He joined her near the sink and took her hands in his. “I want to thank you for everything. For trusting in me, for listening.” He lowered his head to kiss her.
As soon as his mouth met hers she was lost.
“Don’t go,” she begged.
“Oh, Ivy—” he began, his voice filled with regret.
“For tonight,” she corrected herself. “I know you’re leaving, but stay the night. Save your goodbye until morning. Please?”
His eyes filled with a combination of hunger and need, and she guessed he saw the same in hers. “OK,” he said. “I’ll stay.”
Ivy concentrated on the man and forced herself not to think about how this evening marked the last time for so many things. The last time she’d see him in her bed; the last time they’d eat together at the diner; the last time she’d see him in the hallway or smell his special brand of soap.
No regrets, she reminded herself, before he carried her to the stars and she slowly drifted back to earth.
Silently he tucked her close, and she dozed, content in his warm embrace. It was hard to say how long she slept, but a small rustle of clothing brought her awake. His side of the bed was empty, and only the impression of his head on the pillow marked his presence.
He was getting dressed in the dark. She waited for him to speak, mainly because she couldn’t force a word past the lump in her throat.
Suddenly the bed dipped in his direction and she felt his lips brush against her forehead. Then he was gone.
When she heard the quiet snick of her door closing, tears streamed down her face. “He didn’t say goodbye,” she whispered to her pillow.
Then again, he just did.
Three weeks later Ivy sat in the diner, nursing a piece of peanut butter pie and a cup of coffee under her father’s watchful eye.
“You don’t look so good,” he said bluntly.
“Thanks, Dad,” she said wryly. “But if I recall, we’ve had this conversation before.”
“You’re working too hard.”
“No worse than usual.” Although some of her peds patients had gone back to Walt, she was busy enough that she hadn’t actually noticed. It was just as well, because keeping busy kept her mind off Ethan during the day.
If only she could drive him out of her thoughts at night, because then it was impossible.
After clinging to his pillow and breathing in his residual scent all night after he’d left, she’d gotten up, stripped the bed and replaced her pillows. Then she’d gone to her office, thrown out every trace of his gourmet coffee grounds and sanitized each room. By the time she’d left her patient rooms and the lounge had smelled like hospital-strength disinfectant.
“Have you heard from Ethan?”
“He sent a package the other day.” She’d received it three days and five hours ago.
“Oh?”
“He sent preemie-sized supplies to have on hand just in case.” As crazy as it sounded, she’d kept his note until this morning, because seeing his bold scrawl made him seem nearby. It wasn’t enough that she saw his handwriting in her patient charts, she had to torture herself with his extra note.
“That was nice,” her father remarked.
Ivy shrugged. “I don’t know who he thinks will use them. As far as I’m concerned he wasted his time and his money.”
“You should have asked him to stay.”
“It wouldn’t have mattered,” she said wearily. “He needed to go. We both knew that.”
“Maybe he’ll be back.”
“Maybe, but I doubt it.”
“Why? You meant a lot to him.” He peered at her. “I’m guessing the feeling ran both ways.”
“We belong in different worlds, Dad. It’s as simple as that. Ethan moved on with his life and I need to do the same.”
Unfortunately, some things were easier said than done.
In spite of his welcome back to the NICU, and Stewart letting him move into his basement until he found something more permanent, Ethan still felt as if something were missing. He’d realized it as soon as he’d passed the Danton city-limit sign.
He missed Ivy.
He missed her smile, the way she looked at him as if he were her hero, the way she was too generous for her own good. In fact, he missed everything about her.
Fortunately the NICU had been as busy as he remembered, which helped in that regard, although at times he had trouble glancing at the Isolette in the corner where his son had been. But, no matter how busy his days were, his nights dragged on until he thought he’d go mad if he didn’t hear her voice.
He’d hoped she’d call when she received his package, but she hadn’t. Instead, the nursing director had written a note thanking him for his generous gift.
He didn’t blame Ivy for keeping her distance, but he wanted her in his life as much as a plant needed sunshine. There had to be a way….
Dream big.
Walt’s words echoed in his head. OK, he decided, he would.
Suddenly the floodgates burst open, and he knew how he could give his dreams substance. It took another month to set his plan in motion, but this time when he left St. Louis he was excited about the future.
He was going home.
“Someone’s waiting to see you, Ivy,” Heather said.
Ivy groaned. “A patient?”
“No. A fellow. Nice-looking, too.”
