“The kids are in the backyard,” Denise told him. “You know Reese, of course. Then there are Ethan and Liz’s three. My youngest son, Ford, is overseas in the military.”
As she spoke, she led Simon through the house. The large, bright rooms and comfortable furniture were welcoming. He found himself relaxing almost against his will.
Once they went outside, everyone drifted to the tables set up in the shade under the trees. He heard the other two sisters teasing their mother about eating outside. Montana moved next to him.
“You doing okay?” she asked.
He glanced at her. “Fine.”
“I’m only asking because I know this isn’t your thing.” She smiled. “Families. Groups.”
He wondered if it was that obvious. “I appreciate the invitation,” he began.
She cut him off with a laugh and a shake of her head. “Oh, please. You can say that to them, but we both know the truth. You would rather have a root canal than be here today. Which makes me really appreciate you agreeing to come.”
He had never considered himself the kind of man who had a preference for a physical type. The women in his life were temporary, a convenience. But now, staring into Montana’s brown eyes, he wondered if he would ever be able to look at another woman without thinking of her.
They settled in chairs next to each other. Nevada joined them, sitting across the table and leaning toward him.
“I won’t get into the whole ‘we really appreciate what you did’ thing,” she said. “Mom will thank you for all of us. I would guess at some point the thanks get tedious.”
“Not tedious,” he corrected. “Uncomfortable.”
She smiled. “Not into the gushing thing?”
“No.”
The curve of her mouth, the flash of teeth, was nearly identical to Montana’s. Yet his reaction could not have been more different. He wasn’t the least bit interested in Nevada. She was nice enough and pretty enough, but nothing like her sister. Quite the trick, considering they were identical triplets.
“Montana tells me you’re in town for a temporary assignment. You go from place to place doing surgery and then leave?”
He nodded. “I don’t usually go to large cities unless there is a special case. Every couple of years I spend a few months in other countries. I’m going to Peru as soon as I’m done here.”
“Doctors Without Borders?” Montana asked.
“I’ve worked with them and with other organizations. There is a massive need for surgeons in the Third World.”
“But you mostly work with burn patients, right?” Nevada asked. “Don’t they require long-term care?”
“Yes. I do the preliminary surgeries and their local doctors follow up with long-term care. Sometimes I go back a few years later.” If the case was difficult enough.
“Aren’t you kind of young to be doing what you do?” Nevada asked. “You’re what? In your early thirties?”
“I started college early and got through quickly. I knew what I wanted to do and was motivated.”
Montana enjoyed listening to the exchange. She didn’t know very much about Simon and having her sister grill him would make it easier for her to make some headway with Mayor Marsha’s request.
Although from what she could tell all he did was move around. While that sounded exciting, didn’t he eventually want a home?
As he and Nevada discussed the rigors of his education, Montana studied his face. She wasn’t surprised that he had seated her on his “good” side. But when he turned to her sister, she could see some of the scars. They were thick and angry, tugging at his skin. They went down the side of his neck. She wasn’t sure where they ended. At his shoulder? Did they go all the way down his back, his chest?
What had happened to him, all those years ago? How had he been hurt and how had he recovered? “Who was Simon Bradley?” she asked herself somewhat dramatically.
Before she could figure out how to ask, Kent and Reese walked up, Fluffy bounding beside the boy. There were bandages on the side of her nephew’s face and he had a couple of bruises. He was still kind of foggy from the accident and the surgery. At both his father’s and grandmother’s insistence, he was spending the afternoon in a lounge chair, while his cousins played around him. She had a feeling that come tomorrow he would be running around with the rest of them.
“How are you feeling?” Simon asked the boy.
“Okay. My face hurts a little. I’m kind of tired. Dad says you’re the doctor who operated on me.”
Simon nodded. “You were my easiest case of the day.”
Reese leaned against the table. He had the same dark hair that all the Hendrix men possessed. Montana could see a lot of her brother in his son.
“Doesn’t all that blood bother you?” Reese asked.
“I’m used to it.”
“It’s pretty sweet, the way you help people and all. But I’d worry about throwing up with all that blood.”
Kent looked surprised. “Are you thinking you want to be a doctor?”