Discovering the Doctor (Masterson County Book 2)

by Brookes, Calle J.

  She didn’t open her eyes again until he shook her awake just in time for them to watch Wind Lover bring her first filly into the world .

  Matt just held her as they watched .

  22

  M att’s hands itched to touch her again, even three days later. Matt knew he was being ridiculous. A man’s hands didn’t really itch to touch a woman. Even a woman like Philippa Tyler .

  Nor did a man really hum with anticipation that he’d get to see a woman again that night. Ridiculous. No matter which way he looked at it. Matt was a man of science; he understood how attraction worked .

  He was attracted to Pip. More than just simply attracted. He found her far too intriguing for his own good .

  He’d practically thought of nothing else since the moment he’d held her in his arms in that shabby barn of hers. Held her, smelled her, felt her pressed against him in all the ways that a woman should be pressed against a man .

  Matt tried to force himself to focus on the files in front of him, but all concentration fled when he heard female voices .

  A lot of female voices. Voices Matt recognized. He stood and stepped toward his office door .

  There she was. Dressed in a simple tank top and faded denims. Her hair was pulled up in a ponytail. Her cheeks were slightly sunburned. She looked perfectly kissable, touchable .

  Damn it; his hands were itching, weren’t they ?

  Matt smiled. “Ladies .”

  “Hi Matt; the twins came over to get ready for the dance here. You still not going?” Pan asked .

  He’d planned to stay home and go over some herd records, but all of that changed in an instant. When Pip turned to him and smiled shyly, Matt shook his head. It was simple, really, wasn’t it? If Pip was going to the dance, then so was Matt. Period. “I’m going to have to dig deeper into my files, honey. It’ll have to be done during business hours. I’m going to head to the community center for a few hours, at least .”

  “Good. That’ll be all four of you, then,” Phoebe smiled up at him. All the Tyler sisters had killer smiles that could knock a man back. Phoebe was no exception .

  It was still Pip’s shy smile that he’d dreamed about last night. Pip wearing that special smile and nothing else. “I’ll head on up now. Get changed. You’ll each save me a dance, right? Or do I need to get in line after those brothers of mine?” He grinned at Pip’s twin. “Heard you’re going with Nate, right? He’s real excited, from what Levi said .”

  The expected response was right there. Just like he’d known it would be. The two of them would never get along .

  Or they’d finally figure things out, and end up burning the sheets together. Incinerating each other .

  Perci’s sisters teased her about Nate. It gave Matt a chance to slip up to Pip’s side. He leaned down until he could speak softly to her. “How are Wind Lover and the baby? Named her yet ?”

  23

  P ip looked up at the man next to her. Had he deliberately cut her off from her sisters? He was between her and them, strong and warm, and her fingers curled with the urge to touch the green shirt he wore, to see if it was as soft as it looked. See if the muscles beneath were as hard as they looked. “She’s doing better. And I’m calling the baby Dream Dancer. She’s beautiful, Matt. Seems healthy , too .”

  “Good. I’ll be out tomorrow to check on her. You want to ride with me tonight? Joel’s SUV will get mighty crowded with all of you in there .”

  For a moment a thrill of some kind went through her. A heat of some kind .

  It took Pip a second to realize that she wanted his attention on her. All of his attention, and only on her .

  That way .

  But that was stupid. Matt was a friend, nothing more. A friend, even a distant relative, maybe. He probably saw her the same way he obviously saw Pan and Perci. As Phoebe’s little sisters .

  That was all it was. She was being silly to think it was anything else .

  Still, it wasn’t Pan he’d singled out, cut off from the rest of her sisters. It was her. Why had he done that? It wasn’t just about Wind Lover and the filly .

  At least, she didn’t think so. He was talking to her in that voice. The same one he used with the wounded horse .

  Why was he doing that? Was he trying to coax her into something ?

  Maybe he just wanted a quiet moment or two to talk about Wind Lover ?

  Pip found herself nodding before she thought about it. “Of course. I think we’re leaving about seven. Perci and I were going to ride with Pan and Levi .”

  “Great. I’m going to go change clothes myself. You all planning to eat anywhere before the dance ?”

  “Pan mentioned Jasper’s.” The dance would have refreshments, but there was a tiny little truck stop just outside of town that they would go to occasionally. When they had the money. Jasper’s was very affordable. And that was what mattered to their family. Money for eating out was very, very rare .

  “Great. I think your sisters are waiting .”

  24

  P erci watched Pip and Matt and knew her sister didn’t have a clue how the man felt. Matt was in to her sister, in a very big way. Should she pull Pip aside and tell her twin? Or just let things fall naturally ?

  Another Masterson with her twin. Her twin. At times, it was like Pip was the other half of her, yet here was this man pulling her away. Perci didn’t know how she felt about that .

  Pip hadn’t been involved with a man since she’d lost her virginity at eighteen, then dated that guy for two months while they’d both been enrolled at the small community college sixty-five miles south of Masterson .

  Pip had dropped out after that damned Gunderson monster hurt her. At a dance much like the one tonight .

  Perci renewed her determination to stick close to her sisters tonight .

