Opposites Attract: His Country Doctor (The Journal of Medical Romances Book 1)

by Lucy McConnell

  I tried to ignore the hummingbird beating, but it didn’t help that our shoulders didn’t have anywhere else to go but together. And when they touched, I found myself leaning into him, wanting more of a connection.

  “Has Astrid ever seen raccoons before?” Andrew asked as he started the tractor. The engine roared to life like a giant waking from a nap and then settled into a rumble. He put it in gear, and we headed down the field towards his truck.

  Why was he thinking about raccoons at a time like this? All I could think about was the spot where our hips came together and the feeling of floating. Maybe he didn’t feel the same connection I did. The thought created a pit in the bottom of my stomach.

  “I think so!” I had to shout to be heard over the engine. “We used to hike all the time when we lived in Colorado, but she’s never taken off like that before. I’m not sure what got into her.” I rubbed her side.

  “She was chasing a raccoon. They’re everywhere here, so you’ll want to keep an eye out.” Andrew paused and then swallowed back whatever else he was going to say. I got the feeling that he was trying to help me feel less embarrassed about Astrid’s behavior. Somehow that made me feel worse, because being attracted to someone who didn’t feel the same was bad enough, but being pitied by them was downright awful.

  “Next time I’ll definitely keep her on her leash,” I replied. “At least until we both are familiar with our surroundings.”

  The tractor rounded the corner and approached an old blue Ford F-350 sitting at the edge of the field. “I am assuming that is yours?” I asked with a hint of a tease in my voice. I’d joked with him earlier and got a smile. Maybe ignoring my embarrassment and acting normal would save me.

  “Yep, and it is a good thing, or we would be driving the tractor back to your car. That would take forever with this mower attached.” He hooked his thumb over his shoulder, and his lips twitched with a teasing smile.

  I relaxed just a little and hugged my dog. Astrid was holding still. I wasn’t sure what she thought about riding in such a loud vehicle, but when I tried to cover one of her ears, she shook off my hand and pushed her nose to the window.

  The tractor slowly rolled to a stop, and Andrew hopped down. He walked quickly to the other side and gently scooped Astrid out of my hands, setting her on the ground as if she wasn’t wiggling more than Jell-O jigglers. My heart melted at his tenderness and care. She didn’t smell good either, but he didn’t so much as crinkle his nose.

  I could have fallen for him right there.

  But I barely managed to stop myself.

  He then reached up to help me off of the tractor like some knight from long ago wooing the fair lady. Normally, I would have been independent and brushed off the gesture. Medical school was no place for girly ambitions or hankies. But Andrew wasn’t trying to put on a show or act like he was bigger, stronger, smarter, or tougher. Kindness was second nature to him.

  Our hands touched, and a bolt of lightning went right through me, yanking me towards him. I fell out of the cab and landed with my palms against his chest, his hand on my back, and my pulse throbbing in my ears. I stayed there, staring into his eyes and drowning in the scent of warm cider.

  What am I doing? I barely know him.

  I backed out of his grasp with a muttered thank you because he’d caught me and didn’t let me face-plant. I might still do that if my legs didn’t figure things out. “I must have run farther than I thought,” I said to cover my embarrassment over tripping along. My legs had turned to pudding. But that was because they were tired, not because the sunlight had backlit Andrew and the tips of his hair had turned to gold and taken my breath away.

  That would make things awkward.

  I glanced away and pulled myself together. We were in public, and I didn’t need a reputation as a woman who threw herself at men. Not only would it undermine my standing as a professional here, but things like that had a way of following a person. The internet knew no shame when it came to spreading gossip.

  I moved another step away, and Andrew quietly asked, “Are you okay?”

  “I’m fine,” I stated. I nearly blew a raspberry in an effort to appear cooler than I actually was. Thankfully, I realized that move was overrated and overdone. “I’d better get back to my house. I need a shower.” Need a shower? That was attractive. Nothing brings in the men like admitting that you smell like swamp water.

