Harlequin Special Edition July 2013 - Bundle 1 of 2: Marooned with the MaverickHer McKnight in Shining ArmorCelebration's Bride

by Christine Rimmer

  The trailer door opened and kept her from working herself into a snit. Another good thing—the door opener wasn’t Alex. Jill Beck and Adam Stone walked in. Technically they were now Dr. and Mrs. Stone, the handsome dark-haired doctor and his perky, redheaded wife.

  “Hey, it’s the newlyweds.” She started to grab her crutches to stand.

  “Don’t get up.” Adam held out his hand to stop her as the couple moved closer to her desk.

  “Okay.” She relaxed into the chair. “I haven’t seen you two since the wedding. How was the Tahiti trip?”

  Jill’s eyes sparkled. “Fabulous. I can’t think of any words to describe it adequately.”

  “I can.” Adam slid his arm around her waist and drew his wife closer against his side. “Sun, sand, clear blue ocean and Jill in a bikini. Life just does not get any better. Unless you want to hear about how awesome married life is now that we’re home.”

  “That is actually a pretty good description,” Ellie admitted.

  “So when are you coming back to the apartment?” Jill asked. “I feel awful that we weren’t here for you, and now you’re paying rent on a place you can’t even use.”

  “The cast is coming off in a few days, Ben says. I’ll move back then.”

  “How is it staying with Alex?” Jill was trying very hard to put idle interest into her tone, but there was an undercurrent of feminine curiosity that every woman understood.

  “I don’t know what I’d have done without him. He’s been a really good friend.”

  And so much more.

  “How good is good?” Jill put her hand over her mouth and glanced up at her husband. “Sorry. I’m being nosy. I so didn’t mean to actually say that out loud.”

  “Yes, she did.” The doctor grinned. “It’s not like the whole town of Blackwater Lake put her up to being the one to find out the truth. But in the interest of full disclosure, you should know that inquiring minds are trying to figure out whether or not Alex has a girlfriend.”

  “Because no one can remember him dating a local girl,” Jill added. “There’s a rumor but no proof that he goes out of town for his—needs.”

  The town assumed right, Ellie thought, but it wasn’t her job to confirm or deny. This was just the sort of thing he wanted to avoid. If no one knew about his personal life, feelings couldn’t be hurt. Business wouldn’t suffer.

  Ellie looked up at Dr. and Mrs. Stone and put the blankest, most innocent possible expression on her face. “I have a hunch the two of you have another reason for stopping by today.”

  “Okay. I’ll take that as a very diplomatic way of saying mind your own business,” Jill said. “And I apologize in advance for whoever asks you the questions next time. And there will be a next time.”

  “We actually do have a reason for stopping by,” Adam said. “Jill came to the clinic to have lunch with me today—”

  “It doesn’t happen often,” his wife said. “But I ran into Martha Spooner at the market and she told me about the wonderful ideas you had for her kitchen remodel and how you just drew it up on a napkin.”

  “It was actual paper.” Ellie was pleased at the compliment.

  “Adam and I are talking about building a house.”

  “Really?” Ellie was surprised, since their place on the marina at Blackwater Lake seemed like it suited them. “What about the property where you are now? Will you rent out upstairs and down?”

  “Actually, I’m going to sell it. I had a really good offer on it.”

  “And the apartment?”

  “The buyer is a novelist. Pretty famous. He wanted a quiet place by the water. Said something about a second home, but I got the impression it was for solitude when he’s working. He said something about making the upstairs an office, but he definitely won’t rent it out. Said he doesn’t need the income or aggravation.”

  “So, I’m being evicted?” Ellie teased.

  “At the rate the clinic expansion is moving along, you’ll be gone long before the sale goes through.”

  “So you accepted the offer?”

  Jill nodded. “He’s paying cash. There’s a signed contract and open escrow. A lawyer is handling the details and said it doesn’t look like there will be a problem.”

  Ellie looked at each of them in turn. “So you need a house.”