  It was Pip’s first dance since that night four years ago. She strongly suspected her twin was afraid. Perci could almost feel it on that weird twin channel they shared .

  Pip didn’t look afraid right now. She looked happy to be right where she was. Matt had almost surrounded her sister right there by the door of his home .

  Perci thought about what a relationship with Matt Masterson would mean for her sister .

  She didn’t think Matt would just be messing around with Pip. Not unless he was serious in some way. It just didn’t seem like something the quietest brother would do. She didn’t think he’d hurt Pip, either. Because that would hurt Phoebe and Joel. And Matt just wouldn’t do that .

  So he had to be serious, right ?

  He wasn’t the kind of guy to play around with a woman like Pip. He just wasn’t .

  So what would that mean for Pip in the long run ?

  Perci had heavy thoughts for the next hour and half as she and her sisters dug through the clothes they’d brought with them and figured out just what exactly they needed to wear. It had been a long time since they’d had such a fun afternoon, since they’d had an opportunity, really .

  And for the first time in four years, Pip was right there with the rest of them , too .

  Perci wondered how much of it was because of Matt Masterson and how much was because her sister was finally healing. Perci didn’t have a clue .

  25

  M att stayed by her side the entire time they were walking into the small dive he and his brothers had never bothered eating at before. The Tylers were apparently well known. It just went to show how they could have lived almost next door to the Tylers the women’s entire lives and not know they existed .

  They had traveled in completely different circles, apparently .

  That was going to change .

  Joel noticed Matt’s interest first, and when he, Matt, and Nate were waiting at the counter to pick up their orders, Joel called him on it. “Staking a claim ?”

  Nate looked between the two of them. “ Excuse me ?”

  “Not you. Matt . The wind blows in that direction?” Joel leveled a look at him. “It a serious one? Not that I don’t
trust you, but Phoebe freaks whenever her sisters are involved. Especially Pip. They are all extremely protective of her .”

  “Because of Gunderson. I know most of the story. Pip’s told me .”

  Joel nodded. Matt saw the confusion on Nate’s face. Matt filled him in quietly. “Gunderson got pissed at Perci, took it out on Pip by assaulting her at a dance. From what I heard, Phoebe hit him over the head with a potted plant literally in the nick of time, and Pan kicked his dick into his throat, while Perci dealt with her twin .”

  “Shit. I wondered why they seem to overprotect her at times. Why Perci is almost rabid about knowing where her twin’s at.” Nate’s eyes held compassion. “She going to be ok tonight ?”

  Joel paid the cashier and took the white bags of food for him. “To be honest, Phoebe’s seriously worried. Pip’s the sweet one of the four, apparently. The most vulnerable .”

  “Not any longer.” On that, Matt was one hundred percent clear. He was going to be standing there between Pip and anything that threatened her ever again. She’d been quiet in the truck on the drive over, but he’d understood. She was nervous, trapped in the truck cab with him. He’d kept the conversation on Wind Lover as much as he could. Until she’d relaxed and was speaking more freely with him .

  He was seducing her using the mare and foal as a cover. But he was determined and would do what it took .

  “Thought as much,” Joel said .

  “You serious about her? Don’t think those girls are the kind a real man toys with.” Nate threw a glance over his shoulder at the table where the four sisters and Levi waited. Matt followed his gaze. His brother and Pan were discussing something between them animatedly. No surprise. They were both business people at heart, and each had some wildly different theories on things. Plus Levi, the biggest player of the Masterson brothers, had it bad for their housekeeper. And apparently didn’t know what to do about it .

  Matt empathized .

  “Very serious. More serious than I’ve been about a woman in years.” Matt knew his brothers understood his meaning when he continued. “I don’t plan on letting her out of my sight tonight. If there are any problems, I plan to be there right next to her .”

  And he intended to start now .

  * * *

  P ip forced herself not to hyperventilate the closer Matt drove to the Masterson Community Center. She’d not been inside the center since that night four years ago. She had just not wanted to be there .

  Her family had understood, and hadn’t pushed her. But tonight ...

  Phoebe had asked them to go. Had wanted everyone to show support for Joel after what had happened with Rutherford. Half the town had liked the man who had tried to kill them all, and some were questioning Joel’s position as sheriff. It was Phoebe’s way of daring those few people to say something to those who had paid the greatest cost for Rutherford’s actions. The man could have killed Phoebe, and Joel, Phoenix—even Pip, Perci, Matt, and Nate—with the way he’d been shooting at them all .

  He’d cut up a squirrel and left it on their porch for her seven-year-old brother to find. When Phoebe had told her people were doubting that ever happened, Pip had had to force the anger back .

  Parker would never forget that day. None of them would. Anyone who dared to question them, well...Pip had no problem telling them what she thought .

  For her family, Pip would do just about anything. For her family .

  “Heavy thoughts?” the man driving the truck asked. Pip looked over at him. Matt was a beautiful man, wasn’t he? He was probably the most handsome of his brothers, though he wasn’t the tallest. Nate was; Nate was huge and burly and the size of a small mountain .

  Matt was six-foot-three or so, though, and very strong. It was hard to miss. “I just don’t always like crowds .”

  “I don’t particularly, either .”

