she could.
“Isn’t Colby wonderful?” Norah asked after a while.
Valerie smiled to herself, then nodded. He’d made the surgery, with all its risks, seem the logical thing to do. For the first time since her arrival, she felt hopeful for her father’s chances. She held on to that small surge of confidence with both hands. Colby had been patient, answering her questions, giving her reassurance and hope when she’d felt none.
“Now can you understand why everyone likes him so much?” Norah asked, her voice soft.
“Yes.” She’d intentionally baited him, determined to find out how he really felt about her. She’d looked for some reaction, some sign, but he’d given her nothing.
The more reserved he was, the more challenged she felt. Valerie doubted he ever raised his voice or lost his cool, composed air. Even when she’d pressured him, he’d shown almost no emotion. Yet Valerie couldn’t shake the conviction that he was a man of deep feeling—and strong passion.
Colby was smiling; he’d been smiling ever since he’d left the hospital. He wasn’t sure what had prompted him to invite Valerie down to the cafeteria. But he suspected it was because … well, because he enjoyed being with her. He’d never known a woman who was so willing to speak her feelings. She was direct and honest and, damn it all, interesting. It wasn’t that he found Sherry—or for that matter, Norah—boring. He enjoyed their company in an entirely different way.
But Valerie kept him on his toes. She didn’t take anything at face value, but challenged and confronted until she was satisfied. He admired that. In fact, he admired her. But that wasn’t the end of it. This was a woman he could grow to love.
He’d gone off the deep end, he told himself. Worked too many hours without a real break. He’d listened to David Bloomfield once too often. There could never be anything between him and Valerie. She wasn’t what he needed in a woman; not only that, she’d never be content with life in Orchard Valley again.
He knew that as well as she did.
The next morning, with Norah at the hospital, Valerie felt comfortable about leaving for the first time since her arrival from New York. She desperately needed a change of clothes. She was still wearing the business suit she’d had on when she’d received Norah’s message two—no, three—days earlier.
She drove to the family home, down the mile-long driveway that led to the colonial house. She took a moment to glance at the hundreds of neat rows of apple trees, all in fragrant blossom. Then she hauled her suitcase up to her old bedroom, showered and changed into a pair of jeans and a soft blue sweater.
When Valerie returned to the hospital she felt a thousand times better. Norah was still asleep, curled up on the sofa, her knees tucked under her chin. She was so blonde and delicate that Valerie had an almost overpowering recollection of their mother. She came to an abrupt stop. The words of greeting froze on her lips and she turned into the hallway.
Quietly she fought back the tears. She’d barely managed to compose herself before she saw Colby striding intently down the wide corridor, heading straight toward her, his face taut.
“Have you got a moment?” he asked stiffly.
“Sure,” Valerie said, puzzled by his obvious tension. “Is something wrong? Is it Dad?”
“No, this is between you and me.” Colby actually seemed angry. Furious, even, although he hadn’t raised his voice. This was certainly the most emotion she’d seen in him.
He marched toward the elevator, with Valerie following, and then down the narrow passageway to the back entrance of the hospital and the employee parking lot. He was several yards ahead of her.
“Where are we going?” she demanded. His pace was too swift for her to keep stride with him.
“Outside.”
“In case you hadn’t noticed, we already are.”
“I don’t want anyone to hear this.”
“Hear what?” she practically shrieked, losing her patience.
Colby whirled around to confront her. “I want to know exactly what you said to your father.”
Valerie was confused. “About what?”
“Us.” The simple little word resonated with anger, contempt, disgust.
Well, so much for her assumption that Colby Winston felt any attraction for her.
“Us?” she repeated. “Don’t be ridiculous. There isn’t any us.”
“That’s precisely my point,” he snapped. “Perhaps you can tell me why your father suddenly announced that you were falling in love with me—and that he expected me to do something about it.”
“He what?” she exploded.
“You heard me. What in the name of heaven did you say?”
“Nothing.” Except for the time she’d seen him yesterday evening, her father had been asleep. At least, his eyes had been closed and his breathing was shallow but regular.
“He knew we’d talked in the cafeteria,” Colby informed her coolly.
“He did?”
“He mentioned it himself.”
“Maybe Norah—”
“Norah, nothing. It came straight from the horse’s mouth. That and a whole lot more.”
Valerie frowned, staring down at the ground in an effort to think.
“Valerie!”
“I … thought he was asleep.”
“What did you say?” he demanded a second time.
She was flustered now, which happened so rarely that it unnerved her even more. “Uh … just that we’d spoken the other night and I … ”
“Go on,” he insisted, his jaw muscles tightening.
“I, uh, have this tendency to talk when I’m upset. I don’t mind telling you Dad’s condition has really scared me. So if he’s asleep, like he’s been most of today, I sit by his side and tell him the things I’ve been thinking about.”
“Which included me?”
Reluctantly, she nodded. Rarely could she recall being more embarrassed. Color burned in her cheeks.
“Valerie, what did you say to him?” Colby asked for the third time. His voice was quiet but his face had sharpened with tension.
She closed her eyes. She didn’t remember everything she’d mumbled, but what she did recall made her cringe. She’d rambled on during those five-minute stretches, saying whatever came into her mind, and most of her thoughts seemed to concern Colby. Not for a second had she believed her father was awake enough to understand a word of it.
“I told him how impressed I was with you,” she began hesitantly. “Although I don’t know you well, I sense a strength in you. I told him how grateful I was to you because I’ve felt so helpless the last couple of days.”
She chanced a look in his direction but his expression was impassive. Not knowing what else to do, she continued. “In any family crisis there’s always one person who has to be strong, and everyone else leans on that person for support. I’m the oldest and I feel responsible for the others. But when I saw my father that first time, I just … couldn’t cope. It’s even harder for Norah. I realized that the strong one in this situation is you. I told Dad that … and some other things.”
“What other things?”
It wasn’t getting any better. “That I … found myself attracted to you. Not physically,” she rushed to explain, conscious that she was lying. “I’m attracted to the emotional stability I sense