by Joan Hohl
She shut her eyes in private misery, and wasn’t aware of him closing the inches between them. The touch of his lips on hers startled her and set her pulse pounding.
Seth’s kiss was soft, gentle, undemanding and heart-wrenchingly sweet. Within a moment, before she could even think to respond, he moved away.
Becca lowered her head and her lashes.
With the tip of his finger, he tilted her face up to meet his steady gaze. His amber eyes had darkened to a shade of brown she had not seen before.
“Get well,” he said. “Take care of yourself, little girl.”
Girl? Little girl!
A wave of anger crashed over Becca, washing away her misery along with her caution and good sense.
“Little girl,” she protested, her voice elevated. “I’m not a little girl, Doctor. I’m a woman.”
“Tell me about it.”
As he finished speaking, a nurse breezed into the room, distracting Becca from wondering about the odd note in his quiet voice, the flash of emotion in his now dark eyes.
“Hi, I’m Jen, sorry to keep you waiting,” the young woman said, bending to flip the locks from the chair’s wheels. “It’s been a busy day.” Smiling, she moved to the back of the chair. “Ready to go? Your chariot awaits outside.”
Seth stepped back as Jen rolled the chair to the doorway. “Doctor,” she said politely, smiling as she moved past him and started down the corridor.
“Come back healthy, Rebecca. I need you…in the O.R.”
Seth’s quiet voice floated down the corridor after her.
Clutching the chair arms, she fought against the sting in her eyes. She had known all along he wasn’t interested in her in any personal way. She was a good O.R. nurse.
No! she thought, lifting her head and angling her jaw. She was a terrific O.R. nurse. And when she was completely back up to speed, she silently vowed, she would not torture herself by returning to work for him.
Maybe.
When Jen rolled the chair outside the electric doors, Becca couldn’t get out of the chair and into the impressive black stretch limo fast enough. She did not look back.
Seth stood rigid behind the large, heavy plate-glass door. A strange sensation invaded his stomach—emptiness? He shrugged the thought aside.
He didn’t have time to worry about a stubborn woman. He didn’t really need her in the O.R.; there were plenty of good—no, excellent—nurses waiting, hoping to take her place.
Yet he didn’t move away from the door. He stood there, watching until after she had disappeared inside the limo. Hell, he was missing her already and the car hadn’t yet pulled away from the building.
Becca. A pang in his chest startled him.
Dammit, she never so much as glanced back.
In a word, the limousine was plush. There was a small cooler holding snacks, and a bar with an ice-filled bucket chilling a bottle of champagne.
Curious, and hungry, as the lunch carts had just started to be pushed along the hospital corridor as she was being wheeled out, Becca investigated the bounty. Caviar, she marveled, the outrageously expensive stuff.
Expensive but gross, she thought, making a face. Thankfully there were several different kinds of cheeses and crackers and a bunch of plump black grapes. Yum, that was more like it.
Popping the cork on the bottle, she poured the golden, bubbly liquid into a real crystal flute and made a meal of the cheese, crackers, fruit and champagne…three glasses of champagne.
After sealing what was left of the champagne with the foil cap and packing away the remains of the food, Becca made herself comfortable by curling up on the butter-soft seat and promptly fell asleep.
Becca didn’t know where she was; the setting was lush but unfamiliar. She was in a freshwater pool, serenely floating naked in the cool water.
It was a peaceful, quiet place, a secret bower with heavy foliage and masses of bright-hued flowers on the banks surrounding the pool. And there was a waterfall, a gentle flow cascading into the sparkling water.
Lovely. She was alone but unafraid, somehow knowing this was where she belonged.
There came a splash, not loud, but as if a fish had leapt with joy in the pool. Small ripples blurred the water, drawing closer to her.
The next instant he was there, his lean bare body gliding along hers.
“Seth.” Her eyes closing, she breathed his name, as if she had known he would be there.
“Yes.” His lips were close to her ear. “Have you been waiting long?”
