Midnight Remedy (6 page)

He didn’t look entirely happy when he answered. “I wanted a change from the University system. I’d been in it since I started in medicine and I wanted more patient contact. When the opportunity in Capistrano came up, I took it.”

They talked for a while longer and then Marge returned, tilting Eric’s plate back just before the contents landed in his lap. She slammed it on the table with an “Oops, sorry,” and slapped Piper’s dish down in front of her.

“That was close.” Eric viewed his lap with relief before glancing up. “Looks like your friend is coming over.”

“Hello, Piper,” Mrs. Croaker said in a voice that matched her name. Piper stared at her in silence. “Same poor manners, I see. Aren’t you going to introduce me?”

“No,” Piper said. She wouldn’t pretend to be friendly. Eric gave her a curious look.

Mrs. Croaker sniffed and said to Eric, “I’m Mrs. Blair Croaker.” Her rather protuberant eyes bulged.

“Eric Chambers.” He shook the hand she thrust forward.

“Chambers? The new doctor in Capistrano?” Her mouth formed a smirking smile that Piper imagined she thought was pleasant.

“That’s right.”

“We’ve heard so much about you. My daughter-in-law is having a baby and wants you to be her doctor. Their second child,” she said, with a pointed look at Piper. “And you so new to town and you’ve already met Piper. What a
coincidence,
” she said in a tone of honeyed venom. “Did you know each other before you came here, doctor? Perhaps in Lubbock?”

“Excuse us,” Piper interrupted, “our dinner’s getting cold.”

For a minute Mrs. Croaker looked like she wasn’t going to leave, but then she sniffed again and said, “Nice to meet you, doctor.”

“What was that about?” Eric asked after she left. “She seemed a little strange.”

“Not strange, just plain mean.” Piper stared after Mrs. Croaker. “I used to be engaged to her son and it didn’t work out. Ever since then she’s hated me.” Hate was a mild description of how Neil Croaker’s mother felt about her.

“In that case, we’ll just forget her,” he said.

Piper wished it were that simple. Don’t be stupid, just tell him, she tried to convince herself. You know he’ll find out eventually. Better if he hears it from you than from her.

Oh, what difference did it make what Mrs. Croaker or anyone else told him? She wasn’t going to get involved with him, so what he heard or didn’t hear shouldn’t matter a bit.

“Don’t you ever miss the city?” she asked, determined to avoid thinking about Mrs. Croaker. Why should she let that old biddy ruin the first date she’d had in months?

“Not much. All I have to do is remind myself of the traffic, the smog, the crime—”

“Stop,” she said, laughing. “Okay, I’ll admit Capistrano does have some advantages.”

“And some I hadn’t even realized,” he agreed, taking her hand to hold it in his.

She’d walked right into that one. Her heart gave a skip and her stomach fluttered at the contact. She was being a fool to let herself be affected by him. A man who could make a place like the steakhouse seem romantic was definitely dangerous. But why couldn’t she pretend, just for tonight? It was a refreshing change being with a charming man who knew nothing of her past.

He squeezed her hand lightly before releasing it. If she hadn’t been a practical woman, she’d have sworn her hand tingled.

They finished eating and Eric waved at Marge. “Early day tomorrow,” he said to Piper. “Do you mind?”

“That’s all right. On a ranch, all the days start early.” As they left, Piper noticed he gave Marge a good tip, even after she’d nearly dumped his dinner in his lap.

They didn’t talk much on the way home until Eric broke the silence to ask her a question. “Is something wrong?”

Surprised, she looked at him. “No. Why do you ask?”

“You’re quiet.” He reached out and patted her hand that rested on her knee. A comforting gesture, but there was nothing comfortable in the bone melting jolt she felt at the contact. “It was that woman, wasn’t it? Anything you want to talk about?”

Oh, Lord, he sounded so sympathetic. “No, it’s nothing.” She hadn’t been thinking of Mrs. Croaker, she’d been thinking about Eric. About kissing him good night. Even before they turned into the driveway, anticipation made her stomach churn. Why in the world was she making a big deal out of a simple good night kiss?

He walked her to the door, but instead of leaving, he simply stood there staring at her. At her mouth. He was going to kiss her. She wanted him to. And she was scared witless of what would happen when he did.

“Good night, Piper. I’ll call you.”

She watched him leave, deflated like a popped balloon. All that build up. For nothing. Her hand balled into a fist. She’d bet dollars to donuts Eric planned it that way.

Eric closed her file with a snap and walked out, leaving her with her fishlike mouth hanging wide open. People like her made him sick. Though she’d had no compunction about maligning everyone, smearing Piper had given her special pleasure.

Piper hadn’t said, but Eric had assumed she married young and then divorced. To find out she’d never been married was a surprise, but he’d be the last person to judge her, especially when he didn’t know the true story. After all, he’d made some mistakes himself—marrying Dawn had been a doozy. No, he admired Piper for having the guts to raise her son where she wanted to, regardless of small town malicious tongues. It couldn’t have been easy for her to begin with. Add to that people of Mrs. Croaker’s ilk and it would be downright miserable at times.

“You didn’t have to come out here,”
Eric told Dave that afternoon. Eric had driven out to the Alpine airport to pick up his friend.

