Harlequin Superromance March 2014 - Bundle 2 of 2: The Secrets of Her Past\A Real Live Hero\In Her Corner (10 page)

She set her speed, her feet slapping at a quick pace that his damned heart seemed determined to match. He'd never wasted time watching a woman work out, but he couldn't pry his gaze from her reflection, the flex of her arm and leg muscles, or the soft bounce of her breasts as she ran.

The unexpected shift of the heavy weight nearly dislocated his elbow. He checked his form in the mirror and found it dangerously wrong. His inability to concentrate was going to get him hurt, and his thoughts... They were wide off the mark.

He forced himself to do another five so he wouldn't look like he was running, then racked the weight and rose. “See you in the morning.”

Exiting to his bedroom, he shut the door, but the muffled hum of the treadmill and the slap of her feet penetrated the wood. He twisted the lock and headed for the shower, where the water would drown out the sound. But he couldn't escape his thoughts.

Andrew had accused Madison of being a self-centered glory hound, but the time she'd spent patiently replaying case after case with his father tonight, answering endless questions and not once boasting or bragging about her skills didn't sound like a woman demanding adulation.

He'd believed her to be heartless, but her tension tonight and her pallor when his mother mentioned Shady Lawn couldn't be faked. Perhaps she wasn't as unaffected by Andrew's death as he'd thought.

Had he misread her? Had Andrew been wrong about her?

No. If she'd cared about his family, she wouldn't have abandoned them when they needed her the most.

But something didn't add up. And he wasn't going to be satisfied until he figured out what was off.

* * *

“T
HAT
WAS
OUR
last one?” Madison asked Kay.

Nodding, Kay took the folder and slid it into the box of files she'd gathered for Madison to take home to Danny. “Adam called to say he's running about thirty minutes late.”

Good. That gave her extra time to prepare for his arrival. Seeing him in his workout gear last night had been yet another wake-up call to her dormant hormones. Maybe she needed to buy a vibrator and take care of business when she got home. But the idea of waltzing into one of those stores to purchase a sex toy set her face on fire. She couldn't imagine actually doing it. Maybe mail order.... No. Her rural route carrier might see the company's return address on the box, and word would get around.

“Should I stay until he gets here?” Kay interrupted.

“No. Go home to your husband. It's been a long day.” The building's ghosts weren't haunting her as badly this week. Yes, unexpected memories of Andrew still ambushed her at odd moments, and the fact that he was the one who should have been covering for his father was never far from Madison's mind. But the ache was manageable for the most part, and the enjoyment of being run off her feet with patients kept her from wallowing in the past.

She walked to the kennel to check on the momma cat and the two kittens that had been left in the clinic's safe-surrender cage over the weekend.

The drop box had been Madison's idea when she'd still been in vet school—she'd been pleasantly surprised to discover Danny had kept it. The cages gave people who found strays, or who no longer wanted their pet or couldn't afford to keep them a safe, anonymous place to relinquish them. Pets surrendered in a vet's office had a better chance of surviving and/or being adopted than those dumped on the roadside or left at the animal shelter.

Madison opened the cage, lifted the pewter-colored cat and stroked her soft coat. The kittens mewed for their momma. “Susie's going to try to find you a home tomorrow. I can't take you with me, but I won't let them turn you over to the pound, either. You're a pretty girl and such a loving mommy.”

The cat nuzzled Madison's chin and purred. She'd been malnourished and without a collar, but otherwise healthy. Thanks to the staff she'd been cleaned, deflead and thoroughly checked over. She'd make someone a good pet and in four weeks or so they could wean the kittens and find homes for them.

“Help! Help me,” a thready female voice called from the front of the building. “Dr. Drake!”

Madison raced to the foyer. A diminutive woman who looked to be in her eighties stood by the counter. Her blue eyes were red-rimmed and filled with desperation. She held a tiny apricot-colored ball of curly fur in her arms.

“May I help you?”

“I need Dr. Drake.”

