To Begin Anew (Blue Jay Romance) (4 page)

Debra sighed. “That would be Taylor’s Diner just off the main road. Can’t miss it.” She glanced at a clock, noted the time and then redirected her eyes to Dr. Nelson. “Let’s meet there at six-thirty.”

Eric bridged the gap between them, stuck out his hand and with a smile, hoped she would at least shake it. When she took hold of it, the warmth that spread from his palm and up his arm surprised him. She radiated like a furnace and instead of burning him where he stood, she made him want to hug her, to absorb her warmth for his own. It was the innate ability to comfort, he realized.

“It was a pleasure to meet you, Miss Brown,” he said.

Debra shook Dr. Nelson’s hand briefly and then let it go, uncomfortable with how touching him made her feel. He felt safe and the idea of that sent warning bells clanging in her head. “Call me Debra.” She paused, then added, “And don’t forget, you’re buying.”

~*~*~

Sitting across from Dr. Nelson and his boys wasn’t as uncomfortable as she’d imagined and, given that she’d imagined an uncomfortable situation of apocalyptic proportions, she was doing good. She thought she caught the looks of several people as they walked in together and knew that she’d heard more than a few whispers, but it was nothing to her what other people thought about her.

What struck her most, and what she couldn’t deny, was that Dr. Nelson’s boys were absolutely adorable. Of course they were. Debra could remember seeing pictures of them in magazines alongside their beautiful mother, and of course, given the genetic stock of their father, they had to turn out as beautiful as they were. For crying out loud, they even had dimples.

Before they sat down, Dr. Nelson - she’d refuse to think of him as Eric - pulled her chair out for her and then directed his boys to sit across from her. They eyed her curiously, as children often did when they met her for the first time, but they remained silent even as their father took a seat beside them.

As for Dr. Nelson himself, Debra couldn’t help but wonder at the smile that played on his lips. Was this perhaps a part of the whole get-the-local-woman-to-watch-my-brats scheme? If it was, sadly, Debra had to admit that it was working.

Eric was indeed smiling, but only because the picture of all four of them together seemed so perfect it was scary. David and Danny had been excited to be going out for dinner - naturally, since it had been a very long time since they’d wandered into a restaurant - and they’d been more than interested to meet the woman who might become their new nanny. That wasn’t to mention that their old nanny, whom Eric was suspiciously concerned was not well-liked by his boys, was not exceptionally pleased that he was entertaining the idea of someone new to fill the position.

He remembered their conversation just before they left the house and, while it was brief, Eric realized that it had hardly been pleasant.

“I don’t understand why this is necessary, Dr. Nelson. I thought I was doing a good job.”

Eric had nodded at Julia, noticing the desperation in her expression. He knew then that the woman was prepared to do anything it took to keep her position. He said to her, “Its not that you’re doing poorly, understand. I just need someone with more experience.”

Apparently, that was the wrong thing to have said. “Experience? Look, you don’t need to hire anyone else, I’m
all
you need.”

Julia emphasized this by getting close to him, so close in fact that her clothing brushed against his. Her hand lifted to his face and before he could back away from her she said, her voice lowered in attempted seduction, “You know how I feel about you. Don’t you know I like you?”

Eric then gripped her hand and lowered it, but before he let her go, he’d given her a hard look. “I don’t feel the same way about you, I’m sorry.” He waited a full ten seconds, watching her expressions, and continued, “We won’t be coming back to the house again. You’re dismissed.”

Julia’s expression had then turned sour, like curdled milk. “You think you can just reject me like that? Well, I’ve got news for you mister Famous TV Doctor, you’ll regret this. I’ll make sure of it. Just who do you think you are, anyway?”

Eric had sighed, honestly wondering why it had taken him this long to see Julia for what she was. “We’ll leave now.” With that, he ushered the boys out the door and drove home.

Now, sitting across from Debra, in a restaurant that could only be described as a very well-kept barn, he knew that he’d made the right decision with Julia. The only problem now was getting Debra to go along with his plan.

Eric fingered the menu that had been set down in front of him and wondered if it was his imagination or if the menu had actually been dipped in grease. Whatever it was, the feeling was unpleasant. And this was the best restaurant in town?

He looked to David first and asked, “What would you like for dinner?”

David looked around him, his eyes taking in the décor of the place, his expression that of a child in a theme park. This was definitely a far cry from what they’d been used to. After a moment, he said, “I don’t know daddy. Could I have a hamburger?”

Eric smiled at his son. “Sure, kiddo.” He scruffled his son’s hair and then directed his attention to Danny. “What are you going to have?”

“Mashed ‘tatoes and French fries.” His bright eyes wavered for a moment on Debra before wandering around the restaurant.

Eric chuckled. Danny had the most unusual tastes in food, and he didn’t have the heart to tell him that mashed potatoes and French fries were both foods that were made of potatoes. Even though he knew that Danny probably knew the difference himself. He said gently, “Don’t you want some meat to go along with that?”

Danny shrugged. “Maybe.” Then he shook his head. “I want toast, with butter.”

Eric sighed, but then leaned past David and scruffled Danny’s head. “You got it.” Still smiling, he looked to Debra. “What’ll you have?”

Debra offered Dr. Nelson a smile, but really she wondered if she wasn’t going to get a cavity from his children’s cuteness. Both of them were too adorable for words, which wouldn’t have been bad if they weren’t also so endearing it was painful to listen to them. How shy they were! And their eyes! So wide and round and full of curiosity. She leaned in on her elbows, not bothering to look at the menu.

