A Knight for Nurse Hart. Laura Iding

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СКАЧАТЬ would think that fact alone would have brought him and his dad closer together. But his father hadn’t waited very long before bringing home future stepmothers in an attempt to replace his first wife. At first the relationships had been short-lived, but then he’d ended up marrying a few.

      None of them stayed very long, of course. They left, just like his mother, for a variety of reasons. Because they realized being a vet didn’t bring in a boat-load of money, especially when you were already paying alimony for a previous marriage. Or they found someone else. Or simply got bored with playing step-mom to someone else’s kid.

      Whatever the reason, the women his father picked didn’t stick around. Carmen was the one who’d stayed the longest, almost three years, but in the end she’d left, too.

      Yeah, his father could really pick them.

      “Here are the crutches,” he said as he entered the kitchen. “Now, be patient for a minute so I can measure them. They have to fit your frame.”

      For once his father listened. After he’d adjusted the crutches to his father’s height, the older man took them and leaned on them gratefully. “Thanks,” he said gruffly.

      “You’re welcome.” Caleb watched his father walk slowly across the room, making sure he could safely use them. Grizz got in the way once, but then quickly learned to avoid them. Crutches weren’t as easy to use as people thought, and Caleb worried about his father’s upper-arm strength. But his father was still in decent shape, and seemed to manage them well enough. Reluctantly satisfied, he followed his father outside, giving Grizz one last pat on the head.

      The shelter was only ten miles away. Neither one of them was inclined to break the silence as Caleb navigated the city streets.

      He pulled up in front of the building and shut the car. “I’ll come inside with you,” he offered.

      “Sure.” His father’s mood had brightened the closer they’d gotten to the shelter, and Caleb quickly figured out the elder man needed this volunteer work more than he’d realized.

      More guilt, he thought with a slight grimace. He held the front door of the building open, waiting for his father to cross the threshold on his crutches before following him in.

      “Dr. Frank! What happened?”

      Caleb froze when he saw Raine rushing toward his father. She didn’t seem to have noticed him as she placed an arm around his father’s thin shoulders.

      “Twisted my ankle, that’s all. Nothing serious.” His father patted her hand reassuringly. “Now, tell me, Raine, how’s Rusty doing today? Is he any better?”

      “He seems a little better, but really, Dr. Frank, should you be here? Maybe you should have stayed at home to rest.” Raine lifted her gaze and he knew she’d spotted him when she paled, her dark red hair a stark contrast to her alabaster skin. “Caleb. What are you doing here?”

      “Dropping off my father.” He couldn’t help the flash of resentment at how friendly his father and Raine seemed to be. She had never mentioned working at the animal shelter during those two months they’d dated. But here she was, standing with her arm protectively around his father, as if they were life-long buddies.

      A foreign emotion twisted in his gut. Jealousy. For a moment he didn’t want to acknowledge it. But as he absorbed the camaraderie between his father and Raine, he couldn’t deny the truth.

      His father had grown closer to Raine in the time since she’d pushed him away.

      

      Raine couldn’t believe that Dr. Frank was actually Caleb’s father. She’d never really known if Frank was the retired vet’s first or last name, and hadn’t asked. They’d had an unspoken agreement not to pry into each other’s personal lives. But now that she saw the two of them in the same room, the resemblance was obvious. Dr. Frank’s hair was mostly gray, whereas Caleb’s was dark brown, but the two men shared the same stormy gray eyes and aristocratic nose. Of course, Caleb was taller and broader across the shoulders but his dad was no slouch. In fact, she thought Dr. Frank was rather handsome, all things considered.

      Caleb would age well, if his father’s looks were any indication. And for a moment regret stabbed deep. As much as she needed to move forward, it was difficult not to mourn what might have been.

      “What time do you want me to pick you up?” Caleb asked his father.

      “I can give Dr. Frank a ride home if he needs one,” she quickly offered.

      Caleb’s eyebrows rose in surprise, as if he suspected she had some sort of ulterior motive. Was he assuming she was trying to get back into his good graces by helping his father? If things were different, she might have been tempted.

      “That’s very kind of you, Raine,” Dr. Frank said. She could have sworn the older man’s gaze was relieved when he turned back toward his son. “There’s no need for you to come all the way back out here, Raine will drive me home. Thanks for the ride, Caleb. I’ll see you this weekend, all right?”

      “Yeah. Sure.” For a moment Caleb stared at her, as if he wanted to say something more, but after a tense moment he turned away. She had to bite her lip to stop herself from calling out to him as he headed for the door. “See you later, Dad,” he tossed over his shoulder.

      He didn’t acknowledge Raine as he left. And even though she knew it was her fault, since taking a break from their relationship had been her idea, she was ridiculously hurt by the snub.

      Trying to shake off the effects of her less than positive interaction with Caleb, she faced Dr. Frank. “So, are you ready to get to work?”

      Caleb’s father’s glance was sharp—she should have known he wouldn’t miss a thing. “Do you and my son know each other?”

      She tried to smile. So much for their rule to stay away from personal things. “Yes, we both work in the emergency department at Trinity Medical Center,” she admitted. “Caleb is a great doctor, everyone enjoys working with him.”

      “Everyone except you?”

      She flushed, hating to think she’d been that transparent. Especially when she liked working with Caleb. Too much for her own good. “I like working with him, but I’m thinking of changing my career to veterinary medicine,” she joked, in an attempt to lighten things up. “Maybe you’ll give me some tips, hmm? Come on, let’s head to the back. I think I should take a look at that ankle of yours.”

      “Caleb already looked at it.” Dr. Frank waved her off. “I’m more interested in the animals. I’m going to need you to bring them to me in the exam room as my mobility is limited.”

      “No problem.” Raine wanted to help, but as he deftly maneuvered the crutches, she realized he was doing fine on his own.

      Dozens of questions filtered through her mind, but she didn’t immediately voice them. Caleb obviously hadn’t mentioned her to his father during the time they’d been seeing each other, which bothered her. Especially since he hadn’t even talked about his father very much.

      What else didn’t she know about him? And why did it matter? What she and Caleb had was over. For good. No matter how much she missed him.

      Dr. Frank didn’t notice her preoccupation with his СКАЧАТЬ