Feels Like Home: A Southerland Family Contemporary Romance Book 1 (6 page)

She was even getting used to seeing Jude
every day. After the collision and the first awkward afternoon when
he’d come back from lunch to find her working in his office, things
between them had been civil. He never mentioned standing outside
her window, and he was flawlessly polite to her.

If the heat still sparked between them, she
could learn to ignore it, even if she didn’t think she’d ever get
used to it. He was her boss – at least temporarily – and she didn’t
date co-workers. Not that he’d asked her.

He wouldn’t ask her. He was a Southerland.
They were adults now, not kids in high school, but in some ways
that made the divide even bigger. His family was one of the most
respected in the town; hers was a disaster. He needed a wife who
could mix with the Ladies Auxiliary and host luncheons for the
Daughters of the Confederacy. Her pedigree would never hold up to
that kind of scrutiny. Hell, she didn’t even know her own father,
let alone the rest of her family tree.

It was better that way. The last thing she
needed was to get mixed up with Jude Southerland. She’d had more
important things to concentrate on than her love life or lack of
one.

Now that she knew not to expect anything else
– like an indictment – from her old job, she wanted a chance to
build a life for herself and for Summer and Abby. She’d already
started repainting Gran’s house. She told herself that freshening
the place up was a good idea even if she didn’t stay in town.

The truth was she wanted to stay.

She liked it. She knew almost everyone and if
some of the older ladies still looked at her like one of those
unfortunate Maddox children, more of them, like Mrs. Mayhew, were
willing to give her the benefit of the doubt because of her Gran.
The longer she stayed in town the better it was bound to get.

She’d paint her house, convince Summer to
leave Dwayne and come live with her, and she’d stop thinking about
Jude.

As if called by the devil, the door opened
and he poked his head into the office. “There’s a patient out here
I could use some help with.” His grin told her there was nothing to
worry about.

She followed him down the hallway and into
one of the examination rooms. Summer sat in the molded plastic
patient’s chair with Abby nestled on her lap.

“
Hey Abracadabra, what’s
going on?”

The little girl gave her a watery smile. She
managed a breathy “hi” before she started to cough. Summer held her
tighter and Autumn looked at Jude, wanting reassurance that it was
nothing more serious than a cold.

“
Let me guess,” he said,
sitting on the black vinyl rolling stool universally reserved for
doctors. “You’re here for a stomach ache.”

The little girl shook her head.

“
Foot hurts?”

Another shake accompanied by the dry, barking
cough.

Jude looked through the chart and smiled
reassuringly at Summer. “No fever. Immunizations up to date.
Elbow?”

Abby shook her head and grinned up at him.
She opened her mouth to speak, but Jude put his finger in front of
her lips. “Wait. I think I’ve got it this time.” He pulled a pen
light from his pocket and picked up a tongue depressor. “Open
wide.” He took a few moments to look into her throat. “Just what I
thought.”

Abby gazed up at Jude from the circle of her
mother’s arms, her large round eyes making her look owlish.
“What?”

“
You’ve got a frog in your
throat.”

“
No, I don’t,” she said and
then coughed.

“
You do. See he croaked.
Don’t talk.” He put his finger to her lips again and then turned
his attention to Summer. “It’s irritated, but it doesn’t look like
strep. Does she have any other symptoms?”

“
No, she woke up with the
cough and complaining of a sore throat. She doesn’t have a fever,
but I didn’t want to send her to school.”

Autumn watched Summer cradling Abby on her
lap and she was struck again by the fact her baby sister was a
mother. And, with the exception of her crappy taste in boyfriends,
a very good mother. It made her proud and even more determined to
get Abby and Summer away from Dwayne.

“
You did the right thing. I
could give you a prescription if you want, but I think
over-the-counter cough medicine and rest is all that she needs.
That and a few popsicles to chase the frog out.”

