The Best Catch in Texas

“Thank you, Cook, you’re too sweet,” Nicolette told her as she placed the pitcher and glass on a small table between the two women.

Cook rose up to her full height and with her hands on her slim hips gave Nicolette a quick survey.

“You look like hell, Miss Nicci. Are they trying to kill you over there at that clinic?”

“Not really. There’s just lots of sick folks these days.”

The older woman clicked her tongue with disapproval. “Too much hustle and bustle. That’s what makes ’em sick. If things were quiet and slow, we’d all live a lot longer.”

Nicolette gave the woman a tired smile. “Looks like the fast pace agrees with you, Cook. You don’t look a day older than you did ten years ago.”

“Hah!” With a loud snort, she waved a dismissive hand at Nicolette and started toward the door. “I don’t have a fast pace, Miss Nicci, I stay in the kitchen. Where I’m happy.”

The older woman disappeared into the house and Nicolette poured herself a small drink. “I guess that’s Cook’s secret to good health and longevity. She’s happy,” she said pensively.

Geraldine looked thoughtfully at her. “Speaking of being happy, there’s something on your face tonight, darling, that worries me. Is anything wrong? You’re not dwelling on Bill, are you?”

Frowning, Nicolette took a long sip from her glass and glanced out at the wide lawn sloping away from the house. Huge spreading live oaks obstructed the view of the night sky, but between the dipping branches the twinkling lights of her cousin’s house could be seen, along with several nightlights skirting the barns and feed lots. For now the ranch was quiet and peaceful and she felt its soothing arms wrap around her weary shoulders.

“If you think I’m still grieving over Bill, you couldn’t be more wrong,” she said flatly.

Geraldine softly drummed her fingers against the arm of the lawn chair. “You can’t deny you were terribly hurt when he left you for that—that other woman.”

Nicolette inwardly cringed. Tonight she was hardly in the mood to discuss Bill or her failed marriage, but she didn’t want to cut her mother’s questions short. Nicolette knew from experience that to do so would only make her mother dig more.

“You know how I feel about that, Mother. It wasn’t entirely his fault. I left him alone too many nights and he…decided to stray.”

“My Lord, you were working, Nicci! It wasn’t like you were out prowling with tom cats while he sat home pining for you.”

That much was true, Nicolette thought dismally. But she’d worked incessantly to make herself forget that her husband had misled her, that none of the special plans they’d made before their marriage would ever come true.

“Believe me, none of what Bill did or didn’t do matters anymore, Mother.”

Geraldine rolled her eyes. “How can you say that when the whole horrible affair is still leading you around by the nose? If it didn’t matter, you would have already found yourself another man by now. You’d be married and having kids. Instead, you’re still killing yourself trying to doctor half the town!”

Nicolette stiffened with resentment. “Is there anything wrong with that? I thought helping people to be healthy was a noble cause.”

“Damn it, Nicci, it is noble. But there are other things to life, you know. I’d like to have grandchildren before I die.”

The lonely pain that always lingered in Nicolette’s chest throbbed to life. “Lex or Mercedes will give you grandchildren, when the time comes. Besides, you’re a long way from dying, Mother.”

A disbelieving snort slipped from the older woman as she eyed her eldest child. “I might be a long way from dying, but your brother and sister are even further away from giving me grandchildren. Lex is too much of a playboy to be settling down anytime soon, if ever. And as for Mercedes, she’s never going to get over that bastard in college that broke her heart. At least, not enough to marry and have a family.”

For some odd reason, the image of Ridge Garroway popped into Nicolette’s mind and she wondered if he was a man who would want to settle down and have children. He seemed far from the sort. In fact, with his looks and playful charm, he could have a Nurse Good Body waiting for him in every nook and cranny of the hospital.

Nicolette took another long sip of her drink and hoped the tequila would fuzz the intrusive image of the doctor’s impish grin. “Mercedes is in the Air Force, Mother. She has other things on her mind right now. Give her time.”

Geraldine slowly shook her head in dismay. “I might as well face the fact that life is different from when I was your age,” she muttered. “Back then, young people considered finding a permanent mate an important part of their life.”

“It still is important. It’s just more difficult for us to do.”

