His mother laughed gaily. “Oh my, no wonder he’s so touchy. He’s as hot-blooded as his father. He must be miserable—”
“Mrs. Sullivan—” Diana interrupted.
“Celeste,” she reminded her. “And I know you’re right. That, especially, should be none of my business.” This time her gaze was full of love and heartache. “But he’s suffered so much and for so long. His heart isn’t a warrior’s heart. Oh, he was good at it—they expected him to rise as high as he wanted one day. But no matter how strong or capable Rafe is, his heart has always been bigger still. Compassion runs deep in him, and what he experienced wounded him far worse than the terrible damage to his body. I was afraid he’d never get over losing his men, until I saw him today. I knew immediately that something had changed.” She crossed to Diana and took her hand. “I think you’re responsible.”
“I can’t—” Diana whispered. “I have to go back, and he has to stay.” To her horror, her voice faltered.
The older woman touched her cheek. “Sometimes life doesn’t give us answers that are easy to see, but they’re there nonetheless. You just have to get quiet and move out of the way of the answer your heart needs.”
Diana just shook her head. “You don’t understand.” And a week’s worth of hours wouldn’t be long enough to explain. “It’s not that I don’t think Rafe is—” Her voice fell away. “It just can’t work, that’s all. It will only hurt more if I go over there.”
“It will hurt either way.” Celeste Sullivan relinquished her hand and stepped back, voice turning brisk. “But I don’t think you are truly a coward, nor do I think you want to insult my son and his grandmother and a whole lot of people who want to honor them both. Am I right?”
Diana let anger shore up the soft places that hurt too much. “People don’t normally call me a coward,” she said, voice chilling. “Nor would they get away with it if they did.”
Celeste’s eyes sparkled, and she nodded. “Good. That’s the woman I thought I was going to meet.” She turned. “I’ll have the tea ready by the time you’re dressed.”
Diana watched her go, wondering if this small woman ran roughshod over her entire family like this.
Then, with a smile of sincere admiration, she headed for her bedroom and began to dress.
Rafe knew it was foolish, but he kept looking out over the heads of those assembled, seeking Diana. It was one advantage of being one of the tallest people there.
Just then, another tall form broke his field of vision. “Here,” Alex said, handing him a beer. “Take your mind off her with this.”
Rafe accepted the bottle. “Off who?”
“I wasn’t born yesterday, you know.” Alex’s eyes were dark with concern. It was as if they’d switched birth order when Rafe was wounded, Alex serving as fierce protector of his elder brother.
A hard clap on Rafe’s back almost had him spilling his beer. “So where’s la doctora?” his brother Liam asked. “I want to see this woman who’s got everyone talking.”
Sometimes families were a real pain, Rafe thought. He went for a casual shrug. “I don’t know. I don’t keep her calendar. Anyway, where’s your woman?”
All Liam’s cockiness fled, replaced by a look Rafe had never seen on his little brother’s features. Liam glanced over his shoulder. “She’s inside lying down.”
“Is she ill?”
Liam’s green eyes rose, and in them Rafe saw fear—and fierce pride. “Not really, but I should go to her.”
“Need me to take a look? Has Abuelita examined her?”
Conflict skated over Liam’s features, and he met Rafe’s gaze without his usual brimming self-confidence.
Rafe’s eyes narrowed as he scanned his brother’s features. “Let’s go.” He turned toward the house.
Liam stopped him and leaned near. “She’s okay. It’s just—I’m not supposed to tell anyone yet because she’s scared to death. She lost a child before.”
“She’s pregnant?”
Alex smacked Liam’s shoulder. “Our baby brother is going to be a daddy?”
“Sh-h—keep it down,” Liam warned. Then he absolutely beamed. “Oh, man, I promised her I would wait until she’d passed the first trimester, but…c’mon, guys. You gotta keep this to yourselves.”
Dane shook his head. “You’ll be the one to shout it to the world, blabbermouth. Never could keep a secret worth a damn.” Then he grinned. “Way to go, Liam.”
