Ben liked the way her eyes widened when she looked surprised. They were a beautiful shade of blue.
"Heather, I didn't even know I was coming back. Not until this last week."
Compassion flooded through her. "Was that when she left you?" She backtracked again. "I mean, assuming she left you."
He supposed he could have lied to save his ego. But somehow, it didn't seem right, lying to someone who was so completely honest, so guileless. Besides, the story would be out soon enough. Ursula would see to that. The seventy-plus-year-old postmistress dispensed local news along with the mail like clockwork.
So he nodded. "She left me."
It was, at bottom, despite her initial assumption, a difficult thing for her to fathom, much less absorb. "I really never thought that kind of thing could happen to you."
He supposed that was how mortals learned humility. He'd certainly gotten a huge dose of it. It made him reevaluate everything about his life, about his past and the path of his future.
"Join the club." His tone was self-disparaging.
She'd never liked Lila, Heather thought. Never liked the woman for taking Ben away and liked her even less for hurting him.
"So you came back here to pull yourself together?"
"Something like that," he allowed, then heard himself adding, "Actually, Lila's been gone for a year. I came back to Hades to make amends. And because Hades is my home."
It wasn't something he would have ordinarily admitted, but he liked talking to Heather. He'd always had the gift of gab, which he'd used to charm, to beguile and to get himself out of a jam. Never to share a thought, a feeling, for its own sake. He found doing so intriguing.
"Thinking that if you did that, if you made amends, maybe things would straighten out in your life, the universe would smile on you again and that Lila would come back to you?"
"You read tea leaves, too?"
"No." She shrugged carelessly, not wanting him to think she was trying to be clever. "Just been down that path, that's all," Heather admitted. "Making deals with God, thinking that if I did things just so, everything would fall into place, would follow an order and make things happen the way I wanted them to."
For a second it was almost as if they were sharing a single thought. He shook his head, seeing the humor in the effort. "Didn't work for you, I take it?"
Heather wondered what he would say if he knew that she had prayed for him.
"Can't complain," she said.
"No, you never did," he recalled.
"How would you know that?"
"It's not that big a town, Heather." He thought of Ursula. "Everyone knows everything about everyone."
She thought of Hannah. Thank God, he was wrong. "Not always."
Because Hannah had been such a tiny baby, everyone thought she had been born prematurely instead of at full term. Had Hannah been a big baby, people might have been tempted to count backward on their fingers and either assume she and Joe had consummated their union before ever taking their vows, or quietly speculate about Hannah's true paternity.
He grinned. "You're being very mysterious."
For once she didn't blush or dismiss her own words. "No one can really know what's in another person's heart or mind," she told him. "Not if that person doesn't want you to."
"Why, Heather, what kind of secrets are you hiding?" he teased, moving just a shade closer to her.
Nothing I can share with you. Heather glanced at her watch. Lily had been gone this entire time. "I'd better go check on Lily."
Lily. The name that was written across the front of the restaurant, belonging to a woman he'd never met. Funny how he'd just assumed that he would find Hades exactly the way he'd left it, with everyone exactly as he'd left them.
Instead, his brother had married and he was still adjusting to the fact that rather than lose personnel, the clinic had gained people. When he'd left, besides Shayne there'd been a nurse working there who had also doubled as a midwife. Edna Carter was at least seventy-five and probably ten years older than that. She'd retired and gone to live with her daughter in Hawaii the week before he'd run off with Lila.
That had been the natural course of things. People left Hades, they didn't come to it, much less remain. Yet two new people worked at the clinic and another new person ran a restaurant. Civilization had finally appeared in their tiny hamlet.
"What's wrong with Lily?" he asked.
"She's pregnant. Four months along," she explained. "Lily's married to Max."
Now there was a name he recognized. And the information stunned him. "Max Yearling?" he asked, even though there'd only been one Max in Hades when he'd left. "The sheriff?" he qualified when she nodded. He'd had the impression that Max was one of those rare, self-contained men who needed little in the way of companionship, certainly not a wife. "Max got married?"
