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‘Hmm,’ she said thoughtfully. ‘The location might not pose an insurmountable problem. Mercer is a quaint community. A bit lacking in cultural opportunities, perhaps, but there are worse places to live. I’m sure I can find a charming young woman who sees the benefits of marriage to a handsome physician. The advantages will certainly outweigh any drawbacks to living in a small town.’
‘I think I can handle this on my own,’ he said dryly.
‘I’m sure you can, but a little help wouldn’t hurt.’ She glanced at her watch. ‘Oh, dear. Look at the time. I must be off. I’m so glad we had this chat and came to an understanding. Now, don’t you feel better?’
He didn’t, but refrained from comment.
Virginia gave him a hug which he genuinely reciprocated. ‘I’ll be in touch to check on your progress.’ After issuing her parting statement, she glided out of the room.
Alone with his thoughts, J.D. stared at the swirls forming on top of his coffee. Check on his progress? Not likely! He didn’t have the energy or interest to pursue a personal relationship at this stage of his life.
His first experience would have to suffice for the time being.
From the moment he’d seen Ellen McGraw, he’d gone positively nuts over her. He’d been filling in as a locum for his friend while he’d gone on his honeymoon. Ellen had been in town for a medical records convention, had developed a horrible case of laryngitis and dropped in for a prescription. During the course of the following weeks, he’d fallen hopelessly in love. Life simply couldn’t have got any better, or so he’d thought.
His best-laid plans fell apart when he’d wanted to introduce her to his parents. Without warning, she’d sent him the proverbial ‘Dear John’ letter. Before he’d been able to convince her that her blue-collar background wouldn’t matter to his blue-blooded family, she’d disappeared, lock, stock and barrel, from her apartment. No one had known a forwarding address, or if they had, they’d refused to divulge it.
During the subsequent months, he’d hired a private investigator, but leads had been non-existent. J.D. had secured a job in Mercer’s ER and, by sheer luck, discovered that her trail had ended in the exact same place. Unfortunately, she’d been fatally injured in a car accident some months before his arrival. If not for the skill of Tristan Lockwood, her child—his son, Daniel—wouldn’t have survived either.
His existence since then revolved around caring for the legacy Ellen had left behind and establishing his career. He had little time for anything else and truthfully, he liked it that way.
As for needing a wife, one certainly would have come in handy when Daniel had been an infant. He’d even contemplated entering into a marriage of convenience with Ellen’s friend, Beth, but she’d been too much in love with Tristan to settle for second best.
In the end, he organised his life as best he could. A fair number of people criticised him for not allowing Beth and Tristan to adopt Daniel, as they’d planned before J.D. arrived on the scene. Katie, however, stepped in to help, without passing judgement and without offering unwelcome advice. She had been—and still was—a godsend.
His household arrangements had worked well since the day he’d brought Daniel home and consequently, he didn’t intend to fix what wasn’t broken. Yes, there were times when he felt like something in his life was missing—after Daniel had gone to bed and he was alone with his newspaper and the television remote—but that wasn’t a good excuse to get married.
His mother would simply have to understand.
His resolve strengthened, he flung open the door and came face to face with Katie.
She visibly jumped, her brown eyes wide with surprise. ‘Don’t do that,’ she scolded, tossing her nutmeg-colored ponytail over one shoulder. ‘You scared the daylights out of me.’
‘Who did you think would be in here?’ he asked, amused by her reaction.
‘I wasn’t expecting to find you in the doorway,’ she returned. ‘No one has seen you since your mom left fifteen minutes ago. I assumed you were in here licking your wounds.’
‘Hardly,’ he said dryly. ‘I’ve developed a tough enough shell that my mother can’t inflict any damage.’
‘Ah,’ she said knowingly. ‘Then you must have been fantasising over the future Mrs Doctor Berkley.’
‘Regardless of what my mother believes, Daniel and I are doing just fine. I’ll find the future Mrs Berkley when I’m good and ready. I won’t be railroaded into marriage.’
Scepticism crossed her elfin features. ‘Your mother sounded very serious. She won’t let you off the hook.’
He groaned. ‘Please. Mom has already referred to me as a good catch. I can’t handle any more fishing references.’
‘You don’t want to hear about how there are lots of fish in the sea to choose from? Or how if you don’t act, the one you want will get away? Then there’s the one about catching as many as you can and throwing out the ones you don’t want.’
‘No, I don’t.’
She snapped her fingers. ‘Darn. In any case, Virginia’s right. You’re a very eligible bachelor in this community.’
‘Yeah, well, eligible or not, I have patients to see.’