  “No problem,” he answered as he opened the truck door. He then again picked up Astrid as if she were a toy poodle.

  “You don’t mind if she rides in the cab?” I asked, horrified at the clumps of mud and hair matted all along Astrid’s side and underbelly. It was bad enough that I was getting his seats dirty.

  “Are you kidding?” Andrew smiled. “This is a farm truck; I guarantee it has seen dirtier things than a dog.” His blue eyes twinkled as he spoke. He jogged around and started the car while I got Astrid settled on the bench seat between us. Her tail was on overdrive, and she didn’t want to sit. I had to put my hand on her back and push down like I did when she was in training. Today was probably a grand adventure in her doggie mind.

  We slowly pulled down a dirt lane towards the main road. Neither of us said anything for a moment, but it wasn’t awkward silence, just a feeling of contentment.

  Andrew bounced his hand against the steering wheel. “So where are you from?”

  “Washington, originally,” I replied quickly. Probably too fast. Did I sound like I was desperate to talk about myself?

  “What brought you out here?” he countered.

  “My job,” I blurted. I really needed to get a handle on the connection between my brain and my mouth, because it wasn’t lined up correctly. I rubbed my palms together slowly, trying to wake up to reality. “I joined the Health Service Corps right out of school to help pay for my student loans, and this was the first location with an opening.”

  “Have you always wanted to be a doctor?” he asked.

  I settled in. This was a topic I could cover in detail and without much thinking. “For as long as I can remember. I originally wanted to be a surgeon, but that didn’t pan out …” My breath caught in my chest. This wasn’t where I wanted the conversation to go—throwing my physical limitations at him like they were volleyballs. I’d just met him. He didn’t want that burden. Besides, I didn’t tell anyone about my heart issues. They just didn’t need to know.

  Why did he have to be so genuine? His open interest, without an agenda attached, had gotten past my usual defenses. “… so I decided to do family practice instead,” I rushed. “I really like it, though. I’m able to form more lasting relationships with my patients, which is rewarding. How about you? Where are you from?” My haste to change the conversation couldn’t have been more obvious. I didn’t like to think about what I could have been, or done, had I not been too weak. Talking about Andrew was a much better way to pass the time.

  “I’m from right here,” he replied. “Keokuk born and raised.”

  “Have you ever lived anywhere else?” I was so curious about this small town and the people who’d lived here generation after generation. It seemed like everyone from my high school had scattered, and it was the same with med school. People followed jobs and didn’t put down roots, but Keokuk was thick with them.

  “After high school, I moved away to go to college. But I wasn’t meant for the hustle and bustle of the city. The constant noise and congestion … it just wasn’t for me. I came back and started helping Grandpa on his farm. As his health got worse, he needed more and more help. I’m at peace on the tractor and in the fields,” Andrew explained. “It’s where I’m meant to be.”

  “That has to be a good feeling,” I acknowledged, wondering if I’d ever felt at peace anywhere. My quest to be a doctor had started young, and I’d always seemed to be chasing one rainbow or another. “I bet your grandfather appreciates the help.”

  “Yes and no.” Andrew chuckled. “He appreciates that I help with the work, but he always h
as a say on how it should be done.”

  “I can see that in him.” I smiled back. “He definitely has an opinion about how things should go.”

  That earned me a chuckle.

  We continued with the comfortable back-and-forth conversation for the ten minutes it took to get back to my car. Even though it was a short ride, I learned a lot about Andrew. I found out that the Allred farm grew corn and soybeans (like most other farms in the area) and that they currently had five hired hands that helped Andrew with the fields.

  I also discovered that Andrew lived with his grandfather, but he was in the process of building his own home. That piqued my interest. “You’re building it?”

  “Yes.” He flipped on his blinker. The small parking lot was right there.

  “As in nail by nail, or as in phone call to subcontractor?” I pressed. For some reason, there was something incredibly attractive about a man in a tool belt.

