Doctor's Orders

Beau was just a man, for goodness’ sake. She’d dealt with many men in her life. There was certainly no reason to get all flustered every time this one looked at her.

Still, there was something very different about Beau that made her very aware of her own feelings and emotions. It was just a tad unnerving, since she truly thought herself immune from any kind of man.

Her experience with Sofie’s father had left a bitter taste in her mouth and scared her off all men. As far as she was concerned, she couldn’t trust her own judgment when it came to men, so she simply kept her distance. Besides, she was far too busy trying to support herself and her daughter to worry about impressing some man or squeezing time out of her hectic life to accommodate him.

But now, with Beau, Cassie simply couldn’t fall back on her usual routine of indifference. Like it or not, she needed his help and so did her daughter. So she was going to curb her own feelings and put Sofie’s needs ahead of her own. She wasn’t about to jeopardize anything because of one gorgeous man. No matter how charming he was.

Dear Reader,

April is an exciting month for the romance industry because that is when our authors learn whether or not their titles have been nominated for the prestigious RITA® Award sponsored by the Romance Writers of America. As with the Oscars, our authors will find out whether they’ve actually won in a glamorous evening event that caps off the RWA national conference in July. Of course, all the Silhouette Romance titles this month are already winners to me!

Karen Rose Smith heads up this month’s lineup with her tender romance To Protect and Cherish (#1810) in which a cowboy-at-heart bachelor becomes a father overnight. Prince Incognito (#1811) by Linda Goodnight features another equally unforgettable hero—this one a prince masquerading as an ordinary guy. Nearly everyone accepts his disguise except, of course, our perceptive heroine who is now torn between the dictates of her head…and her heart. Longtime Silhouette Romance author Sharon De Vita returns with Doctor’s Orders (#1812), in which a single mother who has been badly burned by love discovers a handsome doctor just might have the perfect prescription for her health and longtime happiness. Finally, in Roxann Delaney’s His Queen of Hearts (#1813), a runaway bride goes from the heat and into the fire when she finds herself holed up in a remote location with her handsome rescuer.

Happy reading!

Sincerely,

Ann Leslie Tuttle

Associate Senior Editor

Doctor’s Orders

Sharon De Vita

www.millsandboon.co.uk

Books by Sharon De Vita

Silhouette Romance

Heavenly Match #475

Lady and the Legend #498

Kane and Mabel #545

Baby Makes Three #573

Sherlock’s Home #593

Italian Knights #610

Sweet Adeline #693

**On Baby Patrol #1276

**Baby with a Badge #1298

**Baby and the Officer #1316

†The Marriage Badge #1443

††Anything for Her Family #1580

††A Family To Be #1586

My Fair Maggy #1735

Daddy in the Making #1743

Doctor’s Orders #1812

Silhouette Special Edition

Child of Midnight #1013

*The Lone Ranger #1078

*The Lady and the Sheriff #1103

*All It Takes Is Family #1126

†The Marriage Basket #1307

†The Marriage Promise #1313

††With Family in Mind #1450

††A Family To Come Home To #1468

Daddy Patrol #1584

Rightfully His #1656

About the Boy #1715

Silhouette Books

The Coltons

I Married a Sheik

SHARON DE VITA,

a former adjunct professor, is a USA TODAY bestselling, award-winning author of numerous works of fiction and nonfiction. Her first novel won a national writing competition for Best Unpublished Romance Novel of 1985. With almost three million copies of her novels in print, Sharon’s professional credentials have earned her a place in Who’s Who in American Authors, Editors and Poets as well as the International Who’s Who of Authors. In 1987, Sharon was recipient of Romantic Times BOOKclub’s Lifetime Achievement Award for Excellence in Writing. Sharon and her husband, a retired military officer, currently make their home in the Southwest; they have four grown children and look forward—eagerly—to grandchildren. Sharon is hard at work on her next book.

To all who’ve been touched by Hurricane Katrina, good thoughts and prayers are with you, as well as with our heroic men and women in uniform who once again have stepped up to the plate and helped those who can’t help themselves. I’m forever grateful to live in a country where help is always—always just a helping hand away.

