Practice Makes Perfect (3 page)

Everything had grown up at Serenity House, including her. She and her sister, Jade, had been placed in Serenity House when their too-wild parents had been ordered into rehab by the courts. Then, on the day they were released, they were killed in a motorcycle accident on their way to pick up their daughters. Paige and Jade had stayed at Serenity for a year, until Paige turned eighteen and was legally able to take care of her sister.

Ian Chandler had rocked her world today, and here she was, reflecting on her life. She closed her eyes and thought about that night exactly fifteen years ago when she’d given birth to her own child. Dan had delivered it. The medics hadn’t arrived in time; there was no good care for the girls all those years ago.

Paige had asked for so little back then. That she get through the baby’s birth and give it up for adoption. And know nothing about it—not even whether she’d had a girl or a boy. Complete withdrawal was the only way she could get through the whole ordeal.

And she never would have survived and made something of herself if it hadn’t been for Nora Nolan and later, Elsa Moore. Both women had given her lifelines: Nora, the nurturing she’d needed to give birth and endure the aftermath, and Elsa, the professional opportunities to become a doctor despite her deprived childhood.

She winced at the recollection of Ian’s words,
Don’t you think you should give back to a society that’s gotten you where you are?

A gentle tap on the window drew her from her musings. She recognized the visitor and buzzed down the window.

Nora Nolan’s smile was as warm as the noontime sun. “Hey, sweetie. What are you doing out here?”

“Thinking.”

“Want some company?”

“Only yours.”

Nora slid into the front seat. Just fifty, she had strands of gray in her light brown hair now, which tonight was pulled up girlishly in a short ponytail.

“Have a bad day?” Nora asked. “It’s April sixth.”

Paige sighed. “I survived.”

“You always do, dear.”

“Nora, do you think I’m selfish? Having the kind of practice I do?”

“You are one of the most unselfish people—doctors-I’ve ever known. What on earth gave you that idea?”

“Nothing. I’m just feeling maudlin today, I guess. Tell me what’s new with you.”

For a moment Nora watched her, probably trying to read whether Paige had meant what she’d said. “Well, I was going to call you later about something.” Nora held out her hand, where a diamond ring sparkled.

“Oh, my God.” Paige’s gaze flew to Nora’s face. “From Dan?”

A dreamy smile lit her face. “Yes, of course.”

Paige grinned broadly. Nora Nolan had loved Dan Whitman for years. It had been a favorite topic of the girls of Serenity House. But Dan had been married, his wife suffering from dementia, and his and Nora’s relationship had remained platonic because they were both people of honor. Mary Whitman had died a year ago February.

Like Jane Eyre and Mr. Rochester, Dan and Nora could be together now. The girls had watched the classic movie on TV back then, along with many of the old TV shows.

Like
Dr. Kildare
. Reruns that Ian, obviously, had never seen.

Though gestures of affection were hard for her, Paige reached over and hugged Nora. “I’m so happy for you.”

Nora returned the embrace. “I’m going to hold you girls to your promise all those years ago.”

Paige drew back and stared at Nora. The original residents of Serenity House—the first six girls to live there in 1996, the year it opened—had pledged that they’d all come back to Hyde Point no matter where they were in the world when Nora got married. Typical of group-home residents, Paige had not kept in touch with her former house sisters. Darcy Shannon O’Malley, the wild redhead with a devil-may-care attitude, had returned to Hyde Point two years ago, and only then had Paige struck up a friendship with her. “I see Darcy occasionally. Do you know where everybody else is?” she asked.

“Yes. Anabelle’s kept in touch.” The youngest and shyest resident, Anabelle had left town, and no one but Dan and Nora had heard from her again.

“And I hear from Taylor and Charly all the time. They live in Elmwood.”

Though Paige wasn’t friends with either of them, she did bump into Charly and Taylor around town occasionally. Charly had become a social worker like Nora and had married an older man. Taylor, who’d come to Serenity House after being found beaten by the side of the road with no memory of who she was, was happily married with three children.

“That just leaves your sister,” Nora said softly.

“I know where Jade is.” Paige couldn’t keep the chill out of her voice.

“She still won’t see you?”

“Nope. Just talks to me occasionally on the phone.” Paige shook her head. “I don’t get it.”

“Well, you can ask her when she comes for the wedding. It’s going to be in July.”

“That should be enough notice for everybody.”

