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“Hang tight, old boy. This shouldn’t take long.” Ethan scrubbed the animal’s face between his hands. “I’ll let you out when I get back.”
The dog’s ears drooped, but he obediently lowered himself to his haunches and rested his chin on his paws.
Ethan grabbed his coat and trod through the three inches of snow that had fallen throughout the day. He didn’t have far to go. The backyard of Keely’s childhood home spilled into his. They had that in common, both living in the houses they’d grown up in, having inherited them from their parents. Ethan, after his had died. Keely, after hers had moved to Arizona.
He was on her back stoop, stomping snow off his boots, when the door flung open. “What took you so long?”
Since she sounded like a terrified new parent, he forgave her for her rudeness. “Came as fast as I could.”
“Don’t just stand there. Come inside.”
Holding his tongue, again, he climbed the steps. As was becoming a habit whenever they were up close and personal, he reminded himself this was Keely. Once upon a time she’d been just another skinny kid hanging out with his younger sister.
Despite growing into a beautiful woman with long, gorgeous red hair, amazing green eyes and a figure that jealous peers had once compared to Jessica Rabbit’s, Keely was still that same annoying girl Ethan tolerated because she was his sister’s BFF.
Except, lately, things had changed between them. Their relationship was morphing into something new, something charged with tension and awkward pauses. The initial shift had started nearly a year ago, right after she’d left her big-city life in New York and settled back in Colorado.
Ethan moved deeper in the house.
The inevitable kick in his gut came right on schedule, as it always did whenever his gaze locked with Keely’s. Tonight, the sensation hit him hard. It wasn’t an altogether awful feeling, kind of reminded him of danger-induced adrenaline.
Precarious territory. “Where’s the patient?”
“Her name is Felicity.”
“Right.” Ethan shed his coat, tossed it on a nearby bench. “Where is she?”
“Upstairs in her room.”
Ethan recognized the panic in Keely’s voice, which was mirrored in her wide, almond-shaped green eyes. Her long, wavy hair was also disheveled, as if she’d dragged both hands through the now tangled strands more than a few times.
At the obvious signs of her distress, everything in him softened. He gently touched her sleeve. “I’m here, Keely. I’ll take care of the child.”
She drew in a few unsteady breaths, her legendary hostility toward him diminishing with each exhale. “I... I believe you.”
He dropped his hand. “One last question before I have a look at her. How old is she?”
“She turned seven last month.”
His throat squeezed shut. His eyes began to burn.
What were the odds? He swallowed, hard. He’d barely regained his equilibrium when Keely took off at a clipped pace.
Ethan followed after her. They moved at the speed of light from kitchen to living room to stairwell. The smells of home filled him, a mixture of floral scents, furniture polish and freshly baked bread.
He hadn’t been inside this house in years. Like a good neighbor, he’d left Keely alone. She’d done the same for him, a situation that worked for them both.
But now, as he followed her through the house, Ethan wondered why he’d kept his distance. He liked the grown-up Keely, sometimes, when she wasn’t being snarky or unnecessarily antagonistic. A couple of unfortunate incidents from the past didn’t mean they couldn’t find a happy rhythm going into the future. Maybe they could even be friends. Now that she was twenty-nine and he thirty-four, their five-year age gap didn’t seem so large.
At the top of the stairs, she stopped outside the second room on her right. Hand on the doorknob, she swung her gaze to his. Slam. He told himself he was imagining the body blow. But, of course, he wasn’t.
“Keely, after I’m through examining the child I’d like the two of us to—”
A little girl’s whimper cut off the rest of his words. Ethan’s pulse picked up speed. Blood rushed in his ears. Memories yanked at him, emptying his mind of everything but a miserable sense of grief and loss.
He hadn’t expected this strong reaction. He saw kids every day at the office. No problem. Yet here he was, his heart pounding and his breath speeding up. He fought the urge to close his eyes. If he did, he’d be back at Fort Bragg, back to the time when he thought he would be a husband and a father. A split-second swerve to miss a skunk had taken away that future.
This wasn’t about him.
Mouth grim, he shoved aside the unwanted memories and walked into the room.