“She’s been seeing a doctor while you’ve been out on the coast filming?” Rafe asked.
“Yeah, but she really wants to come home and stay here. She’s hoping you and Abuelita will deliver the baby. Will you?”
Rafe smiled and squeezed his brother’s shoulder. “I’d be honored. She doesn’t want to be in North Carolina?”
“Nope. We love it there and will keep the place, but Raina has been without family for a long time, and how everyone has taken her to their hearts here…well, she actually calls it home now. We have to go back until I’m finished filming, but that will be well before the baby comes, and I’m planning to bring her to you as often as you need to see her.”
“I don’t have the facilities I’d like, though Diana is helping me acquire equipment I could never swing on my own. But if Raina has already had a difficult pregnancy…”
“She had two miscarriages, then gave birth to a little girl, but she lost the baby. Sudden Infant Death.”
“Oh man…that’s rough.”
“Yeah. She nearly didn’t make it through that.” Liam’s jaw firmed. “But she isn’t alone anymore. Even if the worst happens.”
“Don’t think that way. SIDS seldom repeats in a family. Anyway, if I see the slightest indication that she needs more help than I can give, I’ll speak up.” Rafe grinned. “Fantastic news, Liam. Whenever you’re ready to share it.”
“I’m ready now, and I’m hoping she will be, too, being around family again.” Liam scanned from one brother’s face to the next. “Thanks, guys. I knew I could count on you.”
“Always,” Alex said.
Just then Dane’s eyes widened as he stared past Rafe’s shoulder. “Well…” he commented. “I see what’s got big brother all stirred up.”
The brother over whom millions of women around the world panted grinned, too. “That’s la doctora? Rafe, you dog, you’ve been holding out on us.”
“Don’t—” Rafe warned as he turned toward Abuelita’s gate. “It’s not like that.”
His mother at her side, Diana stood there, seeming as though she’d rather be anywhere else. Resembling no Diana he’d ever seen before.
Her dress was obviously from the city, expensive and classy. Simple in line and palest jade, it floated down from her shoulders, skimming her slender frame, kissing her curves until it stopped just at her ankles. On her feet were sandals strapped with slim bands of leather, each topped with a sprinkle of tiny flowers. Around her neck she wore a delicate locket and from her ears swung thin loops of gold.
Elegant, she looked to him. And frightened.
Before he could consider the wisdom of it, he shoved his beer into Alex’s hand and headed toward her.
He spared his mother a glance. Her eyes warned him to take it easy. He acknowledged her with a nod. “Thanks, Mom.” He leaned forward and kissed his mother’s cheek.
Celeste’s hand lingered on his jaw for just a second as she brought her mouth to his ear. “I almost didn’t get her here.”
He touched the hand of the woman who’d filled his life with love and smiled. Then he turned to Diana. “I’m glad you came.”
Her gaze locked on his. “So you forgive me for distracting you all day?”
“Knowing my mother, I doubt you had much choice.” He narrowed his eyes at his mother. “Is there nothing you won’t stoop to?”
His mother held out her hands. “I didn’t—”
Rafe was already shaking his head.
“Well, all right, I was involved, but I didn’t start it.” She pressed he
r hand to his cheek again. “They love you, Son. All of us do.” In her eyes, a sorrow bloomed. “But, Rafe, don’t let anyone force you into stay—”
“Mom,” he shushed her. “It’s all right. I’m doing what I want.”
Mostly.
Then he noticed Diana trying to slip away and grabbed her arm. “Don’t go,” he urged. “Please.”
Her eyes told him she felt frightened and trapped. He almost released her, until he heard the sounds of his family at his back. “Stay with me,” he murmured. “I’m your only hope.”
He grinned, but she didn’t relax. Still, he drew her closer.
A big hand clapped his shoulder. “Happy birthday, Son,” boomed Hal Sullivan.
Rafe turned toward the man who’d always treated him as his own. “Thank you.” He hugged Hal, exchanging slaps on the back. “May I present Dr. Diana Morgan?”
