“Forty miles by mountain road.” She grimaced. “It’s okay for Minna, but sometimes…”
She let that thought trail off, but he knew what she meant. Forty miles might as well be four hundred, in some cases. Bedford Creek should have a better choice than one overworked doctor or a forty-mile drive.
“Now, you’re going to be fine.” Doc went to the door with Minna and her husband. “They’ll take good care of you, and I’ll be by to see you tonight.”
The fear seeped from the woman’s face at the words. “All right, Doc. If you say so.” She looked at him with absolute confidence.
The door closed behind them. Doc came back, rubbing his head wearily.
“You shouldn’t drive clear over there tonight.” The words were out before it occurred to Brett that Doc might take offense at his meddling.
Doc just shrugged. “Got to. She wouldn’t rest easy if I didn’t stop in. She trusts me.” He straightened, looking at Brett. “That was a good call, Brett. I’m glad you were here today.”
Funny. He’d forgotten, in all those years away, how much Doc’s praise meant to him.
Chapter Three
Rebecca took a step back from Brett’s smile, her heart thumping. He looked so… She wasn’t sure what it was—but then suddenly she knew. He looked as if he belonged here once again, just as she’d hoped.
She tried not to jump to conclusions. It was a long way from treating one patient to deciding to stay. But she had to find out what he felt.
“I guess you get more exciting cases in Philadelphia, don’t you?”
“Some.” He shrugged. “But you’re involved with people’s whole lives here. That’s worth a lot.”
“It’s satisfying.”
So maybe Brett wasn’t as happy in his big hospital career as he’d thought. Maybe, if she could talk him into helping at the clinic for a while, he’d realize this was where he belonged.
She eyed him cautiously as he consulted with Doc over a chart. He glanced up, gave her a quick smile and turned back to their consultation.
Her heart clenched. A quick smile—that’s all it had been, but it had transported her back in time. She saw herself, an awkward thirteen-year-old, watching as the boy she loved pinned an orchid to her sister’s prom gown. He’d looked up for an instant, noticed her and smiled. Then all his love and attention had veered back to Angela, leaving Rebecca alone and bereft.
She swallowed. “I’ll order sandwiches from the café for lunch. Brett, what would you like?” She tried to sound like the cool professional she was.
He turned toward her, his arm brushing hers. Her breath caught in her throat.
If he stayed—as he must—they’d be working together every day. She had to find a way to handle that. She couldn’t let Brett turn her into a lovesick adolescent again.
She wouldn’t, that was all. He obviously still regarded her as his almost-kid sister. He’d never look at her any other way, and she didn’t want him to. He wasn’t the boy she’d fallen in love with, and she wasn’t sure she even liked the man he’d become.
When lunch arrived from the Bluebird Café, they sat around the table in Doc’s office with their sandwiches. Rebecca let the conversation flow between the two men, watching them. Doc was so tired, and yet so happy Brett was here. Didn’t Brett see that?
Finally Doc pushed the empty sack away and stretched. “Good sandwich.” He said that every day about the turkey club Cassie sent for him. “Do I have enough time to rest my eyes?”
She consulted her watch. “Plenty of time. You take a quick nap, and I’ll call you five minutes before your first appointment.”
“I don’t nap,” he said with dignity as he got up. “I just rest my eyes.”
“Right.” She smiled at Brett as the door closed behind him. “And he snores while he rests his eyes.”
Brett smiled back, but then he sobered. “He’s getting old. I know you said that, but I didn’t believe it until I saw him. I always thought he’d go on forever.”
“He thinks so, too.” She tossed the lunch remains in the trash. “That’s part of the problem. He won’t take it easy. He can’t. I’m afraid one day he’ll lie down for his rest and not get up again.” Please understand.
Brett frowned. “Is he all right? Has he had a thorough work-up?”
“As thorough as he’ll let me do.” She spread her hands flat on the table. This was the first time she’d felt able to talk to someone about this. If only she could tell him everything…but she couldn’t. She’d promised Doc.
Still, it was good to share the worry. Good because it was Brett, whom Doc loved like a son and took pride in.
“He claims he’s just tired out, that’s all. He works a schedule that would exhaust a younger man, and he never takes a break.”
Brett’s green eyes darkened. “There has to be something we can do.”
You can take over the practice, the way he planned. She closed her lips on that. It would only lead to another argument.
“Maybe he’d let you check him out.” She hesitated, half afraid to say anything else. If Doc knew she’d suggested a checkup, he’d be furious. But she had to. No one else would. “Look, I know you said you were just here on a break.” The word tasted bitter, but she pushed on. “But you could help out while you’re here.”
His frown deepened, creating three furrows between his eyes. “That’s not a solution.”
Her resolve slipped. “The best solution would be for you to stay.”
He shoved back his chair, stalked to the window, and stared out at the aspen tree, tinged now with gold. “You really think that’s what these people need? Horse-and-buggy medicine? A one-doctor town?”
She shot to her feet. “Doc’s a good physician. He gives people everything he has.”
He lifted his hand as if to stave off her attack. “I know that. But I also know it’s worn him out.”
She fought down her anger. Anger wouldn’t help. She had to get him to make a commitment—just a small one.
“He needs a rest. He’d get that if you helped out for even a week before you go back to Philadelphia.”
“I’m not going back to Philadelphia.” He swung around, but she couldn’t see his face clearly with the light behind him.
“What do you mean? Your residency—”
“I completed my residency. I thought I’d be starting a surgical fellowship, but the one I expected to have isn’t going to be there.”
His voice sounded flat, denying any emotion, but she knew better. She rose, moving toward him until she could see his expression clearly. It didn’t tell her much. He was hiding something; she knew that without analyzing how or why she did.
“Then you’re free to stay in Bedford Creek, aren’t you?”
His mouth tightened at her persistence. “You’d better understand, Rebecca. I’m not prepared to settle down in this town for the rest of my life. There are other fellowships out there.”
The anger she’d been trying to suppress spurted out. “So you’re just home while you look for a new fellowship. You’re going to ignore the debt you owe to Doc.”
“I’m not ignoring anything.” His green eyes sparked with anger. “This is between me and Doc.”
“You haven’t