by Ann Mcintosh
She found herself tucking her left arm up under her right, where it was safely out of sight.
“Not interested in being gawked at, like a freak.”
Kiah dropped his arm and, putting his hands on her shoulders, turned her to face him. His expression was solemn, with a hint of temper tightening his lips.
“First off, you’re not a freak, by any means. You’re the same gorgeous, wonderful woman you’ve always been. And secondly, I was not suggesting that you put yourself in a position where Henkel would be gawking at you.”
Even with him saying those lovely things about her, the tone of his delivery sparked her temper in return, and she gave him a narrow-eyed glare.
“What kind of position is that?”
He put his face down close to hers, so his breath brushed across her skin when he spoke.
“Like sleeping with him.”
Although that was what she was expecting, Mina couldn’t find an answer, her brain short-circuiting. It was on the tip of her tongue to say, I don’t want to sleep with anyone, except you. Thankfully, her tongue had cleaved to the roof of her mouth, making uttering even a single word impossible.
Heat trickled out from her core, and her knees suddenly weakened.
What would it be like to make love with Kiah, feel those strong, wonderful hands on her skin? Just the thought had a sheen of perspiration breaking out on her brow.
Mortified at the turn her thoughts had taken, she ducked out from under his hands and away from his too-intent stare.
“Just because I’m recently divorced doesn’t mean I’m desperate,” she said, as much to herself as to Kiah. “You don’t have to worry that I’ll get on bad while I’m here and embarrass you.”
And before he could reply, she changed the subject, asking about the hospital protocols, and if he had any idea of what she’d be facing.
Already she knew she was really just a figurehead, a paper tiger being used to make the hospital look good to the Clinicians’ Union, but that no longer stung the way it had before. She was trying to see it as a foot in the door, and a way to figure out what else might be possible for her in the future.
“I was told you’ll have a staff of administrators to help you get the systems in place,” Kiah said. He knew she hadn’t really paid much attention to the reams of information they’d sent her in Canada, and he hadn’t pushed her to look at it, seeming just content to get her agreement to come back to the island with him. “But I also think you’ll be asked to see patients, like you did for John. Hopefully, that works for you.”
“That should be fine,” was what she said out loud, but inside she was thinking it would be doubtful she’d be seeing many patients. After all, the scuba accident was an anomaly, and surely the hospital had other competent orthopedists?
“Charm’s almost at the counter,” Kiah said, touching her arm. “Let’s go.”
Once they got their food, they found a spot at one of the picnic tables set up among the trees, and tucked in to their chicken, roasted yam, and, of course, roasted corn.
“I remember having this when I came on vacation from med school that year, and it tastes just as good now,” Mina remarked, between licking delicious barbecue sauce off her fingers.
“Clearly we’re going to need more napkins,” Kiah said and got up to head back to the counter for some.
As he passed another table, one of the men sitting there called out to him, and Kiah stopped to chat.
Charm sighed. “Everywhere we go, people know him.”
“Well, St. Eustace isn’t very big, and he’s well known because of his work, so it isn’t too surprising.”
Charm didn’t seem terribly impressed with that explanation and shrugged. “Yeah, but it would be nice to have him all to myself sometimes.”
Ouch. Was that aimed at Mina, too? It seemed to be, when Charm went on to ask, “Auntie, are you going to live with us forever?”
Hoping to reassure the young girl, Mina shook her head.
“No, I won’t be,” she said, giving Charm a smile. “I’ll probably be with you all for a month and then I’ll go back to Toronto.”
Charm gave her one of those level looks that seemed too adult for such a young face.
“I think you should just stay with us,” she said, surprising Mina no end. “Everyone’s happier when you’re around. Especially Uncle.”
Not knowing what to say to that, Mina took a bite of roasted yam, hoping Charm would find something else to talk about. But when the next conversational salvo came, Mina realized the first one would probably have been a better bet.
“Auntie, do you think I’m too young to have a boyfriend?”
Good Lord! Why was she the recipient of this particular question? Then she realized Miss Pearl would probably go ballistic if Charm brought it up with her, and Kiah...well, Kiah, out of sheer terror, would probably tell her to stop her foolishness.
“Do you want a boyfriend?” she asked, trying to buy a little time to gather her thoughts.
Charm twisted her lips to one side, looking so much like Kiah it was almost comical. “I don’t know. Some of my friends keep saying they have boyfriends, but I think most boys are gross and silly.”
“Well, just because your friends say they have boyfriends doesn’t mean you have to, as well, if you don’t want one. Besides, boys don’t grow a brain until they’re a lot older than you all are now, so you’ll probably keep thinking they’re gross and silly for a few years yet. Give it a bit more time before you get into the whole boyfriend thing, is my advice.”
Charm giggled. “You’re joking, about boys not having any brains, right?”
Mina nodded, chuckling, too. “That’s what my mother always said, and it made sense to me. I have a brother, and I thought he was a mess for a long time. It wasn’t until he was in his twenties that I thought he was actually growing up.”
