White Pines Summer

by Sherryl Woods

  “How come?”

  “Because it would have been like telling my mother to go away so I could have sex.” He shuddered at the thought. His mother was a lovely woman, but she did have her rules about propriety. This situation definitely did not fall within the guidelines. He figured his housekeeper would agree.

  Lizzy chuckled. “Hank Robbins, you are shy.”

  “Not shy, just discreet.”

  “Which explains all those apples and oranges. Somehow your housekeeper got the idea that we were hungry.”

  “Starving, in fact.”

  “Then I suppose you’d better gather them up and bring ’em over here. You can peel the oranges and feed them to me.” She winked. “With any luck, the juice will trickle into all sorts of interesting places.”

  “Right,” Hank said, though he was having difficulty tearing his gaze away from the sight before him on the bed. “Just one thing.”

  “What’s that?”

  “Do you suppose you could put your clothes back on? I’m having a really hard time concentrating.” He forced himself to begin the search for apples and oranges. When he had most of the elusive fruit back in the bowl, he backed toward the door. “I’ll just be in my office when you’re dressed.”

  “I could just slide under the covers and wait until Mrs. Wyndham leaves.”

  “Bad idea,” Hank said.

  “You afraid she’ll check the room before she goes?”

  “No, I’m very much afraid I’ll throw caution to the wind and join you. The whole orange-juice image you stirred up was damned inviting.”

  “I could live with that.”

  He grinned at the declaration. “Sure. You’re leaving town. I’m the one who’d have to live down sending my housekeeper into cardiac arrest when she found the two of us.”

  She studied him thoughtfully. “Maybe it wouldn’t be such a bad idea. At least the gossip would warn all the predatory females in town that you’re mine.”

  “Darlin’, there are no females in town you need to worry about,” he assured her.

  “What about Garden City?”

  Amused by her continued fascination with the mysterious woman in the next town, he shrugged. “I doubt the gossip would spread that far.”

  Her gaze narrowed. “Then you’re admitting there is a woman there?”

  “I’m not admitting to a thing.”

  “Why won’t you tell me?”

  “Because not knowing for sure will give you a reason to hurry home.”

  “Oh, I’ll be back in June, all right. And I’d better not hear that you’ve been roaming over to the next county.”

  “Or what?”

  “Or I’ll just have to go over there myself and tear her hair out.”

  Lizzy sounded so fierce that Hank was very relieved that no such woman existed. He also couldn’t help feeling just a bit of smug satisfaction that Lizzy Adams was finally, at long last, pea green with jealousy.

  * * *

  Except for her morning visits with her father over his much-hated bran cereal, Lizzy was beginning to resent every second she had to spend away from Hank. These first days of loving him openly were so precious, she didn’t want to waste a minute of them.

  Still, there were those times when Hank had to work, anyway. She used those hours to visit with her sister, Jenny, and her nieces, Dani and Sharon Lynn, both of whom were a few years older than she was. Sharon Lynn was happily planning an oft-delayed, midsummer wedding to longtime fiancé Kyle Mason. This time the two of them were determined to pull off the event. Every previous attempt had been postponed due to one crisis or another. Lizzy had her own opinion about the real reason for the delays, but she would never in a million years have shared them with Sharon Lynn. As long as her cousin was determined to go through with this wedding, come what may, then Lizzy was behind her a hundred percent.

  Now, with the absolutely, positively, last-chance, final date practically upon her, Sharon Lynn was so distracted that most of the customers at Dolan’s Drugstore were at high risk when they ordered lunch at the counter Sharon Lynn had been running for the past few years. Lizzy walked in just as her niece was about to serve a raw hamburger to the local sheriff.

  “I’ll take that,” she said, swooping in and grabbing the plate before her niece could put it down.

  Sharon Lynn gazed at the plate blankly. “Was something wrong?”

