“What?” Kate sat up straight to look over her shoulder. “Who’s that?”
“Brother of one of my patients. President of T&O Enterprises.”
“Isn’t that the company doing the hospital expansion?” At her nod, Kate continued, “He doesn’t look like a happy camper.”
“No kidding.”
Rebecca could count on one hand the times he didn’t look like he wanted to implode something. Right now wasn’t one of them. But the few times she’d seen him smile or grin were pretty unforgettable. Like three days ago when he’d been annoyed by her optimism. One minute his grin was a wicked challenge, the next it was replaced by sadness brimming in his eyes. The man definitely got to her and that was unacceptable. She hunched forward, hoping he wouldn’t notice her.
“He’s a nice-looking man,” Kate observed.
“Nice-looking? If there was an APGAR for guys, he’d score off the scale,” Rebecca said.
“Oh, really.” Her friend’s voice dripped innuendo like a leaky paper cup.
“What?” Rebecca stared at Kate. “I may be a brainer geek, but I know a good-looking man when I see one. But that’s all there is to it.”
“If you say so.”
“What does that mean?” Rebecca asked.
“Nothing. But your body language is speaking volumes.”
“No way.”
“Oh, yeah,” Kate said, clearly enjoying this. “You could crawl under the table so he doesn’t see you. Oops, too late. He just glanced this way and is now striding purposefully in this direction.”
The next moment Gabe stood beside their table. “Your answering service said I could find you here. Rebecca, I need to talk to you.”
“I was just leaving.” Kate stood and picked up her tray.
He seemed to realize his behavior was abrupt. “I’m sorry. Didn’t mean to interrupt. Miss—”
“Carpenter. Kate,” she said.
“Miss Carpenter.” He nodded. “Don’t leave on my account. I just need a minute—”
“No problem. I have to pick up my little guy. Bye, Rebecca.”
“See you later.” She watched her friend’s back for a few moments. Anything to put off the reaction she knew was coming, the reaction that always followed when she was this close to Gabe Thorne. She braced herself and met his gaze while the hum of attraction vibrated through her.
Taking a deep breath, she said, “So, why did you want to talk to me?”
“Have you seen or heard from Amy?”
“No. Is something wrong?”
“I hope not,” he said grimly. “I’m afraid she’s taken off again.”
Chapter Four
It was a long shot that Rebecca had seen Amy, but besides his partner Jack O’Neill, the doc was the only other person in Las Vegas his sister knew. It was the only reason he was here when he wanted to be anywhere but looking into warm-brown eyes that reminded him of hot cocoa, a hot fire and hotter kisses. And wasn’t it just more bad luck that those brown eyes belonged to a doctor. Doctors worked in hospitals. He hated hospitals. In fact, T&O would have passed on the Mercy Medical Center project if it hadn’t included building two more campuses. Businesswise, it was an opportunity that would have been stupid to pass up.
“Are you sure Amy’s gone?” Rebecca asked.
“She’s not at the house and her things are gone. What would be your guess?”
Worry slid into those warm-brown eyes. “Did she leave a note?”
“No. Sorry to bother you, but I had to check.” He started to walk out of the cafeteria.
“Gabe, wait.” She was standing when he turned back. “What are you going to do?”
“Look for her,” he said simply.
“Have you called the police?”
He shook his head. “I don’t think she’s been gone long enough for them to officially look into it. But I can’t sit around and do nothing.”
“Really? I should think you’d be relieved.”
He’d have thought the same thing. And he would be, if he’d put her on a plane back to Dallas. But he wasn’t a callous bastard who wanted her gone at the expense of her health.
“I don’t want her on the streets.” He turned away again and started toward the door.
“Gabe—”
He ignored her and kept walking even though he heard his name again. When the hospital exit was in sight, he felt a hand on his arm and stopped.
“Gabe, slow down. I can’t keep up.”
“Then don’t.”
“I’m going with you.”
She was breathing a little faster from hurrying after him, and he thought she was about the sexiest thing he’d ever seen. Even in her shapeless royal-blue scrubs she looked like temptation-in-waiting. The want and need he kept in check around her stirred and stretched and snapped at the confinement. Since he was looking at the catalyst for this uninvited reaction, a catalyst that was making him crazy, the solution was easy.
“No,” he said. “You’re not going with me.”
She tilted her head slightly, confused and curious and so cute his chest hurt. “Just like that?” she asked.
“Just like that,” he answered.
“Look, you can’t drive safely and look for her. You need another pair of eyes.”
He would agree if the big, beautiful pair of eyes he stared into right now didn’t make him want things he hadn’t wanted in a long time.
“I’ll be okay.”
He walked out of the hospital and found his car in the circular portico out front. The BMW chirped when he pressed the button for the keyless entry, then he rounded the rear of the car, opened the driver’s side door and got in. Just as he was putting the key in the ignition, the passenger door swung wide and Rebecca slid into the seat beside him.
“I’m going, too.” She met his gaze with a defiant one that said she wouldn’t take no for an answer.
Since the alternative was ugly, he said, “Okay. You can come.”
It occurred to him that he was going to hell and had just taken the first step.
