Heartbreak, Tennessee (25 page)

Claudia met his gaze,
then let her eyes travel over his tired face, reacquainting herself with the
sharp planes of jaw and chin and brow, the unruly black hair that he never had
seemed able to keep out of his eyes. There were a few lines around his eyes
now, in addition to the deep chasms etched permanently between his brows, at
the corners of his mouth. Frowning in concentration, she thought—how
often had she come upon him that way, bent over his books as though he were
trying to force the words off the page and into his brain by sheer will?

Though back then her
presence had erased the lines, made him break into a smile that melted her
every time. A smile that made him look like any other guy who was in love and
carefree, as though for just a moment he wasn’t carrying the weight of the
world on his shoulders.

She might have liked
to see that smile again. Just once for old times’ sake. But it appeared to have
gone into retirement.

“I know you’re
surprised to see me, but I
did
grow
up here, you may remember,” Andy finally said.

“Yes, but you
always...the way you used to feel about this place, I just assumed you would
have moved on.”
 

“Things change,” Andy
said, his face suddenly darkening, his voice slipping to an even lower
register.

That voice, deep and
ragged as an old smokers’, triggered something inside Claudia. A tremor raced
through her body, starting deep within her belly and stretching out through her
limbs, as though the words themselves caressed her skin. Fatigue tinged his
words, roughened them here and there in a way that no one would notice unless
they’d listened with an ear fine-tuned with the fervor of a lover. And no one
could have ever studied a man more passionately than she had once studied Andy,
determined to drink in every aspect of him until she’d forged a connection so
strong nothing could break it.

But that was another
time. Even though only five years had passed, it might has well have been
decades. She’d been barely more than a child then, and Andy—well, he’d
been driven by his own demons.

Still, despite their
fire, those demons hadn’t managed to propel him out of Lake Tahoe. There had to
be some story there.

Too bad there would
never be an opportunity for her to hear it, she thought, forcing her attention
to her grandmother and her back squarely to her ex-lover.

“Well, Bea,” she said
sternly, “I hope you’ve been following doctor’s orders for once in your life.
Doing whatever it takes to get you out of here and back in the saddle again so
I can get back to New Jersey where I belong.”

Bea made a face. “Do
you have any idea what they expect the patients to eat in this place? Plates
full of unidentifiable stuff. They keep it all frozen in a giant lump, hack off
pieces and serve it, hoping we’re all so sick we’ll eat it without making a
fuss.”

“It’s nutritionally
balanced, Bea,” Andy retorted. “Unlike what you usually subsist on. Sunflower
seeds and tofu sandwiches and granola—hardly fit for a person of
your—”

“It’s all organic,”
Bea interrupted him. Claudia had to smile, knowing how Bea hated any reference
to her age. “You’ll see, I’ll outlive you yet.”

“Still, if you want to
get out of here, you should eat what we put in front of you.”

“I think I’m fully capable
of making those decisions,” Bea sniffed. “I don’t care to be treated like a
child, Andrew. Not to mention all the indignities I suffer at the hands of
these barbarians.”

“Now Bea,” Andy said,
that faint trace of a grin back on his face as he focused on the old woman.
Crossing to her side, he took one of her hands in his own large one. “You’ve
been treated like a queen, I’ve made sure of that.”

“Yes, and I pay with
blood,” Bea sighed, “and whatever other vital fluids you see fit to drain from
my poor body. A couple little fractures, for heaven’s sake. I don’t even know
why I’m still being detained here.”

Excluded from their
exchange, Claudia felt the twinge of jealousy again. She had always been Bea’s
favored grandchild, doted on since birth. And she didn’t relish sharing.

Everything seemed to
be falling to pieces. Starting with the long trip with all its glitches,
Claudia had been losing control of the day little by little. And now the man
who’d practically derailed her life was calmly and deliberately wooing away the
one woman who she counted on to be always on her side, to be her rock. Her own,
personal, private rock.

“I’m sure Andy is very
capable,” she said, a little stiffly. “Now Bea, just when are you going to be
released? You were so vague on the phone.”

Bea avoided Claudia’s
eyes, her mouth curving into a rather lopsided and quite possibly guilty
grimace. “Um, I suppose we do need to talk about that. I...didn’t want to
burden you with all the details before.”

“It wouldn’t have been
a burden, Bea,” Claudia said, trying to stifle her exasperation. “I just want
to know what’s going on.”

“I have an idea,
dear,” Bea murmured, stifling a yawn as her eyelids sunk lower. “Why don’t you
talk to Andrew? He’s the professional here, and I really am feeling
so
exhausted.”

Andy watched the
exchange between the two women with a mixture of unease and surprise. So the
old gal hadn’t told Claudia everything. Something was wrong here. Hell, a
lot
was wrong.

Starting with the fact
that Bea hadn’t even bothered to tell him that Claudia was coming to visit
today. That she’d let Claudia walk into this hospital—
his
hospital, damn it—without even
ten minutes’ warning. Leaving him to practically collide with her in the midst
of his rounds.

Unfortunately, he
couldn’t really blame Bea, much as he’d like to be able to hold something over
her, as ornery as she’d been lately. He’d made it very plain some time ago that
he didn’t want to hear anything about Claudia. Not back then when she left. Not
ever.

So it had just about
knocked him back half a decade, to see her shiny ash-blonde hair fanned out
around her shoulders, to find those golden eyes trained on him.

“What in hell—”
The oath died on his lips, unspoken, as his shock blurred with some other
emotion. Five years had brought to maturity the promise of sensuality that
she’d worn like an exotic perfume. She’d been little more than a girl then, but
now her body was undeniably a woman’s. Even with her five-ten frame folded into
the clunky plastic chair, he could tell that the curve of her hips was more
pronounced, and her breasts swelled invitingly under her snug knit top. Even
her face had filled out, her lips curved in a permanent and very sexy pout, her
eyelids heavy over her large eyes, giving her a look that was sleepy and unintentionally
seductive at the same time.

