satisfied expression crossed Virginia’s face. ‘I’m glad you’ve seen the light.’
‘Remember, though, Mercer is a small town,’ he cautioned, trying to squash any great expectations she might have. ‘Eligible women are hard to come by.’
Virginia pursed her lips. ‘I suppose so. In that case, I’ll work on it from my end, too.’ She tapped a forefinger to one temple. ‘Moving to Mercer might be a drawback. You aren’t interested in returning to the city, are you?’
‘No, I’m not.’
‘Hmm,’ she said thoughtfully. ‘The location might not pose an insurmountable problem. Mercer is a quaint community. A bit lacking in cultural opportunities, perhaps, but there are worse places to live. I’m sure I can find a charming young woman who sees the benefits of marriage to a handsome physician. The advantages will certainly outweigh any drawbacks to living in a small town.’
‘I think I can handle this on my own,’ he said dryly.
‘I’m sure you can, but a little help wouldn’t hurt.’ She glanced at her watch. ‘Oh, dear. Look at the time. I must be off. I’m so glad we had this chat and came to an understanding. Now, don’t you feel better?’
He didn’t, but refrained from comment.
Virginia gave him a hug which he genuinely reciprocated. ‘I’ll be in touch to check on your progress.’ After issuing her parting statement, she glided out of the room.
Alone with his thoughts, J.D. stared at the swirls forming on top of his coffee. Check on his progress? Not likely! He didn’t have the energy or interest to pursue a personal relationship at this stage of his life.
His first experience would have to suffice for the time being.
From the moment he’d seen Ellen McGraw, he’d gone positively nuts over her. He’d been filling in as a locum for his friend while he’d gone on his honeymoon. Ellen had been in town for a medical records convention, had developed a horrible case of laryngitis and dropped in for a prescription. During the course of the following weeks, he’d fallen hopelessly in love. Life simply couldn’t have got any better, or so he’d thought.
His best-laid plans fell apart when he’d wanted to introduce her to his parents. Without warning, she’d sent him the proverbial ‘Dear John’ letter. Before he’d been able to convince her that her blue-collar background wouldn’t matter to his blue-blooded family, she’d disappeared, lock, stock and barrel, from her apartment. No one had known a forwarding address, or if they had, they’d refused to divulge it.
During the subsequent months, he’d hired a private investigator, but leads had been non-existent. J.D. had secured a job in Mercer’s ER and, by sheer luck, discovered that her trail had ended in the exact same place. Unfortunately, she’d been fatally injured in a car accident some months before his arrival. If not for the skill of Tristan Lockwood, her child—his son, Daniel—wouldn’t have survived either.
His existence since then revolved around caring for the legacy Ellen had left behind and establishing his career. He had little time for anything else and truthfully, he liked it that way.
As for needing a wife, one certainly would have come in handy when Daniel had been an infant. He’d even contemplated entering into a marriage of convenience with Ellen’s friend, Beth, but she’d been too much in love with Tristan to settle for second best.
In the end, he organised his life as best he could. A fair number of people criticised him for not allowing Beth and Tristan to adopt Daniel, as they’d planned before J.D. arrived on the scene. Katie, however, stepped in to help, without passing judgement and without offering unwelcome advice. She had been—and still was—a godsend.
His household arrangements had worked well since the day he’d brought Daniel home and consequently, he didn’t intend to fix what wasn’t broken. Yes, there were times when he felt like something in his life was missing—after Daniel had gone to bed and he was alone with his newspaper and the television remote—but that wasn’t a good excuse to get married.
His mother would simply have to understand.
His resolve strengthened, he flung open the door and came face to face with Katie.
She visibly jumped, her brown eyes wide with surprise. ‘Don’t do that,’ she scolded, tossing her nutmeg-colored ponytail over one shoulder. ‘You scared the daylights out of me.’
‘Who did you think would be in here?’ he asked, amused by her reaction.
‘I wasn’t expecting to find you in the doorway,’ she returned. ‘No one has seen you since your mom left fifteen minutes ago. I assumed you were in here licking your wounds.’
‘Hardly,’ he said dryly. ‘I’ve developed a tough enough shell that my mother can’t inflict any damage.’
‘Ah,’ she said knowingly. ‘Then you must have been fantasising over the future Mrs Doctor Berkley.’
‘Regardless of what my mother believes, Daniel and I are doing just fine. I’ll find the future Mrs Berkley when I’m good and ready. I won’t be railroaded into marriage.’
Scepticism crossed her elfin features. ‘Your mother sounded very serious. She won’t let you off the hook.’
He groaned. ‘Please. Mom has already referred to me as a good catch. I can’t handle any more fishing references.’
‘You don’t want to hear about how there are lots of fish in the sea to choose from? Or how if you don’t act, the one you want will get away? Then there’s the one about catching as many as you can and throwing out the ones you don’t want.’
‘No, I don’t.’
She snapped her fingers. ‘Darn. In any case, Virginia’s right. You’re a very eligible bachelor in this community.’
‘Yeah, well, eligible or not, I have patients to see.’
‘Not any more. Marty took care of Mrs Natelson and her toe. You, on the other hand, have just received an important summons from Allan Yates. Delivered personally, I might add.’
His disposition improved instantly. ‘Really? I’ll bet it’s over the proposal I gave him last week.’
‘Probably so. Anyway…’ she stepped forward to straighten the collar of his white lab coat ‘…he wants you there as soon as possible. Too bad you’re not wearing a power suit today instead of scrubs.’
‘I want to impress him with my proposal, not my appearance,’ he commented, looking down on her from his six-foot height.
‘I know, but it wouldn’t hurt to look like the distinguished head of Mercer’s Emergency Services that you are. Maybe you should change back into your street clothes.’
He shook his head. ‘What he sees is what he gets. This distinguished head doesn’t sit behind a desk all day.’
‘Do you at least have a comb?’
He dug in his hip pocket and removed a small black plastic comb. Using his reflection in the window as a guide, he straightened his
