Revealing The Real Dr Robinson. Dianne Drake

Чтение книги онлайн.

СКАЧАТЬ I suppose.”

      “Which you’re going to answer, I suppose?”

      She sat her mug down on the table and simply studied him for a moment. Looked deep into his eyes, never breaking contact for what seemed like an eternity. Then she drew in a deep breath, let it out slowly and smiled. “You deserve an answer, but it’s not necessarily the real answer because…”

      “Because it’s hard to explain,” he filled in.

      “Harder than you can know.”

      “Then, start at the beginning.”

      “The thing is, every story has so many beginnings. With this one, let’s begin where medicine and I came to a parting of the ways. For the sake of keeping this brief, let’s just call it a discrepancy of idealisms, and move on from there. After I hung up my medical diploma, I went on a road trip. You know, in search of myself, in search of truth, maybe in the higher sense in search of the meaning of life.

      “Who knows what I was in search of but, whatever it was, I met you and I liked the way you talked about your medical world. Thought maybe I might like the way you actually deal with it, as well. And I’ll admit I probably got caught up pretty easily as I didn’t have my own medical world any longer.”

      “Cutting to the chase,” he interrupted. “You followed me here to study me.”

      “Like I said, it sounds crazy. The only thing I know for sure is that I don’t know anything. I loved being a doctor, think I want to keep doing that. But…” She shrugged. “You need volunteers, and I’m here to volunteer.”

      They hadn’t talked about this in Tuscany, and it was something that should have come up when they’d discovered they were both physicians. Of course, how much had he told her about himself? Not much. Shanna had done the same, so he couldn’t fault her for that. “Well, you’re off to a good start, showing up at my door with your own patient.”

      “Then you’ll let me stay?”

      He’d seen good medical skill and that was almost enough to hire her on the spot. But he was cautious about the people he brought in, even if he had spent time with them on holiday. So while his impulses were telling him one thing, his head was still ruling him. It had to because his only priority was Hospital de Caridad. “You show up on my doorstep and declare yourself ready to work, and think I’ll just let you start working?”

      “I was hoping. And you can do an internet search on me.”

      “Oh, I intend to.” Although what he’d seen of her already told him everything he needed to know. That, and there was no reason to doubt she was who she said she was. Still, those were personal feelings getting in the way, and whatever was going to happen with Shanna had to be kept professional. From here on out she wasn’t a wishful memory left over from holiday but one of his volunteers. One of the many who got treated no differently than anyone else. In a way, that was too bad, because he’d like those wishful memories.

      “You’re a cautious man, Ben Robinson.”

      “Have to be.” He smiled. “You never know who’s going to pop out of the jungle and ask for a job.”

      “Look, I appreciate the opportunity. Just tell me what you want me to do, then point me in the right direction.”

      He pointed at the door. “Evening house calls. You can come along… observation only for now, just to see how we operate. Then after you’re rested…” A sly smile crossed his lips. “And fully checked out, we’ll get you on the full schedule.” He wasn’t sure why he was asking her to tag along, especially as he intended to treat her the way he did all his volunteers—none of whom ever accompanied him on his house calls. Normally, he enjoyed these evening rounds alone, because they got him away from the routine grind and gave him time to walk and think. It was a pleasant way to spend his evenings, yet here he was disrupting himself, and not sure why.

      Shanna laughed. “You really don’t trust me, do you?”

      “You know how that old saying goes, something about keeping your friends close and your stalker closer….”

      “Enemies,” she corrected. “Keep your enemies closer.”

      Except he didn’t see anything in Shanna that would make her his enemy. If anything, what he saw was… gentle. Compassionate. “For now, let’s just keep it at stalker.”

      “So, do you have a bed for a stalker someplace?” she asked, taking her last sip of mate then pushing back from the table.

      Since Amanda and Jack were still occupying the guest cottage until their own cottage was built, and all the volunteer rooms were full, there weren’t many options left open. His cottage was built like all the others, two small residences per cottage, divided by a central corridor. As hospital owner, he claimed privilege and took up both residences in his cottage, using one for living and one for storage, because he valued his privacy. Looked like he was going to have to share, though. An idea with a certain jumbled appeal. “I occupy half the cottage around to the side… you walked right past it when you came in.”

      “Half a cottage?”

      “Don’t require much.”

      “So what you’re telling me is we’re sharing quarters? I’ll take the part you don’t require?”

      “Something like that. You’ll get your own room, as well as your own bathroom and a very small living area. So I’ll have someone move my things aside and make room for you.” Everything in that cottage was the sum total of his life, all of it packed into three or four boxes. Bottom line, there wasn’t going to be much of his life to move aside.

      “Very practical,” she said. “Me being your stalker, and all.”

      He cleared his throat. “Well, then…” What else was there to say after the most beautiful woman he’d ever set eyes on called him practical? The answer was… nothing. There was nothing to say. Not a word. When a woman saw a man as practical, that was as far as they would go. But that was what he wanted, wasn’t it? The two of them going nowhere except on some house calls. Yes, practical was right where he needed to be with her. Right now, though, getting what he wanted didn’t feel so good.

      CHAPTER THREE

      “WHO is she?” Amanda asked, waylaying her brother in the hospital hall and practically shoving him into a supply closet. “And why is she staying in your cottage?”

      “Technically, the cottages are meant to be shared by two. So she’s not really staying in my cottage so much as she’s occupying the other half of a cottage that was designed to be used by two people.”

      “Quit being evasive,” Amanda scolded. “I want to know who she is and if she’s the one you met in Tuscany. Oh, and why she’s here.”

      “It’s not what you think,” he told his sister.

      “You don’t know what I think.”

      “Yes, I do. It’s the same thing you think every time you come up with the crazy idea that I might be getting involved with someone.”

      “So, are you getting involved with…?”

СКАЧАТЬ