Healing the Doctor's Heart

by Carolyne Aarsen

  Chapter Three

  Shannon pulled her car up in front of her grandmother’s house, turned off the engine and glanced over at Sophie Brouwer kneeling beside an overgrown flower bed at the edge of her property.

  Since Arthur had broken up with her, Shannon had managed to avoid any face-to-face meetings with Mrs. Brouwer. From time to time, Shannon had seen Sophie across the street or caught a glimpse of her at some town event. But because Sophie went to a different church and lived on the opposite side of town from where Shannon had, their paths seldom crossed.

  Even after she moved into the house, Shannon hadn’t seen or talked to Sophie.

  Until now.

  Shannon turned her car off and eased out of the driver’s seat, wincing as she did so. Her knee still throbbed and she was disappointed at her limited mobility. Dr. Henneson had told her she should wait at least four days before returning to work, which didn’t exactly put a smile on her face. This meant she only had a couple more shifts before Emma’s wedding and, then, getting ready to move to Chicago.

  The thought sent a shiver of confused dread through her. Was she ready? Should she go? She would be leaving everything she knew behind and moving to an unfamiliar place and a new job situation.

  But what was the alternative? Stay in Hartley Creek for the rest of her life and turn into some spinster who would take her nephews and nieces out because she didn’t have any kids of her own?

  She banished those happy-happy, joy-joy thoughts, dug her crutches out from the backseat, then stumped around to the passenger side of the car.

  “Well, hello, Shannon. Nice to see you. How are you doing, my dear?” Sophie Brouwer asked, looking up from the bright yellow lilies she was rescuing from a mat of chickweed. “Ben said you got a nasty cut on your knee.”

  Shannon gave Mrs. Brouwer a polite smile as she opened the passenger door of the car and pulled the grocery bags out. “I’m doing okay” was her quiet response.

  “And your grandmother? She’s well, too?”

  Shannon juggled the bags and her handhold on the crutches. “My grandmother is fine, too.”

  The heavy silence following that scintillating exchange was broken by the thunk of the car door getting pushed shut by Shannon.

  “Oh, my goodness, let me help you with those bags.” Sophie jumped to her feet and bustled over, brushing her hands on her purple velour jogging pants. “You shouldn’t have to carry that by yourself.”

  “I’m okay. I can manage,” Shannon protested.

  “I insist,” Sophie said, reaching for the bags.

  To refuse would not only look ungracious, but, it seemed, would also require a tussle over the plastic bag holding Nana’s almond milk and quinoa. And Shannon had enough of spills and accidents happening around members of the Brouwer family.

  So she relinquished her hold. Sophie took them but stayed standing directly in front of Shannon, her blue eyes glinting in the bright sunlight.

  “And how has work been going for you?” Sophie asked, then shook her head as she looked down at the bandage on Shannon’s knee. “Silly me. Of course you haven’t been working because of your knee. I know how much you love your job, so I suppose it’s hard for you. Right now. Not being able to do your job.”

  “It is. A bit,” Shannon said, adjusting her crutches. She really didn’t want to chat with Sophie Brouwer. What could she possibly have to say to her? But to get to the house meant going around Sophie on the grass or pushing past her on the sidewalk, and both would be rude.

  “So, we’re neighbors now. Never thought that would happen,” Sophie was saying. “Though, of course, it was inevitable we bump into each other from time to time.” She granted Shannon another simpering smile. “I suppose you are wondering how Arthur is doing?”

  Arthur was so far off her radar he may as well have been at the top of Mount Kilimanjaro.

  “Last I heard he was working in a car dealership in Fort McMurray,” she said. “I understand he really liked the job.”

  Sophie frowned. “So you’ve been in contact with him?” She sounded disappointed, which created a flicker of annoyance in Shannon.

  “I just heard through the Mug Shots messaging service,” she said, trying to reassure Mrs. Brouwer that she didn’t have designs on her precious son.

