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  “I’m not going to give my father any false hope. Or you either.” She added the last part coyly and was rewarded when she saw him swallow tightly. An angry spark momentarily leaped into his dark eyes, but was soon quelled.

  Sitting down, Valerie rummaged through her purse for a roll of antacid tablets. Her stomach ached and she was weary to her very bones.

  Colby ignored her, although he made no move to go. The preoccupied look on his face suggested that he had something else to say; he seemed to be searching for words.

  Valerie considered what Colby had told her. If she ever decided to marry—if—she’d settle down with someone who had the same drive, the same will to succeed, as she did. A man who knew where he was going, who’d set his sights high. Not some well-meaning small-town doctor.

  She’d marry a man like Rowdy Cassidy.

  The name sprang into her mind with a suddenness that shocked her.

  Until that moment, Valerie didn’t fully grasp how much she admired her employer. Rowdy had started his computer software business out of a friend’s garage fifteen years earlier. He’d built the company into one of the most successful in the country. Although he’d earned more money than he could possibly spend in a lifetime, he continued to work ten-and twelve-hour days, demanding as much of his staff as he did of himself.

  “It might, uh, help matters if you were involved with someone,” Colby said in a casual voice. Valerie found his nonchalant tone a bit exaggerated, which for some reason made her suspect that he wasn’t “involved with someone.”

  “I’m not in a relationship at the moment, but I might be soon,” she told him. Valerie and Rowdy—a couple. Odd that she’d never thought of him in romantic terms before. He’d be the perfect husband for her. She liked him and respected him, as a man and a professional. Rowdy had hand-picked her for his management team because he believed in her abilities.

  In retrospect, she realized Rowdy had sought out her company on several occasions. But she’d been so absorbed in proving herself worthy of his faith that she hadn’t guessed he might have any personal feelings for her.

  For months she’d been blind to what was right in front of her. Not that she was entirely to blame, though. Rowdy wasn’t exactly a heartthrob kind of guy. Oh, he was handsome enough, with his rugged cowboy looks, but his brusque, outspoken manner didn’t encourage romantic aspirations. As far as she knew, he’d never dated anyone seriously, at least not in the years she’d worked for him.

  For that matter, Valerie wasn’t any expert on falling in love, either. She’d dismissed the possibility of romance in her own life; it was fine for her sisters and school-friends, but not for her. There’d always been too much she wanted to do, too much to strive for. Too much to achieve before settling down in a permanent relationship.

  “I’m afraid I don’t understand,” Colby said, breaking into her thoughts. At her blank look, he elaborated. “You said you weren’t involved with someone yet, but you will be soon. I may be overstepping my bounds here, but I wouldn’t advise you to invent a phony relationship. Your father would see through that in a minute.”

  “I agree. I wouldn’t even attempt anything so foolish. But there’s a man I work with, and, well, it seems natural for the two of us to…get involved.”

  Dr. Winston looked so relieved that she might’ve been offended if she hadn’t been warmed by the newly risen hope of a romance with Rowdy Cassidy.

  “I’ve given your father something to help him rest,” Colby went on. “He should sleep through the night without a problem, so if you want to drive home and join your sister—”

  “No,” Valerie interrupted quickly. “I won’t leave Dad. I understand that I can’t see him yet, but I want to be here…in case anything happens. It’s important to me.”

  “That’s fine.”

  Valerie was grateful. “Thank you.”

  He nodded, then yawned, revealing for the first time his own fatigue. “I’ve left orders that I’m to be contacted the minute there’s any change in his condition.”

  “I can’t thank you enough for everything you’ve done.”

  “No thanks necessary. I’ll talk to you in the morning.”

  Valerie smiled and sat down to leaf through a six-month-old news magazine. She’d just finished reading the letters to the editor when the nurse appeared, carrying a pillow and a blanket.

  “Dr. Winston thought you might need these,” she said, setting the bundle down next to Valerie.