“The hell I didn’t,” Dave said. “You’re not getting anywhere, so obviously I’ll have to attend to it myself. That’s why I made an appointment with her. Now, what’s the problem? Why won’t she give you the formula?”

“Piper doesn’t want the publicity. And she thinks it could cause problems in the wrong hands.” Crime lords, he thought, smiling at their private joke.

“Did you tell her about my clinic?” Dave asked.

“She didn’t give me a chance to. She won’t give that formula to anyone.”

“If you wanted to, you could charm her out of it.”

Eric grinned. The formula wasn’t the only thing he wanted to charm Piper out of. “Afraid not, Dave. But you’re welcome to try.”

“What’s she like? I’m good with little old ladies.”

“Too bad, buddy. She’s young.”

“I’m even better with them. Is she married?”

“What does that have to do with anything?” Eric asked. Come to think of it, Dave was damn good with young, unattached women.

“So she’s not. Do I detect a little interest, Dr. Chambers? I thought you’d sworn off women lately.”

“Hardly.” Eric flicked him a sardonic glance. “Just because I wouldn’t go out with that vampire you tried to set me up with doesn’t mean I have no interest in women.”

“Chicken. You have to admit Lila’s a knockout.”

“You go out with her, then. I’ve still got teeth marks.”

Dave laughed. “I did. That’s why I set her up with you.”

“With friends like you,” Eric said.

Half an hour later, they arrived at the Stevenson ranch. The sleepy dog was nowhere to be seen, and neither was anyone else. Assuming Piper would be in the greenhouse, Eric crossed the yard and pulled open the door. A blast of water hit him full in the face. “What the
 . . .
” Sputtering, he backed into Dave.

Holding a sprayer, Piper watched them both with round-eyed dismay. A few feet away, also holding a hose, stood Cole. Both of them were soaking wet.

“Have we come at a bad time?” Eric asked.

She laughed and said, “Cole was just helping me water. I’m sorry, Eric. Dr. Burson, you must think I’m a lunatic.”

“Well, Dave?” Eric grinned and cocked an eyebrow.

“Uh, I, uh—” Dave stuttered for several seconds. “Am I to take this as a definite “no” about sharing the formula?”

A corner of her mouth lifted in a smile. “Give me a minute to change and we’ll talk about it. Cole, find some towels for Dr. Chambers and Dr. Burson.”

Cole grabbed some towels from the rack of metal shelves standing against one wall and handed them to Dave and Eric. Judging by the number, Eric figured water fights were the norm. After leading them outside to the stone fence, Cole disappeared in the direction of the barn.

Shortly Piper returned, wearing a dry T-shirt and shorts. Her damp hair curled about her face like a blonde halo and she wore no makeup. He wondered how a knockout like Piper apparently had no artifices. Every beautiful woman he’d ever known had worked at it. Dawn, Eric remembered, wouldn’t have been caught dead without makeup. But then, Piper didn’t need it.

“No formula,” Piper said immediately. “I told Eric I wouldn’t give it out and I haven’t changed my mind.”

“Then why did you agree to see me?” Dave asked.

“Because he hangs in there like hair in a biscuit,” she said, with a jerk of her thumb at Eric. “He thinks you can convince me to change my mind. So go ahead.” She folded her arms across her chest. “Convince me.”

Dave tried his best, but she still wouldn’t buy it. Her expression softened, though, when Dave described his urology clinic which took a special interest in male infertility. Piper was a lot softer touch than she liked to let on, Eric thought.

“Look, Dr. Burson, until you can assure me that the remedy won’t be abused, then I have to say no. And aside from that, I have no intention of exposing my family to the possible publicity a discovery like this could bring.”

“It’s Dave, please. The chances of the remedy being abused are extremely remote. And naturally, your part in its development will be kept confidential. Consider all the people your formula might help.”

“Do you honestly think it might work as a remedy for impotence?” She shot him a skeptical glance. “Eric doesn’t believe it. Why do you?”

“In my opinion, there’s a good chance it will work. If not as a cure for impotence, possibly as an aid in another problem. Let me take you to dinner tonight and we’ll discuss it further.”

“She can’t,” Eric said. “She’s already got a date.” Both of them turned to stare at him. Piper looked at him like he was a raving madman. “With me,” he added.

Dave frowned at him. “I have to go back tomorrow. I’d hoped we could resolve this before I left.”

“It wouldn’t make any difference, Dave,” Piper said.

“Will you at least consider it?”

“Look, no matter how much you harangue me, the answer is still no.” The look she shot Eric told him not to get his hopes up, either. Before she could speak again, the phone in the greenhouse rang and she ran to answer it.

Eric watched her leave. “I need to talk to Piper for a minute and then we can go,” he told his friend.

“You’re an unscrupulous dog, Chambers,” Dave said. “You didn’t have a date with her.”

Unabashed, Eric grinned at him. “You notice she didn’t contradict me. I’ll be back.”

Piper hung up the phone
and turned to Eric, who leaned against one of the wooden plant benches with his arms crossed over his chest. Rather than apologetic, he looked amused. “Why the devil did you say we had a date?”

“Simple,” he said lifting his shoulder. “I didn’t want you to go out with Dave.”