The Doctor's Choice (6 page)

“Clear and cold,” she said.

Breck slowed as they passed the city limits sign. Someone in a passing vehicle waved at them and he raised his hand. He parked the truck in front of Pruitt’s Western Wear.

“Stay,” he said as she reached for the door handle. The dark eyes held hers for a moment before he broke into a grin. “Good girl.”

She gasped and swung at him, but he dodged. He came around and opened her door, holding out his hand.

“Oh, my goodness
.” Her voice dripped sweetness. “I don’t think little me can possibly get down out of this great big old truck all by myself.” She sat gazing into his eyes with a little smile quirking at the corners of her mouth.

“No problem
.” He scooped her into his arms and carried her to the sidewalk and into the store. A metal cowbell clanked against the glass door.

Cami laughed, thinking how effortlessly Breck had lifted her from the truck and borne her up the steps and inside the store.
He set her on her feet and took her hand. After being in his arms it didn’t seem strange to be holding his hand.

He led her to the footwear department.
“Sit down,” he said. “What size do you wear?”

“Seven
.” She watched him walk away as a balding, ginger-haired clerk approached.

“Hey, Breck!” the man called.

Breck returned and greeted the man. “Hey, yourself, Merle. This is Cami Carmichael, Silky’s niece. Put her on the account, would you?”

Merle nodded at Cami and said, “Sure thing.”

“We’d like to see size seven-and-a-half western style riding boots.”

“I wear a size seven,”
she protested.

“I got you some
thick wool socks.” Breck pulled a chair across from her and busied himself untying her wet sneakers. He tossed them aside along with her sodden white cotton crew socks. “Your feet are freezing.” He smiled as he held her foot in his large warm hand. He touched the gold toe ring she wore on the middle toe of her right foot and his smile became a grin.

Cami’s heartbeat sped up at his touch. She swallowed hard.
“They’ve been frozen since I arrived here.”

“You should have said something.” Breck unbuttoned his flannel shirt and
pressed her feet against his warm hard ribcage and stomach.

She
was bombarded with physical sensations. Her icy feet were trapped between Breck’s hands and his warm trunk. She also felt a wave of something else. She recognized it as lust. “You are a crazy man,” she whispered.

“That’s common knowledge.” He rubbed the tops of her feet as he stared at her. “You have small feet.”

“For a tall woman, I do. Aunt Silky had really tiny feet.”

He
grinned at her. “She was a small woman.”

“I’m glad she didn’t hear you say that.” Cami was
sure she was doing something bad, but it felt so good. Her feet hadn’t been warm since she’d stepped off the plane. And while the fact that she was warming her feet against Breck’s six-pack abs was disturbing and way too intimate, she couldn’t seem to pull her feet away.

“Here we are.” Merle returned with several boxes. “I didn’t know whether you prefer pull-on or lace-up.”

“Lace-up, please.”

Breck gave her a smile and a little nod. She thought she’d passed some kind of test. He took a pair of thick brown wool socks out of his pocket and put them on Cami’s feet. He continued to massage
them until she drew them away.

She reached for the boots
in Merle’s hands, but Breck took them and slipped them on her feet, lacing them up.

“Walk around,” he said.

“Do you have a dog?” Cami asked.

“Yes, why?”

“Because in the last fifteen minutes, you’ve ordered me to stay, sit and walk. I’m trying to give you some slack, but you’re at the end of your tether with me.”

Breck flashed a grin. “I understand. I’ll try to be careful about bossing you around from here on out.”

“Good boy!” She gave him a wry look and turned away from the disturbing lawyer. She strolled around in the boots, examining them in a mirror and liking the way they looked.

“What size
pants do you wear?” Breck asked coming up behind her.

“That’s a little personal,” she said. “Even for you.”

“You need to get some jeans and I’d suggest thermal underwear, if it’s not too personal.”

Cami
nodded and followed him to a wall lined with shelves of folded pairs of jeans for men, women and children. She selected a pair and held them against her body, then draped them over her arm.

Breck took two more of the same size and style and grabbed two sets of ladies thermal underwear and several pairs of wool socks.

“Surely I won’t need that many,” she said.

“Surely you’ll need more,” he said.

Merle bagged the items and Cami signed for them.

“What else do you need?”
Breck asked as he stowed her purchases in the back seat.

“Where did Aunt Silky get her prescriptions filled?”

He drove her to the pharmacy and introduced her to the pharmacist, Walter Samuels.

“Mr. Samuels,” she said. “Could I see my aunt’s records? I want to know about any prescriptions she had filled within the past six months.”

