His Shock Valentine's Proposal

As the door to the chopper slammed it began to lift above the mill, above the thinned forest and south toward the city. Once the helicopter was out of sight, Esme sighed.

“Well, that was more excitement than I was preparing for tonight.”

“You were amazing in there,” Carson stated. “Was your previous general practice in a large city? I rarely see cardiac tamponades in my clinic. Or did you work at a hospital under a cardio-thoracic surgeon? The way you handled that I’m surprised you didn’t become a cardio-thoracic surgeon. You had the steady hand of an experienced surgeon.”

Esme’s eyes widened and she bit her lip, before shrugging. “Sure, yeah, a cardio-thoracic surgeon mentor. So where’s Harry gone? I really want to get back home. It’s getting late. I better get my things.”

She turned and headed back into the building, her arms wrapped tight around her lithe body.

Carson sighed and followed her and helped her clean up. She didn’t engage him in any further discussion about the matter. They just disposed of soiled material and bagged up the rest of their stuff.

“Docs, I have the truck ready. I can take you back to town now,” Harry said as he wandered into the room.

“Thanks, Harry.” Carson glanced at Esme, who seemed to have relaxed and returned to herself. “You ready to go, Dr. Petersen?”

“Yes. I’m exhausted!” She smiled. “Thanks for taking us back to town, Harry.”

Harry shrugged. “It’s no problem. I don’t stay up here at the camp. I’m local.”

“Oh, you’re local, all right, Harry,” Carson teased as he picked up his bag. Harry just chuckled and they followed him out of the admin building to his pickup truck.

Now that the excitement had died down, workers were headed back to their bunks or back to the mill to work. He could hear the saws starting up again.

Esme climbed into the middle and Carson slid in beside her.

Harry turned the ignition and then rolled down his window, to lean his elbow out the side. “Yeah, the guys are a bit stressed around here. Mr. Draven is coming here tomorrow morning to inspect the mill. It’s got the boss Bartholomew on edge. With the Draven contract for his resort that will mean a lot of work. A lot of money.”

“What’s Mr. Draven’s first name?” There was an edge to Esme’s voice.

“Silas. He’s a big hotel mogul from out east,” Harry said.

“East?” There was a bit of relief in her voice.

“Do you know Mr. Draven?” Carson asked.

“N-no. Just heard of him. The name sounded familiar, but I don’t know Silas Draven.”

Somehow Carson knew that was a lie, just by the nervous tone to Esme’s voice and the way she’d sounded so relieved.

“He’s never come to the mill before,” Harry remarked. “I mean, he’s a big rich investor. Doesn’t know much about lumber mills other than what his advisors tell him, but I suspect it has something to do with competing. There’s untapped tourist resources.”

“Another hotel?” Carson asked.

Great.

It was supposed to be a simple resort community. Small and unique. Every time he heard something new about it, it was spiraling out of control. Perhaps it was the competitors that Luke had been taking up into the mountains to do surveying. More change.

Change can be good.

Only he didn’t believe that. Change only brought heartache, disaster.

Temptation.

And he glanced over at Esme, sitting beside him in the dark. She was definitely a temptation.

“You okay?” she asked.

“Fine.”

“You’re scowling.”

“I’m not. Besides, how can you tell? It’s pitch-black out there.”

“There’s a moon and the dashboard light.”

Indeed, in the flicker of light he could see her smiling at him, her eyes twinkling in the dark, and he couldn’t help but smile, even though he didn’t feel like it at the moment. Even though he knew nothing about her, being around her tonight had been a bit magical. It had been exciting and he couldn’t remember the last time he’d felt such a rush.

Don’t think about her like that.

“Do you think Dave will make it?” Harry asked, breaking through his thoughts.

“He should. Once he’s in the hands of a capable cardio-thoracic surgeon.” Esme leaned against the seat. “Which I’m not.”

“You said that with such force,” Carson said. “You really want to be clear that you’re not a cardio-thoracic surgeon.”

Her smile disappeared. “Because I’m not. I’m just lucky enough to have had the chance to perform that a couple of times.”

“I thought it was only once?”

Esme stiffened. “Once was an understatement.”

“Clearly, because the way you executed that procedure was superb. In fact, it looked like you’d been doing that for quite some time. Especially since you executed it without the use of an ultrasound.”

Esme snorted. “I’m just a general practitioner and I did what I had to do to save a man’s life. Can we drop the interrogation?”

“I’m not interrogating you.”

She shrugged. “I’ve told you I’ve done it a couple of times. I guess I was lucky—really there was no other choice. Dave would’ve died had I not performed it then and there.”

“You’re right. Let’s drop it.”

“Good.”

Carson turned and looked out the window, not that there was anything to see in the dark, on a logging road, in the middle of the forest, but he didn’t feel like engaging in small talk with Esme. She was maddening.

It was clear to Carson by the way she wasn’t looking at him and the way her body became tense that she wasn’t too keen on discussing the matter further. What was she hiding?

Why do you care?

Perhaps because he’d been duped by a female before.

Working at your dad’s practice sounds great! I would love to.

Then of course Danielle’s tune had changed.

This is never what I wanted. You didn’t give me much of a choice.

Not that he should care if Esme was lying to him. Let her have her secrets. It didn’t matter. They weren’t involved, they weren’t colleagues and they certainly weren’t friends. They were just two doctors in the same, sleepy small town.

