For the Sake of Warwick Mountain (Harlequin Heartwarming) (10 page)

Emily threw her arms around Becca’s neck, planted a sloppy kiss on her cheek and skipped off the porch toward the McClains’.

Suddenly Granny’s voice sounded in Becca’s head, as clearly as if she sat in the rocker next to hers.

What have you gone and done, child? You itching to have your heart broke all over again?

It was just a simple kiss, Becca thought. No big deal.

Then why have you been in a trance all morning, like you’ve taken leave of your senses? Except your sense of smell, that is. I saw you bury your face in that sweater of his.

It had been years since a man had paid attention to her, Becca argued. Why shouldn’t she be allowed to enjoy the sensation?

Might come to enjoy it too much. So much you won’t want to let it go. What happens when Dr. Wonderful goes home to Hollywood?

When he left, she’d forget about him. After all, she had Emily and her job. She didn’t need a man in her life to make it complete.

Took you a powerful long time to forget Grady, and him no good and not worth shooting. How long you think it’ll take to forget a man like Matt Tyler?

All she’d have to do, Becca figured, was remind herself of the multitude of starlets Matt had returned to. That should clear her head fast.

And what about your heart?

Her heart wasn’t an issue. She wasn’t emotionally involved. Last night she’d simply enjoyed the company of an extremely handsome man.

Who smothered you with kindness. Was Grady ever that considerate?

Grady had his own agenda, Becca remembered, although she’d taken a long time to recognize that fact. Grady had cared only about Grady.

What’s on the doctor’s agenda?

Matt’s intentions didn’t matter, Becca insisted. He was nothing more than a summer fling. If that. He’d probably kissed her only because he felt sorry for her after she’d poured out her pathetic story.

But what a kiss.

Her bones melted at the memory of it, and she longed for another one.

She had to put a stop to her foolish thoughts.

She sprang from her chair and set her unread book aside. She’d trim the spirea hedge around the porch. The physical activity should drive her unwanted yearnings away and clear her head of Granny’s warnings.

She was passing through the house on her way to the barn for the loppers when the phone rang. The sound startled her, because folks in Warwick Mountain seldom used the telephone except in dire emergencies.

She grabbed the receiver with foreboding and a breathless “Hello.”

“Hope I’m not interrupting,” a deep, familiar voice announced.

“Matt?”

“Just had my phone installed. Had to try it out.”

Angry at herself for the way her heart responded merely at the sound of his voice, she said dryly, “Seems to be working fine.”

He must have registered the edge in her tone. “Don’t hang up. There’s something I want to tell you.”

Her heart pounded against her breastbone. Was he going to admit that she’d affected him as much as he had her? “I’m listening.”

“I met Jimmy Dickens.”

Swallowing the disappointment of her dashed expectations, she could almost hear Granny saying an I-told-you-so. “And?”

“He’s a super little kid. We have to talk his parents into starting his facial repairs immediately.”

She couldn’t be angry with a man who appreciated one of her favorite students. “I agree. But it’s going to be a hard sell. Mrs. Dickens is a pillar of the Baptist church. Your alleged reputation will be a real sticking point with her.”

“I have to try. The boy deserves better than what life’s dished out to him. I want to help.”

The sincerity in Matt’s voice was undeniable, and Becca felt her bones melting again. And her heart. How could she not be attracted to a man who cared about children and their suffering? “We could work in a visit to the Dickenses after seeing Lydia and the McClains tomorrow.”

“I’ll pick you up at one o’clock. That’ll give us the entire afternoon. Got a pencil?”

“Why?”

“I’ll give you my number.”

“Tomorrow is fine. I won’t need to call you back.”

“I’m not thinking about tomorrow.”

“Right,” she said. “I’ll have it in case someone needs a doctor.”

“You’ll have it in case you need me.” An unidentifiable emotion weighted his voice.

“Emily and I are perfectly healthy—”

“I’m still concerned about those lights in the woods,” he said. “I want you to call me if you see them again.”

A warm, fuzzy feeling suffused her. “I wouldn’t want to wake you in the middle of the night.”

“And I don’t want anything happening to you. Call me, no matter how late. Promise?”

She couldn’t resist his plea. “Promise.” She jotted down the number.

“See you at one tomorrow.” The line clicked as he hung up.

Becca replaced the receiver and leaned her forehead against the paneled wood of the hallway. “Oh, Granny, I think I’m in big trouble.”

What kind of trouble, child?

Becca was beginning to realize just how wonderful Dr. Wonderful really was.

