by Cindy Kirk
“Uh, fever and a bad headache,” her mother said slowly as if she was trying hard to remember what she’d been told. “She may have a rash, too. I’m not sure.”
A chill traveled up Kate’s spine. Meningitis. Septicemia. Both of the conditions were serious and required correct diagnosis and treatment for a favorable outcome.
“Is everything okay?” Joel whispered.
“It’s my niece,” she mouthed, then switched the phone to speaker so she wouldn’t have to give Joel a blow-by-blow when she hung up. “Who’s her attending?”
“Her what?”
“Her doctor.” Kate made a determined effort to keep her mounting irritation out of her voice. “Who admitted Elle to the hospital?”
“Oh, that would be Dr. Markham.”
“George Markham?” A sinking sensation filled the pit of Kate’s stomach. “The same Dr. Markham that Andrea and I saw when we were children?”
“That’s him. I must say it’s reassuring to have him be the one taking care of our little Elle.”
The general practitioner was a nice guy, but he had to be close to retirement age now. Of course, being in practice for so many years could be an advantage. Or…not.
“If Andrea and Jim would be agreeable, I’d like to call Dr. Markham and speak to him about Elle’s case.”
“Now, why would you do that?” Her mother sounded truly puzzled.
“Elle’s my niece,” Kate said with none of the frustration she felt in her voice. “I’m a doctor who specializes in the care and treatment of children.”
“Sounds like you think you know more than Doc Markham who has been in practice for forty years.” Censure filled her mother’s tone. “Bragging is not an attractive quality, Kate. You’d do best to remember that.”
Joel’s lips twitched.
Kate rolled her eyes. “It’s not bragging, Mother, it’s a fact. My training, my entire practice is devoted to children and their needs. His isn’t.”
“Well, I’ll mention to Andrea that you offered.”
“Is she there? May I speak with her?” Perhaps she was worrying for nothing. For all Kate knew, Dr. Markham may have already called in a specialist.
“Your sister isn’t here. She and Jim are at the hospital with Elle. They haven’t left her bedside.” Her mother made that tsk-tsk noise with her tongue that Kate had always hated. “If you were a mother, Kate, you’d understand that her place is with her child. Nothing is more important.”
Kate’s cheeks burned as if she’d been slapped. There had been a handful of times over the years when she’d been tempted to tell her mother about the baby she’d given up for adoption. She was glad now that she’d kept silent. She reached up and rubbed her suddenly tight neck muscles. “I’ll call Andrea directly.”
“Now, don’t you go bothering your sister. She’s got enough on her plate right now.”
Kate clamped her jaw shut and counted to ten. She’d barely reached eight when the sound of shrieks and yelling filled the phone.
“I’ve got to go,” her mother said, sounding relieved. “Jim Junior just slugged Sophie with his plastic bat.”
Kate couldn’t help but smile. From what she’d heard, Andrea’s two oldest had a real love-hate relationship going on. “Keep me—”
The call ended.
“—informed about Elle,” Kate finished.
Kate dropped the phone back into her purse, fighting a surge of frustration. Still, from all reports, Andrea was a good mother, and Kate had to trust that if her sister had any questions or wanted her help, she’d call.
“Elle,” she informed Joel, “is the youngest child of my sister, Andrea.”
“I see,” he said, and she wondered if he really did see. His hazel eyes gave nothing away.
“My parents wanted only one child.” Resignation, rather than bitterness, filled her tone. “They’d already hit the jackpot. My sister Andrea was a beautiful, intelligent, dutiful child. She grew up to marry the boy next door and give them three lovely grandchildren.”
“But you—”
“I, on the other hand, was an oops. A colicky baby who became a scrawny shy little girl who—”
“Grew up to be a successful physician and a wonderful woman and friend.” Joel lifted in imaginary drink cup in a mock toast.
“You are so good for my ego.” Kate gave him a smile. “An ego which, according to my mother, is already too big.”
“Your mother—” Joel paused, apparently holding to the tenet if you can’t say something nice, don’t say anything at all.
