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Not long after that, Ashleigh pulled up in front of Paula’s. “I’m here,” she called out cheerfully when she entered the house.
“I’m still in bed,” Paula groused, her tone of voice cool.
Her sister was sitting up in bed, paperwork spread out around her that appeared to be bills. Her hair was damp and secured with combs away from her face. Her creamy complexion was flushed. She looked at Ashleigh, apparently waiting for her to speak first.
“Did it work out with Emma?” Ashleigh asked.
Paula shrugged unenthusiastically. “I guess so.” She wasn’t about to make this easy, was she? “She just left.”
“What did she make you for lunch?” Ashleigh asked.
“I told her I wasn’t hungry.”
Unacceptable. Lunchtime had come and gone a few hours ago. Keeping her censure to herself, she went to fix Paula some lunch, whether she wanted it or not.
* * *
LESS THAN AN hour later, Ashleigh was entrenched in her former office at the pediatric practice her father opened in the late sixties. She drummed her fingers on the desk as she waited to see her first patient in two years.
She took in the strangely unfamiliar surroundings. This was Stan’s domain now, with his diplomas and awards displayed on the walls. Pictures of his wife and two grown daughters were arranged on the credenza, along with a photo of a black lab with a stick in its mouth.
Stan initially told her he wanted to work part-time after putting in so many grueling hours at his last job. Ashleigh expected to have her work cut out convincing him to return to his hometown, but it hadn’t taken much coaxing after he realized he’d be able to play golf and tennis at the refurbished country club. As soon as they’d settled into their newly renovated farmhouse on ten acres outside of town, his wife had jumped right into the Grand Oaks Garden Club.
How was Linda doing now? Ashleigh could only imagine how worried she must be.
She was reaching for the phone on the desk to call her when a knock sounded at the door. Cammie must be coming to tell her that her first patient was in exam room one. “Come in,” she called out. “I’ll be right—”
It wasn’t Cammie at the door, but Kyle. Her mouth stopped functioning.
He yanked at the collar of his button-down shirt. His sleeves were rolled up to the elbows, and her gaze was drawn to his forearms. The instantaneous memory of running her hands down his arms to entwine her fingers with his had her blood heating to a rapid boil.
“I saw your car parked outside and figured you’d heard about Stan.” His voice was both solemn and sexy.
She nodded hesitantly and recovered her voice. “How is he?”
Kyle filled her in on Stan’s condition, ending with, “He’s scheduled for a triple bypass tomorrow.”
Ashleigh did the recovery calculation in her head. “So he won’t be able to come back to work anytime soon.”
“That’s if everything goes smoothly.”
There was an uncomfortable silence until Kyle finally spoke. “Stan put his own stamp on this office, didn’t he?” He gestured to the mementos spread around the space.
“I remember coming here as a little girl when it was my dad’s office.” Her throat thickened with emotion. “He had that huge oak desk that had been passed down from his grandfather. The one I used to use.” She’d put it in storage when she moved away from Grand Oaks.
“He would set me right here.” She motioned to the area on the desk in front of her. “And he would point his finger at me and say, ‘You can be anything you want to be. Just because I chose medicine doesn’t mean you have to.’ Then he’d wink and say, ‘But it sure would be nice to work next to you.’” Then he would pull a lollipop from the desk drawer and hand it to her.
“He was a great guy,” Kyle said with a sad smile. “It’s too bad the two of you didn’t get to live out his dream for longer than that one year.”
A cloud of melancholy blanketed her as the memories of her now-deceased father bombarded her. “He used to tell me how, back when he first opened the practice, people would pay him in chickens and vegetables or even cigarettes when money was scarce. Especially the families who had someone serving in Vietnam, leaving the women to deal with everyday life at home, including their sick children.”
“Those must have been tough times,” Kyle said.
Ashleigh nodded. “My dad would make house calls back then. Not only to those with sick children, but he regularly visited homes where food was scarce. He’d bring them the food other patients had paid him in, saying he couldn’t use all of it before it would spoil.”
Kyle spoke gently. “I always considered him as much a mentor as a father-in-law.”
Ashleigh missed her father so much, but he would have been extremely disappointed in her. He wouldn’t have liked knowing she’d left town when her marriage failed, abandoning the practice he’d built.
Kyle walked over to the credenza under the window to look at Stan’s framed photos. He finally broke the silence with a change of subject. “Stan won’t be able to work for a while. Do you have anyone to help out with the practice?”
Ashleigh related her plan to fill in until Samantha arrived.
