Rescued By Marriage. Dianne Drake

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СКАЧАТЬ ma’am. Months. Three months, give or take a few days.”

      “And it took Dr Beaumont all this time to sell his practice?”

      “Funny how that turned out, because it took Doc Weatherby almost that long, too. Both times the island finally resorted to pitching in.”

      Della looked down at the boat deck to see if her heart had just sunk through the boards, because it sure felt like it did. Then she started to cry again as they chugged slowly into the harbor.

      * * *

      She wasn’t what he’d expected. Not at all. Somehow, he’d pictured the next doctor on Redcliffe to be a large woman. Stout. Rough and tough. But she was tiny. Barely five feet, blond hair. Delicate. Sam Montgomery stepped back into the crowd awaiting her arrival and watched Dr Della Riordan step off Captain Cecil’s boat and take a good, long look at her surroundings. She wasn’t at all sure of herself, either. And…was that a horrible allergy going on with her? Her face was red and puffy, her eyes swollen, and she was blotting her nose like she belonged in bed, under the covers, vaporizer going, sipping hot chicken and noodle soup. She had to be sick, and other than the fact that she looked like someone who needed an IV and oxygen, she was probably very pretty.

      Poor thing. She was about to be mobbed and the doctor in him wanted to do something to help her out of that spot. But the doctor in him was also charged to stand back and simply observe. Then report. He wasn’t to be obtrusive, wasn’t to be particularly helpful. Some involvement was acceptable but not so much that he actually had a say, or a way in how the new doctor would set up her practice. All that because the previous medical practices here had such a spotty history, the medical board was keen to see this one done to proper standards. In other words, it was a test that came about because of prior bad experiences—a protection for the residents who could be too eager to accept a doctor who might not serve their best interests. They did have that history here, taking in a doctor who didn’t suit them.

      So, according to the area health commissioner, the only thing Sam was supposed to do was make sure the new doctor set up her clinic to standard. Or provide enough evidence to shut her down if she didn’t. Simple task, and that’s what he did now. No more patient care. All observation and reports. Which made his life quite simple.

      But, damn it, the islanders were hoisting this poor doctor up onto a platform and asking her to say a few words, when she looked like she wanted to do anything but that. It was amazing they hadn’t hauled out a brass band for the occasion. And she looked so…he wasn’t sure what. It wasn’t fear, wasn’t even fatigue. Sadness, maybe? “So I suppose I should rescue the doctor in distress,” he muttered, stepping through the nearly fifty people who had now gathered for the welcome.

      “I’m glad to be here,” she said to the village mayor as he pumped her hand the way only a six-foot-seven mountain of a man could do.

      “And we’re glad to have you here, Doc Riordan,” Mayor Bruce Vargas responded.

      “Call me Della.”

      “Doc Della,” he said. “The village of Redcliffe is anxious to have you set up and going, and we’re ready to do anything required to help you.”

      “Dr Riordan and I have some medical matters to discuss,” Sam Montgomery said, stepping up to the platform. “I hate to break this up and I know everybody’s thrilled to have her here, but before she can start her practice we have some issues to go over about health-care requirements in Massachusetts.” Whatever that meant, since he really was quite far removed from the real medical world now. He looked directly at Della. “I’m Dr Sam Montgomery,” he said, extending his hand to her.

      She nodded, and took his hand, but didn’t say a word.

      “You look like you could use a cup of coffee.” Or a shot of penicillin and a week in bed.

      She nodded. “That would be nice.” But she didn’t smile, and the only word he could think of to describe what he was seeing was heartbreak. Dr Della Riordan was suffering from a broken heart. No wonder she’d been so quick to accept this offer. Why else would anybody want to come to Redcliffe to practice medicine if they weren’t trying to get away from something?

      * * *

      The tiny bit of the village she saw looked nice enough. The main street was quaint, with its tidy Cape Cod style predominant in the architecture. The people here smiled at each other and exchanged pleasant greetings. The air was pure and crisp. And the ride over on Captain Cecil’s boat hadn’t been bad at all in the salty breeze—what she’d seen of it through the tears. All good signs, but none of them did anything to alleviate her pain. She already missed Meghan so badly she wasn’t sure she could survive the next five minutes away from her, let alone the next five months. But if she turned around now and went right back to Miami with even less than she’d had when she’d left there…No, that wasn’t an alternative. She had to make this situation work, no matter what it was she’d gotten herself into.

      “I appreciate the coffee,” she said, sliding into the booth across from Sam as he waved for the waitress. “I’ve had a long twenty-four hours and I think it’s finally catching up with me. This time yesterday I’d barely even heard of Redcliffe Island except for what I’d read in the offer papers, and now I’m a resident here for the next five years. It’s a lot to deal with in the span of a day.”

      “One of those strange twists of fate. This time yesterday I’d barely even heard of Redcliffe Island, either. And now everybody here knows my name.”

      “They are friendly, aren’t they?” she said, her voice on the edge of a tremble. He seemed nice. Handsome, for sure. Wavy brown hair, dark brown eyes. Fetching build, too. Probably around six feet tall, he cut a handsome figure in his casual jeans and T-shirt, and she especially liked his relaxed smile. She thought about Anthony for a moment. Nothing about him had ever been casual or relaxed. He’d been the epitome of starched and polished perfection and he’d had quite the sharp edge to his beau ideal. She couldn’t recall ever having seen him in a T-shirt and jeans in all their years of marriage, let alone sitting in a cozy, comfortable diner, sipping coffee. No, he had been too upscale for such a thing.

      “Would you like something to eat?” Sam offered. “A sandwich, maybe a cup of chowder?”

      She shook her head. Truth was, it was easier not to eat. The way she’d felt so much of the time lately, there wasn’t much point since whatever she ate merely turned into a nauseated muddle in the pit her stomach. “So, what, exactly, do you do here? I was led to believe I was the only doctor on the island.”

      “Technically, you are. But I’m here from the state health commission, basically to make sure your transition into your new practice is a smooth one. Redcliffe has a peculiar history with its doctors, so I’ll be around for a while to…to assist you where I can, I suppose you could say.”

      “What, exactly, is this peculiar history, other than their doctors not staying?”

      “You don’t know?”

      She shook her head, although she wasn’t about to tell him she’d bought the practice on a whim. A very fast, possibly very foolish whim.

      “Like you already know, nobody wants to stay. The people are nice, the island is a veritable Atlantic paradise, but I think the past few doctors have found the island to be a little more off the beaten path than they expected. Quite restrictive, I think. When you hear paradise you think СКАЧАТЬ