Eye of the Storm

SEVEN



Feeling self-conscious about the package in her pocket, Kirstie followed closely behind Megan into the waiting room to a chattering committee of five. Gerard—all six feet three inches of him—sat between Lynley and Carmen, and the three of them faced Nora and Alec.

Everyone stopped talking and looked up at Kirstie.

It didn’t look as if Alec was overjoyed by Gerard’s presence, and Kirstie couldn’t blame him. Alec had grown into a handsome and intelligent young man, but he did still have a marriage license hanging over his head without the benefit of a wife, and no married man would ever have the opportunity to come between Gerard and Megan—not if Gerard had anything to say about it.

Megan stiffened beside her, and Kirstie gave her a sideways glance. Ah. Yes. Megan confronted with the only two men she’d ever loved. Of course, she was only a kid when she was dating Alec, but puppy love could be a powerful emotion. She’d grieved for a full year over their breakup after she and Lynley went away to college.

Carmen appeared to have taken Gerard under her maternal wing. A little too closely. Nora beamed at Gerard as if he’d just agreed to run for office on the Nora Thompson ticket.

Kirstie Marshal, shame on you!

What had they all been discussing before the grand entrance?

Gerard stood up. “Kirstie? Everything okay?”

“Good as new.” Kirstie’s voice held not a hint of a tremble, and she prayed everyone would be too distracted by the hideous mudpack in her hair to take note of the square package partially hidden by the hem of her scrub top.

She glanced again at Megan and suppressed a grin. The poor girl couldn’t get her mind around the room. The whole room. It not only contained two men she probably hadn’t wanted to ever see together, but it also held her close friends, who she certainly did not want to deceive. Kirstie would have to do some more convincing, it was obvious. Or ask Gerard to do it for her.

“I trust introductions have been made?” Kirstie said, taking over the conversation. “If not, Gerard—”

“We’ve met and had a lively discussion.” Nora’s husky voice filled the room with her presence as she stepped to Kirstie’s side and reached for her hair. To her credit, she didn’t react to the fishy smell. “Kirs, I simply must introduce you to my hair stylist. He’s the best, and could he ever do something with this mop.”

Kirstie chuckled and swatted her friend’s hand away. “Even my cats could improve this mop, and I’m not driving farther than Monett for my haircuts. Jenni’s an artist with my hair. Now, let’s see who’s going to have the honor of taking me home so I can become human again.”

Nora leaned forward to lay an arm around Kirstie. “My car’s outside at your service.”

For a moment, Kirstie hesitated. How comforting it would be to just let go and allow Nora to take care of everything the way she usually did. But even Nora needed to be protected from this.

“Goodness, no.” Kirstie grinned at her oldest friend. “I’m sure you have gourmet treats to deliver, and I need a big, strong man who can run me down if I get out of line, and Nora, even you can’t run in those heels.”

“Nonsense.” Nora eyed the bandages and booties on Kirstie’s feet. “I didn’t just rip my feet into hamburger like you apparently did. If need be I’ll put a leash on you.”

Gerard smiled and stepped to the women with a wink at Megan. “I’ll do the honors, ladies, if you don’t mind.”

Kirstie studied the man. If she didn’t know better, she’d think he owned the town. He had the confidence and grace of a man much older. Self-assurance was something Megan had struggled with as a teenager and probably still did from time to time. With Gerard, it seemed he was in his element wherever he went, not just in the state of Texas.

When Kirstie glanced at her daughter and saw that even Lynley didn’t protest his offer, she had no further doubts about Megan’s man.

“I need to get to work,” Lynley said. “Thanks, Mr. Vance.”

Kirstie hobbled from beneath Nora’s half-embrace, trying not to wince with the pain. “Thanks, Gerard, I accept. I want to hear how that rescue mission of yours is doing without you today. Our Megan can be so close-mouthed about herself, but I know she must be truly missed.”

“You can’t imagine how much.” Without missing a beat, Gerard held his arm for Kirstie to grasp, nodded to the others, glanced at Megan. “Come and fill me in, Doc. Tell me about any damage I need to watch for.”

Kirstie turned to glance at Megan, who followed the two of them out the door, her pretty brown eyes pensive. She didn’t appear surprised by the tender care with which Gerard treated Kirstie. He’d likely helped Megan in the mission clinic plenty of times.

“Don’t worry, Lynley,” he called over his shoulder as the door swung shut behind them. “I’ll take good care of her.”

