15 Valentine Place

“I can tell you’re a doctor now, Garret. You’re late,” Dylan said with a teasing grin.

The younger man smiled, then gave him a bear hug. “There literally aren’t enough hours in a day in this profession. Welcome home, Dylan. It’s good to see you. How’s the shoulder?”

“Your friend Pete says it’ll be as good as new after he goes in and does his handiwork,” he answered, stepping aside so they were no longer in the center of the corridor. He studied his brother. “You look tired.”

“That’s the way I’m supposed to look. I’m a resident.” He nudged Dylan toward the stairs. “You look like you’ve been leading the good life.”

He spread his hands. “What can I say? I live on an island in the Caribbean. I thought by now you would have come to visit me.”

“Don’t think I wouldn’t have liked to, but I’m short on two things. Time and money. And until I’m finished with my residency, that’s not going to change.”

“I could help you out in the money department,” Dylan offered.

“Thanks, I appreciate the offer, but time is the real villain here. Speaking of which,” he glanced at his watch. “We need to make this lunch a quick one.”

“I guess that means we don’t get to pop across the street for a big thick juicy burger?” he quipped.

Garret smiled apologetically and said, “The hospital cafeteria makes a great tuna hot dish.”

Dylan grimaced, then followed his brother into the dining area. “I guess I should get used to this,” he said as they passed a section of Jell-O and pudding. “It’s going to be my diet while I’m here.”

Garret chuckled. “I hope you’re going to be a better patient than Jason was. You should have heard the moaning and groaning that kid did when he had his appendix out.”

Since Garret had mentioned their youngest brother, Dylan decided to steer the conversation toward family. As they sat down at a small table, he asked, “Is Jason doing all right? I know he was in some trouble last semester with his grades.”

“Mom told you?”

He nodded. “Yeah. It’s not a secret, is it?”

Garret shrugged. “No. I just didn’t think you knew about it, that’s all,” he said as he removed the items from his tray and set it aside.

“So is Jason doing all right?”

“Yeah. He’s just trying to figure out what he wants to do with his life. There are so many opportunities, so many choices to make. It isn’t easy being nineteen.”

“As we both know,” Dylan agreed, slipping his jacket over the back of the chair before sitting down.

“It’s that emotional tug-of-war every college kid goes through—wanting to be independent, yet liking the security of still being able to be a dependent on the folks. One minute he’s saying, “I can take care of myself. The next he’s calling Mom and moaning about the latest crisis in his life.”

“You mean like when he needs money,” Dylan remarked dryly.

“It’s not just money. Mom handles things pretty well, but it’s too bad Dad isn’t here. Jason could use a good role model,” he said, ripping open the cellophane wrapping on his soda crackers and crumbling them into his soup.

Dylan would have liked to point out that their father wasn’t exactly a good role model, but he didn’t want their reunion to be spoiled by the animosity such a remark would create.

So he let the comment about their father slide and said, “I’ll talk to Jason while I’m here and see what I can do.”

“You don’t need to worry about it. Shane and I are keeping an eye on him.”

“You don’t want me talking to him?”

He shrugged. “I didn’t say that. I just think it might be better if you didn’t try to be an authority figure.”

Dylan frowned. “Why not?”

“He’s belligerent enough the way it is and you two haven’t exactly been close. You left home when he was only six.”

Dylan felt the hairs on his neck raise. He knew he had no reason to be defensive, but that didn’t matter. “It’s not my fault that there are twelve years difference in our ages. I left home at eighteen because it was time for me to leave.”

“Yeah, I know. I didn’t say you abandoned him,” he reminded Dylan. “I just said you weren’t here when he was growing up.”

“He’s still my brother and I care about him.”

“All of us do. And as I said, Shane and I have already had a talk with him about his grades.”

So you don’t need to, was the unspoken message that came through loud and clear. “I still would like to take a drive over to Wisconsin to see him. I’ll have the time once the surgery’s over.”

“Mom would probably appreciate it if you did, but you’d better be prepared to get a lecture from him on how he’s not a kid anymore and he can take care of himself. He doesn’t want anyone checking up on him,” he warned.