That was it.

CHAPTER FOUR

ESME MANAGED TO avoid Carson for two weeks after working up on the mountain. She just decided it was in everyone’s best interest if she laid low. Less questions to be asked that way. She knew Carson didn’t believe her lies.

Great.

Why did that accident have to happen in front of Carson? She was here to be a simple physician. Not a surgeon, but then if she hadn’t been there, Dave would’ve died. He wouldn’t have made it to the hospital.

So she’d done the right thing, even if it had meant she’d had to perform a surgical procedure in front of Carson. Something she’d sworn she wasn’t going to do when she got to Crater Lake.

The best solution was to avoid Carson for a while.

Which was why Esme was standing in the produce section of a big chain grocery store two towns away, staring at a pile of cantaloupes.

Run.

That was what she was telling herself, or at least the cowardly voice in her head was telling her.

Where?

That she didn’t know. She couldn’t go home to her father. He’d made it clear that her running away was not the answer. That was what her mother had done. After Avery’s death, she’d packed up and run away.

I’ve been a wife and mother. It’s time for me. I gave up my life for you.

It had broken her father’s heart. He’d lost a son and wife in the same year.

Now a daughter.

Ever since she’d left Los Angeles her father had made it clear how disappointed he was in her, so she was the last person her father wanted to see. She was just a big failure.

“Nice melons.”

Esme shook her head and looked up to see Carson standing on the other side of the counter of cantaloupes.

“What?” she asked in disbelief.

He grinned and then rubbed the back of his neck. “Sorry, it was just a joke. You were staring so intently at the produce I thought you were trying to see through it.”

Esme chuckled when she realized she had been staring at the cantaloupes for a long time. “Sorry, lost in thought. What’re you doing here? I thought you went to the co-op in Crater Lake?”

“I usually do, but I was in town visiting a friend and remembered I needed a few things.” He walked around the produce counter to stand beside her. “I thought you usually shopped locally? I didn’t even know you had a car.”

“I don’t. I took the bus down here.” She picked up a melon and sniffed it, hoping this would be the end of the conversation, that he would get the hint to walk away. Instead he lingered.

Damn. Take a hint.

Carson whistled. “That’s a pricey ticket to go grocery shopping.”

Esme shrugged. “Didn’t have a choice.”

“The local co-op is a choice.”

“The prices here are better?”

Carson smiled. “Why did you pose that in the form of a question? I doubt they’re low enough to justify the price of a bus ticket.”

“Are you really going to sit here and lecture me about my shopping habits?”

“No, but I can offer you a ride back to Crater Lake at the very least.”

Say no.

Only she couldn’t, because she really didn’t want to lug all her groceries on the passenger bus back up to Crater Lake. And after this one excursion she knew she’d either have to invest in a car or just pluck up the courage to shop at the co-op, because she obviously couldn’t avoid Carson even two towns away.

“Thanks. I appreciate that.” She pushed her shopping cart away from the melons and Carson fell into step beside her.

“I haven’t seen you around much,” Carson remarked.

“I’ve been busy.”

“I saw that Mrs. Fenolio is now one of your patients.”

Esme sighed. “Are you going to start on me about stealing your patients again?”

“No. I’m not. Honestly, I’m glad that she’s headed over to you. You seem to have more of a grasp of cardio-thoracic care.”

Her heart skipped a beat.

Oh, God. Had he found out?

“Who told you that?”

“I saw it with my own eyes, Esme. Only someone with cardio-thoracic knowledge would be able to perform that procedure in that kind of situation. I think you’ve done that more than once or even a couple of times.”

He was really persisting about the procedure. He was digging for information, information she didn’t want to share. Information she wasn’t going to share. It was in her past. She was here to start a new life. She wasn’t that person any longer.

“I must have really impressed you.”

“Well … yes.” And he looked away quickly, rubbing the back of his neck again, as if he was embarrassed. As if he didn’t want to give her a compliment.

“It was nothing. Now, about Mrs. Fenolio …”

“She’s your patient now and you’re the expert.”

“I’m not. Not really.”

Liar.

“Besides, she’s only moved over her cardio care to me. How long has she had that murmur?”

“Do you really want to talk about this in a grocery store?” Carson asked as he picked up a loaf of bread and plunked it into her cart.

“Since when am I buying you groceries?” Esme teased.

“It’s my fee for taking you back to Crater Lake. You can buy me my sandwiches for a week.”

Esme chuckled. “I’m so disappointed.”

“Why?”

“You’re a sandwich man.”

“What’s wrong with liking sandwiches?” he asked.

“Nothing per se, but I’m a bit of a foodie.”

Carson snorted. “Right, I forgot you’re from Los Angeles.”

“You don’t have to be from LA to be a foodie. You can be from small towns, too. Not that I expect many people from Crater Lake to have many options.”

“What’re you talking about?” he asked.

“Oh, come on. Ray’s is a fantastic Mom and Pop shop, but it’s hardly gourmet.”

“We have gourmet in Crater Lake,” he said, sounding mildly insulted.

Esme looked skeptical. “Do you?”

“We do, but it’s a bit of a secret.”

“A secret?”

“Would you be interested in sampling a dinner there? I mean, since you’re such a gourmand.”

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