Jared, well, she just didn’t know what to think about his odd reaction. She’d always wondered what he’d say, what he’d do when their paths crossed again. She hadn’t expected the coldness. Not really. Maybe a few awkward moments until he realized she wasn’t going to launch herself at him, but then he’d laugh and treat her with the same fondness he had that spring.
Only Jared was different in that regard. He looked like he rarely laughed these days. Had Laura’s death robbed him of that inner joy Chelsea had found so charismatic?
“What are you looking so contrite about?” Will asked, poking his head into her office.
“Come in,” she said, motioning for him to have a seat. “I was just reflecting on the day.”
“And?”
She smiled. “Overall, things went well.”
“Overall?”
Her smile faded. She really needed to be careful about what she said to her brother. She didn’t want to give him cause for worry where Jared was concerned. Not when there would never be anything between them anyway. “I had a patient leave before I finished.”
He looked taken aback. “Someone left in the middle of your examination?”
“No,” she clarified, shaking her head. “I stepped out to give a young girl a moment to think about getting a pelvic examination. When I came back to the room, she’d disappeared.”
Will’s confusion melted away to mild amusement. “I don’t blame her. I’d run too if you tried to put me in stirrups.”
Chelsea tossed her ink-pen cap at him. “You’re not helping.”
Grinning, he caught the plastic cap. “Apparently she wasn’t ready for a pelvic. What’s the problem?”
“She’s sexually active. She came in to get a prescription for birth control. What if she ends up pregnant because she ran out instead of finishing her exam?”
“Then her pregnancy would be her fault. Not yours.”
“But I should have—”
Will put up his hand. “Did you explain the reasons why she needed a pelvic exam?”
“Yes, but—”
“No buts. I’m sure you did a great job. The rest is up to the patient. You can’t force people to make the right decisions for their health, Chels.”
Talking to her brother could be like talking to a brick wall. Particularly as he was brilliant and usually made great sense.
“I know, but—”
“I already told you, no buts.” Smirking, he winked. “Although I understand why you keep bringing mine up since it’s so dashing.”
“Your butt is dashing?” She gave a sisterly eye roll. “I swear I’d think you were insane if I didn’t know how intelligent you really are.”
“Thanks, sis.” He leaned back, glanced around the office. His gaze lingered on the items she’d unpacked from her box, which included several photos of the two of them and friends. When his gaze returned to hers, his seriousness surprised her. “Was today everything you thought your first day would be?”
Not sure what had caused his mood to change, she nodded. “It was much more.”
Because she’d seen Jared, touched Jared, refreshed her memory of just how powerfully he affected her mind and body. No, that was crazy. Jared was not why she was in Madison.
Will’s brow lifted. “More?”
“Today wasn’t much different than any other day for the past couple of years.” After all, she’d been seeing patients for quite some time during her residency. “Yet because I was at a real job, with my own office and name tag…” she touched the gift he’d given her that morning “…today was magical.”
Apparently pleased with her answer, Will nodded. “Good. You deserve magical. You ready to go out to celebrate?”
Chelsea glanced down at her spic-and-span desk. “I suppose. Is Jared going?”
She could have kicked herself for the slipup. No way should she be asking her brother about Jared. She’d always been subtle when she’d asked about him in the past, but there’d been nothing subtle about her blunt, heartfelt question just then.
“Said he was. Why?”
Under the intensity of her brother’s stare, she fought the urge to blush. Something told her Will wouldn’t be happy if she said that at seventeen she’d taken one look at Jared and had fallen for him hook, line, and sinker and today she’d discovered those feelings for him to be just as strong.
No matter how hard she tried, she couldn’t keep her gaze locked on her brother’s. “No reason other than I wondered who was going.”
Her brother wasn’t buying any of it. She didn’t have to be looking into his eyes to know that.
“Sis.” Will sounded resigned. “This isn’t a good idea.”
“What isn’t a good idea?” She arched a brow and stared straight into his eyes.
“Jared.”
“What about Jared?”
“I don’t want you getting any ideas about him. He’s not right for you.” If it had been anyone other than Will talking she’d think they meant she wasn’t good enough, but it was her brother. Will never thought any man was good enough for her. Certainly, he’d never liked Kevin.
“No worries, then, because my only interest in Jared is business.” She hated lying, but she didn’t want interference when there wasn’t anything between her and Jared except memories of a passionate kiss and a brief heated look that morning that had quickly transformed into icicles.
“Just you make sure to keep it that way.” Will’s gaze flickered, causing suspicion to flare.
“Tell me something, Will. Why is it that I’ve not once seen Jared in the past ten years? Not even when I was interviewed for this job?”
“He was out of the country, doing mission work.”
“I know he was on a mission trip and Jennifer wants to take off to go stay with her mother following her hip-replacement surgery, but don’t you think it’s a little odd that I’ve not seen Jared since that spring we all came down here?”
Will crossed his arms and took on a stubborn look. “Not really, although I hadn’t really thought about it. Is there any particular reason why you would have wanted to see him?”
Knowing she was revealing too much by questioning her brother, she shook her head. “No reason.”
She got ready to leave for their dinner, but Will lingered.
“Look, sis, you should know that Jared…” He glanced around the
