Читать книгу The Secrets of Her Past - Emilie Rose - Страница 11

CHAPTER TWO

“I’LL DO IT.”

Adam whipped around from his position by the patio doors at the sound of Madison’s voice. She stood in the doorway, her expression belligerent.

“But I’ll only give you two days a week.”

“Two days?” Danny protested. “But your practice is small and mine is—”

“I realize my rural office isn’t up to your city standards, Dr. Drake, but I’m proud of it and I’m needed there.”

Adam’s father flinched at doctor, then sadness filled his eyes.

“I’ll help you because you helped me. But once I get you through this, my debt is paid. I won’t come back.”

“Now, Maddie, let’s not be that way,” his father placated, the hurt quickly giving way to determination. “You’re family, and families stick together.”

“Mondays and Tuesdays,” she continued as if he hadn’t spoken. “I can’t afford a hotel every week. You’ll need to provide accommodations.”

Her demands and her cold tone reinforced everything Andrew had said about her career-driven selfishness. Not that his father couldn’t easily afford to provide a hotel room, and it would be best if his mother didn’t have to worry about playing hostess, but Madison was making this all about herself. What she wanted. What she needed. When it should be about how she could best accommodate her mentor.

“For two months,” she added in an irrefutable tone.

“Two—” his dad protested. “What if that’s not enough time?”

“Then you’ll call the service.”

His father mulled over her words with a frown on his face. Adam waited for him to tell her where she could shove her selfish stipulations the way he had when Adam had announced his plan to pursue something other than a veterinary degree.

“I knew you’d come through for me, Maddie.” The senior Drake crossed the kitchen and embraced the enemy.

Protests filled Adam’s mouth. He bit his tongue. He’d learned long ago that trying to change his father’s mind once he’d made a decision was a waste of time. Instead Adam focused on the success of achieving the desired outcome. With Madison’s assistance they could pursue the most aggressive and successful treatment protocol. When she eventually let them down—and she would—his father would have already had the surgery. He’d be forced to call the service Madison mentioned.

The coldhearted witch kept her arms by her sides and her fists balled rather than return the hug. Adam studied her emotionless whiskey-brown eyes and tight face and his jaw tensed with irritation. Had she no compassion?

She detached herself from the embrace. “Let me know when you’ve arranged your surgery.”

“I’ve tentatively scheduled the procedure for Monday.”

Surprise ricocheted through Adam, mirroring the shock on Madison’s face. Had his father been that certain she would agree?

“This Monday? You’re only allowing me what’s left of the weekend to make arrangements?”

“Wishful thinking on my part, I suppose, but I want to beat this disease, and the sooner we get started the better my chances,” he said with just the right touch of earnestness. But his father had always been a master manipulator. “I called the surgeon as soon as Adam told me you were coming.”

Adam watched the war wage in Madison’s eyes, and he wouldn’t have been surprised if she’d changed her mind.

“I’ll be back tomorrow night. Let me know where I’m staying.” She pivoted and stalked from the room, her slim figure as rigid as a steel beam. The front door snapped shut behind her.

Silence descended on the room. Moments later the sound of Andrew’s truck engine struggling to turn over carried to them. It took three attempts before the ignition caught.

“That went well.”

His father’s smugness infuriated Adam. “I have to hand it to you, Dad. That took balls. What made you sure she’d agree?”

“I know Maddie.”

It had always irritated Adam that he’d tried for years to win his father’s approval, but from the moment Madison had waltzed into their lives she could do no wrong in Danny Drake’s eyes.

Adam whipped out his cell phone. “I’ll make the hotel arrangements.”

“No hotel. Madison’s family.”

“The motor home only has one bedroom,” Helen pointed out.

“That’s why she’ll stay here with Adam.”

The words hit him like a sucker punch to the gut. “Me? Why?”

“I’m not putting her on the sofa bed in the motor home when I’ll probably be up and down all night, and our house is far from being habitable—with walls ripped down and wires hanging everywhere. You have two empty bedrooms.”

