Second Time Around. Carol Steward

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СКАЧАТЬ a minute to breathe. Time to collect herself and banish Kevin MacIntyre from her thoughts—if only temporarily.

      Emily closed her office door behind her and leaned against it. Dear God, help me. I don’t think I can handle this alone—

      The phone rang, and she knew her moment of reprieve was over. She took two calls, then began seeing patients.

      Twelve hours later, Emily pulled into her garage. She walked into the house, dropped her purse and collapsed on the sofa. Ignoring the blinking light on the answering machine, she set her pager on the end table and closed her eyes. She flipped her shoes onto the floor and propped her ankles on the arm of the couch.

      It was days like this when she asked herself what she was thinking when she gave up the man she loved for that miraculous acceptance into medical school. And the answer was always the same. She had been thinking of her mother’s struggle to provide for her and her sisters when their father walked out. She had been thinking of Katarina’s hearing loss. Of the people she wanted to help. The last person she’d been thinking of was Kevin—the one person she should have considered more.

      Her stomach growled, proclaiming that the salad she ate for lunch was long gone. She was famished. Dragging her fatigued body off the couch, Emily rummaged through the cupboard until she found a can of beef stew. The wind howled outside as a winter storm moved in from the west; snow was already sticking to the streets. Thank goodness I’m not on call tonight, she thought. Emily dumped the stew into the pan, turned on the burner, then simply stared at it, waiting for it to boil.

      Kevin’s words had haunted her for the past two weeks. We can both be happy that you realized your career was more important than a family before it was too late. They stung because after years of wondering, she finally knew why Kevin hadn’t come after her. He felt she’d abandoned their dreams for a job. That truth was especially difficult after days like today. Days that started before seven and didn’t end when the office closed. Days that melded, one into the other. Days when crises happened nonstop.

      Help me to remember that it’s not for my own glory, Father, but for Yours.

      Emily couldn’t accept credit for the many decisions that had led her through the last few years. For without Him, she couldn’t have survived it at all. Medical school, internship, finding a clinic whose mission fit so perfectly with her own. It was nothing short of a miracle, finding her way back to Springville, Colorado. Or so she’d thought.

      Until she saw Kevin MacIntyre standing in her patient’s hospital room.

      Until her past caught up with the present and threatened to crush her future.

      Until Kevin made her realize she couldn’t “have it all.”

      There were countless days when she wished for all the things that he’d accused her of rejecting for her career. Times when she longed for the serenity of a man’s loving embrace. Nights when she dreamed of her own children. And still she battled daily with the green monster, envying women who had mastered that delicate balance between career and family. There were even moments when she cursed the day he had walked away. And days when she wondered if Kevin had ever felt the same.

      Her eyes burned with tears she refused to shed.

      It appeared she now had the answer. He’d moved on with his life. And on, and on, obviously not letting their broken promises slow his social life any. It appeared her mother was right. Kevin was like her father: a fifties type of man, who wanted his woman to raise the children and have dinner ready at six o’clock. Kevin MacIntyre was definitely not the man to offer support throughout her demanding career.

      Snow swirled around the parking lot and drifted along the curb. Kevin closed the door of his short-bed pickup, ready to work out with Bryan at the gym before heading home. Cranky and ready to burn off some frustration, Kevin stepped through the glass doors and headed for the lockers.

      “Hi, Kevin.”

      He turned, temporarily distracted by the silky voice.

      “Evening, Kristen. Looks like life is treating you well.”

      “Could be better. You’ve been avoiding me.” The brunette leaned her elbows on the handles of the stationary bicycle and flashed him an accusing smile. Perfectly shaped eyebrows arched high above blue eyes.

      He returned the smile, inwardly calculating just when he’d last seen her, or anyone not related to the business. “No, it’s not that,” he stalled, suddenly tongue-tied and in a hurry to make an exit. “Work is keeping me busy. Maybe we can do something soon.”

      He ducked into the men’s locker room, surprised when Bryan stepped in just behind him.

      “Gone into hiding, have you?” his friend joked.

      Kevin shrugged, wondering himself why he’d brushed the woman off. He and Kristen had dated a few times after she had decorated one of his model homes. Things had been going fine. Neither wanted a commitment. Both enjoyed the same things. So why did he find himself avoiding her as if she were trying to tie him down?

      “How are Laura and the kids?” Kevin asked, hoping to change the subject.

      It worked.

      Bryan talked enthusiatically about his new family, and a few minutes later they headed for the weight room. Kevin was anxious to get back in shape before the longer days of the spring building season began. He’d put in more hours at his drafting table than actually working with the crew over the past winter, and it was beginning to show around his midsection.

      “You okay?” Bryan eyed him accusingly some time later as he added another cast-iron disk to each end of Kevin’s weight bar. “I’ve never seen you avoiding—”

      “Fine, just bored with it all, I guess.” Kevin lifted the barbell, only to be interrupted by another female acquaintance. After she left, Kevin sat up and wiped his hands on the towel draped around his neck.

      Bryan elbowed him. “What were you saying about your life being boring?” His friend raised an eyebrow and chuckled.

      “You’re a newlywed. You shouldn’t be noticing other women,” Kevin grumbled.

      Bryan snapped the towel in midair. “Don’t worry, I’m perfectly happy where I’m at. Unlike you—”

      “Let’s get out of here. We aren’t going to get anything accomplished in this place. Why don’t we go get a bite to eat?”

      “Thanks, anyway, I’ve already eaten.”

      “Oh.” On the way to the locker room, Kevin suddenly realized that although he was busier than ever, his personal life had come to a screeching halt in the wake of his company’s booming success. Now that he thought about it, he hadn’t been on a date in months. What was wrong with him? No wonder he was irritable. All work and no play…is bound to get on a man’s nerves.

      Nothing was the same anymore. Dating had lost its appeal, second only to going home to an empty house and an answering machine full of jobs to pursue. Which was just what he had wanted—a successful business. He should be ecstatic. There were plans to evaluate, bids to make, orders to call in; business was right on track.

      But something was still missing.

      Bryan pulled his bag from the locker СКАЧАТЬ