‘Not any more. Marty took care of Mrs Natelson and her toe. You, on the other hand, have just received an important summons from Allan Yates. Delivered personally, I might add.’
His disposition improved instantly. ‘Really? I’ll bet it’s over the proposal I gave him last week.’
‘Probably so. Anyway…’ she stepped forward to straighten the collar of his white lab coat ‘…he wants you there as soon as possible. Too bad you’re not wearing a power suit today instead of scrubs.’
‘I want to impress him with my proposal, not my appearance,’ he commented, looking down on her from his six-foot height.
‘I know, but it wouldn’t hurt to look like the distinguished head of Mercer’s Emergency Services that you are. Maybe you should change back into your street clothes.’
He shook his head. ‘What he sees is what he gets. This distinguished head doesn’t sit behind a desk all day.’
‘Do you at least have a comb?’
He dug in his hip pocket and removed a small black plastic comb. Using his reflection in the window as a guide, he straightened his sandy-colored hair. ‘Wish me luck.’
She displayed crossed fingers on both hands. ‘You got it. Go and dazzle him with your statistics and your wit.’
‘I’ll do my best.’
Ten minutes later, as J.D. was seated across from Allan Yates in the chief CEO’s office, he was once again reminded of why he hated hospital politics. He preferred sticking to what he knew best—medicine—and leaving the diplomacy and posturing to the statesmen.
However, as Katie had mentioned, his job as chief of Mercer Memorial’s Emergency Services Department included those administrative duties he disliked. He had to play the politicking game—within reason—to get what he wanted.
Right now, he wanted to revamp his department to include the formation of a minor emergency centre—a place where the lesser emergencies could be treated without tying up rooms designed for more critical situations.
As he surveyed the professionally decorated room with its plush carpeting, hand-crafted bookcases and opulent furnishings, he refused to feel inadequate in his clean but comfortable scrubs. He led by action and example, not by decree, and he was proud of it.
Allan cleared his throat, clasped his hands together and placed them on top of his oak desk. ‘You’ve prepared an impressive document, J.D.’
J.D. allowed himself a small smile, although inwardly he was grinning from ear to ear. After months of research, hours of organising facts and figures and a week of waiting for Yates’s summons, the praise was like music to his ears.
‘Thank you.’
‘You realise, however, that another department has also requested the same area to expand their operation. My wife, Candace, has written a thorough proposal, too.’
J.D. didn’t doubt his claim for one second. Candace Yates had had the good fortune to have her husband’s insight in preparing her case.
‘This puts me in quite a dilemma,’ Allan continued. ‘I usually give the board my recommendation—point out the pros and cons—but this time I’m between a rock and a hard place. I’d hate for someone to accuse me of showing favouritism.’
Although J.D. understood the man’s quandary, he douted the sincerity of Allan’s apologetic look. Allan was a personable man in his late forties who possessed a shrewd head for business, but whenever his termagant of a wife wanted something she was rumoured to make his life miserable until he granted her request.
Having seen Candace’s modus operandi at first-hand, J.D. didn’t discount the gossip. After seeing them together on one occasion, he’d been reminded of a nervous Yorkshire terrier yipping at the heels of a placid basset hound. For a fleeting moment, he wondered if anyone had ever summoned the nerve to call her Candy. If they had, he was sure the woman would have breathed fire on the hapless victim.
It was enough to make a man swear off the blessed state of matrimony.
‘I understand your problem,’ J.D. answered smoothly.
‘As I’m sure you also know,’ Allan said, ‘that final decision rests with the hospital’s board of directors.’
‘Yes, I do.’ Part of him sighed in relief that Allan didn’t have the authority to kill his proposal before it received a proper hearing, otherwise, he doubted if an endorsement as high as the Presidential seal of approval would sway Allan’s opinion in the Emergency Department’s favor.
On the other hand, Mercer’s BOD was a formidable bunch. At least three of its members weren’t known to embrace change unless they didn’t have any other viable options. Even so, he’d rather take his chances with them.
Allan leaned back in his chair, making the leather creak under his weight. ‘Would you be interested in some constructive criticism?’
Suddenly wary of the administrator’s motives, J.D. nodded. He couldn’t imagine what vital piece of information he had omitted from his report.
‘The only problem I see with your proposal is…’ He hesitated before he finished. ‘Is you.’
CHAPTER TWO
J.D. HAD prepared himself to counter every possible argument, but Allan’s personal attack left him momentarily speechless. ‘Me?’
Allan nodded. ‘A project of this magnitude requires commitment.’
J.D. forced himself to portray a calmness he didn’t feel. ‘I’ve been researching this idea for the past three months. This isn’t something I dreamed up yesterday.’