“She found no evidence of a concussion,” Kirstie informed Gerard. “And as I told Megan, I didn’t inhale anything from the creek. All I need is a nice hot shower to scrub the dirt and smell away.”

“That’ll be interesting if you plan to keep those bandages clean,” Megan said.

“You think I can’t rebandage my own feet?”

“Take your time.” Gerard walked with her to the passenger side of his car and helped her in. “Obviously you were wounded. I saw evidence of the blood.”

“That wasn’t from the fall—it was from running barefoot over rocky ground for who knows how long.”

“Why would you do that?” he asked.

“Same old blackouts, only this time I wasn’t wearing shoes, and the crazy part of my brain wasn’t thinking, ‘Hey, let’s put shoes on to protect our feet before running through the woods like Bigfoot.’” Kirstie paused and turned to look up at Megan. “I’ll explain it all to him, honey. You just keep Lynley calm today, okay?”

“Will do.”

Gerard made sure Kirstie was comfortable, then closed the door and turned to Megan. To Kirstie’s guilty joy, his passenger- and driver’s-side windows were open. Obviously, the man didn’t worry much about having his car burglarized. But of course, she’d explained to him how peaceful Jolly Mill was, with hardly any crime. A mad poisoner, perhaps, but other than that, not much.

“Meet with me after you get off work?” Gerard’s voice, though softened, reached through the open windows. “We have a lot to talk about.”

“I wondered what you were up to out in the waiting room while I was back there battling blood and gore.” Megan’s voice held a hint of a drawl. Humor.

Kirstie grinned. A good sign. Megan had nothing to be cheerful about unless she was secretly glad she was being forced to spend time with Gerard.

“May have a place for the rehab center,” Gerard said. “I’ve told you often enough that when God has a plan, it’s going to happen.”

Kirstie felt another load moving from her shoulders. The man was an active believer. His influence would be doubly good on Megan. Kirstie would see to it that Jolly Mill had something to offer by way of a rehab center and land for a manufacturing plant.

“I’ll be out of the clinic by five,” Megan said, “probably earlier because our schedule isn’t full. I’ll be hungry.”

There was a slight hesitation, then, “You’re not teasing me, are you?” Gerard asked. “Because earlier this morning—in fact, less than an hour ago—I was pretty sure you wanted me to go back to Texas.”

“We have more to talk about than you think. Kirstie will fill you in. We’re going to have to see this through.”

“Will do.” Another pause. “Your boss stop by the clinic often during the day?”

Kirstie pulled her seat belt down and buckled it as she grinned. Eavesdropping. A wonderful occupation.

“Didn’t you come to the clinic all the time at the mission?” Megan asked. “What’s the difference?”

“There are more employees here. You have plenty of help without a nonmedical person.”

“If I owned a business, I’d want to keep watch over it and make sure things went smoothly.” The humor was still present in Megan’s voice. Perhaps she picked up on the jealousy too.

Oh, yes, there was a romance going on here to beat all romances, and Gerard Vance had a strength of character Kirstie had not seen in quite some time. Certainly not in Barry. Gerard didn’t strike her as the kind of man who would leave the woman he was committed to for any reason. He would stick with her to the death. He wouldn’t find another woman to leave her for either, like Lynley’s so-called man had done to her.

Megan and Gerard may have some hurdles to overcome right now—though Kirstie had not yet been successful in wheedling those out of Megan. Maybe she would have better luck with Gerard. She doubted it, but she could try.





Megan pressed her lips together, but she knew Gerard could read the expression in her eyes. She shouldn’t be pleased, or even amused, that Gerard was so obviously jealous of Alec, especially because she didn’t want him believing he had the right to feel that way or that there was anything to be jealous of. Still, something about his interest spread her insides with warmth.

“He may be my biggest challenge as I attempt the rehab center,” Gerard said. “He’s not on board with it, though his mother seems to be.”

“Then you’ve no worries,” Megan said. “Nora’s the one who has the heart of the citizens. What she says usually goes.”

“You sure about that? You’ve been back what, three weeks? After being gone for fourteen years? Things change.”

“And you’ve been in my town what, an hour? And you think you know my lifelong friends better than I do?”

A light of challenge glowed from his blue eyes. “Plain old common sense tells me that folks from this town will honor a man who is a hero in their eyes. He fought for them in the war, he had a tragic loss and he was born and raised here. That has all the makings of a town leader.”