“I don’t want that viper here.”

“No talking about her like that. And Madison’s going to need transportation. While I like that she’s still sentimental enough to drive Andrew’s truck, it doesn’t sound as reliable as she claims it is.”

“You’re going to rent a car for her?”

“No. You’re going to drive her to and from the office. We’ll send Andrew’s truck to my mechanic and have him take his time on the repairs.”

Adam gaped at his father’s audacity. “Are you out of your mind? I don’t have time to babysit or play taxi. I have a job.”

“You have that hospital running like a well-drilled army unit. It’ll survive if its administrator cuts his days a little short while Madison’s in town.”

Was that the compliment he’d waited a lifetime to hear or just another form of manipulation? “Dad—”

He joined Adam by the window and clapped him on the shoulder. “Adam, I need you to make sure she gets to work on time each day. I can’t lose patients over this health scare. The medical bills from this treatment are going to be astronomical even after my health insurance pays its part. I don’t want to burn through my retirement paying them off. Your mother and I will need something to live on...if I make it through this.”

Damn it. He was being manipulated. But his father’s points were valid.

“We’ll have dinner together every night Madison’s here. Helen will cook all of our favorites. Just like old times.”

Old times, his ass. Life would never be the same again. If his father believed otherwise, then he was in for a reality check. And it irritated Adam that his father, who’d never been late or left the office early a single day in his career, expected Adam to do so.

“You’re asking too much.”

“Fine. Call Madison. Tell her never mind. I’ll cancel the surgery and take my chances with the chemo-radiation cocktail.”

Once more Adam had underestimated his father. Danny Drake knew which buttons to press to get what he wanted.

“Fine. I’ll handle it.”

* * *

MADISON CRADLED THE phone, marked the last name off Tuesday’s appointment roster then leaned back and massaged her throbbing temples. She was already beginning to regret her decision to help Dann—Dr. Drake.

He’s not friend or family anymore. Keep it strictly business.

A key turned in the lock, and the front door of the clinic opened. Her assistant’s blond head appeared in the gap. Piper stepped inside, scanned the empty waiting room with confusion puckering her forehead.

“Hi, boss. I saw your truck outside. Why are you here on a Sunday? Did we have an emergency? If we did, you should’ve called me.” She came around the registration counter and into the workspace she usually occupied.

“It’s not the kind of emergency that required me to pull you away from your family. I was going to call later and explain. There’s going to be a change in our scheduling for the next couple months.”

“Is something wrong? Are you okay?”

Physically, yes. Mentally, no. Madison sifted through the facts. Piper knew more about her past than anyone else. In a weak moment Madison had confided that her husband and unborn baby had died and that Madison had sworn off men and romantic entanglements forever. But that was all she’d shared, and she preferred to keep the rest on a need-to-know basis.

“I’m fine, but my former father-in-law has cancer. I’ve been shanghaied into substituting in his veterinary practice for him while he undergoes treatment.”

Worry filled Piper’s eyes. “What about our clients?”

And her job. Madison understood the concern. “I’m only subbing on Mondays and Tuesdays. We’ll operate on our regular schedule the rest of the time.”

“Where’s his practice, and is your truck up to that many road trips?”

“Norcross, Georgia, and I’m keeping my fingers crossed about the truck.”

Piper bit her lip and shifted on her feet. “Is he paying you?”

In the shock of the moment payment had never crossed her mind. “We didn’t discuss that, but I suspect not. I’m actually repaying an old debt. He helped me with my internship.”

“Madison, I don’t mean to get into your business, but you see a lot of patients on the barter system. We don’t make enough to cover that many hotel stays, and with one of your two rental cottages vacant... Can you afford to do this?”

“I can’t afford to refuse. Dan—Dr. Drake will take care of my accommodations. Piper, I’m going to need your help and Josh’s. Do you think your son would be willing to check on my critters during the day on Mondays and Tuesdays? I’ll pay him. June has me covered before and after she gets off work.”

