LITMIR.BIZ

       Six

      Rita had a sister of her own and two older brothers, so she knew what it was to worry about a sibling. To want to help and not be allowed to. She could understand what Cass was feeling; Rita just didn’t know if she was going to be able to do what the Buchanan family hoped she could. Bring Jack back to them.

      “I don’t know if Jack told you, but I’m a doctor.”

      She came up out of her thoughts with a jerk. “He did mention that. Family practice, right?”

      “Right. Well, speaking as a doctor, not a sister,” Cass said, “I can tell you that Jack’s being affected by PTSD, which you’ve probably already guessed.”

      Rita nodded.

      “There are so many different levels of this syndrome,” Cass said with a sigh. “I’ve done a lot of reading and studying on it since Jack got home. And I know that the men and women affected by it are all different, so what they go through is different, as well. Naturally, treating it is a bitch. No one can find a standard type of treatment because each case is so wildly dissimilar.”

      Rita had come to that conclusion on her own. And it made perfect sense, really. Obviously, something horrible had happened to Jack on his last tour. When he left her six months ago, it was with a promise of a future that had been unsaid, but felt by both of them. And he’d come home for good just two months later, a completely changed man.

      “I actually don’t like the PTSD label—the word disorder bothers me. Post-traumatic stress I can get behind. But disorder? No.” Cass shook her head firmly and scowled at what was left of her cookie. “That makes these men and women seem...sick, somehow. When what they are is hurt.” She glanced up at Rita and winced. “Sorry. I didn’t even realize I was climbing onto my soapbox.”

      Rita studied her for a minute or two. Not only was she a doctor, but she was the very concerned sister of a man suffering silently. “No apology necessary. I agree with you.”

      “Good. Thanks.” Cass ate what was left of the cookie. “I knew at the wedding that I’d like you. And if you can help Jack through this, I’ll love you forever.”

      Rita’s heart opened up for the other woman. If one of her own brothers was in pain, she would do anything in her power, ask anyone she could think of, to get him the help he needed. Knowing that the Buchanans, in spite of all their money and power and influence, were as close as her own family made her feel more on solid ground. She could understand the driving need to save family and she liked Cass more for what she’d just confessed. “I’m going to try.”

      Cass smiled. “That’s all we can do.”

      Rita walked to the wall ovens, opened the doors, then slid the bread trays inside, closed the doors and set the timers. As she wiped down the gray-streaked white marble counter, she asked, “Would you like a cup of coffee?”

      “I’d love one,” Cass said. “If you’ll join me.”

      “No coffee for me yet,” she said sadly, giving her baby bump a gentle rub. “But I’ll have some herbal tea and cookies.”

      “That works.” Cass grinned a little. “You know, if you haven’t already lined up a pediatrician, I’d love to be your baby doctor.”

      Since she really hadn’t chosen a doctor yet, this was a gift. “Who could be better than my baby’s aunt?”

      With Cass’s beaming smile lighting her way, Rita walked to the front of the shop for the tea and coffee. Whatever else had happened today, she hoped she’d made a friend.

      * * *

      “Your wife is here,” Linda announced over the intercom the very next afternoon.

      “What?” Jack looked up from the file he was going over. “Rita?”

      “Do you have another wife I don’t know about yet?” Rita asked, sailing into the office with a wide smile on her face. “Thanks, Linda,” she threw over her shoulder as Jack’s assistant grinned, backed out of the office and shut the door.

      Rita wore jeans, a white dress shirt and a black sweater over it that matched the black boots on her feet. Her brown curly hair was loose and tumbling around her face. Her brown eyes were shining and that smile pulled him in even as he fought against the draw.

      “What’re you doing here?” he asked as she walked through a slant of sunlight pouring through the windows to approach his desk.

      “Such a warm welcome. Thanks. I’m glad to see you, too.”

      He frowned at the jab and her grin widened in response.

      “I brought lunch,” she said simply and held up the dark green cloth bag he hadn’t even noticed until that moment.

      Just when he thought he’d figured out how to survive this marriage, she threw a wrench into the whole thing.

      Every morning, he drove her to the bakery because damned if she was going to be driving herself through the darkness. Once she was safely inside, he drove back to the office and caught up on the dreaded paperwork that seemed to be what most of his days were made of. At the end of the day, he most often tried to just grab something for dinner and then disappear into his office or his bedroom. Jack knew the only way he was going to make it through the next three months was to keep as much distance between him and Rita as possible.

      Damned hard though when she fought him at every turn. She insisted on breakfast at four in the morning. When he could, he avoided having dinner with her and simply escaped into his room or his office and stayed there until she was in bed.

      He was living like a fugitive in his own damn apartment. And now, she’d hunted him down at work.

      “Nice idea, but—”

      “I called Linda to check,” Rita said, interrupting him neatly as she began to empty that bag onto a table set between two overstuffed leather chairs. “She assured me your next appointment wasn’t for two hours, so we have plenty of time for lunch.”

      He bit back a curse. What good would it do at this point? Sometimes, he reminded himself, surrender was your only option. “What’ve you got?” he asked.

      She flipped her hair back, turned her head to smile at him. “I went to your favorite Chinese place. I’ve got beef and broccoli, chicken chow mein and shrimp fried rice.”

      As she opened cartons to spoon the food onto two plates she pulled from her bag, Jack took a breath and drew in the delicious scents. Well, hell, he had to eat sometime, right?

      He pushed up from the desk and walked across the room, took one of the chairs and accepted the plate Rita handed him. She grinned at him and his insides rolled over. The woman had power over him, for sure. He was achy and needy most of the time now and he had her to thank for it. Her image was always in his mind. The hunger for her never eased. And having her in his house and still untouchable was harder than he even imagined it would be.

      Jack was starting to think she was deliberately trying to seduce him just by acting as though nothing was going on between them. And damned if it wasn’t working.

      “Think you’re pretty clever, don’t you?”

      “Absolutely,” she agreed, and sat down in the chair opposite him. She dug into the bag again, and came up with two bottles of water, two sets of chopsticks and a stack of napkins.

      “So,” she said, “how’re things in the megabusiness world?”

      The food looked delicious and smelled amazing. He took a bite, savored it, then said, “Buying, selling. How’s the bakery?”

      She

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