Unexpected Daughter

“I’m Cade Wheeler, Dr. Wheeler’s nephew.” Mr. Mills had lost weight since Cade had last seen him, but he’d spent a lot of time with his son, who’d been one of his best friends during his first visit here. Maybe he and Jody could get together again, go fishing like when they were younger.

Recognition finally passed across the man’s face and he nodded. “I almost didn’t recognize you, you’ve grown some. Heard you were coming to help your uncle while he was laid up. That’s good of you.”

Cade wished people would quit telling him he was being nice to come and help his uncle. They made it sound as if he’d left a lot behind to come here, when in truth his uncle’s plea for help had filled a blank hole that had appeared in his life.

“What’s Jody doing? I’d like to see him.”

Mr. Mills’s jaw tightened and he wadded a paper napkin in his hand. “I thought Dr. Wheeler would have told you. Jody died close to a year ago. Got mixed in with the wrong people and started messing around with drugs. Ended up gettin’ shot.”

“I’m sorry. I didn’t know. Did they ever catch who did it?”

The man grasped the plastic container the waitress had brought for him and shook his head. “Ask that Brijette at the clinic. She can tell you more. She’s the one who found him. They took to being friends when she moved back here.” He paused as if he realized his voice had gotten louder. “I’ll be seeing you, son. You stay out of trouble, you hear?”

Cade could only watch as the man hurried from the diner.

“He’s changed since Jody died.”

A plate slid across the counter in front of him and Alice propped her arm on the counter. “They never did find who killed the boy and it’s made the man bitter. Wants to blame everyone.”

“Whose fault was it?”

She frowned. “It was Jody’s fault for gettin’ involved in all that. Can’t really blame no one else. Mr. Mills thinks the sheriff isn’t trying hard enough, but there’s only so much that can be done. I don’t know. Maybe I’d feel the same if it happened to my child.” She moved on as a customer at the other end of the counter asked for a coffee refill.

He couldn’t imagine why his uncle hadn’t told him Jody had been killed. Of course, his uncle hadn’t been too pleased that summer when his parents had shown up and carted him back to Dallas. At the time, Cade had just wanted to escape. He’d had very little contact with his uncle after that. Even at his father’s funeral, the man hadn’t mentioned Cypress Landing or the events of that summer. That was why he’d been surprised when his uncle had called and asked for his help. Now that Cade was back in Cypress Landing, his life seemed to be getting tangled in ways he hadn’t expected. All he wanted was a simple medical practice, a wonderful wife and two or three beautiful children. Was that asking too much? He forked a piece of omelet, letting the cheese ooze and wondering if those things would ever happen for him.

BRIJETTE TRIED TO control the jump in her chest, tried to tell herself it wasn’t her heart racing the minute she saw Cade stroll in the door. The same locks of hair slipped over one eyebrow, framing emerald eyes that could draw you in deeper and deeper. His shoulders strained beneath the fabric of his lab coat, making him appear much larger than she remembered. The young man had gone. This Cade seemed to fill the hallway. His blond good looks were what had attracted her to him in the beginning; his warm caring heart was what had made her stay. The chart she held dropped to the floor, scattering loose pieces of paper. That heart had transformed into an iceberg the minute their little sea of love started having a few waves. She’d been crazy in love with him and she hadn’t wanted to believe he’d left. Then his mother came. She took a deep breath and stretched to get the last paper, but her head made a thumping sound as it rammed into Cade’s. He’d crouched to help her get the papers and she hadn’t seen him. Why did he do that? She didn’t need his help, not now, not ever.

“Sorry.” She snapped the file shut, gritting the word between her teeth like a nasty piece of candy.

“Are you all right?”

“I’m fine.” She turned to leave, but her foot wobbled in her open-backed clogs. The chart went flying and her shoulder bumped the wall at the same time a hand grabbed her upper arm. Cade steadied her.

“Don’t move.”