“I’m not going to check up on him,” he said with a hint of impatience. “I just want to visit him and see how he’s doing. Any other warnings you want to give me?” Dylan tried to keep his voice light but failed.

“Actually, there is. It’s about Mom.” He set his spoon down and stared at Dylan. “She was really upset by the way things went the last time you were home. The stuff that went on between you and Shane—”

Dylan interrupted him. “I’ve already had this conversation with Shane, and we’ve worked things out, so let it rest, okay?” He was disappointed to sense that Garret seemed to be on Shane’s side.

“Good. I’m glad to hear that. We’re brothers. We should act like it.”

There was a bit of an uncomfortable silence, which was broken by a nurse who stopped by to give Garret a message. When she eyed Dylan curiously, Garret made the introductions.

After a few minutes of small talk, she was gone and Garret said, “I can see you haven’t lost the touch.”

“Touch for what?”

“If you’d patted your knee she would have sat on your lap.” He shook his head. “Man, you have always had a quality that women respond to.”

“She stopped by to talk to you,” Dylan pointed out.

Garret chuckled. “Yeah, and if you believe that, I have some nice oceanfront property in South Dakota I can sell you.” He took a sip of his coffee, then said, “I don’t suppose these northern girls have the same appeal as those sun-kissed, bikini-clad island beauties running around on Saint Martin.”

Dylan smiled. “A beautiful woman is a beautiful woman, no matter what the climate.”

“And you’ve always had an eye for one, haven’t you,” he said with a sly smile. He took a bite of his sandwich, then asked. “How many are there in your life? Still juggling more than one at a time?”

“What makes you think I have any?”

He chuckled. “Come on. I may be five years younger than you, but I did know what was going on when we were kids. By the time I hit junior high your reputation with women was legendary.”

Dylan couldn’t suppress his smile. “All right, so I made the most of my youth and the opportunities that presented themselves.”

“Are you saying you don’t have those opportunities now?”

Dylan shook his head. “If I had kept going at that pace, I’d be dead.”

“So it’s one woman at a time now?”

“It always was. They just came closer together back then,” he said with another grin.

“Come on, be serious. Is there a special woman in your life?”

“Not at the moment.”

“I thought Mom said there was someone named Andrea.”

“Was is the correct word. That didn’t work out,” Dylan said, not wanting to tell him the details of a relationship he had already put in the past.

“What about you? Last time I was home you seemed pretty serious about another med student. A Sarah with auburn hair, nice legs.”

He shook his head. “It didn’t work out, which is probably good because I really don’t have time for anything but medicine right now.”

“Then Mom hasn’t tried to find you the perfect mate?”

“She’s not a matchmaker, Dylan. She only responds to those who seek her advice. Mom would never try to interfere in our love lives. She’s not like that.”

“I’m glad to hear that. The last thing I need is to have Mom trying to fix me up with someone. It’s going to be difficult enough staying in a house full of women. I’m used to living alone.”

Garret shook his head. “It’s hard to think of you living alone. I mean, I guess I just assumed you lived with some woman but didn’t tell us.”

Dylan chuckled. “I’ve had a few try to move their things into my closet, but they haven’t made it past the front door.”

“At least with the remodeling Mom’s done, Maddie and Krystal shouldn’t get in your way. What do you think of what she’s done to the house?”

“It was a bit of a shock at first, but I think it looks good.”

He nodded in agreement. “It was a good project for her. Shane offered to deal with the contractors, but she insisted on doing it all herself. And she did just fine, although I think Maddie helped her.”

Mention of the other woman gave Dylan the opportunity to ask the questions he hadn’t wanted to ask his mother. “How did Madeline Lamont end up renting from Mom? I thought she only took in college students.”

“Maddie was Mom’s first boarder. She came here shortly after Dad died. She was with some theater production that came to the Twin Cities.”

“She’s an actress?”

“A dancer.”

“Is that what she does for a living?”

“She’s not performing anymore, just teaching.”

Again the image of Maddie dressed in the harem pants flashed in Dylan’s memory. “There’s a big demand for belly dancing in the Twin Cities?”

“Not belly dancing. Ballet,” he corrected. “The belly dancing is something she does on the side. Mainly she teaches kids ballet and tap at a studio just a few blocks from here.”

