Socialite…

or Nurse

in a Million?

Molly Evans

www.millsandboon.co.uk

MILLS & BOON

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Table of Contents

Cover

Title Page

About the Author

Dedication

Chapter One

Chapter Two

Chapter Three

Chapter Four

Chapter Five

Chapter Six

Chapter Seven

Chapter Eight

Chapter Nine

Chapter Ten

Chapter Eleven

Chapter Twelve

Chapter Thirteen

Chapter Fourteen

Chapter Fifteen

Chapter Sixteen

Chapter Seventeen

Chapter Eighteen

Epilogue

Copyright

Dear Reader

Thank you so much for picking up a copy of SOCIALITE … OR NURSE IN A MILLION? This is the second book I’ve set in the city where I live—Albuquerque, New Mexico. When I came to New Mexico for the first time as a travel nurse I didn’t fall in love with it right away, but I found that I kept returning for more assignments and staying for longer periods of time.

The high desert is high-altitude living, at over 5000 feet. The textures, the colours, the scents are incredible—and very different from where I grew up. Each walk out into the desert brings a new breathtaking sight. I’ve tried to infuse some of my love for the high desert into this book. It was a surprise to me that I fell so in love with the culture and landscape here, and I hope that you enjoy reading about it.

Falling in love in and with New Mexico is easy. This state is called the Land of Enchantment for good reason, and I hope that you find the romance between Vicky and Miguel as enchanting as I do.

Love

Molly

About the Author

MOLLY EVANS has worked as a nurse from the age of nineteen. She’s worked in small rural hospitals, the Indian Health Service, and large research facilities all over the United States. After spending eight years as a Traveling Nurse, she settled down to write in her favourite place: Albuquerque, New Mexico. In days she met her husband, and has been there ever since. With twenty-two years of nursing experience, she’s got a lot of material to use in her writing. She lives in the high desert, with her family, three chameleons, two dogs and a passion for quilting in whatever spare time she has. Visit Molly at: www.mollyevans.com

Dedication:

This book is dedicated to healthcare workers in the trenches, who get the job done every day

CHAPTER ONE

Albuquerque, New Mexico, USA

VICTORIA Sterling-Thorne walked into the South Valley Healthcare Clinic and knew she looked as wide-eyed and green as a student nurse on her first day of clinicals, because that’s exactly how she felt. That wasn’t going to stop her, though. It was just nerves on the first day of a new job. That was all. She’d been through it in the past, and she’d get through it now. On this first day of May, it was the beginning of a new month and a new way of life for her. One she hoped would be an exciting chapter in her life and some great experience in her pocket. This clinic had a great reputation, and she wanted to be a part of it.

She chewed on her lower lip. Had she made the right choice by coming here, by not hiding who she was, changing the name that made people see dollar signs? The past had a strange way of casting its reflection forward, and she hoped that wasn’t going to be the case now. Indecision made her stomach churn. With any luck she’d made the right decision, and it was too late to turn back now.

Although she was an experienced nurse, this was a venture out of her comfort zone. Her father’s chiding words and her brother’s laughter still stung her pride. Determined to prove them wrong and, more importantly, to prove to herself that she could handle it, she had deliberately chosen this clinic far from her usual world of controlled, private hospitals and clinics. The mission statement here was closer to what her original goals in nursing had been. The time had come to make it happen.

For too many years she’d lived with the influence of her family hanging around her shoulders like a too-tight scarf she couldn’t take off. Now she just wanted to be a nurse who took care of people. That’s all.

She approached the glass door and opened it.

The clinic was packed with people. Some sat, some paced, some comforted small children, and they were all waiting for appointments. She’d never seen so many people lined up before a clinic even opened. That spoke silently of the great need of this community, but also of the quality of care they received there. Even though her nerves still tingled with anticipation, she knew this was the right move for her. She hadn’t taken her career choice lightly when she’d entered nursing school despite the protests of her family, and she wasn’t stopping now. Anyone who stood in her way could just get lost, including her family. Helping people who needed it gave her satisfaction that matched nothing else in her world. Somehow she saw parts of her mother in each patient she took care of. For her mother it had been too late, even before she’d been diagnosed. Cancer had invaded before she’d even known what had been wrong. Vicki wanted to help keep others from experiencing the same loss that had changed her life as a teenager. But this atmosphere was at complete odds with the type of hospital she had been working in for the past five years.

Looking around, she quickly found the nurses’ station. “Hi, I’m Vicky, your new nurse.” She hoped the woman remembered her from the interview last month.

A thin, gray-haired woman, who looked as if she might have known Florence Nightingale personally, peered up at Vicky over half-moon magnifier glasses. “Yes, Vicky Sterling-Thorne?” she asked in a cheerful and kindly voice.

“Yes. I prefer just Thorne, though. Makes the paperwork easier.”

“Right. Just to refresh you, I’m Tilly McGee. Come on back, and I’ll show ya round.” She rolled her wheeled desk chair back and opened a side door for Vicky to enter. “As you can see, we’ve got a full docket today, so you may have to work on your own some, check vitals here and there, that sort of thing. Orientation could be a little unorthodox.” She shook her head, as if knowing something that Vicky didn’t.

“That’s okay. I’ll try to be helpful where I can. That’s why I’m here.” She turned and bumped into someone who had entered the station right behind her. “Oh, sorry.” She looked at the handsome man, who took a step back from her. The blue scrubs failed to identify his status at the clinic. “Are you one of the nurses?”

A crooked smile crossed his face, and his deep brown eyes lit up for a second. “Some days I’m everything. Nurse, unit secretary, lab tech and clinic doctor all rolled into one.” The smile he tossed her way was brief but welcoming.

Vicky blinked. “That’s an impressive job description,” she said, intrigued at his response. Here was a man who could multitask.

“It is.” The welcoming smile faded away to what could only be an expression of mistrust. What had she done already to invite that? He sighed. “I guess you’re the new nurse, aren’t you?”

“Yes. You look disappointed already.”

“I wouldn’t call it disappointment.”