  “Board by board at this stage. I’m still framing—though I’ll need some help to set trusses.”

  I let out a low whistle. “That’s something I’d like to see.” My cheeks flamed as I realized what I’d just said and the suggestive way I’d said it. “The house, I mean. I’d like to see your house.”

  “Sure. I’m not opposed to showing it off.” He shrugged the way people do when they are okay with something happening, but it’s so far down the priority list that it’s not a possibility.

  The frothy waters of excitement inside of me quieted down. I’d stepped one step too far and put myself out there. Don’t get attached, I told myself. I peeked at him out of the corner of my eye and watched his eyes flick into the rearview mirror and then across the parking lot.

  It was too late. I liked him. I liked him more than I should—liked his matter-of-fact thinking, his gentle way, his patience with Astrid, and his confidence in his place in the world.

  I directed him over to my Honda.

  “That is a good reliable car,” Andrew said.

  “That’s what I was going for,” I responded, considering my vehicle. It didn’t have bells and whistles, and it most definitely didn’t scream doctor like the convertibles and Porsches I’d parked next to at the old clinic at school, but it started in the winter and it had made the drive across several states to get here without so much as a hiccup. “I didn’t have time for something unreliable while I was in school.”

  “That makes sense,” said Andrew. “Everything about you is reliable. That’s probably what makes you such a good doctor.”

  Heat rose to my cheeks. Reliable didn’t exactly equal attractive, but it was a good trait. If we were going to be friends, and I hoped we were, I’d take the compliment and tell my bruised ego to put some ice on it. “Thanks.” Embarrassed at how easily Andrew could make me blush, I quickly opened the truck door, and Astrid and I jumped out. I clicked her leash in place, not willing to take any chances. “Thanks again for the ride and for helping me catch Astrid.”

  He rolled the passenger’s side window down. “No sweat,” he replied, shouting across his front seat and through the open window. “Do you know how to get home from here?”

  “Yes, I know where I am now that I have my bearings,” I called back as I ushered Astrid into the back seat, where there was a blanket to protect the upholstery.

  “Well, alright. If there is anything else that I can do, please don’t hesitate to ask.”

  “Thanks.” I waved and climbed into my car, bemoaning the amount of vacuuming it would take to get the dried mud out of the carpet. I took a moment to calm my racing heart and put on my seat belt.

  When I looked up, Andrew was waiting for me to pull out first. A gentleman to the end. I waved once and pulled out.

  He hadn’t been too flirty, but his offer to help stayed with me. Maybe it was a local thing, like people in small towns helped each other. For the first time in my life, I was tempted to play the damsel in distress.

  But no, that wasn’t me, and I wouldn’t play games to get a man’s attention. No matter how handsome he looked in a baseball hat and jeans.

  I’d just have to hope I could run into him again—as a friend. I’d never had a friend quite like him, and I looked forward to the experience.

  Chapter Seven

  Andrew

  I groaned as I reflected on my sparkling wit and conversation over the last fifteen minutes. Scratches. Racoons. “She probably thinks I’m a redneck,” I said to the steering wheel. The thought slowly started to deflate my happiness.

  I replayed my short ride with Dr. Cahill in my mind and began to realize something: I’d seen a part of Dr. Cahill that she didn’t show to many people. She’d been open with me, even a little bit vulnerable. She hadn’t done it on purpose, but when we’d talked about her schooling, she’d bitten her tongue and a quick flash of pain had shot behind her eyes. It’d only been there for a moment and then she’d covered it up, but it’d definitely been there.

  I also couldn’t help but admire her positive outlook and how easygoing she was. Even covered in mud, sweat, and chagrin, she was beautiful. No, she was intoxicating, inside and out, and I fought against the desire to get to know her more.