Gabe drove around for several hours through his own exclusive Spanish Trails neighborhood, surrounding areas and some of the rougher parts of town near Fremont Street. They checked the homeless shelters without any luck. Rebecca stared out the window and scanned alleys and sidewalks as they went by. She didn’t say much, but his senses picked up every signal she gave off.
A single soft sigh slid up his spine and made his breath catch. The scent of her skin surrounded him, enveloped him, put a skip in his heart rate. A glance at her lovely, delicate profile fired his blood, sending a power surge to his brain that fried the rational circuits. And, not for the first time, he wished he’d locked his car doors when he’d had the chance.
He rubbed the back of his neck and felt her gaze on him.
“Gabe, let’s take a break. You’re tired and so am I.” As they exited the 215 Beltway at Eastern, she pointed across the street. “There’s a diner. We can get a cup of coffee and something to eat and recharge our batteries.”
He knew she had a point when he was too tired to argue. “Okay.”
He made the turn onto Eastern, then a left into the parking lot. After exiting the car, he rounded the trunk to open the passenger door as she was sliding out.
“Oh,” she said, looking surprised.
“What?” he said.
“That’s nice. Opening the door.”
He shrugged. “My mother had very definite ideas about how a lady is treated.”
“She trained you well.”
“Yeah.” When he saw her shiver against the chill January wind, he slipped his coat around her shoulders. “Let’s go inside.”
They sat facing each other in a booth, and he realized riding around with her beside him was a walk in the park compared to looking at her directly. As far as he could tell she wore little or no makeup, and the utilitarian scrubs were functional for her work, but not especially flattering to her figure. Again he should be relieved. Y
et he found himself desperately curious about what she would look like in something exquisitely feminine—or nothing at all.
Thank God a waitress appeared and handed them menus. “My name is Julie and I’ll be your server. Can I get you something to drink?”
“Coffee,” Gabe said, and looked at Rebecca.
“Me, too.”
“Coming right up. I’ll give you a few minutes.”
When she brought two steaming mugs, he ordered a ham sandwich. Rebecca took a pass on food since she’d eaten at the hospital.
When Julie walked away, they stared at each other across the table. Since he drank his coffee black, he couldn’t even fill the silence with the activity of doctoring it up. Apparently, Rebecca took hers the same because she picked up the mug without adding cream or sugar and blew on it before taking a sip.
“So,” she said, meeting his gaze. “Your mother is responsible for your impeccable manners?”
“Yeah.” He’d expected her to ask about his sister, so the question surprised him. “She was a blend of tough and tender and I took the brunt of it.”
“And you mean that in the best possible way,” she said, her lips curving in a smile.
“Yeah. I do.”
He hadn’t had anything but dark thoughts about Lillian Thorne in a long time. Usually his memories were clouded by pain and loss and a baby sister who came home from the hospital instead of his mother. Remembering the tiny woman who would twist his ear to make a point, then make him bend down so she could hug him with everything she had produced a warm feeling inside him.
“It must have been hard when you lost her.” Rebecca watched him carefully. “Bringing a new life into the world should be a happy time, and mostly it is.”
“But not always,” he said.
“No.” She set her cup down. “So do you have any idea why Amy left?”
“You may have noticed she’s not a great communicator. But ever since the ultrasound she’s been even more remote.”
Rebecca’s eyes brimmed with sympathy and understanding. “Probably the reality of the situation is sinking in.”
“I guess.”
“But that wouldn’t explain why she disappeared suddenly.
After coming to you in the first place, I mean. Does she know how you feel about wanting her to go home?”
Gabe felt the guilt twist inside him. “I’m not subtle.”
One corner of her mouth curved up. “I noticed.”
He remembered the last conversation with his sister, when he’d told her it would be best for her and the baby to go home, and that her father should know the situation. The last thing she’d said to him was, “Go to hell.” “I might have pushed her some.”
“I see.”
He wished Rebecca would read him the riot act, tell him he was a selfish bastard with the sensitivity of a water buffalo. Her quiet disapproval was so much worse and he didn’t know why. He hardly knew her except that she’d shown integrity, caring and a strength that was immensely admirable and appealing.
He stared into the black circle of his coffee and remembered her letting it slip that Amy’s pregnancy was at risk. The baby is the most important thing.
The words raced through his mind. Hannah’s words.
The woman he’d loved and lost. The woman who’d carried the child he’d loved and lost. The woman who hadn’t survived to experience what she’d wanted most—to be a wife and mother.
“If anything happens to Amy…”
“We’ll find her.” Rebecca reached across the table and squeezed his hand.
Gabe looked up and instantly saw the determination in her expression. Anyone would have said the same to him, but the conviction in her voice made him believe. He hadn’t wanted her to come with him, but he was grateful she was here. He wasn’t alone and it was the first time since…
The guilt inside him knotted at the warmth of Rebecca’s hand on his own. But it felt so damn good, instinctively he turned his hand palm up and linked his fingers with hers. He’d been alone for so long, going through the motions of living without letting himself feel. The grief was so big there’d been no room inside him for anything else. Somehow that was shrinking, the shadows were lifting, but the uncomfortable sensation convinced him that change was not a good thing.