"To Alison's sister. Alison LeBlanc," she added in case he'd gotten lost. "The nurse-practitioner at the clinic. She's Luc's wife."
He'd just made her acquaintance a couple of minutes before he'd come to see Heather with the medicine. "Luc? Jean Luc?"
She liked being the source of information. It gave her an odd sense of control, something that tended to elude her during the normal course of her daily life. "Ike's married, too. To Sydney's friend, Marta."
She was pulling his leg now, he thought. But she'd gone too far. "Not Ike." Ike liked the ladies too much. "He said he'd never get married."
"He lied," she laughed. "You've got a lot of catching up to do."
"Apparently." He paused, looking at her. Despite what she'd gone through, the years had been kind to her. She was more beautiful than he remembered. "Want to help me?"
Her playful tone vanished. "Excuse me?"
"Catch up," he clarified. "Tonight, after the clinic closes up."
Panic slipped in, wearing boots. "I have to go home. The girls—"
He had an even better idea. "Why don't I take you and the girls out to dinner?"
She pointed out the obvious, something that might have escaped him in his time away. "This is the only place that doesn't serve dinner on a chipped plate," she told him. "Other than at my house."
He grinned at her, turning her mental processes to mush. "Are you inviting me over?"
"No. I mean—" She took a breath, trying to steady her pulse. "This is a little short notice."
He cocked his head, summoning an innocent look. "Are you going to make me beg?"
She didn't want him thinking she was being coy. "No, it's just that—"
"I'll be on my best behavior," he promised, crossing his heart.
You had me at hello, she thought. Except that there were more people than just her involved. "It's not that, it's just that my mother—"
"Why don't you let me worry about your mother?" he suggested easily. "If I'm going to be a doctor here, it's time I started mending a few fences."
"Maybe you should start with something a little less taxing than my mother."
"I always liked a challenge."
She shook her head. She'd thought he would have realized what he was up against after her mother's call. "A challenge is going over Niagara Falls in a barrel. Dealing with my mother is like throwing yourself off the Empire State Building—without a parachute. Even King Kong couldn't survive."
He laughed. "Then we'll go back to my original suggestion. Dinner here. You, the girls and me."
Heather bit back her protest. The girls loved going out to eat. And she had to admit, being here with Ben was preferable to going home and listening to her mother give her the third degree about her day—and him.
"Dinner here," she echoed.
He took that as a yes. "What time?"
She got off at five, but she needed some time to get the girls and herself ready. "Seven."
He nodded. "Works for me."
That's what he said now…Heather could only pray that he wouldn't be regretting his words by evening's end.
The next moment, she remembered that she
still hadn't attended to Lily. "Oh, God, Lily!"
"Need help?" he offered.
"No," she said over her shoulder as she quickly hurried off to the restroom. Throwing up while pregnant was a girl thing. Men were not a welcome audience. Not even if they were good-looking doctors.
Chapter Six
Heather entered the small, brightly decorated restroom with its soft-mother-of-pearl-pink tiles. Lily was leaning over the sink, her knuckles pressed against the countertop. Even with the benefit of three halogen lights in the ceiling, her complexion looked incredibly pale.
"Lily, it's been at least ten minutes. Do you want me to get a doctor?"
"No. I'm okay. I'm okay," Lily repeated, as if saying the phrase twice would make it so. The horrible wave of nausea temporarily abating, Lily had thrown cold water in her face in the hopes of appearing a little more robust than death warmed over.
Heather watched her closely. Her boss didn't seem okay, no matter how much she protested. It wasn't her place to tell Lily what to do, but right now she wasn't speaking as an employee. This was a conversation between two women touched by life's greatest miracle. A miracle that sometimes came with one hell of an upset stomach.
"Maybe you should think about taking a few days off, Lily?" she suggested. "This won't last forever."
Lily forced a smile to her lips, waiting for the next wave to hit. "If it keeps up like this, neither will I." She drew in a tentative breath. Her eyes met Heather's. "If I'm not here, who'll do the cooking?"
