happen to him!
“They’re wasting their time,” he told Dan grimly as they reached the nursing home and the older man held the door open for him. “Victoria might be gone, but I still love her. I’ll always love her. If I can’t have her, I don’t want anyone.”
Sympathizing with him, Dan knew exactly how he felt. When Peggy had died, he’d thought his world had ended and he could never look at another woman as anything but a friend. He’d been wrong. Reilly would love again, too, but that was something he wasn’t ready to hear yet.
“You’re still new here,” he said diplomatically. “Once the women get to know you and realize you’re really not interested, they’ll back off. Just give them time.”
That sounded good, but Reilly wasn’t holding his breath. Women were the same all over, and as long as they thought he was free, they’d think they had a chance with him. He would have no peace. Resigned, he stepped inside the nursing home, where he would be making rounds twice a week, and braced for more questions as Dr. Michaels began to introduce him to the staff and patients.
He didn’t have to wait long.
“Oh, Dr. Reilly, it’s so good to finally meet you. I heard you were living out at Sheriff Kincaid’s cabin all by yourself. Don’t you have a wife and family?”
“We’ve heard so much about you, Dr. Reilly. Is it true that you had a house on the beach in Malibu and used to date Meg Ryan? Is she as sweet as she looks?”
“Are you married, Doctor? I was just telling my granddaughter she needed to meet you. Why don’t I give you her phone number and you can call her?”
Gritting his teeth as one patient after another quizzed him about his personal life, Reilly admitted that he wasn’t married and had never had the good fortune to meet Meg Ryan. The staff, thankfully, was more restrained, but he didn’t fool himself into thinking that the nurses weren’t listening to every word. More than a few of them had a gleam in their eye that he found all too familiar.
And he wasn’t the only one who noticed. Disapproval glinting in his eyes, Dan sent several of the younger girls back to work with just a frown. “C’mon,” he told Reilly. “There’s someone else I want you to meet. This time of day, she’s usually in the solarium with the Lester sisters.”
Leading the way through the east wing, Dan stepped into the solarium and grinned at the sight of the nurse overseeing a lively game of Parcheesi between two old women in wheelchairs who sat at a wrought-iron table that overlooked an outdoor patio. “Janey! I thought I’d find you here. Come and meet my new partner.”
In the process of rolling the dice for Margaret, who had lost partial use of her right hand due to a stroke four months ago, Janey turned at Dan’s call, a smile already starting to spread across her face. Then she spied the man at his side. He was scowling at her, just as he had when she’d stopped to help him the other day when his BMW broke down on the side of the road.
“Actually, we’ve already met,” she told Dan as she excused herself from the Lester sisters and stepped forward with a smile. “Well, sort of,” she amended wryly, offering Reilly her hand. “We ran into each other at the E.R. last night, but there wasn’t time for an introduction. It’s nice to finally meet you, Doctor. I’m Janey McBride.”
“Reilly Jones,” he said, giving her hand a matter-of-fact shake. “You’re Nick Kincaid’s sister-in-law.”
“Guilty as charged,” she replied, amusement glinting in her brown eyes. “Just for the record, he knows all about my shotgun.”
Chuckling, Dan grinned. “Everybody knows about that shotgun. As far as I know,” he told Reilly, “she’s never had to use it, but that doesn’t mean she can’t. She’s a crackerjack shot. And one of the most caring nurses you’ll ever have the good fortune to work with. You can always depend on her to see that your patients get the finest care.”
It was a glowing recommendation, one that brought a blush to Janey’s cheeks. “I just do what anyone else would do,” she said modestly, and immediately changed the subject. “Liberty Hill’s quite a change from L.A.,” she told Reilly with a smile. “But I guess you know that already. What do you miss the most so far?”
Privacy, Reilly wanted to answer, and just barely held his tongue. Dammit, what was wrong with everyone around here? Every time he turned around, someone was asking him a damn personal question. He wanted to give people the benefit of the doubt—they were just being friendly and trying to find something to talk about—but he felt as if he’d been prodded and poked all day for information that was none of their business, and he was heartily sick of it. Didn’t they understand? He just wanted to be left alone!
“Nothing,” he said coolly. “That’s why I left. Now if you’ll excuse me, Dr. Michaels introduced me to some patients who need my attention. It was nice meeting you.”
With a curt nod he turned and strode out of the solarium, leaving behind a stunned silence. Taken aback, Janey turned to Dan in confusion. “What was that all about? What did I say? I didn’t mean to offend him.”
“Of course you didn’t,” he assured her with a comforting pat on the shoulder. “It wasn’t you, dear. Reilly’s just had a difficult afternoon.” Making a snap decision, he motioned to her to take a seat at one of the nearby tables. “Sit down, Janey. I need to tell you a few things about Dr. Jones.”
The Lester sisters had turned their attention from their game to Oprah, who’d just come on the television in the corner, so Janey had time to talk. “If this is about his wife dying, I already know,” she said as she settled into a chair across the table from him. “Mom told me. Obviously he’s going through a rough time.”
Dan nodded grimly. “That isn’t something a man gets over in a hurry. Trust me—I know. Peggy’s been dead eighteen years, and there are still times when I go home at the end of the day and expect to find her in the kitchen. It’s the loneliest feeling in the world when you realize she’s not there.”
“Is that why he left L.A.?” she asked quietly. “He couldn’t stand to live there without her?”
“I don’t know,” he admitted. “He’s a private person and never really said. And I didn’t push. I do know, though, that he was looking for a change. But change isn’t always easy, especially when you’re in a strange town where you don’t know anyone. That’s why I wanted to talk to you. He could use a friend, Janey. I know the two of you didn’t get off to a good start, but I was hoping you would do what you can to make him feel welcome. I imagine he’s pretty lonely.”
An astute woman, Janey knew when she was being manipulated. But she was also a soft touch, and she could not only forgive Dan for tugging on her emotions, but Reilly, too, for his hostile attitude. If their situations had been reversed, and she’d not only lost a husband she’d loved with all her heart, but moved to L.A., where she knew no one, she would have been miserable, too.
Smiling fondly at Dan, she gave in gracefully. “Okay, you can stop twisting my arm. I’ll be nice to the guy. If he hands my head to me on a platter, I guess you can stitch it back on for me.”
Pleased, he rose to his feet with her and hugged her. “I knew I could count on you. You’re just like your mother.”
Janey couldn’t think of anyone she’d rather be like, but Dan had it wrong. Her mother was strikingly beautiful, and Merry was her spitting
