The Most Eligible Doctor

by Karen Rose Smith

  “That’s why I’m calling. A report came over the radio that the power is out on our side of town. So Megan and I are going to stay with Mom tonight.”

  Bea Brinkman, Lily’s mother, was also her child care provider. She watched Megan whenever Lily had to work.

  “Will the power be out all night?” Brianne asked.

  “They don’t know. Do you want to come here and stay with us? Mom says you’re more than welcome.”

  “I don’t know if my car can make it to the farm. Are the roads plowed?”

  “Not yet. I could try to come get you.”

  “No! I don’t want you to take that chance. I can stay here.”

  Jed’s father gruffly but adamantly broke into their conversation. “Young lady, that’s a bad idea. A young woman like you alone in a deserted building at night? Why don’t you come have supper with us, and then we’ll take you wherever you have to go. My truck can get through anything.”

  “Who was that?” Lily asked, apparently hearing bits and pieces of the conversation.

  “It’s Dr. Sawyer’s father. He, uh, suggested I have dinner with them and then he’ll bring me to the farm.” Brianne looked over at Jed.

  He wasn’t exactly frowning, but he didn’t look happy about the turn of events, either. Not hesitating, though, he agreed with his father. “You can’t stay here alone. Come over to the house with us. We’ve got plenty of room. If the roads are too difficult, you can stay the night.”

  “I don’t want to put you to any trouble.”

  “It won’t be any trouble,” he said gruffly. “Dad’s right. If the power is out, we probably should be going before this gets any worse.”

  Brianne certainly didn’t want Lily driving in this snowstorm, or for that matter, Jed’s dad taking a chance driving out to the farm. She knew she’d be perfectly safe with the two men. It was an instinctive knowing.

  After only a few more seconds of hesitation, she said to Lily, “I’ll be at Dr. Sawyer’s if you need me. If the snow stops and the roads are plowed, I’ll join you later.”

  “Are you sure that’s what you want to do?” Lily asked, concern in her voice.

  Looking at Jed again, Brianne felt the stirring of excitement that always happened whenever she was around him. Reminding herself that going to the Sawyers’ house was a practical solution, she assured her friend, “Yes, that’s what I want to do. Tell your mom thanks for the offer. I’ll get back to you later.”

  When she hung up the phone, she said brightly, “I guess that’s settled, then. But you have to let me help you with dinner.”

  “We won’t turn down that offer.” Jed’s dad gave her a sly smile and extended his hand to her. “Al Sawyer. And you’re…”

  “Brianne Barrington.”

  “Edward Barrington’s daughter?” Al asked with a lift of his bushy brows.

  “Yes. Did you know him?”

  Nodding, he explained, “I went to see him once…for my heart. Some kind of rhythm problem. He gave me medicine that fixed it right up. I liked him. He wasn’t one of those docs who spend two minutes with you and they’re on their way.”

  “Dad was a good listener.”

  “I couldn’t believe it when I heard about the accident. It’s a shame you’re an only child. Brothers or sisters help at a time like that.”

  Shifting from one booted foot to the other, Al suddenly looked uncomfortable, as if he didn’t know what to say next.

  Jed stepped in. “Dad, why don’t you get the truck heated up? We’ll be right out.”

  The older man seemed grateful that his son had cut off the conversation. “Sure thing. I’ll probably have to clean off the windshield again, so take your time.”

  After Al went through the door, Brianne asked Jed, “Are you sure you want me to come?”

  “You grew up in Sawyer Springs, didn’t you?” he asked, instead of answering.

  “Yes, I did.”

  “Then you know that neighbor helps neighbor here.”

  “Yes, I know that, but…”

  “It’s one of the reasons I came back here, Brianne. Dad was the main reason. But I lived in L.A. before I went to Alaska, and it’s much different out there. Families are mobile units. Neighbors come and go. It’s not at all like here.”

  “You came back because you like Sawyer Springs?”