  Lizzy winked at Tate Owens. “Even old Tate here likes his meat cooked before he eats it,” she said as she slapped the burger on the grill. “Why don’t you have a seat at the counter, sweetie? I’ll rustle up a sandwich for you, too.”

  “But it’s my job,” Sharon Lynn protested.

  “Which won’t last much longer if you keep running off the customers with your offbeat recipes.”

  Sharon Lynn looked puzzled. “Offbeat recipes? I don’t understand.”

  “You gave Millicent ketchup with her pancakes yesterday and tried to pour soda over Mr. Lincoln’s cornflakes,” Lizzy said, mentioning only the latest two episodes of forgetfulness that had been described by her father that morning. He was taking great delight in the tales Harlan Patrick was spreading about his sister.

  “Then there was the notorious tuna-salad incident,” the sheriff chimed in cheerfully. “Jake Conroy’s still trying to figure out the sweet taste of that sandwich you served up on a sliced doughnut. Fortunately for you, Jake’s eyesight ain’t what it used to be.”

  Sharon Lynn sank down on a stool. “Good heavens. It’s gotten that bad?”

  “Worse, actually, but nobody’s blaming you yet,” Lizzy said. “Everybody knows your mind’s on your wedding.”

  “Do you suppose that’s why Kyle thought the last milk shake I fixed him tasted like grapefruit juice?”

  Lizzy exchanged an amused glance with Tate as she gave him his medium-rare burger. “Could be,” she agreed. “I’m surprised he noticed. Word is that he’s every bit as muddleheaded these days as you are.”

  “And I suppose you’ve never done anything absentminded,” Sharon Lynn grumbled. “Just wait. The way things are going with you and Hank, one of these days you’re going to walk out of the house without your shoes or with your hair in curlers and wonder why everybody’s staring.”

  “Lordy, I hope not. If I get that distracted, I’ll be downright dangerous with a flu shot.”

  Tate studied her intently. “So, it’s true, then? You’re going to be a doctor?”

  Lizzy nodded. “That’s the plan. Of course, I have a long way to go yet. I have to finish med school, an internship and a residency.”

  “Old Hank must be a patient man,” the sheriff noted. He winked at her. “But a darned lucky one. Hope you’ll be coming back here and hanging out your shingle one of these days.”

  His words sent a chill through her. That wasn’t the plan at all. And yet, what had she thought was going to happen? Did she expect Hank to abandon his ranch and move to some city with her? Of course not. Which meant either she had to come back to Los Piños eventually or she had to give up the man she loved.

  “Well, damn,” she murmured, sinking down onto the stool next to Sharon Lynn.

  “What is it?” her niece demanded. “Lizzy, what on earth is wrong? Are you sick?”

  “Not sick, just stunned.”

  “Am I supposed to understand what you’re talking about?”

  “No, of course not.” She forced a smile. “I guess I just butted headlong into some hard truths.”

  “Such as?”

  “The fact that Daddy’s been fibbing to me all these years.”

  Sharon Lynn looked shocked. Like the rest of the family, she was convinced her granddaddy Harlan hung the moon. “How so?” she asked in a voice barely above a whisper.

  “He’s always told me I could have it all. Now I’m not so sure.”

 
“Why on earth would you say that?”

  “Because in order to have Hank, I’d have to give up medicine.”

  “Don’t be ridiculous. You heard Tate. You could practice right here in Los Piños.”

  “There’s not a trauma center anywhere near here.”

  “Trauma center? Since when did you decide you wanted to do emergency medicine?” She regarded Lizzy intently. “Is it because of that cute actor on ER?”

  “Don’t be absurd,” Lizzy said, though her words were belied by the defensive note in her voice.

  Sharon Lynn began to laugh. “It is, isn’t it? You wouldn’t sound so irritated if that weren’t it.”

  “It’s because of the volunteering I did in the emergency room when I was in college,” Lizzy retorted.

  “If you say so.”

  “I do.”

  Just then Hank walked up behind her. “Now, there’s a phrase I’ve been longing to hear.”

