This was his nurse? He could more easily picture her sashaying down a runway than pushing a wheelchair down a hospital corridor. But she was a friend of Allison’s, and she had a sincere-looking smile, so he supposed he had to trust that she had some idea of how to take care of people.
“So how did you manage to do this to yourself?” Sherry asked, indicating the full-leg fiberglass cast.
Jonathan didn’t want to talk about his accident. He hadn’t been bucked from a horse for a good many years, and it was an embarrassment that he’d let his normally placid gelding get the best of him.
“Sheer stupidity,” he finally answered, hoping it would quell her curiosity.
“Let me show you to your room,” Allison said. She looked at the small case Sherry held in her left hand. “You brought more luggage than that, right?”
“Oh, lots more,” Sherry replied. “I don’t travel light.”
“If you’ll give me your keys,” Jeff said, “I’ll bring your stuff in from the car.”
Sherry obliged him, then allowed Allison to lead her down a hallway to the bedrooms. The children, who’d been staring at Sherry as if she were some exotic animal at the zoo, trailed after the two women. “You’re right across the hall from Jonathan,” Allison was saying as their voices faded away.
“Holy cow,” Pete said, stifling a laugh.
“She’s…different,” said Edward, who made a show of mopping his round face with his handkerchief.
“Jeff warned us Sherry was flamboyant,” Wade said, grinning ear to ear. “But nothing could have prepared me for the reality. She’s kind of…”
“Kind of what?” Anne asked in a teasing voice as she joined Wade on the couch, leaning her head on his shoulder. “Last I checked, you liked big hair and tight clothes.”
Wade’s face turned ruddy. “Not for a nurse,” he murmured, though he and Anne shared an understanding look. Anne, who was normally a sedate, conservative attorney, had first caught Wade’s eye by decking herself out like a country-western singer, complete with sequins, and brazenly flirting with him at a rodeo.
Edward fixed his oldest son with a penetrating stare. “You’re awfully quiet about all this. What do you think of her? Are you comfortable with her taking care of you and the kids?”
Comfortable? Not likely, when he had an arousal like a steel bar pushing against his jeans.
He shrugged, trying to look indifferent. “I’m sure she’ll be fine, and if she’s not, I’ll send her packing.” He fervently hoped she would be a terrible nurse, and that he would find ten excuses before nightfall to fire her. Because otherwise he was going to have to work to keep his hands off her.
Chapter Two
Sherry struggled to breathe normally as Allison took her on a tour of the house. Though no women had inhabited this house for many years, it was neat and clean as a convent, calming her earlier fears. Which was good, because she had plenty of new concerns—like how she was going to remain a detached care-giver while caring for the most gorgeous man she’d ever laid eyes on.
She’d only been teasing Allison when she’d asked if Jonathan was good-looking. Normally she didn’t care what her patients looked like, only that they needed her. She’d figured that if he was related to Jeff, who was movie-star handsome, he wouldn’t be a gargoyle. But nothing had prepared her for exactly how good-looking the older brother would be—and very different from Jeff.
He was taller, for one thing. Sherry could tell even though Jonathan had been in a recliner. He was rangier, too—a bit broader in the shoulders, more sinewy, like a cowboy from those old cigarette billboards. His face still held on to its summer tan, though it was almost winter. His dark, wavy hair, a little unruly, was nothing like Jeff’s sun-burnished locks. But it was the eyes that really caught Sherry in a snare. Dark, mysterious, wary. Nothing tickled her libido faster than a man with secrets to hide.
Unfortunately, her policy was strictly hands-off when it came to her patients. What a bummer. Why couldn’t a guy like him show up in her life when she could actually take advantage?
Well, she might not be here that long, she reminded herself. The man’s superficial smile hadn’t extended to his eyes. Jonathan Hardison didn’t want her in his house.
She didn’t always make a great first impression. That was something she’d learned early, though she’d never understood why it was true. She always tried to be her most pleasant when she met new people.
At least most people liked her when they got to know her. Jonathan’s resistance made her just that much more determined to win him over—if he didn’t fire her first.
As for the kids, they were so precious they made her heart ache. All children made her feel that way, bringing back memories she’d just as soon keep buried. She liked to think she would be good with children, but in reality she hadn’t spent enough time around any to know. She imagined she could keep them safe, clean and fed, which was the minimum this job required. But she wasn’t sure if they would like her. For all she knew, they might believe she was trying to replace their mother.
“We laid in some groceries earlier today,” Allison was explaining as they entered the kitchen. “I have no idea what you like to cook, so I bought some staples and also frozen convenience stuff, just in case. The ranch has an account at the grocery store, so you can just charge whatever you want.”
Sherry inspected the cupboards and refrigerator contents in the large, homey kitchen. There seemed to be plenty of everything she would need for several days. “Will I need to get some sort of authorization?”
Allison looked at her blankly. “For what?”
“To charge the groceries.”
Allison laughed. “That’s not necessary. I just called Clem down at Grubbs’ Food Mart and let him know it’s okay for you to sign on the Hardison account.”
Wow. That was small-town life, Sherry guessed. Everyone knew everyone and trusted everyone, apparently. Sherry wasn’t sure how she felt about that. She was accustomed to the anonymity of the big city. She met new people every day and none of them could judge her on her past, only on what she let them see.
Sometimes that was enough, she conceded with a grin.
“Why are you smiling?” the little girl asked.
Sherry’s grin grew. “Because I’m happy to be here, I guess. Sometimes I just smile for the heck of it. You know, doctors have done tests on people that prove smiling makes you happy, even if you aren’t happy to start with.”
“That sounds like hogwash,” the boy said as he peered hopefully into an empty cookie jar.
Sam, Sherry reminded herself. Sam and Kristin. She prided herself on remembering names because she’d learned that her patients felt more relaxed when she related to them as people, one on one.
“Sam!” Allison scolded. “That wasn’t very nice.”
“He just says that word because Grandpa Pete says it and he thinks it’s funny,” Kristin said. Then she turned shy blue eyes on Sherry. “You have pretty teeth.”
“Best teeth money can buy,” Sherry quipped.
Allison started to say something, then stopped.
“What?” Sherry prompted.
“I was just wondering what happened to your real teeth, because I’m a dentist and therefore unnaturally interested in people’s mouths. But it’s a rude question.”
“No, it’s not,”