by Sue MacKay
She was getting noticed.
This was the traction she needed.
Do you think all this protesting is wise? Mandy had asked, wheeling herself up to the dining room table where Kiera was working on her sign.
I think so. It’s worth it. They want to shut down Aspen Grace Memorial and build some expensive, private hospital. Only the wealthy tourists will be able to afford medical care there.
There are other hospitals, Mandy had stated gently.
With the death of Aspen Grace Memorial comes the death of the free clinic. None of the other hospitals have our free clinic.
Mandy had sighed. I get that you’re doing this for me. You don’t have to.
It’s not just for you.
Mandy’s expression had softened. Your mom?
And your dad. She brushed a tear away. It’s not right. He helped others and no one helped him. He couldn’t afford to keep up his practice and pay for his cancer treatments.
He never did tell me he was so sick, Mandy had said sadly.
He didn’t want to burden us.
I would’ve helped him, Mandy whispered.
So would I.
That had touched Kiera’s nerve. It was guilt. Kiera had been off working in Denver. At a hospital that had paid her a lot of money. Growing up poor, growing up in the system, the money had blinded her.
She didn’t have so much time for Mandy or Wilfred back then. All that had mattered was work and money.
Mandy had been her only family and vice versa. Mandy had stayed in Aspen where they grew up, in her late father’s home. She had worked as a nurse and was going to start work with Doctors Without Borders. Until the accident. Until the gunshot that had paralyzed her.
If Kiera had been there, she could’ve had Mandy sent to Denver or to a neurosurgeon who could’ve done a better job than the HMO did and maybe, just maybe, Mandy would be walking still. If she had been there, she would have paid for better care for Wilfred.
Kiera hadn’t been there because she’d been greedy and working in Denver.
And for that, yeah, she felt guilt.
He didn’t tell either of us, Mandy had said. He was stubborn. Don’t feel guilty. Although you never listen to me.
Kiera had smiled and Mandy had taken her hand.
This isn’t guilt, Kiera had said quickly. This is the right thing to do.
Kiera shook the memory from her head. It made her emotional. Again that pesky lump formed in her throat, and she was quick to swallow it down and get control of her emotions again.
You’re strong. Remember that.
Mandy would be impressed that she’d gotten attention from the governor. Even though it actually wasn’t Governor Baker himself, it was his son.
Still, it was something.
She’d gotten under the shareholders’ skins.
The only thing she hadn’t counted on was how handsome Dr. Baker actually was. She had imagined someone different. Like those rich stuffed-shirt bureaucrats she usually dealt with. It had taken her by surprise to see him standing there. Her heart had skipped a beat and her blood had heated.
He made her nervous.
He made her feel naked and exposed, which was unsettling. She didn’t like attention. And she had a hard time with feelings of attraction.
She’d suffered enough broken hearts from people who had abandoned her in her life. She usually just locked those feelings away.
It was safer.
She was better off on her own.
Are you?
When Kiera glanced at him, he was looking at her, which sent a shiver, a zing of something down her spine.
He had dark brown eyes that seemed to see right through any kind of facade, and that was unnerving. He had perfectly coifed hair and he was incredibly tall. She pegged him at six foot three, minimum, and she was five foot nine. The way he looked at her made her sweaty and anxious.
Like when she stood out in a crowd. She always hated that. She preferred to stay out of the limelight. It was how she had learned to survive bouncing from place to place after her mother died and her dad had tried to stay clean and keep a job.
Only he never could.
She tried to blend in, be unseen so he wouldn’t get angry at her. And when she was in the system, with other kids, she had remained quiet and hidden. It was easier.
At school and at work, she stayed in the background so people would never use her or hurt her. She knew how to survive.
The one time she had let someone in she’d fallen head over heels in love with Brent.
They had been colleagues and then something more.
She had never before let any man into her heart.
And then he had crushed it.
He had cheated on her and left her.
Abandoned her.
She’d learned her lesson then.
Never again.
Still, the way Dr. Henry Baker looked at her, like he saw her. He made her tremble with something she had never felt before.
Why are you thinking about how handsome he is? Get control of yourself.
Henry was the kind of guy she used to date before she found out that the men she typically dated didn’t really care for the same things she did. The respectable kind of guy that would never fail you or abandon you didn’t seem to exist.
She had thought dating men like Dr. Henry Baker, who were educated, would mean they would be interested in the same issues she was. She didn’t want a man like her father, who had abandoned her and was only interested in partying.
She’d been sorely mistaken.
Men like Henry couldn’t be trusted, either. Brent had taught her that.
When she had left her high-paying job for Aspen, she had expected Brent to follow her, take up the causes she was so passionate about. Instead, he took up with someone else. Someone younger.
Someone who had adored him and hung on to his every word.
It had hurt, and she had become disillusioned with men, but she wasn’t going to give up on helping others. Her foster father, the only decent man she had ever known, had taught her that.
Men like Dr. Henry Baker were usually embarrassed by her marches on Washington and her need to be involved in helping those less fortunate, but Kiera was undaunted, so she just stopped dating and focused her time on taking care of Mandy, Mandy’s grumpy cat, Sif, and saving lives.
That’s what gave her the ultimate fulfillment.
Did it?
Henry was all wrong for her. He’d be like Brent, not interested in the things she was. Only she couldn’t remember having such a strong physical pull toward Brent.
She hated the way her body was reacting being around Henry.
She hated imagining what it would be like to run her hands through the dark brown curls that had just a touch of gray at the sides.
To nibble that strong jawline.
You just met him!
She shook the thoughts away. They’d just lead to trouble and she didn’t want trouble.