Contents

Chapter One

Chapter Two

Chapter Three

Chapter Four

Chapter Five

Chapter Six

Chapter Seven

Chapter Eight

Chapter Nine

Chapter Ten

Chapter One

Cooper’s Cove, Wisconsin

Mid-February

Something was wrong.

Cassie Miller’s version of a mother’s “early warning system” squealed in alarm as she glanced out the large plate glass window of her beauty salon, scanning Main Street and the crowd of kids for her six-year-old daughter, Sofie.

School had let out almost half an hour ago, and kids bundled in heavy winter clothes romped along the snow-packed street, dodging fresh snowflakes, ignoring the frigid cold, laughing and joking, grateful to be set free for another day.

But Sofie wasn’t with them, Cassie realized nervously.

The school was less than two blocks away, and her twelve-year-old nephew, Rusty, was supposed to walk Sofie from school to the shop every day after school.

But they were now almost half an hour late.

And it wasn’t like Rusty or Sofie to just not show up or to not call if they were going to be late. Both were incredibly bright, responsible kids and knew the rules and how their mothers’ worried about them.

Something was wrong.

Being a single parent, Cassie had worked hard to curb her instincts to overprotect her precious only child, but Sofie was a smart little girl who’d never given her a moment’s worry.

Until now.

Cassie would have closed the shop and gone looking for Sofie herself, but she still had one more appointment this afternoon. She had just purchased the salon and was trying to garner all the business she could, and closing in the middle of the day without notice wasn’t exactly a sound business practice.

Nervously gnawing on her lip, Cassie forced herself to take a deep breath. Okay, Cass, get a grip here, she scolded herself, closing her eyes for a moment to calm down. Sofie’s fine.

She was worrying needlessly. After all, Cooper’s Cove, Wisconsin, was the real-life version of Mayberry where everyone knew everyone else, and where she herself had grown up.

The move back home to Cooper’s Cove a month ago hadn’t been impulsive, Cassie reminded herself, and Sofie had been as excited about the move as she.

It was a new beginning for both of them, a chance to come home, to be near family, to set down roots, and for Cassie to finally have a chance to realize her long-held dream of owning her own business.

It had been a well thought-out, intricately planned and perfectly executed move. She wasn’t a woman who ever leapt before she looked, at least not anymore.

She’d leapt once, when she was young and naive and didn’t know any better, and had nearly been done in by the pitfalls and perils of jumping so blindly. It wasn’t likely she was ever going to do that again.

Feeling unbearably edgy when there was still no sign of Sofie after another few moments, Cassie rubbed her damp hands down her beige-and-brown uniform, then walked to the empty receptionist desk and picked up the phone.

She’d just started to dial the number for her cousin Katie, who was Rusty’s mother and worked in the newspaper office several doors down, when she heard the roar of an engine out front.

Cassie glanced up in time to see a hot little red sports car zoom to the curb and come to an abrupt stop. She frowned. Expensive little red convertibles weren’t exactly the norm in Cooper’s Cove, and they certainly didn’t roar down Main Street in the middle of the afternoon. Especially when there were tons of school kids out and about during near blizzard winter conditions.

Unless something was wrong.

Trying to curb her growing attack of nerves, Cassie’s eyes widened when one of the winged doors glided open and Dr. Beau Bradford, the town pediatrician, emerged. Unconsciously, Cassie’s lips thinned in displeasure.

Although she and the doctor had both grown up in Cooper’s Cove, he had been several years ahead of her in school and they’d never met until last month, when she’d brought Sofie into his office for her school physical.

He’d also been at Aunt Louella’s wedding to Mayor Hannity last month, Cassie remembered with a scowl, thinking of how charming and solicitous the good doctor had been. There was something about Dr. Bradford, something in those intense blue eyes and aristocratic dark good looks, that simply got on her nerves.

Dr. Beau, as everyone called him, wasn’t just the town pediatrician, he was also the only heir to the Bradford plastics dynasty. He and his aging, eccentric uncle lived in a crumbling old fortress-like house on the edge of town.

Apparently the handsome young doctor also did some moonlighting as the town Romeo, Cassie remembered with another scowl. Tales of his romantic adventures had kept the gossips in Cooper’s Cove busy for many a wash and set this past month, not to mention during the weekly bingo nights at the town hall.

