Matt Caldwell: Texas Tycoon

“We all have secrets,” she said solemnly. “Some are darker than others.”

He flicked a thumbnail against the cigar. “What’s yours? Did you shoot your lover?”

She didn’t dare show a reaction to that. Her face felt as if it would crack if she moved.

He stuck the cigar in his pocket. “Edna will let you know when you’re to go see Lou,” he said abruptly, with a glance at his watch. He held up the letter. “Tell Ed I’ve got this. I’ll talk to him about it later.”

“Yes, sir.”

He resisted the impulse to look back at her. The more he discovered about his newest employee, the more intrigued he became. She made him restless. He wished he knew why.

There was no way to get out of the doctor’s appointment. Leslie spoke briefly with Dr. Coltrain before she was sent to the hospital for a set of X rays. An hour later, she was back in Lou’s office, watching the older woman pore somberly over the films against a lighted board on the wall.

Lou looked worried when she examined the X ray of the leg. “There’s no damage from the fall, except for some bruising,” she concluded. Her dark eyes met Leslie’s squarely. “These old breaks aren’t consistent with a fall, however.”

Leslie ground her teeth together. She didn’t say anything.

Lou moved back around her desk and sat down, indicating that Leslie should sit in the chair in front of the desk after she got off the examining table.

“You don’t want to talk about it,” Lou said gently. “I won’t press you. You do know that the bones weren’t properly set at the time, don’t you? The improper alignment is unfortunate, because that limp isn’t going to go away. I really should send you to an orthopedic surgeon.”

“You can send me,” Leslie replied, “but I won’t go.”

Lou rested her folded hands on her desk over the calendar blotter with its scribbled surface. “You don’t know me well enough to confide in me. You’ll learn, after you’ve been in Jacobsville a while, that I can be trusted. I don’t talk about my patients to anyone, not even my husband. Matt won’t hear anything from me.”

Leslie remained silent. It was impossible to go over it again with a stranger. It had been hard enough to elaborate on her past to the therapist, who’d been shocked, to put it mildly.

The older woman sighed. “All right, I won’t pressure you. But if you ever need anyone to talk to, I’ll be here.”

Leslie looked up. “Thank you,” she said sincerely.

“You’re not Matt’s favorite person, are you?” Lou asked abruptly.

Leslie laughed without mirth. “No, I’m not. I think he’ll find a way to fire me eventually. He doesn’t like women much.”

“Matt likes everybody as a rule,” Lou said. “And he’s always being pursued by women. They love him. He’s kind to people he likes. He offered to marry Kitty Carson when she quit working for Dr. Drew Morris. She didn’t do it, of course, she was crazy for Drew and vice versa. They’re happily married now.” She hesitated, but Leslie didn’t speak. “He’s a dish—rich, handsome, sexy, and usually the easiest man on earth to get along with.”

“He’s a bulldozer,” Leslie said flatly. “He can’t seem to talk to people unless he’s standing on them.” She folded her arms over her chest and looked uncomfortable.

So that’s it, Lou thought, wondering if the young woman realized what her body language was giving away. Lou knew instantly that someone had caused those breaks in the younger woman’s leg; very probably a man. She had reason to know.

“You don’t like people to touch you,” Lou said.

Leslie shifted in the chair. “No.”

Lou’s perceptive eyes went over the concealing garments Leslie wore, but she didn’t say another word. She stood up, smiling gently. “There’s no damage from the recent fall,” she said gently. “But come back if the pain gets any worse.”

Leslie frowned. “How did you know I was in pain?”

“Matt said you winced every time you got out of your chair.”

Leslie’s heart skipped. “I didn’t realize he noticed.”

“He’s perceptive.”

Lou prescribed an over-the-counter medication to take for the pain and advised her to come back if she didn’t improve. Leslie agreed and went out of the office in an absentminded stupor, wondering what else Matt Caldwell had learned from her just by observation. It was a little unnerving.

When she went back to the office, it wasn’t ten minutes before Matt was standing in the doorway.

“Well?” he asked.

“I’m fine,” she assured him. “Just a few bruises. And believe me, I have no intention of suing you.”

He didn’t react visibly. “Plenty have.” He was irritated. Lou wouldn’t tell him anything, except that his new employee was as closemouthed as a clam. He knew that already.

“Tell Ed I’ll be out of the office for a couple of days,” he said.

“Yes, sir.”

He gave her a last look, turned and walked back out. It wasn’t until Matt was out of sight that Leslie began to relax.

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