“Mom said something about her working at a food co-op, too,” he went on. “Is she one of those health food nuts who won’t eat anything that isn’t organically grown?”

“Just because she’s conscious about her health doesn’t make her a nut. And why all the questions about her anyway?” He paused with his fork in midair. “You’re not thinking that she might be a pleasant distraction while you’re here, are you?”

He clicked his tongue. “If she’s a distraction it won’t be the pleasant kind.”

“Why not? She’s hot and she’s smart. What more could a man want? And she can still beat me at chess.”

Dylan agreed with his brother about her being hot but kept his opinion to himself. “She may be your type, but she’s definitely not mine,” he told Garret, wanting to dispel any notion Garret had that he was interested in the woman.

“I’m glad to hear that, because she’s taken.” There was no mistaking the warning in his brother’s voice.

“By you?” Dylan asked with a sly smile.

“No, but she does date a very good friend of mine.”

“Well, your friend has nothing to worry about from me. Even if I were looking for a woman—which I’m not—I wouldn’t be looking in Madeline’s direction. If anything, I’ll be doing my best to avoid her as much as possible.”

He stared at him in amazement. “That’s the first time I’ve ever heard anyone say that about Maddie. It might be a good idea if you didn’t share your opinion of her with Mom. She regards Maddie as the daughter she never had.”

“So I’ve noticed.”

“You sound as if you disapprove.”

“I’m just worried about Mom, that’s all. I’d hate to see her be taken advantage of by anyone.”

Garret laughed. “You don’t need to worry about that with Maddie.”

“You sound awfully confident.”

“That’s because I am.” He’d already finished his lunch and shoved aside his plate, resting on his elbows as he asked, “Have you met Krystal?”

Dylan shrugged. “Other than a brief introduction, we haven’t talked,” he answered honestly. “Why?”

Just then Garret pushed his lab coat aside to reach for the beeper on his waist. “I’m being paged. I have to go.” He quickly drained the remains of his coffee and was about to load his dishes back on the tray when Dylan stopped him.

“I’ll get them. You go attend to your emergency.”

Garret smiled. “Thanks.” Before he left he said, “I’ll try to stop by the house tonight, but if I don’t, I’ll see you in the morning before you go into surgery.”

Dylan nodded.

As he walked out of the cafeteria, he called over his shoulder, “Don’t worry about a thing. Pete’s the best.”

Dylan hadn’t been thinking about his upcoming surgery. He was thinking about Maddie.

As he climbed into his father’s car, he noticed the plastic water jugs in the back seat of the car. He didn’t have to give them to Maddie. He could fill the jugs himself and leave without even seeing her.

There were only two problems. One was that he didn’t want to stand in line to fill water jugs. The second was, he wanted to see her.

MADDIE NOTICED Dylan the minute he entered the store. He wore khaki slacks and a dark brown leather aviator jacket. Despite the below-zero windchill, his head was bare, his sun-streaked hair in disarray from the wind. Just as it had last night, when she first saw him, her heart skipped a beat.

“I’d like half a pound of baby Swiss cheese,” a customer said, drawing her attention back to the deli case in front of her.

Maddie lifted the cheese from the refrigerated case and slid the block onto the slicer, aware that Dylan was headed in her direction. Before she had finished the woman’s order, he was at the deli counter.

She could feel his eyes on her as she worked. As hard as she tried, she couldn’t keep from sneaking a peek at him. He looked like a surfer who’d taken the wrong flight and ended up in the land of snow and ice instead of sunshine and beaches.

When her customer left, she had no choice but to give her attention to him. “What can I do for you?” she asked, trying to keep her voice level, which wasn’t easy considering the way her breath wanted to catch in her throat.

“Mom asked me to drop these off.” He held up the plastic jugs. “Said you’d know what to do with them.”

When she took them from him, their fingers touched. His were cold, hers warm, which she figured accounted for the tiny shiver she felt. “Thanks.”

“Mom never bought water when we were growing up,” he commented. “We drank it straight from the tap.”

“No one realized the problems with lead pipes back then,” she responded, setting the jugs on the floor behind her.