“Thought you’d never get around to it,” Hal said, then moved his attention to Diana. “So…Mercy Hospital, is it? Don’t suppose that scalawag Sam Calvert is still running things.”
“He is,” Diana answered. “And he’s still a scalawag.”
Hal’s laughter thundered, and Rafe felt Diana relaxing. Soon they were comparing notes on common acquaintances, and Diana’s green eyes grew animated.
“Move over, Dad,” Liam complained. “Don’t hog the girl. You’ve already got yours.”
Rafe bit back a laugh as Diana’s face became the slightest bit starstruck.
“I do at that,” Hal chuckled. “But so do you. And what’s this I hear that you’re about to commit bigamy with that femme fatale from your last film?”
“You’ve got to stop reading the tabloids, Dad.” Liam rolled his eyes and took Diana’s good hand.
Dane stepped in next. “The pretty boy is married, but me, I’m headed to Alaska on a shoot. You look like a woman who actually knows how to read scientific magazines. Liam here still reads comic books.”
Liam punched Dane lightly. “This woman has too much class to live in hiking boots and sleep on the ground.” Then he looked at Diana. “I’d love you to meet my Raina. She’s inside with Abuelita.”
“I’d like that.”
“I’ll make it happen,” Liam said. “Thanks.” He leaned in. “Everybody here is harmless. Except my idiot brother Dane. I think Dad dropped him on his head a few times. It’s the only explanation for how he keeps winding up in places where he has to eat bugs and can’t shower for weeks.”
Diana smiled, if hesitantly. She must not have brothers.
Dane rolled his eyes. “I heard that.”
Then Rafe saw Diana glance beside him, where his silent, over-protective brother stood. “Get lost, children,” he said to Liam and Dane. “Diana, this is my brother Alejandro Sandoval.”
“Alex, please.” He nodded, never much of one for smiling. “Glad to meet you.”
His restraint seemed to calm her. “Thank you.” She hesitated, scanning them all. He’d never seen her look this shy.
Physical proximity was the last thing either of them should dare right now, but he couldn’t just leave her at the mercy of his boisterous family. “Want to dance?” he asked, then held his breath, waiting for her to refuse.
She glanced around.
“I learned to tango for my last film,” Liam offered. “Rafe can’t dance worth a damn.”
“I’m sure Rafe dances just fine.” She tilted her chin.
Liam dropped the affectionate ribbing and nodded. “You’re right,” he said with quiet force. “Rafe does everything well.”
At last, Diana smiled freely at Liam. Then she turned that smile on Rafe, but it began to fade as though she, too, recognized the folly of any more involvement.
It wasn’t a discussion they could have here, so he simply drew her into the crowd and took her into his arms. “Liam’s right,” he said. “I could dance once, but I’m not graceful anymore.”
She frowned. “Liam shouldn’t—”
“No—” he interrupted. “He’s doing exactly what I asked. I got so damn sick of them all tiptoeing around me I told them I’d kick all their behinds if they didn’t start acting normally.” Seeing her confusion, he continued. “You never had brothers, so you wouldn’t know. It’s all about pecking order, about challenging the one above you.” When she still looked mystified, he tried again. “We used to wrestle one another down, trash-talk at every opportunity—” He shrugged. “Just…brothers who love one another.”
“Love? That’s how you show it?”
Rafe smiled at her incredulity. “Yeah. Then I got hurt, and everyone tiptoed around me as though I was crystal that would shatter.”
“They were worried.”
“Of course they were. But the more they danced around, the more I had to wonder if I was kidding myself that I’d ever get back on my feet, if there was something they all knew but weren’t telling me.”
She shook her head. “I—I don’t get it. If they insult you, it makes you feel better?”
Rafe laughed. “Yeah. Something like that.” He drew her close. “Is it okay for me to hold your hand like this?” He indicated her injured hand.
Puzzlement gave way to excitement. “I think it’s getting better. Today I didn’t need my wrist brace to have the strength to punch the cash register buttons, and I actually released a couple of cans without help.”
“I noticed you using it more with patients as the day wore on.” He didn’t let himself think about how it meant she would leave sooner. “Congratulations.”