As she absently combed fingers through her mussed hair, Nicolette glanced over at her mother. “What in the world has got you off on this subject anyway? It isn’t like you to start harping on your children.”

Geraldine shrugged with concession. “I wasn’t thinking about any of it until you sat down here beside me and I saw your sad face. I thought it might be Bill, but—I guess I was wrong. Want to tell me?”

Nicolette finished off the last of her drink and placed her glass next to the sweaty pitcher. “Don’t worry, Mother. I’ve had a very long day. On top of that I met the doctor who took Dr. Walters’s place.”

Sudden interest caused Geraldine to sit straight up in her chair. “Oh? How did that go? What was he like?”

It was all Nicolette could do to keep from groaning out loud. “He was—well, to be honest I’m shocked the clinic hired someone so young. I heard he’s twenty-nine.”

“Being young is hardly a crime,” Geraldine pointed out.

Nicolette grimaced. “It means he can’t have much experience.”

“Everyone has to start at the beginning. You were there once,” Geraldine reminded her.

Sighing, Nicolette said, “Yes, I know. But Dr. Walters was so wonderful. And this new man—just doesn’t seem that professional to me.”

Geraldine’s brows arched upward. “Really? What makes you say that?”

With the fingers of both hands, Nicolette massaged her aching forehead. How could she describe that gleam in Ridge Garroway’s eyes or that wink he’d given her without throwing for flags at her mother? “He, uh, just doesn’t look like a doctor,” she said lamely.

Suddenly loud laughter erupted from Geraldine, causing Nicolette to cast an annoying look her mother’s way.

“Why are you laughing? It’s the truth. He looked more like some—I don’t know—some playboy than a medical person.”

Still chuckling, Geraldine asked, “Since when did looks have anything to do with being a doctor? C’mon, Nicci, don’t you think you’re reaching a little far to find something wrong with the man?”

With thoughtful frown, Nicolette considered her mother’s question. Could Geraldine be right? she wondered. Had she already planted a seed in her mind to dislike the man before she’d ever met him? Perhaps. But that still didn’t account for that flirty attitude of his, she decided.

“Okay, to be honest, I think he’s a big flirt. He said all sorts of…suggestive things to me. Like how he wished I’d chosen to work under him rather than Dr. Kelsey.”

Geraldine laughed again. “What’s wrong with that? I’m sure the man has heard you’re good at your job.”

Nicolette’s lips pursed with disapproval. “Yes, but it was the way he said it that rubbed me all wrong. He had this gleam in his eyes that made me feel like an idiot.”

Geraldine placed a gentle hand on her daughter’s arm. “Don’t you mean it made you feel like a woman?”

Her mother’s suggestion left Nicolette so uncomfortable she quickly jumped to her feet and snatched up the briefcase she’d propped against the legs of her chair.

“I’m going to go take a shower and have a little supper,” she told her mother. “It’s getting late and I’ve got to be at the clinic very early in the morning.”

Chapter Two

A few minutes later, after showering and dressing in a robe, Nicolette was almost too tired to eat the plate of food Cook set in front of her. But eventually she managed to swallow down half of the broiled salmon and rice before she headed to her bedroom.

She’d brought home several journal articles about new medications soon to be released, but as soon as she crawled into bed and picked up the first one, her eyelids began to droop.

Two hours later she was sound asleep with the lamp on the nightstand still burning, when the telephone jangled loudly near her head. Since she had a private line she couldn’t rely on Cook or her mother to answer.

Trying to shake away her grogginess, she reached for the phone and shoved her hair back from her face.

“Hello.”

“Is that you Ms. Saddler? Nicolette, isn’t it?”

The voice sounded vaguely familiar but she couldn’t quite put a name to it. “Yes. Who is this?”

“Dr. Garroway—Ridge—remember?”

In spite of her numbing exhaustion, Nicolette shot straight up in the bed and gripped the receiver. “Doctor. Uh, why are you calling? It’s—” Twisting her head around toward the digital clock on the nightstand, she was shocked to see it was twenty minutes past midnight. “It’s very late. And—”

“I’m sorry to wake you like this, Nicolette, but I’m having a little problem here at the hospital and—”

His use of her first name distracted her even more and she blurted out with surprise, “You’re at the hospital?”

“Uh, yes. I am a doctor,” he reminded dryly.

