Owen watched Jill Duncan walk out of his office.
He’d been watching her for a good month now but pretending he wasn’t. Pretending that her slim build and wild hair didn’t turn him on. That her brown eyes didn’t try to see through him when she was looking at him and watching...when she thought he didn’t know she was doing it. That the smile she always sported was directed at him and not just the patients.
Unfortunately, he didn’t have time to date or even consider dating. And thinking about it with someone at work was even worse.
His body had other ideas at the moment though.
The only problem was, this was the place he saw members of the opposite sex, unless he included school functions, and he wasn’t. The start of school two weeks ago and all those women eying him like the hot fudge at a sundae bar made him want to run from the room when at one point in his life he would have embraced it.
His life was a mess right now and the thought of bringing a woman into it wasn’t fair to anyone, himself included.
He’d never thought he’d be back in Upstate New York again, living in his hometown of Saratoga, and working thirty minutes away...if he didn’t get stuck in traffic, which always seemed to happen.
But Luke needed stability, and being a single father who never got to spend much time with his son to begin with, he knew he’d need help.
His parents were the first people he turned to and they agreed with open arms. Not that he expected any different because they’d always been there for him and his sisters.
Even his younger sisters were thrilled he was back, probably because they wanted to play matchmaker, but he wasn’t that desperate.
For now, he would let them all spoil Luke, who needed some women in his life because losing a mother at five years old was a horrible experience for any child. Not only that, he’d uprooted Luke from the only home he’d ever really known.
Owen looked at the clock, saw it was four-forty and decided to take off now and try to avoid the Friday afternoon rush on the Northway.
He grabbed his keys, then locked his office and made his way toward the back of the building where his SUV was parked. He passed a few employees on the way, one of them being Jill standing there talking with another co-worker. He didn’t know that one’s name, as he was pretty sure she worked in the office that Jill was standing outside of.
He gave her a polite grin and nod of his head, which she returned with a huge smile and a little wave.
A year ago, he’d have stopped and talked to her, gotten her number and asked her out. Tonight he wanted to get home and find out what homework might be scheduled for the weekend. Since when did kindergartners get so much homework?
Once he was buckled in his vehicle and on the road, he hit the button on the steering wheel and called his mother.
“Owen, is everything okay?”
“Yep. I’m on my way home now.”
“Did you sneak out? Will you get in trouble?”
He laughed. Long gone were the days he’d get in trouble for leaving work early.
“Hardly. I was done with patients for the day and my reports all submitted. Do you need a detail on my full workload?”
She giggled and it made him smile. His mother had always been a giggler and it was a good trait to have around Luke who needed the laughter in his life.
“I wouldn’t know the first thing you’d be reporting, so you might as well hold your breath.”
“How’s Luke today?”
“He’s good. He’s outside with Sadie kicking the soccer ball around.”
Sadie was his sister Lacy’s seven-year-old daughter. Luke did seem to enjoy having cousins to play with living here. “That’s good. I probably should look into some indoor soccer clinic or something.”
“He’s five,” his mother said, her scolding coming over the phone. “Let him be a kid. Don’t be one of those parents that have their child running from one sport to another and your weekends are hogged up with it.”
“That’s the last thing I need in my life right now.”
He barely had time to do what needed to be done around the house, let alone spend it running Luke everywhere.
And birthday parties? Luke had been invited to three already in just two weeks of school. Owen didn’t know the first thing on the protocol of that. Thankfully his other sister, Carly, told him if he went to every party Luke was invited to, he’d get no peace. To just let Luke decide which ones he wanted to attend. So far, it was only one last week. Being the lone male parent at the adventure gym had been torture.
“You’re doing a good job, Owen. Just remember that.”
“I’m glad to hear someone say that. Sometimes it feels like I’m sinking in quicksand and the more I move the deeper I get. But if I stand still everything passes by me too.”
“No one said being a parent was easy.”
“It wasn’t this hard before, though,” he said.
He’d wanted more time with Luke before, but when he had Luke it was more about doing fun things. They relaxed and Owen was always a father first, but since he barely got to see Luke, he wanted Luke to want to be with him and they did whatever Luke enjoyed. He was wishing for those days back again.
“It wasn’t easy then either. Now it just all falls on you.”