“What’s more, I’m asking all you girls to come a few days early. I want to see how my first flock’s doing.”

Paige breathed in deeply. More surprises. Nora’s wedding. Contact with the other Serenity House residents. And maybe seeing her sister for the first time in more than three years. Add that to Ian Chandler’s little bomb—that he was Elsa Moore’s son and that he wanted Paige to work in the center he’d named for his mother—and it had been quite a day.

Paige wished like hell she really was on that Caribbean cruise.

“WILL YOU INTRODUCE me to Linus, Casey?” Paige smiled down at the six-year-old girl, warmed by the trust she saw in the child’s big brown eyes. Paige ignored the quiet gasp from Casey’s mother, who sat in a chair across the room.

“’Kay.” Casey had scooted over on the examining table to make room for her imaginary friend. “Linus, this is Dr. Kendrick. She’s nice.”

“Hello, Linus,” Paige said easily. “How are you feeling today?”

“He says good.”

Paige smiled. “Well, fine.” After a bit more conversation designed to gain information about Linus, she picked up Casey and carried her to the sticker box. “Why don’t you choose a sticker for yourself and one for Linus?”

Her chubby hands around Paige’s neck, the girl said, “He likes cats.”

“Well, there’s a kitty one there.”

“Can I look at them all?”

Paige smoothed Casey’s hair. “Sure.” She smiled. “I like the Casper the Ghost one best.”

Ignoring the restless shifting behind them from Casey’s mother, Paige read the words on each sticker to the child.

After the big decision was made, Paige set Casey down. Then she nodded to her nurse, Marla. “Now, why don’t you and Linus go with Ms Simmons and let me talk to your mom.”

“Okay, Dr. Kendrick.” Casey threw her arms around Paige’s waist and hugged her. The affection soothed Paige, as always. It made up, in part, for having to deal with the child’s mother.

When Casey was gone, Paige turned to Mrs. Riley. “As I said on the phone, it’s not unusual for young children to have imaginary friends.”

The woman threw back her shoulders. “My husband says it’s unhealthy.”

“On the contrary, it’s a way of fitting in. I’ve advised you before to get Casey into some kind of social group. TenderTime Day Care has a terrific Saturday-morning program for six-year-olds.”

Mrs. Riley sniffed. Paige knew that sniff, from dealing with other yuppie parents. “
Day care?
We don’t use day care. We even home-school Casey.”

Which is part of the problem
. Paige assumed her own haughty-queen demeanor. “And because you do, Casey needs friends. She doesn’t have them, or even acquaintances to interact with every day, so she makes them up.” Paige arched an eyebrow. “Enter Linus.”

Mrs. Riley stared at Paige; Paige folded her arms across her chest and stared back. A knock on the door broke the stalemate. “Come in,” Paige said coolly.

Marla Simmons peeked in. “Dr. Kendrick, I know you don’t like to be disturbed, but there’s an emergency of sorts in examining room three.”

She spared her nurse a glance, said, “We’re finished here,” then recaptured the other woman’s stare. “Think about what I said, Mrs. Riley. Darcy O’Malley runs a top-notch program at TenderTime.” Pivoting, Paige walked out the door.

“I’m sorry, Paige,” Marla apologized.

Preoccupied, she looked at Marla. “It’s fine. What’s going on?”

“Rob Roberts is having trouble with Jimmy Linstrom. The boy’s due for a booster shot.”

“Doctors—even residents—don’t give shots.”

“Dr. Roberts decided to do this one because Jimmy hates shots.”

Paige shook her head. Thankfully she only had a few more weeks of working with Rob Roberts. The current resident rotation finished May 10; it couldn’t come soon enough.

Would he be off to work in the Elsa Moore Center? Ian had tried several times over the past few weeks to get Paige to change her mind about working at the Center. She’d continued to refuse. There were rumors that he was thinking about asking Rob to take the position. She’d recommended the guy, after all. Hell, Rob was a superb physician; he just needed to work on his bedside manner.

Pushing away the disturbing thought, she knocked brusquely on the door to examining room three and walked in. At the far end of the room, Kari Linstrom held little Alyssa on her lap. The young mother’s eyes were wide and fearful.

“Jimmy.” Rob towered over the examining table, a syringe in his hand, a clip in his voice. “Come out from under there and be a little man.”

Paige shook her head. If that was Rob’s idea of coaxing…The kid was four. “Can I help?” she asked, purposely easing herself between Jimmy and the resident.