Yes, you do.
It depended on the trouble and it had been some time since she had felt anything other than numbness. Kiera knew then and there she had to put some distance between her and Henry.
She had to focus.
“So, I’m looking forward to hearing what your father has to say about AGMH and the status of the free clinic. You’re obviously here to negotiate.”
His eyes narrowed. “No. I’m not here to negotiate.”
“What?” she asked, annoyed. “You said that you were. That’s why I left the construction site. You wanted to talk to me about terms.”
“This isn’t some kind of union disagreement. You were alone out there.”
“So? If you’re not willing to discuss things with me, then you need to stop the car and I’ll walk back.�
�� She picked up her beanie and jammed it on her head.
He rolled his eyes. “I do want to talk with you, Dr. Brown, but I’m not here to negotiate anything.”
She’d heard enough. She was fuming and with the way her cheeks were suddenly hot, she knew they were bright red with anger. That always happened when she got mad. People might mistake it for humiliation, but, really, she was just furious.
“Mike, can you stop the car?” she asked. She knew the governor’s personal driver well as he lived in Aspen, and whenever the governor was there, Mike wasn’t far behind.
“Sure thing, Dr. Brown.” Mike flipped on his turn signal to pull over.
“Mike, don’t stop the car,” Henry ordered.
“Mike, stop the car.” Kiera glared at Henry.
“I have to stop the car, Dr. Baker. You don’t live here, and I don’t want to be on the bad side of the best surgeon in Aspen,” Mike said. “I’ve got to listen to her.”
Henry snorted. “Best surgeon?”
If she was a teapot or some kind of cartoon-like character, Kiera was pretty sure there would be steam shooting out of her ears.
Privileged much? Who did this guy think he was?
The car pulled over and she glared at Dr. Baker. “Thank you for the interesting ride, but I think I’ll head back to continue what I was doing.”
“No, wait.” Henry rolled his eyes and reached out, leaning over her and grabbing her hand to keep it from opening the door. His hand was strong and warm on her cold skin. His body, pressed against her, caused her heart to skip a beat. It caused a rush of something, and this time her cheeks heated for another reason. One she didn’t find particularly comfortable.
“Why should I stay here? What’s the point? You already told me you weren’t interested in listening to me, so why shouldn’t I go?”
Henry sighed and scowled. He ran his hand through his perfectly coifed brown curls and sighed again as if in resignation.
“Fine. How about I agree to listen to your reasons for not closing down Aspen Grace Memorial Hospital? Has anyone actually done that? Because from what I understand that’s been mostly falling on deaf ears.”
Drat.
He was right, of course. No one but the chief of surgery, Mandy and Sif the cat had listened to her, because no one would give her the time of day. She passed out flyers, attended meetings, but nobody seemed to get it.
Now she had a chance.
Dr. Henry Baker was a majority shareholder at AGMH. He was on the board of directors, though usually absent, and the governor’s son.
She wouldn’t get this opportunity again, and even though it seemed no one has been listening she must be making an impact. She was sure of that, because here Dr. Henry Baker was.
No matter how much he scoffed at her and didn’t want to negotiate terms with her, he was offering the chance to at least listen to her.
“Okay,” she said, pulling her hand back, wanting distance between her and Henry.
Henry moved away from her.
“Good.”
“Is it okay to go?” Mike asked, glancing in the rearview mirror.
“Yes,” Henry said.
Kiera leaned back against the leather seats. Henry wasn’t saying much, but he looked annoyed. She had a feeling he had thought this might be easier. He clearly hadn’t been expecting someone like her, but honestly, she hadn’t been expecting him either.
“Thank you for taking the time to listen to me, Dr. Baker. I appreciate it.”
Henry rolled his eyes again, sighed and nodded curtly. “Well, it’s not like I had a choice.”
“You could’ve let me go back to my picketing.”
“No, that’s not a choice,” he said drily. “I just hope this whole thing comes to a quick conclusion. I don’t have much time, Dr. Brown.”
She pressed her lips together, irritated that he had chided her as if she were a disobedient child.
So infuriatingly arrogant. Sexy, but arrogant.
What was coming over her? She’d never felt this kind of draw to a man before.
Kiera had never really experienced lust. Not even with Brent.
She had been attracted to Brent, but it wasn’t like the spark of electricity she was feeling now.
She slid farther away from him, trying to distance herself physically from the pull of attraction.
“I hope so too, Dr. Baker, because, quite frankly, I don’t have time for this, either, and neither do the people whose access to good, quality, affordable medicine you’re threatening.”
Mike snickered in the front seat and Henry scowled at him.
Kiera sat back against the seat and pulled off her woolen beanie, satisfied that she’d gotten in the last word. This time, at least, because she had a sinking suspicion that this wasn’t over.
She imagined she had a fight ahead of her, but it was one she was willing to take on. Even though her boss and Mandy told her it was a battle she wasn’t going to win, she was not easily swayed.
Dr. Henry Baker might seem scary and unapproachable to everyone else, but she wasn’t everyone else and Aspen Grace Memorial Hospital was her home.
The home that she had to protect.
Copyright © 2021 by Amy Ruttan
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ISBN-13: 9780369712059
A Single Dad to Rescue Her
Copyright © 2021 by Sue MacKay
All rights reserved. No part of this book may be used or reproduced in any manner whatsoever without written permission except in the case of brief quotations embodied in critical articles and reviews.
This is a work of fiction. Names, characters, places and incidents are either the product of the author’s imagination or are used fictitiously. Any resemblance to actual persons, living or dead, businesses, companies, events or locales is entirely coincidental.
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