“I can’t see why a preteen would turn down an opportunity to get paid for doing something he loves, but I think you should consider trading his help for horseback rides instead of cash. It’s something Josh really wants, and he’s crazy about Bojangles.”

“That would certainly help me financially, but I don’t want to short him.” She checked her watch. “I need to get on the road. I don’t have time to meet with Josh today. Would it be okay if he and I hammered out the details when I get back?”

“Of course. This means you’ll be missing our Monday lunches. Do you promise to eat if I’m not around to force-feed you?”

Madison grimaced. “And here I thought you loved my company and my chicken salad.”

Piper grinned. “That, too.”

“I’ve rescheduled the appointments for this week, but I’ll need you to take care of subsequent weeks’ patients when you come in tomorrow.”

“No problem. Are you sure you want to do this, Madison? It’s a big imposition, and I haven’t seen your in-laws in town or known you to visit them since you’ve lived here.”

“We haven’t kept in touch.”

“You know...being married to Quincey’s chief of police comes in handy. If you’d like, I can ask Roth to write something official banning you from leaving the state.” Piper’s blue eyes twinkled with mischief.

Madison laughed. “Thanks, Piper, but I don’t think I want a probation officer monitoring my every move, even temporarily.” She pushed to her feet. “I need to go home and pack. It’s a long drive.”

Her cell phone tweeted, signaling a text message from a number with a Georgia area code. The number on Adam’s business card. Her stomach swooped.

Flight arranged. Be at your county airport at six tonight.

Surprise mingled with trepidation because the plan was moving forward. “What do you know? The Drakes bought me an airline ticket. I don’t have to drive seven hours after all. That means I’ll have time to negotiate with Josh.”

“In that case, come to Sunday brunch and have some of Mom’s awesome shrimp and grits. You can talk to Josh before he, his dad and grandfather head for their favorite catfish hole.”

“Let’s go, then,” Madison said. She grabbed her purse and followed Piper out the door.

Flying would save her a lot of time and gas money, but it also meant she’d be stranded with the Drakes. If something went wrong she’d have no means of escape. But at the moment being without her truck was the lesser of two evils.

* * *

MADISON SCANNED THE terminal looking for a ticket counter or an electronic board listing flights, but saw neither. Although she’d never had a reason to stop by the local airport before, it was too small and too empty for her to have missed anything that important. She was the only person wandering around.

Shouldering her small duffel bag, she approached a desk occupied by a bored-looking fortysomething man reading a fishing magazine.

“Good evening, sir. I’m supposed to fly to Norcross, Georgia, tonight. Could you tell me where I can pick up my ticket and where my flight is boarding?”

The man looked at her over the wire rims of his glasses as if she’d spoken a foreign language. “We don’t serve commercial carriers, miss. Lost our last one a few years back. We’re strictly general aviation. All we get are private planes and the occasional corporate jet, and politician or military landing. Better verify your flight information. I got nothing for you.”

How could she have misunderstood? “Thank you.”

She pulled out her cell phone as she walked away and reread Adam’s text. No, it said exactly what she remembered. She’d have to text him for clarification. She dropped her bag at her feet.

“Madison,” Adam’s deep voice called as if she’d conjured him.

She looked up to see him striding toward her wearing faded jeans and a black polo. He had sunglasses perched on top of his head.

Her breath hitched. Had he always been this handsome? Of course he had. He looked just like Andrew, only with shorter hair, a broader build and a scowl that was somehow more attractive than his brother’s charming, ingratiating grins.

Why was he here? What had happened to her airline ticket?

“This way,” he said before she could ask and jerked his chin toward the end of the building from which he’d come. She bent to grab her bag. The heat of his hand covered hers on the strap as he did the same. The contact seared her. She snatched the burning extremity away.

Static electricity. That’s all.

Who was she trying to fool? Warmth pooled low in her belly and a tingle worked its way through her veins, but that was simply Mother Nature talking, reminding Madison that she was too young to be put out to pasture. Her ovaries were still fully functional and wanted a workout.