He slid his hand away from the warmth of hers and hated himself for missing it.
“Gabe?”
“It’s my fault she left.”
“Has anyone ever told you that guilt is a waste of energy?”
He couldn’t stop a smile. “Rebecca of Sunnybrook Farm. Were you a motivational speaker in between skipping grades in school and training to be a doctor?”
“No.” She frowned, then looked down as she removed her pager from her waistband and studied the display.
“What?”
“It’s the hospital E.R.”
She pulled the cell phone from her scrubs pocket and hit the speed dial. “This is Dr. Hamilton.”
As she listened, the expression on her face turned grim. “I’m on my way.”
“What is it?” he asked.
“Amy. Las Vegas Metro Police brought her into the E.R.”
As a rule, Rebecca frowned on shoplifting. In Amy’s case, the right and wrong of it blurred because of the baby. She was caught in a convenience store taking food. The police brought her to Mercy Medical because she was pregnant and had fainted. Her blood pressure numbers were not good, and if they didn’t improve she and the baby could be in a lot of trouble.
Rebecca had the teen admitted to the hospital and from all reports she was resting comfortably in a room on the second floor, in the Women’s Wing. Rebecca was on her way to check her out before going home. She grabbed the chart at the nurse’s station and checked Amy’s latest vitals. Satisfied that all was stable for now, she walked down the hall to see her patient. As she got closer, she heard conversation coming from the room and recognized Gabe’s deep voice. They were arguing.
This was a hospital, not the Jerry Springer Show. Her patient needed rest. Rebecca moved to the doorway and stepped in. With her hair pulled back in a ponytail and wearing a shapeless hospital gown, Amy Thorne looked impossibly young and still pale. At the same time she managed to look defensive and hostile.
In navy slacks, wrinkled white shirt and striped tie loose at the neck, Gabe was still rumpled from hours of searching for his sister. Apparently, his temper was just as rumpled as his clothes. Rebecca could understand it. His sister was doing an admirable job of hiding any hint of remorse.
“What’s going on?” Rebecca asked.
“Gabe’s freaked out. It was just chips and a soda,” she told him.
Rebecca winced. If she was going to take food, something nutritious would have been preferable.
“It was stealing.” Standing by the hospital bed, Gabe loomed over his sister and glared.
“I was hungry.”
“There’s a refrigerator full of food at my house, and no one would have arrested you for helping yourself,” Gabe said. “And it’s more nourishing than chips and soda.”
Chalk one up for him, Rebecca thought. At least one of the Thornes was listening. If only that would solve all the problems. But there was a complex dynamic at work here and it was impacting her patient’s health.
“Hi, Gabe,” she said meeting his gaze as she walked in. “Amy, how are you feeling?”
The teen shrugged. “Okay. Can I get out of here?”
“So you can take off again?” Gabe asked.
“It’s what you wanted.”
“No.” Gabe shook his head. “Amy, you scared the crap out of me.”
“Oh, please.”
“It’s true. I care about you.”
“I don’t believe you. You’ve never cared about me.”
“I’ll admit we haven’t been close. But you’re my sister. I love you.”
“That’s a lie.” Amy glared up at him. “Mama died because of me. That’s what you think. You blame me for i
t. You’ve always hated me.”
“That’s not true.”
“It is true. You can’t stand the sight of me and couldn’t wait to leave Texas. If I’d had anywhere else to go, no way would I have come to Las Vegas.”
Gabe dragged his fingers through his hair as he blew out a long breath. “Look, I admit my feelings are complicated—”
“That’s just a polite way of saying you hate my guts. Yeah, I stole food because I was hungry. But you’re lying about how you really feel. Which one of us is more dishonest?”
Gabe stared at her for several moments, and the anger draining out of him was almost a tangible thing. He finally sat on the bed, weariness evident in the slump of his shoulders and lines in his face.
“You’re not right. I don’t hate you.”
“Then why did you leave home?”
“You know why. To expand the business in Las Vegas.”
Amy shook her head. “You didn’t have to go. You could have sent someone else. But you wanted to get away from me and finally found an excuse.”
“You’re wrong, Amy. I didn’t leave because of you.”
“Then why?” she demanded.
“It was because of Hannah.”
Hannah? Rebecca dragged her gaze from his sister just in time to see misery darken Gabe’s eyes and pain tighten his mouth.
“Oh, Gabe—” Amy put her hand on his arm.
Apparently Rebecca wasn’t the only one surprised by the revelation. Who was Hannah? He must have cared deeply about her. So why did he leave her? Or did she leave him? She couldn’t imagine any woman leaving him. Gabe wasn’t the kind of man who got dumped. The feelings pouring through her were symptoms of something that wasn’t good, and she needed this complication like a bad case of the flu. She wanted to leave, but her patient’s welfare could depend on understanding their complicated issues.
He covered his sister’s hand with his own. “The memories were too much. I was finally going to marry her, Amy. Finally after wanting it for so long, we were so close to having it all. So close to—” His jaw clenched and a muscle jumped in his cheek.
“I loved her, too.”
The Millionaire and the M.D. Page 5
