The Good Doctor

“Will you still come tonight?”

He had to smile. If Celeste could get two visits out of this, she was going to do that.

“Sure, I’ll come back later.” He heard the med cart being pushed by a nurse rattle across the tile in the hall. “First I just have to grab something to eat and make some phone calls.”

Her face fell and he saw tears well up again.

“On the other hand, I could buy a sandwich from the vending machine and eat it here,” he said. “Then you can tell me what videos you watched today.”

The room had a VCR, and Peter could see from the stack on the table that the nurses had picked out quite a few for Celeste. “I’ll be back as soon as I find some food.”

“Promise?” she asked.

He held up his hand like a Boy Scout. “I promise.”

All at once his conversation with Violet came to mind, and he remembered what she’d told him about being burnt out. Maybe she would consider spending some time with Celeste. A woman with time on her hands might be just what the little girl needed. He’d broach that subject when they took Ryan for his tests or if she came to the fund-raiser Friday evening.

Insisting to himself again that he didn’t care if she came or not, he went on a search for supper.

Three

The hotel ballroom was sumptuously elegant. Guests sat on champagne-colored brocade chairs at tables covered with pale rose tablecloths. Candles at each table as well as the overhead crystal chandeliers sent sparkles of light dancing off reflective surfaces.

Violet was seated with Lily and Ryan, her brother Miles and some friends of his. Often Violet’s gaze went to Ryan. He was looking worn and tired tonight, and she was concerned because his headaches might be getting worse. She was glad Peter had been able to arrange the MRI for tomorrow morning. Ryan had told Lily he was taking a trip to Houston for business. After he’d given her the name of the hotel where they’d be staying, she’d accepted the explanation. But Violet could see the tension the lies were causing.

A chamber group had been playing softly throughout dinner and now they quieted at the bustling activity on the stage. A woman tapped on the microphone a few times, smiled at the audience and said, “I want to welcome everyone to the Estelle Clark Memorial Fund-Raiser.”

The woman at the mike looked about Violet’s age. There was something about her that seemed familiar. She was a tall, striking brunette who had a beautiful sense of fashion. Her emerald chiffon gown flowed around her body as if it had been designed especially for her.

Lily leaned close to Violet. “Stacey owns a boutique in the Galleria. I shop there a lot. Besides that, she’s—”

Stacey was speaking again and Lily’s words were drowned out. “As many of you know, it’s an honor for me to be here, happy to raise money to buy equipment for my mother’s memorial wing.”

Suddenly it all clicked into place for Violet, why she thought the woman looked familiar. She was Estelle Clark’s daughter and Peter’s sister. Although Violet had been preoccupied with other thoughts, she’d gotten a quick glimpse of her and another woman as they’d left Peter’s office. That must have been his other sister. At Peter’s house she’d seen a picture of them in the pine cupboard, but they’d been much younger and Violet hadn’t made the connection.

Stacey continued, “And now, so I won’t bore you, I’ll get to the highlight of this evening—our very eligible bachelors. Mr. Kinsdale, come on up on stage.”

A tall, blond man in his thirties climbed the steps and came to stand near the microphone. When he smiled, Stacey motioned him to walk to the end of the short runway.

“Let them get a gander at you. Mr. Kinsdale’s lucky benefactor will win a day of golf at his country club along with dinner overlooking the eighteenth hole. Let’s start the bidding at one hundred dollars.”

The bids came fast and furious. Women at two particular tables were doing much of the bidding.

“They’re nurses,” Lily explained with a smile. “I understand most of them have saved up all year for this donation.”

The bidding ended at two thousand dollars.

“You should bid,” Lily urged Violet as one gentleman after another walked to the edge of the runway.

“I’m not sure that’s the best way to get a date,” Violet joked. “I think I’d rather just write a check for the equipment—”

However, when she saw Peter Clark step up onto the stage, she stopped midsentence. He was a sight in a tuxedo. Although he looked totally debonair, he also looked uncomfortable.

Stacey Clark’s voice took on a teasing liveliness as she gave her brother a quick appraisal. “Here we go, ladies. I have the fun of putting my brother on display tonight. I had to talk long and hard to get him to do this so don’t disappoint me. I want this bid to go sky-high.”