She felt desperately stupid as she tried to wake herself up and gather her scattered senses. “Sorry. I’m not—I was sound asleep. You say you’re having a problem? What does that have to do with me?”

There was a moment’s pause and then he said, “My patient is demanding to see you. Seems you’re his favorite doctor and he won’t trust me to treat him unless you’re here. I tried to explain—”

“Who’s the patient?” Nicolette interrupted him again.

“Dan Nelson. He’s—”

Dan Nelson was ninety-one years old and had worked as a wrangler for the Sandbur until he was in his mideighties. He was a prickly pear of an old man, but she adored him. “Yes, yes, I know the man. I’ll be there in twenty minutes.”

“Wait, Nicolette. Driving to the hospital might not be necessary. Talking to him over the phone might work,” Ridge told her.

“He’s more important to me than that,” she said curtly.

There was another short pause and then he said, “All right, I appreciate your help. And by the way, I’m at the county hospital.”

“I’ll find you.”

Nicolette dropped the phone on its hook and scurried from the bed.

As she hastily grabbed clothes from the closet, she groaned out loud. Meeting Ridge Garroway in the middle of the night was the last thing she wanted to do. But Dan needed her and she was a medical provider first, a woman second.

As long as she could keep that fact in the back of her mind, she could meet the new doctor head-on and never suffer the slightest heart murmur.

Twenty minutes later Nicolette wheeled her car into the hospital parking lot and hurried inside. At the double elevators, she smashed the up button, and as she waited for a door to open, she hurriedly jerked a white lab coat over her shirt and jeans and fastened the buttons.

Once she reached the third floor, where most of the internal medicine patients were located, she hurried toward the nurses’ station, where several women were clustered behind a tall counter.

Bess, an older nurse sitting at a computer located directly behind the counter, looked up at Nicolette with faint surprise. “P.A. Saddler, is that you?”

Nicolette unconsciously lifted a hand to her long hair. She’d not taken the time to fasten it with a barrette or even a rubber band and now it was flying around her shoulders. Her face was bare of makeup and she realized she must look very pale and very unprofessional, but her appearance was the last thing she was worried about at the moment.

“It’s me, Bess, I’m looking for Dr. Garroway. Is he on the floor?”

Bess nodded. “Last I saw he was down at room 301 with a Mr.—” she glanced at a clipboard with a list of patients’ names “—Mr. Nelson.”

“Thanks.”

From the nurses’ station Nicolette made a quick turn to the left, which would take her down an east wing. She was almost to the private room when Dr. Garroway suddenly stepped out in the corridor.

He smiled and waved. Nicolette swallowed hard and hurried toward him.

“How is he?” she asked before he had a chance to say a word.

The apprehension on her face caused the doctor’s brows to lift. “Are you close to Mr. Nelson?”

“I’ve known him since I was a very small girl. He worked for my family for more than fifty years. Of course I’m close to him. I love him.”

He placed a hand on her shoulder. Nicolette had not been asking for any comfort from the man, but she realized the strength of his touch was very steadying and, at the moment, very welcome.

“Relax. I think Mr. Nelson is going to be fine. That is, if he’ll allow me to treat him. He needs a shot of diuretics to reduce the fluid in his lungs, but he won’t agree to let me or the nurse give it to him.”

A sigh of relief rushed past Nicolette’s lips. “I know his heart isn’t the best in the world. I was afraid he’d suffered an attack.”

“No. Nothing like that. Right now this is mainly a pulmonary problem.”

Nodding that she understood, Nicolette grimaced. “Years of unfiltered cigarettes,” she explained, then added, “I’ll see what I can do. He’s usually good for me.”

“I’d appreciate that,” Ridge said, then gestured toward the closed door.

Nicolette knocked lightly and stepped into the small room. One fluorescent light burned over the head of Dan’s bed, illuminating the older man’s wrinkled face. At the moment, his faded blue eyes were closed, but when she spoke they flew wide open.

“Dan? It’s me, Nicci,” she said softly. “How are you feeling?”

He held his hand out to her and motioned her to his side. Nicci hurried to him and clasped the bony hand between hers.

“Nicci, honey, I thought you’d never get here.”

She rubbed his arm and then passed her fingers over his damp forehead. “Well, I’m here now. Tell me what’s wrong.”

