Shattered Dreams (Moonchild) (3 page)

“I’ll do an EKG, then we’re done.” Gingerly she placed the leads in place. Her fingers lightly brushed his skin. She flipped the switch and watched a strip form. A better option than staring at him while a fantasy formed.

Questions tumbled like dice in a shaker. When and where had the accident occurred? Where had he been all those years? Why had he decided to become a nurse? She’d had him pegged as an engineer or a car mechanic but she had believed him dead. She wouldn’t ask or let him talk. The past had ended. She refused to allow him or any man to hurt her again.

She removed the leads and folded the strip. “You’re healthy. I see no problem with you starting work tomorrow.” She filled out an aftercare form. “Take this to the lab tomorrow morning. Best time is before six AM. Fasting blood work and a urinalysis.” She handed him the paper and walked to the door.

“Manon.”

The husky timbre of his voice flowed over her skin like a swatch of velvet. Why did he have to be so hot, so intriguing? She recalled their first meeting. She’d thought of him as a puzzle she wanted to solve.

Don’t go there.
She had no time in her life for puzzles.

“We need to talk. After I visit Gran Ruth, I’ll pick you up and we’ll go to dinner.”

Though Rafe’s invitation tempted her more than Tom’s had, accepting meant a trip into the past. She shook her head. They wouldn’t talk. They seldom had other than when they met with the study group. Other times, their meetings had begun with kisses followed by heated love-making.

She straightened.
Not love.
Love meant forever. They’d had sex. Thoughts of his hands roaming over her body brought a rush of anticipation. One kiss and she would fall into the old patterns and set herself up for pain when he rode away again.

“Can’t go.” The clipped words and bitterness in her voice surprised her. She hoped he wouldn’t push.

“Or won’t?”

His question hovered. “Both.”

“I’ll accept your answer for now. Sooner or later we will talk. I’d rather do that tonight.”

I prefer never.
“I’m busy.”

“Hot date?”

With a cold shower.
“Not your business what I do. Get dressed and see yourself out.”

“What no post conference? I’m surprised, Dr. Lockley.”

Why did his remark sting? She couldn’t respond. “If your lab results show any problems the nurse practitioner will let you know.” She turned and nearly collided with him. “Don’t do this. I’ve enough problems realizing you’re alive and back in town.”

He ran a finger over her cheek. “Who told you I was dead?”

Her thoughts flowed back to that dreadful day. She heard words muffled by the sound of her sobs. She blocked any more of that night. “Someone. Male. I don’t know. I was crying. I only heard the words.” She pulled away. His touch burned.

“Your father?”

“I said I don’t know and I don’t want to remember. Can’t ask my father. He died in January.” She reached behind for the doorknob. “For three years after hearing about your death, I didn’t fight his plans for me.”

The phone rang. She reached the receiver hoping for an escape. Hearing Tom’s voice produced a scowl. “What do you want?”

“Have you heard who’s in town?”

“Yes.”

“Guess he didn’t die.”

Manon frowned. Had Tom been the bearer of the news? For him to be at her house on prom night made no sense. Her father wouldn’t have allowed him come to her bedroom. Since Tom’s return to
Fern Lake, he’d often chided her for clinging to the memory of a dead man.

“You’re right, he didn’t.”

“Wonder why he’s here.”

“I have no idea.” Let Tom discover for himself why Rafe was in town.

“I’ll ask around. Why don’t you join me for dinner and I’ll tell you all I discover.” His voice lowered. “Do you suppose he’s dealing drugs? I used to wonder about that.”

“I wouldn’t make unfounded accusations,” Manon said. “Could bring trouble.”

“Dinner. Seven at Fern House.”

“Tom, I told you earlier I wouldn’t go to dinner with you. I haven’t changed my mind.” She slammed the receiver in the cradle, opened the door and strode to her office.

