He yanked at the collar of his button-down shirt. His sleeves were rolled up to the elbows, and her gaze was drawn to his forearms. The instantaneous memory of running her hands down his arms to entwine her fingers with his had her blood heating to a rapid boil.
“I saw your car parked outside and figured you’d heard about Stan.” His voice was both solemn and sexy.
She nodded hesitantly and recovered her voice. “How is he?”
Kyle filled her in on Stan’s condition, ending with, “He’s scheduled for a triple bypass tomorrow.”
Ashleigh did the recovery calculation in her head. “So he won’t be able to come back to work anytime soon.”
“That’s if everything goes smoothly.”
There was an uncomfortable silence until Kyle finally spoke. “Stan put his own stamp on this office, didn’t he?” He gestured to the mementos spread around the space.
“I remember coming here as a little girl when it was my dad’s office.” Her throat thickened with emotion. “He had that huge oak desk that had been passed down from his grandfather. The one I used to use.” She’d put it in storage when she moved away from Grand Oaks.
“He would set me right here.” She motioned to the area on the desk in front of her. “And he would point his finger at me and say, ‘You can be anything you want to be. Just because I chose medicine doesn’t mean you have to.’ Then he’d wink and say, ‘But it sure would be nice to work next to you.’” Then he would pull a lollipop from the desk drawer and hand it to her.
“He was a great guy,” Kyle said with a sad smile. “It’s too bad the two of you didn’t get to live out his dream for longer than that one year.”
A cloud of melancholy blanketed her as the memories of her now-deceased father bombarded her. “He used to tell me how, back when he first opened the practice, people would pay him in chickens and vegetables or even cigarettes when money was scarce. Especially the families who had someone serving in Vietnam, leaving the women to deal with everyday life at home, including their sick children.”
“Those must have been tough times,” Kyle said.
Ashleigh nodded. “My dad would make house calls back then. Not only to those with sick children, but he regularly visited homes where food was scarce. He’d bring them the food other patients had paid him in, saying he couldn’t use all of it before it would spoil.”
Kyle spoke gently. “I always considered him as much a mentor as a father-in-law.”
Ashleigh missed her father so much, but he would have been extremely disappointed in her. He wouldn’t have liked knowing she’d left town when her marriage failed, abandoning the practice he’d built.
Kyle walked over to the credenza under the window to look at Stan’s framed photos. He finally broke the silence with a change of subject. “Stan won’t be able to work for a while. Do you have anyone to help out with the practice?”
Ashleigh related her plan to fill in until Samantha arrived.
“What about Paula? You can’t be two places at once.”
“I’ve got someone coming in to help while I’m here. Paula’s not happy about it, but I’ve given her no choice.” Paula’s compassion for Stan was the only reason she gave in about hiring help.
“She understands, though, right?”
Ashleigh met his dark blue questioning gaze. “I guess so. Not that she’s pleased about it.” She stood and shoved the wheeled desk chair back into the bookshelves. Blood rushed in her ears. “Can’t blame her, though. First, she didn’t want me here, and I tell her that I’m here whether she likes it or not. Then I say I’m sorry but I have to help out somewhere else and, oh, by the way, here’s a stranger I hired to take care of you.”
She knew her voice was getting louder and louder, but she couldn’t help herself.
“It’s not like you’re responsible for Stan’s heart attack.”
Ashleigh turned away, crossing her arms over her chest. “I’m not sure that’s a true statement.”
“Ashleigh?”
She didn’t say anything. The guilt was eating her up. Stan wasn’t well this morning. Why hadn’t she suggested he see a doctor right then and there?
She spun in Kyle’s direction, changing the subject before she blurted out the truth.
“Anyway, Kyle, I’m not sure why you care so much about what’s happening with me and this practice. You’re the one who told me to go home last night!” Ashleigh came around the desk until she was a few feet from him. She lowered her voice to an angry whisper. “‘You’re not needed here,’ you said. Well, if I took your advice, then I’d never have a chance of repairing my relationship with my sister. Or maybe that’s what you’re hoping. As long as Paula and I are estranged, then I won’t be back to visit and you won’t have to risk running into me.”
His jaw dropped open and he quickly snapped it shut.
A knock sounded on the door and Cammie stuck her head in. “Your first patient is waiting in exam room one.” She was gone as quickly as she’d appeared.
Kyle didn’t say a word. Said nothing to contradict Ashleigh’s statement. He merely left the office and never looked back to see the hurt that had to have been apparent on Ashleigh’s face.
CHAPTER FIVE
PAULA GLOWERED AT KYLE as he removed the blood pressure cuff from her arm a little while later. She waited until after the distinctive ripping sound of Velcro to hiss, “Of course my blood pressure is going to be high. It’s not like I’m living a stress-free life here.”
“Get over it,” he mumbled. He was sick of having his mettle sorely tested. His patience was growing thin. “You love the attention.” He spoke more gently, knowing Paula wasn’t to blame for either her predicament or his own. “You know we’re all concerned about you.” He returned the equipment to his medical bag. Keeping his gaze averted, he confessed, “That’s not the only reason I stopped by.”
“Go on,” she said.
“I wanted to apologize again for interfering last night. For asking Ashleigh to leave.”
“I understand why you did it.”
“You do?” He snapped his bag shut and met her eyes.
Her smile was devious. “She scares you.”
Kyle laughed at the idea. “That’s crazy.”
As crazy as Paula’s mood swings. One minute she was angry, the next sweet. Treating him as if he was the enemy was quickly followed by acting like his therapist. Who knew where her hormones would lead next. Not that he was about to verbalize his thoughts.
“Is it crazy?” She quirked an eyebrow exactly like her sister.
“Of course it is. Why would I be afraid of Ashleigh?”
“Maybe because you’ve never stopped loving her and now you’re afraid with her in town that she’s going to figure it out?”
“That’s definitely crazy,” he repeated, but then he paused to consider the notion. “Maybe I still care about her, but that’s as far as it goes. We were involved for half our lives. Feelings don’t have switches, you know.”
She tilted her head and narrowed her eyes. “Maybe you’re afraid she doesn’t feel the same way about you?”
“That’s ridiculous.” This whole conversation was ridiculous.
Paula’s skepticism was written all over her face. “Whatever you say.” Her eyes danced. Whether at his discomfort or her absolute confidence