LITMIR.BIZ

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head bobbing up and down once in silent agreement. “I won’t ever do it again, Daddy. Promise.”

      “Good. Now Arvilla will take you to Mrs. Tyndall and the other girls. Tell Mrs. Tyndall I said you can all go home in a taxi. We’ll talk about your punishment later.”

      “Yes, Daddy.”

      “Good.” He kissed the top of her shiny blond head and received a hug in return. “Off you go.”

      As the child left the room with the nurse, Nicole watched Dr. Darling rise to his feet. He looked haggard, defeated. His shoulders slumped under the tired tweed of his jacket.

      Nicole simply stood, watched and waited.

      At last he remembered her, his eyes sliding up to meet hers. At that moment a mask slid over his face, concealing the worry and fear she thought she’d glimpsed. In one second he went from concerned father to the doctor in charge.

      “Dr. Brandt, I am truly glad you’ve arrived, though I apologize for the circumstances. I shouldn’t have barked at you so rudely. Please accept my excuse of absolute fear and allow me to begin again. I’m Joshua Darling.” At last he thrust out his hand.

      “It’s very nice to meet you.” Nicole shook it, assessing the firm grip. It was the kind of grip you could depend on. “I was actually looking for my new home when I ran into your daughter.”

      Uh-oh, bad choice of words. His lips pinched in a grim line as he frowned at her.

      “This is Thursday. Surely you realize that you don’t actually start the job until Monday?”

      “Oh, I realize that was the arrangement you and Professor Adams came to, but I didn’t want to leave everything till the last minute. I thought I’d get settled in, take a look around the hospital, see the town this weekend and be all ready for work Monday morning.” I also had to get out of the city before my father could change my mind.

      Dr. Darling nodded as if her reasons were perfectly normal. He checked his watch, then beckoned.

      “Follow me. I have a few scripts to write, then I’ll show you where Aunt Winifred lives, though I can’t fathom how you could miss the place. Not after the detailed description I gave your professor.”

      Now might not be the time to admit she hadn’t exactly been looking at the house numbers. Nicole had a hunch Dr. Darling was already suspicious of her abilities, so he’d hardly understand she’d been caught up in the homey scene of kids playing on big green lawns, of dogs barking and porch swings swaying in the April breezes. He probably took all of that for granted, living in a place called Blessing.

      Once he’d signed the appropriate paperwork, Nicole trailed behind Dr. Darling out of the hospital and across to the doctor’s parking area. He stopped beside a nondescript beige four-door station wagon that looked as if it had seen many miles of tough country road.

      “I’m assuming you have your car with you?”

      She nodded, pointed to the red sports car her father had given her last winter. The contrast between it and his couldn’t have been greater. Joshua Darling’s eyes widened in disbelief.

      “You got them all in that?” he squeaked. “Even Mrs. Tyndall?”

      Nicole subdued her smile, nodded.

      “It wasn’t easy, but then, we didn’t have far to go.”

      “Thank heavens.” He grimaced at the folded-back roof. “Not exactly meant for kids. It might be best to ride with me for now. That way I can point out a few landmarks on the way. I’ll bring you back later to collect…that.” He jerked a thumb at her car. “I have to come back for rounds, anyway.”

      “Fine.”

      So he didn’t like sports cars. Or maybe it was the color. That was a switch. In Boston the medical residents had tried to bribe her to go out with them just so they could drive it.

      Nicole shrugged and told herself she didn’t much care either way, as long as it got her where she wanted to go. It was just a car, not an indication of her personality. In fact, she would willingly have tossed the keys back at her father, returned the expensive vehicle in a second, for a chance to hear him say the words she’d longed for all these years.

      But Shane Brandt had never said he loved her, not since her mother’s death twenty-four years ago.

      Dr. Darling tugged open the door on the passenger side of his car and Nicole climbed in. He got in the other side, then started the motor.

      “I guess we’ll start with the main part of town. That brick building is the office. We’re open Monday to Friday, nine to five. Receptionist, one lab tech and a nurse. Closed for holidays and weekends. Town hall, recreation center, library, church.” He rattled off the information, waving a hand here and there as they rolled along at a sedate twenty-one miles per hour.

      “Those are apartments for seniors. Out of fashion though it may be, we still occasionally make house calls there.”

      He seemed to be waiting for her to comment, but Nicole only nodded, scanning the pretty town curiously.

      “This is the oldest part of Blessing, as you can see by the houses here.”

      “It’s lovely.” Nicole gaped at the huge wraparound porches and burgeoning flower beds that perched on vast green lawns like the backdrop in some whimsical fairy tale.

      “Most of them have been kept up pretty well. Some are historic sites.” He waved a hand toward a small blue lake. “The newer architectural wonders in Blessing are over there. They don’t take near the same amount of upkeep, have normal heating bills and enjoy a great view.”

      “Oh, but these old houses are chock-full of character. They’re charming.”

      Except for the one on the far end. It looked…neglected? No, that wasn’t exactly the word. The paint was fine. It was more the shaggy lawn and unplanted flower beds that seemed out of place here in never-never land.

      Nicole ignored it and focused instead on the maple-lined streets. “The town is lovely.”

      “Yes, it is. This one is Aunt Winifred’s home. It’s way too big for her, of course, but as the self-appointed matriarch of Blessing, she feels compelled to maintain her place in the history of the town. Besides—” he grinned, his lips curving with affection “—she grew up in this mausoleum and won’t hear of leaving it.”

      Nicole swallowed, stunned by his good looks when he let go of that forbidding reserve. “I can understand why she doesn’t want to leave,” she murmured, glancing at the house, which she’d admired earlier.

      He pulled up to the curb and stopped the car.

      “Come on. I’m sure she’s home. It’s Thursday afternoon, after all.”

      Whatever that meant.

      Nicole climbed out of the car and followed him through the white picket gate and up a sidewalk flanked by hordes of sunny daffodils waving in the gentle breeze. The house was a masterpiece of pure Victoriana. It was the same house she’d been ogling just before Ruthie had clashed with the pavement. So how come this woman—their aunt?—hadn’t offered to help?

      They climbed five sparkling-white steps bounded by climbing shrubs and huge clay pots with dark purple pansies peeking out, to arrive at a brilliant red door.

      “She’s a bit eccentric, but she has a good heart. This door is about the only thing she’s changed in the place.” Dr. Darling rapped the brass knocker with authority, then twisted the handle to open the door.

      “Aunt Winifred? It’s me.”

      A woman bustled into the foyer, wiping her hands on an immense white apron as she did. She had to be over sixty, but she was obviously not living in the past. Her soft fawn-colored hair lay in short, stylish waves about her face. She wore a periwinkle-blue blouse tucked into matching slacks, pure white sneakers and a smile as big

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