“Forever,” she murmured against his jaw.
“I’m here now…for you.” A slight turn of his head and his mouth took hers. A gentle, tender kiss, for a moment.
Becca curled her wet arms around his neck, and arched her body into his, murmuring low in her throat when he deepened the kiss, taking complete command of her mouth with his lips and tongue.
Without thought, she lifted her legs and coiled them around his hips, feeling the strength of his need, and loving the feel of it.
“You want me,” he whispered against her lips.
“Yes…” she sighed, arching higher into him. “Yes, please.”
“Then I’m yours.” He moved into position between her legs. She felt him there, and…
“Ms. Jameson.”
The soft, unfamiliar voice broke the spell. Becca opened her eyes, and nearly cried out in protest.
She was lying on the seat of the unmoving limo. She raised her eyes to see the driver, his expression both concerned and compassionate.
“We’re here, at the cabin.” He smiled. “Sorry to have to wake you. You were sleeping pretty soundly.”
“Yes,” she said, blinking herself fully awake and aware.
“I—” she began, only to have him interrupt.
“You obviously needed the rest,” he said, getting out of the car to open the door for her.
She needed something, Becca thought wryly, and right that minute rest didn’t come close.
“Well, there you are,” a voice called out, startling Becca. “And just in time for supper, too.”
Becca looked up at the woman standing on the wide porch running along the entire front of the…cabin? Ha! This place was the last thing Becca would call a cabin. The word resort jumped into her mind.
“Come on in, honey, and get acquainted. I’m Sue Ann, but folks just call me Sue.”
“Hi, Sue,” Becca said, stepping out of the car and mounting the four steps to the porch. She held out her hand. “I’m Rebecca.” She smiled. “But folks just call me Becca.”
Sue returned the smile, and turned to the driver, who stood patiently waiting at the base of the steps, his hands full of Becca’s luggage.
“I’m Dan,” he offered. “Sorry I can’t shake your hand, ma’am.”
“My name’s Sue,” she said, laughing. “And you two come right on inside.”
Becca liked the woman at once. In her mid-fifties, Becca judged, nice, down-to-earth, the solid type.
“I’ll show you to the room I’ve prepared for you,” she said, striding to a hallway and motioning Becca and Dan to follow. “’Course, if it don’t suit, you have your choice of any of the four others.”
“Only five bedrooms?” Becca said, laughing. “What kind of cheap dump have I been subjected to?”
Dan chuckled.
Sue laughed along with Becca. “Yeah, shame, ain’t it?” She swung open a door. “You’ll just have to rough it for a while, I suppose.”
Becca caught her breath as she stepped into the room. It was simply gorgeous, luxurious, downright, flat-out decadent. A room fit for royalty.
“Sheesh,” Becca whispered in awe.
“Think you might be able to make do?” Sue asked, in mock concern.
Becca nodded. “Yeah, for a while, at least.”
Laughing, Sue headed from the room. “Just drop the bags, Dan. I’ll take care of them later.” She glanced at Becca. “Why don’t you freshen up, then come out to the kitchen, before
supper dries up. You, too, Dan.”
Dan thanked her, but demurred. “I’d better to be on my way, ma’am.”
“You not going to drive all the way back tonight, are you?” Becca said.
He shook his head. “No, just an hour or two. All the arrangements have been made for me. Matter of fact, I think I’ll be going, while it’s still light.”
Impulsively, Becca hugged him as she thanked him. Within minutes the limo was smoothly moving away from the house.
“Well, then,” Sue said. “Let’s you and I get to know each other over supper.”
Four
T he first week at the so-called cabin went well for Becca. Sue appeared determined to spoil her rotten. Surprisingly, independent as she always had been, Becca reveled in the pampering. Sue insisted she rest, so Becca rested. Sue insisted she eat, so Becca ate…and very well, too.
