Diagnosis: Daddy (Doctors in Training 1)

“That’s what I called his father, who died when I was still in elementary school.” It was strange to think that his father answered to that name now.

“She asked about you at bedtime.”

He ran a thumb along the seam of his jeans in a restless movement. “Did she?”

“Yeah. She wanted to know when she would see you again.”

“It isn’t as if it’s been that long since I’ve seen her.”

“When did you see her last, Connor?”

He had to stop to think about it. Had she been in bed when he’d come home the night before? She had. She’d had the nightmare, which had interrupted…

He swallowed. “I guess it was yesterday morning.”

“Yes. You passed us in the kitchen as we were having breakfast, told us you had to hurry out and said over your shoulder that you hoped we both had nice days.”

“I had that big test.” The one he’d screwed up royally, he thought glumly.

“I know. Then you didn’t get in until after she’d gone to bed and you were gone before she got up this morning. Now she’s in bed again, so it’s been almost two full days since you’ve seen her. You didn’t even go in last night when she had the bad dream.”

“I knew you were handling it,” he muttered. “I wasn’t sure she’d even want me to come in.”

“She can’t bond with you if she never sees you. I’m not saying you should blow off your studies, but surely you can spare a few minutes a day for her.”

He wanted to argue with her, wanted to justify his recent behavior. But he swallowed the words and nodded. “You’re right. I should be helping you more.”

“It isn’t that. Alexis and I are getting along fine. I’m just trying to help you both with this adjustment period.”

“I’m sure everything will work out. It hasn’t even been a whole week yet.”

What might have been doubt clouded her eyes, but she didn’t say anything else.

He stood and moved toward the TV. “I’ll hook this thing up and show you how to work it so you can teach Alexis.”

“Or you could teach her,” she murmured.

On the defense again, he replied somewhat curtly, “I’ll try to work that into my schedule.”

“Yeah, maybe you should do that.” It was as close as she had come to snapping at him since she’d moved in.

Clenching his jaw, Connor counseled himself to be patient. They’d both known there would be an adjustment period for all three of them with this new living situation. He supposed getting on each other’s nerves was as much a part of that as his inconvenient physical awareness of her.

“Let’s just get this hooked up,” he muttered and knelt beside the game carton.

He heard Mia draw in a l

ong breath. Maybe she, too, was giving herself a mental talk. After a long pause, she said in a more normal tone, “Okay. Show me how it works.”

Avoiding her eyes, he opened the box with just a bit more force than necessary.

Chapter Six

Mia was sure Connor stayed around most of Sunday only because she’d criticized him the evening before, but whatever his reason, she was glad he did. After lunch he sat down in the living room with Alexis for an hour and showed her how to play the games her grandfather had brought her.

Having volunteered to clean up the kitchen while they played, Mia listened with approval to the laughter coming from the other room. She knew Connor needed to study, but she doubted that a couple of hours spent with his daughter would be the difference between passing and flunking.

Alexis had seemed pleased to have Connor join them for lunch. She had answered all his questions about her first few days at school and even volunteered a couple of comments. They hadn’t quite gotten to the point where conversation was easy between them, but Mia thought that time would surely come soon.