There were three of them to wait on the customers, but only one chef and that was Lily. Six days a week found her here from the moment the doors opened at seven until they closed again at ten. She knew that Max was pushing for her to hire help, but so far, perfectionist that she was, Lily had remained firm.
Heather drew her courage to her. "I could. It wouldn't be as good as your cooking," she added quickly, "but the customers wouldn't be poisoned. And Lily's would stay open."
"Lily needs to work." She referred to herself in the third person whimsically because hers was the name on the outside of the restaurant. "But, thanks. I do appreciate the offer and I'll keep it in mind if I get any worse," she promised.
Walking out of the restroom first, Lily collided with a tall man she didn't recognize. Startled, she took a step back.
"Oh, sorry. I—"
Ben had decided to hang around just in case he was needed. The woman looked a little peaked, but otherwise showed no indication of physical distress. He raised his eyes toward Heather, who was directly behind the other woman. He had only one question.
"Lily?" he asked.
"Lily," Heather confirmed.
The woman narrowed her eyes. "And you are?"
Ben inclined his head. The smile on his face flowered. The word irresistible flashed through Heather's mind. Nothing had changed. Ben had only become more so in the last seven years. God help the female population of the world. And her.
"Dr. Benjamin David Kerrigan," he told Lily.
Seeing the puzzled expression on Lily's face, Heather interjected, "Ben is Shayne's younger brother."
Lily glanced from the tall man to Heather. "Shayne never mentioned having a brother."
Ben laughed softly. That was Shayne, close-mouthed to a fault. No one ever knew when something was bothering his older brother. He wondered if Shayne had ever opened up to his wife, or if she found that trait as frustrating as he had when they were growing up.
"No, I don't suspect that he would have," Ben said easily. "We weren't on the best of terms when I left town." He glanced at Heather to see if she had any contradictions to offer regarding the way he'd departed from Hades. But she said nothing. He turned again to the short, dark-haired woman in front of him. Her abdomen was almost as flat as an ironing board. But that meant nothing. Women who were pregnant showed at different times, especially when it was their first child. "How far along are you?"
"Almost five months." Lily placed her hand on the slight swell. She'd been counting on Shayne to deliver her baby. Jimmy was a very good doctor, but he was a heart specialist. Besides, he was her younger brother and unless she was marooned somewhere on an ice floe, she would have rather not have him deliver her baby. "Is Shayne leaving Hades?"
Ben grinned. "Shayne would have to be surgically excised to leave Hades. I've just come to join his practice," he explained. "I figure there are enough sick people to go around." Ben looked at her thoughtfully. From the looks of it, her pregnancy had been pretty miserable. There were circles beneath her otherwise very attractive eyes. "Try sprinkling ginger on your food."
"Ginger?" Lily echoed, wondering if she'd heard him correctly.
He nodded. "It's a spice. I could ask Mrs. Kellogg at The Emporium to order it—"
"It's called The General Store now," Heather told him. "Luc and Ike bought it."
"The General Store, then. You could still—"
Lily drew herself up to her full short height. "I know what ginger is," she informed him. "But how will that—"
"It just will," he assured her with a look that Heather had often thought was capable of selling an icemaker to every Inuit in the area over the age of two.
Lily drew in a breath. "Okay," she said with a sigh. "Ginger it is. Right about now, I'd be willing to do a rain dance naked in the center of town if that meant I'd stop being so damn nauseous all the time."
"A naked rain dance," Ben repeated thoughtfully, suppressing a grin. "Now, there's an approach I hadn't heard of. But I'd try the ginger first if I were you." He had to be going. Shayne would start thinking that he'd left town again if he didn't show up soon. Before reaching the front entrance with his container of coffee, he nodded at Heather. "I'll see you later tonight."
"Tonight," Heather echoed, her mouth suddenly as dry as sand. What was worse, her knees had suddenly locked.
