“And Jennifer left, too,” Quinn said, trying to bring this conversation back to Davey.

  “Yeah. Dad could have stopped her. He could have done something to make her stay.”

  Boggy ground right now, Quinn knew that. “Sometimes no matter what you do, or how hard you try, you can’t control what other people do or want, Davey.”

  Truer words were never spoken.

  “I know. He didn’t want her to leave either. He was really upset about it.”

  Quinn was trying not to let that statement bother her. Now wasn’t the time to be acting jealous. “I can understand that. Jennifer was a good friend to him.”

  “Yeah. He was hurt, too.”

  “Just know you aren’t alone, Davey. Talk to your father. He loves you so much, I hope you know that.”

  “He tells me all the time, how could I not?”

  Quinn laughed at the funny face Davey just gave. “It’s good to hear, trust me.”

  “I know. I guess maybe I should say it to him too, right?”

  “I’m sure he’d like to hear it once in a while.” Lara was always saying she loved her father, but Lara loved everyone.

  “I don’t want him to think I’m mad at him, because I’m not. Do you know if he thinks I’m mad at him? I don’t hate him or anything.” A few more tears slipped out of his eyes, then he ran his arm under his nose. “It’s just sometimes I’m so angry about it, especially when she calls. I don’t want anything to do with her, just like she doesn’t want anything to do with me.”

  “I think your father knows that deep down, but like I said, sometimes it doesn’t hurt to say the words.”

  “Even if I was mad at him, I wouldn’t be anymore.”

  “Why’s that?” she asked.

  “Because he did do something when Jennifer left. He found you.”

  Yep, she was going to cry.

  “Come here. Give me a hug. It will be our little secret. You know what? I’m glad he found me, too.”

  Little Things in Life

  “Why didn’t you tell me she was in full cougar mood today?”

  Amber laughed at Max when he asked that question the minute his last patient walked out of the exam room. He’d stayed back to finish his notes.

  “I thought you’d appreciate getting hit on. It’s not like you’ve gotten any excitement or action lately.”

  “You just couldn’t wait to run back in here to bust my butt, could you? I hope you didn’t leave your patient for this,” he said.

  The girls and he always had carefree fun banter in the office. Never when a patient was around though. Well, at least not most patients. Some of his patients thought it was hilarious the way he and the girls always picked on each other. More like the way the girls ganged up on him.

  Besides, he couldn’t very well tell anyone he was getting some action now. It had to stay a secret.

  “So far this is the highlight of my day. What was Ms. Cougar’s reason for today’s visit?”

  Eileen, better known as Ms. Cougar, had decided her hips were too big. “She wants liposuction on her thighs now.”

  “That’s because you did such a good job on her stomach. You should be proud she’s a repeat customer.”

  He bit back the sigh. It was good for business, he knew that, and Eileen was an ideal candidate for it; otherwise he’d try to talk her into one of the other nonsurgical routes. “She’s talking with Pamela to get some price quotes. We’ll see. I told her no more after this, though. She really doesn’t need it anywhere else.”

  “I bet she thought you were hitting on her when you said that.”

  Crap. He didn’t think that at the time he’d said it, but when her eyes lit up he should have realized it. “It is what it is.”

  “Loosen up a bit, Max,” Amber said. “Take it as a compliment. I bet you had all sorts of patients hitting on you in New York.”

  He did, and he’d hated it. Even when he was married, someone was always making a sly comment. “It happens. Nothing I can do about it but pretend I don’t notice and continue being professional.”

  “Then come back here and giggle with me over it. Besides you love it when us girls flirt with you.”

  “That’s because you girls are harmless. And you’re the only one giggling right now.”

  “Very true. That’s only because I can totally see her just dominating you. I bet she was a wild one fifteen years ago.”

  “Stop it right now,” he said laughing, though he was trying not to cringe. “I can’t even make a comment back to you because you’ll just turn it around somehow. Or one-up me.”

  “I’m trying to make you blush. It’s so cute when you blush.”

  He snorted. He stopped blushing around the girls months ago. Who would have known how crass they could be?

  “Who’s next?” he said, trying to change the subject.

  “Celeste is in exam room three. That should brighten your day. You know, she’d be perfect for you, and she’s single. I’ve known her most of my life.”

  “Get out of here,” Max said, shooing her with his hand. He knew Amber was just teasing, waiting for that blush that he refused to give her.

  He finished up his notes and left that room, then knocked on the door and walked in to see Celeste McGuire sitting in a chair.

  “Hi, Dr. Hamilton. Sorry to bother you today.”

  “No bother. Amber said you were concerned about a mole on your back. She thinks it looks a bit suspicious, so I just want to take a peek at it.”

  Celeste stood up and lifted the bottom of her shirt to show the mole on her lower back. “It’s probably nothing more than all the rest you’ve removed, but…”

  “I get it. Once a cancer patient, always a cancer patient.”

  “Yeah. It’s hard to break out of that mindset. Finding out I had melanoma last year, even stage one, was frightening. I thought I was done hearing that word after being in remission for so long.”