* * *

M
ATT
HUNG
UP
the phone. Just the sound of Becca’s voice had made him ache to hold her again. Never had a woman fit in his arms as if he and she had been made for each other. Never had a mere kiss left him sleepless. Mere? Hardly. That kiss had been the stuff of legends. The contact had generated fireworks and rung bells. More than anything, he wanted to jump in his car this minute, drive straight to the Warwick farm and kiss her again.

He had promises to keep, however, so he forced himself to fasten his tool belt and return to the front room to install the last sheet of drywall.

As he crossed the threshold, the sight of a stranger perched on one of his sawhorses stopped him in his tracks.

“Dr. Tyler?” The man stood to face him.

The stranger had to be one of the locals, Matt realized. At least mid-seventies with weather-beaten skin, thick white hair and a tall lanky frame, he was dressed in denim overalls, a faded shirt and scuffed work boots. His hazel eyes seemed to spark with wisdom.

And guilt.

The stranger glanced toward the door as if afraid someone might spot him from outside.

“I’m Dr. Tyler. What can I do for you?”

“My name’s Jake Bennett,” the man said with a scowl. “I’m here about my sister, Lydia.”

CHAPTER TEN

M
ATT
SUPPRESSED
HIS
irritation, realizing the cat was apparently out of the bag about his sneak visit tomorrow. He wondered how Jake Bennett had found out.

Before Matt could say a word, however, Jake spoke again. “I could really use your help.”

The man had him thoroughly confused. Was Bennett here about his sister or himself? “You need a doctor?”

“Right,” Jack answered. “For my sister.”

Matt quickly surmised that Jake didn’t know about his wife’s plans for Lydia after all, so he pretended ignorance as well. “What’s her problem?”

“Sciatica.”

“I can come now if you like.” Matt reached to unfasten his tool belt.

Jake looked panicked and held up his hands. “Not so fast.”

“Or we could pick a time that’s more convenient,” Matt suggested easily.

“It’ll have to be when my wife’s not home.”

“She doesn’t want your sister to have medical attention?” Matt asked, continuing to pretend unawareness of the dynamics in the Bennett household.

Jake said, “I’m not sure she’d want you in the house.”

“She have something against doctors?” Matt found himself appreciating the irony of the situation. Both husband and wife wanted the same thing, without each other knowing.

“She doesn’t hold with men carousing with wild women,” Jake said. “Not that I do, either,” he added hurriedly, “but Lydia’s problem is an emergency.”

“What’s carousing with wild women got to do with me?” Matt asked in fake innocence while tamping down his annoyance at the legend with which the magazine writer had saddled him.

“Delilah read about you in some news article,” Jake said.

“You can’t believe everything you read,” Matt said mildly.

“Then it isn’t true?”

“What isn’t true?”

“That you dated all them movie actresses out there in Hollywood.”

“I definitely,” Matt said with a straight face, “did not date
all
of them.”

Jake Bennett was obviously no dummy and recognized when his leg was being pulled. His narrowed eyes accosted Matt with an accusing glance. “How many?” he demanded.

“None of your business.”

“It is if my sister’s going to be your patient.”

“
Patient
is the operative word,” Matt said hotly. “I want to cure her, not date her.”

Jake gazed at him with a glimmer of respect. “You stand your ground, don’t you, young feller?”

“I’m not a lecher, Mr. Bennett, and if your sister’s in pain, I’d like to help.”

“Lydia’s not the only one in pain,” Jake admitted. He sank onto the sawhorse, shoulders slumped. “She’s a terrible patient and driving Delilah stark staring mad. But she’s my own flesh and blood, so I can’t turn her out of my house. Not while she’s ill.”

“I see your dilemma.”

Jack scratched his head. “Problem is, how do we get you in without Delilah knowing about it?”

Matt took a moment to pretend to ponder the situation. “I may have a solution. Your niece Rebecca has invited me to visit Delilah with her tomorrow.”

“She has?” Jake looked surprised. “And Delilah agreed?”

“Becca assures me that your wife is one of the most gracious and hospitable women in Warwick Mountain.”

“That’s my Delilah, all right,” Jake said with a glow of pride. “She’ll accept you if you’re Becca’s guest.” Then his expression sobered. “Do you think you can cure Lydia’s sciatica? Nothing the Blairsville doctor prescribed has worked, and if I don’t send her home soon, Delilah won’t be speaking to me.”

“While I’m at your house tomorrow, I’ll talk to your sister and examine her and see what I can do,” Matt promised.

“But not a word to Delilah or anyone else that I’ve talked to you,” Jake demanded. “She’d nail my hide to the barn door.”

“This will be our secret.”