She squashed that reaction and slowly straightened. Grasping the strap, he rose beside her, his gaze drilling hers through narrowed, suspicious eyes.

She carefully blanked her expression.

“Is this all you packed?”

“I’ll only need a couple scrub suits. This isn’t a pleasure trip.”

His scowl deepened. He about-faced and headed for a pair of glass doors on the opposite side of the building from where she’d parked. The breath leaked from her lungs like a tire going flat. She shouldn’t antagonize him, but for pity’s sake, her skittish reaction would make one think she’d never been touched by a man before. Well, she hadn’t in a long time. Years, actually. Still, celibacy was no excuse for her neglected hormones to start tap-dancing now—and for Andrew’s brother no less.

Maybe her vow to live without sex had been a bad one, but pickings were slim in Quincey, and small-town people thrived on gossip. That made finding a local man she could like and respect, but who wouldn’t demand more than a friends-with-benefits relationship, a difficult proposition. She wasn’t the type to drive out of town for one-night stands, and her few experiences with dating websites had not been good ones. Only two of the guys ever made it past the initial screening phone call, and those dates had been a waste of time and gasoline.

No. That whole romantic fantasy of soul mates and forever was not for her. She’d never let herself be that vulnerable again.

The doors slid closed between them, kicking her into action. Why was Adam here, her brain nagged again. Had he decided to drive her to Norcross? If so, why hadn’t he informed her of the change of plans? She hustled after him to get her answers.

Before Adam had surprised her at her house a few days ago, she’d never spent any time alone with him and didn’t want to contemplate the long drive cooped up in a car with him now. She checked her watch. They’d arrive so late that she wouldn’t get more than a few hours’ sleep, and she’d be good for nothing in Dr. Drake’s office tomorrow.

The doors slid open automatically, revealing an asphalt tarmac—not another parking lot. A half dozen planes were tethered in a row. Adam was already halfway to one small white aircraft with blue and silver stripes and three windows on the side. Her feet stalled. The cool air from the terminal swirled past her, blending with the warmth radiating from the pavement.

He opened a door on the side and shoved her bag through it. Her brain screamed in protest. He turned and then did a double take, as if he’d only now noticed she wasn’t immediately behind him.

“Are you coming?” He folded his arms and waited with one leg bent, staring at her through the dark sunglasses he’d lowered over his eyes. He presented an all too appealing picture—like a cologne advertisement for an adventurous man or something. “Madison, we need to get in the air.”

Dear heaven. She wasn’t mistaken. They were traveling by plane. “I thought you and Andrew were deathly afraid of flying after that near-miss midair accident when you were kids.”

“I don’t run from my fears.”

But Andrew had. Goose bumps danced across her skin as awareness drifted over her like a chilling mist. How could she have missed that when she’d been married to the man for five years? But the moment she heard Adam say the words she recognized the truth. Every vacation she and her husband had ever taken had been within driving distance. They’d either stayed in a hotel or the family’s pop-up camper.

She looked at the tiny aircraft and apprehension tickled her spine. “That is our plane?”

“It’s a Piper Seminole, a safe one. Fast, too.”

She swiveled her head from side to side. There wasn’t anyone else nearby. “Where’s our pilot?”

“You’re looking at him.”

Her mouth dried and adrenaline raced through her veins. “You own a plane?”

“In partnership with several surgeons at the hospital.”

He closed the distance between them, then pushed up the dark lenses. His steady gaze held hers. “Madison, I became a pilot so I could understand what happened that day and make sure it didn’t happen to me again. You’ll be safe with me—safer than on the interstate in Andrew’s old truck. Once we get in the air you’ll see some amazing scenery, and in a couple hours you’ll be on the ground again.”

She wasn’t convinced.

He huffed an impatient breath. “Flying will save you ten hours of travel time round trip each week.”

When he put it that way... “I’d be lying if I didn’t admit I’m a little apprehensive. I’ve never flown before.”

