Just as his father had contributed this hospital to the community, Braden would contribute a major biotech research and development site to his hometown.
Look, Dad, I’m following in your footsteps.
The tension in his shoulders eased. Had he lived to see it, his father would have been unconditionally proud. Braden knew that. He expected his mother and brothers would feel the same way when they found out.
Braden couldn’t tell them yet. The Securities and Exchange Commission had strict rules against corporate presidents leaking that kind of information too soon. For now, he’d have to content himself with giving his baby brother a hard time.
“As if your ugly mug would be enough to drag me across the country,” he said, resisting the urge to throw a fake slo-mo punch at Jamie. Those childhood habits died hard. “But your wife’s pretty face, that’s another matter. Is Kendry working today?”
“She’s home, studying for an exam. Nursing school is no cakewalk. Better her than me.”
“Beautiful and smart. Driven. My kind of woman.”
“She’s all that and more, but since married women aren’t your thing, to what do we owe the pleasure of this visit?”
“This trip was strictly business,” Braden lied. He wasn’t about to confess his idiotic notion of visiting the chapel to formally end the promise he’d once made. “I was expecting to meet with Dr. Montgomery.”
“Montgomery? That old bastard is the reason you flew across the country? Now I am offended.”
“I wouldn’t have wasted the jet fuel if someone had bothered to inform me that Montgomery was no longer the head of research.”
“Until yesterday, I was basking in the sun under a coconut tree with Kendry. Good thing your company can afford the plane ticket.” To the nurse, Jamie gave orders for the patient whose cubicle he’d just left. “Nebulizer in four. Call me when the azithromycin IV is finished. I’ll be in the kitchen.”
Braden followed Jamie into the kitchenette that the staff used during their round-the-clock shifts.
“I could have done without the surprise,” Braden said, once they were alone. He still felt off balance after seeing Lana.
“What surprise?”
“Dr. Montgomery’s replacement. Lana Donnoli.”
“That’s your Lana? From med school?”
“You didn’t know?” Braden crossed his arms over his chest and eyed his brother skeptically.
“I told you, I was on a beach. On my honeymoon.”
“The decision wasn’t made yesterday.”
“I’m just a lowly E.R. doc. You want to get pissed off at a brother, go find Quinn. He joined the board.”
Braden shook off the offer of the cup of coffee Jamie had just poured, so Jamie drank it himself, settling against the counter. “It sucks being back on my feet after spending a week in bed.”
“Yeah, life’s rough.” Braden’s sarcastic answer was automatic, but he knew his younger brother deserved every bit of happiness that came his way. While serving the country as an army physician in a war zone, Jamie had lost the first woman he’d loved. He’d come a long way since that dark period, and Braden was glad to see it. Still, he didn’t want to hear about honeymoon bliss. “In all seriousness, I’m glad civilian life is treating you well.”
“Don’t get all mushy on me. The coffee’s decent. Have some.”
Braden poured a cup and sat down in a plastic chair that looked like a waiting-room reject. “Lana’s too young to be the department head at a hospital this size.”
Jamie had the nerve to grin. “We’re still on that topic? Like I said, Quinn’s on the board, not me. But I noticed this morning that her name’s been added to the E.R.’s coverage list. I wondered if it was your Lana.”
“She hasn’t been my anything for years. I sure as hell hope Quinn didn’t give her this position out of some misguided idea that he’d be helping out an old family friend.” He drank the coffee black. No cream, no sugar to hide the true flavor.
Jamie was watching him closely. As the youngest, he’d been away at college during Braden’s engagement. He probably knew very little about the whole affair.
Braden explained. “Lana’s the one who called it off. Mailed the ring to me at Harvard and never spoke to me again.”
“And then you walked into the boardroom today and there she was?”
Braden rejected the sympathy he heard in Jamie’s tone. “That wasn’t an issue. I just don’t want you or Quinn thinking she’s some kind of family friend who deserves special consideration.”
“I don’t see Quinn letting your love life influence decisions about this hospital. He treats this place like Dad did, like it’s some kind of gift to the community.”
Hearing Jamie voice his own earlier thought out loud was both discomforting and reassuring. As children, they’d all competed with the hospital for their father’s attention, Braden supposed, although he’d always felt pride in knowing the medical complex was a MacDowell legacy.
One which he, the eldest son, had left behind. One from which he’d just pulled a million dollars of funding.
The coffee tasted like hell. Braden dumped his coffee down the sink and crushed the paper cup in his hand. “It’s good that Quinn takes it seriously. A nonprofit hospital is a gift to the community.”
By Valentine’s Day, the PLI deal would be final, and Braden would be legally able to tell his family about the research facilities, his own contribution to the city. He looked forward to proving that he was still loyal to his hometown. The project was proof that Braden hadn’t abandoned his family or his father’s ideals, despite the way it may have seemed on the surface for the past six years.
Until then, what were another four or five days of misunderstanding? That subtle condemnation, that distrust, that assumption that he preferred to be a loner in the big city had started when he’d left Austin for Boston. When he’d left doctoring for big business. When he’d left Lana for—
For no one. He’d never left Lana. She’d done all the leaving.
Braden, don’t go. I want a second chance.
Her words today had shaken him, although she’d been talking about a second chance with his corporation, not with him. After she’d broken their engagement, he’d heard nothing but silence. If she’d spoken those words six years ago—or five, or four—he would gladly have taken her back, to be honest. But not now.
Now Braden was moving on. This Valentine’s Day, he intended to stake his claim as a MacDowell in Austin’s medical community. He also intended to announce the next phase of his personal life. He anticipated introducing Claudia St. James to his family, then proposing marriage to seal the deal.
After a six-year absence, he’d have a wife and an office in Austin, just as he’d always planned,
