Free Beneath a Southern Sky by Deborah Raney Page B

your hours in, we can be pretty flexible. You’d be free to take a late lunch or leave early if you need to. Jennifer works every weekday after school, so she’s here to answer the phone after three o’clock. As far as I’m concerned, you could even take some of the bookwork home with you. All I ask is that you let one of us know what’s up.” He mentioned a salary figure she thought she could make do with.
    The baby began to squirm against the yellow blanket again, and Dr. Hunter, flashing his boyish grin, craned his neck to look over the desk at her. “How old is she?” he asked Daria. With a slight grimace he added quickly, “It is a little girl, isn’t it?”
    She laughed. “Yes. This is Natalie. She’ll be nine weeks old tomorrow.”
    “Wow. She’s so tiny.”
    “My mother is going to keep her while I work,” she explained. “I-I’m living with my parents right now, but I’m planning to start looking for an apartment this weekend. I’m hoping to find something here in town or maybe over in Clayton.”
    “You know”—he tapped a pencil on his desktop, thinking—“I just talked to someone this week who had an apartment to rent… Now, who was that? Oh, I remember. Kirk and Dorothy Janek. They’re an older couple who own a large home over on Maple. They rent out the upstairs. Real nice people. I think you’d like them. I’ll give you their number if you’d like.”
    “Oh, thank you. That’d be great.”
    He found the number in the phone book on his desk and scratched it down on a notepad that advertised worm medicine. He handed it to her, then rose from his chair. She followed suit.
    “If you’d like to think about the job for a few days and get back to me, that’d be fine,” he told her.
    “No.” She didn’t want to appear too eager, but she wanted this job. “I’ll take it. When would you like me to start?”
    “If you want the truth, this very minute.” His smile told her he was kidding, but just then Natalie let out a howl.
    “She didn’t like that idea one bit,” he said, laughing. “I guess I’ll have to settle for next Monday morning then. Could you start that soon?” he asked, turning serious.
    “I’ll be here,” she told him over Natalie’s protests. Daria reached down to take her daughter out of the infant seat. Immediately the baby quieted.
    “Mind if I hold her?” Dr. Hunter asked shyly.
    Daria was pleased by his request and quickly replied, “Sure.”
    She started to hand the baby over to him.
    “Hang on a sec,” he said. “Let me take off this dirty thing first.” He slipped off his less-than-white lab coat and draped it over the back of his chair. Then he went around to her side of the desk and reached out to take the baby in his arms as easily as if she were a newborn puppy.
    Daria was taken aback by the sight of her daughter in a man’s arms. Unbidden, a vision of Nathan holding Natalie—cooing at her the way Dr. Hunter was now—popped into her mind. It was at once comforting and upsetting. Nate would have been such a good father. Oh, Natalie, how much you will miss not knowing him , she thought.
    The baby began to squirm and fuss and turn her head toward Dr. Hunter’s chest as though she wanted to nurse.
    Daria was embarrassed, but he spoke easily, “Okay, little one, I get the message. I’m not going to be able to help you out in that department. I better give you back to your mama.”
    He handed the baby gently over to Daria. Their hands brushed as they made the exchange, and she found his touch strangely intimate. Heat rose to her face, but Dr. Hunter seemed not to notice.
    “I’m looking forward to working with you, Daria. I’ll see you Monday morning then. If you could come in a few minutes early and fill out all the tax forms, that would be great.”
    She nodded politely and busied herself with putting Natalie back in the carrier for the ride home.
    Through the rest of the day and late into that night, thoughts of Nathan ensnared her.