While Kate intended to call Andrea tomorrow and offer her assistance, for now she was content to relax and enjoy Joel’s company. She leaned back and inhaled the fresh scent of pine.
“You know if this was a hundred years ago, we’d probably be gathered around a piano drinking lemonade and singing ‘Shine On, Harvest Moon.’”
“Sounds like a pleasant way to pass the time.” Joel’s lips lifted in a lazy smile.
“It is.”
Joel lifted a brow.
“My grandmother loved that song. When my sister and I were at her house, she’d usually offer us a glass of lemonade from her cut-glass pitcher. Then Andrea would play the piano and Gram and I would sing. She said the song reminded her of my grandfather.”
Now they were both gone. Two loving, caring people who’d never once compared her to Andrea. Who loved them both equally and without reservation.
Unexpected moisture filled Kate’s eyes. She blinked and cleared her throat. “Grandad died when I was Chloe’s age. Gram passed away the spring before I started medical school.”
“Kate.”
She blinked a couple times, pulling her thoughts back to the present.
“That had to be tough.” Compassion deepened the hue of his eyes. His voice a tender caress on the night breeze. “I know what it’s like to lose someone you love.”
“Gram was the only one in my family who I could talk with about important things. You know what I mean?”
“I do.” His gaze shifted to a point over Kate’s left shoulder. Even though he didn’t elaborate, she guessed he was talking about his wife.
“I still remember when I got the news that Gram had died in a car accident.” Looking back, Kate wondered if she’d have gotten hot and heavy so quickly with Neil if she hadn’t felt adrift and alone. And would things have turned out differently if Gram had been around when she’d discovered she was pregnant? She pushed the thought from her head. “Gram called me Katie, not Kate like the rest of my family.”
Kate wasn’t sure why she’d even mentioned that fact.
“How ’bout we sing a stanza of her favorite song in her memory?” Joel squeezed her shoulder and began to sing.
Kate joined in, her heart tripping over itself. Not only did he know words to a song written almost a hundred years ago, but this lovely baritone blended extremely well with her soprano. Anyone hearing them would have assumed they’d been singing together for years.
The old-fashioned words and melody wrapped around Kate like a favorite sweater. While they sang, she was transported back in time. She saw her grandmother’s smile, felt her love and reveled in her approval once again. It was a heady feeling.
“…for me and my gal.”
The last note hung in the air.
“Kate.”
She turned to find Joel staring. Somehow, without her quite realizing how it had happened, she’d moved closer to him—or maybe he’d moved closer to her—while they’d been singing.
Her gaze met his. For a moment he didn’t speak and time seemed to stretch and extend.
“Thank you,” she stammered. “That was beautiful.”
“You’re beautiful,” he said in a husky voice that made her blood flow like warm honey through her veins.
His fingers weren’t quite steady as they touched the curve of her cheek, then trailed along the side of her jaw as he leaned toward her.
He’s going to kiss me. He’s going to kiss
me. He’s going to kiss me.
As if wanting to give her a chance to say no, Joel paused. Though his lips were so close that she need only to move a fraction of an inch for his mouth to be on hers, this was her opportunity to sit back and pretend nothing had almost happened.
But Kate’s center for rational thought had gone silent and a smoldering heat had begun to build inside her. A sensation she didn’t bother to fight. She wound her hands around his neck and squeezed out the last of the distance between them.
Twining strands of her hair loosely around his fingers, he brushed his lips against hers, the slight hint of friction sending a delicious shiver all the way to her toes.
When she opened her mouth, he changed the angle of the kiss, deepening it, kissing her with a slow thoroughness that left her weak and trembling.
She murmured a protest when his lips left hers to trail down her neck to the soft hollow above her collarbone. All the while Joel ran his palms up along her sides, skimming the curve of her breast.
“Touch me,” she whispered.
The words had barely passed her lips when he caught her mouth in a hard, deep kiss and his thumbs brushed across the tight points of her nipples.
