The Heart Doctor and the Baby Read Online Free PDF Page B

nodded and thought back to the birth of both of his daughters. Amanda had been born at a midwife center eighteen years back, and Lacy, at home, under water, eighteen months later. His ex-wife had wanted it that way. He’d felt as if he’d run a marathon after each labor and delivery, but had never been more ecstatic in his life. Watching Jason and Claire last night had brought back long-forgotten memories.
    Somehow lecturing patients about their tickers didn’t quite measure up, though of course he understood the importance of the heart sustaining life. It just couldn’t quite compare with the theatrical bang of a delivery.
    â€œI never thought I’d see Jason happy again,” she said.
    Hmm? Oh, he’d taken a tangential thought trip, and quickly focused back in. “I guess there’s hope for all of us, then,” Jon said, deciding, on a scale of one to ten, heprobably sat around six on the happy meter—not ecstatic, not miserable, just making due, especially since his divorce.
    He’d forgotten what this type of elation felt like, being more used to the endorphin variety from his long and hard runner workouts. Emotional highs were…well…unusual these days. Definitely nice, but different.
    He glanced at René smiling with cheeks blushed from her hard work and the brisk evening air. Her amber eyes hinted at green, probably because of the teal-colored sweater she wore. As a pool reflects the sky, light eyes reflect surrounding colors . Where had he recently read that, and why had he lost his train of thought again?
    â€œYou’ve sure made me a happy camper,” she said, with a perky glance out the window, which made her earrings sway.
    Never having been in the business of granting wishes before, he enjoyed the swell of pride and rode along with it.
    He noticed René always wore extralong earrings, and right now the colorful beads and loops almost reached her shoulders, and for some odd reason it fascinated him the way they swayed with the movement of her head. Mesmerizing. But that was neither here nor there; he was on a mission to get to know René better, not notice her earrings or how they swayed with her long, thick hair. There had to be some relevant question he could think of to ask.
    For the life of him, he couldn’t figure out why a woman such as René wasn’t happily married. She should be having a baby with her doting husband instead of soliciting his services.
    His services? The thought tickled the corner of his mouth into a near smile and he looked straight ahead so she wouldn’t notice. He’d really agreed to do this crazything. For René. Two years ago, when Cherie had kicked him to the curve without so much as a hint of being discontent, who would have ever thought about agreeing to such a ridiculous idea? That smile kept edging up his face, and he kept staring out the front window to hide it.
    When they reached their stop, they hopped off the trolley, walked half a block and ordered their brews at the shop, then sat outside to enjoy the clear evening sky. In the distance, he could see the lights flicker on Stearns Wharf and wished he could hear the waves crashing against the pilings.
    Beneath her shrouded gaze, René sat quietly, as if waiting for him to break the ice, to bring up the next step in their plan—admittedly, the trickiest, as far as he was concerned.
    Not ready to go there yet, Jon took a drink of espresso and winced at the bitterness. “Since we don’t know much about each other, I’ll start. My girls are both in high school. Amanda’s going to graduate this June, and Lacy next year. Amanda has applied to every Ivy League school she could think of since she’s got it in her head that, if she wants to go to Harvard Law, she’s got to do her undergraduate studies at an equally prestigious school.”
    Everyone in the medical clinic was well aware of his divorce two years earlier, how