A Boss Beyond Compare

“And what is the corporate type supposed to seem like?”

“Not like you. Out there on the beach, when that boy drowned…the way you took it so hard…”

“I’m not unfeeling, Grant. I went to medical school just like you did, went through the same medical service rotations, learned the same procedures, dealt with the same kind of patients. And even though we don’t agree on anything that Ridgeway Medical does, it’s not fair to characterize me the way you’re doing. Saying that I can’t care, or that I don’t have compassion because I’m corporate is the same as my saying that because you’re only a country doctor you’re too simple to understand the reasons a corporation like Ridgeway exists. I wouldn’t do that because you do understand why we do what we do, even if you don’t like it. And being a country doctor certainly doesn’t make you backward, so I wouldn’t ever say anything like that.”

It was time to go, time to get back to the life she knew. She didn’t have a fight with Grant, and didn’t want to have one. He wouldn’t believe that, but she did admire his passion for the kind of medicine he practiced. She even envied him that. It had been such a long time since she’d felt that kind of passion about anything, and she only hoped that once Ridgeway took over his clinic, he would hold on to it. Doctors like Grant Makela were rare.

Men like Grant Makela were even rarer.

CHAPTER FOUR

“WORK here!” Grant shouted at Susan as she was about to climb into her rental car.

She spun around, assuming that he was chasing after her, but he wasn’t. He was still standing on the lanai. Imposing figure of a man, she thought. That had been her first impression, and it hadn’t changed. Standing there, in his shorts, Hawaiian floral-print shirt and sandals, he absolutely took her breath away. Forcing him to wear anything other than what he did was tantamount to a crime, but that was one of the changes on the horizon. “What?” she called back, not sure she’d heard him correctly.

“I said, work here. You said you were on holiday, so spend the rest of it working here.”

He clearly wasn’t going to come to her, so she walked halfway back to the lanai, then stopped. “And what would that prove?”

“You’ve never worked in one of your facilities, have you?”

Was that a devious little smile on his face? It was hard to tell, staring into the sun the way she was, but she would have sworn she saw a smile cross his lips. “I oversee corporate medical policy, but I leave the individual hospital and clinic admin matters to the hospital administrators.”

“Not administration, Susan. That’s not what I’m asking. I’ll bet you’ve never donned a lab coat, hung a stethoscope around your neck and set off as a practicing doctor in any of your medical facilities. You know, treat strep throats, prescribe for bronchitis, that kind of thing? You haven’t done it, have you?”

Such a devious smile, and he was challenging her, as it turned out. He probably thought he’d get her to work here for a few hours, for her to see what the real medical world was like, then change her mind. Except it didn’t work that way. Too bad, too, because if she had it in her to give him his clinic, she probably would. “What I’ve done is make it possible for hundreds of doctors to treat thousands of patients with strep throats and bronchitis.” She liked his gutsiness, though.

“Then work here, as a doctor. Let me rephrase that. Work here like a doctor who isn’t encumbered by the dictates you put on the doctors working for Ridgeway Medical.”

“How long?” she asked, surprised she had. She really had no intention of doing this, but she was the moth being drawn into the flame. The closer she got the more she knew she would surely meet an awful demise, yet something in her was wired to keep moving toward the flame. And she was a heck of a lot smarter than that moth. “If I were to stay here and work, which I’m not going to do, how long would you expect me to do this?”

“How many more days left of your holiday?”

He was serious. Grant was actually serious about this! “Six, including today.”

“Then I’ll take six, including today.”

This was crazy. She was actually entertaining the invitation. “And what’s in it for me, if I do this?” Not only entertaining it, showing enough interest in it that his devious smile was growing larger.

“Awareness of what it’s like at the other end of the spectrum. You sit at a desk and make decisions for lives that never touch yours. Here, you’ll make decisions for lives that do touch yours and that will make you a better administrator.”

“You’re hoping that I’ll change my mind, aren’t you? That when I leave here in six days I’ll wave some kind of a magic wand and you’ll miraculously have your clinic the way you want it.”

“Yes. And I’ll take my opportunities wherever I can get them.”