“Nothin’s wrong! I’m just havin’ a little trouble breathin’. That damned old woman who thinks she’s my keeper thought I needed to come to the hospital. I’ve already told her I’m gonna fire her for this,” he muttered. “All I need is a good shot of bourbon. But she wouldn’t give it to me!”

In spite of the situation, Nicci had to hide her smile. “You’re talking about Opal? The lady that keeps house for you?”

“That’s her. Nosiest female I’ve ever seen.” He snorted, then pointed over her shoulder to where Ridge stood just inside the door. “And that young whippersnapper over there wants to jab me with a needle. He don’t know what I need. He’s still wet behind the ears!”

Nicolette rubbed her hand gently across Dan’s chest. “Dan, Doctor Garroway is trying to help you. And he does know what he’s doing. The shot will help your lungs.”

“Hmmp. Well, that stuff will make me go to the bathroom all night long. Nope—I won’t take it.”

The old man stubbornly shook his head, and Nicolette turned a stern look on him. “You will take it or I’ll get Mother in here after you,” she warned. “And you know she won’t be nearly as sweet with you as I’m being.”

He studied her through squinted eyes, then gave her a weak grin. “Honey child, you always were my little sweetheart. I guess if you say I need the shot, then I’ll just have to take it. I won’t like it, mind you, but I’ll take it. For you.”

“That’s my guy,” she said happily, then leaned down and kissed his forehead. “I want you to get well. That’s why you’re going to do everything Dr. Garroway tells you. Okay?”

He nodded and she placed one last kiss on his cheek before she straightened to her full height and motioned for Ridge to join her.

“If you have the diuretic with you, I’ll give it to him,” she told the doctor.

“The nurse took it back to the station.” He picked up the call button and quickly ordered the medicine back to Dan’s room. Once the RN returned with the prepared shot, Ridge instructed her to leave it with Nicolette.

Quickly, before the old wrangler had a change of heart, Nicolette injected him with the medicine and promised him she would be just outside the door if he needed her.

She and Dr. Garroway left the room and walked a short distance down the hall. Since it was long past regular visiting hours, the lights in the corridor had been dimmed and the hospital wing was quiet. Once they were far enough away from Dan’s door, Ridge paused and turned a grateful look on her.

“Thank you, Nicolette, for all this trouble you’ve taken. It’s ruined your night and I feel badly about that. But Mr. Nelson will get well much more quickly now. I could have badgered him into taking the shot, but I didn’t want to put added stress on the man. And I’m not too proud to ask for help when help is needed,” he added with a grin.

Apparently not, Nicolette thought, and the fact surprised her very much indeed. She’d figured that at his age, he would be a doctor who thought he walked on water and never needed help from anyone, especially from a mere physician’s assistant. It was nice to learn she’d been wrong.

“Don’t worry about it,” she assured him. “Dan pretends to be grouchy, but he really has a heart as soft as a marshmallow. I don’t think he’ll give you any more problems about medication now.”

He smiled, and even in the semidarkness, Nicolette could feel the punch of his charm. There was something sparkling and vibrant about the man, as though he loved life and wanted everyone around him to do the same.

“Actually the old man is in good shape for his age. He may eventually need a pacemaker, but we’ll deal with that when the time comes. Uh, you say he worked for your family…what did he do?”

Apparently he either didn’t know about the Sandbur or he didn’t associate her with the families who ran it. The idea that he was unaware she was a rich, ranching heiress was rather nice.

“Ranch wrangler. You couldn’t find a better cowboy in Texas. He’s spent more hours in the saddle than you’ve been alive,” Nicolette told him.

His brows lifted and he chuckled. “Come on now, pretty lady, I’m not that young.”

And she wasn’t supposed to be a pretty lady. At least not to him. He was a professional, a colleague; he should be behaving appropriately.

“Dan might argue that point,” she said briskly, then glanced pointedly at her watch. “I think I’ll go down to the cafeteria and wait around until the diuretic takes affect, just to make sure he begins to improve.”

A grin dimpled Ridge’s cheeks. “You can go on home and go to bed, Nicolette. I’ll make sure Mr. Nelson is taken care of.”

She was exhausted and needed to be resting, but she knew if she went home now she’d only toss worriedly in her bed. Doctors like him made diagnoses, ordered medicines and left the rest up to the nurses while they went on their merry way.

