He was just finishing up his notes when the door pushed open again and Boone Dorsett wandered into the small emergency clinic that Ethan had established with another doctor who’d also served in Iraq and Afghanistan. They’d agreed that the emergencies here in a small coastal community were unlikely to rise to the level of anything they’d coped with on their tours of duty in the military. Bumps, bruises and a few stitches were a day at the park compared to anything they’d seen, or in Ethan’s case, experienced firsthand.
He’d lost his lower left leg to an IED explosion in Afghanistan. While that might not have kept him out of an operating room once he was back stateside, it had gone a long way toward changing his need for the adrenaline rush of spending hours in a trauma unit or performing complicated, high-risk surgical procedures.
“You busy?” Boone asked, his tone nonchalant but his expression harried.
Ethan studied his friend’s face. “You look like you need to talk. Wedding jitters?”
Boone sat down, one leg bouncing up and down nervously, even though he uttered a denial.
“If it’s not about the wedding, what’s going on?” Ethan asked. He’d heard it was the best man’s duty to keep the groom calm and focused and make sure he turned up at the church on time. Emily Castle had made that very clear to him. So had her grandmother. It’s was Cora Jane’s admonition that had resonated. She’d threatened him with bodily harm if he failed to deliver Boone precisely at ten-thirty two weeks from Saturday.
“There’s something you maybe need to know,” Boone admitted.
“Okay,” Ethan replied slowly. “What?”
“You’re the best man, right?”
“So you keep telling me.”
“That means you have this sort of obligation to spend time with the maid of honor.”
Ethan stilled. “What does that mean, ‘spend time with’? We walk down the aisle together at the end of the service, right? Maybe sit next to each other at the head table and deliver our heartfelt toasts about how inevitable it all was that the two of you wound up together?”
“I think maybe Emily is expecting a little more than that,” Boone acknowledged, squirming uncomfortably.
Ethan’s gaze narrowed. “And why would Emily be expecting anything more? And why are you warning me?”
“Because I don’t want you to be blindsided. I know how you are about dating. Ever since you got back from overseas, you’ve been this social recluse.”
“I was still engaged when I came back,” Ethan reminded him. At least he had been for about twenty minutes, until all the hero worship died down and Lisa had admitted she didn’t think she could stay with someone “who’s not whole.” It was the first time Ethan had really seen himself as others probably saw him, as someone who was no longer quite the same man he used to be.
The only good thing to come out of that ugly breakup was his increased determination not only to ensure that his injury put no limitations on his life, but to see that kids with physical disabilities learned to view themselves in a positive way. That mission to salvage his own dignity and help others had given his life a much-needed purpose. Project Pride filled hours that otherwise might have been spent on this so-called social life Boone—or more likely, Emily—thought he needed.
“It’s been three years since you split with Lisa,” Boone pointed out.
“Since she dumped me,” Ethan corrected to keep the record straight.
“She was a self-absorbed twit,” Boone said with feeling, “but let’s not go there. My very low opinion of your ex is not the point.”
“Then what is the point?” Ethan asked, frowning.
There was no mistaking his friend’s discomfort as Boone finally muttered, “Heaven only knows why, but Emily seems to have gotten this idea that you and her sister Samantha are perfect for each other.”
“Excuse me?” Ethan said, hoping he’d heard incorrectly.
“Come on, Ethan,” Boone said impatiently, “you know exactly what I said. I didn’t leave a lot of room for misinterpretation.”
“Samantha, the maid of honor,” Ethan said, finally getting all the implications of this little scheme of the bride-to-be. He shook his head and directed a warning look at his friend that he hoped would put the fear of God into him. “No way, Boone! You need to tell Emily to forget it. Being subjected to matchmaking, meddling or whatever you want to call it, that’s definitely not part of what I signed on for.”
Boone gave him an incredulous look. “Have you met Emily? She’s got me in here spouting off like a blasted girl about stuff that is absolutely none of my business!”
“Okay, she’s tough and determined. I’ll give you that, but you’re tougher,” Ethan said.
Boone shrugged. “Not so much.”
“I’ll bail on you,” Ethan threatened. “I swear I will.”
Boone merely rolled his eyes in disbelief. “No, you won’t. Besides, I can kind of see it. You and Samantha. She’s beautiful. You’re handsome. You’d make gorgeous babies, and that is a direct quote from Emily, by the way.”
Ethan stared at him. “What has happened to you? Since when do you get involved in matchmaking, much less on the basis of how pretty any resulting babies would be?”
“Emily was very convincing,” Boone said, then grinned. “Besides, she says Samantha had a crush on you back in the day. She seems to think this is destiny or something.”
Ethan searched his memory, but no image came to mind, just bits and pieces of more recent gossip. “Isn’t Samantha an actress? Younger than me by a couple of years at least? She went off to New York to be a star or something? Does that really sound like someone who’d be suited for life with a small-town doctor? The whole Lisa experience pretty much cured me of having unrealistic expectations when it comes to women.”
“Emily believes Samantha is ready for a change of direction. She keeps talking about Samantha’s summer of transformation or some such. Believe me, she has a plan.”
Now Ethan couldn’t hide his amusement. “And how does Samantha feel about that?”
“She might not have figured it out just yet,” Boone admitted. “But she will, once Emily spends a little time with her. I have complete confidence in Emily’s powers of persuasion. She’s also highly motivated. She and Samantha haven’t always been on the best terms. I think she sees this as a chance to turn that around and truly bond with her older sister.”
“By delivering a man into her life?” Ethan asked incredulously. “One she may not even want?”
“Emily’s convinced she has this right,” Boone countered. “And just so you know, I think Cora Jane’s on her side in this, too. She has an uncanny knack for these things. If you ask me, you’re pretty much doomed. I’m just giving you fair warning.”
“Just because Emily—or Cora Jane, for that matter—can obviously twist you around her little finger and get you to buy into all this sisterly bonding and destiny nonsense doesn’t mean she’ll have the same effect on the rest of us,” Ethan said.
In fact, he could pretty much guarantee he wouldn’t get with the program. He’d had his fill of silly, shallow women who thought looks were everything. His ex-fiancée had seen to that.
He realized exactly how bitter that made him sound. Well, he was bitter. In fact, he’d been counting on that for quite some time now to keep his heart safe, no matter who was scheming against him. Up to now it had worked like a charm.
Then, again, he hadn’t tested it against the likes of Emily and