“So this is where you work,” he said, giving a cursory glance around the store.

She spread her arms. “This is it.”

“The store’s changed quite a bit since I was a kid.” She didn’t comment, but waited for him to speak again. He turned his attention to the food in the refrigerated case. “Why don’t you give me one of those small cartons of coleslaw.”

She reached for a half-pint container and filled it with coleslaw. Her movements were sharp as she slapped a couple of spoonfuls into the cup. She could feel his eyes on her and she hurried so he could take his purchase and leave.

As she set the carton on the counter, she asked, “Anything else?”

“Yes. I’d like to start over.” His eyes were a warm brown and the message in them made her uncomfortable.

It said, “I’m a man and you’re an attractive woman.” She didn’t want to see that kind of look in his eyes. He was her landlady’s son and that was how she planned to regard him. “You don’t want the coleslaw?” she asked, deliberately misunderstanding him.

“I’m not talking about the coleslaw. I’m talking about last night. There’s no point in pretending it didn’t happen, Maddie. If we’re going to live under the same roof for the next month or so, don’t you think it would be a good idea if we made a fresh start?” The words were delivered with the ease of a man who was no stranger to negotiation and compromise.

She knew that to do anything but agree would be ill-mannered. “All right. I’m willing to forget about last night.”

“What about fourteen years ago? Can you forget about that, too?”

She frowned. “I don’t know what you mean.”

“You didn’t like me very much back then, either.” He didn’t look offended by the statement, but rather amused.

She folded her arms across her chest. “That’s not the best way to make a new beginning—by bringing up the past.” She didn’t see any need to correct him regarding the feelings she’d had for him as a fourteen-year-old.

“We’re not exactly strangers, Maddie.”

She didn’t need him to tell her that. The minute she’d seen him last night, memories of that summer had come flooding back. She knew more about Dylan Donovan than she cared to admit.

“How do you suggest we make a new beginning?” he asked. Again there was that interest in his eye that had the nerves in Maddie’s body rising to alarm status.

“Maybe we say we both misunderstood each other last night and just start over,” she suggested.

He stared at her, those penetrating brown eyes making her want to squirm. She didn’t. She stood her ground, arms folded, chin up, meeting his eyes squarely. She was twenty-eight, not fourteen. She didn’t need to run and hide from any man.

“I can do that,” he told her with a grin that made her stomach do a funny little flutter.

“Good. Then we start over,” she stated evenly.

“We start over,” he repeated.

She wondered if that meant he’d finally pick up the coleslaw and leave, but he didn’t. He said, “I know we agree on one thing.”

“And that would be—?”

“We want my mom to be happy, right?”

“Right,” she agreed.

“You must know I didn’t come home to upset her,” he said with a questioning look in his eyes.

“And I haven’t lived with her the past year and a half so that I could take advantage of her.” The look in her eyes dared him to challenge that statement. He didn’t and she added, “That is what you were thinking, isn’t it? You don’t like the fact that your mom and I are close, do you?”

“I didn’t say that,” he denied.

“You don’t have to.” She took a deep breath to steady her emotions. “Dylan, your mother’s not some helpless, naive widow. She not only runs a boardinghouse, but she runs her own business, too. She’s nobody’s fool.”

To her surprise, he said, “I do believe you’re right.”

“I am.”

He grinned then and Maddie’s heart skipped more than one beat.

“You and I managed to live under the same roof without any problems when we were teenagers, Maddie. We should be able to do the same as adults, don’t you think?”

She almost said no. Every instinct in her told her Dylan Donovan could be big trouble for any woman.

“I don’t see why not,” she lied.

As if he knew she wasn’t sincere, he said, “It’s a big house.”

Not big enough.

“And it’s only temporary,” he added. “Who knows? My shoulder may heal faster than expected and I might not even be here this time next month.”

She should be so lucky.

“I’m used to living alone, fending for myself. I don’t need to be entertained,” he continued.

As if she was even interested in trying to entertain him.

“I only say that because, knowing my mom, she may have different ideas.” He smoothed a hand over the back of his neck. “It’s going to be embarrassing if she tries to arrange social activities for me.”

