take his mother’s approach. He’d reserve his opinion until he’d met the new doctor at the clinic himself, but he suddenly had a kink in his gut that had nothing to do with the baked chicken served at the wedding-reception dinner.
Trevor started to walk off with Julie, but turned back. “Oh, one more thing. The doctor will be living here at the ranch. Dad said it’s okay.”
What in the hell was going on?
Trev looked as if he wanted to say something else, but Julie snagged him firmly by the elbow and led him off. Cole stood and watched as they headed off to change clothes while those waving yellow flags in his head started turning red.
Ten minutes after tossing rice and grinning along with everyone else, then watching the new couple drive off in the fully decorated “Just Married” limo, Cole saw a town car heading up the long road. The Circle M Ranch wasn’t exactly on the main highway—anyone coming out this way generally had a reason.
He looked on with interest from the yard as the car came to a stop in front of the house and Jack, his father’s ranch foreman, along with the family cook, Gretchen, rushed toward it.
“Cole, come and dance with me.” Rita, the attractive blonde medical-clinic receptionist, linked her arm through his, her still-lingering potent perfume overpowering his nostrils. “It’s tradition for the bouquet and garter catchers to have a dance together.”
First he’d ever heard of that tradition. Cole didn’t want to come off as impolite at his brother’s wedding reception—his mother would be disappointed—especially since he’d be working with Rita all summer, so he let her lead him to the dance floor, losing sight of the limousine and the house as he did.
THE LAST OF the wedding guests had finally left. It was getting dark, and Cole had handed the mantle to the lead of the cleanup crew. He’d done his brotherly duty for Trevor’s wedding, and looked forward to getting out of his suit and unwinding with a good novel before calling it a night.
He wandered toward the porch and the front door. Gretchen, the family cook, met him with an anxious look.
“Hello, Cole,” she said, trying to sound calm but not coming close.
“Hi. What’s up?” He remembered the limousine from earlier. “We have company?”
“Uh, yes.” She wouldn’t look him in the eyes.
“Is something wrong?” He stopped and waited for Gretchen to look up.
“Uh. No. I was just a little surprised, that’s all.” Still not looking at him, she turned toward the screen door.
“Surprised? About what?”
Tiberius appeared on the other side of the screen. “That she has a baby, that’s what.”
“Who has a baby?” His feet stuck to the porch floorboards.
“The doctor Trevor hired,” his father said with a lopsided grin.
“A baby?” What was going on? The new doctor was here already?
“You know, the little tykes in diapers, a baby.” His dad seemed to take great joy in rubbing in the news, though he looked tired beyond his years just then. It’d been a long few days preparing for the wedding; Cole would cut him some slack. “They cry a lot and need undivided attention?”
Cole sped up the last few steps to the front door, pulling out his cell phone on the way, ready to speed-dial his brother. “Trevor didn’t mention that.” In all honesty, Trevor hadn’t had the chance.
“Of course not, because you would have thrown a fit if he did,” Dad said, not splitting hairs, holding the door open for Gretchen and him to go inside.
“That’s not necessarily true. But it would have been nice to know.”
Before he could press dial, a tall and slender, dark-haired woman with vivid green eyes and ivory skin appeared in the entryway. She’d come from the east wing where she must have left her baggage, and had some sort of swaddling sling across her torso with a good-sized bulge buried inside.
“Hello,” she said, a natural rasp in her lower-than-usual female voice. “I’m Elisabete, but everybody calls me Lizzie.”
Out of the blue, Cole wondered how her laugh would sound. He guessed smoky and…
She reached out a thin hand with long delicate fingers, and, instead of dialing Trevor to curse him out, Cole pocketed the phone, took her hand and shook. Warmth emanated from both her grip and her wide gaze, which was truly stunning, and stole some of his thunder.
“I’m Cole. Nice to meet you. I’m a bit surprised by your… er… bundle there.” He nodded to the lump dangling snuggly from her middle.
She gave a fatigued smile and glanced down beneath fuller-than-usual dark brows at her baby. “My little Flora screamed the entire flight from Boston. I think she’s worn herself out. At one point I thought the flight attendant wanted to shove me out the door.” She lifted her gaze, tension dwelling in those lovely, though bewildered, eyes even as she tried to make light of her situation. “I’ll carry my load at the clinic, Dr. Montgomery. I promise.”
Had she read his mind? Only then did he think to let go of the comfort of her hand. Those deeply inquisitive eyes studied him, obviously hunting for a sign of his humanity.
“With an infant that will be a huge challenge. Are you sure you can handle the job?”
“I don’t know how much Dr. Rivers told you—”
“Dr. Rivers spoke to my brother, who left for his honeymoon today. I don’t have a clue if Trevor knew about the bambino part or not.” So much for his humanity.
“I’ve made some tea—why doesn’t everyone sit down and I’ll bring it?” Gretchen said, having never been able to handle tension, even though, having worked for years for the Montgomery family, she should have gotten used to it by now.
“Yes, why don’t we?” Tiberius said, an amused smirk on his face. He led the way to the living room.
Cole gestured for Lizzie to follow, noting her jeans-clad long legs, narrow hips and flip-flop-covered feet, thinking how impractical the footwear was for a ranch. But there was something else he noticed beyond her travel-weary appearance, and besides the single long, thick braid down her back: it was the confidence with which she walked. The way she held her head high even under his less-than-gracious welcome. This one was a fighter. Maybe she had to be.
“What kind of name is Silva?” Tiberius asked just before he sat in his favorite overstuffed chair.
“It’s Portuguese.”
Cole wasn’t exactly sure what he’d signed on for taking over his brother’s practice, but, with the arrival of Lizzie sporting a baby, that task had suddenly gotten a hell of a lot more challenging.
While Gretchen served tea in the living room, Cole asked Lizzie
