Sweet on Sophie

Chapter 1

Chapter 1

As a doctor, there wasn't much Drake Stevens couldn't handle. Before becoming a family practitioner in the small town of Red Maple Falls, he worked in the ER at Mass General. He'd seen it all, from a severed hand to gunshot wounds. When he opened his own practice, things weren't as crazy, but he still had a few doozies… like the time little Matthew Hayes shoved a raisin up his nose, and with the moisture from his mucus, it had expanded, blocking his nostril. Then there was Old Man Simpson, who came in with aches and pains that he could not explain. Turned out he liked to indulge quite often and hadn’t realized he’d fallen off a bar stool the night before.

Drake was prepared for anything; nothing worried him or rattled him until today.

He glanced in the rearview mirror, catching the innocent brown eyes of his six-year-old niece. The six-year-old just lost her mother, his sister, to ovarian cancer. Charlotte stopped crying the day after the funeral, but she stopped talking then, too. He didn’t know what to do or say to help her through this nightmare that he was having a rough time navigating himself. He was usually good with the kids who came into his office, but he only had to give them words of encouragement for the short time they were in his office, and after they left, it was the parents who took over. That he could handle. This was way over his head.

He wasn’t a parent. Never planned to be. He was the middle guy who kept them healthy and patched them up. When he finished, he handed them to their keepers, and he went on with his day. He couldn’t hand Charlotte off. No. For some reason, that he couldn’t comprehend, his sister thought he was the best choice to raise her only child.

Clearly, she wasn’t in her right mind toward the end. If she was, she would have known that a pack of wolves would have been a better option. Yes, he could take care of Charlotte’s physical needs. Treat her when she gets sick or hurts herself, make sure she eats a balanced, healthy diet, but it was everything else that worried him. He knew nothing about the emotional needs of a six-year-old. Her silence baffled him. Obviously, she was reacting to her mother’s death and the changes she was facing, but he didn’t know what to do to make this transition easier.

They’d been in the car for two hours, and she hadn’t made a peep. He hoped she would tell him if she had to use the bathroom or if she was hungry, or thirsty. Maybe she’d actually answer him if he asked…

“You okay back there?”

She met his eyes in the rearview mirror, grasping her doll to her chest, and gave the slightest of smiles before nodding. He accepted her nod and focused on the road. They were thirty minutes from his place…well, their place now, and he was looking forward to getting out of the car, stretching his legs, and helping Charlotte settle in before he came up with a plan.

He needed to enroll her in school. Luckily, it was four days before the first day. Once in school, he wouldn’t have to worry about where Charlotte would go while he was at work.

Work had always been his main priority. He had an entire town that depended on him, and he couldn’t let them down. Charlotte was his priority now, but what about Terry, who needed him to keep up with her blood work and keep her sugar under control? Or one of the many Hayes’ who were growing their families and needed him for yearly checkups and when the children got themselves into a bit of trouble that required a trip to the doctor’s office?

Tension pulled across his shoulder blades, and he rolled his shoulders to try and break up the tightness. He’d sign Charlotte up for school then speak with his office manager, Kristen, and see if he could work his schedule around Charlotte’s, even if it meant cutting his hours or bringing Charlotte to the office for a couple hours a day.

He’d find a way. He always did. And he suspected that was why his sister entrusted him with her pride and joy. If anything, he was resourceful.

Thirty minutes later, he pulled into the driveway of his two-story colonial and placed the car in park. He’d fallen in love with the house from the minute he’d seen it, even though it was too much house for him. Now, with Charlotte, she’d have plenty of space to run around and grow. Maybe there was a reason he’d been so drawn to this house. Or maybe he was just trying to make sense of everything.

“Home sweet home!” he announced and turned in his seat to face Charlotte.

She glanced at the house, her brown hair falling from her sloppily tied ponytail. He’d done the best he could, but he’d definitely have to try harder if it couldn’t hold up to three hours in the car.

He got out of the car at the same time Charlotte opened her door and slid out. The hot pink and purple leggings clashed with her red and green Christmas top. She’d dressed herself this morning, and he didn’t have the heart to tell her. Her orange shoes brought the whole ensemble together.

“Come on, I’ll show you your new room and tomorrow we can go to the store and buy whatever you want.” She didn’t have much to bring with her. His sister had struggled to pay her bills and provide the little she could. They’d been estranged for so long until her diagnosis that even when he tried to help out, she refused his offers. He’d sent Christmas presents in the form of gift cards, and luckily, she had accepted those without a fight.

Charlotte had clean clothes and always had food on the table, though. But her bedframe was broken, her mattress a hand-me-down and her dresser three knobs short of being complete. After years of paying off student loans, he was finally caught up and had a decent savings. He’d get Charlotte whatever she needed or wanted.

He might not have had a clue on how to be a parent, but he knew one thing for sure. His niece would never go without.