“He's not here. I'm Dr. Monroe. I'm filling in for him. Who do you have there?”

“Peaches. She won't wake up. Please help her. She's all I have.” Sobs shook the frail woman.

Madison moved closer, wrapping an arm around the woman's shoulder to get a better look at Peaches. Then the smell hit her and she knew it was too late to help the dog. Organ failure created a scent like no other. But that didn't mean she couldn't help the teacup toy poodle's owner during this difficult time.

“Let's get Peaches back to an exam room.”

* * *

A
DAM
HATED
BEING
late for anything—even something as onerous as picking up Madison. But the hospital had needed him, and averting a potential nursing strike was critical. The thirty-minute delay had stretched into almost an hour. And if Madison held true to the other women he'd known, she'd throw a tantrum over being kept waiting.

He parked beside a small older-model sedan, then strode toward the clinic entrance. He didn't recognize the car as one belonging to the staff. The waiting room was empty. Light streamed from his father's office. He headed down the hall. The sound of low voices slowed his steps. Who could Madison be entertaining after hours?

“Peaches was my daughter's dog,” an unfamiliar quivery female voice said. “Marie was my only child. She had Down syndrome. My husband left us when she was diagnosed. He couldn't handle a special-needs child. When Marie died five years ago, Peaches became mine. Having Marie's dog kept her close somehow. I just wasn't ready to let her g-go.”

“It's never easy to say goodbye. Do you have someone who can stay with you tonight, Mrs. Woods?”

Adam's pulse misfired when he identified Madison's huskier-than-normal voice.

“No. Taking care of Marie took up most of my free time, and I never bothered to try to make friends after she passed. People just don't understand the void left by losing a child.”

“No. They don't.”

Adam stopped short of the door and observed the scene via the mirror his father had hung so that he could see anyone coming down the hall. Madison sat on his father's leather sofa with one arm around a white-haired lady. The other hand covered both of the woman's. If Madison looked up she'd see his reflection, but she remained focused on her visitor.

There were dark spots all over Madison's light blue scrub suit that hadn't been there this morning. She wiped her face with the back of her hand, and it dawned on him that the spots were fallen tears.

“Do you like cats, Mrs. Woods?” she asked.

“I haven't had one since I was a child. But I liked them then. Why?”

“I'm going to take care of Peaches the way I promised. But I have a huge favor to ask.”

“Anything. As good as you were to my Peaches—” Another sob cut off the words. Madison held her until she regained control.

“We have a momma cat with two kittens someone abandoned in our kennel. She'll be safe and warm here overnight, but if you want company, I'm sure she'd rather go home with you. Just for a few days.”

“A momma with kittens? And someone put her out?”

“It happens all too often. She's a sweetie and a real snuggler. She purrs as loud as a lawn mower when you scratch under her chin. The kittens are adorable. Their eyes just opened. I can give you the litter box, food and everything you'll need. It might keep your house from feeling empty tonight.”

The old woman blotted her face with a lace-edged handkerchief. “Company might be nice.”

“Would you like to meet her before you decide?”

“I—I— Yes, I believe would.”

Madison rose, then helped the older woman to her feet. “We haven't named her yet. Maybe you can help me think of something that suits her. She's a really good momma.”

Adam backed into Andrew's office to give them privacy. His thoughts twisted like a roller-coaster ride. From the gist of the conversation he guessed the woman had lost her pet, and she and Madison were sharing tears.

Madison had to have put down numerous animals in six years of practice. Compassion wasn't something he would have expected from her. To find her crying over the death of someone else's dog contradicted what Andrew had said about her.

Which was true? Andrew's version or what Adam had just witnessed? Maybe Madison had mellowed over the years? But if she had, why had he and his mother needed to coerce her into helping his father? Maybe she was a damned good actress.

Without turning on the overhead lights Adam scanned his brother's office. The setting sun outside the high windows illuminated the room with a murky glow. Nothing had changed since Andrew had worked here. Everything on the desk looked the same as it had when Andrew was alive.