Wariness stirred inside her. Had her family reputation preceded her so quickly? She gave a sigh of her own and hoped to head off any bias from the get-go. “My name is Vicky and, despite what you may think, I’m a nurse, that’s all.”

He nodded. “Just to let you know, quickly, our last nurse didn’t return from maternity leave, and we’ve been shorthanded for weeks.”

“The agency nurses worked for a while, but we need a full-time nurse, not a stopgap.” Tilly grumbled her words without looking up from the computer.

Vicky nodded and gave a tight smile, understanding some of the man’s reluctance. Despite the glowing references she had sent over, he had no confidence in her skills as a nurse. Time would change all that. “Well, I’m here to help. Where do we start?”

“Introductions, I guess.” He glanced around. “Carlos is around here somewhere. He’s the assistant extraordinaire, don’t know what we’d do without him. And I’m Dr. Miguel Torres. We’re not too formal, so call me Miguel.”

Reluctantly, he stretched a hand out and shook hers in a firm but brief grasp. His hand was warm and not soft, like most of the men she knew who made money with their hands, but nothing else. The texture of Miguel’s hand made her think he used his hands for building things and a slight shiver rocked her. She hoped that wasn’t an omen. Work was her reason for being there and she hoped that she didn’t have to remind herself that the boss was a hands-off relationship.

“Glad to be here.”

Stepping back from her, Miguel glanced at the purse and lunch bag in her hands. “Tilly, can you set her up with a locker? By the look of that bag, she’s going to need one.”

She watched Miguel stride toward the triage area and wondered if there was anything behind that comment or was she just too wary of new people based on the experiences of her past?

“Come on, honey. I’ll get you set up.” The two women completed the task in a few minutes. Tilly returned to the desk to organize the patients, and Vicky noticed Miguel engaged in what looked like an urgent situation. He was trying to take a blue-faced baby from a young mother.

“He’s not breathing, he’s not breathing!” the woman cried, and clutched the infant more tightly, not knowing she was harming him further.

“Let’s have a look,” Miguel said, his soothing voice trying to gain control over the situation, but the anxiety of the mother was overwhelming.

Vicky rushed forward. Unable to interrupt the conversation, she leaned closer to the baby and blew a puff of air onto his face.

Startled, the infant jumped and took in a breath. And then another. And in seconds it turned from a ghastly blue to a lovely, normal shade of pink.

Openmouthed, the mother gaped at Vicky. Miguel raised amused eyes at her and gave a surprised look. The situation lost its tension in just a few seconds.

“What?” she asked as she looked between them. Had she done something wrong already? Seemed as if she was always stepping in it somewhere, but she didn’t want to do that her first day on the job. This was a job she wanted and needed. Messing up was not an option, no matter how much money her family had. It wasn’t hers. She paid her own way based on her nurse’s salary.

“What did you do to him?” the mother asked, her demeanor much calmer than it had been moments ago, though she still breathed rapidly.

“I just stimulated his breathing reflex. Something I learned in my first rotation in the nursery at my previous hospital.” She gave Miguel a concerned look. “Once in a while newborns just forget to breathe, and if you blow a puff of air on their faces it startles them, and they take a breath. That’s what baby reflexes are for.” Vicky reached a hand out to the mother and patted her back in a soothing manner, trying to ignore the intense way that Miguel watched her, but the fluttering in her stomach wasn’t going away. The intensity of him was going to take some getting used to. “Is it okay if we take a look now?”

“Yes, yes, yes. Dr. Torres, I’m so sorry!” Tears now poured down the mother’s face as she relinquished the baby to Vicky.

“It’s okay,” Miguel said, and squeezed her shoulder. “We’ll take a look and make sure everything is okay, just to be sure.”

Vicky handed the baby boy over to Miguel and engaged the mother in small talk to help calm her down and give herself a moment to beat her nerves down. “What’s your name?”

“Tina.”

“Why don’t you have a seat for a second? I’m sure that you’re worn-out.” Vicky guided her to a nearby chair.

“I am. I’m shaking.” She rubbed her hands up and down her arms, as if she felt chilled from the experience. “I thought he was going to die.”

“He’s okay now.” Vicky raised her eyes to Miguel, who gave her a reassuring nod, which calmed her own nerves a bit. Having such a strong team leader who didn’t get ruffled was going to be a wonderful experience. “It’s scary when babies do that, isn’t it?”

“Yeah, it is. Still, I bet this boy’s going to be a champ one day.” He wrapped the baby up in the soft blue blankets and tucked him against his body, talking to the infant as if they were old friends.

Vicky tried not to stare. The man was gorgeous with those incredibly dark eyes of his and hair to match, but coupled with a smile and a soft voice when talking to a baby? Absolutely stunning. Nothing like the men she knew in her part of the world far away from this clinic. Something cramped inside her chest, maybe a long-lost hope or dream of having a family. Since her divorce two years ago she’d not allowed herself to dredge up those forgotten dreams. A man with a baby was an intoxicating sight, but she’d learned long ago that not every beautiful man had a heart to match. And not one could be taken at his word. She finally had to look away when Tina asked her a question.

Miguel had seen infants like this come and go since he had taken over the clinic a few years ago. Some stayed healthy and survived, some didn’t. His hope was that when they grew up, none of them would succumb to the influence of gangs and drugs, like his younger brother, Emilio, had done, but he knew that was probably unrealistic. Emilio’s death at the hands of a gang was one of the reasons he himself fought so hard for every child that entered his clinic. Each battle to save a life was a battle with a gang or disease and every one was a battle he intended to win. Death was not going to defeat him or take the life of his patients. Not if he could help it. Back then he hadn’t had the skills to save his brother, but he was different now. One day, maybe some of his patients could get the education they deserved and would live long, healthy lives far away from the tragedies of life. If he had some small part in helping that happen, all the better. It would help pay back the debt of honor he owed. Family was everything, and he owed much to them.

With the infant sleeping in the crook of his arm, he knelt beside Tina. “He’s okay now. You did the right thing by bringing him in. The nasal congestion should go away in a few days with some medication I’ll give you, but if it doesn’t, bring him back.”

