Just What the Doctor Ordered Read online

  “I don’t know what happened to you growing up in that town, Matthew Dennis, but it’s nearly killed the man inside that doctor’s coat. I say nearly. You’ve tried to stamp it out, but little bits and pieces have survived. Enough for just about everybody in this town to like you. Enough for Ben and Rebecca to think you’re the best thing that’s happened to them.

  “If you keep trying, you’ll probably trample all the little bits that are left. It’ll be a shame because I think you had the makings of a rather magnificent person inside you at one time. You told me you wanted to be wanted for more than your body. Well, you’re too late. Your body’s about all you’ve got left.”

  Liz turned and hurried inside. She knew she shouldn’t have said so much, shouldn’t have gotten so personal. But it irked her that he could sit there, intentionally cutting himself off from every human emotion, and pass out judgments. He had no idea what it meant to have children, to be worried about what their father might say or do to them, to be scared to death about their future.

  But that wasn’t the only reason she was angry. She did think he could have been a rather magnificent human being. Everybody liked him, and he hadn’t done anything to endear himself to anyone except Ben and Rebecca. He played games with them, told them outrageous stories, helped them get dressed, made them laugh. Most important, he treated them like real people, not just shadowy imitations. Some people just had that knack. It was a shame to waste it.

  Besides, he did care. It showed in the way he remembered obscure bits about his patients’ lives, the way he insisted that everything be done thoroughly and systematically. He might call it professionalism or good medicine. She called it caring.

  And much to her dismay, she’d started to care about him. She was too disgusted to ask herself how and why. Here she was with Ethan wanting to marry her. First she’d turned him down to marry David. Now she was finding that where Ethan left her cold, Matt warmed her in more ways than she wanted to explore.

  Maybe it was just lust. Everybody knew he was too handsome to ignore. She doubted she was the only woman to dream about him. But anything else was insanity. She had to nip this foolishness in the bud before it got out of hand. The last thing in the world Dr. Matt Dennis would do would be to marry somebody like her and spend the rest of his life in a town like Iron Springs.

  That’s exactly what Liz wanted to happen, exactly the truth she had not wanted to admit, even to herself. She hardly knew the man, yet somehow she knew he was most like his real self when he was with her kids. And that Matt had enough heart and soul for any woman.

  It couldn’t have been a more perfect morning. Bright sunshine, dry air and cool breezes had turned Iron Springs into a mountain paradise. It would have been a sin to stay inside on such a perfect day. Matt decided it was time to stop fooling himself. He was going to the firemen’s picnic because he had let Liz get under his skin, not because of the weather. It was foolish to let her goad him into doing something he didn’t want to do because he didn’t want to appear small in her eyes. He shouldn’t care how he appeared in her eyes, no matter how blue they were.

  And that was something else. It was impossible not to be aware of how well she fitted into a pair of white shorts. She was walking just ahead of him. He’d have to be blind not to notice. It was okay to remember the color of her hair—it was such a shimmering blond he couldn’t forget—but he shouldn’t know the color of her eyes. You had to be paying attention to notice eyes.

  He ought to call his longtime friend Georgia Allen and head straight for Charlottesville. She’d called to say she was in town and had the weekend free. He could have told Liz he had business in Charlottesville and couldn’t go to the picnic after all. Instead, he’d told Georgia he was busy and he’d try to catch her next time she took a vacation from her high-powered, all-consuming job.

  So here he was—Ben on one side holding his hand, Rebecca on the other—on his way to a picnic infested with strangers. He must be crazy. A month ago, just the thought of doing something like this would have caused him to experience shortness of breath. Now he was actually looking forward to it. He didn’t understand it, but there was no other reason for the spring in his step or the cheerfulness in his voice.

  The only other possible explanation had to be that his body had been taken over by an alien.

  “Stick close to me, and I’ll introduce you to everybody,” Liz was saying.

  “He’s a grown man, Liz honey. He can take care of himself,” Ethan said.

  “Not in Iron Springs. You know people here eat strangers alive.”