He let go and gathered the chart while she stood there, unsure why she kept following his directions but unable to get her muscles in gear. When he had the chart together he caught her arm and pulled her into an empty room, shutting the door behind them.

“I’m sorry about last night.”

If she’d been holding the stupid chart she’d have dropped it again. “What do you mean, you’re sorry?”

“It’s not a riddle. I’m sorry. I said a lot of nasty things to you. We have a past, but it’s just that, past. If we’re going to be working together, we have to get along. Neither one of us may be comfortable with it, but this is the way things are going to be.”

Brijette couldn’t do much more than stare at him. This was how it was going to be? How could they possibly work together with all the resentment between them? What had old Dr. Wheeler been thinking?

Cade caught her hand and squeezed her fingers. “We can do it.” And there he was, the old Cade she’d fallen in love with. The you-and-me-against-the-world Cade, the even-if-the-world-kicks-our-butts Cade. But the world had come to kick their butts, and there hadn’t been a you and me.

“It’ll be fine.” She heard herself say the words but didn’t feel as though they came from her.

He dropped her hand, disappearing through the door, only to reappear seconds later. “Oh, and no swamp medicine.”

Blood rushed to her head and she opened her mouth to reply, but he cut her off, laughing. “Hey, I was joking, okay? We’ll do what works.” He paused, as if contemplating his next words carefully. “I’d still like to see that birth certificate.”

She nodded. Damn Cade Wheeler. She didn’t need this confusion in her life. She fiddled with the exam-room supplies on the small desk. She’d have to find a way to deal with him until he left. Suddenly there was a shout and a thud from the direction of the lobby. Then Cade’s voice seemed to rattle the window in the small room.

“Brijette, get in here now.”

CHAPTER FIVE

A BODY SPLAYED prone on the office floor first thing in the morning did not spell good news. Cade rolled the young man over.

“What’s his name?” he shouted at the bony girl with him.

“Ray,” she cried. “Is he gonna be all right?”

Cade ignored her. “Ray, can you hear me?”

Ray didn’t move. He made a wheezing sound, then went quiet. Leaning close to the man’s face, Cade couldn’t feel air on his cheek. “He’s not breathing.”

An ambu bag appeared over his shoulder and he fit the plastic piece over Ray’s mouth and nose, holding it in place, squeezing the attached bag to give the man air. Brijette knelt on the floor and stripped Ray’s shirt off, slapping on the pads for the automated external defibrillator.

“Tell me we have a crash cart.”

Brijette gave a quick shake of her head, then pointed to a large red tackle box.

“How am I supposed to know his heart rhythms or what meds to give? Do we even have the equipment here to intubate?” Surely his uncle kept supplies here in case of breathing emergencies, so he could put a tube into the lungs and get air to a patient who couldn’t breathe.

“We’ve got the AED here to administer a shock if needed, and the ambulance is on the way. We can unhook the big monitor from the cardiac exam room and roll it up here, but…” She paused as sirens shrieked outside. “But the ambulance will probably be here before we get it.”

The medics rushed in and Cade moved back, letting the two men take over. In seconds they had the man called Ray on the stretcher, racing to the ambulance.

Ray’s distraught girlfriend or wife waited in the doorway. “Is he going to be all right?”

Brijette crossed the room and stood in front of her. “We don’t know, but it doesn’t look good.”

Well, she didn’t sugarcoat that.

“It would help if we knew what kind of drugs he’s been taking. He did take something, didn’t he?”

“It… I think it might have been OxyContin. But he had a prescription.”

“Why did you bring him here instead of the emergency room?” Brijette asked.

The slender girl hugged her purse to her body. “He didn’t seem that sick. He walked in here. He was real weak and not breathing too good. This was the first place we passed, so we stopped.”

Cade groaned, watching Brijette head back to the desk. He stared at the girl.

“It wasn’t like he was doing illegal drugs, you know. I tell you, he had a prescription.”