“Seriously?” She looked at him, her eyes wide with shock, and tears welled again in her eyes. “That’s all it is?”

“Seriously.” He patted her shoulder again and gave her a smile. “That’s all it is.”

With a nod, Tina accepted the baby back. By watching her, how she continued to look at his face, the way she stroked his cheek with her finger, she had certainly bonded well with him and that was half the battle with very young mothers.

“You’ll be fine. You just need to rest a little more and worry a little less,” Vicky said.

“Thank you. You don’t know how much that relieves my mind.” She let out a shaky breath and brushed away the tears. “I always think the worst.”

“Me, too. That way, if it doesn’t happen, then it’s good, right?” Vicky said, and gave Tina an encouraging smile.

“You’re right. I guess that’s what I do, too.”

“There are times you will need to think with your mind and not your heart, even though it’s really hard. I learned that a long time ago. You can try that little trick I showed you if he decides to stop breathing again.”

“I will. Thank you.”

Miguel watched the exchange with interest, wondering what the princess of the Sterling-Thorne vineyards was talking about. Surely she’d never had to suffer a day in her life, so he couldn’t understand her words. As he watched her, though, she seemed to genuinely believe what she was saying to the young mother. Somehow these two had found a common bond that allowed Tina to relax a little. So very different, light and dark, they were a visual contrast to each other. Miguel could see by simple observation that Vicky wasn’t from this part of town. Knowing her family history, he imagined she lived in a castle with an ivory tower. But if she fit into the clinic, he didn’t care as long as she was a good nurse, and that was the reason she was there. Most people with her financial status simply made charitable donations. What she was doing there in the flesh was anyone’s guess. Right now, none of it mattered when he had a waiting room full of patients. People with real needs were why he was here.

“Did you come by yourself or is there someone here with you?” Miguel asked Tina, and stood, directing his gaze away from Vicky’s distracting beauty.

“My mother is in the waiting room.”

“That’s good. Is she helping you out at all?” Vicky asked as she walked with them out to the front.

“Yes. She helps me every day. I don’t know what I’d do without her.”

“Why don’t you bring him back in a few days so we can do a well-baby checkup?” Vicky asked, then paused with a quick glance at Miguel. “Sorry. I should ask first. Do you actually have a well-baby clinic or something here?”

“Yes, we actually have one,” he said with a little starch in his voice. “We’re really a full-service clinic, though it may not look like it. One day a week we have a nurse practitioner come in. I’m hoping to increase her clinic to two days a week, but for now it’s just one.” He touched the sleeping baby again and marveled at the softness of his skin. They started out so innocent.

Wariness eased into Vicky’s eyes, but she spoke kindly to Tina. “Oh, good. I’ll look forward to seeing this little guy again. Let’s have Tilly make an appointment for you.” Vicky smiled, looking up at Miguel for confirmation. He nodded, his voice suddenly stuck. When Vicky smiled, it went all the way to her eyes and the outer corners turned up, making him wonder what secrets lay in their dark blue depths. He stepped back and cleared his throat, surprised by the attraction that surfaced in him. Now was not the time to be attracted to a coworker. Especially not one with a background that was totally at odds with his. In his experience, that sort of situation never turned out right. “Go ahead. I think he’s fine now. See if she can make your appointment for about a week from now.”

“Okay.” She turned with Vicky and released a tremulous sigh.

Miguel watched them go and then prepared himself for the next patient of the day.

CHAPTER TWO

“SO, is that your typical emergency around here?” Vicky asked Miguel as she followed him down the hall and around the corner to the staff lounge, which looked as if it had once been a large closet.

“We really see anything and everything here,” he said, and put two cups of water in the microwave. “Coffee?”

“Sure.”

In minutes he had heated water for the both of them and as Vicky watched, he opened a jar of instant coffee, spooning an uncertain amount in each cup. Hiding a grimace, she accepted the offering from him.

“Here’s to your first day.” He sipped and then sat at the small table. “We’ve only got a few minutes before we have every room full, so I’ll give you the orientation of how I do things as we go. It’ll be easier that way, rather than just telling you about it.”

“I learn better that way, too.” Vicky sipped from the cup, anticipating a vile brew. She wasn’t disappointed. She tryied to hide her revulsion then reached for the sweetener on the table. “I think this needs a little sugar.”

Miguel chucked. “You’re being too kind. It needs a lot more than that, but my taste buds were nearly destroyed by residency. If you’re wanting good coffee, you’ll have to bring your own in a thermos or something. The coffee fund went away with the budget cuts.”

The stuff was despicable beyond description. Reaching into her jacket pocket, she pulled out a pack of mints and popped one in her mouth, hoping that it would kill the taste. “Oh. No worries. I’ll figure something out, but I hope you won’t be offended if I don’t drink this,” she said, and started to pour it into the sink.

“Wait, I’ll take it.” Miguel reached for the cup.

The poor man. No coffee fund? Horrors. She thought a second about a friend who had a coffee delivery business. She was going to have to talk to him. “So, tell me some more about the clinic.”

“Oh, right.” In just a few minutes Miguel had given her the quick history of the clinic, how he had taken it over on the brink of closure and brought it to life again. “The really unfortunate part is that our grant money is ending and the city is uncertain whether they can find money for this place. The state of the economy has hit them, too.” He tugged at the lapel of his lab coat, and his lips pressed together firmly for a second. “I’m working every angle I can but it’s just not coming together yet. There’s got to be something else that will help.”

She could see the worry etched on his lean face. He put a lot of energy and probably his heart into this clinic. “What about having a fundraiser?”

“The only fundraiser I’ve held myself is a bake sale, and we can’t have enough of them to fund the clinic. The community has put together some car washes, stuff like that, but it’s just not going to be good enough for long-term funding.”

“No, I mean a big fundraiser where people and corporations donate large amounts of money for tax deductions. That’s the kind you need.” She’d put together a few of them herself and knew what it was all about. At least that’s how things got done in her family’s world. Things just snapped into place when a Sterling-Thorne wanted something done. You called your wealthy friends for donations or put on dinners and gave everyone a good time for their money. Couldn’t that be done in this community, as well? Though it was foreign to her, there had to be some common ground.

