The Doctor's Blessing (7 page)

B
y Sunday morning Amber had complete control of her emotions. Her feelings for Phillip were a silly infatuation and nothing more. Once she had spent a few more days working with him, this odd attraction would die a natural death. They had bonded because of their danger-filled rescue of Martha Nissley. It was a common occurrence between people in tension filled situations. Such intense emotions rarely lasted. Satisfied that she understood what was going on, she headed with light steps toward the Hope Springs Fellowship Church.

It was a beautiful summer morning. Late July could be frightfully hot in Ohio but the temperature had been mild lately. The sky was clear except for rare fleecy clouds floating past.

They reminded her of Fluffy. The cat who was most likely curled up at home asleep on Amber’s blue sofa. A few white hairs on the furniture were a small price to pay for such a loving companion. Looking toward the white spire of the church silhouetted against the sky, Amber allowed the peace she always felt on this day to soak into her soul.

That peace lasted until she reached the church steps. At the top of them, Phillip stood talking to Pastor Finzer as
he greeted his flock. Her hope to slip inside unnoticed was dashed when the minister caught sight of her.

“Amber, look who’s joining us this morning.”

She nodded in their direction and slowly climbed the steps. “Pastor, good morning. Dr. White, nice to see you.”

Beaming a bright smile at the two of them, the friendly young pastor said, “We’re delighted to have Dr. White as a visitor to our church while he’s in town. I’m sure Amber will introduce you around, Phillip, and help you feel at home. Won’t you, dear?”

“Of course.” The smile on her face was fake. She hoped neither of the men realized it.

As they passed through the doors, Phillip leaned down and softly said, “Sorry about that. I know you didn’t want to get stuck with me on your day off.”

Was that how he was feeling? That he was stuck with her? She couldn’t hide the sting of disappointment she felt. “Don’t worry, Dr. White. I’ll find somebody to pass you off to quickly.”

“That wasn’t what I meant.”

Amber spied the perfect candidate sitting to the left of the aisle. Stopping beside an ample woman in a pink suit with a matching pink hat, Amber said, “Mrs. Curtis, how lovely to see you’re feeling well enough to attend church today.”

“Thank you, Amber dear. I struggled this morning. I don’t know how I managed, but the Lord gave me strength.”

“Mrs. Curtis, I’d like you to meet the new doctor in town. Dr. White, this is Gina Curtis. She’s one of your grandfather’s most frequent visitors.”

“Dr. White, do have a seat.” Gina scooted over to make room for him, her eyes bright with interest.

After he sat she said, “You know, I’ve been having this terrible pain in my neck. What do you think it could be? Oh, and my left heel hurts dreadfully when I stand up in the
mornings. What can cause that? Your grandfather has never been able to figure out what ails me.”

Amber felt a little ashamed, but if Phillip was going to be practicing in Hope Springs, he had to take the good with the bad. He might as well get his first meeting with Gina over with. She’d stop listing her ailments as soon as Pastor Finzer began the service.

Amber suspected the spinster harbored a secret crush on the good-looking blond preacher who was at least thirty years her junior.

Amber started to turn away, but Phillip grasped her wrist. “Please, sit with us.”

It wasn’t so much a request as a command. Unless she wanted to make a scene by twisting away from his firm grip, she had no choice. With another false smile in place, she said, “I’d be delighted.”

He stood to let her in the pew. “I doubt it,” he muttered as she slipped past and sat down

Gina leaned forward to look past Amber. “Isn’t this cozy?”

“Very,” Phillip replied, a twinkle of amusement in his eyes.

Amber took her punishment like a big girl. For the next ten minutes she listened to Gina’s litany of complaints and answered the odd medical question aimed her way. Phillip got the brunt of them. Between Mrs. Curtis’s painful heel, clicking knee, sciatica and the nervous twitching of her right eye that only happened during the late show, she put Phillip through his paces.

Amber glanced his way once and saw his eyes about to glaze over. Taking pity on him, Amber turned to Gina. “How is your nephew in Cleveland getting along? Didn’t he have surgery not long ago?”

“Oh, honey, you don’t
even
want to know the things that
went wrong for Gerald. First, they checked him into the wrong wing of the hospital.”

Before Amber had to hear the entire story, Pastor Finzer entered and the congregation rose to its feet. Opening her hymnal to the first song, Amber softly joined in the singing. She couldn’t carry a tune very well, but the Lord only asked for joyful noise. Phillip had no such trouble. His deep baritone rang out clear and strong.

She had been surprised to see him standing on the church steps earlier. He hadn’t struck her as a religious person. The moment the thought crossed her mind she amended it.
She
wasn’t being very Christian this morning.

Determined to do better, she gave her full attention to the sermon when it started. Pastor Finzer spoke eloquently on suffering for being a Christian and the prejudice that existed in their own small town.

