“What?” Alex was amazed. “I don’t even know what ‘poleaxed by love’ means.”
“It’s a Jenner family expression,” Maryann muttered. “You get sick. You want to die. All for the sake of love.”
“Sounds awful.” Alex noticed that his nurse was getting her color back. He felt they had averted some crisis.
Maryann smiled up at him. “I think it is actually. You should see my parents when they’re in love. Not with each other, of course. They’ve been divorced for years. But each time one of them is poleaxed, they stare into the eyes of their latest and get all disoriented just talking about it. They’re like children.”
Alex was quiet for a bit. Maybe there had been no discontent in the words she’d spoken about him to her cousin after all. “And how about you? Did you ever fall in love like that?”
“Me?” Maryann squeaked. She looked alarmed. And then much too pale. Finally, she shook her head. “I’m immune to that kind of stuff. I’ve seen it go wrong too many times.”
Alex frowned. That didn’t seem right. “But surely you plan to get married.”
“If I do, I plan to pick my husband based on reason. And genetics. I think good genes are important, don’t you?” Her cheeks were still pink, but he suspected it was indignation turning them rosy this time.
“Yes, but…” Alex was taken aback. He’d never met a woman who didn’t long to feel some intense emotions, especially when it came to marriage. He knew he had a reputation for being a little detached, but it didn’t seem right for someone like Maryann to feel that way, too.
Finally her face went back to its normal color, and she swallowed. “Look. There’s no need to beat around the bush about what happened the other night. I want you to know I didn’t mean anything by it. I was just talking with my cousin about how much I wanted you to stay on as the doctor here and, before you know it, she was talking about how you’d stay if you met someone to marry.”
Alex was beginning to feel better already. “So she was the one who was supposed to match me up with someone?”
Maryann swallowed again. “No, that was me.”
“You’re the one who was supposed to help me get poleaxed? With some woman you picked out?” He wondered if Maryann knew how cute she was. Funny, he’d never noticed before how her nose turned up just enough to make her look mischievous. And her eyes—the gold flecks in the brown made them look like they were twinkling. “I suppose I should be grateful I have a strong constitution. That whole thing sounds a bit tough.”
“Now see, that’s why I told my cousin I shouldn’t mention anything to you. I knew you’d just make fun of it and—”
Alex put up his hand. “I think it’s kind of sweet that you’re worried.”
The sun was shining in the window and Maryann’s face lit up in a smile. “You do?”
“You’re not thinking of one of those fancy women, I hope.” Alex said, wondering why he was going so easy on her.
Maryann shook her head. “I was thinking of Belinda Edwards.”
“Who?” Alex’s smile disappeared. He hadn’t really thought she had someone specific in mind for him. That changed everything.
Maryann took a step back. “You know. She’s the single mom who works in the office at the grade school. Long red hair and glasses. Midtwenties. She’s taking some online college courses to improve herself. She likes camping and watching DVDs at home. I’m pretty sure she’d go out with you if you asked.”
Alex was stunned. He still couldn’t believe it. “You haven’t just been talking? You’ve actually been matching me up?”
“Well, I haven’t asked her if she’s interested, but she does seem nice.”
Suddenly Alex didn’t feel like teasing her anymore. How could she call him an ice man, when she was trying to marry him off to someone he’d never even had a conversation with? That was more than a little cold. “Do you even know this woman?”
“Belinda gets her hair cut at the same place I do. She’s got gorgeous hair, by the way. And I like her.”
“You haven’t been in Treasure Creek much more than a month. How often have you had your hair cut in that time?” he asked.
Alex couldn’t believe Maryann was standing there smiling at him, like he should be grateful she was trying to find some woman to marry him. Like he was desperate. Like he didn’t have things he needed to do before he settled down and got married.
“I don’t have time to date anyone,” Alex said with as much dignity as he could manage. “Now, if you’ll excuse me, I need to do some paperwork.”
He walked down to the exam room and closed the door. He didn’t have anything to write, and she probably knew it.
But at least he’d gotten away with his self-respect intact. He’d been so sure the story had been reported to him with errors. He hadn’t admitted it to himself until now, but he’d been confident she’d started that conversation with her cousin because Maryann was interested in dating him herself. Her, not some Belinda Edwards who liked to camp.
He had been planning to turn Maryann down gently, of course. They’d had a quiet friendship that was building during the time she’d been here, and he was afraid to disrupt that. He didn’t want her to hand in her resignation as his previous nurse had done, either. But apparently he’d been mistaken. She wasn’t interested in dating him at all.
It took him a moment or two, but he finally told himself it was for the best.
He already had his plane tickets to leave in three weeks. He’d get someone to fly him to Juneau, and then on to Anchorage. He’d take a flight south from there. A month from now, he’d be looking for property in Los Angeles where he’d build his clinic.
He had plans. He’d been awarded a large grant from a local foundation to cover the cost of the ground he needed. And he’d saved every extra penny he made moonlighting as a tour guide up here, to help with the construction. He’d have to take out a loan of course, but his savings would provide just enough for the needed downpayment. Until he did something to pay back his brother for saving his life, Alex didn’t feel free to live a normal life. The small clinic would be named after his brother.
After all, Rocco couldn’t get married, since he couldn’t even meet a woman, as long as he confined himself to their parents’ house. Worse yet, his brother couldn’t realize his childhood hope of being a surgeon, not with his hands and his legs as crippled as they were by the accident. Alex knew he could never give his brother his dreams back, but the plaque for the clinic he planned to build would show his brother how much he appreciated the sacrifice he had made.
He needed to do something before he could even say he was sorry.
He’d tried to give his brother other things in the past. So far, the only thing Rocco had accepted was the money to pay for that attendant. His brother said no to anything else, saying money couldn’t buy him what he really needed. There was nothing else Alex could give him, except a clinic built in his name. He knew Rocco liked the idea, because he smiled every time Alex mentioned it. Maybe, once the clinic was built, Rocco’s bitterness would fade.
And if Rocco was happier, maybe Alex could ask him for forgiveness. Maybe his parents could also forgive the past and live in the present. Right now, no one was free of the accident. His parents avoided each other and Rocco. Maybe, when the clinic was completed and Alex was home, he’d have his family back again.
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