* * *
Keely couldn’t figure out why Ethan’s shoulders were bunched as he made his way toward Felicity’s bed, or why he seemed overly tense. She’d take his behavior personally, but now that she thought about it, she realized he’d been relatively relaxed when he first entered through the back door. He’d only grown silent and progressively distant as she’d guided him through the house.
A tall, broad-shouldered man, he moved toward Felicity at the slow, steady pace of a graceful jungle cat. With his glossy black hair and pale blue eyes, Ethan Scott was entirely too good-looking for his own good. The two days’ worth of scruff on his well-defined, square jaw gave him a dangerous edge.
Keely had no problem imagining him in the Army Ranger uniform he’d once worn. She shook away the thought, and lifted up a silent prayer that Ethan proved to be the capable doctor everyone in their small town of Village Green, Colorado, claimed he was.
With heavy, lumbering steps, Keely joined him beside Felicity’s bed. Tonight he looked more like a regular guy than a former soldier turned successful doctor. He wore faded jeans and a long-sleeve T-shirt that read Of Course I Don’t Look Busy. I Did It Right the First Time.
Typical Ethan, the big, bad, frustrating bane of her existence.
“You must be Felicity,” he said to the little girl in a low, rough voice that sounded slightly tortured. What was up with that? “I’m your neighbor Ethan. I’m also a doctor.”
In her unnaturally pale face, Felicity’s big blue eyes rounded. “You don’t look like a doctor.”
“That’s because I keep my white coat at the office.” He drew in an audible breath, then carefully sat on the edge of the bed, his eyes running over the child, gauging, measuring. “I understand you’re not feeling well.”
Felicity’s blond curls bobbed up and down. “My tummy hurts real bad.”
“Can you tell me where it hurts?”
She whimpered. “Everywhere.”
He went still for a beat, his expression bland, giving nothing away. Keely had no idea what was in his head, but she knew what was in hers. Concern for the little girl she’d agreed to take into her home. The transition from carefree single woman to legal guardian of a seven-year-old had begun months ago, only becoming official this week. She was still reeling.
“Okay, Felicity, I’m going to—”
“You can call me Flicka.” Cheeks bright pink, the little girl lifted a skinny shoulder. “But only if you want to.”
The easy, affectionate smile Ethan gave the child was very different from the tight, barely tolerant ones Keely received.
“Okay, Flicka, I’m going to perform a few tests. When I press on your stomach, I need you tell me if it hurts.”
The little girl nodded again. There was nothing but trust in her eyes, even while her hands clenched around the bedcovers as if she were preparing to embark on a wild amusement park ride.
Incredibly gentle, Ethan pressed on her stomach. “Any pain?”
“Nope.” Felicity’s death grip released, as did Keely’s fear. But when Ethan moved his hands to the lower right portion of Felicity’s abdomen, Keely’s breath caught in her lungs.
“How about now?” he asked. “Does it hurt when I press here?”
“Not really.”
“You’re doing great, Flicka. Just a little bit longer and we’ll be through.” Ethan continued the rest of the exam with a firm but gentle manner.
When he held Felicity’s ankle with one hand and her knee with the other, then rotated her hip, the little girl simply watched him in silent fascination. No gasp of pain. No clenched fists in the comforter.
Keely nearly cried in relief.
Eventually, Ethan stood, said goodbye to Felicity, then motioned for Keely to follow him into the hallway.
The moment they were alone, she asked the question burning in her mind. “Is it her appendix?”
“Nothing indicates that particular diagnosis.”
What kind of cryptic, unhelpful answer was that? “Are you certain?”
“She’s not experiencing swelling in the abdomen or pain in the lower right region. At this point I don’t believe an ultrasound or additional lab work is necessary.”
He’d pitched his voice low, as if to calm her fears. Keely wasn’t appeased. “If it’s not her appendix, then what’s wrong with her?”
“She has a stomachache.”
His matter-of-fact tone increased her distress. “Is there something you can give her to make her feel better?”
“For now, there’s nothing to do but continue supportive measures. Keep her hydrated and resting. If the symptoms persist or worsen, call me and I’ll come back over.”