  This netted Shannon another frown. Obviously Sophie hadn’t caught on to that particular Hartley Creek colloquialism.

  “It’s what we call any information that gets passed around Mug Shots,” Shannon said. “You know. The coffee shop off Main Street. It’s a gathering place and people like to chat there. Or gossip, depending on your preference.”

  Shannon clamped her lips together, blaming the sudden spill of information on her discomfort around Sophie.

  “I’ve been to Mug Shots,” Sophie mused. “Wonderful brownies there, though my favorite is the banana bread.”

  Then the sound of a diesel truck broke into the afternoon quiet. Sophie brightened, glancing from Shannon to the truck. “Look at that. Ben is here,” she said with an enthusiasm most people reserve for the arrival of movie stars or royalty.

  And right at that instant Nana popped out of the door of the house. “Shannon. I didn’t know you were back,” she said with a note of glee in her voice. “Oh, look, and there is just the man I need to talk to,” she said as she hurried down the walk, waving at Ben, who was getting out of his truck.

  “This is perfect,” Sophie exclaimed as Nana joined them. “Oh, Eloise. Didn’t you say you needed to talk to Ben?”

  Shannon shot a puzzled glance from Sophie to her nana. Was it just her or were things getting weird around here?

  “Talk to me about what?” Ben said as he pulled a few pieces of lumber out of his truck box. He wore a plaid shirt and blue jeans that held a coating of sawdust. As if he’d been cutting wood all morning.

  “Well, you know how you said you can’t do anything more on the yard until that lawn edging you ordered comes in?” Sophie was saying, turning to her son, who brought the lumber to the sidewalk and laid it down. “And I know how you like to keep busy and Mrs. Beck has found a couple of holes in the wall of her house and—” here she looked back at Nana as if confirming her information “—didn’t you say something about a cabinet coming off the wall?”

  “In the kitchen.” Nana shot Shannon a petulant look. “I found it this morning. The one I had all the dishes in. Almost had the whole cupboard fall down. Luckily I saw it and emptied it. It really needs to get fixed. That real-estate agent wasn’t forthcoming about the problems in the house.”

  And you were in such a rush to move in you weren’t asking many questions, Shannon wanted to say.

  “So Eloise was telling me about her problems and I told her you are handy with a hammer.” Here Sophie took a moment to look from Ben to Shannon. “He put himself through university working as a carpenter.”

  Shannon felt like Alice in Wonderland tumbling down the rabbit hole, trying to find which way was up or down. She dared a look at Ben who seemed as dumbfounded as she was.

  “Anyhow—” Nana dragged the word out as if to signify to Sophie to move the conversation along “—Sophie mentioned Ben might be able to help us out in the house.” Here she gave Ben a gracious smile. “That is, if you are willing to do so.”

  Ben’s frown wasn’t encouraging, but, undaunted, Sophie plunged in. “This would really help out Mrs. Beck,” she said to her son. “And I don’t mind if you take some time away from working on the yard. Like I said, you can’t do much until the edging comes in.”

  “I don’t know if I can help,” he said, reluctance lacing his voice. “I haven’t done much carpentry work in a while.”

  “And doctors shouldn’t be using hammers and nails anyway,” Shannon put in. She shot Ben a quick glance and caught him
looking at her. For a few seconds she couldn’t look away and, to be honest, didn’t want to.

  Then she checked herself and pulled her gaze free. Having Arthur’s brother underfoot was not a good idea.

  “It would really help me out,” Nana was saying in her most convincing voice. “I would so appreciate it.”

  “And this way you won’t be bored,” Sophie added.

  Silence followed her suggestion and Shannon sensed that Ben was as reluctant to work in the house as she was to have him there.

  “Couldn’t you hire someone?” Shannon asked her nana, hoping to give the guy an out.

  “I’ve been on the phone for the past half hour. All the contractors in town are busy.” Nana lifted her hands in a “what can I do?” gesture.