Miguel heaved a sigh that spoke of long frustration and Vicky sensed that she’d unwittingly brought up something she shouldn’t have. “I’m sorry. I didn’t know the clinic was in a bind.”

“You couldn’t know.” He gave an unhappy smile. “We’ve fortunately had a benefactor for several years. He died last year and the family has decided not to continue his charity work. The city might come through, but maybe not. We won’t know until July or so what they can do, when their budget is finalized.”

Anger surfaced in her at the injustice. She’d just started there and now it was in danger of closing. “That’s just wrong. Is this a historic building or something?” Vicky asked, wondering how she could help save this little clinic.

“Good idea, but no. It’s not old enough to be considered of historical significance, so there’s no help there either.”

The door to the tiny lounge burst open and a young man popped his head through the doorway. “Chest-pain patient coming.”

“Chest pain trumps everything else,” Miguel said, and they rushed out the door.

They dashed into a patient room where the young man she assumed was Carlos had disappeared into. Miguel was a man of energy, each movement strong, self-assured and confident, even though the patient looked quite gray. Vicky gritted her teeth and prepared herself, immediately switching on the E.R. nurse in her. Now was not the time for nerves.

“Get the crash cart ready,” he said, his voice low, “and then get a line in him. Two if you can manage it.”

Tilly hurried into the room. “I’ve called 911 for transport.”

“Thanks, Tilly,” Miguel replied. “He’s going to need hospital care for sure. We’ll get him as stable as possible first.”

“Code cart is ready, Doctor,” Vicky said, after tugging the massive tool kit on wheels to the patient’s bedside. “Do you want to start a nitro drip?” Knowing her emergency medicine drills by heart, she hoped that she could anticipate Miguel’s needs, as he hadn’t been able to do any orientation with her yet.

“Yes.”

The other two in the room seemed to know their roles well. Carlos hooked up the heart monitor, which looked as if it had come from an old hospital supply house. It was practically an antique, but it worked, and that was probably all Miguel wanted out of it. Next, he applied the automatic blood-pressure cuff. Tilly inserted an IV with a sure hand and hooked up the nitro drip that Vicky had prepared.

“The medication we’re giving you should ease your pain quite a bit,” she said to the male patient, who appeared to be in his mid-sixties. With one hand, she adjusted the oxygen mask over his face. His breathing was shallow and grunting, which was extremely worrying. She glanced at the monitor, interpreting the squiggles immediately. “Looks like he’s having an infarct right now.”

Miguel also looked at the monitor then at Vicky with surprise at her precise interpretation. “You’re right. Start a potassium drip and give him an amp of magnesium.” Leaning over the patient, he said, “Try to slow your breathing down.”

“I’ll do the mag—you get the drip ready,” Tilly said, and together they got the medications prepared and into the patient.

Soon they heard the sound of sirens. “I’ll go and get them,” Carlos said, and dashed to the door. Vicky called out vital signs now and then so Miguel didn’t have to keep looking up at the monitor.

Miguel remained focused on the patient situation, not being distracted by the other activity. “Keep the fluids going, increase the nitro drip.”

“Yes, Doctor,” Vicky responded, and although her hands trembled slightly, she changed the setting on the IV pump to the next level. “I hope it opens his vessels a little. He needs better circulation than he’s got.”

“Agreed.” Miguel hit the print button on the old monitor that hung on the wall and a segment of the ECG appeared on paper, which he tore off. “He’s got some serious S-T segment changes.”

“Should we send that strip with him to the hospital?” she asked, knowing that the E.R. doctor there might appreciate that additional information to compare with further ECG interpretations.

“Yes.” He pushed the print button again and a second strip printed from the machine.

The E.R. crew arrived, following Carlos, and in just a few minutes they had the patient transferred to their stretcher and he was out the door.

Vicky took a few deep breaths and placed a hand on her chest. “Wow. That was something.”

Miguel’s lips compressed into a line momentarily then he nodded, as if conceding something. “That was something. A trial by fire on your first day. Good job, everyone.”

A flush of pleasure pulsed through her. Compliments certainly were unexpected at this point, especially after some of his earlier comments. “Why don’t I get the room ready for the next patient?” she asked. A few minutes alone would do her some good, and she hoped that her limbs would stop shaking. She hadn’t been prepared for such an urgent situation on her first day.

“I’ll get the next few patients lined up,” Tilly said, and returned to the nurses’ station.

“Sounds good.” He stepped out the door with Tilly and after a glance back he paused. “I’ll just wash up first,” he said, and returned to the room.

This was usually the time she collected her thoughts, after the scary stuff was over. A time she could allow herself to mentally go over the situation, make sure she’d done everything she could have and settle her churning stomach.

Miguel cleared his throat and looked at her, then his glance bounced away. “You were fine, Vicky,” he said, startling her. She hadn’t realized that he’d finished and was standing so close to her.

“I always second-guess myself, you know? Did we do everything and do it right?”

“I do know, and that’s good, not bad. Reviewing a situation with a team member is always good to do. Emergencies like that don’t come through the door every day, so it can be a little nerve-racking.”

“I’m just thankful I didn’t forget anything in the middle of it all, you know?” She opened the top drawer of the code cart. “I suppose you have replacement medications somewhere?”

“In the med room. Tilly can show you where.” Vicky stopped and looked up at him. He was a head or so taller than her, and she was pretty long and leggy. She wore her pale blonde hair in a swingy bob that just grazed her collar. She was trim and had the look of a runner. Her eyes were a startlingly clear blue, and she had a nearly flawless complexion. There was a small scar on her left cheek that he wouldn’t have noticed had he not been so close to her. It was probably from childhood chicken pox or something. Without it, he would have called her delicate, but the mark saved her from being too perfect. At least on the outside.