“Thank you.” Jake rose, straightened his shoulders and extended his hand. Matt grasped it firmly.

As the old man was leaving, Jake turned in the doorway. “But no shenanigans,” he warned, “or it’ll be
your
hide nailed to the barn door.”

Unable to decide whether he was more irritated or amused, Matt merely nodded, and Jake slipped away.

Matt looked at the drywall that needed hanging, but went instead to the phone in the back room to place a call to Steve Williams, his friend and colleague who specialized in back problems. Matt was caught dead in the middle of a family intrigue, but he also had his first patient in Warwick Mountain. Perhaps if he could alleviate Jake’s sister’s back pain, the Dickens and McClain families would be open to his treating their children.

He dialed Steve’s number, hoping the neurologist would give him the knowledge he needed to ease Lydia’s sciatica. Matt had to admit that curing her might also raise his stock a notch or two with Becca. If he intended to win the schoolmarm’s approval, he would need all the help he could muster.

* * *

L
ATE
THE
FOLLOWING
afternoon, Becca gazed with mixed emotions at the pile of shipping crates and packing boxes the UPS driver had just deposited on her porch.

“Dwight had promised us some supplies,” she said to Matt, who climbed the steps behind her as they returned from their afternoon of visiting, “but I had no idea he’d be so generous.”

“Not that you’re likely to need them before next summer when Dwight returns.” Matt sank into a rocker, clearly disappointed by the lack of progress the afternoon had yielded.

Becca feared he was right, but she tried to put a positive spin on the day’s events. “At least you were able to help Lydia.”

“We won’t know that for a while,” Matt said with a weariness she hadn’t noted in him before. “After talking with the specialist and then examining Lydia, I’m almost certain she has a bacterial infection of the sciatic nerve. Even if my diagnosis is correct, the antibiotic I gave her won’t take effect for a few days.”

Determined to raise his spirits, Becca perched on the porch rail in front of him. “But once it does, when folks see how you’ve helped her, maybe they’ll give you a chance.”

With a dubious expression, Matt tugged his fingers through his hair. “Maybe. But I doubt a sciatica cure will be enough to persuade Lizzie’s or Jimmy’s parents. You were there. You saw how adamant they were.”

Matt’s disappointment was palpable, and Becca fought the urge to wrap her arms around him and comfort him. Their visits with the two families had been polite but strained, and neither couple had budged an inch on allowing Matt to treat their children.

“Their conditions aren’t life-threatening,” Matt said, “so their parents are willing to wait until next summer for Dwight. They don’t want a reprobate touching their precious little ones.” Anger filled his voice and caused the chiseled planes of his face to darken. “What kind of monster do they think I am?”

“They don’t think you’re a monster,” Becca said quickly. “But you have to remember where you are. Folks around here take womanizing seriously.”

“Womanizing?” Matt snapped with annoyance. “Is that what I am, a womanizer? Just for dating beautiful women?”

Becca shrugged, fighting the jealousy that bubbled inside her and regretful that she’d stirred his anger, but she’d opened this can of worms and had to deal with it. “That magazine article implied a great deal more than dating.”

“Okay,” Matt admitted, his temper flaring. “But I’ve always been clear about my intentions, and that there were no strings attached.”

Becca sighed. “That’s the problem. You’re in a different world here, caught in a clash of cultures.”

He shook his head. “These people are human, too, with the same wants we all share.”

Becca felt her own face redden. “I’m walking proof of that.”

“I’m sorry,” Matt said instantly, “I didn’t mean to imply—”

“I concede your point,” Becca said quickly with more calm that she felt. “And it’s true these people aren’t saints. Everyone falls short of the mark now and then. The difference,” she added gently, “is that when we ordinary folks do, it isn’t overblown and published in a national magazine.”

“What about forgiveness?” Matt demanded with obvious frustration. “Isn’t that important, too?”

“You just said how human these folks are. Forgiving doesn’t come easy for most of us.” Becca thought for a moment. “Folks, too, are afraid.”

“Of me?”

If the topic hadn’t been so serious, Becca would have laughed at the astonishment on his face. “No, not of you. They’re afraid of being ostracized. Accused of guilt by association.”

“But if I can help their children—”

“They don’t see it that way. As you said, Lizzie and Jimmy aren’t in danger, although both children are suffering emotionally from their disfigurements. They bear the taunts and teasing of the other children, the knowledge that they’re different. Maybe their parents don’t want to add to their embarrassment by having them treated by a man with a questionable reputation.”

“I’m a doctor,” Matt said, his anger at defeat evident, “not a sociologist. I don’t have the skills to deal with a culture clash. I might as well take the next plane back to L.A.”