He stroked Abby’s cheek and Autumn felt her
heart clutch. Watching him take care of her niece and put her
sister at ease wasn’t doing a thing to settle the butterflies in
her own stomach.

“
I bet your aunt could get
you some popsicles.”

There was that grin again, the one that made
her knees shaky. Unwilling to look too closely at her own feelings,
Autumn nodded to Abby. “You bet. I’ll bring them by after I get off
work.”

“
You don’t have to do
that,” said Summer.

“
I know. I want
to.”

“
If you ladies are okay, I
think I have a boy with a weasel waiting for me in the other exam
room. I imagine the frog will have moved on in a day or two, but if
it doesn’t or you’re worried about anything, just bring her back.”
He smiled at each of them, saving Autumn for last. When he moved
past her she could smell the clean citrus scent of his aftershave
and she fought the urge to lean closer.

Her thoughts must have shown on her face
because when she turned to face Summer, her sister was staring at
her.

“
Really.”

“
What?”

“
You like Dr, McHottie,”
said Summer. Abby giggled up at her mother and then coughed. “Sorry
baby.”

“
Do not.” Autumn felt her
cheeks flame. There was no way she was talking about Jude
Southerland here.

“
Do too,” Summer teased and
some of the worry eased from around her eyes.

“
Don’t you have to go get
cough syrup?”

“
I’ve got some at home –
grape flavored. I just wanted to make sure it wasn’t strep or
something serious.” She gave Abby a squeeze. “We’ll go home and
have cough syrup and hot tea, baby girl.”

“
I’ll bring popsicles by
after work. What kind do you like?”

“
Grape,” said Abby. “I like
grape icicle pops.”

Autumn smiled at the way her niece twisted
the words. She could see her sister start to say something and then
catch herself. Good. She wanted Summer to let her be part of their
lives. She hadn’t realized how much she’d missed her sister until
she got her back. She didn’t want to miss her anymore.

“
Thanks. That would be
nice. And maybe then you can tell me what’s going on between you
and Dr. McHottie.”

“
There’s nothing going
on.”

Summer gave her a look which said she didn’t
believe her, picked up Abby and followed Autumn out of the
door.

“
Excuse me, Mrs. Dunman.”
Autumn caught the immaculately dressed woman as she reached the
front door.

“
Yes, dear?” The older
woman turned to face her but didn’t take her hand off the door
knob. “Can I help you with something?”

Autumn glanced around the room even though
she knew there were no patients in the waiting room. “It’s about
your bill, ma’am,” she said in a stage whisper.

“
What about it?” Mrs.
Dunman’s friendly smile vanished, replaced by pursed lips and a
sour expression.

“
I need you to take care of
it, ma’am.” Autumn met the woman’s steely glare with her own
determined one.

“
Nonsense, dear. I have
insurance.” She turned back to the door.

Her family was old money and her late husband
owned the town’s only car dealership. She inherited everything. She
had money. It was getting her to part with any of it that was the
challenge. “I know, Mrs. Dunman, but I need you to take care of the
part the insurance doesn’t pay.”

The older woman walked back to the counter
where Autumn sat, a cloud of Chanel leading the way. “You’re new
here, dear. You must not know. Bless your heart.” She said it in a
way that showed she thought being new was the least of Autumn’s
sins. “Kristen always sends me a bill.”

“
Oh, I know that.” She set
a thick folder on the counter and flipped it open to the first
page. “I just need you to take care of the co-pay for today’s visit
and your past due balance from your last.” She flipped through
pages. “Three visits. Here’s your total.” She slid a paper across
the counter to Mrs. Dunman. “I’ll be happy to take a check.” She
smiled pleasantly and waited. And waited.

Mrs. Dunman’s lips pursed tighter and tighter
until they were a thin line. Finally she set her hand bag on the
counter and undid the clasp.

Autumn was holding the check and smiling when
Jude came out front.

“
What’s that?”