  “Yeah. Although it’s a scary proposition.” Jill slid her hands into the pockets of her jeans. “What if it’s all finished and we hate it?”

  Ellie thought it was an exciting plan. A new home to start off their brand-new life together.

  “We’ve looked at property in Alex’s custom home development overlooking the lake and mountains.”

  “I’ve been through there. It’s breathtaking.” She envied this couple, so much in love. You could almost see an aura around them.

  “We thought so.” Jill was practically quivering with excitement. “Then I saw Martha, and since Adam and I were both here together, we thought we could talk to you about ideas for a house.”

  “I’m happy to do that. But y’all know I’ll be leaving and it will be necessary to find an architect to do the job.”

  “We’re aware,” the other woman said. “But at least we’ll have some ideas at that point. We know you.”

  “We like you,” Adam chimed in.

  “So it’s not intimidating to talk about this,” Jill added.

  “The experience should never be like that,” Ellie explained. “If someone wants something hideous, it’s my job to point it out and why. In the nicest, most diplomatic way possible. If the client chooses to ignore the warning, there’s not much to do except build what they want.”

  “That’s why we thought it would be good to start the planning process with someone we trust.”

  Jill’s hopeful expression reminded Ellie of her seven-year-old son, C.J. It would be really hard to say no to that face. Fortunately, she very much wanted to help them out.

  “Okay. Have a seat.” She hadn’t offered before, figuring they’d only be there a short time. After pulling out a sketch pad she used for rough drawings, she asked, “Any idea how big a house you want?”

  “In that development, I think there’s a minimum square-footage requirement.” Adam leaned an elbow on the desk. “Ben McKnight’s house is about thirty-five hundred, give or take. We were thinking of that as a starting point.”

  Ellie nodded. “You can always make the footprint bigger depending on the number of rooms and the size of them. And until you decide on a lot, you really can’t make firm decisions on the final size.”

  “We want a big yard for C.J.,” Adam said.

  “So you’re probably going to want a two-story. The smaller foundation will leave more land.” She looked at them. “Family size should be taken into consideration.”

  “We want three more kids.” Jill smiled. “C.J. needs three siblings, to make an even number of children.”

  “Okay. Five bedrooms. I’m thinking the master should have room for a nursery that eventually can be turned into a parents’ retreat.”

  “That sounds wonderful.”

  “A home office for you, Doctor?”

  He looked at his wife, then nodded. “As much as I’d like to leave my work at work, practicing medicine isn’t like any other profession. Patients call. There’s paperwork. And at least I could do it under the same roof as my family. So, yes to the office.”

  “Okay.” Ellie nodded thoughtfully as ideas for the house came to her. “I’m thinking downstairs study close to the family room that should have a flat-screen TV and fireplace.”

  “Sounds wonderful.” Jill tapped her lip as she looked at her husband. “How do you feel about formal living and dining rooms?”

  “That’s up to you.”

  Good answer, Ellie thought.

  “Then I say yes,” his wife answered.

  “I saw your family at the wedding, Adam. They all live out of town.”

  He nodded. “My brother is in Las Vegas, my parents live in Dalla
s, your neck of the woods. My sister’s family is in Houston.”

  “So you’ll probably have visitors and will be needing guest rooms. A big laundry room with a sink and hanging space for clothes.”

  “It’s sounding really big.” Jill looked worried.

  “We don’t want to go too small then have to move.” Adam’s look was tender. “And you’re concerned about cost. I know that look, honey. But we can afford whatever will make you happy.”

  Ellie wanted to sigh. What a great guy. Alex would be, too, if he’d ever loosen up and take a chance. She ignored that feeling as best as she could while concentrating on sketching. The young couple on the other side of her desk talked quietly about Jill’s inclination to lean on the conservative side and Adam’s to make her happy.