“Well, Texan, I think you’ve got some fans here yourself,” Megan told him with a grin. “Carmen seemed taken with you, and of course Kirstie.” She leaned close to his shoulder. “You’re about to find out just how taken she is with you. I hope you’re packing heat.”

“Weapon? Sure.”

She smiled. “Not that you’ll need it at doctors’ offices, but she’ll be impressed. Even Lynley didn’t bite your head off, and she hates men right now.”

“Well then, I guess if it’s up to the women, you may soon be looking at the new director of the Jolly Mill Homeless Rehab Center, and the new plant manager for Vance Industries, employing those rehabbed folks.”

Megan’s mouth went slack. “You mean you’ve already decided? I thought this was just a hunting expedition.”

He held out his hands. “I said you may be looking at him. You may not. We’ll see.”

She narrowed her eyes at him. There was a tiny expression of discomfort around his mouth. Not everyone in the room had fallen at his feet in adoration. This was not the time to tease him, as she would have teased him at the mission. She would never gloat at a man’s misfortune, but he was always so self-assured that sometimes she felt just a twinge of satisfaction when she was reminded of his humanity. He was not indomitable.

“I don’t suppose you could feel him out a little…” Gerard spread his hands. He looked almost humble.

“Sorry, I can only do one spy job at a time.”

Gerard’s brows went up. “You’re spying now?”

“Talk to Kirstie, and keep in mind that I’m a doctor. I never signed up for undercover spy work.”

“Believe me when I say I don’t want you doing this under covers of any kind.”

Megan laughed up at him, and as if he couldn’t stop himself, Gerard gazed down at her, eyes lit with his own brand of humor and a generous helping of tenderness. He touched her cheek with his hand. “I think you can get through to him.”

“About what?”

“About how much a manufacturing plant and a resort refurbished into a homeless rehab center would help the town with tax income.”

“His mother can tell him that. And I think that would sell a lot of people at a town hall meeting.”

“Think we can get one called?”

“We? Nora has most of the committee members in her back pocket, and as you’ve said, she’s obviously sold on you. No problem there.”

“Okay, then anyone else you speak with in town. I’m sure you have a lot of friends.”

“I do.” At last, Megan felt a tug of regret for her recent lack of support. This was a step she knew Gerard had wanted to take for so long and for all the right reasons. How could she not admire a man who stood strong for his convictions and fought hard to see them through? Even if she didn’t want him here, in this town, constantly reminding her of her own fears and her own loss.

He raised a thick blond brow at her. “We will, of course, need a doctor nearby for the center.”

“Everyone needs a doctor.”

“And you know if our people traveled up here from the mission, they would be immensely relieved to find you here, someone they know they can trust, who cares for them. They’ll be apprehensive about their futures.”

“They have you,” Megan said. “They’ll feel safe.”

“Do you feel safe with me?”

“I never feel safe.”

“Then you know why another familiar face will help.”

“No. Familiar faces aren’t helping me.” Megan glanced toward the car and knew without a doubt that Kirstie had just heard what she’d said. Blast Kirstie’s good hearing. Megan cast a glance back toward the clinic. Patients would start pulling into the lot any time. She didn’t want to have this conversation.

“You know how much we miss you, Megan,” Gerard said. “I’d love to have your help.”

“Why don’t we deal with today’s problems before we dive into something months or years down the road? I know I’ll eventually have to complete my contract to pay back the government loan by serving in an underserved community. Could we keep it on the back burner for now?”

“He doesn’t have a clue you’re here on medical leave, does he?”

“Who?”

“Your boss.”

“He needs a doctor, and he has one.”

“I’ve found it’s best to be honest as possible with your employers.” The gentleness in Gerard’s voice once more warmed her.

“Nora and Alec already know that part of my reason for being here is for Kirstie.”

He took her hand and squeezed it, surprising her. Actually, her response surprised her—making her feel all tingly and squooshy and everything she did not want to feel. Physical attraction was such a difficult enemy to battle when one needed to remain detached.

Despite that need, however, Gerard was still so obviously excited about the possibilities of the future that she had an impulse to hug him the way Tess would have, to give him a sisterly hug. But that would have to wait, especially if he was going to be working closely with her for the next few days…weeks… Who knew how long it would take to discover what was happening with Kirstie? Who even knew how bad she would get before they could find the real culprit?

“I’d better go inside and get to work.”

He looked down at their clasped hands and released her. “So I’ll see you tonight?”

“I’m sure you will.”

