Midnight Remedy (5 page)

“Stubbornness and courage will take you a long way, girl. Wasn’t the first or last time I’ve been proud of you, either.”

Surprised at the sudden sentimentality from the crusty old rancher, she made light of it. “Guess you’re getting forgetful in your old age. Last week you said I was the cussedest female you’d ever known.”

Charlie bristled, starting to argue, but then smiled. “Crafty little thing, leading me off the scent like that. Tell me why you’re going out with a fella you said you had no use for.”

“I didn’t say that. Besides, it’s just dinner.”

“Just dinner,” her grandfather repeated, his eyes twinkling. “Then why are you wearing a skirt? And isn’t that a new blouse?”

“I’ve had it for months,” she lied without a blush. “Thanks for staying with Cole.”

Charlie grunted. “About time you started going out again. All you ever do is work on those danged plants of yours. Last time you went was—”

She held up a hand to cut him off. “If this time’s as bad as that, I’m swearing off men forever.” How could she date when there weren’t any single men close to her age? Around here, anyway, and the last time she went out of town and had a date, he’d competed for the title of “Most Boring.” Until he took her back to her hotel. She hoped he was still limping. “Dr. Chambers is just trying to get on my good side so I’ll tell him what I put in that herbal recipe.”

“You think that’s what this is about?” Charlie asked her. “He could’ve gone about it another way, if that’s all he wanted.”

“Your imagination is working overtime, Grandpa. Even if he was interested, I’m not. I’m not looking to get involved with another doctor. Or any man, for that matter.”

“Then why are you going out with him?”

The doorbell rang and Piper hurried to get it. Having asked herself the same question fifty times, she still hadn’t come up with a satisfactory answer.

The steakhouse in Alpine
combined good food, cold beer and loud country music, providing better entertainment than almost anywhere else around. Smoky, loud, crowded, it wasn’t a scene for seduction, which suited Piper fine.

The hostess slapped two ice cold mugs of beer on the table with a sloshing, dish-rattling thud and disappeared as quickly as she had come. An enormous head foamed up, spilling over the sides of the mug. Piper grabbed the salt shaker and threw a pinch of salt into the brew, killing the head instantly.

Realizing Eric was staring she said, “Have some salt. Gives it a good flavor, too.” She took a healthy sip and set the mug down, satisfied.

“A true beer drinker, are you?” he asked, smiling.

It really wasn’t fair, she decided, that he had such a great smile. Fortunately, it didn’t affect her
 . . .
much. “Just a country girl at heart, Doc,” she drawled, crossing one leg over the other and lounging back in her chair.

“Have you always lived around here?”

She nodded. “Except for college.”

“Where did you go?” A cell phone rang. Eric’s hand went to his belt.

Disappointment shot through her, more than she wanted to feel. “Well, it’s been fun.”

“Habit. It’s not mine, but whenever I hear one, I think it’s for me.”

“I read that in the cities drug dealers carry them.”

“Thanks a lot.”

Piper laughed. “I just meant it’s funny how many different people use them now.”

“That’s true. I’ll try not to take offense at being compared to a drug dealer. Of course, you already suspect me of being in league with the crime lords.”

She gaped at him. “I never said that.”

He cocked an eyebrow at her. “No?”

“That’s not
 . . .
I didn’t mean
 . . .
What I meant
 . . .
” She stammered and suddenly stopped. Her eyes narrowed and she glared at him. “You knew I didn’t think that.”

“Yeah, but it was impossible to resist.” He smiled at her again. “Come on, Piper. A minute ago you compared me to a pusher.”

Her voice rose with her frustration. “I did not!”

“Say, Piper, this fella botherin’ ya?”

A sunburned older man in a beat up straw cowboy hat towered massively over their table. Oh, Lord, it would be, she thought. “Sam. What are you doing here?”

“I’d surely love to help you, darlin’, seein’s how Charlie ain’t around. Do I need to take this fella outside and learn him some manners?” Hitching up his pants, he leaned closer to Eric.

She risked a glance at Eric, who was struggling not to laugh. Her irritation faded as quickly as it had flared. “That’s okay, Sam. It’s nothing. This is Eric Chambers, the new doctor from Capistrano. Eric, meet Sam Buckner.”

Sam snorted. “Charlie know you’re out with this
 . . .
” he looked Eric up and down disparagingly, “this doctor fella?”

Piper choked down her exasperation. It never did any good with Sam, who was even more protective of her than Charlie was. “Sam’s the foreman on the ranch,” she explained to Eric. “He seems to have forgotten I’m a grown woman.”

“Ain’t forgot it. Grown women need pertectin’ more’n young ‘uns,
if
you catch my drift. I’m settin’ right over there.” Motioning at a table with a sweep of his brawny arm, he pinned Eric with a warning glare, and stalked off.

Eric watched him go with a smile tugging on his mouth, then turned to Piper. “Now I’ve been put properly in my place. Something tells me I wouldn’t want to tangle with Sam.”

“Well,” her cheeks dimpled in a smile, “Sam might be old, but he’s tough as boot leather.”