  He knew her history, that she had leukemia as a teen. “We live longer as humans now and the body is known to break down. There’s nothing wrong with having something looked at if you’re nervous.” He leaned down and looked a little closer. “I’m not really worried, but we’ll take it off and biopsy it just to be safe.”

  “Thanks. What’s one more scar, right?”

  “Exactly. Though not too many of my patients feel that way.”

  “I’m sure. If I hadn’t been dealt the hand I was, I might think differently, too. Now all I think of when I see a scar is strength. It’s a good motivator to stay happy. Speaking of patients, I had two of yours at the house last week.”

  “Really?” Celeste ran a local bed and breakfast. “How do you know?”

  “Oh, I’d say the sisters had chemical peels. Kind of hard to miss.”

  He smirked; he knew who she was talking about. “I thought they were staying in a hotel.”

  “I guess they couldn’t get a room, but said they were happy at the house. I gave them a suite, so they had their own bathroom and kept themselves entertained.”

  “Amber and Dena had a ball with those two when they were in here.”

  “Amber is a piece of work, always trying to talk me into all sorts of things. I laugh and tell her I don’t think I’m aging that poorly for just turning thirty.”

  “What can I say, my girls are born saleswomen.” Which was a nice thing to have in this business. Of course, they did get commissions for all the procedures they did.

  “They are. I’ve got several hundreds of dollars of face creams and such on my dresser. I love every one of them and was glad they convinced me to splurge.”

  He started to think of Quinn right then. How she’d never splurged on anything in her life. He’d like to give her something that could be considered pampering, but didn’t know how she’d take it.

  “Can I ask you a question?”

  “Sure,” Celeste said, sitting back down in the chair.

  “How would you feel if a guy gave you those face creams? Would you be offended?”

  “Nah. They aren’t really aging creams, just high-end products. I’d love it. It’s like silk on my face. A nice luxury to feel as I start and end my day. Sometimes it’s the little things in life that make me smile.”

  “That’s good to know.” He figured Quinn would be the same way, appreciate the little things.

  Amber knocked and came back in, so he knew he had to change the subject. “Celeste, here’s the new eye cream I was telling you about.”

  Celeste laughed and looked at him. “See, I told you. She’s a born saleswoman.”

  “You know, Dr. Hamilton,” Amber said, “Celeste said she’s had a good handful of our patients who’ve come from out of town staying at her house. You two should work something out. Refer patients there and such. I bet they’re more comfortable there than a hotel since Celeste cooks for everyone.”

  The thought had merit. “I don’t know, I guess I never thought of that. What do you think, Celeste? Is that something you’d be interested in looking into?”

  “I would, but my house isn’t really big enough. I mean, I’m pretty booked all year around. I happened to have a last minute cancellation for them and since they were sisters they shared a room. I really think for medical purposes your patients would want their own bathrooms, and not all my rooms have them.”

  “Yeah, you’re probably right. I could see them wanting the privacy,” he said.

  “Well, if you’re really interested, there’s a small house for sale next to the B&B. If you renovated it, you could easily turn it into a three-bedroom, three-bath B&B reserved for patients and charge a nice premium for it.”

  He remembered how his patients in New York traveled all sorts of distance for his services. He didn’t think they’d do that here, but he was wrong. Some of his old patients were actually flying in to get work done now. “It has some merit for sure. Though I don’t know the first thing about running a hotel or anything like that.”

  “You buy,” Amber said. “Have Celeste help you redo it, and run it. Split the profits or whatever. It’s easier than you think.”

  “And now you sell real estate,” Max said, looking at Amber.

  “No, I’m selling you. What better way to do it than to say ‘hey come to us and we’ll even help you make reservations to enjoy your stay.’”

  “I’m game if you are,” Celeste said before Max could argue. “At least to look into it. You only live once. It might work out, or it might flop. We won’t know until we look it over and run the numbers.”

  “I don’t even know what that entails,” he said, shaking his head and wondering how the two women just started making plans on him, even if it did sound like a good idea.

  “I’m sure Celeste knows all of that,” Amber said, looking like the most excited person in the room. “Besides, Dena and I wouldn’t mind stopping in on the patients, too. It’s more of a personal touch. You’ll get even more patients to come here for that specialized care. I guarantee it. It’s really no more than doing rounds at the hospital daily.”

  He started to realize he was going to be outnumbered, so he decided to just go with the flow. He didn’t have anything to lose anyway.

  “Celeste,” he said, “put together some numbers for me, rehab costs, costs to run the house, what I can charge and so on. Then we’ll go from there.”

  “Sounds like a plan. Darn, Amber, you’re good,” Celeste said, giving Amber a hug. “I’ll go schedule my appointment to have the mole removed. Thanks again.”

  He watched Celeste leave, then turned to Amber. “I swear you guys just ran me over here.”

  “You love it, Max. Now I can stop calling you Dr. Hamilton in front of her. Really, Celeste is an old friend, and it’s going to work out great. Take my word. She brought a cake in today, too. A chocolate cake. I’m going to get a piece right now.”

  He watched her run out of the room and started to think of chocolate cakes and Quinn. The cake that Davey made two days ago all by himself and how proud he’d been over it.

