The Baby Who Stole the Doctor's Heart (17 page)

“Those just happen to be the best things I make. But like I said, we'll have to ask Dr. Mark first.”

“OK.”

“Her belly feels normal,” she called to Mark. “Nothing rigid. She says it doesn't hurt, but she does have a broken arm.”

“With a magic scarf,” Aimee reminded her.

“A broken arm with a magic scarf on it,” Angela called.
“And we'd like peanut-butter and grape-jelly sandwiches and chocolate brownies as soon as we can manage that!”

“She's amazing,” Eric said, as a group of about twenty people gathered around, ready to do whatever was necessary to get Angela and Aimee out of the cave. “Are you sure you don't want her in your class? Because I think…”

Mark shot Eric a look of total surrender. “You knew all along, didn't you?”

“I married her sister. Didn't stand a chance after I met her. Figured since heredity usually wins out, you might get as lucky as I did. So, is this where I welcome you to the family?”

“Do I need to call Gabrielle and tell her to start making wedding plans, that her best friend is getting married?” Neil asked.

“Maybe I should propose first,” Mark suggested. “Preferably
after
we get everybody out of the cave.”

 

“You warmed up yet?” Mark asked, pulling the blanket up over Angela's shoulders.

She was tucked into her bed at the lodge, with Fred curled up next to her, feeling more lazy than anything else. Today, Dr. James Galbraith was taking over her JD camp, assisted by more people than she could count. Doctor's orders, she was to spend the day in bed, resting. But she didn't mind it very much. Especially as Mark hadn't left her side since the previous evening. Twelve hours, and he'd been waiting on her hand and foot, probably watching her sleep, taking care of Sarah. Everything nice.

“I'm perfect. Haven't stayed in bed this long since I can't remember when.”

“Someone needs to take care of you.”

“Someone needs to quit worrying about me. I'm fine. How's Aimee?”

“Except for the fact that they can't get that magic scarf off her, she's great. The fracture isn't serious, she's warmed up nicely, they've rehydrated her, and they're going to keep her for a couple of days just to make sure everything stays good.”

“And her mother?”

“In custody. They've taken her to a facility in Salt Lake City for a psychiatric evaluation. Aimee's father's here, though. He's been worried out of his mind, not knowing where Karen and Aimee were. Apparently, Karen only had visitation rights, and a couple of months ago she and Aimee simply disappeared. He hasn't left his daughter's side since he got here.”

“I'm glad she has someone to take care of her. You're sure he's…?”

“He's a good man. And a very grateful man that his daughter was rescued.”

Mark sat down on the side of the bed, nudged Fred to the foot, and handed Sarah over to Angela. It felt so good to hold her daughter. But it also felt good knowing that in all these hours when she'd been sleeping, Mark had been the one holding Sarah. Sarah loved him and there was no mistaking the emotion she saw in him for Sarah. “I had the oddest phone call from Gabby a little while ago,” she said, scooting over to make room for Mark to lie down next to her.

“About?”

“Wedding plans.”

“Oh, that.”

“That? My best friend is making wedding plans for me and, as far as I know, I'm not getting married.”

“Well, Dinah's doing the same thing, and I've heard that the twins are all excited about being flower girls. They're pretty sure Sarah's going to be included in the wedding party,
too, and they're making plans for teaching her how to throw rose petals.”

Angela glanced at Sarah, who was busy pestering Fred. “Do you know anything about this wedding, young lady?”

Sarah totally ignored her, so she looked at Mark. “Am I the last one here to know something I should have probably been the first one to know?”

He stretched out beside her, put his arm around her and pulled her into his side. “Well, Neil, Eric and I talked it over when you were in the cave, and—”

“And just assumed?”

“What did you want me to do? Shout out something like,
Angela, will you marry me?
I mean, I thought that should be saved for a more private moment.”

“Gabby said Emoline is already working on flower arrangements, and Helen Baxter has pledged the grand ballroom as the first event when it opens up again.”

“OK, so maybe we should have talked about this before I mentioned anything to my friends, but you're the one who knows White Elk better than I do. You know how people get involved. So it's not my fault.”

“Say it again.”

“What?”

“The part where you're shouting into the cave.”

“You mean,
Angela, will you marry me?”

She nodded. “It has a nice sound to it, doesn't it? Makes me feel…included. So tell me, has anybody set a date for us, or do we have to do that for ourselves?”

“Not a date so much as a house. We have a house. Let's see…how did that happen? Eric's sister got married recently, she and her husband bought a new house together, and we're going to get Eric's brother-in-law's old house? It's large, rambling, perfect for lots of kids. Something like that, anyway.”

She rolled over, propped herself up on an elbow to look at him. “You've made an offer on a house? But I thought…”

“That I'd still want to leave, and take you and Sarah with me? Remember when I said I'd just keep going until I found it, but I didn't know what it was going to be? Let's just say that while
it
wasn't love at first sight,
it
snuck up on me anyway.”

“And you're happy? Because I've been doing a lot of thinking, and if you still need to travel, I can do that. We can do that.”

“But there's nothing out there to look for. I found it here, and I like being here.”

“I know Brad will let you adopt Sarah, if that's what you want to do.”

“He's an idiot,” Mark said, kissing Angela on the forehead. “Of course I want to adopt her. She's part of you and I love her. Although I'm not sure how I'm going to manage two of you. Actually, the three of you since Mr. Whetherby's going into an assisted living facility and isn't going to be able to take Fred with him. Which means Fred's now part of this family, too. Of course, I've got lots of friends in White Elk, people who can help me, if I need it. Especially if…”

“If what?”

“If we have another daughter or two just like you.”

“You want girls?”

“Or boys.” He fished a folded paper from his pocket and handed it to her. “But I think we're going to have to wait for a little while. Because it's going to be vigorous, and I absolutely will not allow a pregnant lady into my class.”

She looked at the paper. Frowned. “What's going to be vigorous?”

“Your classes. That's your class schedule, by the way. We've decided to stay up at Juniper Lodge rather than doing the class work at the hospital, so your JD camp won't interfere
with your rescue classes since it will all be happening at the same place.”

“But I thought…I mean, I know I don't have the skill level you need.”

“You took a thermometer with you, Angela. And a magic scarf. The one thing that I didn't want to see in you was your raw skill. But it's there. You're going to be brilliant out in the field, especially with some tutoring on the side.”

She arched playful eyebrows. “Know anybody who wants to tutor me?”

He raised his hand. “But don't get any ideas. I'm soon to be a very happily married man, if the woman I've proposed to ever gets around to saying yes.”

“Yes,” she whispered. “To everything, yes.”

“Yes, Daaa…” Sarah chimed in.

“Daaa is right,” Angela said. And never, ever had a name sounded so good. “Happiness,” she said. “A word of Middle English origin meaning contentment, love, satisfaction, pleasure, or joy.”

“And which of those describe you?”

“All of them,” she said, snuggling into Mark while Sarah and Fred played at the end of the bed. “Every last one of them.”