And he wondered again what this woman, who came from nearly unprecedented wealth, was doing in his humble clinic. The monthly income from the family business could probably finance his entire clinic for ten years. It boggled his mind to see her behaving just like any other nurse he could have hired. Frankly, he’d been against hiring her, but due to desperate measures he’d given in and offered her the job. Tilly had supported the idea of hiring her, and though his instinct had protested, he trusted Tilly implicitly. Vicky had looked good on paper, but that didn’t mean she could hold up under the kind of pressure they sometimes got in the clinic, though she certainly had today. He hadn’t changed his opinion in a few hours. Only time would tell, but he didn’t totally mistrust her.

“What’s wrong?” She held his gaze, and nothing but curiosity swirled there. “You’re looking at me strangely.”

Miguel met her gaze and held it for a few moments before answering. “What are you doing here?”

“You hired me.”

Frowning, he shook his head. That hadn’t come out right. “I mean, what is someone from your background doing at a clinic like this? Shouldn’t you be working at a private hospital somewhere?”

“I could doesn’t mean I should or that I even want to.”

The light in her eyes faded, and she stepped back a pace. A frown flitted across her face, but he supposed he’d surprised her by his question. He ignored the squirm that it caused in his stomach. He’d learned the hard way, too, that people were hardly ever what they seemed.

“On the surface things are different than they really are. You must know that.”

Wariness appeared in her eyes and her lips compressed. “I see. You don’t think I’m capable of handling this job despite my excellent references and my performance during the crisis we just went through?”

“I know you’re capable of it, but I don’t know why you want to do it. With your family background—”

“Forget my background. Please. I’m here for the same reason as you, Doctor. I’m here to help people who really need it, not putting ice packs on someone who’s had too much plastic surgery.” She huffed out a sigh.

“Seriously, what makes you want to do this kind of work?” That was the big question. What made anyone want to do this kind of work? He had his reasons, which were private, very personal, and he wasn’t about to share them with Vicky.

“If you’re through being prejudicial, I’d like to get back to work. Tilly can orient me for a while if you need a break from someone like me.” She turned to leave the room.

“Listen, that’s not what I meant.” Dammit. He hadn’t intended to have this conversation and now that he was it was coming out badly.

“I think it’s exactly what you meant, Doctor.” Pausing, she looked over her shoulder with a tight smile.

“Vicky, this isn’t coming out right.” He tugged on his lab coat and straightened it, giving himself a moment to think. “I simply don’t understand why someone who has all the opportunities in the world would choose to settle for a small clinic in the middle of nowhere.”

“Maybe I don’t consider it settling. I consider it an opportunity to expand my knowledge and skill base as a nurse.” She shrugged and the steam seemed to fade out of her. “In nursing, if you don’t keep your skills up you get stale and forget things. I don’t want to forget things.”

He’d have to accept that at face value, because at the moment he could find no other obvious motivation. “That’s true for doctors, as well.” He flipped his stethoscope around his neck and shoved his hands into his pockets. “Guess I’ll get out of your way and let you finish up.”

“Won’t take long now.” Vicky flashed a look at her watch and gave a surprised laugh. It was a nice sound, and one he didn’t hear often yet. “Wow. It’s only eleven. Feels like it’s quitting time already.”

“I know that feeling of strange time passage when you’re in the midst of a code or something.” He’d had that feeling even before his residency. When he’d held his dying brother in his arms so long ago. That had been the first time, and he’d never forgotten it.

CHAPTER THREE

THE rest of the day passed by in a rush of patients, most with minor complaints, upper respiratory issues and someone who had flattened a finger with a hammer. She and Miguel reverted back to their professional roles after the short exchange in the patient room. There was safety in her role, and it was one she knew well. She’d performed it often.

In her family, she’d been forced to play a role that she’d been desperate to escape for years. There had been various reprieves during nursing school and her short marriage. Now that she lived in the caretaker’s cottage on her family estate and not under her father’s thumb, she had found some relief. Living under her father’s roof again was not an option. Only by helping others who needed it and being a nurse did she truly escape the artifice of her family’s reputation, which always seemed to be more important than she was. When she entered the family domain, she was once again Victoria Sterling-Thorne, name before nursing.

Nursing was too personal, they thought, too hands-on. Just donate money from a distance and be done with it was their philosophy, and she didn’t agree with it. There was simply something within her that wouldn’t allow her to do that. A sigh eased out of her. She wasn’t going to fix them, and they weren’t going to influence her any longer. So back to work for now was the only answer.

The clinic stopped taking new patients at 4:00 p.m., so they were out the door by five when the clinic officially closed.

“I gotta go, M. If I’m late for dinner again, my mother’s going to have a fit.” Carlos hefted a backpack over one shoulder.

Miguel smiled at the young man and nodded. “Get out of here. Tell her I said hello and it was all my fault.”

“You’ve got it.” Carlos strolled out the door and disappeared down the sidewalk into the early-evening shadows.

“Tilly, you ready to roll?” Miguel asked as other staff members filed out the door.

Tilly left the nurses’ station and closed the door. “Yeah.” She paused for a second, looking at Vicky, then directed a pointed glance at Miguel. “Good going, kid. See you tomorrow.”

Vicky retrieved her purse from the locker and reveled in the tiny compliment that Tilly had given her. Although this was a new venture for her, she thought she might like it here. As she proceeded to the door, she realized that Miguel hadn’t moved and she waited for him. “Aren’t you coming?”

“I’ve got some notes to finish first,” he said. “But I’ll walk you out.” He left the chart where it was and stood, but Vicky didn’t move. She stayed rooted where she was, looking at him seriously, assessingly, making him a little curious as to what was going on in her mind. There was something about her that made him uncomfortable, and he had no idea what it was. He’d been around plenty of lovely women and many nurses before, so simple attraction wasn’t the answer. Maybe it was the way her eyes seemed to penetrate right into him, trying to see what was going on inside. Maybe it was just bad lighting.

“Finding time to play helps balance the workload, Doctor.”