  Even as I parked in the driveway and a thousand to-dos crowded in, I had this overwhelming feeling of wanting to throw it all aside and take care of her. Though I doubted she needed help very often, I had meant what I had told her. If there was anything she needed—a cup of sugar, a pint of milk, a date to the 4th of July picnic—she could call me.

  For the first time in years, I found myself thinking about what I wanted for my future—not everyone else and what needed to be done. Maybe there was something to Grandpa’s idea that there was more to life than farming. But if I waited until winter to start courting Dr. Cahill like I probably should, I’d miss out. Women like that didn’t stay single for long.

  I cut the engine and made my way inside.

  “Did you get the mowing done?” asked Grandpa as I walked through the front door. He was settled in his recliner again, this time watching the late-night news.

  I groaned. “I left the tractor in the field.” I’d totally forgotten about it out there.

  “What? Why?”

  I pressed my lips together. No sense giving the old man a reason to nudge me closer to courting. I’d just have to drive out there and get it. “I’ll be back in a half hour.”

  Even with the added work, I couldn’t help but smile, because the tractor cab smelled like grass and yarrow. When I got out, I shut the door quickly, hoping the smell would be there to greet me in the morning.

  It would be better to be greeted by Dr. Cahill, but I’d take what I could get.

  Chapter Eight

  Harper

  The days passed quickly for me as I settled into a routine at the clinic, though I found myself thinking about Andrew in the quiet moments. Not that there were many. But he snuck right in there during charting. My brain would wander his direction. One moment I’d be writing out my differential diagnosis, and the next I’d be thinking about how kind he was to Astrid and the way his strong arms carried her easily.

  Shaking myself out of those thoughts was like walking off the beach. No matter how hard I shook, some of it still clung to me.

  I didn’t need to think about a cowboy who would never leave this place. I had a plan in mind. Although, I was one of the first to admit that plans didn’t always work out the way they should.

  I’d set out on this medical road with a much different destination in mind. I’d wanted to work in surgery, where your patients slept through most of your time together. The process of healing the body from the inside out had fascinated me.

  Yet I found myself enjoying family practice more than I thought I would. The variety in patients and illnesses I saw each day kept my mind sharp and my focus strong. One minute I was treating a stomach virus for a mother of two, and the next I stitched up a man who had gone a couple rounds with a mower blade.

  In each case, the patients were receptive a
nd grateful, which made me feel appreciated in a way that my transient positions during residency did not. At the end of every day, I took off my stethoscope and was proud of what I’d done.

  By Wednesday, I was in a groove. A huge part of that was Amy, my nurse. She had a way of calling things as they were. She’d grown up here, and thus she had a vast knowledge of the people who came through our office. More than once, she’d shared a family history that wasn’t on the charts but helpful in diagnosis.

  And in saving my skin.

  “Watch out for Billy Thompson; he’s a biter,” Amy stage-whispered as she handed me his chart.

  “Thanks,” I replied. I checked the chart and found the words poison ivy. That was a diagnosis that I hadn’t made in the city. I smiled as I went in and introduced myself to Billy and his mom.

  I kept a weather eye on the boy as I slipped on a pair of rubber gloves so I could check his legs. He seemed amiable enough, but I’d learned to trust Amy’s warnings.

  “I lost my ball in the field and I had to find it cuz it was brand new and I didn’t have another one.” Billy eagerly recounted his mishap.

  “Uh-huh.” I nodded for him to continue and gently probed the sore.

  “Well …” He rubbed his nose. “It rolled farther than I thought, so I had to go deep—”

  I touched a sensitive spot and he lunged at me, his teeth snapping together in the air right where my arm had been only a second before.

  My heart pounded as I quickly shifted to one side. The sudden movement got my heart racing, and I felt that familiar head rush feeling as my blood pressure dropped. Now is not the time. I grabbed my rolling stool and sat down before my pressure plummeted anymore and I ended up out cold on the hard tile floor. I tried to make my move to the stool look purposeful. Like I was repositioning to finish my exam—not like I was trying to save my own skin.