Rafe’s scent and laughter trailed after her. The heat his touch had raised pulsed through her arteries. Once seated at her desk, she booted the computer and logged on. The files of the patients she’d seen earlier appeared. She opened them one by one and entered her data from the day’s visits.

With Tom’s, she documented the visit and added the number of times he’d come to the office for complaints that had no medical validity. She added the consults she’d recommended and how he hadn’t followed up. With a firm statement she added her reluctance to bill his insurance company for these visits. She wrote a final note dismissing him as a patient.

Finally, she opened a line to Employee Health at the hospital and began a chart for Rafe. She documented the results of her exam and made a note for Emma to scan her assessment. She noted she would deliver the EKG strip and his medical record in the morning.

A sound startled her. Had Tom snuck in? She grasped the letter opener. When she saw Rafe in the doorway, her tension remained. “Why are you still here?”

“Wanted to make sure you were all right.”

“I’m fine.” She dropped the silver implement on the desk.

“Guess Tom doesn’t understand no.” Rafe grinned. “Fair warning. Neither do I.”

“I’ve noticed. I’m not accepting your invitation either.” Manon’s hands fisted. “I’ll see you at the hospital and our meetings will be professional. Don’t forget the lab work. With Mrs. Patton’s illness I’m sure the Board will be glad to see you start early.”

“And you?”

“I’m glad you’re alive but I have no desire to relive the past.” Even thinking about those three lonely years touring with her father made her ill. She had loved and lost. Never again.

Anger stirred. Was Rafe aware she knew about the money her father had given him to leave town? She couldn’t forgive Rafe’s willingness to take a bribe.

The front door slammed. She pressed her hands against her eyes to halt tears. Why did she care?

Drawing a deep breath, she reviewed lab results sent from the hospital and posted them to the appropriate charts. She closed the computer, rose and glanced out the window. The distant rumble of a motorcycle reached her.

Time to go home, she thought. She paused to clear the room where she’d examined Rafe. After pulling the paper covering the examining table to the clean section, she brought the used piece to her face and inhaled Rafe’s scent.

For a moment, she drifted in memory. Anger with herself rose. She crushed the paper and shoved it in the trash. Her hands clenched. How much time would elapse before she developed immunity to his presence? Quickly, she processed the rest of the room, checked the doors and windows and left.

As she strode to the door, she considered a visit to the hospital to check her patients. Rafe would be there and she had no desire for another encounter. She picked up the phone on the reception desk and dialed the hospital. Two patients were scheduled for tests in the morning. She switched to CCU.

A nurse answered on the third ring. “Dr. Lockley, here. How’s Mrs. Patton?”

“No more chest pain. Vitals are good. Her grandson is here. Heard he’s our new director. Hearts are going to break fast around here. He’s hot.”

“I know.” Manon disconnected. If Rafe made a fifty something woman’s heart beat faster, how many of the younger nurses would see him as a potential love interest? She vowed she wouldn’t be one of the flock but she feared she would break that vow.

* * *

Rafe slammed the door of Manon's office and strode to his bike. That had been an interesting meeting and hadn’t gone well. Manon had changed from the girl he had remembered and loved. Still did. What had happened in the past mattered but only to help reclaim his memories and for her to learn the truth.

She was beautiful. Tall and stacked. Short blonde hair. Blue-gray eyes reminded him of the waters of
Fern Lane on a stormy day. Myriad emotions had flared in their depths. Among those he’d seen were anger, sadness and a desire she had tried to hide.

He fastened his helmet. One thing hadn’t changed. Tom still sniffed around hoping to catch a crumb of Manon’s attention.

Rafe started the Harley, twin to the one he’d ridden out of town. Though Manon had brushed him off as quickly as she had Tom, Rafe made a vow. He refused to walk away until they talked. Once the truth was known, he would make a decision about where he headed. Hopefully with her. Living in the same town, working at the same place and not being with her would be hard.