Once or twice, well, okay, four or five times, she glanced at Phillip out of the corner of her eye. He was listening intently, not fidgeting or yawning as a few others in the congregation were doing. It warmed her heart to know he was truly listening to God’s word.

Since first meeting him, she had cast Phillip in the role of a villain because his decision played havoc with her career. He wasn’t a bad guy, and she owed him an apology.

When the closing hymn began, he glanced down at her and smiled. She smiled back before she could stop herself. Clearly, it was time to admit that she liked this man in spite of their professional differences.

When the service ended and they began filing out, Amber saw her chance to separate Phillip from Mrs. Curtis when the woman stopped to compliment Pastor Finzer on his sermon. Grabbing Phillip’s hand, Amber tugged him toward the corner of the building. Once they were out of sight, he pulled her to a stop.

“Miss Bradley, you should be ashamed of yourself.”

“I am. I’m so sorry. She’s one of our town characters.”

“Remind me to look up late show twitching tomorrow so I can at least sound like I know something.”

“Okay, but I warn you, it will be her left shoulder that hurts or her right thigh the next time you see her. Gina’s ailments travel from one place to the next.”

He nodded. “She must be lonely.”

Tipping her head to the side, Amber said, “You’re right. She is. Her family is gone or moved away.”

“She needs a hobby or, better yet, a cause.”

“A cause?”

“Yes, doing something for others helps diminish our own troubles.”

“Very wise. Did Harold teach you that?”

“No, my stepfather. He got my mother involved in raising money for a women’s shelter shortly after they were married.”

“Sounds like a worthy cause.”

“It is.”

“What’s your cause?” She was curious about every aspect of his life.

“Me? Getting my practice up and running and hitting the beach when I can.”

Disappointed, she said, “Not very altruistic.”

“Maybe I’m trying to maintain the stereotype of surfers as self-centered thrill seekers.”

She raised her eyebrows. “I’m familiar with stereotyping.”

Grinning, he said, “I thought you might be. If you must know, I’m on the board of a private relief agency called Surf Care. It’s an agency that combats diseases inside the prime surfing areas of Indonesia.”

“I’ve never heard of it.”

“I’m not surprised. A friend of mine, a doctor named Jake Taylor, started Surf Care. Jake wanted to show our thanks to the people of Indonesia for allowing us to surf in their islands. Jake was horrified at the poverty and suffering he saw when he first traveled there. He quickly saw that ninety percent of the suffering could be prevented with simple medications.”

“That’s very noble of him, and of you.”

“Thanks. We’ve been working together on the project since day one. To date, we’ve raised more than one million dollars for treatment teams and supplies.”

He had surprised her once more. In a good way.

Tipping his head, he regarded her intently. “So what is your cause, besides mothers and babies?”

“I’m active in my Ohio midwifery chapter, and I foster animals for the local Humane Society.”

“No kidding? Are you like a dog whisperer person?”

“No, I’m the woman with the food bowl.”

He laughed. The masculine sound of pure joy sent a thrill straight to her heart. Still chuckling, he asked, “How many animals do you have?”

A number of other families were gathering in the area so they began walking toward a small footbridge that arched over the stream behind the church.

Amber said, “I’ve had as many as four. Right now I have one. A big white cat named Fluffy.”

“How original.” Humor danced through his voice. His smile brightened his often-stern face and made him even more attractive.

Shaking her head, Amber said, “I didn’t name him. The shelter did.”

“How does fostering an animal work?”

“The shelter has a limited amount of space. When they have more pets than they have room for, they send them to foster
families. Sometimes they stay a week, sometimes a month, but they always go back and then to good homes.”

They had reached the bridge and Amber stopped to lean on the wooden railing. The water in the small stream slipped like quicksilver over and around the stones in its race down the hillside from its birthplace in the bubbling spring that had given the town its name.

Phillip stopped beside her and leaned his forearms on the rail, too. “This is a pretty little spot.”

“It’s one of my favorites.”

Amber kept her gaze on the water. How did he do this? How could he twist her around so easily? Each time they were together she started out annoyed with him, and for good reason. Then before long she was sharing a sandwich or cinnamon roll or her favorite spot with him and wishing their time together wouldn’t end. It was perplexing in the extreme.

He turned around and leaned against the railing. “I’ve found some very lovely things to admire in Hope Springs.”

She stared at her hands. “Now you’re making fun of us. Hawaii is much more beautiful.”

“Each place has its own unique beauty, just as each person does.”

Surprised, she gazed up at him. “That’s so true.”

Their eyes locked, his darkened with emotion. “Yes. There are some very, very lovely things in Hope Springs.”

He slowly lowered his head toward her. Amber knew he was going to kiss her. Her heart began to race.