The good doctor was rich, gorgeous and, according to Cooper’s Cove lore, very experienced.

As far as Cassie was concerned, he was cut from the same soiled, spoiled cloth as Sofie’s irresponsible father had been. And the last thing Cassie needed in her life was another rich, reckless man masquerading as an adult. The mere thought infuriated her.

So what on earth was he doing here, she wondered, her scowl deepening.

Cassie wasn’t certain why, but she watched in fascination as he walked around to the other side of the car and opened the passenger door.

“Oh my word!” Cassie’s panic went into overdrive when her six-year-old daughter stepped out of the car. Bundled up for the winter weather, Sofie looked like a little woolen Weeble struggling to walk and keep her balance at the same time.

Cassie’s heart did a quick stutter step. She slammed the telephone receiver down and skirted the receptionist desk to head for the front door, her heart now hammering in fear.

Without bothering to grab her coat, she yanked open the door, nearly recoiling from the arctic blast of cold air that hit her.

“Sofie!” Trying to contain her panic, Cassie rubbed her hands up and down her chilled arms as a myriad of horrible thoughts flashed through her mind. “What’s wrong?” She reached for her daughter, all but dragging her through the doorway. “Are you hurt, honey? Sick?” Cassie demanded, alarm tingeing her words as she ran her hands up and down her daughter, checking for fever or injuries, wanting to assure herself Sofie was safe and sound and in one piece.

“No, Mama,” Sofie said solemnly, glancing up at her from under the red woolen hat that drooped down her forehead and nearly covered her big brown eyes. “I’m not hurt,” Sofie said, giving her cap a shove upward with a red mittened fist. “And I’m not sick, either.”

“Then why did Dr. Bradford bring you home?” Cassie demanded. Confused, her gaze went from Sofie to Dr. Beau. She hadn’t even noticed he’d followed them inside.

He was standing just inside the salon, tall and broad enough to almost fill the doorway, still wearing his cashmere overcoat and his expensive, designer wool scarf. Heavy leather gloves covered his large hands, and his inky black hair was windswept and dotted with fresh snowflakes that glistened as they melted.

Her gaze met his and she immediately felt as if she were drowning in a calm, blue lagoon. There was something dangerous about his eyes…. If a woman wasn’t careful, those blue eyes could just suck her in, making her blind and oblivious to reality.

She’d already had one life-altering turn with a slick, charming man, Cassie thought in annoyance, stiffening her resolve. She wasn’t seventeen any longer, and she’d already learned her lesson…about men, life and just about every other pitfall in between.

“Will someone please tell me what the devil is going on?” Exasperated, her gaze went from Dr. Bradford back to her daughter. “Sofie, why are you so late? And why did Dr. Bradford bring you home if you’re not hurt or sick? And where’s Rusty? You know you’re supposed to walk here with him every day after school, don’t you?”

“Yes, Mama,” Sofie all but whispered, staring down at the toes of her bright yellow Big Bird boots.

“And you know better than to get into a car with someone without my permission, don’t you?” Cassie’s gaze searched her daughter’s face, but Sofie’s chin merely drooped and she avoided her mother’s eyes.

“Sofie.” Gently, Cassie lifted her daughter’s chin. “Sweetheart, when you didn’t come home from school on time, Mommy got very, very worried. I was afraid something terrible had happened to you.”

“Something…terrible…did happen, Mama,” Sofie mumbled softly, glancing up at her mother through dark lashes glistening with tears. “At school.”

Cassie’s heart did another stutter step. “What happened, sweetheart?” she asked quietly, stunned by the stark sadness on her daughter’s face.

Sofie sniffled, again staring down at the toes of her bright yellow boots. “The kids at school…they laughed at me when I told them I’d seen red rain and that I was gonna do something real good for the science fair.” Sofie lifted stricken, tear-filled eyes. “They called me a liar and then they laughed at me.”

“They called you a liar and laughed at you?” Cassie repeated, stunned. Sofie had been bubbling over with excitement all week about the upcoming science fair. Science was her passion and had been ever since a former neighbor, a retired professor, had sparked her interest in the solar system.