Why was he so calm? Didn’t he understand how worried she was? “I can’t bear seeing her in pain.”
“Keely, relax. Flicka has a stomachache, probably brought on by stress or the consumption of junk food or both.”
“You’re saying this is my fault because I let her eat junk food.”
“That’s not what I’m saying. Kids suffer stomachaches all the time. I’m confident she’s going to be okay.”
Why didn’t she feel better? Why this terrible spasm of guilt in the center of her heart? “I feel so helpless.”
“You did the right thing calling me.”
Actually, she’d called Ryder. Ethan’s younger brother by two years was so much easier to take. Though he was just as good-looking as Ethan, nearly identical actually, with Ryder there was none of the friction and hostility she experienced in the company of this particular Dr. Scott.
“I mean it, Keely. You can call me anytime, no matter how late.”
She gaped at him. “Why are you being so nice to me?”
“Because I’m a nice guy.” The grin he flashed her was full of the teenage boy she remembered, the one she’d spun a few girlhood dreams around, not the one who’d humiliated her in front of his friends, twice.
“Seriously, why?”
“I’m giving you a pass because you’re new to this parenting thing.” His eyes sparked with genuine compassion.
No fair. The man had amazing eyes, long-lashed and full of secrets. She saw sorrow there as well, more prominent than usual.
It wasn’t the first time she’d noticed that look in Ethan’s eyes. Their paths crossed a lot, primarily because he often came into her restaurant, Senor O’Toole’s, on his lunch break.
He might be the big, bad, frustrating bane of her existence. But the lone wolf image didn’t ring true, not tonight. Hardly ever, if she was being honest with herself. The raw vulnerability simmering under that tough exterior made Keely want to reach up and smooth away his pain.
She resisted. “Felicity’s really going to be all right?”
“For now.” He looked about to say more. He even opened his mouth, but then closed it and headed down the stairs.
Keely hurried after him, catching up just as he was shoving his arms through the sleeves of his coat.
He reached for the doorknob, then paused. “Call me,” he said. “Anytime, for any reason.”
There were so many ways to take that suggestion, even more ways to respond. She chose the most sincere. “I will, and thank you for coming over so quickly. I really appreciate your help tonight.”
“You’re welcome.” He gave her a warm smile.
Her heart stuttered. It actually stuttered.
“Good night, Keely.”
“Night, Ethan.”
Still smiling, he swung open the door. And disappeared into the night.
Chapter Two (#ulink_75761b60-fdb2-54f0-9138-2abd0f6d6caf)
Keely waited until Ethan was out of sight before she shut her back door. The rhythmic sound of the dishwasher sloshing through the rinse cycle accompanied her return journey through the kitchen and then into the living room.
Now that her initial fear for Felicity’s well-being was put to rest, Keely’s mind wanted to linger on the man who’d eased her worries. She’d hardly recognized her neighbor.
Ethan had instilled a sense of calm. He’d been unspeakably gentle with Felicity and Keely was grateful for that. But now she was left feeling confused and edgy and not quite herself.
With his quicksilver smile and excellent bedside manner, Ethan had prodded awake the loneliness she kept stuffed behind a healthy dose of busyness. She’d always thrived on filling her days with activity, to the point of barely having a free moment to herself. Better to be busy than to open herself to ridicule or, even worse, another heartbreak.
At some point in the past year since her broken engagement to William Cutter Sloan III, Keely had convinced herself that activity helped heal her pain, making her feel vital, needed, wanted even. In reality, she’d been sleepwalking through life, burying her pain and humiliation in work, work and more work.
Well, she was wide-awake now, thanks to the seven-year-old little girl she’d taken into her home.
A sense of purpose swelled as Keely mounted the stairs. She was determined to raise the child to the best of her ability. The days ahead would require faith, hope and love.
It all started with love, as her pastor often said. Keely now understood exactly what he meant.
She paused outside Felicity’s bedroom and drew in several tight breaths. Ethan claimed the little girl’s stomachache wasn’t serious. Keely hoped his diagnosis proved accurate.