“Oh, for heaven’s sake,” Ivy complained. “It’s after six on a Friday evening. Now isn’t the time for a drug rep to pay a courtesy call.”
Heather shrugged. “Do you want me to get rid of him for you?”
Considering she would be going to the diner for another lonely meal in a long line of lonely meals, then home for a weekend of house-cleaning and laundry, what did it matter if she postponed her exciting schedule for a few minutes? “No, I’ll see what he wants,” she said wearily.
“Great. Enjoy your two days off.”
“Yeah, right.”
Ivy pinched the bridge of her nose, then strode down the hallway to deal with the man who had the audacity to show up after office hours.
“I’m Dr. Harris,” she told the man who was studying the prints on her wall—a man whose build and hair coloring reminded her of Ethan’s. “What can I do for you?”
He turned, and she gasped.
“Ethan?” she asked, incredulous.
He smiled. “In the flesh.”
“What—When—What are you doing here? Heather didn’t say a word.” Her eyes narrowed. “She was in on this, wasn’t she?”
“In a way. I bribed her with two tickets to a country music concert in Wichita.”
“Only two? I’m surprised she went so cheap.”
He shrugged. “What can I say? She likes me.”
Along with everyone else in town, she thought, with some disgust. Everyone in town had gotten the idea she’d sent him away instead of him leaving on his own. “Why are you here, Ethan?”
“Rumor says you’re looking for a partner.”
“I am.” She was suspicious.
“I’m here to submit my curriculum vitae for consideration.”
She couldn’t have heard correctly. “You?”
“Yes. I’m certified in pediatrics, and—”
“You don’t have to recite your credentials, Ethan. I know what they are. However, I’m not looking for a neonatalogist.”
He stepped closer. “Too bad. Because there’s one thing in particular I never told you. One thing that might convince you to change your mind.”
“Which is?”
“I’m the man who loves you, Ivy,” he said simply.
“You…love me?” Her surprise gave way to anger. “How can you say that? You left almost two months ago, after stealing away in the middle of the night. Two months, Ethan. Two months without a phone call or a letter. Just a note in a package of medical equipment that said, ‘with compliments’.”
“I didn’t know how to tell you. Then, once I took Walt’s advice to dream big,
I knew I had to wait until I could tell you in person.”
She sank onto a chair. “Oh, Ethan. I love you, too, but I don’t see how we can make it work. I can’t leave, and there’s nothing for you here. And don’t tell me you’re willing to give up your specialty because I won’t let you.”
He sat beside her. “That’s why it took me so long before I could come back. I’ve signed a contract with a locum tenens agency, and I’m already booked for two weeks a month. That means I can spend the other two weeks in Danton, working with you.”
“You did what?” she screeched.
“I’m officially a locum tenens,” he explained patiently. “I’m contracted for—”
“No, I heard that. I just can’t believe it.”
“Believe it, Ivy. I’ve sorted out my career so I can have the best of both worlds. Now I want to sort out the rest of my dreams.” His gaze grew intent enough to send a shiver of anticipation down Ivy’s spine.
“And they are?”
“Marry me, Ivy. I can’t promise I’ll be the best husband there ever was, and with my job you’ll be on your own at various times, but I’ll always be your colleague, your partner and your lover. I’ll even be your father’s busboy, coffee-server and general dogsbody on occasion.”
She giggled through the happy tears clogging her throat.
“I want you as my wife, Ivy. It’s as simple as that.”
“Oh, Ethan,” she breathed.
“When I left town I wanted to turn around and ask you to wait for me. But I knew it wouldn’t be right. Now, though, it is. I didn’t run away this time, Ivy. I ran toward you.”
Tears glistened in her eyes. “I’d be honored to marry you, Ethan Locke, because I love you more than you can imagine. I’ll always be your colleague, your partner and your lover. I’ll support you, be your helpmate, and I will also let you be my father’s busboy on occasion.”
He laughed. “Shall we tell your dad the good news?”
“Later,” she said with a warm smile as she tugged him out of his chair. “Much, much later. In fact, he just might have to wait until tomorrow, because I intend to welcome you home properly.”
“Hmm. What exactly does a proper welcome include?”
“Lots of love.”
ISBN: 978-1-4268-3307-6
THE BABY DOCTOR’S BRIDE
First North American Publication 2009
Copyright © 2009 by Jessica Matthews
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This is a work of fiction. Names, characters, places and incidents are either the product of the author’s imagination or are used fictitiously, and any resemblance to actual persons, living or dead, business establishments, events or locales is entirely coincidental.
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