She remembered waiting for him to arrive, the way her heart had throbbed every time one of her sorority sisters gasped, “Is that him?”
Karan had remained in the common area upstairs, prepared to make her entrance, yet unable to stop herself from constantly running to the window, feeling as ridiculously excited as she did right now.
Pathetic. She tried to manage her nerves. The young man she’d fallen in love with might have resembled the man on his way to pick her up now, but there was a lifetime between them that precluded her feeling anything except grateful for a ride.
She’d had no choice but to ask, since she and Patrick had agreed to joint custody of their personal assistant, an arrangement that was keeping her in the city by default. And Marynia, of course, had run off to Poughkeepsie to care for an elderly aunt who’d taken a fall. A few days or a few weeks, depending on the prognosis. The timing couldn’t possibly be worse. For Marynia’s aunt, who might have a long recovery ahead, or Karan, who needed transportation until she earned back her driving privileges.
So here she was facing down a ghost from the past. Because for the first time since arriving at New Hope to find him firmly ensconced, she could actually recall a hint of what she’d once seen in this man. Besides the way he looked, of course.
Karan would not speculate about why. There was enough happening in her life without tackling her history with Charles. It was enough he was being civil to her. Period. Her community service stint would be over and she could move on.
But even knowing that didn’t stop her heart from racing when his Jeep finally pulled into the drive.
Glancing through the side light, she watched him climb out with the graceful athleticism of an active man. He wore the years very well as she’d always known he would. Still fit. Still so handsome with his chiseled jaw the closely cropped beard only seemed to accentuate. She could detect a hint of silver in his sandy hair when they were close, but right now the midday sun bleached all of him to shades of platinum and silver.
He was climbing the steps by the time she came out. She locked the door behind her, then turned and their gazes met. A tiny shock wave ran through her.
Honestly. She was pathetic.
“Place looks different,” he said.
“It got a face-lift not too long ago.”
He glanced at the freshly painted eaves, the window moldings that had replaced the old-fashioned shutters, and she wondered if he approved.
“Looks good.” His dark gaze raked over her with the same thoughtful deliberation. “Ready?”
She held up her purse and a folder containing the paperwork. “All set. I appreciate the ride.”
“No problem.” He opened the car door, and she climbed in, glad she’d dressed casually in long shorts and a tank top. A lightweight sweater around her shoulders and the Valentino thong sandals with a darling bow completed the outfit. She was not going to acknowledge the three outfits she’d discarded in her stupid nervousness about seeing him.
The nerves were to be expected, she decided, when he got into the driver’s seat, started the car then wheeled out of the driveway. Here she was sitting beside him in a scene that felt so familiar. Even a simple ride into town wasn’t so simple when there was so much water under the bridge.
Made perfect sense. He’d picked her up from the house they’d purchased together. How could she help but remember the first time they’d seen the place only months before the wedding? They’d looked at so many properties and had yet to find their perfect place.
Then luck had struck. Karan’s real estate agent friend had known someone who’d known someone who’d heard this house would soon be listed. Taking the initiative on Karan’s behalf, he’d called the owners. Karan and Charles had dropped by in the middle of the day, and had fallen in love.
She wondered if he remembered.
“So, how are things at the hospital?” she asked, sounding like a polite stranger.
But she wasn’t a stranger. Even though they’d had nothing to do with each other for years, they’d once bought a house together, lived together, dreamed of a future together.
Charles cast her a sidelong glance, and his expression, a mixture of resignation and shrewdness, maybe even amusement, convinced her he knew exactly what she was doing.
“All right,” she admitted, “I know this whole situation is awkward, but the silence is killing me.”
Actually, the silence was giving her way too much time to notice all the things she’d once noticed about this man.
“The hospital is going well, thanks.”
“I was surprised when I heard about your fellowship. I thought you’d be long gone after your residency.”
He shrugged. “Thought about it, but Matthew offered me the fellowship and I didn’t want to pass up the opportunity. Dr. Chalmers is doing excellent work in mitral valve repair. Matthew was planning to expand the surgical center, and he knows Dr. Chalmers is looking to retire eventually.”
“That I hadn’t heard. So you’re actually thinking about a permanent position?”
Charles gave a short laugh. “Doesn’t look like what I want is as important as what Matthew wants.”
“I don’t understand that. Matthew would be crazy not to want you on staff.”
Something about that appeared to amuse him. But it was the truth. Charles was an incredible, dedicated surgeon. That much she knew hadn’t changed about him.
“Still working on it,” he explained. “Doing what I can to convince him. Just now wrapping up the fellowship so there’s still time.”
“What does Dr. Chalmers want?”
“To retire. But he won’t do that until he’s handpicked and trained his replacement. He’s possessive. He brought the department to St. Joseph’s and wants to make sure he leaves his legacy in good hands.”
“And Matthew questions whether or not you’re that man? I’m shocked. You’ve been on staff there for so long. Maybe not as an attending, but you’ve worked with Dr. Chalmers closely. I’d think you’d be perfect.”