For Cassie, a woman who had dropped out of school in her senior year to give birth, then had gone back to school at night just to get her G. E. D., the mere concept of scientific theories was a bit terrifying. But not for her brave, fearless, brilliant little girl.

“I’m so sorry, sweetheart.” Gathering her daughter close, Cassie went down on one knee so she was eye level with Sofie. She swallowed the lump in her throat, and lifted Sofie’s drooping chin. “It’s not fun to be laughed at, honey. Or to be called names. Especially by your friends.” Cassie pushed down Sofie’s muffler so she could talk. “Now, tell me, sweetheart, why did the kids laugh at you?” Cassie smoothed away the stray strands of black hair that were clinging to her daughter’s rosy, wind-whipped cheeks and smiled her encouragement.

Sofie swallowed, then swiped her nose with her fuzzy red mittens before answering. “Because…because…they say I’m…a brainiac, Mama,” Sofie said, as tears flooded her eyes again.

“A brainiac?” Cassie repeated, and Sofie’s little head bobbed up and down.

“The kids tease me ’cuz they say I’m too smart.” Sofie rubbed her fuzzy red fists against her teary eyes. “They don’t like me, Mama,” Sofie wailed, sobs shaking her slender shoulders as she threw herself against her mother, hanging on for dear life. “They don’t like me so that’s why I was running away.”

Her daughter’s words had fear siphoning the blood from Cassie’s head, nearly making her dizzy. “You were…running away?” Cassie repeated, trying to keep the shock out of her voice so she wouldn’t upset Sofie further. But her knees were knocking now, nearly as hard and fast as her heart.

“Yes, Mama, but Dr. Beau found me.” Sofie swiped her nose again, then peeked at her mother from under her drooping red cap. “And he told me about the first-grade rule.”

Cassie merely blinked at her daughter. “The first-grade rule?” she repeated dully, glancing up at the doctor in confusion.

“Yes, Cassie,” Dr. Beau confirmed with an encouraging wink and a smile. “The Cooper’s Cove first-grade rule. I’m sure you were told about it when you registered Sofie for school?” he prompted, one brow lifting in expectation as his blue eyes twinkled at her.

“Uhm…yes, I’m sure I was,” Cassie said with a slow nod, not sure of any such thing, but playing along anyway. “But I’m afraid I’ve…uh…forgotten it,” she admitted, glancing up at him with a wan smile.

“That’s perfectly understandable,” he said, taking several steps deeper into the salon. As he pulled off his heavy leather gloves and shoved them in his pocket, he flashed Cassie and Sofie a dazzling smile. “The Cooper’s Cove first-grade rule says all first graders have to tell their parents before they run away. It’s a school rule, right, Sofie?”

“Yeah, it’s a rule,” Sofie admitted with a heavy sigh and Cassie nearly smiled in relief. Her gaze met Beau’s and in it she saw humor, kindness and understanding, three things that surprised her coming from him.

“We didn’t want to break any rules, now did we, Sofie?” he continued, and Sofie shook her head firmly.

“Uh-uh, Dr. Beau,” Sofie said, scrabbling at a wad of long tangled black hair sticking to her face.

“I phoned Katie at the newspaper and told her I was driving Sofie here so neither she nor Rusty would worry.”

“Thank you,” Cassie muttered with a nod, still a bit shell-shocked.

Almost everyone in town knew everyone else’s familial relationships. It was just part of small town life. Her mother, Gracie, and her Aunt Louella were sisters and partners in the Astrology Parlor a few doors down on Main Street. Katie was Aunt Louella’s daughter, and Rusty was Katie’s twelve-year-old son.

“Mama?” Sofie tugged on her mother’s hand, then yanked off her cap, shoving her flyaway hair from her face with a fist. “Dr. Beau drove me here so I could tell you I was gonna run away.” Sofie scowled suddenly. “But I think I gotta go to the bathroom first.” Sofie shoved her hat at her mother, then crossed her legs and began bouncing up and down. “I gotta go now, Mama.”

