LITMIR.BIZ

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to be upset, Nicole reminded herself. No matter how gently you put it, his little daughter had been injured. Of course he was worried!

      “Dr. Nicole Brandt, sir.” She stuck out one hand, smiling. “I just happened to be in the area.”

      He didn’t take her hand. Didn’t even acknowledge it was there. Nicole let it drop to her side as his eyes completed their in-depth scrutiny of her blond hair, loosened now from its usual upsweep. With one assessing examination he took in her dusty green shirt, faded jeans and grubby, worn sneakers. Her moving clothes.

      “You’re the new doctor.” It was not a question.

      Nicole held on to her dignity by a thread.

      “Yes, I am. I arrived this morning. I’m sorry about your daughter’s arm. I happened to drive past the accident on my way from a tour of the hospital. The policeman had seen me here earlier. He said the ambulance was busy, but he thought it would be all right if I drove everyone here. Fortunately, the break was clean and easily set.”

      “You don’t say?”

      Something in the way he said that made Nicole choke back the rest of her rushed explanation. She examined his face more closely. His eyes glowed the same rich blue as his daughter’s, but there were fine lines at the corners. Worry lines. And a harshness lay behind his eyes that Ruthie certainly didn’t have, an icy bitterness that warned her of something he kept banked up, hidden from prying substitute doctors.

      She swallowed and tried again. “The housekeeper— Mrs. Tyndall, isn’t it?” His head jerked, once.

      “Yes, well, she was there. I brought her and your other daughters with us to the hospital. Mrs. Tyndall assured me she was fully authorized to consent to treatment for Ruthie, and since the nurses didn’t object, I decided—”

      “You decided?”

      To say he smiled was to overstate that grim uplift of his mouth. So…arrogant. As if he questioned not just her brains, but her ability.

      Nicole shrugged the thought away. It was a small-town thing, that’s all. Once she was established in the clinic, had the local guy’s blessing, they’d come to accept her.

      She hoped.

      “Excuse me? You were saying?” One black eyebrow flicked up at her in silent demand.

      “Yes. Sorry.” Nicole flushed, the hot red stain burning her cheeks, then plunging down her neck. She summoned her courage.

      “I was going to say that I decided it was best to treat your daughter quickly, get the arm into a cast as soon as possible. Since we did have permission.” She smiled at Ruthie, wishing her father would lighten up. “Kids this age are pretty active.”

      “I’m well aware of the antics of children this age.” His eyes frosted over to a glacial chill. “You may remember that I have three of them.”

      “Oh.” Actually he might have ten for all Nicole knew. No doubt he thought the nurses had already told her. “Yes, of course, Mr.—?” She glanced up, wondering if he’d ignore the hint, as before.

      “Darling,” he finished smoothly. “Joshua Darling. And it’s Doctor.”

      “Ah. I see.” Oh, no! Nicole prayed for courage. This was the man she’d be working with? Her heart did a nosedive straight to her toes. Good one, Nici. Alienate him first thing. Excellent beginning.

      She forced herself to smile.

      “It’s nice to finally meet you, Dr. Darling.”

      His dubious look cast doubt on her statement. “I’d like to see the X rays. Now.”

      “Yes, of course.” She turned to find the nurse who’d hovered while she set the arm, but there was no one else in the room. “I’m sorry, I don’t know where she’s taken them.”

      “Arvilla!” Dr. Darling barked the word out loudly enough that the whole hospital could have heard.

      “Yes, Doctor. I’m here.” The short, bustling woman handed him a big brown envelope. “I suspected you’d want to see these, so I didn’t file them—yet.”

      He snapped the pictures out of the envelope and onto the light screen, peering at the outline for several minutes before he turned his glare on the petite nurse.

      “You didn’t suspect I’d want to set my own daughter’s arm?” His blue eyes dared the nurse to flinch. “You know that nobody treats my family but me.”

      “You were out of town, Joshua. At the clinic. We didn’t know when you’d be back. Ruthie had a simple fracture. Since Dr. Brandt has already been approved by our board and the forms have all been processed, I saw no reason she shouldn’t go ahead and help your daughter.”

      “Really?” Dr. Darling glared for two seconds longer, then returned his gaze to the pictures.

      Arvilla looked small, but Nicole just knew she was one of those people with a mighty spirit. She could tell it from the way the nurse refused to back down. That thought cheered her immeasurably when her own knees threatened to buckle under his icy regard.

      “She was hurt, Joshua,” Arvilla whispered. “And we could help her. Isn’t that exactly what you would have wanted us to do?”

      He sighed then, tiredly, as if he’d had one too many emergencies today. A large capable hand raked through his hair before he gathered the little girl in his arms and hugged her against his chest. His words whispered out over the angel-fair ringlets.

      “I’m sorry, Arvilla. Of course you did what’s best for Ruth Ann. I know that. It’s just that I remembered—”

      To Nicole’s surprise, Arvilla stretched one chubby arm up and patted the forbidding doctor on the back of his football shoulders, forestalling whatever he’d been about to say.

      “I know, Dr. Darling,” she murmured, her eyes kind as they met his. “I understand. And this little monkey is fine, thanks to your new partner. That’s the important thing, isn’t it?”

      “Yes, it is.” He glanced over Ruthie’s head, his blue eyes meeting Nicole’s.

      The ice didn’t exactly melt, but Nicole thought there was a Chinook in the offing.

      “Thank you for helping my daughter.” He set the child down.

      “You’re welcome.” She glanced from doctor to nurse, unsure of how she should proceed. “I’m sorry if I did something wrong.”

      But Joshua Darling ignored her to kneel on the floor in front of his child.

      “What happened, honey? How did you break your arm?”

      The little girl fidgeted, her eyes avoiding his until at last she met his scrutiny. “Riding the scooter,” she mumbled.

      “In the street?”

      He stayed exactly where he was, but Nicole saw the tightness grip his body, felt the tension surge into the room.

      “Just on the edge.” Ruthie’s eyes dropped and her bottom lip trembled. “I was showing Roz and Rach how to do a trick an’ it bounced on the curb and flew up. I couldn’t stop it fast enough.” The words tumbled out helter-skelter.

      “I’m afraid the scooter is a write-off,” Nicole admitted with a rueful smile. “Perhaps I could help her choose a new one?”

      “That won’t be necessary.” Joshua Darling never even looked at Nicole. “When something is ruined because we broke the rules, we can only blame ourselves. Isn’t that right, Ruth Ann?”

      “Uh-huh.” She sniffed back a sob, dashing one dirt-smeared fist across her cheek. “I’m really sorry, Daddy.”

      “Sorry that you broke it, or sorry that you got caught?” He let her think about it for a minute. “You’re Rosalyn’s older sister, Ruth Ann. She looks up

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