Lowering her voice, she said conspiratorially into the microphone, “He has a big ego. We wouldn’t want it to get dented, would we? Come on, ladies. For a date at the Riverwalk with Dr. Peter Clark, let’s start this bidding at two hundred dollars.”

Peter’s stride was confident though a bit stiff as he walked to the end of the runway, and Violet suspected that he hated being put on display. He must truly love his sister to do this for her. Violet had to admire his attempt at a winning smile, the thumbs-up sign he gave the audience that told them he was doing this in the spirit of fun.

The nurses started the bidding again but this time Violet couldn’t keep quiet. Her hand shot up with the number she’d been assigned in case she wanted to bid, and she called out, “Five hundred.”

Lily’s elbow nudged hers. “Way to go.”

Feeling her cheeks flush, she felt deflated when the bids kept rising above hers. Not knowing whether it was the competition urging her on or the desire to spend an evening at the Riverwalk with Peter, she helped push the price upward. Before she knew it, the bidding was up to twenty-five hundred dollars. One of the nurses, a petite blonde, wouldn’t give up. Neither would Violet. They went back and forth in increments of fifty dollars until they hit three thousand.

“Well, well, ladies. It looks as if you’d like to give Peter a night to remember.”

Violet didn’t dare look at him, but she raised her bid and did it big. “Thirty-five hundred dollars,” she called and the room went silent.

The nurse at the other table shook her head.

Stacey’s face broke into a wide grin as she announced, “Number twenty-four has just won the honor of listening to my brother discuss medicine for an evening. Peter, make sure she has a little bit of fun, okay?”

Shaking his head with the tolerance of an older brother, he gave his sister a hug and descended the steps on the far side of the stage.

Violet wasn’t sure exactly what to do.

“So go talk to him,” Lily said with another nudge.

At least now she wouldn’t have to pretend she and Peter were strangers. Maybe she could use that as an excuse for why she’d bid so enthusiastically.

Then she asked herself, Why do you need an excuse?

An inner voice whispered, Because you don’t want him to know you’re attracted to him.

Although her coral beaded gown had one very long slit from her thigh down to the hem, she didn’t feel ladylike taking long strides. Warning herself not to hurry, to pretend a nonchalance she didn’t feel, she found Peter at the rear of the stage talking to a woman she now recognized as Linda Clark.

When Peter’s gaze fell on Violet, he took a good long look from her upswept hairdo to the pearls around her neck to the formfitting gown. The light that came into his eyes excited her, and she told herself to chill. Her work had always mattered more than relationships. Deep down, she knew she used work as an excuse to protect her heart, especially now when her life was in transition and she had to make some tough choices. Her stay in Red Rock was temporary and a short fling wasn’t on her agenda. Despite all that, her pulse raced and excitement tingled up and down her spine as she moved closer to Peter.

“The woman who finally ended my misery,” he said lightly. “Linda, meet Violet Fortune. Violet, this is my sister, Linda Clark.”

Peter’s sister was gracious and friendly as she shook Violet’s hand and smiled. “You two should have a wonderful time on the Riverwalk.” She waved to someone behind Violet. “If you’ll excuse me, I have to be in ten places at once tonight. It was nice to meet you, Violet.” She gave her brother a pat on the arm. “Don’t be a stranger. Remember, Charlene and Dad’s anniversary party next Sunday evening.”

In the space of a second, Violet saw consternation slip over Peter’s face, but then it was gone and she wondered if she’d seen it at all. Didn’t he want to go to his dad’s anniversary party?

They were standing in a room with about three hundred people, yet when she looked into Peter’s eyes it was as if they were stranded on a desert island all alone. That idea was fanciful and she had to put a stop to the thought now. “I bid on you to give a donation to a good cause and so you and I didn’t have to pretend we were strangers around Ryan and Lily. I’ll understand if you really don’t want to go on a date.”

“A date was part of the bargain,” he said seriously. “I haven’t been to the Riverwalk for a while, but if you really don’t want to go—”