. You’ve got that mastered.”
“She’s always on the run,” Arden said, coming to a stop after she’d picked up her pace to catch up to her runaway daughter.
Maybe she didn’t feel so bad that she’d opened up to the sexy doctor with a soothing presence. Seemed he had the same effect on Gracie, who hadn’t let any man get close to her in almost two years.
“I like my bike,” Gracie said. “I can go fast, but Mom says no.”
“That’s no fun,” he said. “But I’m sure she doesn’t want you to get hurt. There are still cars around.”
“I know,” Gracie said. “I’m careful.”
“Mild day?” Arden asked. “I thought for sure for the holiday it’d be nuts.”
“I went in at five,” he said. “They are overlapping everyone, so I still got out at seven since my replacement came in at five too.”
“Do they normally do that for holidays?”