  “I came back because it was time.” His gaze passed over her again, and it was as if he was studying every light freckle on her nose. “I don’t want you out in this storm any more than Dad does. And this building is no place for you to be on a night like this. I’ll warn you, though—Dad’s a little rough around the edges and pretty blunt sometimes.”

  “Unlike you?” she asked with a smile.

  He shook his head and chuckled. “You got me there. I guess what you’re saying is, if you can put up with me, you can put up with him.”

  “I enjoy working with you, Jed,” she said sincerely. “It’s not a hardship.”

  Tilting his head, he asked, “Are you always this honest?”

  “I try to be. Tactful, too, I hope,” she added teasingly.

  “I see.” With amusement in his eyes, he took a step closer. “There’s honest and blunt, and honest and tactful. I’ll try to remember that.”

  They were standing less than a foot apart. She could almost feel his intensity, sense his heat, see his defenses. For a moment she’d made him laugh.

  Now he became serious again, his voice low. “Get your coat. I’ll make sure everything’s locked up.”

  Five minutes later he held the truck door for her as she climbed in beside his father. The truck seat was roomy, but once Jed shut his door, his down jacket touched the sleeve of her camel wool coat. His trousered leg brushed against hers and Brianne’s breath caught. What was it about this man that excited her so? Although she might be intrigued by him, this excursion to his house could be a colossal mistake. Being impulsive wasn’t in her nature. Yet around him, she almost felt reckless. That was dangerous territory for a virgin who didn’t want to lose her heart.

  “Here we go,” Al said, windshield wipers clearing the snow away while heat poured from the vents.

  When he pulled onto the street through the six-inch-deep snow, Brianne rocked against Jed. He didn’t move and neither did she, and the heat between them seemed a lot more intense than what was coming out of the vents.

  Was it purely her imagination? Certainly, he wasn’t affected by her the way she was affected by him. Yet when she glanced at his profile, she saw the nerve in his jaw twitch.

  There was no one on the roads, and a short time later, Al pulled up in front of a one-and-a-half story house. It was painted blue and accented by black shutters. The porch light was glowing, so apparently the power lines in this part of town hadn’t been damaged.

  Jed opened his door and climbed out, waiting for Brianne. The snow was getting deeper, and when she jumped from the truck, she discovered it was over the top of her leather boots. She wrinkled her nose at the cold sensation, realizing that by the time she walked to the house, her feet would be wet.

  Jed sized up the situation promptly and swung her into his arms.

  “What are you doing?” she gasped. He’d moved so quickly, she felt as if she were floating in midair. She wrapped her arms around his neck for security’s sake.

  “You need a pair of real boots.”

  “These are real boots. I’ve worn them all winter.”

  “Real boots don’t make a fashion statement. They’re snug around the calves and go to your knees.”

  He had a point. Although it snowed quite a bit, she wasn’t out in it very much. She liked to look feminine and stylish. She did own a pair of tie boots with lamb’s wool inside, but they would have looked hideous with her skirt.

  Thoughts of boots vanished as Jed carried her to the front stoop. He was as solid as a granite cliff. Held against him as she was, she could feel the breadth of his shoulders and the strength of his arms. Under the overhang of the porc
h, there was only about an inch of snow. He set her down lightly, as if she were fragile enough to break. She felt so small beside him. So slight. So feminine. The green depths of his eyes mesmerized her as they stood close together.

  He fingered a stray curl along her cheek, and she thought she’d melt right there on his porch. “Hats are a good idea in this kind of weather, too,” he advised huskily.

  “I’ll remember that the next time it snows,” she murmured, knowing that coming here with Jed was a very big mistake.

  Al suddenly came up behind them. “Want my key?”

  Quickly Jed dug into his jacket pocket. “Nope. I’ve got mine.” He opened the door and let Brianne enter before him.

  As she took a quick look around, Jed shrugged out of his coat and switched on a light. “It’s like stepping back into the fifties, isn’t it?”