Rob said from behind, “No need. Jimmy here just needs a shot.”

Jimmy wailed. The shrill probably could be heard downtown.

Paige kicked off her shoes and knelt down. The space under the examining table was about four by five, and Jimmy was huddled inside. “Hey, buddy, what’s going on?”

Hiccups. A tearstained face. His blond curls were damp. “No shot.”

“Scoot over.”

Jimmy complied.

Folding up as small as she could, she crawled into his cocoon. “You know, my sister and I used to hide in cupboards at our house like this.”

“Make a tent,” Jimmy said.

“Uh-huh. It’s like making a tent.”

She talked some more about tents, remembering how she and Jade had always felt safer tucked away like this, particularly when their parents had been on one of their binges. When Jimmy calmed, she asked, “Remember the last time you had a shot, Jimmy?”

Tears again. She drew him closer, put her arm around him.

“I know it hurt. But you were so good.” She stroked his hair, kissed the top of his head. “I gave you an ‘I’m Brave’ sticker.”

From beneath the table, she could see Kari’s sneakered feet under the chair, hear her calming the baby. She could also see Rob’s wingtips tapping impatiently. “I’ve got a new sticker. It’s says ‘Shots Make You Feel Good’.”

Still Jimmy shook his head.

“They do, buddy. Later on, shots keep you from getting sick. Remember, we talked about that.”

It took her a few more minutes to coax Jimmy out from under the table. Five more minutes were needed to talk him into letting her give him the injection. By the time she was done, she was running half an hour behind schedule. But she made the time to find Rob before she tended to her next patient. She counted to ten as she approached the office where he was tackling paperwork. “I’d like to talk to you.”

He glanced at his watch. “Sure.”

“You didn’t handle Jimmy very well.”

He arched a brow. “You don’t think so?”

“No, I don’t.”

“It seems to me Jimmy’s a troublemaker. Most kids from the projects are. It might be best to curb their tendencies now before they get into school.” He crossed his arms over his chest. “Save his teachers a lot of grief.”

“It’s not the job of a pediatrician to save the teachers grief. Our job is to give the best care we can to young children.”

“Look, Dr. Kendrick, I know I’m not a people person. But I’m working on it.”

“You need to work harder.”

He stiffened a bit. “One of the reasons I asked to do this rotation with you was because I was aware of your no-nonsense, all-business reputation in medicine. That and the nature of the clientele you deal with.” He grinned. “Along with the hefty fees you charge.”

“Is that why you chose medicine?”

“No, I like medicine, though I might go into research eventually. Besides, the HMOs have pretty much stopped us from becoming millionaires. I do think you’re savvy to charge fees above and beyond regular medical coverage.”

Paige ignored the sting of his assessment. She’d deliberately joined a practice that charged more than most insurance coverage so she could avoid women—and their babies—who’d grown up like her. The memories they evoked were too painful.

“I have to admit, I’m surprised you accept patients like the Linstroms.”

She closed her eyes, mentally working out his evaluation. Lacks sensitivity in dealing with children
and
is a snob.

“It’s okay to be no-nonsense and all-business sometimes,” she finally said. “But when it comes to the kids, you have to be human, Rob.”

His back became even more rigid. But he tried to hide his displeasure from her.

“We’ve discussed this before,” she said. “You lack sensitivity.”

“All right. I’ll keep that in mind.” Then, as if he couldn’t help himself, he added, “However, Ian Chandler thinks I’m doing a fine job. He’s already talked to me about his new care center.”

Most kids from the projects are troublemakers
. “Did he offer you the job?”

“Not yet. But he will. I’ll probably do that for a few months, until I can find something better. Something more like your practice.” Rob angled his head and gave her his best charming look. “You don’t want a junior partner, by chance, do you?”

Not in a million years
. “No.” She didn’t want to work with Rob. She didn’t want to work with Ian, either. Damn these men.

o0o

TWO DAYS LATER, Paige headed for Ian Chandler’s offices in the doctors’ building attached to the hospital. He’d called and asked to talk to her today. Since she had a patient in the neonatal care unit, she’d agreed to stop by his office. It was six o’clock and the receptionist had gone for the day. She made her way into the back rooms, hoping Ian hadn’t left yet. And in some ways, hoping he had. She suspected he’d hatched some new ploy to try to entice her into his center.