“Go, honey, go,” Cassie urged, hurriedly helping to unwrap her daughter from her mound of winter clothing. “I’ll be right here when you come out.”

The moment Sofie was out of earshot, heading toward the back room where the restroom and the small lunch room were located, Cassie turned to Beau.

“I don’t know what to say,” she admitted honestly as she set Sofie’s winter coat down on one of the empty salon chairs. “Except…thank you.” She hesitated, a chill skating over her skin. “If you hadn’t found her, I don’t know what would have happened.”

Sofie had been running away.

Pure, unadulterated fear settled into an icy pit in Cassie’s stomach. She simply couldn’t bear to think about what might have happened if Beau hadn’t found Sofie.

“You’re welcome,” Beau said with a smile. “I close the office early on Wednesday,” he explained, “and I just happened to be driving down Main Street when I saw Sofie trudging along all by herself.” He loosened his cashmere overcoat and stepped closer. “I knew something was wrong because I didn’t figure you were the type to let your six-year-old go wandering around town by herself.”

“No, of course not,” Cassie said, fighting the instinct to step back away from him. It was foolish, she knew, especially considering how kind he’d been, but she couldn’t help it. The man made her incredibly twitchy and nervous. He was just too charming, good-looking, and a tad too slick and smooth for her comfort. Everything about him was a painful reminder of Sofie’s father, right down to his fancy, expensive sports car. The painful similarities simply irritated her and reminded her of her youthful inexperience and naivete.

“Pretty fast work about the first-grade rule,” Cassie admitted, forcing herself to meet his gaze and be polite.

Beau shrugged away the compliment. “Dealing with kids every day, you have to learn to be quick and to think on your feet,” he said, watching her carefully.

He’d been right about her the first time he’d met her, he mused, letting his gaze slide over her in pure masculine appreciation. She didn’t like or trust him. She’d made that very clear. It wasn’t the usual response he got from women and although he hadn’t a clue why she felt that way it amused him to no end.

What he didn’t know was if it was just him, or men in general, that Cassie Miller had a problem with. If his uncle had his way, all the single women in Cooper’s Cove would be lining up outside Beau’s office door, taking numbers for a chance to become the next heir-bearer for the future generation of Bradfords. Compared to that, Cassie Miller’s apparent prickliness and standoffishness were more than just a bit…intriguing.

And that was saying nothing about how attractive she was with glossy black hair that fell like a dark halo to her shoulders, and gorgeous creamy skin that begged to be stroked. But then again, he’d always had a weakness for petite, slender women who looked fragile and frail, but were really built and backed with steel.

When she’d brought Sofie in for her physical, his attempts to be friendly had fallen on tin ears. And not just that day in his office, he remembered, but later, at her aunt Louella’s wedding as well. He’d tried to make pleasant, polite conversation while Cassie had merely stared at him coolly, making it clear she didn’t think he was either pleasant or polite…and that she wanted absolutely no part of him. It had tickled him to no end. His interest in her had been snagged simply because it had been so long since a woman had been so blatantly rude or downright cold toward him. Usually they were falling all over themselves trying to impress him. And he wasn’t easily impressed.

But judging from Cassie’s cold response to him, if he didn’t know better, he’d think he was losing his touch.

“I do appreciate everything you’ve done,” Cassie finally said, as she glanced toward the back of the shop for Sofie. “I don’t know what brought this on. Sofie’s been doing well in school. She’s been making friends and getting along with all the other kids so I don’t know when or how this started. More importantly, I’m not sure I know how to handle it,” she admitted honestly, feeling grossly incompetent all of a sudden. “Sofie’s always gotten along so well with everyone. And she’s certainly never been teased before.”

“This isn’t Sofie’s fault, and I don’t think this teasing has gone on much beyond today,” he said, trying to reassure her. “The school is far too aware of teasing and bullying to let something like this go on for very long. I’ve spent the past five years or so working with school officials to develop a strict no-tolerance policy for bullying in order to make the school a place where every child feels safe and comfortable, and is praised for their individual talents, not ridiculed.” He sighed. “But once in a while, kids will be kids and something like this happens. The kids forget or someone is feeling hurt or inferior or disconnected from their parents, and teasing and bullying can be the result.”