  She took a ruler from the drawer beside her and drew bold lines for the first and second floors, then blocked off the rooms. Picturing a spacious entry, she put twin curving staircases in it with formal living on the left and a dining room to the right. Behind it was a kitchen large enough for lots of kids, pantry with enough space to keep provisions for a family of ten, just in case. Two guest rooms with separate bathrooms.

  Upstairs was for the family and an open room over the garage where kids could spread out to study and play when they could be more independent.

  “Here’s a rough drawing.” She turned the pad for them to see and explained the layout, where she pictured fireplaces, a kitchen island, nook for the table and windows across the back for a view.

  “Oh, Ellie—” Jill was speechless with excitement.

  “Remember, nothing is carved in stone. No pun intended,” she said to Adam.

  “I’ve never heard that one before.”

  “Oh, sweetie, can’t you just see this in your head? It’s everything I want,” his wife said.

  “The architect you work with will probably have more ideas.”

  Ellie knew she would if she was the one doing the job from conception to completion. She liked Jill and Adam Stone and would have loved to design their new home, see the project through. But she wouldn’t be there, and the thought made her sad. Later she would think about the fact that the feeling wasn’t only about not designing this house.

  Just then the door opened and Alex walked in. He took off the hard hat and ran his fingers through his hair. Worn denim hugged his hips and thighs and the black T-shirt tucked into the jeans highlighted his lean masculine strength. Her heart did that little skip thing that made her pulse pound, and if Jill and Adam hadn’t been looking at him, they would have the answer to the question that the whole town wanted to know: Ellie and Alex were more than friends, and a lot had been going on since she’d moved into his house.

  The two men shook hands and Alex said hello to Jill. “It’s nice to see you. How was Tahiti?”

  “Awesome,” the two said together.

  He saw the sketch on her desk. At the top she’d written their name and would start a file for them to take to whoever actually would draw up the plans.

  “What’s up?” he asked.

  “We’re buying a lot in your custom home development,” Adam explained.

  Alex glanced at her and his expression was impossible to read. “Ellie had a bunch of ideas for building there when I took her through. Where to pour foundations to preserve as many trees as possible. An orientation to get sun during the day.”

  “And she did a terrific sketch from the ideas we talked about just now. It took her about five minutes.” Adam looked at her with sincere regret. “It’s a darn shame you’re not staying here in Blackwater Lake. The two of you would make a great team. She could design the houses for you to build.”

  This time Ellie understood the look on Alex’s face and knew he didn’t want to be on her team—or any other woman’s, for that matter. Maybe it had something to do with this young couple and the happiness that radiated from them as they planned a future with a family, but the idea tugged at her heart in a way she’d never felt before.

  That was bad with a capital B.

  For the first time she was glad to be moving back to her apartment soon and grateful that the clinic addition was nearing completion. She really needed to go home before leaving Blackwater Lake could break her heart.

  Chapter Eleven

  “I knew the cast was coming off today after work. How could I forget my shoe?” Probably because she was usually waiting for the other shoe to fall and didn’t want to give the universe more ammunition than it already had.

  “If I were you, I’d think about waiting awhile to wear those four-inch heels again. Just saying....” Alex glanced over, then returned his gaze to the road that would take them out of town and back to his place. “How does the ankle feel?”

  “Heavenly.” She rotated her foot, trying to ignore the emaciated, anemic-looking liberated limb. The doctor had said she would lose muscle mass and it would take a while to come back, but she’d be good as new soon. “I don’t miss the crutches. It still itches, but there are options without the cast—lotion and actual scratching.”

  “And I guess being able to put weight on it is a plus.”

  “It’s funny how weird walking normally feels. I’ve been doing it for a long time. Then a few weeks out of commission and bam—like a toddler again. On the positive side, climbing stairs will help build up my leg.”

  He glanced at her and the look was deliberately casual with overtones of intensity. “Since you’re already settled in at my place, what do you think about staying on until the job is finished?”

  The words were spoken so nonchalantly, it took several beats for the message to sink in. When it did, there was pounding in her head and ringing in her ears. He was asking her to stay with him, and joy bubbled up inside her. Then the finer point of it found the way to her heart.