“I am.”
That made her laugh.
“He’s got me jumping through hoops right now. That’s what New Hope was all about—me gaining exposure in the community.”
Finally some of the pieces were coming together. “I see. I admit I wondered.”
“Are you saying I don’t strike you as the volunteering type?” His tone was light. His smile was real. And for one split second Karan saw the charming man she’d once known.
“Domestic violence was the only surprise,” she said. “You’ve always been involved. Now that I think about it you were volunteering when I met you.”
The instant the words were out of her mouth she knew they were a mistake. She’d set the past in the front seat between them. One shining moment and the silence returned.
This time Charles broke under the pressure.
“So how’s your mother doing?” he asked, taking his turn to keep the conversation going.
Awkward silence. Awkward conversation.
How did two people who once loved each other wind up here?
Karan had lots of answers—all the ones she’d been telling herself for years. And they were valid. Every one.
But right now, those answers didn’t explain why he still felt so familiar.
She filled him in on affairs with her family, asked about his and was relieved when he finally pulled into the park.
“Ranger’s station?” he asked.
She nodded.
Bluestone Mountain Parks and Recreation operated the public parks in and around the hamlet, including ski slopes, snowmobile and hiking trails, fishing easements and the town common, which was a mini Central Park in the middle of Bluestone proper.
That was where she really wanted to have New Hope’s picnic. Right smack-dab in the middle of the Fourth of July festivities at the end of the parade route. Couldn’t get any more visible than that.
But the available space was behind the courthouse. Not
quite as visible, but still plenty of area to entertain guests. With the insane lack of notice for the event all she could do was put a bug in the mayor’s ear, keep her fingers crossed and be grateful with what she got.
Charles parked in front of the station and they made their way inside. The ranger behind the desk quickly pulled up their reservation on the computer.
“I see there’s been a change here.” She frowned at the monitor. “Your event has been moved to Shelter One in the city common. Mayor Trant authorized the change himself, but you haven’t signed off on it yet. Were you aware?”
The city common. Thank you, Gary!
“What about the mayor’s event?” she asked.
It was Bluestone Mountain tradition for the mayor to welcome the city council members, town manager, police chief, fire chief and all the hamlet’s movers and shakers when they got off their floats after the parade route. Then Hungry Harry’s served barbecue to all the families, which is exactly where Karan had gotten the idea for New Hope’s picnic.
“The common was reserved for the mayor’s parade welcome. But it looks like Mayor Trant intends to combine it with your picnic.”
Karan glanced at Charles, who was staring at her with an eyebrow arched skeptically.
“Would you like to see the shelters and make sure the arrangement suits?” She contained her smile.
“Not necessary.” He glanced at the ranger. “Where do I sign?”
When they were in the car, he asked, “Did you know Gary was going to let you elbow in on a city event?”
“No.”
He eyed her narrowly.
She gave a huff. “All right, I had my fingers crossed. New Hope is a town project, and Gary barely beat Kevin Pierce during the last election. He’s running against Kevin again. The senator’s support will almost guarantee a victory. I didn’t think Gary would want to miss the opportunity so close to the election. Not only will he get to schmooze, but he’ll get good press to show his constituents he’s in with the senator and that he’s doing great work with their tax dollars. He’s a very smart man.”
Charles shook his head and started the car. “Amazing.”
“What?” she asked.
“How you do that.”
“What?”
“That.” He laughed. “Know exactly how to work people. Here I am thinking no one’s going to show up for this event, but we’re going to wind up with the whole town.”
He looked pleased, and some crazy place inside of her was so pleased, too. Another familiar feeling from the past. Once upon a time, she’d liked pleasing this man. “I’m just glad I found something to do at New Hope that doesn’t involve microwaves or computers.”
He laughed, a deep whiskey sound that made her stomach swoop straight to her toes. “Me, too, Karan. Me, too.”
CHAPTER NINETEEN
CHARLES CROSS-CLAMPED THE aorta. He was the attending in the O.R. today and watched Matthew work for a change. The chief administered cold blood cardioplegic solution into the aortic root to bring about diastolic cardiac arrest.
“So how are you feeling after your surprise this morning?” Matthew asked.
“Besides pleased, you mean?”
Matthew laughed.
The last thing Charles had expected to receive was interest from Mount Sinai Hospital. But he had. Matthew had been copied as a courtesy, so St. Joseph’s chief of staff would know that a top-ranked cardiac research hospital was interested in recruiting someone from his team as soon as Charles’s fellowship was officially over.
Matthew had had plenty of time to make an offer of his own. Instead, he’d been making Charles prove himself. And he’d been willing. But now the luxury of time was over.
Mount Sinai was first-rate. The school of medicine was a world-class training ground for physicians. Research was groundbreaking with advances like nanotechnology tools to treat various heart and lung diseases, visually guided balloon catheters and cardiac nuclear imaging.