  Glancing around the interior of the house, she saw what he meant. There was warm wood flooring, but it didn’t have the finish modern floors had. The brick fireplace was simple, without a hearth, but with an alcove to store wood next to it. A gold-and-green flowered sofa sat against one wall, near a comfortable-looking tweed recliner that had seen years’ worth of use. Beyond the living room she could see the kitchen, with its linoleum floor, and yellow and white ceramic tiles behind the appliances and sink. The counters were gold swirl and the cabinets birch.

  “There wasn’t anything wrong with the fifties,” Al mumbled.

  After Brianne removed her coat, Jed took it and hung it in the closet beside his. “I’ll get a fire started. The house has always been drafty.”

  Brianne heard Al harumph as he went into the kitchen and hung his jacket on a rack there.

  When she crossed to the fireplace, she studied the pictures on the TV console next to it. “You have a brother and a sister?” she asked, looking at a family portrait, the only one in the room from what she could see.

  As Jed touched a long match to the kindling, he answered, “Yes.”

  “Older or younger?” She knew she was pushing, but she wanted to know more about this man.

  “They’re both older.”

  “Do they live around here?”

  Crouching down, Jed placed two logs on the fire. “No. None of us could wait to escape small-town life in Sawyer Springs. Ellie is out in California producing documentaries, and Chris is a colonel in the army now.”

  “You’re all successful. I’ll bet that makes your parents proud.”

  With a last look at the dancing flames, Jed closed the mesh screen, stood and faced her. “Mom instilled the idea in us that we could rise above anything, be whatever we wanted to be. She died during my residency, but she knew we were all on our way.”

  So Jed knew how it felt to lose a parent. Thinking about it, Brianne felt she’d lost hers twice—once when she’d found out she was adopted, because nothing had been the same after that, and then again after the accident. “I’ll bet your dad’s proud of what you’ve accomplished.”

  Jed turned away and gazed into the fire for a few moments. “I’m not sure what Dad feels. And my idea of success has changed over the past few years.” A haunted shadow crossed his face again.

  Wanting to be honest with him, she admitted, “I know you were a plastic surgeon in L.A. before you went to Alaska. Did something happen to—”

  Al returned to the living room then, unaware that he was interrupting. With a broad smile, he addressed Brianne. “We’ve got leftover rotisserie chicken from the deli and a bag of potatoes. Anything you can cook up with that?” Al Sawyer apparently was the kind of man who assumed that all women knew how to cook.

  “Dad, you can’t expect Brianne—”

  “That sounds like the beginnings of a scalloped-potato-and-chicken casserole to me. What do you think about that?” she asked seriously.

  Grinning, Al nodded. “Now you’re talkin’. I knew it was a good idea bringin’ you along home.”

  Brianne laughed and Jed just shook his head. “You really know how to win a girl over, Dad.”

  “Maybe you should try it sometime,” his father replied.

  Jed’s face went still and the hint of a smile vanished. But his tone was even when he said, “Dad keeps a stash of frozen cakes in the downstairs freezer. I’ll get one of those for dessert before we all start peeling potatoes.”

  Deciding to put her best foot forward—what trouble could she get into cooking supper?—Brianne smiled at Jed’s father. “Mr. Sawyer, why don’t you show me around your kitchen?”

  As he jammed his hands into the pockets of his coveralls, he muttered, “It’s Al. Come on, and I’ll show you where everything is.”

  After supper, washing dishes while Brianne dried, Jed tried to figure out why he felt turned inside out whenever he was around her. Her presence stirred up emotions he hadn’t felt in years. He told himself she was young and beautiful, and that’s all it was.

  He was placing the last dish in the drainer when his father went to the back door and looked out. “The snow shows no sign of stopping anytime soon. I think I’ll go out and shovel the front walk.”

  “I bought the snowblower so you don’t have to do that, Dad. I’ll take it out later for its first pass.”

  “That thing runs away with me,” Al grumbled. “I prefer a shovel.”

  “You should prefer the living room in front of the fire, and let me take care of it.”

  His face reddening, Al demanded, “And just what happens if I let you take care of everything and then you leave and I’m stuck with it again? I’ll be out of shape and not used to countin’ on myself. If you’re so dad-blasted set on running the snowblower, I’ll go upstairs and work on that jigsaw puzzle in my room.”