‘It’s not the paperwork aspect. The board members might be more inclined to lend their approval if they’re assured of your intentions to see the project to its completion.’
J.D. scoffed as he crossed his arms. ‘Of course I’ll see it through to the end. Why wouldn’t I?’
‘You don’t have any long-lasting ties to our community.’
‘I’ve lived and worked in Mercer for nearly four years,’ J.D. pointed out. ‘I’ve enjoyed living here and don’t have any plans to hunt for a new job.’
‘I’m sure everyone will be relieved to hear that, but you’re not married.’
J.D. narrowed his eyes. ‘What bearing does my marital status have on improving our emergency service?’
Allan hesitated. ‘May I be blunt?’
J.D. mentally braced himself. ‘Yes.’
‘We’re all aware of your privileged background,’ Allan began. ‘Living in Mercer, your prospects of finding someone with a similar social standing are slim to none. Since you’ll want to avoid the same situation you found yourself in before…’
J.D. knew he was referring to his ill-fated romance with Ellen. His blood pressure rose.
Allan cleared his throat. ‘I’m sure you’ll choose more wisely next time. In any case, a woman used to the Dallas jet set won’t be satisfied living in Mercer. You wouldn’t be the first man forced to concede to his wife’s wishes.’
‘Aren’t you jumping the gun a little? I don’t have a wife, nor do I have one in mind. And, for the record,’ J.D. said coldly, ‘I don’t intend to get involved with any woman who objects to the location or scope of my medical practice.’
Allan didn’t appear convinced. ‘Be that as it may, if memory serves, you don’t own your home either.’
‘So?’ J.D. didn’t soften the belligerent note in his voice. ‘What’s wrong with renting?’
‘It could be construed as you having no intentions to remain in this community for long. People who own property won’t pick up and move at the first sign of adversity.’
Had Allan forgotten that houses could be sold? J.D. clamped his jaws together to refrain from saying something he might regret later. Suddenly the motivation behind the administrator’s comments became crystal clear.
‘This is about Leland, isn’t it?’ Leland Purdy was a single physician who’d come to Mercer a year ago. An eloquent speaker with enough ideas to turn the world around, he hadn’t stayed long enough to implement the very changes he’d spearheaded. In the meantime, the section heads who’d tried to accommodate his wishes were forced to deal with the chaos he’d left behind.
‘No, but now that you mention Leland I’m sure his name will come up in the discussion.’
J.D. was willing to bet money on the identity of the ‘someone’ who would point out the similarities between Leland and himself. Allan would plant enough doubt in the board’s collective mind to make J.D.’s proposal sound risky. In the end, Allan’s long association with Mercer Memorial would be pointed out and Candace’s request would seem the more sensible of the two.
He cut right to the chase. ‘So, the bottom line is since I’m not a happily married man with a mortgage my chances of the board approving my proposal are slim to none.’
Allan raised both hands as if to placate him. ‘Well, now, J.D. I won’t presume to second-guess our hospital BOD. I’m simply pointing out the obvious. As they say, forewarned is forearmed.’
Anxious to leave before his temper exploded, J.D. rose. ‘Absolutely.’
‘I’ll certainly put in a good word for your project, though. Don’t you worry.’
‘I’m glad to hear it.’ J.D. wasted little time in reaching the exit and took extra care to avoid slamming the door behind him.
He bestowed a forced smile on Allan’s secretary in the outer office, before heading toward familiar—and friendly—territory.
He burst through the pendulum-like double doors intent on finding Katie. Not only did she share his vision for establishing an area specifically for the minor emergencies, but she was the person both he and Daniel had come to rely on for the past four years. A quiet, dependable, level-headed young lady, she looked after Daniel almost as much as he did.
Best of all, she acted as his sounding board. If there had ever been a time when he’d needed her in that capacity, it was now. Luckily, he found her sitting at the nurses’ station.
Katie glanced at him, the smile on her face dying to a frown. ‘I don’t need to ask how your meeting went.’
He glowered. ‘No, you don’t.’
‘What did Allan think of your report?’
He didn’t hide his disgust as he plunked himself on a vacant office chair. ‘The report was fine. And, to quote Allan, “an impressive document”.’
A tense moment passed before she prompted, ‘But?’
‘But I’m a risky element.’
She stared at him in open-mouthed disbelief. ‘What?’
J.D. patiently explained. ‘Allan questions whether I’ll be here to see my project to completion.’
‘Where did he get that idea?’
‘From Leland.’
‘Dr Purdy?’ Incredulity crossed her face. ‘What has he got to do with anything?’
