The Secrets of Her Past

“You abandoned them along with everything else in your house.”

“Andrew’s house. He bought it.”

“To surprise you.”

“The deed and loan were in his name. He chose all the furniture.” Her resentful tone grated like the screech of a rusty hinge.

She ducked her head and tugged at her cuffs. “I left behind the things that meant something to you and your brother. He would’ve wanted you to have all this since you collected them together.”

Andrew hadn’t cared about the sentimental ties to the items. He’d considered them all investments—items he could sell later when the star’s value went up.

“You left everything, Madison, creating an additional burden for those of us who had to clean up after you.” Him. He’d been the one who’d had to parcel out his brother’s belongings, deciding what to keep, sell or store. He’d had to list the house and sell it. His mom hadn’t been up to the task, and his dad had been slammed at work trying to cover his and Andrew’s patients.

“I’m sorry. I—I only took what I could carry in the truck, and the love of sports was something you and he shared before I came along.”

She’d come between him and Andrew, breaking a bond he’d believed indestructible, and if he didn’t do as his father requested and deliver her to the office each week she could drive a bigger wedge between him and his parents, too.

“You mailed us the house keys along with your power of attorney, relinquishing your share of everything but the life insurance and the pickup. You didn’t even bother to call or say goodbye to my parents.”

He caught her reflection in the mirror, saw her eyes close, fanning dark lashes against her pale skin. When her lids lifted, whatever emotion he thought he’d seen earlier had vanished.

“I said goodbye at the memorial service. Helen preferred it that way.”

“Quit blaming your insensitivity on my mother. You bailed without any regard for the damage you’d left behind.”

She flinched and opened her mouth. Seconds ticked past. Then she sealed her lips.

She faced him with one hand splayed across her upper chest. The action parted the neckline of her plaid cotton shirt and revealed the area above the scooped neck of the T-shirt she wore beneath it. The shape of her bones showed clearly beneath her skin. His father had remarked on Madison’s thinness after she’d left yesterday. Adam hadn’t noticed until now. She’d lost weight. Too much.

“I’ll be ready by seven. Thank you for allowing me to stay, Adam. I know this isn’t your first choice, either. Next week I’d prefer a hotel.”

His father would never agree to that, but he wasn’t going to waste his breath. “Tell that to my father.”

“I will.”

He should leave, but his feet remained rooted. Madison had always been pretty, but as Andrew’s girlfriend then his wife she’d been off-limits. Adam had never examined her that closely before, but he could have sworn the angles of her face had been softer six years ago, and he didn’t remember her camouflaging her shape beneath layers of loose clothing then either. She looked...fragile.

Probably just another woman starving herself to fit into size-zero jeans. But he couldn’t have her collapsing on the job. “Have you eaten dinner?”

“I had a big lunch.”

“You know where the kitchen is. It’s stocked. Help yourself. I won’t wait on you.”

He made his escape, passing through the back door, then the screened porch. He jogged down the steps to the slate patio below. Moonlight glimmered on the water, but his favorite view did nothing to soothe him tonight. He punched his father’s number into his cell phone.

“She’s here,” he said the second his father connected.

“Good. I knew I could count on her. You’ll get her to the office in the morning?” Worry tightened his voice, and worry was one thing his father didn’t need right now.

“Why do you think I flew her in, Dad? Not because I wanted to spend time with her. Once I drop her off tomorrow she’ll be stranded. Your idea of taking her truck to the shop was a good one, but it would have been a one-visit deal—we’d have had to think of something else next time. Flying her in covers every visit, and it saves her time, so she won’t question my motives.”

“It’s expensive.”

“It’s cheaper than hiring a substitute doctor.”

A chuckle hit his ear. “You’re more like me than you’re willing to admit, Adam. Now I can rest easy. Thanks.”

No. He wasn’t like his father at all. “I’ll see you in preop, Dad.”

“You don’t need to come by the hospital in the morning. I’ll see you after I get out. Take special care of our girl. You could even stop by the office and have lunch with her.”

“You mean check up on her? Don’t push it, Dad. I’ll see you before they wheel you back.”

“Madison’s still your sister-in-law, Adam. She deserves respect.”

“She’s not my anything anymore. She severed those ties long ago. Tell Mom I’ll be there in the morning. She’ll need my support even if you don’t.”

* * *

“MADISON.”

Madison jolted awake at the sound of a familiar voice. Andrew? No. Adam stood over her. They looked and sounded similar, but she’d always been able to tell them apart—a test she’d passed multiple times when Andrew had pulled his hijinks. “What?”

“I asked, what you’re doing out here?”

She blinked and looked around. Then it came back to her. She’d barely slept—how could she in that shrine to her dead husband? Cold penetrated her skin, seeping down to her bones. Dawn illuminated the pond. How long had she been on the screened porch? Pushing back her hair, she straightened on the swing, tightened her grip on the blanket she’d wrapped herself in and banded her arms around the void in her middle.

“Did I oversleep?”

“You didn’t answer my question.”

And he hadn’t answered hers. “I came out to listen to the bullfrogs. They reminded me of home.”

Her dreams had been filled with the screech of metal against metal as her car had scraped against the guardrail, then the snap of it breaking through and rolling over and over. As always, the impact of the vehicle slamming into the tree and the pain of her stomach colliding with the steering wheel had jolted her awake. It was a familiar dream, one she’d had hundreds of times. But it still rattled her. Sometime this morning she’d trudged out here rather than risk a replay.

She gingerly eased to her feet. Her left foot was slightly numb from being tucked beneath her and made keeping her balance an iffy proposition. She grasped the swing’s chain. The links were cold against her palm, but she would not ask Adam for help.

His hair was damp and his chin gleamed from a recent shave. The unbuttoned collar of his white dress shirt revealed a wedge of tanned skin. A navy-and-red unknotted necktie draped his shoulders. The combination of his cologne, menthol shaving cream and minty toothpaste filled her nose.

She’d forgotten the appeal of a freshly showered man first thing in the morning. Her heart raced like a rabbit’s, and adrenaline gave her a burst of alertness. Certainly the intimacy of the situation was the only reason.

Yeah, right.

Adam looked good—even better than his brother had on his best day, mainly because he lacked Andrew’s cocky you-know-you-want-me swagger. Adam had a harder take-me-or-leave-me edge, or maybe there was a maturity about him that Andrew, with his perpetual fraternity-boy persona, had lacked.

But her damned hormones couldn’t tell the difference between the enemy and Andrew.

“Coffee’s in the kitchen. I’m pulling out of the garage in thirty minutes.”