  It was a thoughtful thing to do, she mused later as she rested her head against the pillow and tucked the thin blanket around her shoulders. She felt a twinge of guilt, especially since she’d already decided to call in the country’s top heart surgeon first thing in the morning.

  By noon, it was unlikely that her father would still be a patient of Dr. Colby Winston’s.

  He liked her, Colby realized. He’d been prepared not to. Valerie Bloomfield was everything her father had claimed. Professional, astute and lovely. But when it came to relationships, she was precisely the type of woman Colby made a point of avoiding.

  He liked his women soft and feminine. He was looking for a wife, and David Bloomfield had somehow intuited that, or he wouldn’t have dragged his eldest daughter into almost every conversation. But Colby didn’t have a business executive in mind. He needed a helpmate, a woman who understood the never-ending demands of a doctor’s work. A woman who’d understand the long hours, the emotional stress, the intrusions into his private life.

  What he didn’t need was a career-obsessed executive. Perhaps he was outdated in his thinking. He certainly acknowledged that a woman had every right to pursue her own profession, to choose her own calling in life, but Colby was looking for a woman who’d make that calling him. Well, not just him but them—their marriage, their family, their home.

  He had to admit it sounded selfish and egocentric to expect his wife to wrap her life around his. Nevertheless that was exactly what he wanted.

  His own career was all-consuming; there weren’t enough hours in the day to do everything that needed to be done. When he got home at night he wanted someone there to greet him, to offer comfort, serenity.

  Sherry Waterman fit the bill perfectly. They’d been dating off and on for almost a year. Lately, it seemed, more off than on. Colby wasn’t sure why he’d allowed his relationship with Sherry to taper off. He hadn’t talked to her in nearly two weeks now—maybe longer. But he knew she’d be an ideal wife for him, and for that matter so would Norah Bloomfield. Yet he couldn’t picture spending the rest of his life with either of them.

  If he was going to analyze his lack of interest in both Sherry and Norah, then he might as well examine what he found so attractive about Valerie. Not the briefcase she carried with her like a second purse. Certainly not the way she popped antacid tablets, or the way she dressed in a sexless gray suit that disguised every feminine curve of her slender frame.

  What appealed to him most was the contrast he sensed in her. Outwardly she appeared calm and collected, asking intelligent questions with the composure of someone inquiring about commonplace statistics instead of her father’s chances of survival.

  Colby hadn’t been fooled. He noted how she gnawed on her lower lip even while her gaze steadily met his. Valerie had been badly shaken by her father’s ordeal. There were depths of emotion in this woman, a real capacity for feeling that was—or so he guessed—usually kept hidden.

  He also noticed the love in her eyes when he took her to see her father. He’d watched her struggle to keep her emotions at bay. Her fingers had trembled when they reached for her father’s hand and her face had grown gentle. There was a strong bond between those two.

  It hadn’t been necessary to repeat David’s comment about their marrying, and Colby wasn’t sure why he had.

  He suspected he’d been hoping to discover if she was involved with someone. Knowing that she was, or rather that she was about to be, should have reassured him. But it hadn’t. If anything, he was
more curious than ever.

  Norah’s arrival stirred Valerie into wakefulness early the following morning. She hadn’t slept much, too exhausted and keyed up to let herself relax. Toward dawn she’d drifted into an uneasy slumber.

  “How’s Dad?” Norah asked, handing Valerie a white sack that contained breakfast.

  “The same. I haven’t been in to see him, but I’ve talked to the CCU staff several times.” She’d paced the hospital corridor most of the night and as a result had received intermittent reports.

  “He’s been like this from the first, as though he’s balancing on the edge of a cliff. He could fall either way.”

  “He’ll live,” Valerie said fervently, as if her determination would be enough to keep him alive.

  “I hope you’re right.”

  “I am,” Valerie returned, forcing her voice to remain confident.