“It certainly does. For other people.” But it was one thing he hadn’t been able to do. All playfulness and joy had seeped into the ground with his brother’s blood the night that he had died. Part of Miguel had died that night, too. He hadn’t been able to prevent Emilio from dying. His brother had lost his life, so what right did he have to one? Since that night he’d dedicated himself to serving others, saving others and sacrificing himself in the process. The clinic had become his family now, its patients his children. When one of them died, he experienced a small death, as well. Each loss was one he took personally. Each loss was one patient he’d never get back and meant the kind of endless suffering of a family that he knew all too well.

Looking at Vicky, he realized she was very observant and a little too insightful for his tastes at the moment. He’d do well to watch where those blue eyes roamed. A long time ago he might have been susceptible to their allure, but not now. For the sake of his career and community, his focus had to stay right where it was. No distractions allowed. Not even one as tempting as Victoria Sterling-Thorne. Not that he had any business associating with someone from her walk of life anyway. Worlds apart, though they lived only miles apart.

“My brother owns his own business, so I know a little about it. All work and no play usually makes people very unhappy.”

He thought of his family and the Sunday dinners, baptisms, weddings and other gatherings that he missed on a regular basis. He had been close to his family, but the kind of work he had dedicated himself to came at a price. Unfortunately, his family paid it for him. He had so much to make up for, he knew he’d never live long enough to make things right with them. His family had never blamed him for Emilio’s death, though it might have been easier on him if they had. Pushing back those thoughts, he escorted her to the door. “It works this way for me.” He didn’t want to admit aloud that it might not be the complete truth.

“You’ve hired me full-time, but how many hours do you put in per week?”

“I don’t keep track.” If he did, he’d have to take a long, hard look at what he was doing with his life, and he didn’t want to go there. This was all he deserved. It was his fault that Emilio had died. End of story. Turning away from her momentarily, he hung his lab coat on the back of a door. “Ready?”

“Thanks.” She proceeded out the door ahead of him. As she walked past, he caught a whiff of her perfume, a sweet but spicy mix, not too heavy, and very enticing. It reminded him of sandalwood and musk. Through the course of the day he’d been close enough to catch it, but now it seemed to be hooked deeply into his brain. He’d know that sweet and exotic scent anywhere now.

“I’m sorry if I offended you, Dr. Torres,” she said, and shoved her hands into her pockets. As she spoke, she kept her eyes averted from him. “It wasn’t my intention.”

“It’s Miguel, and you can’t offend me.” He’d been through so much over the years that life had hardened him to insult or injury with mere words, and he had the scars to prove it. Offend him? Not a chance.

Her head snapped up, and she looked closely at him, peering into his eyes as if looking for something that simply wasn’t there. “I find that hard to believe. We all react to things. Things can hurt us if we let them.”

“Then it’s simple. I don’t let them.” He’d walk her to her car, ensure that she got safely away and go home. Discussions of emotions weren’t on the agenda for this evening.

She let that comment go, but he could see that she didn’t like the answer or believe it.

In silence they walked to her car at the far end of the parking lot, and she gasped. “Oh. There’s a dent in the door.” She leaned over to examine it and unknowingly gave him a lovely view of her equally lovely backside.

As a professional, he knew he should avert his eyes and focus on the car door, but some deep-seated male instinct allowed him one last wistful glance before he stooped beside her to examine the damage. He pressed his fingers to the dent. It looked as if someone had opened a door onto hers and caused the dent. “Cars aren’t made the way they used to be. Sometimes the wind can take a door and throw it pretty hard.” He looked over at her. “Sorry about that. Maybe the parking garage down the street would be a better option.”

Though her car wasn’t a showpiece, it was new and it showed.

“Nice idea, but it hardly does any good now.”

The frown between her eyes made him want to do something to fix the situation. He was a doctor and a man and that was what he did. He fixed things. Running his fingers over the dent again, an idea surfaced. “Stay here for a minute. I’ll be right back.”

“Why? Do you have a dent-fixing kit in the clinic?”

“No, but I might be able to help.” Despite his misgivings about Vicky, he couldn’t not help her. It just wasn’t in him to walk away from any situation that he could possibly fix, no matter what his personal feelings.

“I’ll still have to take it to the shop, won’t I?” she asked, worry clouding her eyes.

“Give me a minute, okay?” In just a few minutes he strolled across the parking lot back to Vicky and her pricey dent.

“What are you going to do?”

He swung the plunger off his shoulder to show her. “I’m going to apply a little physics to see if it will reverse your situation.”

“With a plunger?” The expression on her face was full of understandable doubt. She raised her brows and stepped back. “I’ve got to see this.”

“You’ll learn to get creative if you work around here long enough.” Turning to the car, he placed the plunger in the center of the dent and secured a good seal. Then he slowly pulled. The dent popped back into place with a thud, and Vicky jumped at the sound.

“You did it!” she said, and in her excitement clutched his arm with her hand. “I can’t believe you did it with a plunger, of all things. I never would have thought of that.”

A grin he couldn’t suppress surged across his face at her contagious enthusiasm. He didn’t know plumbing supplies could so easily please someone. The warmth in his chest was a puzzling sensation, one he hadn’t felt for a long time. And one he couldn’t afford to feel now. Stowing the pleasure at her reaction in a compartment deep inside, he nodded. “Well, there you go. Newton’s third law in action.”

“Equal and opposite forces, right?” She was nearly giddy in her excitement.

In the dim twilight he could see her sparkling eyes, and his gaze dropped to her mouth. It was curved upward, and her full, sensual lips were made for a man to kiss, to lose himself in, and forget the troubles of the day. Some part of him yearned to respond to that, but he couldn’t. Not now. Probably not ever, and he pushed away the desire to do so. He needed her as a nurse, not a lover. This was strictly a hands-off relationship, so he changed the subject and gave his libido a kick in the shins.

“You obviously paid attention in physics.”

“A little, but it’s really not my forte.” She gave a quick laugh then released his arm, and he could draw a full breath again. “Thanks so much, Miguel. This saves me a trip to the shop. I always feel so stupid when I go there.”

“You’re welcome. And you should never feel stupid. You’re bright.” Very—and he’d do well to remember that.

