Read Online Knocking at Her Heart (Conover Circle #1) by Beverly Long - Free Book Online Page A

to make sure of
it. He made a good living now, but once their new offices were up and open,
he’d be in even better shape. They’d probably have more business than they
could handle.  Patients hated going to a big, impersonal hospital for
surgery when they could go to a small, intimate place that specialized in their
type of care.
    After he dropped Kelsie off at
home, he went back to the hospital. He knew he needed to go home, grab some
sleep, some food. But he wanted to check his patient one more time.
    The boy was resting
comfortably—as comfortably as one could rest with a broken pelvis and multiple
spinal fractures. The other boy had regained consciousness and the neurologists
looked a little more hopeful than they had the night before. Sam saw the
worried faces of the two families and knew that even if both boys recovered
fully, that lives had been changed the night before. Innocence had been
lost.          
    Too keyed up to sleep, he sat
down at his desk, flipped on his computer, and started to read his e-mails. He
got through three before he gave up. He couldn’t remember anything he’d read.
All he could think about was the shocked look on Maddie’s face when he’d
offered to help.
    Offered.
    Well, sort of. He hadn’t really
given her a choice. He’d bulldozed his way in.
    It wasn’t his style.
    But the woman drove him
crazy. 
    When he’d walked out of her
hospital room the night before, he’d been pissed. He had definitely not helped
her just so that he could demand payment later on. 
    Yeah, but... 
    He did, after all, intend to take
full advantage of Kelsie’s presence at Kids Are It.
    That was different.
    There was nothing wrong with
trying to figure out why Maddie was so opposed to selling. Once he figured it
out, they could make another offer, one that would meet both their needs.
    Everybody would win.
    Suddenly feeling terribly weary,
Sam pushed his chair back, shut off the lights, and walked out of his
office. 
    Well maybe not everybody would
win.
    His family would never have to
worry about money again, Maddie would be able to build a bigger, better
daycare, and he’d…well, he’d still be alone.    

CHAPTER FIVE
     
    Maddie waited for Sam in the
downstairs kitchen, her cold hands wrapped around a hot coffee cup. She could
hear the faint ticking from the clock on the wall. Although it was just minutes
before six, she’d already drained her first cup of the day and now sat quietly,
sipping her second.
    She sat in the chair that faced
the wide window. She could both hear and see that the birds were up, but other
than that, the street looked quiet. Ten minutes earlier, she’d heard the thud
of the morning paper thrown against the front door. But she hadn’t moved from
her spot, content just to enjoy the early morning quiet.
    It wouldn’t stay that way for
long. Each day at the daycare offered a tangled mixture of laughter and tears,
new words and broken crayons. She loved it. 
    She wanted a house-full of
children of her own. She dreamed of feeling her own child’s chubby arms wrapped
around her neck, to hear her own child’s first words, see his or her first
steps, to learn his or her first secret.
    She and Jeff had discussed
children once. He’d said he wanted them, too, but had added that they seemed as
if they’d be a lot of work. Then he complained that the dependent deduction was
ridiculously low.
    She heard a quiet knock on the
front door. She eased herself out of the chair and walked to the door. She
looked out the privacy hole and Sam stood there, his head bent, scanning the
headlines of her paper. 
    She took an extra minute to
examine him, liking that he didn’t realize she watched him. He had on faded
jeans and scuffed loafers. She could see a blue chambray shirt underneath the
spring jacket that remained unzipped. He looked comfortable, confident, and
ready to work. 
    She still felt a little awkward.
She’d apologized, he’d accepted, but still. She had