  Lizzy whirled around so fast she almost spun herself right off the stool. “What phrase?”

  “I do.”

  She studied his face, searching for a trace of humor, some sign that he was only teasing. His expression was sober as could be. “Careful what you wish for, cowboy.”

  “Do you want to put my sincerity to the test?”

  Lizzy thought about the terrible quandary she’d been pondering just before his arrival and shook her head. “No,” she said ruefully.

  There was the slightest flaring of disappointment in Hank’s eyes, but it vanished almost before she could be sure it was there. He slid onto the stool next to her, then glanced around.

  “Who’s working around here? Or have you turned this place into a self-service restaurant, Sharon Lynn?”

  “It might be better if I had,” Sharon Lynn replied as she moved behind the counter. “Apparently, I’m getting to be downright dangerous back here. I’d suggest you stick to something simple, like a soda.”

  “How about a grilled cheese and fries with it?”

  “Don’t say you weren’t warned,” she retorted, and went to work fixing his order.

  Hank swiveled to study Lizzy. She winced under the intense scrutiny.

  “What’s up with you, darlin’?”

  “Nothing,” she denied.

  “You’re going to have to do better than that.”

  She forced an indifferent shrug. “Oh, just thinking about this and that.”

  “Which one am I, this or that?”

  “What makes you think you’ve been on my mind at all?” She paused. “Wait a second. What are you doing here in the first place? Shouldn’t you be working?”

  “I’m the boss. I left Pete in charge and gave myself the day off. Then I came looking for you. Your father said you’d come into town. Your mother reported you were over here pestering Sharon Lynn.”

  “With those tracking skills, you could become a private eye.”

  “I don’t think so. You’re the only person I’m the least bit interested in finding.”

  She regarded him with fascination. “Is that so?”

  “That’s the honest-to-God truth.”

  “Interesting. You do realize, of course, that you’ve just given me an amazing amount of power over you?”

  “No, darlin’. The power’s always been there.” He winked. “You’re just now figuring out how to exercise it.”

  6

  Hank was pretty sure life didn’t get any better than this. His ranch was thriving, but more importantly, the woman he’d been crazy about as far back as he could remember almost seemed to be within reach.

  Lizzy was amazing, every bit as surprising and delightful in bed as she was in the other parts of her life. The way she’d taken him on at the creek, when she’d thought he had a lover in another town, brought a smile to his lips every time he recalled it. Okay, it had been fair warning never to cross her, but more importantly, it had also been proof positive that she cared.

  That didn’t mean he wasn’t going to have a thing or two to say to Justin and Harlan Patrick next time he saw them. They’d been careful to steer clear of him ever since their practical joke.

  Those two were entirely too full of themselves. They’d always been capable of getting into mischief, but now these were grown-up games they were playing. Once he’d had his say, they wouldn’t be pulling any pranks on him again anytime soon.

  Then there’d been the eager way Lizzy had fallen in with his afternoon of playing hooky from the ranch. After leaving the drugstore and Sharon Lynn the day before, they’d gone riding, taking along the picnic dinner his housekeeper had prepared for them. They’d eaten on a ridge overlooking his land and hers and watched the sunset splash a golden glow over everything.

  Then they’d made love, out there in the open with the sky turning dark and filling up with stars. Just the memory of it was enough to stir his blood.

  He was sitting in his office taking care of the monthly bills, when he heard a car skidding to a halt outside, followed by the slamming of a door. His body promptly concluded it had to be Lizzy, even though she wasn’t due for a half hour yet. His hormones reacted with predictable anticipation. Just to prove to himself he still had a little self-control, he left it to Mrs. Wyndham to answer the door.

  To his deep regret, it was a man’s voice he heard talking with his housekeeper.

  “Hank, it’s Pete,” she said, even though his foreman was by then standing right beside her.

  “Hey, Pete. I thought you were going to move the cattle today.”

  “I was, but we’ve got a problem.”