“I’ll give you a call later.” He glanced toward the downtown area. “Any place around here with good food?”

“I have a feeling you’ll have no lack of invitations from the ladies who’ll want to get to know our latest import a little better.”

“I mean with you. Alone.”

“Our diners in town close before dinnertime.”

“Your place then? Soon as you get off? I’ll bring the food.”

“Kirstie can direct you to the right restaurants in Springfield.”

“I’m going to Springfield?”

Megan sighed. “I told you, talk to Kirstie.”

“It’s going to be okay, Dr. Bradley. It’ll work out.”

“You trying to convince yourself of that?”

“Just you. I have faith it’s going to work out.” He took a step toward her, bent down and kissed her cheek. “You’re not alone in this, Megan. I’m not leaving you alone.”

She held her breath as she watched him walk to his car, and when she finally inhaled, the air smelled sweeter. She stood watching as he got into his car, backed out and drove a brightly waving Kirstie out of the parking lot and toward her home past the bridge on the hillside opposite the grain mill.





Waiting for her heart to retrieve its normal rhythm, Megan sauntered back to the front door of the clinic to find, of course, that everyone there was incapable of minding their own business. She stopped just inside the door. It felt as if all the oxygen had escaped the room.

Alec was in the same spot where he’d been standing when Megan followed Gerard and Kirstie outside. “Megan?” Alec’s deep timbre drew her gaze. “Gerard says he’s still your boss.”

“He was my boss. Big difference.”

“But he said that if you don’t go back to work for him, you could be in trouble with your loan agent. Why would you leave a job like that when you only had three months left to work? You don’t want to get into trouble with the government.”

“Would you relax? A girl has every right to take time off after working for 21 months straight with hardly a day off and very few evenings.”

“It must have been a meat grinder,” Carmen said from the reception window.

More than they could know. “I do have some leeway,” Megan said. “I didn’t want Lynley and Kirstie to have to struggle with the diagnosis alone after Barry turned into a feral tomcat and decided he couldn’t handle his wife’s illness.” She glanced at Lynley, who was pretending to work a few feet from the reception window. “No offense meant, Lynley.”

Her friend joined Carmen in the window. “I think I’m the one who initiated that term in the first place. So you’re taking Mom’s case after all?”

“I told everyone several times that I’m not a neurologist. I’m a friend, and I will be here as a friend. So I’m here, okay? I fixed her feet. Nora, are those cookies I smell? I’m starved, and I haven’t had a minute to eat.”

Nora held up her designer shoulder bag and smiled, her perfect white teeth even, lips touched with just the right shade of deep pink to blend with the glow of her tanned face. Nora Thompson was a strong woman who Megan always believed could move mountains by force of will.

Though Alec had inherited a great deal of her strength, he was his own person, not just a blend of his strong mother and his nonpresent, hotheaded father. Alec held his special set of values that he’d been forced to develop early because of his father’s abandonment. Megan hadn’t been home long enough to judge whether or not his values had seasoned over the years.

Though she’d dated him steadily for two years, his values and hers had never blended well when it came to physical expressions of affection.

Alec fell into step at Megan’s right shoulder as she followed Nora toward the break room. “Are you going to go back and complete your contract?”

“I don’t plan to go back, no. I’ve told you this.” Megan’s stomach growled nearly as loudly as her voice. She was glad that, during the two lunches she and Alec had shared together, they’d spent most of their time catching up on the goings-on in Jolly Mill and talking to the other diners—the majority with whom Megan had spent her childhood and teen years.

When asked about his wife, Alec had made no reference to any divorce proceedings, and she’d let that subject drop. In apparent gratitude, he didn’t ask personal questions about her life either.

Megan joined Nora in the break room to avoid more questions from Alec. Nora knew her way around the break room—Thompson money had built it. She washed her hands and pulled a serving platter from the cabinet to the left of the sink and commenced arranging her cookies.

At fifty-three, Nora had the physique of an athlete twenty years her junior. She swam, practiced martial arts and gardened, which gave her the tan. Of Mediterranean descent, she had the ability to tan without burning or wrinkling, and there had been a long rivalry among Nora, Carmen and Kirstie about who would go completely gray first. Carmen cheated, of course, as did Kirstie, but Nora didn’t have a single streak of white in her thick black hair, not even at the roots.

“You should eat some protein first.” Nora’s voice was warm and buttery-sweet. “But since there are eggs in the cookies, and I could hear your stomach from down the hallway, you should fill it with something before you get dizzy and pass out.”

