and since I’ll be seeing regular patients for the first time, the visits will take longer than usual. I’ll probably be running behind schedule the first few days.” She hoped she sounded more confident than she felt.
“Good luck with your negotiations with Doc Hottie,” Karen said with a little half smile that could be interpreted in all kinds of ways. Callie chose not to notice the open-ended comment.
“Thanks. Love you.” She let Karen enfold her in a quick hug and then headed for her car before her mother could say anything else.
* * *
T HE OTHER HALF of her family, she discovered, wasn’t averse to asking her questions about Zach Gibson, either; they were just a little slower getting to the subject. The five of them were eating at the cook’s table in the restaurant kitchen instead of upstairs. Ginger had no problem admitting she couldn’t hold a candle to Mac’s cooking and wasn’t about to try.
“I helped Mac prep the vegetables today,” Brandon announced, proudly indicating the sautéed fresh green beans on Callie’s plate. He had evidently decided a grown-up stepsister was preferable to a new baby in the family and had attached himself to Callie as soon as she walked through the door, even offering to help her with chores around the cottage to earn money for a new computer game. Becca, however, had kept her distance. “Mac won’t let me use a knife until I’m thirteen, but I’m thinking I might be a chef someday,” Brandon chatted on.
Becca snorted. “Last week you wanted to be a fireman. The week before that you were going to be a professional gamer and make a billion dollars designing computer games.” Callie noticed the girl had eaten two servings of the green beans and most of her fish, but hadn’t touched the fresh-baked rolls dipped in honey butter or the sweet-potato casserole.
“I changed my mind,” Brandon responded. “The good chefs make a lot of money, too, and write books and have their own TV shows and everything.”
“You’ll be a good chef if you listen to Mac,” Callie said. Mac had given her a solid grounding in the culinary basics when she was barely older than Brandon and Becca, but she hadn’t had much opportunity to put what she’d learned to practical use after she entered medical school.
She’d enjoy cooking again. Maybe it was something she could do with the twins, or at least with her stepbrother.
Callie pulled her thoughts up short. There was a very real chance she wasn’t going to be here that long. And if the position she’d been offered just days before she left Ann Arbor came through, she’d have all her meals provided for.
“Did you have a nice visit with your mom?” Ginger asked politely, pushing green beans around on her plate. She’d eaten very little and Callie noticed her fingers were puffy as though she were retaining water, not an unusual occurrence for a woman seven months pregnant in warm weather, but something to keep under observation. Her stepmother appeared tired, too. When Callie met with Zach tomorrow, she would ask him his opinion of Ginger’s overall health. There was nothing out of line in that.
“Yes,” Callie responded equally politely. “She showed me her goats and we had lemonade with Miss Fancy Pants and Evangeline.”
“Those are funny names,” Brandon said, pausing with a forkful of green beans halfway to his mouth. His round face wrinkled up in a frown. “Are they old ladies? Who has names like that?”
“They’re chickens,” Callie said, smiling at him across the Formica tabletop. “My mom raises chickens and Angora goats.”
“I’ve never seen a goat up close. Can you take me to visit them someday?” He shoved the green beans into his mouth and chewed lustily while spearing a piece of whitefish for his next bite.
“I suppose,” Callie said. She appealed to her father for guidance. J.R. looked at his wife. Callie moved immediately to reinforce Ginger’s authority. “If it’s all right
“Good luck with your negotiations with Doc Hottie,” Karen said with a little half smile that could be interpreted in all kinds of ways. Callie chose not to notice the open-ended comment.
“Thanks. Love you.” She let Karen enfold her in a quick hug and then headed for her car before her mother could say anything else.
* * *
T HE OTHER HALF of her family, she discovered, wasn’t averse to asking her questions about Zach Gibson, either; they were just a little slower getting to the subject. The five of them were eating at the cook’s table in the restaurant kitchen instead of upstairs. Ginger had no problem admitting she couldn’t hold a candle to Mac’s cooking and wasn’t about to try.
“I helped Mac prep the vegetables today,” Brandon announced, proudly indicating the sautéed fresh green beans on Callie’s plate. He had evidently decided a grown-up stepsister was preferable to a new baby in the family and had attached himself to Callie as soon as she walked through the door, even offering to help her with chores around the cottage to earn money for a new computer game. Becca, however, had kept her distance. “Mac won’t let me use a knife until I’m thirteen, but I’m thinking I might be a chef someday,” Brandon chatted on.
Becca snorted. “Last week you wanted to be a fireman. The week before that you were going to be a professional gamer and make a billion dollars designing computer games.” Callie noticed the girl had eaten two servings of the green beans and most of her fish, but hadn’t touched the fresh-baked rolls dipped in honey butter or the sweet-potato casserole.
“I changed my mind,” Brandon responded. “The good chefs make a lot of money, too, and write books and have their own TV shows and everything.”
“You’ll be a good chef if you listen to Mac,” Callie said. Mac had given her a solid grounding in the culinary basics when she was barely older than Brandon and Becca, but she hadn’t had much opportunity to put what she’d learned to practical use after she entered medical school.
She’d enjoy cooking again. Maybe it was something she could do with the twins, or at least with her stepbrother.
Callie pulled her thoughts up short. There was a very real chance she wasn’t going to be here that long. And if the position she’d been offered just days before she left Ann Arbor came through, she’d have all her meals provided for.
“Did you have a nice visit with your mom?” Ginger asked politely, pushing green beans around on her plate. She’d eaten very little and Callie noticed her fingers were puffy as though she were retaining water, not an unusual occurrence for a woman seven months pregnant in warm weather, but something to keep under observation. Her stepmother appeared tired, too. When Callie met with Zach tomorrow, she would ask him his opinion of Ginger’s overall health. There was nothing out of line in that.
“Yes,” Callie responded equally politely. “She showed me her goats and we had lemonade with Miss Fancy Pants and Evangeline.”
“Those are funny names,” Brandon said, pausing with a forkful of green beans halfway to his mouth. His round face wrinkled up in a frown. “Are they old ladies? Who has names like that?”
“They’re chickens,” Callie said, smiling at him across the Formica tabletop. “My mom raises chickens and Angora goats.”
“I’ve never seen a goat up close. Can you take me to visit them someday?” He shoved the green beans into his mouth and chewed lustily while spearing a piece of whitefish for his next bite.
“I suppose,” Callie said. She appealed to her father for guidance. J.R. looked at his wife. Callie moved immediately to reinforce Ginger’s authority. “If it’s all right
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