“Conquer your fears, Doc, or they’ll conquer you. Trust me, you’ll love it once we’re airborne.”

Trust a man who detested her? Tall order. She wasn’t sure she’d love flying, but she ordered her feet forward, taking one step, two, on legs as weak and numb as they’d been after she’d finished her first half marathon. Was it fear? Or excitement?

Adam stepped in front of her. “I have to get in first since there’s only one door, then you’ll step up onto the wing and slide down into your seat. Watch where I put my feet.”

Another bubble of nervousness rose in her throat. She hesitated, running her gaze over the aircraft and searching for loose seams or bolts or anything that didn’t look...right. Not that she knew what she was looking for. But she hated the idea of climbing into that tin can and being trapped beside Adam for the length of the flight when her body was having fits of nostalgia for her missed sex life.

But Adam was not Andrew, and she was not going there with him.

Adam climbed aboard, then turned and offered his hand to help her climb inside. The moment their palms met and his long fingers curled around hers a current of awareness flowed through her, and she realized she was in trouble because her body obviously did not know what was good for it.

* * *

A PRICKLE OF foreboding crept up Madison’s spine when the headlights’ beam landed on the brick pillars marking the entrance to Adam’s neighborhood. Surely Helen and Danny weren’t waiting for them? It was almost ten o’clock—too late for visiting.

Adam had said little during the flight, communicating more to the people on the other end of the radio headset than with her. He’d only spoken to Madison when pointing out pieces of interesting scenery—a winery and a lake and the tail end of the Appalachians. His silence had screamed louder than a crowd of rowdy teenagers at a rock concert that he didn’t want her here. That made two of them.

But she had to admit, he’d been right. Other than twinges of anxiety during takeoff and landing, she’d enjoyed the flight.

The lack of conversation had been both a blessing and a curse. What could she say to someone who only tolerated her out of necessity? But the lack of interaction had given her time to worry about how she’d handle staying at the Drakes’ home—a place where she’d once experienced so much love but which now held open hostility, at least from Helen. Mostly she’d tried to prepare herself for sleeping in the bed she’d once shared with Andrew.

Adam steered the car into his driveway and hit the remote to open his garage door. Her sense of foreboding rose along with that door.

“Are your parents meeting us here?”

“No.” He parked and turned off the ignition. The garage door lowered behind them with a hum of gears, sealing her inside.

A sinking sensation weighted her stomach. Adam left the car, opened the trunk and extracted her duffel bag. Her brain screamed in denial. She threw open her door and bolted to her feet. “I’m staying here? With you?”

“Yes.” The bite in the word revealed his displeasure.

“Why not a hotel or at your parents’ house?”

“They’re living in a motor home parked in their driveway while the renovation is underway. There’s no room for you.”

No. No. No.

“This isn’t going to work. Call Danny. I’m sure he’ll make arrangements for a hotel.”

“He’s having surgery tomorrow. For cancer—a life-threatening disease. He has enough on his plate without worrying about your demands. Could you think about someone other than yourself for once?”

She gasped at the injustice of the statement. “I don’t want to inconvenience you.”

“Dad wants you here.”

“How will I get to his office? Is he going to loan me his car?”

A bark of laughter severed her words. “No one drives Dad’s Corvette except him.”

“But—”

“Madison, he asked me to make sure you kept your promise. I’m to drive you to work each morning and pick you up each evening.”

Adam was her babysitter. “He doesn’t trust me?”

“Why should he? You’ve given him no reason to believe you won’t cut and run when things get tough.”

Madison gulped the panic welling within her. She was trapped. Trapped in hell with the spitting image of her dead husband. With no escape. No matter how bad things got. And she was too far from anywhere to pay what would no doubt be an exorbitant taxi fee.

Two nights under Adam’s roof. She inhaled and exhaled, fighting for calm. Two nights, she repeated silently. She could get through them, but next week she’d insist on alternative accommodations.