  Shannon tried to catch her grandmother’s gaze, but Nana had her eyes firmly fixed on Ben.

  “I suppose I could have a look at it,” Ben said. “See what I could do.”

  “That would be perfect.” Nana turned to Shannon and it wasn’t hard to catch the triumph in her expression. “Isn’t that good of Ben to help us out, Shannon?”

  Shannon could only hope her smile held at least a modicum of sincerity. “Yeah. Awesome.” She stole a glance Ben’s way, surprised, again, to see him watching her.

  And even more surprised and dismayed to feel that spark of attraction.

  She closed her eyes and clenched her fists. Stay focused, she reminded herself. You’re only here until after the wedding. Then you’re gone.

  She couldn’t afford the distraction of any man. Least of all a man like Ben Brouwer.

  * * *

  One of these days he would learn to say no, Ben thought as he moved the stepladder into the living room to tackle the second hole in Eloise Beck’s house.

  Ben didn’t want to be angry with his mother for putting him on the spot yesterday, but he certainly felt frustrated with her manipulation.

  As a result he was now pulling down drywall in Mrs. Beck’s house and Shannon was cleaning up. Somehow Mrs. Beck had found some errands to run, which meant he and Shannon had been alone for the past two hours. And for the past two hours he’d been aware of her every movement.

  Ben pushed down a sigh, centered his metal ruler on the stud beside the gaping hole and ran his utility knife along the ruler. He cut again to get all the way through, then tugged at the ragged pieces of drywall, dropping them onto the floor. He had tried cleaning them up himself, but Shannon was always right there, gathering and sweeping.

  “Hello, house,” a woman’s bright voice called out from the hallway. That wasn’t Mrs. Beck, Ben thought as the front door slammed shut.

  “Well, I suppose this is a start,” the same cheery voice announced.

  Ben looked over at the young woman standing in the doorway of the front room, a plate of cupcakes in one hand and a thermos in the other, her olive-green T-shirt setting off the copper of her hair and accenting the green of her eyes.

  “Hailey. What brings you to town?” Shannon asked, slowly getting up from the floor, brushing the dust out of her hair. She had pulled it back into a ponytail that hung over one shoulder. The pink shirt she wore was also covered in dust and her cheek held a black smudge that had come from who knows where.

  And she still managed to look amazing.

  “I come bearing gifts,” Hailey said, holding aloft her plate and the thermos. “And I come with plans.”

  “For what?” Shannon asked, slowly stretching out her knee as though it bothered her. Ben hadn’t wanted her to help, but she had insisted, saying she would go crazy sitting around. Trouble was, she was turning out to be more of a distraction than a help.

  “Let’s have some coffee and I can tell you.” Hailey shot a quick glance Ben’s way. “So, this is really generous of you to help my grandmother,” she said, her eyes taking on a mischievous glint.

  He wasn’t sure what to say to that. Generous didn’t really describe how he felt about this. Railroaded would be a better word.

  “I live to serve” was all he said.

  This was greeted with a chuckle by Hailey. “Awesome. I’m sure Shannon could use some more of your serving unpacking her boxes when you’re done here.”

  “Why don’t we just mosey on to the kitchen and we can eat those cupcakes that are making my mouth water?” Shannon suggested.

  “I’m almost done here, then I can get the drywall I need to cover the holes,” Ben said, hoping the sisters would get the hint. He didn’t really want to sit in the kitchen with Shannon. “I’d like to get done here.”

  He’d come here to retreat from problems and live a simple life for a while. Do ordinary things in a nonthreatening environment. Having to spend this much time with Shannon was an emotional complication he didn’t want encumbering his life.

  And yet—

  “Plenty of time to get the work done,” Hailey assured him. “I’m sure Nana doesn’t mind if you take a break. Besides, I think Shannon should be putting her foot up for a while.”

  Well, there is that, he conceded.

  A few minutes later he was again sitting a little too close to Shannon, drinking tea and eating some ridiculously good cupcakes.

