Falling for the MD

But for now, she smiled at Ella, grateful for the sentiment the youngest Wilder had expressed. Anna squeezed her sister’s hand. “Thanks, El. But I still have to go.”

“An hour?” Peter was surprised to hear himself say. Maybe it was the look on Ella’s face that had prompted him to try to get Anna to remain. “Just stay an hour.” He saw her reluctance to even entertain the suggestion. “For Dad, not for me.”

“You can stay for both of us,” David told her flippantly. Embracing Ella, he kissed his younger sister on the cheek affectionately, then gripped Peter’s hand. “I’ll be in touch,” he promised his brother. And then he nodded at Anna, his demeanor polite but definitely cooler. “Anna, it was good to see you again.”

Peter saw Anna’s shoulders stiffen.

So much for a truce. Maybe some other time, he told himself.

He began to guide Ella to the parking lot and the limousine that had brought them here.

He didn’t see Bethany Holloway approaching until she was almost at his elbow. Beautiful women occasionally captured his attention, and this woman was a classic beauty, with porcelain skin, luminous blue eyes and breathtaking red hair.

Wanting to get Peter’s attention, Bethany lightly placed a gloved hand on his arm. Surprised, he turned to look in her direction.

“Oh Peter, I just wanted to say again how sorry I am about your father. Everyone loved him.”

That much he knew was true. To know James Wilder was to admire him. His father had had a way of making people feel that they mattered, that he was actively interested in their welfare. In exchange for that, people would regard him with affection. It was a gift.

“Thank you.”

He was trying to be gracious, but his words rang a little hollow. Maybe it was selfish, but for a moment, he wanted to be alone with his grief. And yet, he knew he couldn’t. He didn’t have that luxury afforded to him. No matter his emotions, he needed to hold it together so that everyone else could mourn as they needed to.

It certainly wouldn’t help Ella cope with her grief if she saw him break down, he thought.

“But maybe,” Bethany went on, falling into step beside him, “in a way this might have been easier for your father.”

“‘This’?” Peter echoed.

Bethany nodded. “His passing.”

Peter stopped walking and looked at her sharply. He wasn’t following her logic. “What?”

Bethany looked as if his reaction wasn’t what she’d expected. “Think how Dr. Wilder would have felt, having Northeastern Healthcare take over.”

Peter felt as if his brain had just been submerged in a tank of water. None of this was making any sense to him. “Take over what?”

Bethany looked at Peter in surprise. “Why, Walnut River General, of course.”

Chapter Two

For a moment, it was so quiet Peter could hear the snow falling, the snowflakes touching down. He was only slightly aware that both Anna and David were still standing nearby.

“What are you saying?” Before Bethany could answer, he looked at Ella. His sister looked completely encased in her grief. He didn’t want her subjected to anything more right now. “You look cold, Ella. Why don’t you go on to the limousine and wait for us inside?” he suggested.

In a haze, Ella nodded and left the group.

Wilder hadn’t heard, Bethany realized. What’s more, he looked obviously upset by the news. She hadn’t thought he would be. As far as she saw it, the proposed takeover was good news. Only people who resisted progress would view it as anything else.

Still, a qualm of guilt slid over her.

“I’m saying that it’s official,” Bethany explained. “NHC came out and announced that they were interested in acquiring Walnut River General.” Her smile widened. “They’re saying that it would be an excellent addition to its family of hospitals. Your father helped turn the hospital into a highly regarded institution, and he did a wonderful job,” she added.

Maybe too wonderful, Peter thought. Otherwise, they would have continued operating under the radar.

“He didn’t do it to have the hospital pillaged by an impersonal corporation,” Peter declared, feeling his temper suddenly rise. If he needed proof of the organization’s insensitivity to the human condition, he had it now. The conglomerate was putting in a bid before his father’s body was barely cold. “Those sharks wouldn’t know what a family was if they were hit over the head with one.”