On her first full day there, Becca unpacked, delighted to see Rachael had stowed her laptop and several novels in her cases, along with plenty of clothing. After putting everything neatly away, she had lunch and then a nap. Later, she explored the house, and was not surprised to find that every room was as beautifully decorated as her bedroom, if not as luxuriously. Obviously, she figured her room was the master suite.
Two days later, she felt quite at home, and was already fond of Sue. But then, she thought, who wouldn’t be? Sue zipped about like a teenager. And she was one terrific companion, not to mention a great cook. Becca was certain she would be a lot heavier when she left the cabin than when she arrived.
Once she’d gotten comfortable at the cabin, she began exploring the outdoors, starting with the long porch. From the position of the house halfway up a foothill, Becca could see a town nestled in a narrow valley below. Curious, she brought up the subject of the town over supper.
Sue was happy to give Becca a short history of the town, named Forest Hills, for obvious reasons. There were a lot of forested hills, not to mention mountains completely surrounding it.
“That town dates back to the eighteen eighties,” Sue began. “It started up when veins of coal were discovered.”
Sue paused, and Becca inserted, “I didn’t see anything while on the porch that looked like a mine.”
“That’s ’cause you can’t see it from here,” she said. “It’s located in a fold of the mountains nine or so miles from here.” She smiled, sipped her tea and said, “I was born in this town. My ancestors settled here before it was a town. They were farmers, heading west, this little valley looked good to them. So they stayed, settled. We’ve been here ever since.”
Becca took the opportunity to ask another question when Sue took another sip of tea.
“You’ve lived here all your life?”
“Lord, no,” she replied with a quick head shake. “I shook the dust of this place off my shoes right after I graduated high school. I went to the city to college to become a nurse.”
“Really?” Becca smiled. “That had to take courage. I mean, growing up in a small town, then going off alone to a big city.” She hesitated, but asked outright, “Did you make it—the nursing, I mean?”
Sue gave a proud smile. “Sure I made it, even got my bachelor’s degree in science.”
“Good for you. That’s wonderful.” Becca returned a small shy smile. “I did, too.”
“Oh, honey, I know,” Sue said, giving her a thumbs-up. “I know all about your work in Africa, too. I hear you almost worked yourself right into the ground.”
Sighing, Becca shook her head. “No such thing.”
Sue pulled a skeptical expression. “That isn’t the way I heard it.”
“Overplayed by the media.” Becca shrugged.
So it was all well and good—for the first week. There was one little problem with Becca: she continued to dream about Seth every night, erotic fantasies that made her blush come morning. Night after night, in each dream, she was alone and naked, always in a beautiful but different setting than the first. In every dream, he was suddenly there.
They would not talk. His naked, slim, muscular body was impressive in full arousal. Becca would open her arms to him at once, and he would lie next to her, holding her, his hands caressing her, his mouth tormenting her. In desperation, she would tug at his hair, his shoulders, urging him closer, closer. He’d murmur without speaking, and move sensuously between her thighs. His tongue would thrust deep into her mouth, drawing a moan of need from her throat into his. His mouth and tongue owning hers, he’d move and…
Becca would awaken, her breathing ragged, her body moist all over, longing, longing. Frustration became her constant companion.
She wanted…she wanted…Seth—all of him.
Toward the middle of the second week she confided to Sue some of her restlessness. She wasn’t about to describe her dreams. She was embarrassed even thinking about them. Not that she wanted them to end. Oh, no. Since she knew the dreams were all she would probably ever have of him, she cherished each and every one…but her frustration grew. It had been a long time—back to her college days, in fact—since she had been intimate with a man. The experience had not been earth-shattering.
“I’m getting antsy sitting around here,” she said, between bites of a delicious stew. She was almost amused by the understatement.
“No kidding,” Sue said, rolling her eyes. “I’d have never known, if not for seeing you prowling back and forth like a caged animal.” She grinned.
Becca grinned back. “Can I help with your work, if only a little?”
“Absolutely not,” Sue said resolutely. “I’m getting paid for taking care of this place and you, and paid very nicely, thank you.”
