The Best Catch in Texas

He reached for his coffee. “No. They’re all in Houston.”

“You didn’t want to practice there?”

To Nicolette’s surprise a bland mask covered his face. Maybe everything in his life wasn’t as cheery as he projected.

“I’ve lived in Houston all my life. My parents and grandparents are still there. But now that I’m out of medical school and practicing, I couldn’t get out of there fast enough.”

She leaned back in her chair as she nibbled on a cracker. “Why is that? Or is that question too personal? If it is, you don’t have to answer.”

One of his shoulders lifted and fell. “I don’t mind telling you. The place was too big and fast. I don’t want to spend my life like a hamster racing uselessly on a wheel.”

For the first time since Nicolette had met him, his eyes were solemn, maybe even sad, and the sight touched her in a way that surprised her. She wanted to know more about him. She wanted to understand him. She suddenly cared whether he was happy or sad. And that was dangerous.

“Is that what you thought? That your life there was useless?”

A corner of his mouth lifted faintly. “No. I’ve had a nice life, a fine education. But I never planned to stay there. From the time I was a young boy, I knew I wanted something different for myself.”

“You mean different from your parents and grandparents?”

He nodded. “My father and grandfather are both doctors, too. In fact, my father still has a practice there. He’s a neurologist. Gramps was a general practitioner, back in the days when those were still used,” he added wryly.

“So you became a heart doctor. That’s how you wanted to be different?”

“No. I didn’t want to build a practice in Houston. I wanted my life to be—” Grimacing, he paused, swallowed some coffee, then placed the cup down on the tabletop. “I didn’t want to live like my father and grandfather, Nicolette. They were both consumed with their jobs and consumed with all the social things that went with living in a huge city. There’s life beyond medicine, you know, and I want one. A life that means something.”

The conviction on his face struck her and she suddenly realized that he was not the shallow playboy she’d first imagined.

“And you think you can find that here?” she quietly questioned.

A wry grin exposed a portion of his white teeth. “I’m going to try my best. At least I’m finding I like the clinic and this hospital. And I like my new place. So that’s a start.”

And what about a woman to go with it, Nicolette wondered. But she’d bite the end of her tongue off before she’d ask him such a thing. It didn’t matter to her if he had a steady love interest. She’d had her turn with love and marriage, and the experience had left her spirit bound with scars. She’d be a fool to lose what little heart she had left to a man like him.

She drank a portion of her strong coffee while she felt his gaze roaming over her face and hair, touching her lips and lingering on her breasts. His subtle inspection made her extremely aware that she was a woman, a woman who’d not felt the arms of a man around her in years.

Resisting the urge to squirm, she asked, “Uh, did you buy acreage?”

“Two hundred acres. Not very much, but enough for five horses and a small herd of cattle.”

Her jaw dropped. “Livestock? You own livestock?”

He chuckled at the stunned look on her face. “That’s right. I’ve always wanted to do a little ranching and now I have the chance. True, I won’t have a lot of free time for it. But I’ll make the most of what I have.”

“What about the golfing, the boating and fishing? And traveling?”

Chuckling, he held up a hand to stem her questions. “Nicolette, where did you get this stereotype of doctors? We’re not all made from the same mold, you know.”

He was right, of course. But from the moment she’d spotted him standing in her waiting room this morning, maybe even before that, she’d formed her own ideas of the man. Now she was learning he was nothing as she’d first imagined. The fact left her shaken. It only proved that she was no better a judge of men now than she had been when she’d married Bill and believed all his hogwash.

“Sorry. But that’s what most of the doctors around here do with their free time. Not that’s there anything wrong with golfing or fishing. I just thought—” She paused and shrugged one shoulder. “Well, I’ve lived nearly all my life on a ranch and you—just don’t seem the type.”

This time he looked at her with surprise. “You live on a ranch?”

She nodded. “The Sandbur. It’s—”

“The Sandbur!” he exclaimed. “You are one of those Saddlers?”

“You know of the place?”

Leaning back in his chair, he studied her as though the revelation called for him to inspect her all over again. “Of course I know of it! It’s spoken in the same breath as the Four Sixes, the Johnson, and the King—”

“Whoa,” she interrupted, “don’t put us in the same categories as those great Texas ranches, especially the King. We’re big, but nothing close to being that big.”

Her remark didn’t seem to dim his respect. “Hmm. Fancy that. You live on the Sandbur. That’s exciting. Really exciting.”

She crumpled the empty cellophane that had held the crackers and cheese. “I don’t know about exciting. It’s just home to me. I live with my mother and brother.”

“No husband?”

Unconsciously, her eyes turned to flint as she glanced his way. “No. I’m divorced.”

“Oh. Sorry. Guess that really wasn’t my business, but I was curious,” he admitted.

Her nostrils flared, and Ridge realized he’d touched on a very raw spot. But from the moment he’d met her this morning, he’d been craving more information about the woman. Since she was absent a wedding ring, he’d pretty much decided she wasn’t married. But at her age, there had to be a reason for her being single. He’d been tempted to ask some of the clinic nurses about her. But he’d stopped himself from going that far.

“It’s nothing secret,” she said. “Most everyone knows that’s why I moved back to the Sandbur. San Antonio didn’t hold much charm for me after Bill and I divorced.”

He desperately wanted to ask her what had happened to ruin her marriage. But he didn’t. She was just now letting down that defensive cloak she wore tightly around her. He didn’t want to push his luck.

“Sorry, Nicolette,” he said again. “You, uh, don’t think things will ever work out for you two?”

She stared at him, then let out a brittle laugh. “Not hardly. He’s married again. You see, I was…getting a little too old for him,” she added. She tossed the crumpled cellophane into her coffee cup and rose to her feet. “I think I’ll go back to Dan’s room.”

Following her example, he gathered up his trash and rose from the plastic chair. “I’ll go with you. Hopefully the diuretic has been working.”

After disposing of the remains of their snack, the two of them left the cafeteria and headed back to the elevator. Neither of them spoke until they reached the old wrangler’s room.

“I’ll stay out here in the hall until you finish examining him,” Nicolette said.

He frowned at her. “Don’t be silly. You’re my colleague. Besides, Mr. Nelson will feel more comfortable with you by my side.”

She couldn’t argue that point, so she nodded and followed him into the room.

Dan was asleep, which was a good sign that his breathing had eased. But as they approached the narrow bed, the old man opened his eyes.

“Well, I can see there’s nothing wrong with your ears,” Ridge told the man. He checked the patient’s feet and ankles for swelling, then pulled the end of his stethoscope out of his lab coat pocket and warmed it with his hand. “How are you feeling now? Breathing a bit easier?”

Dan nodded, and though he kept a skeptical eye on the new doctor, he didn’t complain when Ridge leaned over him and placed the instrument against his chest.