The wonder in her eyes was something he’d have liked to generate. “Thank you. It felt terrific to see patients again.”
“You’re good with them.”
“I’ve never had much chance to interact on that level.” She grinned. “My patients are unconscious for much of the time we’re together.”
Rafe chuckled. “Don’t give you a lot of flack that way, though.”
Appreciation flickered in her gaze, and he had to try harder not to pay attention to how good she felt in his arms.
“That’s true, but it’s such a great feeling to work with people to solve their health problems. To be part of—” She broke off. The frown skipped over her face again, and she lifted her gaze to his. “I’m thinking I can go back sooner.”
“Your month isn’t up. What will your occupational therapist say?”
Her jaw stiffened. “When he sees that the hand is better, he’ll change his mind.”
Part of Rafe wanted to clap a hand over her mouth, to tell her that he didn’t want to hear anymore. He stared out across the crowd until he could master the turmoil inside. He tried for a casual shrug. “We knew you would go.”
“It’s been…wonderful here,” she said. “People have been so kind.” She lifted her eyes to his. “You’ve been—” She stopped and swallowed. “I’m not sure how to explain, Rafe. I never planned to get involved.” Her earnest gaze searched his. “But you were right. I’m a healer. I enjoyed making house calls with you today. It’s just that it made me more aware of all those back there whom I could help. People depending on me to make them well. Needing skills I have that I can’t use here.”
He wanted to protest that she could use her skills anywhere. That she had other skills besides surgery.
That he needed her—
No. That was going too far. Opening himself up to that was the height of folly.
“I understand,” he said, biting back all the other words.
“Do you?” Worried green eyes studied his.
His chest crowded with something hot and painful; his throat filled with words he dared not say. His mind balked at revealing any of it to a woman for whom he’d be only a memory soon.
“Of course,” he managed. Then anger steadied him. “I know what it’s like to have other people depending on you, Diana.”
She looked grateful, even if doubt still hovered. “Thank you.” She opened her mouth as if to say more, then shook her head.
Just as well. Wor
ds would do nothing to heal what burned inside him. But just to be perverse, he drew her closer. When she came without protest, he wanted to shake his fist at the heavens. Damn you for bringing her to me when you knew she wouldn’t stay.
But Rafe had learned some harsh lessons about what you could change and what you had to let go. He wasn’t ready to relinquish her yet, though, so he simply rested his cheek on the top of her hair and tried to still his mind as though he were immersed in the healing waters of his spring.
And when her other hand crept up to cradle the back of his neck, he bit back the urge to howl at a moon shining down on them as if this were an ordinary night. As if they were any man and woman beginning the first steps of a dance that could end in what so many took for granted: the chance for a shared future.
Ramón drew Rafe up in front of the band while Diana melted back toward the edge of the crowd. She watched the people hugging Rafe, clasping his shoulder, shaking his hand. Watched their eyes light with the hope that he’d given them.
“Permiso,” Ramón called. “Atención, por favor.”
The noisy crowd began to quiet.
A hand touched her shoulder. The warmth of it brought a soul-deep sigh from inside Diana. A piercing longing for its comfort.
“You are troubled, child,” Rosaria said.
Diana dropped her chin to her chest and swallowed hard.
The warm hand stroked down her spine, and Diana wanted to weep.
“You are leaving.”
Diana’s head whipped around to face eyes dark with sympathy. “It’s not because—you’ve been so good to me—everyone has.” She reached for the old woman’s hand. “But especially you…I never had a grandmother. I used to wish—” The past wasn’t what mattered now. “If I could place an order, I’d want a grandmother exactly like you.”
Abuelita’s other hand cupped her cheek. “My heart is not reserved only for those of my blood. Ask Liam’s Raina. She came to us with a troubled heart, and now she calls this place home. Leave us if you must, but come back, m’ija, when you need the love we offer you.”
Diana bit her lip. She folded the old woman into her arms and searched for words that could never come near expressing what this woman meant to her. “I’m so sorry,” she whispered. “So very sorry—I have to go—”
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