“Don’t hold back, Peter,” David urged wryly. “Tell us what you really think.”

Bethany glanced at the younger Dr. Wilder. She knew he wasn’t part of the hospital staff, but she’d expected to hear something more in favor of what seemed inevitable than a joke. After all, a plastic surgeon, especially one of David Wilder’s caliber, could appreciate a highly efficient organization.

Feeling slightly uncomfortable, like the bearer of bad news instead of good, Bethany cleared her throat. “Well, anyway, the board is going to be meeting tomorrow morning about this,” she told Peter. “I thought I’d give you a heads-up, seeing as how this will be your first time and all.”

She was referring to the position on the board he’d assumed. Not his father’s position—that had gone to Wallace Ford. With Wallace assuming the chairmanship, that had left a seat open and, out of respect for James Wilder, the board had offered it to Peter. He’d accepted it out of a sense of responsibility and not without more than a little dread. He simply wanted to be a doctor. The seat on the board would get in the way, but for now he had no choice.

Peter nodded in response to her words, trying not to look as disturbed by the news as he felt. Right now, he was here for his father and that was all that mattered. There was time enough to worry about this newest development later.

“Thank you.” Realizing how stiff he sounded, Peter made an effort to be more congenial. “Will I see you at the reception?”

A trace of Bethany’s smile entered her eyes as she answered, “Of course. Again—” she took hold of Peter’s hand and looked up into his eyes “—I am very sorry for your loss.” She glanced over toward the limousine where Ella sat waiting. “And your sister’s,” she added.

At least it was death that had taken the man from Peter and his siblings, she couldn’t help thinking. Her parents had simply left her years ago—if they had ever been there to begin with.

A quick smile flashed across her generous mouth. “I’ll see you later,” she promised, and then she slipped back into the dispersing crowd as they all made their way to their separate vehicles.

David stood beside Peter for a moment, watching Bethany’s back as she walked away. His thoughtful expression hinted that he was envisioning what she might look like beneath the white winter coat she had on.

“Well, that’s a new face.” He turned back to his brother, for the moment ignoring Anna’s presence. “Nice structure. Good cheekbones.”

Anna made a small, annoyed noise. “Do you have to look at everyone like a work in progress?” Her disapproval was evident despite the fact that she kept her voice low.

David’s shoulders moved in a half shrug beneath his camel hair overcoat. “Sorry, occupational hazard. It’s the artist in me. Although—” he addressed the rest of his remark to Peter “—there doesn’t seem to be anything to improve on with that one. Who is she?”

“Bethany Holloway,” Peter answered. His and Bethany’s paths had crossed perhaps half-a-dozen times, perhaps less, since she had come to Walnut River. “She’s on the board.”

Mild interest traced itself over David’s handsome features. “New member, I imagine. As I remember it, the board was a collection of old fossils.”

Peter laughed shortly. “Not anymore. Things have changed since you left for the West coast. Dad’s been the oldest one on the board for a while now. Or he was,” he corrected himself. God, but it was hard thinking of his father in the past tense. “Some of the others retired.

“Bethany’s an efficiency expert. She’s been on the board for as long as she’s been in town. About six months or so, I think.” Peter thought of what he was going to be facing tomorrow. “I guess I’d better start becoming more involved with the business end of things now that I’m part of it.”

David looked impressed. “You’re taking over Dad’s old seat?”

Peter shook his head. “No, not exactly. Dad was the chairman. I’ve got a long way to go before I’m experienced enough for that position—not that I want it,” he added quickly. As far as he was concerned, being on the board was a necessary evil. “Dad always regretted how much time being chairman took away from doing what he really loved.”

A comfortable silence hung between the two brothers for a moment. “They don’t make ’em like Dad anymore, do they?” And then David looked apologetically at his older brother. “No disrespect intended.”

“None taken,” Peter replied easily. “James Wellington Wilder was one of a kind. We shall not see his like again.”