  Then later that night, when Davey asked him to play video games with him. Sure, he had a ton of work to do, but he acted like nothing was going on and spent some quality time with his son.

  They didn’t really talk about much, but it was a step in the right direction after Quinn had told him about her and Davey’s talk.

  And that all brought him right back to being pampered and splurging. He wanted to do something nice for Quinn. He did notice she’d been wearing the necklace he gave her daily, but after her talk with Davey, he wanted to find another way to thank her.

  He walked out of the room and to the front where all the products were on display. Looking them over, he grabbed a face wash, a scrub, a daily lotion and a night cream. It was probably overkill but it didn’t hurt.

  “I’m taking these. Mark them on the inventory so you know where they went.”

  Ava said, “Sending them to Jennifer?”

  He sighed, wishing his staff didn’t know so much of his life. He didn’t want to lie, so he shuffled them in his arms and grabbed a few things he knew Jennifer did use. “Yeah.” There, at least it wasn’t a complete fib.

  Now he just had to get Quinn to accept them.

  Great Weekend

  Quinn was just walking out of the store after picking up groceries for the week when she heard her name called. Turning, she saw Ally, an old co-worker from her first job in Lake Placid almost two years ago.

  “Hey, Ally, I haven’t seen you in a while. How are things going?”

  Ally flipped her hair over her shoulder and smiled. She’d been a young waitress at the restaurant that Quinn prepared the desserts for back then. It was just a part-time gig, but she was happy to have it for the extra money.

  “Things are great. We miss you and your cakes.”

  “Still working for Don?” Quinn asked. She thought for sure Ally would have moved on by now, but guessed not.

  “Just part time on holiday break. I’m at SUNY Plattsburg and it’s good spending money when I’m home.”

  “That’s good,” Quinn said, and meant it. She was glad to see anyone further their life ambitions.

  “You know, I’m not the only one missing your desserts. Some customer came in asking for you when I was home at Thanksgiving.”

  “Really?” Quinn asked, surprised. Not too many people were aware she made the desserts at that restaurant, and it’s not like anyone knew her name. She’d just moved to town back then and had only worked there a few months.

  “Yeah. An older woman, I think. She was bundled up in a jacket and hat when she came in, so I couldn’t really tell much. Anyway, she asked if you worked there. I said you used to but not anymore.”

  “Did she ask for me by my full name?” Quinn asked, finding this odd and not liking where it was going.

  “She said Quinn Baker. I figured it was someone that knew you, to be honest.”

  “Why do you say that?”

  “Because she went on and on about loving your desserts for years.”

  The chills running over her arms were nothing she hadn’t felt before, but it’d been a long time. She had started to relax here and hated herself for allowing it.

  “What did she say when you told her I didn’t work there anymore?”

  “She just frowned but then asked where you worked now. I didn’t know. I told her that at the time you were working a few jobs but couldn’t remember where else. Sorry, I would have told her if I remembered.”

  “No, that’s good. It doesn’t matter since I’m not there anymore either.”

  “Where are you now?” Ally asked, her smile still in place. Ally had always been a sweet friendly girl, harmless really.

  “I’m not in the restaurant business anymore,” she said, keeping it simple.

  “Oh, that’s too bad. Well, I hope you still get to bake, because you were awesome.”

  It was always nice to get complimented on her cooking and baking. Especially since she was self-taught.

  “Thanks. I do it for enjoyment now. I should head home since it’s pretty chilly out here today.”

  “Yeah, I’ve got to get to work. If she comes in again, do you want me to get her name and tell her I saw you?”

  “No, that’s fine. Actually, I’d prefer if anyone asks for me in the future that you say you haven’t seen me in a while and don’t know if I’m even in the area.”

  Ally’s smile faded, but she said, “Okay, will do. You have a good weekend.”

  “You too.”

  Quinn rushed back to the car sweating under her heavy parka. Damn it, she was almost positive it was her mother looking for her. The timing was right; it was around the time that Brett said Rae had been in contact with Karl.

  She was Rae in her mind, not her mother. She’d never been more than a two-bit whore and junkie that didn’t deserve the title of mother in any of their eyes.

  After the groceries were loaded in the back of the SUV, Quinn started the car and sat there debating her next move. In the past when her mother got this close to her, she packed up and moved, then never looked back. She had more money than ever to do it now.

  This was the longest she’d stayed anywhere in the past nine years, since she’d been on her own. She liked it here. She actually felt like it was a home to her, not that she’d ever known what it was like to feel at home somewhere.

  Then there was Max and the kids. She couldn’t leave them. She couldn’t disrupt their lives again. Not when Max and Davey seemed to be showing signs of mending whatever fences were broken.

  And surely not when she’d found someone for herself. Maybe nothing would be long term with her and Max. Maybe six months from now he’d get tired of her and it’d be awkward and she’d have to leave anyway.

  Maybe she needed to stop thinking about it. Her life had always been one of hiding and running, never finishing anything. Trying to survive, that’s what she’d always said, and it fit her to a T.

  For once she didn’t want to just survive, she wanted to thrive. She wanted to live life, she wanted to experience things. She wanted to continue to grow with Max and feel something she never thought could have enter her life.