Her body responded with breathtaking speed. Her need became a stark carnal hunger, one she hadn’t known she was capable of feeling.
Then she heard it.
A faint whistling…coming closer.
Chapter Eight
Joel lifted his head. Very abruptly. Then swore.
“Someone’s coming.”
Kate wasn’t sure if she said the words or if Joel did. She was too busy pulling the remaining pins from her bun and letting the hair fall loose to her shoulders. By the time she smoothed her skirt with the palm of her hand, there was a rustle in the nearby trees and Ryan stepped into the clearing. He stopped whistling when he saw them.
Dressed in gray pants and a charcoal-colored shirt, the young attorney looked more like an up-and-coming executive than the former championship bull rider he’d once been. Still, Kate could see traces of that cocky cowboy in his confident stance and his lean muscular body.
Ryan tilted his head to one side, hooked his thumbs in his belt loops as if he were wearing Levi’s and rocked back on his heels. “What have we here?”
“A private conversation,” Kate said in a cool, dismissive tone.
“Which we have finished,” Joel said. “Come join us.”
If he’d been sitting closer, Kate would have elbowed Joel in the ribs. Didn’t he realize that if you gave Ryan an inch he’d take a mile? But Joel had already scooted away from her—too far for a jab of any kind—and waved Ryan over.
If Kate didn’t know better she’d think the contractor was relieved Ryan had come along when he did. Kate knew she should probably be happy for the interruption, but right now all she felt was angry. Okay, and maybe a little disappointed.
“Great night.” Ryan plopped himself down between her and Joel. “What did you say you two were doing out here? Oh, that’s right. You were having a private conversation.”
The humor in his voice, the twinkle in his eyes were her undoing.
While Joel might have been too far away, Ryan was close enough for Kate to give him a well-deserved jab in the ribs. Not only was he getting on her nerves, but he was also having a bit too much fun at her expense.
Even though she jabbed him as hard as she could, his smile only widened. Apparently her elbow was a slight tap compared to being speared by a bull.
“I like your hair hanging loose like that, Kate.” Ryan’s innocent look didn’t fool her one bit. “But wasn’t it in some sort of bun earlier this evening?”
He shifted his gaze to Joel for confirmation.
Joel leaned forward and peered her way. The passion that had been in his eyes only minutes earlier had disappeared. He shrugged. “I guess I hadn’t noticed.”
Kate could understand his not wanting to fuel Ryan’s curiosity, but the way he was looking at her now—as if he was struggling to remember her name as well as her hairstyle—was too much to bear.
She pushed to her feet, not sure who she was angrier with—Joel for inviting the nosy intruder to join them and acting as though she meant nothing to him, or Ryan for his game playing or herself for caring.
“I’m going inside to check on Mitzi,” she announced. “You boys have fun.”
“I can walk you—” Joel began.
“I’ll be fine.” Kate turned and headed back to the house, her shoulders stiff. While she didn’t like leaving Joel with Ryan, her emotions were too close to the surface to stay.
As Kate reached the French doors leading inside, she paused and took a deep breath. The brisk walk in the cool mountain air had cleared her head. She reluctantly admitted that what had happened with Joel tonight had been a mistake. Thankfully they’d been stopped before it had gone any further.
As much as it pained her to admit, Ryan had done her a favor by interrupting. Her actions had been reckless, driven by emotion and desire, not by logic.
The way Joel shut down when the attorney appeared told her he’d been equally horrified by his loss of control. His impulsiveness she could excuse. But hers? She alone knew the insurmountable secrets that stood between them.
Guilt sluiced through her. Over deceiving him. Over deceiving Chloe. But most of all, over deceiving herself. For allowing herself to believe, even for the briefest of seconds, that there could be something more between her and Joel than friendship.
* * *
Joel watched Kate’s slim figure disappear from view. The tight set to her shoulders coupled with her abrupt departure left him with a nagging sense that somehow he’d let her down.
Ryan rose to his feet. “You have to be careful not to get too close to that one.”