“Thanks.” She dropped her chin and looked away. “My family doesn’t particularly think so.”

“I’d say that’s their problem, then, not yours.” He took a safe step back from her, removed the plunger from the door, then opened it for her. “Still willing to tackle this job?”

“Absolutely.”

“Then I’ll see you in the morning.”

Before she got in, she glanced around. “I just noticed that there’s no other vehicle around. Where’s yours? Dent-free in the garage?”

“I usually walk. Burns off the day for me.” And the ghosts that haunted him every waking moment. No walk would be long enough to outdistance them.

“Do you want a lift?” she asked, and got into the vehicle. “Be happy to.”

“No, thanks. The air will do me good.” He closed the door and watched as the most intriguing woman he’d met in a very long time waved then drove away. Intriguing, yes. Within the scope of attainment? Not even on a good day. Eventually, the princess in her would come out, and then he’d see the real Vicky.

As he returned to the clinic, the mural painted on the side caught his attention. Local kids had covered the building with their art, their words and their love. It soothed his soul a little to see it. Life moved on around you, even if you were stuck in the past. Unfortunately, love wasn’t going to be enough. He’d learned that the hard way long ago. No matter how much you loved someone, it simply wasn’t enough. Life got in the way as it had when Emilio had been killed and his fiancée had left him. His own life had been on the fast track with medical school and a fiancée with golden plans for the future. That night, he’d nearly lost everything. Turning away from the sight of the building, he continued inside and stowed the plunger where it belonged.

He finished the remaining notes as quickly as possible, intending to go home and get ready for another day. As he strolled down the sidewalk, taking in the early-evening air and admiring the drawn-out sunset, thoughts of Vicky and, as much as he resented it, her words followed him home.

What was it about her that churned up the past that he’d thought had been tucked away? Maybe she reminded him of something, or of dreams let go, of an unrealized future. He didn’t know and didn’t want to spend another second thinking about the princess in his clinic. One day she’d walk off like everyone else had and he’d be stuck trying to replace her.

Normally, he would have walked past the photos on his wall without stopping, not allowing the memories to make him stop. Tonight he paused and really looked at the faces there as he hadn’t in a long time. He paused longest in front of Emilio, who had been seventeen at the time of this photo, and he had never grown any older. In an unconscious movement he clasped the sterling-silver bracelet on his right wrist. Every time he touched it he thought of Emilio and he touched it often, scratching the surface of the memory that he could never allow to heal.

Miguel turned away from the image. He didn’t need a photo. Emilio’s face would be forever etched in his mind. The old cliché was that time healed all wounds.

Not for him it hadn’t. He couldn’t let it. He didn’t deserve it.

He moved away and tried to find the usual pace of his evening, but it eluded him. Images and thoughts of Emilio plagued him. Staggering guilt filled his chest and burned a path straight through his heart. The boy never should have been there, never should have come looking for him, but he had, and it was his fault that Emilio had died.

He’d never forgive himself for allowing his brother to die. If only he’d been more skilled, or further in his career with enough skills, or better at convincing Emilio to leave the gang that was not a true family to him, that he had one of his own that loved him. If only he’d been a better brother, doctor, friend, Emilio would be alive right now and both their lives would be very different.

There was no fix, no absolution for that one unforgivable act. The mistake he couldn’t take back and could never mend. Broken limbs he could fix. Broken lives were out of his realm. If he had minded his own business, Emilio might still be alive.

Determined not to give the entire night to the ghosts, he turned on the news, got on his stationary bike and pulled out a medical journal. One of the three were bound to distract him for a while.

CHAPTER FOUR

THE next morning Miguel strode through the front doors of the clinic, which were already unlocked, and past a waiting room full of patients. Dammit. He was late. After a restless night filled with unwanted and haunting dreams, he’d finally fallen into a deep sleep just before dawn and had apparently slept right through his alarm.

He strode to the nurses’ station and shoved his hair back from his face. “Sorry, Tilly. Who do we have up first?” Trying to calm his irritation, he didn’t want to be rattled when seeing patients. He could miss potential signs of illness if he were distracted. He couldn’t allow himself even that small lapse. Someone’s health, or life, could depend on it.

“First three rooms are full, Carlos is checking vitals and Vicky is triaging the next few,” Tilly said, and glanced over her shoulder at him. “Relax, mijo. She’s good and the world hasn’t ended because you were five minutes late.”

“Okay.” Miguel let out a relieved breath. “Thanks, Tilly. You’re a gem.”

She cackled and returned to the computer screen. “More like a diamond stuck in the rough.”

Still a little rattled, Miguel tended to his first two patients, with Carlos assisting. The third patient was going to require some labs and a chest X-ray that they couldn’t do in the clinic. He’d have Vicky fill out the proper forms and send him to the lab and then radiology department.

The second he stepped out from the lengthy patient exam in room three, his mouth began to water, and he stopped in the doorway.

“You okay, Doc?” Carlos asked.

Miguel’s gaze darted around the area. “What do I smell?”

With a chuckle Carlos clapped Miguel on the arm then pulled him out of the doorway so the patient could leave. “That would be coffee, my friend.” Carlos pulled in a deep breath and sighed as if sniffing ambrosia.

“I know it’s coffee. Why is it here, and why does it smell like that?” he asked, still stunned at the fragrance and his visceral reaction to it.

“Thanks to our new BFF, Vicky, we now have coffee for everyone. Really good coffee, too!” He laughed and led the way to a shiny new machine that emitted the most divine odor he’d ever smelled in this clinic.

Vicky stood beside three cases of prepackaged coffee. “I hope it’s okay here. This way both the staff and patients can help themselves.” Obviously pleased with the arrangement, the smile she gave was radiant.

Unfortunately, Miguel was about to wipe the smile right off of her face. “You have to send it back. I’m sorry, but I believe we talked yesterday about the budget shortfalls. We simply can’t afford the luxury.” He cleared his throat. “No matter what you’re used to, around here money is tight and there are no unilateral decisions made.”