Charm’s eyes widened. “Will I have to wait that long before I start liking boys?”
Mina shook her head, smiling, suddenly happy, and proud to have been chosen for this girls’ chat.
“No. It’ll probably happen sooner than that.”
“Oh, whew,” was the response. “I don’t want to be that old before I start dating.”
“Wait, what’s this about dating?”
Neither of them had noticed Kiah coming back, and both looked up at him as he stood beside the table. The look of horror on his face made Mina want to laugh, and she couldn’t resist giving him a little smirk.
With a shrug, Charm turned back to her roasted corn and said, “Nothing, Uncle. Auntie and I were just talking, and she said boys don’t grow a brain until they’re older. When did yours grow?”
The dirty look she got from Kiah made holding back her laughter impossible. And it got worse when he replied, “I’m not sure I ever grew one. Or if I did, sometimes I think I’ve lost it all over again.”
Even still laughing, as she watched him slide onto the bench and felt another wave of desire rush through her body, Mina understood exactly what he meant.
CHAPTER NINE
ALTHOUGH HEARTENED BY what he saw as Mina’s improved outlook on life, Kiah couldn’t help worrying about how she’d fit in at the hospital. Not that she was difficult, or hard to work with, but small Port Michael Public Hospital was a far cry from the huge Toronto South.
Which was why he didn’t interrupt when he heard Miss Pearl telling Mina, “It’s going to be different from what you’re used to, because all our doctors play as many roles as necessary. You’re here in an advisory capacity as an orthopedic surgeon and trained instructor, but that doesn’t mean you can’t help out in other situations.”
Mina had just nodded and murmured her agreement, but Kiah had seen the skepticism in her expression, and knew she was probably wondering what that entailed.
And if she could be of help
with only one hand.
By the end of her first week, though, Kiah felt more relaxed about the way things were going.
“It really is different,” she told him as they were driving home together. “A lot more paperwork than I’m used to, and a slower pace, until there’s an emergency. And they’ll call me in to consult as soon as there’s even a hint that I might be useful. I oversaw a student nurse wrapping a sprained ankle today.”
“Not something you’d usually be bothered about, is it?”
“Nope. But I kind of like it. It’s like going back to the beginning. Getting a reset.”
“Like residency all over again, huh?”
That made her chuckle. “But at least I get lots of sleep this time around.”
The household, too, settled into a routine that Kiah found all too easy to appreciate. Leaving home in the morning with Mina and Charm, and Miss Pearl on the days she was going to the hospital early, too, made him happy. It felt way too much like the way family life should, and he had to keep reminding himself it was only temporary.
And he couldn’t help noticing how Charm gravitated to Mina, asking her opinion or getting her to help with homework. At first he worried that Miss Pearl would be upset, or think her role was being usurped. But the old woman didn’t say anything, and Kiah often saw her smiling over at the pair, as though happy to see them together.
Then he worried about how Charm would react when Mina left.
She’d lost so much in her young life already. Would Mina’s return to Canada distress her?
He already felt as though it would break his heart to see Mina go, and didn’t want his niece going through the same thing.
But it was too late to wonder if he’d done the wrong thing by inviting Mina to St. Eustace. She was here, and he’d just have to live with the fallout of his decision.
To add to his concerns, there was a difference in the dynamic between him and Mina, and he was at a loss to pinpoint it, or figure out why. All he knew was that although they talked and laughed and teased as usual, he sensed a reticence about her, as though she was withholding something from him.
Part of him wanted to find out what was going on in her head, but his ego wouldn’t let him ask. For most of their relationship, he’d prided himself on being able to read her every mood, and it irked him when he couldn’t.
Just as the surging desire he felt for her shocked and annoyed him, although perhaps it shouldn’t. If he’d had his way, she’d have been his first girlfriend, but that definitely hadn’t been in the cards for them. For all these years, that young boy’s crush had been pushed to the furthest recesses of his mind, never to be thought about.
Having her around all the time now, though, brought all the old awareness and emotions swirling to the surface.
He caught himself watching her when she was oblivious, noticing again the graceful, bouncy way she walked, hips and hair swinging; the way light and shadows played across her face. The sweet curve of her lips when she smiled, the siren’s call of her laughter.
But he couldn’t avoid also hearing his mother’s voice in the back of his head.
“Hezekiah Langdon, don’t you dare touch that little girl, or I swear on your father’s grave I’ll beat you within an inch of your life and send you back to your granny. You don’t deserve someone like that.”
It didn’t matter that she’d said it twenty years ago, or that the threat shouldn’t mean anything to him now. Back then it had been the worst punishment she could come up with, and she knew it. By then he’d decided he wanted to study medicine, and if he was exiled back to St. Eustace, that probably wouldn’t be possible.
He’d also come to rely on Mina and her family to keep him sane and help him learn how to survive, and thrive, in Canada. They’d opened their home to him, let him know he was always welcome. He’d gotten Mina to admit she’d told them about the abuse he suffered at home and, for a while, he’d felt as though Mr. and Mrs. Haraldson were only kind to him out of pity. Eventually, though, he’d realized they treated him like one of their own kids and had grown to depend on their emotional support. There was no way he was risking losing that because he fooled around with their daughter.