Alec stood at the entrance and braced himself against the door frame. “If this morning’s appointments are anything to judge by, you’re in for a long day.”

“Busy morning, light afternoon,” Nora said. “Megan, your…former boss is good-looking.” She spared a glance for her son, whose gaze slid over Megan’s face.

Alec had eyes as dark as his mother’s, but his strong chin and light brown hair were those of his father. He had the face, physique and charisma that could make a girl forget herself…and her inhibitions…and her own dreams, if she let her guard down. Megan had not, even as an impressionable girl. She had her mother to thank for that, at least, though not for the right reasons.

Megan bit into the crunchy dream of one of Nora’s most recent entrepreneurial accomplishments. Her saucer-size gourmet cookies had become a stock item in coffee shops throughout the four-state area. This black walnut–butterscotch was Megan’s favorite.

Nora turned and leaned against the counter edge, and for a moment two sets of exotic eyes beheld Megan—Alec studying her with as much curious intensity as his mother was.

“What are we going to do about this situation?” Nora asked softly, glancing past her son toward the hallway. There was no sound of approaching footsteps.

Megan didn’t pretend to misunderstand. “I think Lynley will change tactics before long. This morning’s incident got her attention.”

“It should have,” Nora said. “She’s like a kid trying to prove she’s all grown up.”

“She is grown up.”

“She isn’t behaving like it right now. She’s your best friend, hon. Can’t you convince her she’s endangering her mother?”

“Gerard’s with Kirstie now. He’ll keep a close watch over her.”

“Oh, yes, that man is definitely an enigma, isn’t he?” Nora studied Megan for a few seconds before glancing at her son. “Quite the charmer. No wonder you were so taken with him, and I can’t believe you left with only three months left on your contract.”

Megan suppressed a sigh. “Gerard told you that, did he?” She was going to kick him in the—

“You know we’d take care of Kirstie. You didn’t have to come running immediately.”

“I know.”

Nora crossed her arms. “So what brought you here at such a run?”

“Didn’t Gerard tell you that too?”

Alec entered the room at last and reached for one of the cookies. “I don’t think we’ve heard the whole truth yet.”

“You try working in a mission clinic and see if you can last two years.”

“Try fighting in a war while your wife’s playing single back home,” Alec snapped.

“Well, why don’t we have a big ol’ knock-down-drag-out right here close to medical aid?” Nora said. “Mind your manners, kids. Kirstie does need help until we can get this thing worked out. I’ve promised her that if she would just move in with me for a few weeks I’d hire a housekeeper/bodyguard for daytime and chain her to me at night, but would she do it?” Nora shook her head. “Stubborn woman. Have you convinced her to see a neurologist, Megan?”

“Not yet.”

“Why on Earth won’t she go? I tell you, sometimes I want to smack her silly she’s so stinking bullheaded.”

Megan took another huge bite of the cookie and stepped to the window that overlooked the mill and the pond. She loved this view. She also loved having a full mouth so she couldn’t be expected to answer any more questions for a moment.

“Kirstie could afford to hire someone to watch over her at night so Lynley can at least get some sleep,” Nora said. “Alec wants to keep her and Lynley here at the clinic as long as they can stay. All the patients are comfortable with them, everyone knows them, and that means a lot, having a hometown entity caring for your medical needs. Besides, Kirstie’s my best friend, and I want to get to the bottom of this so she can get on with her life.”

“Do you think those two stubborn women would agree to accept some help?” Alec asked.

Megan swallowed and shrugged as she turned back to them. “They’ve both been knocked sideways by Barry’s abandonment. I think she’s more concerned about Lynley’s feelings than her own safety.”

“Then talk to Lynley,” Nora said.

“Gerard’s going to be around for a few days, and he’s already been offered the private guest suite upstairs at Kirstie’s.”

“Drat that woman,” Nora said with a grin. “I knew she’d snatch him right out from under my nose. When did she talk to him?”

“I believe they’ve been in contact by phone and email.”

“How did they meet?” Alec asked.

Megan squeezed her tongue between her teeth. What was this, an interrogation room? It was supposed to be a break room. She shot Alec a crooked scowl.

“Right,” he said. “I’ll ask Kirstie.”

“Thank you. I believe Gerard will watch over her while he’s in town, so maybe you could make him feel a little more welcome.”

“Excellent idea.” Nora picked up the platter, left some cookies behind and carried the rest from the room.