There was more than just mild interest in Lily's eyes. "Old friend?"
The last thing she wanted to do was answer personal questions about Ben. Lowering her eyes to avoid Lily's penetrating gaze, Heather murmured, "Something like that."
"Oh."
The single word caught her attention. She looked at Lily sharply. "What do you mean 'oh'?"
"Just that. Oh." A knowing smile bloomed on Lily's lips. But before she could say anything further, the front door opened. "I'll be right back," Lily promised, moving toward the back stairs. "I'm going down to check the storeroom to see how much ginger we have on hand."
Lily obviously assumed that there was something between her and Ben. Well, there was, but not what anyone would ever guess, Heather thought as she walked to the front of the restaurant.
She was surprised to see Hades's postmistress, Ursula, making her way to the hostess desk.
Ordinarily, Ursula only came to Lily's to take part in some celebration. The people in Hades often gathered together for a party, using any excuse to celebrate. Lily's caught the more family-oriented ones while Ike's Salty Dog Saloon was the site of all the others. Births, weddings, comings and goings were all reasons to tip back a few beers and unwind in the company of the immediate town.
But this was still the breakfast hour and she couldn't recall ever seeing Ursula here by herself.
Putting on her most inviting smile, Heather greeted the woman. "Good morning, Mrs.—"
Stunned, Heather realized that she had gone blank as to which last name she needed to use in order to address the woman. Known generally as Ursula Hatcher, the bawdy postmistress had been married a total of four times, having buried three very contented husbands before she'd married her present one, a strong, wiry miner named Yuri. It was Yuri's very Russian last name that escaped her.
"Ursula," the postmistress said in her deep, booming voice. "I keep telling you to call me Ursula." She gave Heather a wide grin. "You're old enough to do that now, and Lord knows my last name keeps changing often enough to confuse even the local preacher." She lowered her voice slightly, as if letting Heather in on a secret. "I actually thought abo
ut not changing it this time around, just leaving it at Hatcher, but of course that hurt Yuri's pride."
She rolled her eyes, the gesture saying "Men" in a tolerant, silent voice. "For some reason, that made him think that I had second thoughts about staying married to him or that I was prejudiced against his people." She laughed, and the sound was more like an infectious cackle. "Isn't that perfectly ridiculous? Given all the time I'd invested in that man…" She shook her head as her voice trailed off for a moment. But then it returned, as deep and booming as ever. "And now I'm Mrs. Barovsky. But that's a mouthful," she attested easily. "So 'Ursula,' though not the prettiest name, is the simplest thing to call me these days." She raised her tufted gray-and-white eyebrows, her eyes gently pinning Heather.
Heather nodded. "All right."
Ursula wasn't sure if her point had gotten across. "All right what?"
Not sure what the woman was after, Heather took a guess. "All right, ma'am?"
"Ma'am?" Ursula echoed incredulously before laughing heartily. "This isn't the army, child. Just Ursula will do."
"All right," Heather repeated. "Ursula," she added the name after a beat.
The exchange earned her another smile as Ursula nodded. "Not bad. You need practice, though." She took a deep breath. "And I need some coffee."
Seeing as how the woman lived directly above the post office where she worked, Heather had no idea why Ursula would make the trip over to Lily's rather than just walk up the stairs to her own living quarters and prepare the coffee there.
The look in Ursula's eyes gave her the uneasy feeling that the older woman could read her thoughts. Her comment almost proved it.
"My coffeemaker's broken. It was slow and Yuri tried to 'improve' it," she chuckled. "Now it won't work at all." Finished with her explanation, she surprised Heather by moving in closer like a conspirator. Ursula lowered her voice to barely audible before asking, "Was that Ben Kerrigan I just saw leaving?"
Heather thought of saying no and hopefully buying Ben a few more hours of privacy. But then she dismissed this as completely idiotic. If he was working at the clinic, news had probably spread. And once Ursula had wind of it, the way she obviously did, no way could his being here be kept under wraps.
The Prodigal M.D. Returns Page 6