  “He’s not a stranger,” Rebecca said. “We know him.”

  “Then you can introduce him around,” Ethan said. He put his arm around Liz’s waist. “I didn’t invite you to have you spend the whole day paying attention to another man.”

  Matt didn’t know whether it was wishful thinking, but he got the distinct impression Liz stiffened when Ethan put his arms around her. He wasn’t under any misapprehension as to his own reaction. Something coiled tightly in his gut. It was all he could do to keep from telling Ethan to keep his hands to himself.

  He was relieved when Ben said, “There’s Aunt Marian.”

  Both children started pulling him toward where she was standing under one of the magnificent oaks that had managed to avoid lightning strikes and cankerworms for more than two hundred years.

  “I see Liz was able to get you to come after all,” Marian said. “She didn’t think you would.”

  “We brought him,” Rebecca announced. “He promised to take us on all the rides.”

  “Me, too,” Ben added.

  “You sure you’re up to all that?” Marian asked.

  “I’m committed,” Matt said.

  “Then don’t eat too many hot dogs or too much cotton candy. It would be a shame to be sick all over yourself.”

  Since the most exciting ride to make it over the mountain was a small Ferris wheel, Matt felt sure his lunch would be safe.

  “I want cotton candy,” Ben said.

  Matt lifted Ben up and settled him on his shoulder. “And you shall have it. Lead the way,” he said to Rebecca.

  “I want to ride on your shoulder,” Rebecca declared.

  “You get to ride next,” Matt said, wondering why he suddenly had a small boy shrieking with laughter sitting on his shoulder. He’d never had one up there before. He must have been invaded by a really odd alien.

  “Don’t let them wear you out,” Liz said.

  “He’s a grown man,” Ethan protested. “How can two kids wear him out?”

  “It’s obvious you’ve never had children,” Marian said. “One can do it. Against two, it’s hopeless.”

  “I’ve been tying to talk Liz into letting me try, but I can’t get her to say the right words,” Ethan said.

  Matt wanted to tell the guy not to be such a dolt. If he wanted Liz, he wouldn’t be dancing around saying please and begging for kisses. He ought to spirit her off to a secluded spot and show her he couldn’t do without her. Any idiot could spout a mouthful of pretty words.

  “You’re not moving,” Rebecca complained.

  “What?” Matt said, suddenly aware of a little girl at his feet looking up at him impatiently.

  “You said we were going to get cotton candy, but you’re just standing there.”

  “So I did,” Matt said, coming to his senses, “but I don’t know where they’ve hidden the cotton-candy machine.”

  “Over there.” Ben pointed to where a line of children was already forming in front of a small booth.

  “Lead the way, Miss Rebecca, and I’ll get you a big batch of the pink stuff.”

  “I want blue,” Rebecca said with a giggle. “It turns my tongue all terrible.”

  “I want terrible tongue, too,” Ben echoed.

  “Two terrible tongues coming up,” Matt said. “Anyone else?” He looked straight at Liz, but Ethan had his arm securely around her.

  “Yell if you need help,” Mari
an said. “Somebody will rescue you.”

  “Without delay, I hope. I have a feeling I won’t last long in hand-to-hand combat.”

  “What’s hand-to-hand combat?” Ben asked.

  “Wrestling,” his sister told him.

  “I like wrestling,” Ben said.

  “I was afraid you would,” Matt said. “Let’s get the candy. We’ll have to negotiate about the wrestling.”

  “What’s ’gotiate?” Ben asked.

  “Does he ever stop asking questions?” Matt asked Liz.

  “Never. I can’t wait until he can read.”

  Several hours later, Matt found Liz, minus children and jealous escort, relaxing in a lawn chair next to the band shell. He’d been down by the lake, recovering from his time with Liz’s two demons. The remnants of a hamburger with mustard and onions had been left for the birds, squirrels, ants and anything else that wanted it. “Where’s Ethan?”