Nicolette started walking toward the nearest elevator. “The nurses here are good, but I want to check on him myself.”

He strode along beside her and Nicolette was intensely aware of his tall, muscular frame only inches from her and the faint masculine cologne drifting to her nostrils. For that one brief moment, she realized with a measure of disgust, she was no different from the nurses at the clinic; she would love to see all those hard muscles that must be hidden by his shirt and chinos.

“Nurses. What about me?” he asked.

Surprise caused Nicolette to miss a step. “Aren’t you going home now?”

He looked at her with disappointment. “You really don’t think much of me, do you?”

Whipping her attention to the end of the corridor, she grimaced. “I expect you’re going to have a busy practice, Dr. Garroway. You can’t stay up all night at the hospital and expect to give them expert care.”

“Well, I’m glad to hear that you understand I’m human. Young, but human,” he said teasingly.

From the corner of her eye, she could see that he was smiling again. Obviously, he was not a man who angered easily. Another positive in his corner, she thought, and wondered why the fact only irritated her.

By now they’d reached the nurses’ station. To the left of the long counter was an elevator. Nicolette could see Bess eyeing the two of them as they waited for the door to open. No doubt the old nurse was wondering what the new cardiologist was doing stuck to Nicolette’s side. Tomorrow there would probably be rumors about them all over the hospital, she thought grimly. Oh well, it wouldn’t be the first time she’d been discussed among the nurses. She didn’t date or socialize with the staff and she kept her personal life to herself. Nicolette realized that that in itself made her fodder for gossip.

In the elevator, Ridge stood at Nicolette’s shoulder and covertly studied her appearance. He’d been surprised, no shocked was more like it, when he’d spotted her flying up the hallway toward Dan Nelson’s room. Even though she was wearing a starched prim lab coat with her name embroidered across the left breast, he could easily see that underneath she was wearing jeans and cowboy boots. Her long shiny hair had been flying loose around her head and she’d looked like a different woman from the staunch professional she’d projected this morning. She’d looked as sexy as hell in a dress and high heels, but she was even more attractive like this. With her beautiful face bare of makeup and her hair tousled, she looked like a sensual, touchable woman. And Ridge realized he very much wanted to touch.

“You have patients on the bottom floor?” she asked, when he didn’t punch a different floor.

“No. I’m going with you to the cafeteria. That is, if you don’t mind,” he added slyly.

She looked at him with arched brows. “Why?”

One corner of his mouth curled upward. “Because I need to kill some time while the medication works on Mr. Nelson. And I thought you’d be good company.”

Her lips pressed together. Now was the time to discourage him, she told herself, to get across to him that men, even one like him, weren’t a part of her life. “I’m not good company at anytime, much less in the middle of the night. You’d be better off going back up and visiting with Bess while you wait.”

“Bess doesn’t intrigue me.”

Her head jerked up and an annoyed scowl wrinkled her forehead. “Look—uh, Ridge, I’m not interested in your…flirting!”

He raised his palms in an innocent gesture. “Flirting! Who said I was flirting? I was merely making a statement that I find you more interesting than Bess. And far more attractive.”

She should have been angry with him for being so forward, but instead her heart thumped at the idea that he found her attractive. She’d not thought of herself in that way for years and now a very young man like him taking a second look at her was very flattering.

“Is this the way you behave with all female doctors?”

“You’re a physician’s assistant.” His smile was broad and just wicked enough to send a spurt of color to her cheeks. “Actually, no,” he added. “You seem to be doing something to me.”

The door to the elevator slid open. As Nicolette stepped out, she said over her shoulder, “Then you’d better make a quick diagnosis and treat yourself.”

Chuckling, he quickly caught up to her as she stalked down a hallway that led to the cafeteria. “Nicolette, you can make a joke! I’m surprised!”

Knowing she was enjoying this banter with him too much, she stopped and whirled toward him. “Look, for your information, I didn’t drive to the hospital in the middle of the night just to be your—company! I’m only here because of Dan.”

He appeared to be offended. A frown of irritation creased his forehead and twisted his lips. “I didn’t ask you here for your company. Since we have the same goal, I thought sharing a few minutes would be the natural thing to do.”