  “Mr. Sawyer?” Brianne said as he started toward the living room.

  Al gave her a look that said she was supposed to call him by his first name.

  “Al,” she amended. “I don’t want to disrupt your evening. If you want to watch TV—”

  “You’re not disrupting anything. I’m almost finished with that puzzle and I want to see it all put together. Jed will find you anything you need for tonight. If I don’t see you before, I’ll see you in the morning.” He left the kitchen abruptly without saying good-night to his son.

  Jed took the dish towel from Brianne’s hands. “Let the rest drip dry. Would you like a glass of brandy?”

  The house was drafty, and the idea of a glass of brandy in front of the fire with Jed was appealing. “Sure.”

  A few minutes later as he joined her on the sofa, he handed her a small snifter, took a sip of his, set it on the coffee table and ran his hand through his hair. She could tell the interchange with his father was still frustrating him.

  “Your dad doesn’t take to change easily?”

  “That’s an understatement. Every time I try to do something for him, there’s a battle.”

  “It sounds as if he doesn’t think you’ll be staying here.”

  Shifting toward her, Jed replied, “I’m not sure I will be. How about you? Where do you want your career to take you?”

  Before she’d accepted the position at the Beechwood, she’d applied for a job with Project Voyage—a team of doctors and nurses who volunteered their time helping children in South America. But she hadn’t heard from them, and when the position at the family practice had opened, she’d decided it was just what she needed while she settled her parents’ estate and got her life in some kind of order. “I’m not sure where I want it to take me.”

  “Why didn’t you go to med school and follow in your father’s footsteps?” Jed’s gaze was probing.

  “I’m not sure how to explain.” She thought of Bobby and how she’d helped nurse him every day after school. “I like caring for patients, not just listening to their symptoms and prescribing medication. I saw my father’s life—how he wanted to give more time to each patient but couldn’t always, the kind of hours he kept, being called out in the middle of the night. If I ever have a family, I’d like to keep workin
g. But I also want to be there for them. Do you know what I mean?”

  Jed knew exactly what she meant. Caroline had accused him often of not being available, of his patients always coming first. He didn’t feel it was true. Especially after their daughter was born. Trisha had been the light of his life, and sometimes he’d thought Caroline was jealous of that. She’d been a pampered, spoiled rich girl, used to being the center of attention. Unfortunately, he hadn’t realized that until after he’d married her.

  Brianne came from money, too. Nevertheless, he’d felt her compassion, could see what a caring nature she had. Maybe that’s why his desire for her was only part of what was going on. Her soft, bronze-colored sweater had a round neck that molded to her creamy throat. Her calf-length wool skirt draped enticingly over her slender hips and curvy legs. When he’d carried her earlier and her arms had gone around his neck, he’d realized he’d been alone for a long time now.

  The flaming wood in the fireplace popped and crackled. The sip of brandy he’d taken made a burning path down his throat. Yet the heat inside him had nothing to do with the fire or the brandy.

  Brianne was looking up at him with such complete absorption…

  “Brianne,” he said huskily.

  She didn’t move, just kept studying his face, his lips, as if she was as curious as he was about the chemistry brewing between them.

  Bending his head, he savored the moment of wanting her…of needing her. He reveled in the feeling as his blood started racing faster and his hunger built. His lips hovered over hers and he heard her sigh, then catch her breath. But she didn’t move away.

  I feel alive again, he thought as his lips touched hers.

  Fascinated by the soft curls and their fiery color, Jed was unable to resist sliding his hand into Brianne’s hair. His tongue instinctively slipped between her lips, and when her hands went to his shoulders, he brought her closer. Breathing her in, he delved into her mouth, giving himself up to the kiss, to Brianne, the fire and the brandy.

  Numb as he’d been to his physical needs for the past four years, Jed felt more aroused now than he’d ever been in his life. Brianne’s soft moan, her surrender to the desire between them, her sweet beauty, spun him into turmoil and excitement and hunger.