Becca’s heart stuttered at the possibility. “Your being here still helps.”

“I don’t know how.”

She poked the nearest packing crate with her toe. “Look at all the work you’ve done at the feed store. If you set up this equipment and inventory these supplies, Dwight will be able to go straight to work when he arrives next summer.”

She tried not to think of her neighbors who might be spared complications of serious illnesses if they’d allow Matt to examine and treat them now. Or of Lizzie and Jimmy enduring another year of cruel taunts.

“You could have hired a carpenter for building the office,” Matt said glumly. “Doesn’t take a medical degree to frame a few walls.”

“But I
couldn’t
hire a carpenter,” Becca said with sincerity and more warmth than she’d intended. She glanced at her hands, clasped in her lap, to hide her feelings from him. “Couldn’t afford one. I want you to know how much I appreciate all you’ve done.”

She lifted her head again, and his eyes met hers. An unmistakable current flowed between them. His glum expression disappeared, replaced by a soft smile that made her weak.

“If you’re trying to make me feel better,” he said lightly, “it’s working.”

“Stay for supper?” Becca was reluctant for him to leave, yet she was afraid of her own reactions if he remained. She made the offer, almost hoping he’d turn her down. “It’s the least I can do to make up for your dismal afternoon.”

“You keep feeding me wonderful meals,” he said jokingly, “and I’ll grow so accustomed to great cooking, you’ll have to marry me.”

“You keep asking,” Becca replied in the same bantering tone, “and I’ll
have
to say yes.”

A look of surprise seemed to jolt through him, and she wondered if she’d crossed the line in her teasing.

“I’d better get supper started,” she said quickly and hopped from the porch rail. “You might want to load these boxes in your car while it’s still light.”

Without a backward glance, she escaped to the kitchen before she said or did anything else foolish.

Talk about a clash of cultures.

How could she allow herself to be so deeply affected by a man whose world was so different from her own? She had no future with Matt Tyler. And unless she wanted to end up with her heart broken, she’d better etch that fact in her mind and use it as a shield against Matt’s appeal.

* * *

T
HREE
DAYS
LATER
, Becca parked in front of the feed store and steeled herself for seeing Matt again for the first time since the evening of their unsuccessful visits. She’d enjoyed too much having him at her table that night. Had appreciated too much his easy interaction with Emily, his sense of humor, his insistence on clearing the table and washing the dishes. To her dismay, Becca had found herself fantasizing about Matt as a permanent fixture in their lives—until the cold, hard reality of their situations had kicked in again.

Different worlds, different values.

No future in that.

“What did you say, Mama?” Emily asked beside her.

Great, Becca thought, the man had her crazy, talking out loud to herself. “Nothing, sweetie. Let’s go see what Dr. Tyler’s been doing to the feed store.”

“What about the picnic?” Emily asked.

“This won’t take long.”

Becca left the car, unbuckled Emily from her seat in the back and held the girl’s hand as they climbed the stairs. The double doors stood open to the morning breeze, but no sounds emanated from the building.

When they stepped across the threshold, Becca gasped in surprise.

“Wow!” Emily said. “Dr. Matt did all this?”

“He’s a miracle worker.” Becca took in the waiting area Matt had set up in the front half of the store. An attractive, brightly colored area rug delineated the space on which chairs, sofas, tables and lamps had been arranged. One corner held a low table covered with books and toys and surrounded by chairs designed for children.

Beside the door to the doctor’s office sat a desk, topped with a telephone, an appointment book and a sign that read Receptionist.

“What do you think?” Matt’s deep voice asked beside her.

“Hi, Dr. Matt,” Emily said.

“Hey, short stuff,” Matt answered.

Becca had been so enthralled by the store’s transformation, she hadn’t heard him enter the waiting room. “I can’t believe how much you’ve accomplished. This is wonderful.”

Matt’s shrug emphasized his broad shoulders, but disappointment, not nonchalance, glimmered in his eyes. “Amazing what you can do when nothing else claims your time.”

“Emily.” Becca pointed to the table in the corner. “Why don’t you see what books Dr. Tyler bought.”

“Okay.” The little girl skipped across the room, settled in one of the petite chairs and selected the largest picture book from the pile.

Becca turned back to Matt, giving herself a strong silent reprimand not to be taken in by his warm brown eyes and heart-stopping good looks.

“I’m sorry I haven’t had better luck at recruiting patients,” she said. “I’ve called on several families to encourage them to see you, but no luck. I’m hoping when more of them meet you at the picnic today, they’ll change their minds.”