“What about Paula? You can’t be two places at once.”
“I’ve got someone coming in to help while I’m here. Paula’s not happy about it, but I’ve given her no choice.” Paula’s compassion for Stan was the only reason she gave in about hiring help.
“She understands, though, right?”
Ashleigh met his dark blue questioning gaze. “I guess so. Not that she’s pleased about it.” She stood and shoved the wheeled desk chair back into the bookshelves. Blood rushed in her ears. “Can’t blame her, though. First, she didn’t want me here, and I tell her that I’m here whether she likes it or not. Then I say I’m sorry but I have to help out somewhere else and, oh, by the way, here’s a stranger I hired to take care of you.”
She knew her voice was getting louder and louder, but she couldn’t help herself.
“It’s not like you’re responsible for Stan’s heart attack.”
Ashleigh turned away, crossing her arms over her chest. “I’m not sure that’s a true statement.”
“Ashleigh?”
She didn’t say anything. The guilt was eating her up. Stan wasn’t well this morning. Why hadn’t she suggested he see a doctor right then and there?
She spun in Kyle’s direction, changing the subject before she blurted out the truth.
“Anyway, Kyle, I’m not sure why you care so much about what’s happening with me and this practice. You’re the one who told me to go home last night!” Ashleigh came around the desk until she was a few feet from him. She lowered her voice to an angry whisper. “‘You’re not needed here,’ you said. Well, if I took your advice, then I’d never have a chance of repairing my relationship with my sister. Or maybe that’s what you’re hoping. As long as Paula and I are estranged, then I won’t be back to visit and you won’t have to risk running into me.”
His jaw dropped open and he quickly snapped it shut.
A knock sounded on the door and Cammie stuck her head in. “Your first patient is waiting in exam room one.” She was gone as quickly as she’d appeared.
Kyle didn’t say a word. Said nothing to contradict Ashleigh’s statement. He merely left the office and never looked back to see the hurt that had to have been apparent on Ashleigh’s face.
CHAPTER FIVE
PAULA GLOWERED AT KYLE as he removed the blood pressure cuff from her arm a little while later. She waited until after the distinctive ripping sound of Velcro to hiss, “Of course my blood pressure is going to be high. It’s not like I’m living a stress-free life here.”
“Get over it,” he mumbled. He was sick of having his mettle sorely tested. His patience was growing thin. “You love the attention.” He spoke more gently, knowing Paula wasn’t to blame for either her predicament or his own. “You know we’re all concerned about you.” He returned the equipment to his medical bag. Keeping his gaze averted, he confessed, “That’s not the only reason I stopped by.”
“Go on,” she said.
“I wanted to apologize again for interfering last night. For asking Ashleigh to leave.”
“I understand why you did it.”
“You do?” He snapped his bag shut and met her eyes.
Her smile was devious. “She scares you.”
Kyle laughed at the idea. “That’s crazy.”
As crazy as Paula’s mood swings. One minute she was angry, the next sweet. Treating him as if he was the enemy was quickly followed by acting like his therapist. Who knew where her hormones would lead next. Not that he was about to verbalize his thoughts.
“Is it crazy?” She quirked an eyebrow exactly like her sister.
“Of course it is. Why would I be afraid of Ashleigh?”
“Maybe because you’ve never stopped loving her and now you’re afraid with her in town that she’s going to figure it out?”
“That’s definitely crazy,” he repeated, but then he paused to consider the notion. “Maybe I still care about her, but that’s as far as it goes. We were involved for half our lives. Feelings don’t have switches, you know.”
She tilted her head and narrowed her eyes. “Maybe you’re afraid she doesn’t feel the same way about you?”
“That’s ridiculous.” This whole conversation was ridiculous.
Paula’s skepticism was written all over her face. “Whatever you say.” Her eyes danced. Whether at his discomfort or her absolute confidence that she was right, he didn’t know. Possibly both.
“No, not whatever I say,” he argued. “Ashleigh left. Period. She feels nothing for me and I’m definitely over her.”
Paula’s eyebrows rose.
“That’s the truth!” He didn’t know how to convince her. “Just because of that one ki—”
He shut his mouth when her eyes widened and her lower jaw dropped. So she didn’t know about the kiss. Damn.
Paula slowly closed her mouth and stared at him. “You two? You kissed? When? Last night? I can’t believe it. Then why did you tell her to go home?”
He inhaled slowly, not sure how much to admit. “Yes, last night, but it meant nothing.” At least nothing to Ashleigh.