As they spoke, an elderly patient walked by with a cup of the steaming brew in his hand. “Thanks for the coffee, miss. I sure needed a cup today.” He continued on his way, oblivious to the conversation around him.

“But—”

“I’m sorry, Vicky. We can’t have it.”

“But—” she tried again.

“No. We can’t do without medical supplies for the luxury of coffee.”

Now Vicky’s smile turned into an angry stare. “Your next three patients are in rooms four through six.” She picked up her clipboard and entered the triage area again.

“You should listen to her, man. It’s not what you think. She did a good thing for everyone.” Carlos moved forward to assist a woman juggling her purse and a walker. “Let me help you with that,” Carlos said to the woman, but kept his eyes on Miguel. He jerked his head in Vicky’s direction and frowned at Miguel.

With a sigh, he waited until Vicky returned from the triage area. She avoided eye contact with him and walked briskly past. Damn. Late for work and now he’d offended his brand-new nurse. Could the day get any worse? “Vicky? Can I see you for a moment?” He led the way to the staff lounge and waited until she entered behind him then shut the door.

“What is it, Doctor? I have patients to see,” she said, the fire still in her eyes.

“Despite my misgivings, Carlos tells me there’s more to the coffee story than I know.” He hated even starting this conversation, but the day was already shot to hell. One more delay wasn’t going to make it any worse. Carlos had never led him astray. Yet.

“Yes, there is.” She folded her arms across her chest and stared at him.

She wasn’t going to make this easy on him, and he supposed he deserved her irritation for not listening to her in the first place. In his experience, his worst-case scenario was usually right. “Will you please tell me?”

“It’s simple. Happy patients come back, and they tell their friends about the place that made them happy. A little gesture like free coffee goes a long way in public relations. You can’t put a value on word-of-mouth advertising. It’s priceless. You may not think much of me, but I know that to be a fact.”

“I know all of that, but—”

“So I called a friend of mine that I went to high school with. He owns a coffee delivery service.”

“But—”

“And I talked him into making a charitable donation to the clinic for the tax write-off. He was pleased with my suggestion.” She turned away and reached for the door.

In a split second, before he could even think about what he was doing, Miguel reached over her head and slammed the door shut, trapping her between the door and his body.

With a gasp she whirled and raised her face to his, only inches away. “Open this door.”

“No. Not until you listen to me.”

“You didn’t listen to me. Why should I listen to you now?” She continued to glare up at him, and he could see every speck, every detail of the irises of her eyes, and the way the pupils changed.

“I’m not letting you out of here until you let me apologize.” Though it nearly choked him to say it, it was the right thing to do.

Surprise covered her face for an unguarded second, and her pupils dilated at the rush of pleasure his words caused. When her lips parted, they drew his attention. If he were a different man in a different situation, he wouldn’t have hesitated to close the gap between them and find out how soft her lips were. If he were a different man, he’d take her in his arms and press her length against his. But he wasn’t, and he didn’t. He couldn’t.

When she blinked and looked at him with a softening in her expression that made him want more than anything to take that step, he choked down that feeling of want that she unknowingly stirred in him. The muscles in his arms trembled from the effort of holding himself back. Sweat beaded on his forehead and he began to lean forward, began to make that move toward her. Something in him held back and he froze.

They remained locked in that position for a few more seconds until Miguel slid his hand down the door to the knob. If he didn’t hold on to something he was going to make a move he’d likely regret.

“I’m sorry, Vicky. I should have listened to you before I jumped to conclusions. I was irritated at being late and starting out the day so far behind in patients. It won’t happen again, I promise.” He took a step back from her and drew in a deep breath, shaken by the memories that statement roused. “I overslept this morning, which always puts me in a foul mood.”

“I accept your apology, but the coffee situation is totally your fault.”

“What?” Now that certainly got his attention. “How?”

“After you fixed my car with the plunger, you said that when working around here you had to be creative.” She let out a small laugh and the tension visibly left her shoulders. “After that awful coffee you made me yesterday, I decided to get creative with that first.” A shrug lifted her shoulders. “Didn’t hurt to ask my friend, you know?”

A grin split Miguel’s face and he relaxed, too. “Okay. I’ll take responsibility for that.”

A light rap on the door made them both jump, as if they had been guilty of doing something other than talking.

“We’ve got patients out here,” Carlos said through the door.

“Oh, dear.” Vicky pulled the door open and nearly collided with the assistant. “Sorry, Carlos. We had to get something straightened out.”

“Yeah. And thanks for the coffee,” he said. “Everybody loves it.”

“That’s great.”

“Think you could do something about doughnuts next?” The young man grinned and raced off to collect the next patient.

Vicky laughed. “He’s a great kid, isn’t he?” she asked Miguel as they left the lounge.

“He is. I hope he stays.”

“Why wouldn’t he stay?”

“He’s got bigger dreams than this clinic. At this point he thinks he wants to be a doctor. He’s got a long road ahead, if he really pursues it.” Miguel sighed, having already walked the path that Carlos wanted to take.

“You did it, why couldn’t Carlos?” she asked. “Seriously. There’s the state-funded lottery program he could apply for. As long as he graduated from high school, it’s guaranteed for college, right?”

“Yes. I just hope he doesn’t get … distracted.” The way his brother had, which had led to his demise.

“Well, guess we need to get back to the patients for now, and work on Carlos’s future later, right?”

“Yes.” He was pleased that they had solved the issue so quickly and so well and were right back to their professional roles. Contacting a coffee service for a donation wasn’t something that would have occurred to him. Maybe someone who came from a different background could be beneficial to the clinic. Time would tell.

“Why don’t you try the coffee?” she asked, and poured him a cup which he accepted, his fingers brushing over hers.

“I’m afraid my taste buds might keel over from exposure to real flavor,” he said, but took a sip anyway. He groaned in reluctant delight. “Be sure to thank your friend for me. This is fabulous.”

Vicky flushed with pleasure at his reaction. No man in her life had ever been as satisfied with something as simple as a cup of coffee. “I will.” She dashed off into a patient room.

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