“I’ll have a cheeseburger, French fries and a piece of Taylor’s special apple pie.”

Eric resisted the urge to roll his eyes. Debra and her apples. He set the menu down in front of him just as the waitress came up to them, bobbing on her heels, her short, wavy black hair bouncing. Just as bubbly as a mountain brook, wasn’t she?

“How ya doing, Darcy?”

The bouncy waitress smiled, her eyes directed at Debra. For a reason he couldn’t catch hold of, even though Debra’s words had been friendly, the waitress’ tone was not.

Darcy, replied, “Oh you know, a bit of this and that. I see you got yourself a nice little evening set out. Doing well for yourself, I see.”

Debra smiled, but the gesture didn’t reach her eyes. The smile was cold. “Oh, you know, Darce. We can’t all marry the high school quarterback. But enough about you. I’m sure Dr. Nelson would like to order for his children.”

The change that came over Darcy was instantaneous, her bubbly nature returning, and Eric realized that it was a front she put out, that inside she was just as cold as her words to Debra had been. Whatever it was that existed between the two women, he knew it wasn’t any of his business.

“A hamburger, just ketchup. Two cheeseburgers, three orders of French fries, and a side order of mashed potatoes. Oh, and an order of buttered toast,” Eric said, his tone indifferent. “And a piece of apple pie.”

Darcy wrote down everything he said, and then as she looked up to him, she winked. “If that’s all, can I take your drink orders?”

“Four Cokes.” He glanced at his boys and caught their wide smiles. It was rare he allowed them to drink caffeine, let alone soda, so to them it was as if they’d gotten a year’s worth of Christmas presents.

“Okay, darlin’. Comin’ right up.” Darcy winked at him again and as she walked away, Eric frowned.

He looked to Debra. “What was that all about?”

Debra shrugged. “I don’t know
what
you’re talking about.”

Eric let his eyes dart in the direction Darcy had taken as she walked to the kitchen to deliver their order. “You know what I’m talking about.”

Debra smiled slightly. “She and I used to be friends a long time ago. We’ve just got some history, is all. We both know where we stand with each other, and don’t worry. She won’t start anything - that little conversation we had was me letting her know to mind her manners in front of children.”

Eric’s brows knitted, but then he decided it was still none of his business and that in the long run, it didn’t matter. He began, “Danny and David here are four and a half minutes apart from one another and I always forget who’s the oldest…”

“I am, daddy,” David said. “You know that. I told you tons of times.” He made a face like a puffer fish.

“That’s okay, David. I don’t want to be older than you anyways,” Danny chirped, grinning.

Debra chuckled at the pair, knowing that despite the tragedy they’d both suffered, they were doing exceptionally well. Children dealt with death in their own special ways, and it took a strong adult presence to keep them together and healthy. Whatever Dr. Nelson was doing, he was doing a stand-up job, despite the fact that his work was too important to take a vacation from. Debra frowned. It wasn’t her place to judge him.

She asked, her voice that special tone of gentle she reserved just for children, “You guys like your new school?”

David perked up as if she’d said some kind of magical phrase. “Yeah! It’s so diff-rent from our other school, and all the kids are nice! Daddy says we can make as many friends as we want.”

Danny piped in, right behind his brother as if on cue, “Well, duh, course we like it! And we get to do all sorts of things an put pictures to-gether for daddy.”

Debra nodded. “I remember when I got to make macaroni pictures for my dad. I always smiled when he put them up on the refrigerator for me.”

“Mac-roni pictures?” David asked.

Debra smiled, completely tuned in to the children, forgetting that a man named Dr. Eric Nelson was even there. “Of course! You take the macaroni and you glue them to paper.”

Danny stuck out his tongue. “How you supposed to eat the macaroni if you put glue on all of it?”

Debra chuckled. “Well, you don’t eat it, silly.”

Danny pouted for a brief instant before he smiled. “My momma used to call me silly.”

Debra smiled. She said, “Well, I call them like I see them.”

Both David and Danny stuck their tongues out at her just as Darcy returned with their drinks. The boys were enough that she didn’t so much mind Darcy’s presence anymore. She figured that the kids could probably make grass forget that it was green.

~*~*~

Though Blue Jay was a small town of about fifteen thousand souls, it was far larger than the two or three neighboring towns. But it was little enough that most people knew one another and nobody bothered the occasional person walking on the street by herself. It was partially for this reason that Debra had walked to Taylor’s Diner. The fact that it was only four blocks from home was the other deciding factor.

Debra wasn’t sure that she should have allowed the good doctor to bring her back to his house, but the twins had insisted, claiming they wanted her to see their toys and then tuck them in bed. She found that she couldn’t refuse them.

Once they were inside, Dr. Nelson ushered the boys to their room and Debra noted that, of course, they had twin beds. What else would twin children sleep in? After their faces were washed and they were tucked in by their new nanny, David and Danny insisted she say bedtime prayers with them. She started to protest, but the matching pleading looks on their faces and Dr. Nelson’s shoulder shrug that said, “Would you, please?”… well, how could she refuse.

At a loss for what to do, she knelt on the floor between their beds and began, “Now I lay me down to sleep…” and David stopped her.

“That’s not how we do it, Miss Brown.” His voice was almost apologetic for interrupting.

“Oh, is that right?” The boys nodded with exaggerated emphasis. “Okay, then. Teach me how you do your bedtime prayers.”