  “He kept after me to let him take the kids to his house for their nap, so I let him.” She laughed. “I shouldn’t have, but Josie was plaguing me. I knew she wouldn’t let the kids inside her front door without being there to protect all her precious antiques.”

  “Ethan lives with his mother?”

  “If he tried to move out, Josie would wail loud enough to be heard across the mountain.”

  “What’s going to happen when you marry him?”

  Liz’s smile disappeared. “Who says I’m going to marry him?” Her tone was sharp.

  “I don’t guess anybody has. I just assumed—”

  “Then don’t. I’ve told Ethan I’m not ready to consider marrying again.”

  “He looks plenty ready.”

  “I know.”

  “What are you going to do about it?”

  “I’ll think of something.”

  “The obvious thing is—”

  “I know what the obvious thing to do is.”

  “Well...”

  “Don’t you have some cotton candy to eat, some brunette siren to seduce?”

  “That was Salome’s doing.” Matt told Liz about how Salome had found him earlier in the day and loved to parade him around like a prize pig.

  “Why?”

  “Devilment.”

  “For a man who’s scared to death of strangers, you sure have been playing pigeon among the cats.”

  “It’s safer than the tightrope you’re walking.”

  “I’ll make sure I don’t fall.”

  “And I’ll make sure the cats don’t get more than feathers.”

  Josie had buttonholed him in the hotel lobby where he’d gone to escape the afternoon sun. She claimed she wanted to talk about her indigestion, but Matt soon learned the only thing upsetting her digestion was her son’s determination to marry Liz. It hadn’t taken Josie long to get around to her real purpose.

  “It’s a shame Liz has to remain in such an out-of-the-way place as Iron Springs,” Josie Woodhouse lamented. “After living in New York, she’s bound to be bored to death here.”

  “She doesn’t seem bored to me.”

  “She needs a job in some place like Charlottesville. You must know lots of people there. You could put in a word for her.”

  “I never worked in personnel.”

  “But you’re a doctor. Surely you can do something.”

  Matt couldn’t help but laugh. “When you’re first out of medical school, you’re little more than an overeducated, underexperienced flunky. You get all the grunt work, the graveyard shifts and anything else they can shove off on you. You don’t dare say anything about it or you’ll be passed over as hard to get along with when the plum jobs finally come up.”

  Josie gave him a hard stare. “I’ve got to get that woman out of Iron Springs before she ruins my son’s life. I know you could help me if you wanted to.”

  “Sorry. Even if I could help—and I promise I can’t—I wouldn’t get involved. Anything between Liz and Ethan is none of my business.”

  “Well, it’s mine, and you’re my doctor. You’re bound by that oath you take to give me advice.”

  “Isaac Kennedy is your doctor. Ask him.”

  “Shiftless, good-for-nothing! He doesn’t come in off the golf course long enough to think of anyone but himself.”

  “I’ve got to go. I promised Ben and Rebecca one last ride on the Ferris wheel.”

  “If you like her children so much, why don’t you marry her?”

  The question startled Matt so much he couldn’t answer immediately. He’d never even thought of Liz in that way. Nor the children, for that matter. But that wasn’t the part that rendered him speechless. He could easily see himself as part of Liz’s family, and that scared him senseless.

  “I’m not in love with her.”

  Maybe not, but his feelings were very far from the cold, professional attitude he’d intended to maintain.

  Chapter Ten

  “Another picnic so soon?” Liz was saying to Ethan.

  “It’s summer. You have nothing to do on the weekend.”

  Matt didn’t enjoy having to listen to this conversation. They were walking home from the firemen’s picnic just as they had walked to it—Liz and Ethan walked ahead, Ben and Rebecca holding Matt’s hands. Ben tried to step on every crack. Rebecca tried to avoid them. Since the pavement was old and of poor quality, she jumped around like a puppet on a string.

  “Nothing except rescue my garden from weeds and can and freeze as much as possible,” Liz said.

  “How about next Sunday? The devil will get you if you work on Sunday.”

