Lone Star Rancher (18 page)

THE GOOD DOCTOR

by
Karen Rose Smith

 

You won't want to miss the continuation of
THE FORTUNES OF TEXAS: REUNION,
a new 12-book continuity series featuring the powerful Fortune family. Enjoy this excerpt of Karen Rose Smith's
The Good Doctor,
the fifth book in the series.

CHAPTER 1

“Y
ou've got it all now,” Linda Clark decided as she appraised her brother.

“Just wait till those nurses get a gander at you,” Stacey agreed, her smile as wide as her sister's.

Dr. Peter Clark swiftly closed his office door, hoping no one had heard. “Cool it, you two,” he demanded in a stern voice as he strode to his desk, wondering how long this visit was going to last. He had an appointment in fifteen minutes. His sisters weren't in awe of him as some of his patients were, so it might be hard to kick them out. He loved them dearly but sometimes…

“I don't know why I let you dress me like a mannequin,” he grumbled. He was still not sure the navy, tweed blazer was something he would have chosen on his own. He definitely wouldn't have bought the silk shirt and the patterned designer tie.

“You turned thirty-nine yesterday, and you wouldn't even let us give you a party. The least we could do is spruce you up a bit,” Linda teased. “Now
tall, dark and handsome really applies. I like the new haircut, and we didn't even have anything to do with
that.
”

“My regular barber was out of town.”

A laugh came from Stacey's direction. “Thank goodness!”

He'd had enough. They'd taken him to lunch and then accompanied him to a men's store to pick up his tuxedo for Friday night. Despite his protests, they'd insisted on buying him a blazer, shirt and tie as birthday gifts, convincing the store manager to have them pressed so he could wear the outfit back to the office.

He deliberately checked his watch. “I have an appointment in ten minutes.”

“We're not leaving until you assure us you'll show up on Friday night.”

Counting to five, he tried to keep the impatience from his voice. “You talked me into the bachelor auction because it's for a good cause. I never go back on my word. Not even if that means I have to endure the humiliation of standing on a runway and having women bid on me. Now, as I said…”

Linda sighed. “Your life is much too serious. I couldn't stand doing what you do. A pediatric neurosurgeon holds too much power in his hands. How do you handle that responsibility?”

“Very carefully,” he replied seriously.

Nothing meant more to him than his work and the kids he treated. In fact there was one right now who was breaking his heart. The bachelor auction would
be raising money for high-tech equipment for the pediatrics wing to help children like Celeste. That was the only reason he'd agreed to be a part of it. That, and the fact that the wing had been built as a memorial to his mother. If only there was someone like his mom to help with his little patient. She needed loving care as much as she needed high-tech equipment and surgery—maybe even more.

There was a knock on his office door and Katrina, his receptionist, poked her head inside. “Dr. Violet Fortune is here. I didn't think you'd want to keep her waiting.”

“A Fortune coming to see you? What's all that about?” Linda asked. Then, as if a lightbulb went on in her head, she snapped her fingers. “Oh, I get it. Violet Fortune's a neurologist with a reputation almost as good as yours. Maybe she came all the way from New York to consult with you.”

“Okay,” Peter said, rising to his feet. “You did
not
hear a name. You have amnesia about anything Katrina said.”

“We'll see Violet Fortune on our way out. Her picture has been in
The Red Rock Gazette
now and then,” Linda concluded. “You know, that paper
you
never read because medical journals are more important.”

Both of them were on their feet now, realizing he did have work to do. Linda gave him a quick hug. “Happy day-after-your-birthday once more.” She pat
ted the sleeve of his blazer. “Really hot,” she kidded again.

He couldn't help but laugh then as Stacey hugged him, too, and added, “If not before, we'll see you Friday night. Just make sure that black tie's straight before you stroll down the runway, okay?”

When his sisters stepped into the hall, he decided to walk them out. He didn't want them waylaying Dr. Fortune out of curiosity. They must have sensed that because they grinned at him, waved and cast a few long glances at the woman sitting in his waiting room. Seconds later they were gone and he turned his attention to Violet Fortune.