“I don’t doubt it.” He reached out and covered one of her hands with his. “Truce?”

His light touch sent a sparkle of excitement flowing through her bloodstream. Bewildered by the unexpected strength of the sensation, she raised her eyes to find him looking at her with a half-smile on his face. His eyes, she realized, changed color with his feelings. Gray at times, right now they glowed a deep, ivy green, with no gray in them at all. Her heart thumped in a staccato rhythm and she felt breathless, like she did when one of her hybrid experiments turned out successfully. “Truce,” she agreed.

Eric released her hand. “So, where did you go to school?”

Thankfully, her breathing evened out. “Texas Tech.”

“Lubbock’s a nice town. I’ve got some friends who live there. What’s your degree in?”

Friends in Lubbock? Oh, God, she couldn’t possibly be that unlucky, could she? Piper felt her color rising and cursed silently. “I majored in horticulture, but I didn’t finish my degree.” She took a sip of beer, her fingers tightening on the glass. “My life took an
 . . .
unexpected turn my junior year.”

“Sorry, I didn’t mean to bring up painful subjects.”

“It’s not anymore,” she said, shrugging.
Liar
, she thought. It still hurt every bit as much today as it did then.

Eric studied her for a minute. “You knew from the first that you wanted a career with plants? A lot of people don’t have a clue about what they want when they hit college.”

“I’ve had a thing about plants all my life. Grandpa still has a hard time believing you can make any money from it, but he’s always been supportive.”

“Can you?” Eric asked.

“Well
 . . .
” She grimaced. “Not much. So far, anyway. I’m trying to expand, so I’ve been hitting the shows in the larger cities. If I can make contacts there, I can ship to them. Unfortunately, though, my expansion is limited by my lack of capital.”
How did he do it?
she wondered.
Was he really that interested in what she said, or was it a talent of his to make a woman feel that she fascinated him?

“Have you thought about getting a loan?”

His smile said “trust me.” She didn’t, not for a minute. But it was fun talking to a man whose eyes didn’t glaze over at the mention of her business. Recalling his question, she nodded ruefully. “Sure. The local bank wouldn’t go for it unless my grandfather cosigned. Not that he wouldn’t have done it,” she hastened to assure him, “but it’s hard enough making a go of breeding cutting horses. I couldn’t let Grandpa take that risk.”

“I had the impression your grandfather’s operation is fairly large.”

“Medium sized. He’s down to about two hundred acres now that he runs longhorns on. The cutting horse operation is his main source of income. He’s just gotten a new stud, though, that we’re excited about.”

“You could try another bank,” Eric suggested. “One that would give you the loan on the merit of your business alone.”

“I could,” she agreed, “but I decided against it rather than risk overextending myself. I’ll just have to take it slow, which probably isn’t a bad idea given the present economic climate in Texas.”

“You’ve got a point there.” He stroked his finger down the side of the beer mug.

Piper found herself watching those strong, competent hands, wondering what they’d feel like if he were to—

“Why African violets and orchids?” he asked, interrupting her wayward thoughts.

She forced herself to concentrate on the subject. What was the matter with her? She hardly knew him. Think plants, not sex, she ordered herself. “I got into them by chance. When I was a child I visited an African violet nursery in Dallas. It was love at first sight.”

“What about the herbs?”

Frowning, she said, “I thought you said tonight wasn’t about the formula?” She should have known he had an ulterior motive when he asked her out. So much for her idea that he might be interested in
her
.

“It’s not,” he said, smiling at her. “But that doesn’t mean I’ll drop the subject forever, Piper, even if we don’t talk about it tonight.”

“It won’t do any good to badger me.”

“Don’t you think we could have a civil discussion about the formula without my badgering you?”

“I don’t know.” No, he wouldn’t badger. More likely he’d try to charm it out of her. The knowledge that he might be successful at that irritated her.

“No badgering and no more formula talk,” Eric said. “All right?”

She let the subject drop, noticing that he kept glancing over her shoulder as they talked. “What are you looking at?”

“That woman.” He nodded at a group of women a few tables away. “I’m wondering why she’s staring at us.”

Turning, Piper encountered a malevolent glare. “That’s Mrs. Croaker. Just ignore her. She always does that.”

“Piper! Long time no see,” the waitress said as she reached the table. She cracked her gum and winked. “What’ve you been up to?”

“Hi, Marge.” Silently, Piper blessed the other woman’s timing. “Work.”

Marge took their order, popping her gum while she wrote. “Got it. Back in a jiff,” she said, winking again as she left.

Eric’s gaze strayed again to Mrs. Croaker. He seemed about to say something, but Piper spoke hastily. “Did you always know you wanted to be a doctor?”

He glanced at her sharply. “Pretty much. My uncle was a doctor. We were close, so I grew up around medicine.”

“Were you one of those intense pre-med students in college?”

“You have to be kind of intense to get into med school.”

“Where did you do your training?” She wasn’t just asking to distract him. She wanted to know more about him.

“Galveston for medical school, San Antonio for residency. Then I practiced in Dallas for several years.”

“Why did you move from Dallas?” Piper asked him.