  Looking at the older man’s face, Hank could see a rare hint of despair. He was on his feet at once and already heading for the door, his heart pounding.

  “What’s going on?” he demanded. “What’s happened?”

  “The new man, Billy-Clyde, he got in between that new prize bull of yours and that beast’s current love interest. Billy-Clyde’s gored pretty bad. I think his leg might even be broke. He needs better care than what he can get here in town. I’d like to get him airlifted over to Fort Worth.”

  “Do it. Why are you wasting time talking to me? I’ll make the arrangements. Where is he now?”

  “In the back of the pickup. I thought it would save time. We were real careful moving him, made sure to stabilize his neck and back before we got him off the ground.”

  Just then Lizzy came rushing into the room. “What is it? I saw the truck outside and all the men hovering around it.”

  “It’s one of the men,” Hank said, already reaching for the phone. “He’s been gored pretty bad.”

  Lizzy didn’t ask a lot of questions after that. To his astonishment, she began barking orders like the head of a big-city trauma team. Hank made the call for a chopper to fly Billy-Clyde out. By the time he got outside, Lizzy was up in the bed of the truck, blood all over her as she worked to stop the bleeding. Billy-Clyde was passed out cold.

  “It’s going to be okay,” she kept soothing the man anyway. “We’ll just get this tourniquet a little tighter.” She gave a little nod of satisfaction. “There now, that ought to do it.” Looking around, she shouted, “Hank, where the hell’s that chopper?”

  “On its way,” he promised, just as he heard the whir of the medevac unit, then felt the sting of stirred-up dust as it settled into place fifty yards away. The team inside raced for the truck and replaced Lizzy at Billy-Clyde’s side. They listened carefully to her report, then went to work on the unconscious man.

  Within minutes, Billy-Clyde was loaded into the chopper, ready to be flown toward a Fort Worth trauma center. Pete looked to Hank for permission, then climbed aboard to go with them.

  Only after they’d gone and the rest of the men had dispersed to finish herding the cattle onto new grazing land did Hank take a good, long look at Lizzy. She was covered with blood and tremblin
g.

  He walked over and touched a finger to her chin. “Hey, you okay?”

  Her head bobbed, but she was still shivering as if she’d been doused in creek water again.

  “Inside,” he said, prodding her toward the front door.

  She glanced down at her clothes. “But I’m a mess.”

  “Doesn’t matter,” he insisted. Inside, he bellowed for the housekeeper. Mrs. Wyndham took one look at Lizzy and began to cluck.

  “Oh, you darling girl, come with me. I’ll have you all cleaned up and changed in no time. Then I’ll fix you some soup and some hot tea.”

  Lizzy went along with the older woman with surprising docility. Hank watched them go with a sinking sensation in the pit of his stomach. Watching Lizzy take command outside had shaken him more than he’d realized. For the first time, he’d seen exactly what kind of doctor she was going to be—skilled, quick thinking, patient and compassionate.

  For some reason, even though it had kept them apart all these years, he’d never taken this medical-school thing seriously. It hadn’t seemed to matter that she’d declared it her dream or that she’d gone chasing off after it. He’d always assumed it was just another passing fancy, sort of like that year on the rodeo circuit.

  Now he had to confront the fact that Lizzy truly was meant to be a doctor. She had all the quick reflexes and right instincts for it. But there was going to be a long road ahead of her before she could allow the kind of distraction that a home and family would bring. What the hell was he supposed to do all those years? Wait here, hoping that when it was over she’d come back to him? He wasn’t sure he was capable of that kind of patience.

  He was in his office once again when she came back downstairs, wrapped in one of his robes that was miles too big for her. The sleeves had been rolled up a half-dozen times and the belt looped tightly around her waist with most of the material bloused up over it. Even at that, her bare toes barely peeked out beneath the hem. Hank thought she’d never looked more exhausted or more desirable.

  “You did good out there,” he said quietly. “How’re you feeling?”