He rode across town and up the hill to the hospital. A short time later with a visitor’s pass in hand, he entered the cardiac unit where his step-grandmother rested.

“Hey, Gran.”

“Rafe, when did you arrive?”

“This morning.”

“So you left moving until the last moment. Was everything ready?”

He nodded. “Phone, Cable, Food. Spent the morning and most of the afternoon unloading the van. Figured I’d take you to dinner.” He bent to kiss her cheek. “Then I learned you were here.”

She frowned. ‘Didn’t they call you? Even gave the
m your cell number.”

“They did. Went straight to voice mail. Forgot to charge the battery.” He sank on the chair beside the bed and made a quick assessment of her condition. Her gray hair was neatly coiled in a bun. Brown eyes showed tiredness. Her skin had a gray tinge.

“Now what?” he asked.

“Against the cardiologist’s orders, I spoke to several Board members. You can start tomorrow without my guidance. I am available to answer questions.”

“Good enough.” He studied the monitor on the wall above her bed. Vitals looked good, other than a slight tachycardia. Could be due to stress. “Your job is to get better. Any idea what course of treatment they plan?”

“Some tests. Observation. Nitro tabs. Do hope they’re not thinking of giving me anti-coagulants. Hate them.”

“Understood.” He stretched his legs so his feet were under the bed. “Any problems I should know about?”

“Summer staffing schedule. My secretary, Mildred, can fill you in. She has the agenda for tomorrow’s meeting. There’s a rung of keys in the bedside stand.”

Rafe opened the drawer. “These?”

She took them and separated the rings. “House and car keys. When I go home, I refuse to ride the bike.” She handed them to him. With the other ring she identified each one. “Office door. Middle desk drawer. File cabinet. In the locked desk drawer, there’s the password so you can access the computer files.”

Rafe slipped both rings into his jacket pocket. "Sure hope I’m up for this.”

“You’ll do fine.” She patted his hand. “Do not let anyone take the funds set aside for the computer programs you want to implement. Though they’ve known this was coming, some of the nurses and other staff are fighting the process.”

Rafe chuckled. “I’ll handle that, especially when they see how much easier their lives will be.” He saw the look in her eyes. Warmth filled him. He could never thank her enough for her care of him. Though not related by blood, they had bonds of the heart.

“Will you see Manon Lockley?”

“Been there.” He frowned. “She and I need to talk but she refuses to listen. There has to be a way."

The elderly woman patted his hand. “You’ll find the right moment. Just remember when you vanished she was hurt and forced into a life she didn’t want.”

“Someone told her I was dead.”

“How odd. I kept any mention of the accident quiet. I feared whoever had tried to kill you would make another attempt. I wonder how she learned.”

“So do I.” Rafe forced away an image that plagued him. “There is one person who knew.”

“The one who caused the accident.”

“Manon insists she can’t remember who told her.” His shoulders tensed. Manon had to remember who had lied. She needed to hear the truth about why he’d fled Fern Lake. This afternoon she’d been wary and cold. From what Gran had said Manon lived a quiet life with work and an occasional dinner with her brother or her nurse. The older woman had mentioned rumors Tom Sands had spread. From the one-sided conversation he’d overheard, Manon didn’t welcome the other man’s attention.

Until they talked there was no chance of the future he wanted.

A noise caught his attention. A middle-aged woman brought a dinner tray into the cubicle. She placed it on the overbed table.

Rafe rose. “See you tomorrow, probably early since I have to stop at the lab.”

“I’ll be here,” Mrs. Patton said. “Marie, this is my grandson. He’s the new director.”

The woman smiled. “Good to meet you.”

“Same.” Rafe kissed Gran Ruth’s cheek. “See you.”

“Good luck tomorrow.”

“Thanks.”

As he left the unit, he strode toward the elevator. The door opened. Tom Sands stepped out and headed to the cardiac unit. Rafe ducked behind the dietary cart. What was the other man doing here? Had he come to make a scene?