It was an honest arrangement, but it occurred to Susan that Grant didn’t know she was one of the corporate officers. Not just one of the officers, actually. One of the owners. For now, perhaps it was better that he didn’t. Especially as she was tempted to take him up on his offer. Funny how it coincided with her restlessness to get back to regular patient care.

Well, what would it hurt to give it six days then see what happened? For that experience, she’d discover if her restlessness was a passing whim or a valid problem. Maybe she’d find out she was truly cut out for admin work after all. Or maybe it would show her, once and for all, that she could be a practicing doctor. Besides that, she’d be in a good position to make recommendations to the Ridgeway board about Kahawaii, not that anybody on the board would necessarily agree with her. So, however it happened, this seemed like a good opportunity for her. “No promises, because I don’t know how these next days will turn out. I may or may not make the recommendations you want. And the board may not listen to me if I do recommend what you want. If that’s agreeable, with no strings attached to the outcome, I’ll give you my next six days.” Those words surprised her almost as much as they surprised him, judging from the look on his face. But why not? She did have the time, and she could think of worse things to do than spend a few days with Grant, in paradise no less, even though it was pretty clear they weren’t going to get along famously. How could they, given that they were at odds?

“I’m in charge,” he warned, like he had to. Of course he was in charge. She wouldn’t have had it any other way, especially given her lack of regular doctoring these past years.

“You’re in charge.”

A tight little frown popped up between his eyes, like he was adding up a list of pitfalls in this arrangement he’d just proposed. First, she wasn’t well practiced. Second, she wanted to quash the current Kahawaii operation. Third, she wanted to infuse Ridgeway practices. Yes, that was the list Susan imagined he was beginning to form, one that could have gone on and on from that, but she didn’t want to think about it because, it seemed, she was about to be put to work. That’s what was making her nervous now. Agreeing to be a practicing doctor was one thing, but actually doing it…

“The locals tell me you have another name,” she said, deliberately changing the subject for a moment. She needed time to catch her breath, to think about what she’d just done. Maybe back out once the brunt of it hit her.

“You’re backing out already,” he accused.

“I’m trying to make polite conversation,” she counted.

“In the middle of a disagreement?”

“Are we still disagreeing? I thought we’d settled all that for now.”

He chuckled. “Nothing’s settled, Susan. It’s just being avoided temporarily.”

“And in the spirit of avoidance, I was asking about your name. No ulterior motives here, Doctor. I was just curious.” He walked across the lanai, then crossed over the parking lot, stopping just a few feet in front of her, where he studied her face for a moment, making her more nervous than ever as she knew exactly what was written there. If she’d had a mirror to look in, she’d have seen a virtual masterpiece of insecurity and self-doubt. The implications of this arrangement she’d just made were beginning to set in now, and the enormity of what she’d promised to do… Crazy! What was she thinking, agreeing to work as a practicing doctor?

“My native name—Etana. It means strong, or firm. It’s what my mother called me, so most of the people here still use it.”

“Which suits you,” she said rather weakly, as her hands began to tremble.

He shrugged. “Grant’s good, too. It was my grandfather’s name. He was a missionary to the islands.”

“A haole?” she asked.

“A foreigner, yes. For a time. But once he settled here he never left. People tend to do that here. Come for a little while and never leave.” He smiled, but this time the deviousness of it was missing. It was a genuine smile, and a gentle one. “The lure of the islands.”

“And you use his name now because…?”

“Let’s just say that I wasn’t the perfect child. Got into a lot of trouble. People here still remember that and associate it with Etana. So when I returned here after medical school I had the bright idea that changing my name made me a new person.”

“Has it worked?” It hadn’t for her, because Susan Ridgeway by any other name was still Walter Ridgeway’s daughter.

He laughed, shaking his head. “Do you hear anybody calling me Grant?”

“Well, maybe in time…”

“Or not. Sometimes, you are who you are, and nothing will change that fact. Not even a different name. I treat Omar Lahani for angina, he takes my advice, takes the pills I prescribe, but he never forgets that I was the one who broke the brand-new picture window he’d just had put in his house.”