I
t could have been the sun on her upturned face, or the wind that toyed with a few wisps of her hair at her temples that made Phillip want to kiss her. It could have been the secluded bridge with the sound of the brook babbling underneath and the smell of mossy rocks and pine needles in the air.

It could have been anything, but it wasn’t just anything. It was those beautiful mermaid eyes looking up at him. Eyes a man could get lost in.

He bent toward her slowly, giving her time to realize what was happening. That was his mistake.

She leaned toward him a fraction. He sensed her willingness and tilted his head to meet her. Abruptly, she pulled back and took several steps away. A rosy blush flooded her cheeks with color.

She looked down, her hands fluttering nervously as she gestured toward the church. “I have to get going. I…I need to visit my clients today and tell them I won’t be delivering their babies.”

Spinning around, she hurried away from him and back up the grassy lawn toward the building.

Heaving a heartfelt sigh, he leaned against the rail again. “Phillip, old boy, you messed that up big-time.”

Amber ran to her car without stopping. She didn’t care about the odd looks being thrown her way by the congregation members still visiting near the church steps. She had to get away.

Why had he tried to kiss her? Did he think that was what she wanted?

Okay, maybe it was. The thought of what it would be like to kiss him had entered her mind, but she was sure she’d been careful not to let on. Hadn’t she? Had he seen through her pretense? Oh, please, no.

Reaching the sanctuary of her blue station wagon, Amber quickly started the engine and drove home. When she pulled into her own driveway, some of her panic started to fade. She turned off the engine and sat in the quiet car. Leaning forward, she rested her forehead against the steering wheel.

How was she going to face him again? How was she going to work with him after this? She sat back slowly and pressed her fingertips to her lips. What
would
it be like to kiss him?

Would it have been as wonderful as she imagined? Closing her eyes, she relived those moments. The way the sunlight brought out the highlights in his hair. The way his blue eyes matched the color of the sky beyond. She’d never forget the quiet way he said, “There are some very, very lovely things in Hope Springs.”

She knew by the way he was gazing at her that he wasn’t talking about scenery. He’d been talking about her.

“He thinks I’m lovely.” No one had ever said that before. Reaching up, she turned the rearview mirror to see her reflection. What she saw couldn’t be described as beauty.

She had nice hair when she kept the curl contained. It was a light blond color that was as common as dirt among the Amish communities. Her nose was short and turned up at the
tip. A classical beauty wouldn’t be caught dead with a nose like that. Her eyes were a muddle of blue and green without being either. If she had her way, she’d have dark, mysterious eyes like her friend Katie Lantz.

“Oh, skip it. I’m not lovely. He was playing with me.”

Readjusting the mirror, she shook her head at her own foolishness. He was a good-looking man who found himself stuck in a tiny town with nothing to do. It was no wonder he decided to set up a flirtation to ease the boredom.

Well, she would not be his plaything. She was better than that. She would let him know the next time she saw him that he’d stepped over the line. She got out of the car and slammed the door shut.

With purposeful steps she marched toward her front door. When she reached the porch, she opened the door and saw Fluffy waiting by his food bowl. The cat let out a mournful meow. “Fluffy, you won’t believe what that man tried to do today.”

The cat meowed again and circled his bowl. It was clear he didn’t care what was troubling his human companion. Tossing her purse on the kitchen table, Amber opened a cabinet and pulled out a can of cat food. As the opener ran, she tried to think of something scathing to say.

About what? About an almost, maybe kiss? She was more mature than that.

No. She wouldn’t mention a thing to Dr. Phillip. She’d carry on as if nothing
had
happened because nothing had happened. He hadn’t kissed her.

“That’s right. He didn’t kiss me.”

As she knelt beside Fluffy’s bowl, the cat rubbed against her legs.

Spooning the salmon-flavored food into the dish, Amber said, “Maybe he’d simply been leaning forward to scratch his knee, and I completely misread his intentions.”

How embarrassing would it be to rake him over the coals for something he hadn’t done or intended to do?

Banging the spoon against the edge of the bowl to get the last morsel out, she said, “Nothing happened and that’s that.”

Rising to her feet, she drew a deep breath. “Good. Now I need to let my clients know that I won’t be seeing them until Harold is back or until I can change Phillip’s—I mean
Dr. White’s
opinion about home births. I’ll go to work as usual at the office. I won’t say a thing unless he says something because nothing happened.”

Looking down, she said, “Do you hear me, Fluffy? Nothing happened.”

The cat didn’t stop eating to reply.

By Monday morning, Phillip had an adequate apology prepared and rehearsed. It had taken most of a sleepless night to compose, but he felt he’d achieved the right tone of repentance mixed with a touch of humor. Although he wasn’t eager to deliver it, he found he
was
eager to see Amber again.

At eight o’clock, he left his grandfather’s house and walked with quick steps the two blocks the office. As he rounded the last corner, he stopped in surprise. The parking lot in front of the office was filled with horses and buggies. A crowd of Amish people stood grouped near the front door.