  “These are delicious,” he said, then took another bite.

  “Shannon’s recipe,” Hailey said, resting her elbows on Mrs. Beck’s minuscule table. “She’s an awesome cook. You should get her to make you supper sometime.”

  Shannon gave her sister a suspicious look, then rotated her hand. “Plans? Spill?”

  “So very bossy,” Hailey said, rolling her eyes. “Emma wants us all to come to the ranch tomorrow, for a barbecue. You’re not working for a couple of days, so this time you can come.” Then Hailey gave him a quick smile, including him in her conversation. “And because you have been working—on my grandmother’s house, that is—we’d like you to come, too.”

  “I’ve hardly done enough—”

  “You will have by tomorrow night,” Hailey assured him with a grin. Then she frowned. “Why are you kicking me?” she asked her sister.

  Probably for the same reason he felt suddenly awkward at the invitation and even being around Hailey herself.

  The last time he’d seen Hailey was when he delivered Arthur’s “news.” She had been helping Shannon with her wedding dress and the look she had given him was far less kindly than the look he was getting from her now.

  “I’m not sure that’s a good idea,” Ben was saying, shifting himself away from the invite.

  Hailey glanced from Shannon to Ben, her clasped hands resting on the table as if she was about to deliver some important pronouncement. “I know the last time we were all together was under less than ideal circumstances,” she said in a matter-of-fact voice.

  “He came to tell me that my wedding was canceled.” Shannon’s voice held a note of bitterness that made Ben feel, again, like the biggest heel in the history of heels. “‘Less than ideal’ hardly covers it.”

  “Okay, rotten, then,” Hailey conceded, putting her hand over her sister’s.

  “Really rotten.”

  “But it wasn’t his fault and he’s living next door and I am sure he doesn’t know anybody—”

  “And he’s right here,” Ben said, leaning back in his chair trying to gain some control of this conversation. “And not deaf.”

  Shannon’s mouth tweaked up in a smile as she looked over his way.

  “Sorry about that.” Then she eased out a sigh as if unsure of where to go from here.

  Ben looked from Hailey to Shannon, wishing he knew what to say or how to change what had happened. But now that it was on the table, this was his chance to at least make some part of that afternoon right.

  “Just for the record, I didn’t want to be the one to
tell you,” he said quietly, his gaze meshing with hers. “I said I was sorry then. I know it’s too small a word, but it’s the only one I have at my disposal. If it’s any consolation, I think you’re better off without my brother.”

  Shannon laid her finger across her lips as if contemplating what he was saying. Then a slow smile drifted across her mouth. “Arthur always said he admired your ability to tell the truth. So, I’ll take what you’re saying at face value.”

  “For what that’s worth,” Ben replied.

  “More than you might think.”

  All that could be heard in the silence following her statement was the steady tick of the clock above the table behind them.

  As their gazes held for a few more beats, Ben felt as if a load he hadn’t even been aware he carried had dropped off his shoulders.

  And once again, he couldn’t look away.

  “So. Now that we have that cleared up,” Hailey said, her voice tearing the fabric of the moment. “Are you coming to the barbecue, Ben?”

  He dragged his reluctant attention back to Hailey and responded with a vague shrug. “Not sure. I don’t want to leave my mother alone.”

  “I think her and Nana are going to some book-club meeting at the Book Nook that night,” Hailey said.

  “But Nana loves coming out to the ranch.” Shannon frowned in puzzlement. “Why would she sooner go to a book-club meeting?”

  Hailey lifted her hands in a gesture of confusion. “Don’t ask me. I only know she said something about not getting in the way of the plans. Whatever that might be.” Then she gave Ben a quick smile. “But I sure hope you can come out. The ranch is beautiful this time of the year.”

  Ben wavered. On the one hand, sitting in his mother’s house all alone on a Saturday night held the faintest whiff of loser.

  But to spend time with Shannon’s family and spend social time with Shannon herself?