  “Oh, before I forget,” Norah said, sitting opposite Valerie, “there were two messages on the answering machine when I got home last night. The first was from Mr. Cassidy at CHIPS. He’s your boss, isn’t he?”

  Valerie nodded, opening the bag her sister had brought. She removed a warm croissant and a cup of fresh coffee. The last time she could remember eating had been at O’Hare, and although her pizza had looked decent, she’d been too upset to feel very hungry.

  “What’d Rowdy have to say?”

  “Just that he’d heard about Dad’s heart attack. He asked if there was anything he could do.”

  Valerie smiled to herself, pleased that Rowdy had taken a few minutes out of his busy schedule to call. It seemed to confirm her thoughts of the night before; she was increasingly convinced that his interest in her was more than business.

  “Who else phoned?” she asked, purposely turning her mind from Rowdy. There’d be plenty of time later to mull over her recent revelation.

  “Steff.”

  “How’s she doing?” Valerie asked before biting into the flaky croissant.

  “Not very well, I’m afraid.” Norah’s shoulders slumped forward slightly. “She sounded desperate.”

  “I take it she hasn’t left Italy yet?”

  “She can’t. Apparently the whole country’s at a standstill. Like I told you, she’s trapped in this tiny village a hundred miles outside Rome. She’d gone there to spend a few days with a friend’s family.”

  “Why doesn’t she rent a car?”

  “Seems everyone else thought of the same thing. There’s not a car to be had.”

  “What about her friends?”

  “From what I understand, the people she’s with don’t have a car. She and her friend got a ride there from someone else, and everyone she knows is away on spring break. She’s very upset. I called her back, but she was out, so I left a message.” Norah shook her head in frustration.

  “What did you tell her?”

  “That you’d arrived. That I’m on leave from my job as long as necessary. And…that Dad’s condition is stable.” It was a small lie, but necessary, Valerie agreed, for their sister’s peace of mind.

  “I’ll try to give her a call later,” Valerie said, sipping the rapidly cooling coffee. She glanced at her watch and calculated the time difference between Oregon and Texas. If she phoned now she might be able to catch Rowdy. If he was in the office, she’d ask him to locate the best heart surgeon in the state. No, on the West Coast.

  She knew there were restrictions against using cell phones in hospitals, so she lined up at the pay phone, which didn’t afford her much privacy. But that couldn’t be helped. To her relief, she was immediately connected with her boss.

  “Valerie,” he said, his big voice booming over the wire. “Good to hear from you. How’s your father?”

  “We don’t know yet. It could go either way.”

  “I’m sorry to hear that.” Rowdy sounded genuinely concerned and again her heart warmed toward him. “If there’s anything I can do, let me know.”

  “There is,” Valerie said, lowering her voice in an effort not to be overheard. She looked around to make sure no staff members were within earshot. “I need the name and phone number of the best heart surgeon on the West Coast. Dad’s too ill to be transferred to another hospital just yet, but the one here in Orchard Valley is small. I can’t be sure he’s getting the best possible care. I want to make other arrangements as soon as I can.”

  “Of course, I’ll get right on it.”

  Not for the first time, Valerie felt a twinge of conscience. Colby Winston obviously cared about her father. If she hurt his professional pride by going behind his back, then she’d apologize. For now, though, her primary concern had to be her father, and if that meant offending a family friend, well, too bad. It couldn’t be avoided.

  “How can I reach you at the hospital?” Rowdy asked.

  “It’s easier if I call you back. In an hour or so?”

  “Sure thing.”

  “I really appreciate this,” Valerie told him.

  A few minutes later, she strolled into the waiting room, where she’d left Norah. Colby had joined her and it struck Valerie a second time how perfect Norah would be for him.

  Valerie should’ve been pleased by the idea. Excited, too. But she wasn’t and she didn’t know why.

  Norah smiled at something Colby was saying, and Valerie realized with a small pang that her youngest sister was half in love with him already. If she could see it, then surely her father had, too. He was probably confusing the two of them in his mind, Valerie reasoned, which was certainly understandable under the circumstances.