So, although Mina was the only girl he’d really wanted back then, he’d decided their friendship and his future were more important, and had put thoughts of being with her aside.
And of course, there was Warren the Worm, who’d swooped in when Mina was just barely sixteen, and never left.
He’s gone now.
No. He couldn’t afford to think that way. Nothing had changed, really. He still couldn’t afford to lose her friendship, albeit for much different reasons. He also couldn’t offer her anything she couldn’t find, get, or have on her own.
If it were anyone else, he’d be sending out feelers, trying to see if they were interested in an affair. But this wasn’t some random woman he could sleep with and then walk away from without it leaving scars.
In fact, even having these thoughts was shocking. He’d invited her to the island to help break her out of her funk, not to complicate her life, or his, further.
Putting it to himself that way helped, if only minimally.
Partway through her second week at the hospital, she sought him out for some advice.
“I got a call from a coach in Trinidad, asking me to examine one of his players—a youngster named Yanique Smith—who’s been having issues with his shoulder. I told him I’d call him back, but I wanted to check to see what the protocol is.”
Kiah whistled. “Smith plays on the Trinidadian under-sixteen national cricket team and is being touted as the next Andy Roberts.”
Mina’s blank stare made him chuckle. Canada may also be an ex-British colony, but they didn’t share the rest of the Commonwealth’s obsession with cricket, as her befuddlement made clear. “Who on earth is Andy Roberts?”
“He was a top fast bowler for the West Indies, and this young man is said to be on his way to being as good, if not better.”
“Be that as it may, I don’t know how to handle this. I don’t even know how his coach heard I was here, or whether it’s against hospital protocol to have patients fly in from outside for private consultations. Besides, I don’t want to step on any toes. I’m sure they have perfectly capable orthopedic specialists in Trinidad.”
“I’m guessing it’s one of two things,” Kiah said, turning her toward the executive offices. “Either word has got out that you’re here, through the Clinicians’ Union, and the coach wants to have Smith looked at by the best doctor he can, or he doesn’t want it to get out that Smith is injured. Taking him out of Trinidad to get treatment could make it less likely that the public finds out.”
“Okay,” she said slowly. “So what do I do?”
“Check with Dr. Hamilton. As the hospital director, he can advise you better than I can.”
It was the first of several calls from other islands, and even South America, with patients wanting to be seen by Mina—some for diagnosis, others for second opinions.
Passing Dr. Hamilton a couple days later in the hallway, Kiah found his arm grasped, and himself the recipient of a huge grin.
“Kiah, this idea of yours to have Dr. Haraldson come here was brilliant. She’s already increasing our profile, and revenue.” The older gentleman gave Kiah’s arm a shake and continued, “Please start working on her to get her to stay on permanently. At this rate, we would be devastated to lose her after only a short time.”
Kiah could only smile weakly and say he would, although he had no intention of doing any such thing. He couldn’t even think about her staying permanently with any equanimity, much less broach the topic with her.
Worse, he was starting to think she was staying too long as it was.
No matter how he argued with himself that physical attraction had no place in their relationship, he couldn’t stop
wanting her.
How was he going to resist her much longer?
* * *
Mina found herself far busier than she’d ever expected.
She’d thought they’d stick her in an office and mire her down with paperwork, only trotting her out when they needed to show her off to the Clinicians’ Union, but it wasn’t like that at all.
Instead, she found herself doing all kinds of things she hadn’t done in years, not all of which included anything to do with the musculoskeletal system. And it was always a joy when she was called on to work with Kiah.
Somewhere along the line, she’d forgotten just how good his technique and bedside manner were. Watching him put patients at ease or comforting someone in pain just made her heart ache a little. Yet, hadn’t she been the recipient of his tender care all these years? Funny how she’d taken it all for granted.
Trying to put a little distance between them hurt, but seemed completely necessary. Her longing for him, which she’d tried repeatedly to put into perspective and set aside, wasn’t abating. Achieving that distance was, however, more difficult than ever, since they were both working and living together.
That was, until a slew of requests for consultations came into the hospital, and it was rare she and Kiah actually shared patients.
“It’s not surprising, Dr. Haraldson,” Dr. Hamilton told her. “Your reputation is wonderful, and, even though you no longer operate, having you diagnose and suggest treatment options is a huge boon for our patients. And the hospital.”
He’d asked her to come to his office, and now he gave her a winning smile. “As it is, I’ll like to offer for you the opportunity to join the staff permanently at full salary. We’re offering a two-year contract, with the option to extend whenever you want.”
Stunned, she just stared at him for a moment, trying to think it through. It was completely unexpected. Hell, she’d been at the hospital less than the month she’d initially thought she’d be.
Getting her thoughts together, she smiled as best she could back at him. “Thank you, but let me give it some thought before I say anything. I really wasn’t expecting this, at all.”
