Page 8 of Moore to Love

“Really?” Benjamin gasped, his eyes widening. “Fun!”

“Yay! Fun!” Madison screeched, clapping her hands as she loudly echoed her brother.

“Fun, right,” I muttered while I leaned over to reach for the tote bag I kept on the floor in front of the passenger seat to grab their mess-free coloring kits. “It might be a little while, though. So how about you draw me a picture of something you can see out the window? I’ll put them up on the fridge when we get home after school.”

Knowing that would keep them busy for only so long, I quickly pulled up the information for a local tow truck company and gave them a call. I was disappointed to discover that I’d been right about the wait, but I didn’t want to make the kids worry, so I stayed upbeat as I hung up. “How are those pictures coming along?”

“Awesome, Mommy.” Madison turned her plastic travel case toward me so that I could see the paper clipped to the front.

“Very pretty, sweetie.”

Just as Benjamin showed me his drawing of a green dinosaur, there was a tap on my window.

“Dr. Moore,” I gasped, my eyes widening as my head jerked toward the sound. Rolling down the window, I asked, “What are you doing here?”

“I distinctly remember telling you to call me Finn,” he corrected with a smile that probably dropped panties wherever he went. With his tall, athletic build, thick, dark hair, short-trimmed beard and mustache, and dark eyes framed by impossibly long lashes, he was much too attractive for his own good. And mine, too.

“Okay…what are you doing here, Finn?”

“I didn’t want you and the kids to be stuck waiting for a tow truck, so I’m here to help.” He glanced toward the back seat and gave them a little wave.

Although his explanation stunned me, some of the tension in my muscles drained at his words. I wasn’t used to thoughtful men since Thad was the only guy I’d ever been with and he was the polar opposite of a considerate partner. Maybe if he hadn’t been my high school sweetheart, I would have realized that sooner and saved myself a whole lot of anguish over how our breakup happened. Being dumped for a younger woman when you were only twenty-six packed a heck of a hit to my self-esteem.

“How did you find me?” I’d been on hold with the tow truck company for a while, but nowhere near long enough for him to leave the office and roam the streets of Mooreville while looking for me.

“Your address was on your application, and you mentioned that you still had to drop the kids off before coming into the clinic.” He jerked his chin toward the SUV that was now parked in front of me. “It wasn’t hard to backtrack from the school until I spotted your car.”

My brows drew together. “But how did you know what I drive? I didn’t put that on my application.”

“Remember when Ryland and Waverly were having their new sign put up at their office, and he was teasing her about maybe being pregnant?” I nodded. “I was with them and saw you after you’d taken the kids out for ice cream and helped them into the car.”

“I love ice cream,” Madison volunteered. “Can we get some?”

Finn aiming that smile of his at my daughter did more than make me want to drop my panties; it had my ovaries close to bursting.

“The ice cream shop isn’t open yet, but maybe your mom will bring you into the clinic someday soon, and I can take you all for a scoop then.”

“Pweeeease, Mommy. Can we?” Madison begged.

“Are you the animal doctor Mommy tolded us about?” Benjamin asked. “Can I see the doggies?”

“Being around sick animals is a big responsibility, so your mom and I would need to talk about it first.”

I was impressed by how he deferred to me both times without making me out to be the bad guy if the answer was no. And how quickly my children forgot about their riding in a tow truck. But I still felt as though my day was spiraling even more out of my control. “I’d like to get in at least my first day in the office before we plan ice cream outings and visits with the dogs.”

“The clinic doesn’t open until nine. We have plenty of time to drop your kids off at school and get there before my first patient arrives. Then we’ll come back during lunch, and I’ll change out the flat for your spare. Once that’s done, you can drive your car over to Hank’s so he can see if the tire is repairable or if it needs to be replaced.”

His solution didn’t just save me time, it also meant I wouldn’t have to pay for a tow. But it felt weird that my new boss was doing so much for me. “I couldn’t possibly ask you to do that.”

“You’re not asking. I’m offering.” Pulling on the door handle, he swung it open and gestured for me to get out of the car. “And it won’t take me long to change the tire. Fifteen minutes, maybe twenty if one of the lug nuts is stuck.”

I darted a glance at my trunk, my brows drawing together. “I don’t even know if I have everything you’d need.”

“As long as you have a spare back there, we’ll be fine. I have everything else. Pop the trunk so I can check,” he requested. “While I’m doing that, you can load the kids into my SUV so we can get going.”

“But I already called for a tow.”

He cast me a knowing look. “How long did they say it would take?”

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