LITMIR.BIZ

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reach the nursery on time. It was worth it, though, to receive praise from a man she respected so highly.

      For the last three years, Gina had been assigned to the intensive and intermediate-care nurseries. Due to the low staff-to-patient ratio, she had time to grow attached to her little charges, but none had affected her as much as Daisy and her twin sister, Lily.

      Maybe it was the fact that their father had died in a car crash before they were born, and their mother had succumbed to her injuries less than a day after giving birth. Maybe it was because the little girls, struggling for life despite their fragility, reminded Gina in some ways of herself.

      They seemed like the daughters she’d hoped someday to have but perhaps never would. Her future was a growing concern as she neared her thirtieth birthday, less than a month away, without a boyfriend in sight.

      Gina pushed aside personal concerns as she entered the staff area of the nursery. Katie was already there, updating charts from the night shift.

      “How is everything?” Gina asked.

      “Quiet.” Her friend smiled. “Thank goodness. The Lopez girl is going home today and the Simmons boy’s temperature is back to normal.”

      “By the way, thanks for putting in the good word with Dr. Carrington,” Gina said when Katie finished.

      “He spoke to you?” The other nurse waited, as if hoping for more.

      “He complimented me on showing affection to Daisy and Lily. It would have been hard not to!”

      “How did he look?” Katie probed. “He didn’t get enough sleep night before last. Did you notice any dark circles under his eyes?”

      “He looked perfect. As always.”

      Katie sighed. It was well known among the nurses that she had a long-standing crush on the surgeon. His chosen companions, however, were stunning model types, not down-to-earth nurses.

      Gina couldn’t help but sympathize. Not that she had a crush on Mason Blackstone. She was too practical, she told herself firmly.

      Besides being her opposite in many ways, he’d never even hinted at wanting a relationship. So soon after the deaths of his brother and sister-in-law, it was unlikely he thought of her as anything more than a caretaker for his nieces.

      After she pinned back her hair, scrubbed and put on a sterile gown, Gina went into the nursery. She was assigned to four patients, including Lily and Daisy.

      “Good morning.” She smiled down at Daisy. “Let’s check those bandages and weigh you, shall we?”

      The next half hour passed quickly, taken up with checking medications, weighing, feeding and changing all four babies. Matters were complicated by the fact that, before being handled, they had to be detached from monitors that warned if their respiration or heartbeat ran too low or too high.

      As she fed Lily, Gina regarded a small bare patch on the baby’s crown, where, like Daisy, she’d been fed intravenously during her first few weeks. It seemed a shame that the girls’ earliest photos would be marred. Still, it was a minor flaw, and the hair would grow out quickly.

      “You won’t even remember it by prom night,” she assured the baby.

      “What won’t she remember by prom night?”

      The baritone voice startled her out of her reverie. How had Mason heard her, all the way across the room?

      “I was teasing her about her bald spot.” Gina tried to sound normal, although, as usual, Mason made her breath come faster.

      Against the pastel decor of the nursery, he loomed large. The brawny chest and shoulders were developed as only a cowboy’s could be, strong enough to rope a calf or dig a post hole. As he reached to put on a sterile gown, she glimpsed a yoked shirt tucked into jeans, a leather belt dominated by a Mexican silver buckle, and a pair of polished dress boots.

      He removed his Stetson and set it aside, crown side down. Thick black hair, a testament to his Native American heritage, sprang up defiantly.

      Gina drank in every inch of his appearance. Soon, he and these precious babies would vanish from her life. Not too soon, though, she hoped.

      “You’re already planning their senior prom?” Mason gave her a rueful smile as he crossed the nursery. “I can hardly think beyond how often to feed them and how many diapers to buy!”

      She finished feeding Lily, noted how many ounces she had taken, then rolled the baby onto her stomach to burp her. At scarcely four and a half pounds each, the babies were still a bit fragile to hold against the shoulder.

      “You’ll do fine,” she said. “Also, didn’t you say your housekeeper has experience with babies?”

      “Bonita can manage, but she isn’t an expert like you.” He offered a finger to his niece, who gummed it happily. “May I take her?”

      “Of course.” As Gina guided the tiny baby into his grasp, their hands touched. The brief contact sent heat flaring through her.

      She struggled not to show how profoundly this man affected her. It would only embarrass them both. Maybe it was a good thing he didn’t feel the same way.

      Gina had vowed long ago to save herself for the man she would someday marry. As the prospect of marriage grew more and more remote, she sometimes doubted her resolve. What she didn’t need was a man like Mason tempting her.

      Lily nestled into her uncle’s arms and stared up at him. Although the baby hadn’t started smiling yet, Gina knew her well enough to read the alert interest that indicated the infant was emotionally engaged. That was a technical way of saying she loved her uncle.

      As for Mason, his emotions were written across his tanned, high-boned face as he returned his niece’s gaze. There was enough warmth shining there to light the dark corners of the universe.

      Gina snapped back to duty as the nursery door opened and Dr. Ephraim Rogers entered. The graying pediatrician scrubbed, donned a sterile gown and came into the main nursery.

      By then, she had the charts ready for him. They discussed each of the other two babies, agreed on some minor changes in their care, and then moved to Lily and Daisy.

      “You certainly are a devoted uncle, Mr. Blackstone.” The doctor shook hands with him. “These girls are doing well. Have you given any thought to who will care for them when they’re released?”

      “I will,” he said. “With the help of my housekeeper.”

      The doctor nodded. “She should come into the hospital to learn infant CPR.” Mason had already undergone his training. “Also, we’d like to show her how to use the apnea monitors we’ll be sending home with the babies.”

      “Monitors?” His forehead creased. “No one mentioned this before.”

      “It’s a precaution,” Dr. Rogers said. “It’s much simpler than these devices they use in the hospital. Just a belt that wraps around their chest. I can understand your concern, Mr. Blackstone, and I know you live out on a ranch. Aren’t there any female relatives who could take these girls?”

      Mason drew himself up to his full height, which gave him the advantage over the doctor. “I can take care of them. My late sister-in-law’s parents aren’t in good health, and besides, I consider Lily and Daisy to be my own daughters. I’ll bring my housekeeper here for training.”

      “In that case, I’m going to write a release order for tomorrow,” the doctor said. “Congratulations, Mr. Blackstone. It’s time to take your daughters home.”

      With another handshake, he departed. Mason stood staring after him.

      Gina was grateful that the girls had been pronounced well enough to leave. And devastated that she would never see them, or their uncle, again.

      HE’D BEEN AWAITING this good news eagerly for weeks. Now that it had

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