He saw Ryan’s lips move but the words barely registered. How could I have kissed her? Touched her? Normally Joel prided himself on being firmly in control of his emotions and his actions. Yet, when he was around the pretty doctor, he found it difficult to think clearly.
“Consider it friendly advice. One guy to another.”
Joel lifted his gaze. While he agreed it would be easy to get in over his head with Kate, he didn’t appreciate her former boyfriend warning him off.
“Sounds like you’re telling me to keep my distance.” Joel lifted a brow. “Is that because you want her for yourself?”
“I like Kate. That’s hardly a secret.” Ryan walked over to a nearby pine, a bundle of restless energy. “Do I think I have a chance with her? Not at all. You’ve gotten closer to her in two weeks of dating than I did in six months.”
“We’re not dating. We—”
“Kate isn’t easy to get to know.” Ryan turned to face Joel. “All I’m saying is, if you’re looking for something more than a beautiful dinner companion, I’d look elsewhere.”
Joel could tell the man was sincere. But the attorney was so far off the money it wasn’t funny. “I’m not looking for a wife, if that’s what you’re thinking. A woman who’d be satisfied with an occasional dinner and a movie is all I’m looking for.”
Looking for? Whoa. Where had that come from? Before this evening Joel had been perfectly content with his life. He wasn’t looking for more of anything.
Ryan thought for a moment, then grinned. “Well, then, I’d say you’ve found yourself the right gal.”
* * *
Out of the corner of her eye, Kate saw Joel return to the party with Ryan. She shifted slightly so that her back was to the two men, and continued her conversation with Mary Karen and her sister-in-law, July Wahl.
Kate was still shaking over what had gone on outside. Thankfully no one appeared to notice. Over the years she’d become adept at hiding her emotions.
She refocused on the conversation and soon Mary Karen’s hilarious hair-raising tales about life with five small children had her laughing. She was grateful the young mother was in a talkative mood because it took her mind off her SITUATION.
&
nbsp; It was best to think of Joel that way. He was merely a SITUATION she needed to handle. Not a man who could make her forgo logic with a single touch or one glance from sexy hazel eyes.
She’d definitely given Joel the wrong impression tonight. Now she had to find a way to show him the interlude in the swing meant nothing. This would achieve two purposes. It would avoid an uncomfortable, sticky conversation, and put them firmly back on their previous level of mere social acquaintances.
After a few minutes Mary Karen was called away. In the next instant July’s husband, David, stopped by, asking Kate if he could steal his wife away for a few minutes. And just like that, Kate stood alone in a sea of people. Until she reminded herself that alone was good. Being by herself gave her a chance to come up with a plan to deal with the SITUATION.
She’d gotten a few thoughts together when she caught sight of Joel headed her way, a glass of white wine in each hand. Her heart flip-flopped.
Relief flooded her when Travis stepped in front of Joel and pulled him aside to introduce him to Benedict Campbell, one of the doctors in Mitzi’s clinic. The son of the group’s founder, Ben was a brilliant surgeon in his own right and a good friend of their host.
“I didn’t get a chance to tell you earlier how lovely you look tonight.”
Kate’s heart took a dip. She quickly rallied and pasted a smile on her lips as she turned. “Ryan, you seem to be everywhere this evening.”
He grinned. “Everywhere you don’t want me to be?”
What could she do but laugh?
“I met your friend,” he said.
From across the room Kate felt Joel’s curious glance on her. It suddenly struck her that Ryan might be a help in showing Joel that she considered the kiss they’d shared to be no big deal. It might not reflect well on her, but that couldn’t be helped.
“Mitzi told me she’s always had this secret fantasy about riding a bull.”
She pulled her thoughts back to the conversation at hand. What had Ryan said? Something about Mitzi and a bull? “Are you kidding?”
His smile faded at the surprise in her voice. “You think she was making it up?”
Kate blinked and shook her head. The pieces of the conversation fell into place. “Absolutely not. Mitzi is very adventurous.”