As soon as he did, he was caught off-guard. She was stunning. Absolutely stunning. Her reputation as a brilliant diagnostician had already reached Texas. At only thirty-three, she'd already made her mark in her field. Maybe he'd envisioned her in a lab coat, with a severe hairdo and a no-nonsense demeanor, but the flesh-and-blood Violet Fortune was the polar opposite.

“Dr. Fortune?” he asked, just to make sure.

Standing, placing the magazine she'd been paging through on the chair beside her, she gave him a smile that socked him in the solar plexus. “Yes, I'm Dr. Fortune. Are you Dr. Clark?”

“Last time I looked,” he countered with his own smile, ignoring the lightninglike signals his libido was sending his body.

When he extended his hand, the action helped him
focus and he could more easily ignore the reaction he was having to her. “It's good to meet you, although I'm a bit puzzled as to why you're here.”

“Ryan and Lily have spoken highly of you.”

The soft grip of her hand registered along with everything else about her. She seemed to be looking into his eyes with the same intensity he was looking into hers, and that created electricity.

“I think highly of them,” he said, releasing her and pulling away.

Breaking eye contact, she quickly glanced around the office but no one else was in the room. Despite the fact his receptionist was behind her glass window, still Violet kept her voice low. “This visit has to do with Ryan.”

All business now, hearing the somberness in her voice, he motioned down the hall. “Let's talk in my office.”

Having decided long ago not to follow in any man's footsteps, Violet kept up with Peter's long strides, studying him while he didn't have his attention on her, wondering why the earth had seemed to shake a little when he'd taken her hand in his. She didn't react that way to men, especially not male doctors. Peter's tall, lean but muscular physique, his short but thick black hair and his piercing green eyes had created a twitter inside of her she couldn't seem to still.

His office door was open, and he stood aside so
she could enter before him. A gentleman, she thought.

The aroma of coffee wafted around the office and Peter gestured to the pot on the credenza that had obviously just been brewed. “Katrina must have snuck in here and started that for me. Would you like a cup?”

“No thanks. I'm fine.” Violet was worried and anxious enough. She didn't need caffeine revving her up more. Maybe that was why she felt this attraction to Dr. Clark, because her guard was down. It had been down for over two months now. That was why she'd come to Texas to her brothers' ranch and answered Ryan's call.

Apparently deciding his own mug of coffee could wait, Peter Clark lowered himself into the high-back, leather swivel chair behind his desk. He waited until she'd seated herself in one of the gray tweed chairs across from it. The barrier and the bit of distance made her feel more self-possessed than when he'd greeted her in the reception area.

“So what can I do for you?” he asked, curiosity evident in his expression.

Taking her dark red clutch bag in her hands, she opened it and extracted a legal-sized envelope. When she handed it to him, she concluded seriously, “You'd better read this first. It's from Ryan.”

After he glanced at it, he looked even more perplexed. “Essentially it's a release form giving you permission to discuss him with me.”

She nodded. “That's precisely what it is. I'm not only a relative and good friend to Ryan and Lily, but I'm a neurologist, as well.”

“I know that. I'm familiar with the articles you've published. You've made a name for yourself in a short amount of time.”

“I guess New York isn't as far from Texas as I sometimes think it is.”

“The world
is
getting smaller, but it's more than that. Red Rock is a small community and the Fortune name means something here. Besides your relationship to Ryan and Lily, your brothers have established themselves, too.”

Her brothers Jack, Steven, Miles and Clyde had vacationed in Red Rock as kids and the latter three had decided to settle here as adults. Steven had bought his own ranch, Loma Vista, and was renovating it. A gala, during which the governor was going to present Ryan with an award, would take place there next month. Miles and Clyde's chicken ranch, the Flying Aces, where she was staying, was thriving. Her oldest brother, Jack, had just married recently and settled here, too.

“What I'm getting at,” Peter continued, “is that the Fortunes are continuously discussed in Red Rock, and that includes you.”

