The Doctor Returns. Stella MacLean

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СКАЧАТЬ he stood there listening to the banter between the women, he focused his attention on Sherri, his heart hammering in his chest at the realization that she was easily the most attractive woman he’d met in a very long time. With her wide hazel-green eyes and her sun-streaked hair framing her face, she was beautiful. So different from what he remembered—the light brown hair, the large-framed glasses and a careless disregard for a few extra pounds. He’d actually found Sherri’s lack of concern over her weight a relief as his mother had always been obsessed with her weight and the refrigerator reflected her rigid diet concerns. The worst possible scenario for a teenage boy who was always starving.

      But he was delighted to see that Sherri had blossomed from the teenager he’d known into a woman whose body language suggested a very self-assured and confident person who knew what she wanted from life. He tried not to stare. He didn’t need to add another mistake to his first one of not recognizing her.

      “Well, it’s been lovely to meet you both. I’m going up to see Morgan, but I’m sure we’ll run into each other over the next few days.” Lilly turned to Neill, her smile bright. “You’ll be along when you’re finished here?”

      “Of course. You’re all she talked about this morning at breakfast,” Neill said, relieved that Lilly was there for a few days. Morgan missed her mother.

      Experience had taught him that Lilly, as much as she loved their daughter, would stick around until she was assured that Morgan was being competently cared for. Once she was satisfied, she’d return to her medical supply business in Houston. Lilly had purchased the company with proceeds from her parents’ estate, and she had insisted Neill move to Houston with her. That was the first major disagreement they’d had. He couldn’t see himself as chief operating officer of a company any more than he could imagine living in Houston. They’d compromised; he’d stayed in Boston but had agreed to be on the board of directors.

      Lilly had left Boston, leaving their daughter behind with promises of returning every other weekend and holidays and taking Morgan to Houston for her school break, most of which never happened. Parenting was not one of Lilly’s strengths. Maybe it wasn’t his, either, if the move had caused Morgan’s seizure.

      “And we have to get to work,” he said, glancing from Gayle to Sherri.

      “Hope your daughter is able to go home soon,” Sherri said, her smile open and friendly. “Let me know if you need anything while you’re here.”

      “Thank you, I will.”

      Lilly touched Neill’s arm as he walked her to the connecting doors between the clinic and the hospital. “When you’re finished with your clinic, we need to talk about Morgan. I’m worried about her.”

      “Me, too. Wait for me, will you?” he asked, feeling the weight of Lilly’s concerned expression, one he knew only too well. Lilly didn’t like problems, especially those that were unsolvable. When they’d first met, he’d been drawn to her take-charge approach, as had many of his classmates. They’d been dating for two months when she’d asked him to marry her. Flattered and in love, or so he had believed, he’d said yes.

      Lilly Russell was a natural leader, exciting to be around back then. Now, her determination to lead, to take control, grated against his need to go slow, to be more thoughtful and circumspect about life.

      But they’d continued to disregard their differences until the day they’d been forced to accept that the love and excitement had gone from their relationship. There didn’t seem to be any point in blaming each other. They had their own careers. Though they still shared a friendship and a love for Morgan, loving each other had become a distant memory.

      As Lilly walked through the doors, Neill turned his attention to the pile of charts on the counter. “Where do we start?”

      “Follow me,” Sherri said, picking up the charts.

      He matched her stride as they moved down the corridor. “Sherri, it’s great to see you again. I’ve taken over my uncle’s practice,” he said lamely, anxious to smooth over the obvious lack of rapport between them.

      “Yes, your uncle was an excellent physician.”

      Was that skepticism he heard in her voice over his ability to step into his uncle’s shoes? “Yeah, and now he and Aunt Mildred are enjoying retirement in Sarasota.”

      Sherri made no response as they moved down the corridor. Patients were waiting in each of the exam rooms. Sherri called out to several as they passed, and the warmth and compassion with which she treated each of them didn’t surprise Neill. She had a gift for making people feel appreciated.

      Especially the skinny kid with the doting parents whose only ambition had been to go to med school. During the months they’d dated in high school, he’d loved her most for the way she’d made him feel valued. Appreciated.

      He smiled to himself as he watched her. This was her life now, and her devotion to her job was evident.

      Still, being near her again reminded him of how close they’d been during their last year of school. He’d gone off to university homesick for her and the idyllic world they’d shared.

      He hadn’t heard from her after the short, really awkward phone call about two months after he’d moved to Boston. She’d told him she was expecting his baby, and he’d behaved so stupidly and so hurtfully, he’d been ashamed. But when he had called back to talk to her, she hadn’t answered the phone. And every time he’d tried after that day, she’d refused to speak to him. She was in her first year of the nursing program in Bangor, part of the dream they’d shared, a dream about working together as doctor and nurse. When he’d left for Boston, he’d wanted her to go with him, but she hadn’t made it into the nursing program she’d applied to in Boston.

      After her brief call about the baby, he hadn’t heard from her again, although he kept trying. Then one day when he’d called, her roommate had answered and told him Sherri had quit nursing, that she had left no forwarding phone number. He’d called her parents’ house to be told she’d married Sam Crawford, a man two years ahead of them in high school and a guy Sherri had dated in tenth grade.

      Wanting to congratulate her on her marriage, he’d gotten her number from her mother. When the message he’d left wasn’t returned, he didn’t try again. Was his pride hurt? Probably. And he’d let his busy life take over, a life he was so sure he wanted back then.

      His mother had told him about the death of their baby, and then about Sam’s death in a boating accident. He’d tried to phone Sherri when he heard about the baby, but she wouldn’t take his call. When her husband had died, he’d tried again with no response from her. He’d tried to write her a letter, but his words about being taken by surprise, needing time to absorb what she was telling him, seemed so immature and selfish he’d torn it up. Walking beside her now, remembering the past, his neck glowed hot with embarrassment.

      Back then he’d told himself he’d done everything he could to reach out to her, but he recognized what a total lie that was. He could have done so much more. Having Morgan in his life, he knew a joy he’d never known before. Yet he’d denied the same joy to Sherri by not supporting her during the pregnancy.

      Being back in familiar surroundings made him remember what they’d once had between them, how he’d missed her during those early years. And now those old feelings were back. “Sherri, can we talk?”

      “About what?” she asked. Her hazel eyes flared green.

      He СКАЧАТЬ