  “Phoebe wanted us all to go. Because of what people are saying about Joel.” She wanted his opinion on what the town was saying. He was a part of the town in a way she and her family most definitely were not .

  “What are they saying? I haven’t heard anything .”

  “Someone is stirring up trouble for him, I think. Saying things like Tom Rutherford got a raw deal. That kind of stuff.” Pip had a scar on her forehead. They’d first thought it was from hitting something in the flood water that day. But she didn’t remember that. She did remember something cutting her forehead right before Matt had lifted her over a rock when Rutherford had been shooting at them. “My scar. I think it’s from a bullet .”

  Matt looked at her right eyebrow. “I know it is. It’s why I grabbed for you first, instead of Phoebe that day. You were right in that bastard’s line of fire. I watched it happen. Anyone says anything to you about Rutherford, you send them right to me. I’ll tell them exactly what kind of deal he got. With the devil .”

  “I wish we knew where John Rutherford was.” Tom Rutherford’s younger brother had been in the wind for more than three months now. Pip was always aware that he was still out there somewhere. And Joel had killed his brother. Hard to forget that. She wouldn’t, until the police had him .

  “The state police will find him eventually. I don’t doubt it. I get the first dance tonight, right?” He smiled at her, looking far too handsome in that moment for any woman’s own good .

  The Masterson brothers were some of the prettiest she’d ever seen. Maybe not all of them were handsome in the classical sense, but they were rugged, strong, masculine, and best of all--heroic .

  Matt and Nate hadn’t had to come out there to help her and Perci find Phoebe that day. But they had .

  She’d tried to tell herself it was because of their brother .

  But it had been her that Matt had covered with his own body that day. Her that he had dragged out of the river. And Phoebe. While Nate had protected Perci, who had been tied to a tree and without real cover. Nate had covered her sister with his own body, too. Because he and his brothers were good men .

  Not like Rutherford. Not like Gunderson .

  “I don’t know how to dance. Not really .”

  “I don’t think many people in Masterson do. But I wouldn’t mind trying, with you. At least you won’t laugh at me if I fall flat on my face.” He grinned as he looked at her .

  She couldn’t imagine him ever falling flat on his face in anything. He was just too confident for that. “Of course not .”

  “Good .”

  Matt parked his truck next to his brother Levi’s. “Stay there; I’ll help you down .”

  She did. Not because she wasn’t capable of climbing down by herself but she was in heels. Something she definitely wasn’t used to. He opened the door and lifted her down to the gravel .

  Pip wrapped her fingers around his strong arms and let him hold her. Just for a second .

  Until Perci was at her elbow and it was time to go in .

  The panic returned .

  Warm fingers wrapped around hers. Pip looked over. Matt was holding her hand. Holding her close to his side .

  Just like Joel was holding Phoebe. Safe, close, protected, valued. Because Joel cared about her sister, loved her. Pip darted a glance at Matt’s face .

  He was busy talking to Levi behind them; he’d held her close without thinking about it. He’d just done it .

  What did that mean ?

  Perci nudged her and Pip glanced at her twin. There was a look in Perci’s eyes that told her they were going to have to talk. And fast .

  * * *

  M att knew exactly what he was doing. Masterson was a small town. Rumors that he’d entered the dance with one of the Tyler sisters would hit every corner of the small community center quickly. He had no doubt they’d been seen in the parking lot , too .

  Everyone would be assuming there was something between them. Exactly as he’d wanted .

  He’d planned it that way, to be honest. He wanted everyone to know he and Pip were together. Not only for the satisfaction of knowing other men would respec
t that claim but for the fact that it would hopefully keep people from bombarding Pip .

  He and Pip were a few feet behind Joel. The rest of their group came in behind them. Nate and Perci were snipping at each other again. Pan was laughing at something Levi had said .

  It was normal, typical. It was family .

  His family. Yes, there were four Tylers added in to the mix, but Matt didn’t mind in the least .

  In fact, he was damned proud to be with them .

  Matt pulled the woman he wanted closer to his side .

  26

  P erci had almost missed what that ass Nate said to her. Something about her dress being a bit too short. Of course it was--it was Phoebe’s and they’d had to hem it up an inch or so a year ago when her sister had snagged it on something at church. They didn’t exactly have closets full of clothes. Especially dressy clothes. What they had, they’d shared between the four of them for years now .

  Perci had actually been feeling pretty good about how she looked tonight. Tylers might not have much, but they tried to take care of what they had. Not like him. The hat on his head probably cost more than her dress and Pan’s combined .

  He would never understand that, though. She’d seen how he had looked around Jasper’s Place. It wasn’t exactly a high-class establishment. But her family liked it .

  Perci told herself not to care what Nate the Great thought about any of it, but it was hard. Had the man ever struggled for anything in his life? Had any of the Mastersons? Did they have a clue what it was like to worry about where the money to feed their family was going to come from ?

  So many nights she and her sisters had sat in the attic, which had masqueraded as Pan’s room though it was far too small for that, worrying about where the money for food was going to come from. The last two years had been some of the hardest of her life. Things had been easier when her mother had been alive--for one thing they didn’t have the medical bills they had now .