Page 9 of Guarding Over You
“Mom,” Abigail said. “I’m sorry. They asked.”
“Stop talking. I told you not to say anything.” The woman had no soul. Arden wanted to ask how any mother could be that way, but unfortunately, she’d witnessed it way too much in her career already.
“Mrs. Oliver,” she said as patiently as she could. “Why don’t we go to another room and have this conversation? Abigail will be safe here. Dr. Ridgeway is going to close her wound now, isn’t that right?”
“I will,” he said. “With my wonder glue.” He pulled it out of his pocket. “It’s so cool, Abigail.”
She felt a smile tugging at her lips over the playful sound of the handsome doctor in front of her.
Nope, look away. Not one man had made her think along those lines and the fact it was happening during her job was a big no-no for her.
Staying focused and putting the needs of her clients would always come first.
Seeing this wounded little girl, both physically and mentally, tore her heart to shreds with memories of Gracie shrinkingback from Billy raising his voice in one of his drunken rages. Throwing things around the house, screaming at her to understand him.
She should have protected her daughter better and had to live with that.
“Follow me, Mrs. Oliver. We’ll stay on this floor, just a conference room down the hall. Abigail will remain here with security.”
She turned to see the little girl’s eyes fill with tears.
No way she’d want to leave her daughter with strangers, but she knew the rules and followed them to the letter.
“Can’t I call my boyfriend to come stay with her?”
“You can,” she said. “We can wait while you do it and meet when he gets here if that makes it easier.”
She could and would be flexible.
Mrs. Oliver pulled her phone out, called some guy named Tony, then hung up. “He will be here in ten minutes.”
“Is Abigail’s father in the picture?”
“No. He lives a few hours away.”
Arden nodded and stayed in the room watching Dr. Ridgeway make Abigail giggle while he joked he’d glued his own fingers together by mistake.
She held her smile in place when he pulled them apart and let out an exaggerated sigh of relief, then shook them off.
Talk about super sweet and the perfect tension breaker.
But she knew the sexy doctor couldn’t stay. He had other patients to see.
He stood, walked closer, towering over her five-foot-four frame by close to a foot.
In his baggy scrubs she couldn’t see much of his body, but she remembered it from yesterday when he climbed out of his SUV.
Long legs in tan shorts, thighs flexing with muscles that spent some time in a gym.
His biceps weren’t meant to stand out, but they had with his right arm bent carrying a bag into his house.
Standing next to him, she’d noticed his blue eyes were kind and questioning. Yesterday, they seemed more dark and ready to fight. Two different men.
She’d been married to one of them before and learned her lesson.
“Are you okay?” he asked.
“I’ll be fine,” she lied. “Thank you.”