“She hasn’t done it for any of your brothers, so I don’t think you have anything to worry about,” she assured him. Not that he needed any assistance from anyone in that department. She doubted he had trouble finding female companions.

Noticing a customer approaching, Dylan finally picked up the small container of coleslaw. “I’d better pay for this. I’m glad we cleared the air, Maddie,” he said with a grin that gave her a glimpse of the charm he could exude if he chose.

She didn’t like what that smile did to her insides. She had no doubt that Dylan Donovan, should he choose, could be one irresistible man.

“Me, too,” she said, grateful for the customer waiting for her attention. “It’s good we settled this.”

“Yes, it is.” He extended his hand to her.

Unlike the first time their fingers had touched, his hand was warm. She’d barely placed hers inside his when she pulled it back. She hoped he thought the brevity of their handshake was due to the fact that there was a customer waiting for service. What she didn’t want him to know was that it’d been an instinctive defense mechanism. She didn’t like the pleasant sensation that contact had created.

She wasn’t fourteen and he wasn’t some heartthrob who could make her go weak in the knees. He was nothing at all like the kind of man she wanted to arouse her interest.

If he thought she’d be seeking his company while he was home, he was sadly mistaken. She’d do whatever she could to avoid having to spend any time with Dylan Donovan, even if it meant volunteering for extra hours at the co-op.

“How much is the farmer’s cheese?” A voice interrupted her musings.

Maddie was forced to turn her attention back to the deli case, but not before she took one more glance in the cashier’s direction. She noticed Dylan was smiling at the woman behind the counter. Maddie was certain that the woman smiled back.

CHAPTER FOUR

Dear Leonie: I’m attracted to this guy and I don’t want to be. I’m doing everything I can to avoid running into him, but it’s as if fate keeps putting him in my path. What can I do?

Signed: Wishing I could be invisible

Leonie says: Are you sure you really want to get out of his way?

ONE OF THE THINGS Maddie liked best about living in Leonie’s house was that Leonie made her tenants feel as if they were part of her family. Although Maddie and Krystal both had their own rooms on the second floor, there were many nights when all three women would gather downstairs in Leonie’s living room. It’s where Maddie and Krystal were when Leonie returned from the hospital the following evening.

“How’s Dylan?” Maddie asked when she entered the room.

“He’s doing fine. The doctor says he’ll be able to come home tomorrow,” Leonie said, shrugging out of her coat.

“We were just going to watch a chick flick. Want to join us?” Krystal asked.

Leonie glanced at the big bowl on the coffee table. “Is that popcorn buttered?”

Maddie grinned mischievously. “Yes, and we’re drinking real Coke, not diet. It’s so much fun to be bad.”

“Come on, Leonie. Join us,” Krystal urged. “We’ve rented a romantic comedy starring Joseph Fiennes. He is sooo cute.” She sighed. “And when the popcorn’s gone, we’re going to have hot-fudge sundaes.”

Leonie chuckled. “Oh, you girls do want to be bad, don’t you?” Maddie could see her resolve weakening. “All right. You convinced me, but first I need to take care of a few things. Will you give me fifteen minutes to change my clothes?”

“Take your time,” Maddie called out to her departing figure.

But she didn’t take very long at all. And when she returned, she hadn’t changed her clothes.

“You’re never going to believe who I just talked to,” she said in a breathless voice. “The producer of the Rob Lerner show. He wants me to come to California and tape a Valentine’s Day segment.”

Krystal shrieked. “Oh my gosh, that is so cool! Do you know how many people watch that show?”

Maddie didn’t watch a lot of TV, but she did know that Rob Lerner was a comedian who hosted a late-night talk show that consistently scored high in the ratings. “That is good news, Leonie. What exactly did he say?”

“I’m so stunned I can hardly remember. Luckily I took notes.” Leonie waved a pink slip of paper in midair. “Apparently they’re going to be doing a special segment for Valentine’s Day and they want me to be a part of it. I’m supposed to give tips on how to make the day more special for the one you love.” She paused, pushing her finger to her lips. “Of course, just because I’m there for the taping doesn’t mean I won’t get edited out before the program is aired.”

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