The hospital had once been on top of Charles’s dream list, back in the days when Karan had been in the picture. But in the years since, he’d developed new interests, among them mitral valves and teaching med students at Van Cortlandt. He’d been inviting students in the surgical program to observe in his O.R. ever since completing his own residency program. But was he still hell-bent on building a practice here and working out of St. Joseph’s with Karan in town?
He watched his patient’s vitals and said, “I’m thinking that since you spent millions on this state-of-the-art cardiac surgical operating room, you’d want a surgeon in the community who specializes in mitral valve repair.”
“Matthew, you should have known someone was going to steal Charles if you didn’t move fast.” Joaquin Castellano chuckled from where he stood monitoring the cardiopulmonary pump. “We’re looking good to go here.”
“Thank you, Dr. Castellano.” Charles glanced at the machine that would take over function of his patient’s heart and lungs for the duration of the surgery.
“Your expertise would be a definite asset in the community, and St. Joseph’s needs a strong pool of specialists,” Matthew said, which didn’t explain why he was sitting on an offer. “Mount Sinai knows a good thing when they see it.”
“By definition that means you don’t,” Charles pointed out.
Joaquin laughed. “Last I heard smaller hospitals were having trouble recruiting specialists. Guess now I know why.”
“No problems here,” Matthew reassured them. “For the record I’m not known for sitting idle while my doctors are stolen.”
Did that mean he was going to put an offer on the table? Charles didn’t know, but there was nothing more he cared to discuss in an O.R. filled with people. Mount Sinai’s interest had come out of the blue, and he needed time to think.
Now was not that time.
So, with well-honed skill, he shoved aside all thoughts of anything but the young woman on the table. The routine of physicians and staff working together grounded him as he opened the heart to expose the valve. He inspected the endocardium of the left atrium for jet lesions. “Leaflet prolapse.”
“Calcification?” Matthew asked.
Charles tested the pliability of the tissue. “No. Let’s look at the others.”
The adjacent tissue segments were thin and normal. “We’ll re-establish support of the margin of the leaflet without performing a formal resection.”
“You called that.”
Charles glanced up and found Matthew watching him with amusement in his eyes above the mask. “You’re surprised?”
“No, Dr. Steinberg. I’m not surprised.”
“Let’s get busy, people,” Charles said. “This woman is an elementary math resource teacher in her first year. Let’s give her a long career.”
But while Charles worked, he thought about all he could accomplish at St. Joseph’s and the new directions he could explore in the wake of Dr. Chalmer’s retirement. He could continue to raise this hospital’s ranking with his specialization, particularly in this new surgical environment.
Matthew had maneuvered funding to outfit this O.R. with the latest in high-definition video equipment. Capturing video images of reconstructive procedures of his mitral repair cases would let him educate others with real-time 3-D intraoperative transesophageal echo images.
The possibilities were exciting. Satisfying, too, because in this specialty Charles’s patients were often young. He could help them go on to lead active, full lives. A move to Mount Sinai would challenge him, no question, with the research aspects of being a part of a highly funded team.
Being courted was, as Matthew had alluded, an honor.
But nothing was perfect and at this stage of the game, Charles wasn’t sure he liked the idea of limiting his involvement of cardiothoracic cases beyond the scope of mitral valve surgery. He needed to decide how specialized a specialist he wanted to be.
He’d thought he had his plan all set, but something was still bugging Matthew. After
surgery, Charles had the perfect opportunity to talk privately with Matthew as surgical techs infiltrated the O.R. and they went to scrub down.
Charles plunged his arms beneath the spray. “So you don’t plan to let me go?”
“Not if I have my way.”
“Then might I ask why you’ve been making me jump through hoops for a position I know you want to give me?”
Matthew tilted his head to the side and arched a skeptical eyebrow. “I thought I already explained that.”
“You want me to reach out and establish myself in the community. I get that part. But something’s still bothering you.”
“You want me to be totally honest?”
“I’ve always wanted you to be totally honest. Obviously, I’ve been asking the wrong questions or I would have answers by now.”
“If you’ve been asking the wrong questions, got a right one by any chance?”
“You mentioned commitment issues. You obviously aren’t convinced I’m committed to St. Joseph’s even though I’ve bent over backward proving it. I’ve done my residency and fellowship here. I’m not sure what’s left.”
Matthew didn’t reply right away, kept up his scrubbing as he seemed to consider his response. “You know I respect your work a great deal and consider you an asset to my staff. You’re a strong surgeon. I’ve always known you would be.”
Charles didn’t doubt what he said. Matthew had offered him the chance to observe surgeries while he was still in med school. He’d done his internship in Kingston, but the instant Matthew could get him into St. Joseph’s residency program, he had.
“I got that part, too,” Charles said. “What’s the problem?”
“You’re not settled. I don’t care what you say. I see you. I’ve been seeing you. And I haven’t seen that kid who was on fire for a very long time. It’s the only thing that’s been holding me back.”
Charles couldn’t believe what he was hearing. “Because I’m not married with a wife and two-point-five kids?”
“You don’t have to be married to be settled. If memory serves you were anything but the year before your divorce.”
The Husband Lesson Page 16