She handed him the check and watched his eyes
go round when he read the name.

“
You got old lady Dunman to
pay us. You are a miracle worker.”

“
She can afford to pay her
bill.”

“
Of course she can. She’s
got more money than Midas. I’ve just never been able to get any of
it.”

“
Well, she doesn’t have to
like me. I don’t imagine I could get more than pity and
condescension from her anyway. I’ll be the bad cop.”

Jude arched an eyebrow and looked puzzled.
“And the effective one.” He locked the front door and flipped the
closed sign. “That’s a cute kid your sister has.”

“
I know. She’s smart, too,
and funny. I’m crazy about her.” Autumn was still amazed at how
easy it had been to fall in love with the little girl.

“
Your sister seems like a
good mom.”

“
She is,” said Autumn,
thinking to herself. “Amazing really, considering our mother.” Oh
God, she did not just bring up her irresponsible, alcoholic mother
in front of Dr. Jude Southerland. Great. Way to highlight the chasm
between their families. She was sure Mrs. Southerland had never
gone off with a man and left her kids to fend for themselves or
tried to lose herself in the bottom of a bottle.

The Southerland kids didn’t live in the
trailer park or have regular run-ins with the law. Hell, they were
the law. They’d grown up to be a cop, a soldier, business owners,
an executive and of course, a doctor.

They’d all grown up. None of them had gotten
drunk and wrecked their car, killing themselves and their baby
brother.

What was she thinking? It didn’t matter how
many years had gone by, there was no way Jude Southerland would be
interested in a Maddox. In her.

“
You were really good with
her. I bet she’s still looking for that frog.”

He came up behind her, stopping to look over
her shoulder at the computer screen. She felt the heat of him
against her back and smelled his aftershave, warm from his body.
Her heart drummed so loud she was sure he could hear it and would
prescribe blood pressure medicine for her.

“
You’re really good at
this. I mean it. I know I haven’t said it often enough, but I
really appreciate you filling in.” She felt his hand hover and then
land on her shoulder. His fingertips strayed under her hair to the
skin at the base of her neck. His touch sent a jolt through her
body and she fought to stay in the chair and not jump up and run
away.

He must have felt it, too, because he yanked
his hand back like he’d been burned.

“
You can go. Go get the
popsicles. I can shut everything else off.”

There was no use fighting the command in his
voice. Dismissed, she grabbed her bag and went out the back not
sure whether to miss the feel of his hand or be grateful he’d let
her go.

What the hell was he thinking, touching her?
He knew better, but ever since that night at her window all he’d
been able to think about was getting his hands on her. He’d made a
plan to ask her out, and then he came back to the office to find
her working. For him.

He couldn’t date her. He wouldn’t break that
rule, but he had thought about firing her. He’d never do it, but he
couldn’t help but think about it. Not because she wasn’t doing a
good job. She did a great job, but he could find someone else to
file. No one but Autumn was playing a starring role in his dreams
every night.

Working with her made it worse. The physical
attraction was an instant searing heat, but as they’d worked
together, he’d started to get to know her – her sense of duty and
responsibility. She was meticulous and detail oriented, but she was
also kind and sweet and great with his patients. She made worried
mothers relax a little and new mothers beam brighter. She paid
attention to everyone.

Even the gray-haired male population had
started to come to see him without it looking like their wives were
dragging them by the hand. He sure as hell wasn’t the one they were
so eager to see. It was Autumn with her open smile, tousled dark
curls and pretty blue eyes. She wore those skinny skirts with silky
blouses and sexy 1950’s housewife dresses which cinched in her
waist and showed off her curves.

He couldn’t seem to make himself stop
thinking about those curves. He shut down the computer and flipped
off the lights. The chair was still warm from her body and the
spicy floral scent she wore hung in the air. He sat in the dark,
breathing it in and imagining what it would be like to smell it on
the soft skin behind her ear, along her neck, in the valley between
her breasts.