Snap out of it
.

“Look, ladies, I’m
already pretty far behind schedule.” An understatement. Dinner would be out of
the question. He’d be lucky to have the energy left to microwave a leftover
plate of spaghetti by the time he got home. “Can you spare me a minute,
Claudia? Out in the hall? And then I’ll be happy to leave you two to
yourselves.”

Claudia hesitated,
glancing from him to the open door and the corridor beyond, as though
estimating the distance. She rose from her seat, but then stood her ground,
arms clasped awkwardly across her chest. “I’m—do you think it could wait
until tomorrow?”

For a second he almost
thought he read a flicker of fear in her eyes. No, not fear exactly,
apprehension. As though any news from him was bound to be bad news. As though
she wanted to avoid him at all costs.

Well, what could he
have expected? That she’d light up with pleasure, throw herself into his arms
as though she’d spent those five years missing him, regretting her exit from his
life? No, not likely. Once Claudia Canfield made up her mind about something,
it was settled for good. A brace of wild horses would be no match for her
stubbornness.

Still, she had to
recognize how vital it was that she work with him. As Bea’s physician, if
nothing else.

He shook his head.
“I’d prefer that we spoke now.”

“I’d...prefer not to.”

Impatience surged.
What was she so afraid of? She’d never seemed the least bit intimidated by him
when they were together. Why should she be now? She held all the cards. She had
the advantage of surprise. Still, she had recoiled from him as though he were
some sort of...
predator
.

For God’s sake, it
wasn’t as if he was planning to drag her into the hallway and seduce her.

Andy narrowed his
eyes. This woman was clearly not the same Claudia he’d once known. Her
indecisiveness was something new. She’d been afraid of nothing, running
headlong into her decisions, the bad ones as well as the good.

And to hell with
anyone who got in her way.

Andy forced the
thought from his mind and focused on the woman in front of him.

“A minute or two is
all I need. We can talk at greater length another time, once you’ve gotten
settled. I just want to...lay the groundwork for that discussion.” Though he
chose his words carefully, his voice was cool, distant.
 
His “doctor voice” as some of his
colleagues teased him.

But that was all
right. Hearing himself speak, hearing the authority and confidence in his
voice, got him through the moment. He’d been caught off guard, that was all. He
was the doctor. And he was just doing his job.

“All right. But just
for a minute.” With a quick backward glance at Bea, Claudia edged past him
through the narrow doorway into the hall. The fabric of her sleeve, some filmy
purple stuff, brushed against his arm as she slipped by, electrifying the hairs
on his arm.

“Excuse me,” he
muttered, edging to the side.

The wrong side.
Claudia stepped right into his path. They both rushed to extricate themselves,
but the distance they put between them didn’t lessen the heat where her hips
brushed against his, where she’d stepped squarely into his chest, the warmth of
her breasts pressed for the briefest second against him.

“I’m sorry—” The
color that rose to her face highlighted a few freckles that dotted Claudia’s
nose and cheeks. Another detail he’d missed.

“It’s my fault. These
long shifts—well, my reactions aren’t what they used to be.”

“That must be a
concern, for a physician,” Claudia said. “Especially one who just had his
thirty-fourth birthday.”

Surprised that she remembered,
Andy searched her face for irony, but found none.

“Look, Claudia, you
can trust me to care for Bea. I’ll do everything I can for her. She’s been like
a—she’s been a friend to me.”

“I didn’t mean to
challenge you. I’m sure you’re an excellent doctor.”

He let the comment
pass. “What I wanted to talk to you about...”

“These fractures,”
Claudia interrupted. “It was a simple fall, wasn’t it? Outside the grocery
store. How is it that a woman in Bea’s health ends up breaking bones over a
little tumble?”

She’d mastered her
self-consciousness, Andy saw, forced the blush from her cheeks. A slight upturn
of her chin and she was her old self, just this side of imperious.

“Well, that’s a good
place to start,” he responded carefully, searching for the right words. “In
many ways, Bea enjoys excellent health, especially for a woman of
advanced—for a mature woman.”

Discussing Bea this
way felt wrong. He cared too much. He couldn’t distance himself from the case.

But he had to do it,
owed her that much. If Bea hadn’t been there to pick up the pieces when Claudia
left, he might never have gone back to school. When he returned to Lake Tahoe
he promised himself he’d return the favor. He’d watch over Bea. The day would
come when she needed him, and he meant to be there.

And now the day had
come, and he was failing. With all his knowledge, with all his ability, with
all the millions of dollars worth of equipment at his disposal, he could offer
her only a few options, none of them good. There were decisions to be made. Hard
ones.

Decisions that needed
to be made by loved ones, by her family. He just hadn’t anticipated having to
deal with Claudia yet. Nor, it was clear, she with him.

Too bad. It had to be
done. “Bea suffers from a condition called osteoarthritis,” he continued.
“Basically this means that the cushioning in her joins has worn away over time.
Her hip—the one she fractured when she fell—is severely affected.”

Andy relaxed a little
as he warmed to he subject, letting himself be caught up in his explanation.
This was the way to approach it, like any number of difficult cases he
encountered. Sure, he’d been a little shook up, but he’d recovered pretty well,
considering. And why shouldn’t he? Yes, he’d been in deep with Claudia, deeper
than he’d ever allowed himself to be with any woman, deeper than he would ever
allow himself to go again. But it had been a long time ago, a time when he’d
been particularly vulnerable, when his judgment was clouded. A time when he’d
given in to needs that he’d since conquered.