He didn’t need his mother to remind him of that. That there were no more fights over the way Luke was being raised, or his behavior, who he was being left with when Ashley was alive. At least the arguing was over...for the most part. Ashley would always be the mother of his son, and he’d cared about her at one point, but they just weren’t meant to be together as a couple. He could never get her to understand that. Usually when Ashley was dating someone else, he got along peacefully with her, but when she was single or he was dating someone, she’d change again. It was an endless circle that he had acknowledged but she had refused.
“Like you said, I’ll get through. So Luke was happy today when you picked him up?”
“What kid isn’t happy to get out of school on a Friday afternoon?”
“True.”
Little by little Luke was smiling and laughing again. Six months wasn’t even close to the amount of time he’d need to learn to adjust to the loss of a parent and then with Owen picking him up and moving him here to spend more time with grandparents he’d only met a handful of times as opposed to the ones he’d lived with when his mother was alive...well, that had been a royal court battle.
But Ashley’s parents weren’t going to win and they knew it. Owen was willing to compromise for Luke’s sake, so a few times a year Luke would get to spend a week with his grandparents in Houston. They had time yet to get that ball rolling.
“Would you like to stay for dinner tonight? I was going to order pizza.”
Luke’s favorite, but Owen just wanted to relax after the day. “Nah, we’re good. Actually, I’ll see if he wants to go out. Just a man night.”
“He’d love that, Owen. He’s right here, do you want to ask him?”
“Sure, put him on.” Owen waited a second and then heard, “Hi, Daddy.” Luke’s voice was getting a little louder now, so that was a good sign too.
“Hey, bud. Want to go out to dinner tonight?”
“Can we get pizza?”
Owen rolled his eyes. “We can do that.”
“Sweet,” Luke said laughing.
And it was the sound that Owen desperately needed to hear.
***
“What the heck was that?” Tiffany said after Dr. Taylor had walked by them with his little smile and nod.
“It was exactly what you thought it was,” Jill said.
“He was flirting with you,” Tiffany said, grabbing her arm and doing a little bounce on her heels. Tiffany was the only one in the building who wore heels to work and no one said a word. It’s not like she was on her feet all day long when she worked in the office.
“Not likely. He was just being polite.”
“But he’s never smiled at you before. Nor have you ever waved like that to another employee.”
“How do you know?” Jill asked, ignoring the fact that her wave might have been a little bit more energetic than it should have been. More like a blind person getting a hand waved in front of their face to make sure they were noticed. But the smile and nod did throw her off kilter.
“Because you would have told me if he had.”
“Sad but true. Anyway, we talked today about a patient. It was a different side of him and a welcome one.”
“How so?” Tiffany asked.
“He was nice. Soft, gentle even with the patient. Compassionate. I know he’s only been here a few months, but it was the first time I’ve seen him in a situation like that.”
“That’s great. Bonus points for the eligible hunk of the office.”
“We have no clue if he is eligible or not,” Jill argued.
“Come on. I saw his paperwork. He’s single.”
“That doesn’t mean he doesn’t have a girlfriend.”
Tiffany frowned. “I suppose. Still, ask him out.”
“I don’t think so,” Jill said. “That’s a great way to blow my confidence, which isn’t at the highest point right now.”
“You need to get over your divorce. Besides, you two are best of friends. It’s kind of sickening.”
Jill laughed. “Darren and I just weren’t meant to be. I don’t know what to say. I guess it’s true that sometimes it’s better to be friends than lovers.”
“Speaking of lovers...Dr. Hotty.”
Jill waved her off. “I’m not going there. But I am going out tonight, so maybe I’ll meet someone.”
“Where are you going?” Tiffany asked, looking more excited than she should be for a woman who was a newlywed herself.
“I’m meeting Darren out tonight. He wants to introduce me to this new woman he’s dating and get my opinion of her.”
Tiffany burst out laughing. “That is your idea of going out? Meeting your ex-husband so he can introduce you to the new woman he’s dating. You’ve got one twisted life, Jill Duncan.”
“It works for me, what can I say?” Or what she kept telling herself.
Jill walked away to clock out and get her stuff, then made her way to her car. She was glad she and Darren were still friends, because at the root of it, that was all they really felt for each other. But it didn’t take away the feeling of failure, that at thirty years old she was a divorcée with no prospect of a good catch in her life.
Relationships, who needed them!