“Me? I don't even live here.”

“No, but your name and career are bandied about along with all the other Fortunes. Most people in town know your history.”

“What history would that be?”

“Education history for one thing. I heard with tutors you graduated high school a year early. You also did a four-year college program in three. In med school, you earned respect quickly and began seeing patients in New York City when you joined a prestigious neurological practice there. Your life's an open book,” he added with some amusement.

An open book? Not by a long shot. No one but her immediate family knew why her parents had hired a private tutor for her and why she'd concentrated so hard on her studies. Not even Ryan and Lily knew what had happened to her as a teenager, the wrong decisions she'd made and the foolish choices.

Rerouting the conversation back to her visit, she nodded to the letter in Peter's hand. “I'm here because Ryan asked me to speak to you.”

“About?”

“He's having symptoms.”

“What kind of symptoms?”

She took another paper from her purse, opened it and laid it on his desk. “First of all, I need to tell you that Lily knows nothing about this and that's the way Ryan wants it. That's also why he called me. He began having severe headaches and he didn't want to consult with a doctor in Red Rock or San Antonio because he tried to brush off the pain at first. He also didn't want any more rumors to get started. There have been enough about him concerning…everything.”

“He's not still a suspect in the Christopher Jamison murder, is he? The police certainly should have ruled him out by now.”

It sounded as if Peter had no doubts about Ryan's innocence. “Apparently they
haven't
ruled him out. That stress alone could cause headaches. But he told me he'd never had this type of headache before, so I took him seriously. I needed a vacation so I decided what better place to take it than in Red Rock.”

“Are you staying at the Double Crown?”

“No, I'm staying with Miles and Clyde at the Flying Aces. I can't show too much concern about Ryan because Lily will become suspicious.”

Peter took the evaluation she'd typed up then looked it over. His expression became more somber as he did. “He's having some tingling in his arm?”

“Yes.”

“You said he didn't want to see anyone local. Why come to me when my speciality is pediatric neurosurgery?”

“He trusts you, Dr. Clark. You'll keep all this confidential, including my involvement. I've recommended he have testing done but I'm not licensed to practice in Texas and I don't have hospital privileges here. You, however, do. Ryan thought if the two of us worked together, we could get to the bottom of whatever is wrong. It would safeguard his privacy.”

After a second look at the report she'd written, Peter's gaze met hers. “I want to talk to Ryan myself.”

“He'd rather not come here, and he doesn't want Lily or anyone else in the family to know.”

When Peter rubbed his chin thoughtfully, Violet couldn't help but notice what a strong jawline he had, what large strong hands. “All right. I'm glad Ryan believes he can trust me. We can meet at my house. I can examine him and then we can decide what to do next.”

“When are you available?” Violet asked.

“Tonight.”

Obviously Peter Clark didn't like Ryan's symptoms any more than she did. “I'll call Ryan and see if he's free.”

She took her little blue cell phone from her purse. A few minutes later, after a brief conversation with Ryan in which they all agreed on a time, she closed the phone and dropped it back into her purse.

“Ryan said to make sure to tell you he'll pay you double your usual fee because he knows this is an inconvenience.”

“Ryan's a friend. There won't be a fee, not for tonight.”

“He won't like that.”

Peter smiled. “Maybe not, but it will be my only condition for examining him.”

“I can see why he respects you,” she said softly.

Silent communication passed between them and because of their concern for Ryan, a bond was formed. However, that bond seemed to be more personal than professional.

Standing, she met his gaze. “It was good to meet you, Dr. Clark. I don't want to take up any more of your time.”

“It's Peter,” he corrected her.

“Peter,” she murmured.

Holding her gaze, he seemed to be waiting for something. Finally, with a wry smile turning up the corners of his lips, he asked, “And should I call you Dr. Fortune or Violet?”

She felt her cheeks turn hot and couldn't remember the last time she'd blushed. “Violet's fine,” she decided, feeling much too warm in the small office.

When he stood and came around the desk, they were standing very close. “Ryan is lucky to have you in the family.”