  “How about it, kids? Do you want to go on a picnic with me and Ethan?”

  “Yeah,” Ben said, pulling so hard on Matt’s arm he nearly pulled him off balance.

  “Can we go to the lake?” Rebecca asked.

  “Sure,” Ethan said.

  “Then I want to go.”

  The kids turned their attention back to the cracks in the sidewalk while Liz and Ethan discussed where to go and what to eat. Matt tried not to be jealous of Ethan’s attention to Liz, tried not to think of the feelings she aroused in him. He wasn’t successful on either score.

  Matt had never been ruled by his physical passions. He liked women, and he’d never denied himself the pleasure of their companionship, but his energies had always been focused on his career. Everything else was secondary.

  Maybe it was just the heat. Maybe it was all those hot dogs and cotton candy sloshing about in his stomach. Maybe it was the sight of Liz’s long bare legs, tightly molded backside, tapered back and bare arms—all just a few feet ahead of him. He felt like the donkey and Liz the carrot. He followed because he couldn’t do anything else.

  He couldn’t remember when he’d been so aware of a woman’s body. Or his own. Her nearness seemed to turn the sensitivity of his nerve endings up tenfold. He could feel the slight friction created by his shirt as it moved against the hairs on his chest, his suddenly sensitive nipples. The breeze seemed to activate every hair on his legs and thighs, creating a network of sensation that didn’t stop until it had worked its way up to his groin.

  He stubbornly refused to let his mind go further. Since he had chosen to wear cutoffs today, his inflamed condition would be clearly visible. Given the frank nature of everyone in Iron Springs, he could expect to have at least half a dozen people demand to know what and whom he was thinking about. He’d lusted after women before, but nothing like this had ever happened.

  But he had more to contend with on this sultry summer afternoon than lust.

  He liked Liz, although he wasn’t quite sure why. She didn’t hesitate to disagree with him, attack his philosophies, bully him into doing something he hated. At the same time, she bent over backward to make sure the clinic ran smoothly, didn’t complain too much when his constant lateness interrupted her schedule and seemed quite happy to let her children make a pet of him. She even cooked dishes he liked. For a man alone in a place he hated, that was very important.

  He looked down at the
two kids blissfully cavorting beside him, and he felt a great sense of loneliness sweep through him. He liked her kids. He even liked her aunt, and he liked being with them. Even being introduced to what seemed like hundreds of strangers hadn’t been as bad as he’d anticipated. He was pleased he’d managed to handle Salome and Josie Woodhouse without making them furious with him.

  Maybe the medical board had known what it was doing. Still, he warned himself not to expect too much, to steel himself from wanting Liz’s family to like him too well. Even if he had any intention of staying around, which he didn’t, small communities didn’t accept outsiders.

  “I want Matt to give me my bath,” Ben announced when they turned into Liz’s yard.

  “You can’t ask a stranger to give you a bath,” Ethan said.

  “Matt’s not a stranger,” Rebecca replied.

  It was obvious Ethan didn’t like the situation, Matt realized.

  “What does he know about bathing little boys?”

  “Not much,” Matt said. “Mostly I keep him from splashing all the water out of the tub. The soap takes care of the rest.”

  “You’ve done this before?” Ethan asked.

  “Lots,” Ben chirped with an ingenuous smile.

  “I hope you don’t let him give Rebecca her bath.”

  “For goodness’ sake, Ethan, Matt’s a doctor.”

  “I don’t see that makes any difference,” Ethan argued.

  “Mommy gives me my bath,” Rebecca said. “She says there are some times when girls have to stick together.”

  “Boys stick ’gether, too,” Ben added.

  “Fine, just don’t touch anything on your way inside,” Liz said, “Or you’ll stick to it and Matt will never get you loose.”

  Ben laughed when Matt grabbed him up and held him out at arm’s length. “Think we ought to put him under the hose first?”

  “Yes!” Rebecca said.

  “Noooooo!” Ben squealed.

  They headed toward the house, each child trying to convince Matt to use the hose on the other.