  “Dad’s doing about the same,” Norah said when she became aware that Valerie had entered the room. “Colby was just in to see him.”

  “Good morning,” he greeted her, smiling briefly.

  “Morning.” Feeling guilty, she couldn’t meet his eyes.

  “You can take turns visiting your father if you’d like, but you can only stay five minutes, and I’d prefer that you waited an hour between visits.”

  “Fine,” Valerie murmured. “Since I was with him last night, do you want to go first?” she asked Norah.

  “All right.”

  Valerie assumed that Dr. Winston would go with her sister, but he stayed behind, pouring himself a cup of coffee from the freshly brewed pot. His back was to Valerie.

  “Your father’s going to require open-heart surgery,” he said once he’d turned around to face her. “Right now his heart’s too weak to withstand the additional stress, but we’re fast approaching a crisis point, and you and your sisters need to prepare yourselves.”

  “Here?” Valerie challenged. “And who’d perform the surgery?”

  “I will— I am a qualified cardiovascular surgeon. And Orchard Valley has one of the best heart units in the state,” Colby said in a reassuring voice.

  “I don’t want one of the best, I want the very best! This is my father we’re talking about.” Valerie knew she sounded unreasonable, even rude, but her concern about David overrode all other considerations, including her embarrassment at misjudging Dr. Winston. Why had Norah never mentioned that the man was a heart surgeon? Still, it didn’t matter; her father deserved the best-equipped facility and the best-trained specialist around. She spoke in a calmer voice. “If he needs surgery, then he’ll have it, but not here. Not when there’s a better hospital and more experienced…”

  “Heart surgeons?” Colby finished for her.

  She stiffened, wanting to avoid a confrontation and knowing it was impossible. “Exactly.”

  “You’re welcome to a second opinion, Valerie. I’d be happy to review my credentials with you, as well.”

  Her arms cradled her middle. Her breakfast seemed to lie like a deadweight in her stomach.

  Colby had begun to speak again. “Norah—”

  “You already mentioned the possibility of open-heart surgery to Norah?” she flared, disliking the fact that he’d talked to her sister first.

  He nodded. “Just now. While you were out.”

&nbs
p; That hurt her pride. She, after all, was the oldest, the decision maker, the strong one.

  “If you’d like to talk to another specialist, I can recommend several.”

  “That won’t be necessary,” Valerie returned stiffly, feeling like a traitor. “I’m having a friend get me the names of the top heart surgeons on the West Coast.”

  A vacuum of silence followed her words.

  “I understand.”

  She glanced toward him, surprised not to hear any resentment in his voice.

  “It isn’t that we don’t appreciate everything you’ve done,” she rushed to explain. “Norah’s told me several times that if it weren’t for you, we’d have lost Dad that first night. I’m grateful, more than you’ll ever know, but I want to stack the odds in Dad’s favor, and if that means bringing in another surgeon, I’ll do it.”

  Her impassioned words were met with a cool but not unfriendly smile. “If David were my father I’d do the same. Don’t worry, Valerie, you haven’t offended me.”

  She was so relieved that she nearly sagged onto the sofa.

  “Let me know who you want to call in and I’ll be happy to confer with him.”

  “Thank you,” she whispered. “Dad and Norah are right,” she added, almost to herself.

  “About what?” Colby asked on his way out the door.

  She looked up, realizing he’d heard her. “You really are wonderful.”

  Their eyes met and in those few seconds an odd understanding passed between them. It wasn’t a look lovers would exchange, she thought, but one close friends would.

  Norah came back from the five-minute visit with their father, pale and clearly distressed. Slowly she lowered herself onto the sofa, her hands clasped tightly together.

  “Dad’s not doing well this morning?” Valerie ventured.

  Norah nodded. “He’s so weak…he’s talking about dying and…” She paused, her light blue eyes glassy with tears.