He saw the picture of his brother and sister-in-law beaming at the camera. The picture brought back memories of a happier time when he and Andrew had competed over everything. Grades. Sports. Their father's attention. Scoring with girls. Andrew had rubbed it in too many times to count that he'd found a woman worth keeping before Adam had. Adam had been happy for his brother, but a little jealous, too.

Not that he'd coveted Madison. He hadn't. But she and his brother had forged a connection that Adam had yet to experience. He'd seen his brother try to be a better man for Madison, no longer always putting himself first.

Returning to the present, Adam double-checked the desk, shelves and frames on the wall. The light coating of dust told him Madison hadn't been using this office.

Footsteps approached from the rear. “Are you sure you don't want me to drive you home and help you get her into the house? Dr. Drake's son will be here soon. He can follow us and pick me up.”

“No, dear. I may be old, but I can manage.”

Adam stayed in the shadows and assured himself he wasn't spying. He was simply allowing the woman her grief without the embarrassment of a stranger witnessing it. When they passed, Madison had a cat carrier in one hand and bags of food and cat litter in the other. The woman carried an empty litter tray.

“You'll be sure to tell the crematorium about my wishes for Peaches?”

“They're closed now, but I'll personally take care of the arrangements in the morning, and I'll get her ready for them before I leave tonight.”

He remained in Andrew's office until he heard the front door close, and then he waited for Madison in the reception area. She'd know he was here as soon as she spotted his car. Moments later the door opened again and Madison entered.

“How long have you been here?” Her cool composure contradicted the emotional display he'd witnessed and the redness of her eyes.

“Not long.”

“Thank you for not interrupting.”

“Who was that?”

“One of your father's patients. I need a few minutes to finish up, but if you want to load up the box of files for Danny, they're in a crate behind the reception counter. I have one more to add to it, but I'll bring it when I come out.”

No complaints about his tardiness? “We're already late for dinner.”

“Send your mother my apologies, but this can't wait.” She briskly walked to the back of the building.

Adam texted his mom about the delay, carried the files to the car and returned to cool his heels in the waiting room. Ten minutes passed and Madison hadn't returned. They needed to get on the road.

He went looking for her and found her in the back, placing a towel-wrapped object in a box. Then she set the box in the large refrigeration unit and peeled off her gloves. He opened his mouth to tell her to hurry up, but a quiet whimper stopped him.

She crossed to the sink, washed her hands then bent and splashed her face. She stayed hunched over, gripping the sides of the washbasin. Her shuddery breathing and her white knuckles on the tub were unmistakably those of someone fighting for control.

Madison crying? It didn't mesh with the image he'd held in his head for the past six years. Every cell in him screamed
run.

He gave her a full minute to pull herself together. She didn't. “Madison.”

She started, but didn't turn. “Five more minutes.”

Her tear-choked tone tightened like an invisible noose around his throat.

Go.
But he couldn't. Damn it.

“Are you all right?” he forced out.

“Yes. Just finishing up.”

A lie. He knew it as well as he knew his own name.

He was a fixer, a problem solver, a dispute settler. He could juggle a thousand details and get down to the heart of the matter. And these details didn't add up. He didn't want to do it, but he closed the distance and cupped her shoulder. “Madison—”

She gasped, then tried to shrug off his hand, but he held on. “Please, Adam...just go. I'm almost d-done.”

He wished he could do as she asked. Pushing gently, he forced her to turn, noting the strength of the muscles beneath his palm when she resisted. She wasn't a pretty crier. Her face was blotchy and her eyes and nose were as red as a drunk's on a two-day bender. But her grief came through loud and clear. And genuine.

She mashed her lips together in an effort to control the tremor of her mouth and tilted her head back to contain the tears pooling in her eyes. Her struggle unsettled him in a way bawling never could.

“Why are you crying over a stranger's dog?”

“Peaches was the only family she ha-had.” A tear escaped and rolled down. Madison dashed it away as if trying to hide evidence, but another drop immediately leaked from the opposite eye.