“You idiot!” Paula slapped her hand on the blanket next to her.
“Hey!” He already knew he was an idiot. He didn’t need Paula reminding him. “Look, we’re divorced and we’ve both moved on. I’m even pretty sure she’s seeing someone.”
Paula scowled at him.
“You know you look like Mrs. Buffington when you make that face,” he told her, referring to the strictest teacher they’d all endured back in their elementary school days.
She glared at Kyle. “Stop trying to change the subject.”
He cleared his throat. “I need to get back to the hospital.”
She waved a hand at him. “Go ahead. Ignore the truth.”
“Did you ever think that maybe you’re wrong?”
She shook her head vigorously. “Nope.” She raised a finger. “Oh! And don’t forget to come back for dinner tonight.”
“I didn’t know I was invited.”
She narrowed her eyes. “It’s the least you owe me for the latest trouble you’ve caused between Ashleigh and me. You’ll be our buffer.”
Kyle considered it. “All right.” He turned to leave. “I’ll see you later then.” Over his shoulder, he added, “Behave yourself.”
“No fun in that!” she yelled with a laugh as he went out the front door shaking his head.
If only Paula weren’t so close to being right about so many things. Even when he and Ashleigh were in the middle of splitting up, it was Paula who kept telling him their divorce was too civil. No fighting, no screaming, no knock-down-drag-outs.
Not until their divorce became final and Ashleigh had run away had Kyle realized how right Paula had been. Maybe if he and Ashleigh had gotten out some of their anger two years ago, they wouldn’t be as combative now.
He started his truck and shoved the gearshift into Drive. Paula couldn’t be right. No way did he have feelings for Ashleigh after all this time. She’d practically crushed the life out of him when she left him to grieve alone for the babies they’d lost.
* * *
ASHLEIGH STEPPED OFF the elevator on the hospital’s fifth floor. Thanks to Cammie’s efficiency, Ashleigh already had temporary privileges at the hospital, enabling her to park in the staff parking lot.
She headed down the hall to the newborn nursery, her palms damp. According to Cammie, the patient she was here to see was male, born late yesterday afternoon, vaginal delivery with no complications. He was a few weeks premature, but his birth weight was five pounds, fifteen ounces, and his vitals were strong enough to keep him out of the Neonatal Intensive Care Unit.
As much as she had braced herself, the sight of several healthy newborns swaddled in plaid blankets in their bassinets was staggering. She’d hoped most of them would be off in their mothers’ rooms, but the infants were having their vitals checked in the nursery.
She stopped a moment and took a deep breath to stave off her light-headedness before approaching the R.N. at the desk.
Ashleigh held out her badge, attached to a lanyard around her neck. “I’m Dr. Wilson.” She cleared her throat when she realized her words were barely audible. “I’m here to do a physical on Baby Boy—” She checked the paper Cammie had written the name on. “Baby Boy Stanton.”
The nurse retrieved the baby’s chart and motioned for Ashleigh to follow her to the patient. Ashleigh had difficulty concentrating on the update the R.N. was giving her as every tiny squeak and wail around her caused the vise on her heart to squeeze tighter.
She’d long ago accepted that she’d never have a child in this or any other newborn nursery. It wasn’t meant to be.
That didn’t make being in this atmosphere any less painful.
She pushed the ache aside and concentrated on the physical examination. The boy was a pretty newborn and she couldn’t say that about all of them. His skin was pink and clear, his hair was dark and there was quite a bit of it. He closed his hand around Ashleigh’s index finger and her cheek itched when a tear escaped.
She swiped it away angrily and gingerly turned the boy over onto his tummy. It had been too long since she’d examined a newborn and she wasn’t as adept as she used to be.
“He’s strong and healthy,” she told the nurse when she finished making notes in his chart. “Let me know if anything changes or if he has trouble passing the car seat assessment, although I don’t expect a problem.” The test entailed spending time in his car seat in the nursery while his vitals were monitored. If there was any sign of distress, he would be reevaluated. “Otherwise, I’m writing the order for discharge. He can go home when his mother does, as long as the infant visits my office within forty-eight hours to check his bilirubin.”
Ashleigh stepped over to the tiny office to record the physical report, which would be transcribed by someone in the medical records department. Then she hurriedly left the area and found the nearest ladies’ room. Her hands were shaking and her skin was pale and clammy.
This embarrassing emotional reaction to being around infants and children was exactly why she’d given up pediatric medicine.
* * *