Becca’s shoulders drooped. “Oh, well, I might as well pack up and leave. I’ll go flaky with nothing to do. I’m getting cabin fever already.”
“Weeelll,” Sue began, pausing as she got up to pour coffee for both of them. “Maybe I can help you find something light to do.”
“The dusting?” Becca asked eagerly, accepting the steaming cup.
Sue shook her head. “No, I told you, this place is my job for now. But…”
“But?” Becca prompted.
“I have another job, part-time, and I was thinking you might be able to help there.”
“Where?” Becca asked, and immediately added, “Doing what and with whom?”
“Nursing.” Sue paused for a reaction. She got it as the word left her lips.
“Nursing, where?”
“At the small clinic in town.”
“I didn’t know there was a clinic in town.” Becca was anxious to hear more. “Tell me about it.”
“First let me give you a thumbnail background.” She slid her soup plate aside and cradled her coffee cup in her palms. “The clinic is run by Dr. John Carter. He was raised here—I’ve know him most of my life. John was ahead of me in school. Like me, he left after graduating high school to attend college, followed by med school.”
She took a tentative sip of her drink before going on. “Unlike me, he came back here to set up a practice. He’s been serving the community ever since.”
“And you work for him?”
Sue nodded. “On a part-time basis.”
Becca frowned. “But you said something about a clinic. Where does that come in?”
Sue laughed at her eager tone. “There were times, accidents and such, when John’s small office was overcrowded with hurt or sick people. There were a few times with mine accidents when it was chaos. You see, the nearest hospital is over a half an hour away.”
“But that means…” Becca began, appalled.
“Yes,” Sue nodded. “Some men died in transit.” She drew a breath and took a swallow of coffee. “So, ten or so years ago, the mine owner paid to have an addition attached to John’s building, which he owns and lives in, in the apartment above. I must admit, the owner, Carl Dengler, didn’t skimp. The clinic is well-equipped, not state-of-the-art, but good. John does X-rays and blood work. Everything except surgery. It has save
d more than a few lives.”
“Oh, my gosh!” Becca said. “That’s right up my alley.”
Sue smiled. “That’s what I thought.”
“When can I go to meet Dr. Carter?”
“How ’bout tomorrow morning?”
“Yes!” Becca punched the air. “Please.”
Two days later, Becca was back to doing the work she loved. No, it wasn’t the precision work of being next to Seth in the O.R., but it was satisfying nonetheless. Best of all, it kept her mind engaged and busy, as well as her hands. The edge was taken off her frustration.
Becca liked Dr. Carter at once. Nearing sixty, he was still in excellent physical shape, and still handsome. She could just imagine how attractive he must have been to the female population when he was young.
He appeared to live alone, as Becca heard no mention of a wife, nor was introduced to anyone. Curious, she asked Sue about his possible marital status.
She was happy to clarify. “John married his college sweetheart right after graduation. He brought her home with him. Apparently, she had other dreams of life being married to a doctor. She lasted not quite two years, then she packed up and left.” She grimaced. “So far as anyone knows, except to sign the divorce papers her lawyer mailed him, John hasn’t heard a word from her since.”
“And no local lady friend?”
“Oh,” Sue said. “John has lots of female and male friends, but no lady friend in the way you mean.”
“Skittish, huh?”
“Yeah, and it’s a shame. He’s a great guy.” Sue sighed and walked away, ending the discussion.
Becca watched her, curious. Her sigh had not only a note of compassion, but a touch of longing as well. Hmm, she thought, interesting.
As Sue had explained Becca’s situation to John, he agreed to her working three half days a week to begin. She was tempted to argue for more time, but gave in gracefully, as she somehow knew she wouldn’t win, anyway.
By Saturday, working her third half day of the week, Becca had settled in as if she had worked in the small clinic for years. She was back in form and loving it.
It was hot and humid in Philadelphia. Summer was hanging on to the east coast like a leech to a blood vessel. There were frequent storms; with each one, the air seemed to get hotter and more humid.