Had there been some kind of epidemic outbreak to bring so many people in at once? As he walked toward the door, one elderly man with a long gray beard stepped forward and approached Phillip.

“I am Bishop Zook. May I have a word with you, Dr. White?”

“What’s going on, Bishop? Are these people sick?”

“No. We’ve come today to ask you to reconsider your decision to stop Nurse Bradley from delivering our babies.”

Phillip looked over the sea of Amish faces, both men and women, waiting for his reply. Many of the women had children at their sides or babies in their arms. None of them were smiling.

Amber had put them up to this. And to think he’d lost sleep planning to apologize for wanting to kiss her.

Shaking his head, he said, “I’m sorry, Bishop Zook. On this issue I cannot change my mind. The safest place for a woman to have a child is in the hospital.”

The bishop eyed him silently for a long moment. “A high court of Pennsylvania upheld our right to have our children at home and to use midwives.”

“This is Ohio, not Pennsylvania, sir.”

“We are a peaceful people, Doctor. It is not our way to make trouble. Your thinking on this matter jeopardizes our way of life. We must be separate from the world, a peculiar people set apart by our faith. Home births are natural and in keeping with God’s design.”

“I understand and admire your religious principles, but I have principles of my own. They won’t allow me to change my mind on this issue. Amber won’t be delivering babies. I will. Your women will have to go to the hospital or birthing clinic in Millersburg.”

“I am sorry you feel this way, Doctor. We will no longer be needing your services.” Turning around, he spoke to the crowd in Pennsylvania Dutch, leaving Phillip clueless as to what he was saying. Whatever he said, it started a buzz of low conversation in return.

“What’s going on here?”

Phillip spun around to see Amber standing a few feet away. “Oh, like you don’t know.”

“Sorry?” She stepped closer, a frown making a deep crease between her brows.

“Now you’re going to try and tell me you didn’t arrange this mob?”

“What are you talking about?”

He pointed to Bishop Zook. “Ask him.”

“I will. I’m sure he’ll at least be civil in his answers.”

Walking past Phillip, she stopped beside the bishop. They spoke in low tones and in the language Phillip couldn’t understand, but it was easy to see Amber was becoming upset.

Phillip crossed his arms over his chest and waited. If she hadn’t arranged this, he might have thought she was pleading with the church elder. After a few more minutes, the bishop turned and walked away. One by one, the buggies drove out of the parking lot until only one man was left standing by the door. It was David Nissley, Martha’s husband.

The look of indecision on his face moved Phillip to approach him. “Mr. Nissley, how is Martha?”

“Some better. She can move her legs now. Again, I wish to offer my thanks for your help that day. I say this now because I will not speak to you again.” He turned away, climbed into his buggy and left.

Phillip turned to Amber. “What does he mean?”

“It has been decided that you are an outsider who seeks to disrupt their ways. They will no longer have communication with you or do business with you.”

“I’m being shunned?”

Amber shook her head. “Only someone who departs from the teaching of the Amish faith is shunned. You’re being avoided. I can’t believe this. The Amish make up over fifty percent of our patient base.”

“You can’t believe this? Aren’t you the one who arranged it?”

She rounded on him with a deep scowl. “Why would I arrange this?”

“Payback because I won’t sign your collaborative practice agreement.”

“Are you serious? You think I’d do this?”

“Did you or did you not visit your clients and tell them I stopped you from making home deliveries?”

“I did. But I didn’t plan this.”

They were still glaring at each other when Wilma drove in and parked her old sedan beside the front door. She got out and gave them a funny look. “What’s going on?”

“I’m being shunned,” Phillip said, daring Amber to correct him.

Wilma shook her head. “You can’t be shunned. You aren’t a member of the Amish faith.”

He blew out a huff of pure frustration. “Okay, I’m being avoided.”

Wilma looked at Amber. “For real?”

Nodding, Amber said, “For real.”

“That’s not good.” Wilma pressed her hands to her face. “That’s
really
not good. The Amish are half our patients. We aren’t going to be able to make our expenses if they stop coming to the clinic. We’re barely making it as it is. Why, we could be broke in a matter of weeks.”

Phillip walked over and laid a hand on her shoulder. “Don’t panic, Wilma. I’m sure this is a bluff on their part. People can’t do without medical care.”

Amber walked past them, shaking her head. “You underestimate the Amish, Dr. Phillip. Word will spread and the Amish will stop coming here. They’ve resisted changes that threaten their way of life for hundreds of years. They aren’t going to make an exception for you.”

Normally shy Wilma surprised Phillip when she shook off his hand and shouted at him, “You’re trying to shut this place down, aren’t you? Is that what you want? Well, you might get it. Then see how proud Harold is of you.”