  Until the job is finished.

  The subtext was that he wouldn’t change his mind about this only being temporary. He might have relaxed his rule about sleeping with a woman in town, but his core belief hadn’t altered. He wouldn’t commit to a relationship.

  She tried very hard not to be hurt. He’d never lied to her, not even once. But she liked him so much, and knowing he wouldn’t let himself care brought the sting of tears to her eyes. Her emotions were just right there at the surface, and that wasn’t like her at all. The challenge was not letting him see, because that would be so humiliating.

  “Ellie?”

  “Hmm?” She didn’t trust her voice to be neutral, and that single sound was all she could manage.

  “It makes sense for you to hang at my place.”

  “Why?”

  It took him a moment to answer, and when he did, the tone was guarded. “Your things are already there.”

  “I can move them back.” It wasn’t all that much.

  “Then there’s the fact that we have fun.”

  “Are you trying to say you’ll miss me?”

  He glanced at her, then returned his gaze to the road. “I will. When you go back to Texas.”

  Since he always told the truth, that was something, at least, but she wanted more. More than he could give. The sooner she made the break, the sooner she could keep herself from barreling into whatever crash was heading her way if she didn’t get off this particular path.

  “That’s very sweet of you, Alex. But it’s time for me to get back to my place. I’ve inconvenienced you long enough.”

  The glance he gave her was ironic, but his mouth pulled tight before he spoke. “Yeah, you’ve been tough to take.”

  “Being difficult is a dirty job, but someone has to do it.” She was trying to pull off breezy and clever instead of whiny and sad, which was how she really felt.

  “I’ll miss that sass when you go back to Texas.”

  Give me a reason to stay, she silently pleaded. She would miss more than sass. She’d miss falling asleep in his arms and waking up with him in the morning. She’d miss the sex, too, but the closeness was deep and satisfying and safe. It was easy an
d spontaneous and something she’d never experienced before. Since he didn’t say more, she figured it was only that way for her. She was looking out the truck window when a single tear slid down her cheek and he gave no indication of noticing.

  A half hour later Alex was barricaded in his home office and Ellie had her suitcase open in the master bedroom, on the tufted bench at the foot of the bed. She’d changed into jeans and sneakers. The left one felt strange, but that would get better. So would the pain inside that had nothing to do with breaking her ankle.

  She’d taken her things out of the drawer in his dresser where he’d made room when they’d agreed on a fling. Her makeup and other toiletries were in the bathroom, and she was just walking out with them when Martha came into the room.

  “Look at you,” the housekeeper said. “Moving on two good legs.”

  Ellie set the things in the suitcase then watched the older woman put a pile of clothes on the bed. Obviously none of it was Alex’s, and her efforts were appreciated.

  “Are you proud of me?” Ellie asked.

  “Maybe. Maybe not.”

  She noticed a chill in the voice and the way Martha’s mouth looked all pinchy and tight. The older woman had been nothing but warm and friendly since that first moment they’d met in Alex’s home office. When she had said to Martha “Please call me Ellie,” it was as if she’d passed some sort of test, but now she was flunking and didn’t understand why.

  Ellie sat on the bed, her leg aching a little. “Have I done something wrong?”

  “Not yet, as far as I can tell.”

  Yet? That meant there was potential.

  “Y’all are looking at me as if I substituted olive oil for your favorite window cleaner. Something’s going on, but I’m not sure what it is. Unless you tell me, I can’t fix it.”

  And she very much wanted to do that at least.

  “You and Alex seem pretty—close—in every way. If you know what I’m saying.”

  Ellie did know and she knew Martha knew. It would have been impossible not to notice; the woman wasn’t an idiot. To her credit, the housekeeper hadn’t breathed a word of the arrangement; otherwise, Jill and Adam wouldn’t have been asking questions the day they’d dropped by the construction trailer.