The pharmacist glanced at Breck who gave him a nod.

“Well,
Doctor Carmichael, I ordinarily wouldn’t divulge this information, but if Breck says its okay, I’ll go along with it.”

“Are you telling me she had some major illness?”
she asked.

“Let’s see, now”
He typed into his computer database. “It looks like she had a sinus infection in September and the doc prescribed an antibiotic for it.”

“What else?”
she urged.

“That’s it,” he said. “That was the last prescription she had filled.”

“She didn’t have any routine meds for any chronic illnesses?”

“Non
e. She was a remarkable woman. She took an over the counter pain reliever for a mild case of arthritis, but that’s all that comes to mind.” Walter shook his head sadly. “You can check with Doc Parker. He might have given her some samples.”

Cami nodded her head and they left the pharmacy.

“Where to, now?” Breck asked.

“I’d better get the groceries and head back.”

“Let’s have lunch first.”

“Does that mean
another visit to Tiny’s Diner?” she asked, thinking about the memorable biscuits.

“How about La
Hacienda? They make great fajitas.”

“Sounds good to me.”

They ate at the small restaurant and she was introduced to Milita Rios, the owner’s daughter.

“Milita and I graduated from
Langston High School,” Breck said.

“Please,” Milita protested. “Breck was two years ahead of me and way too important to notice a skinny little girl like me.”

“I noticed,” he said. “I noticed Hector following you around like a bloodhound.”

Milita smiled
sadly and dropped her gaze. She handed Breck the check and walked away.

“What was that about?” Cami asked.

“I shouldn’t have mentioned Hector,” Breck said. “He was killed in Afghanistan.”

“Sh
e’s a lovely woman,” Cami said.

Breck nodded and tossed some bills on the table. “Let’s get those groceries.”

He pushed the cart as she shopped. She selected salad greens along with fresh tomatoes, green peppers and celery. He watched in amusement as she filled a bag with large red apples.

Breck heaved a huge bag of dry dog food under the cart and Cami tossed in cans of cat and dog food. Finally, she selected coffee and a large bag of sugar for the men.

“This should do it,” she said. “People have been coming by to bring casseroles and cakes since the funeral.”

“Why thanks, Cami,”
he said. “I’d love to come for dinner tonight.”

“Dinner?” She looked up at him
and experienced a squeezing sensation in her chest.

“You know,” he said. “You can heat up something and I’ll come over
and eat with you. We’ll talk and maybe you’ll want to go to the dance at the Eagles Hall.”

“Dance?”
Her heart did a little drum roll against her ribs.

He arched an eyebrow at her.
“Am I speaking a foreign language here?”

“No.”
She took a deep breath. “You can come to dinner. I don’t know about the dancing.”

Breck grinned at her. “Awww, you don’t
know how to dance?”

She
felt a blush creeping up her neck. “I dance.”

A wide grin spread across his face.
“Good. I’d hate to have to have you stepping all over me.”

CHAPTER FIVE

When
they returned to Moonshadows and pulled onto the circle drive, Cami noticed a strange truck sitting in front of the house.

Breck expressed a short sound of disgust and
shook his head.

She
raised her brows, noting the grim set to his jaw.

Grinding
the gears to a stop, he shot her a look that clearly said, ‘stay’.

Cami gathered her packages and waited for him to open her door. When she leaned down into his arms, she felt a shiver of excitement as his arms encircled her. She wondered how she could have thought his
gray eyes were cold when they seemed to be flickering with green sparks.

“You might want to go on inside, Cami,” he said quietly.

“Miss Carmichael.” Eldon Kincaid stepped out of his truck. “Pardon me, I mean Dr. Carmichael.” He gave Breck the slightest of nods.

“Mr. Kincaid,”
she said. “I’d forgotten you were coming.”

He grabbed at his chest. “Young lady, you wound an old man. We were going to continue our negotiations.”

Breck turned sharply to Cami.

“No,” she said. “We’re not negotiating. If I stay, I’ll keep the ranch. If I go, it belongs to Mr. Ryan.”

“I see.” His jaw twitched as he glared at Breck.

She
started up the steps with her parcels. “Most likely, you’ll be dealing with Mr. Ryan, so don’t get your hopes up.” She smiled at both men and crossed the porch to the front entrance. She stamped the slush off her new boots and opened the door. She dropped the packages inside and peeked out through Aunt Silky’s lace curtains.

Breck and Kincaid seemed to be engaged in a heated dialogue. Frank and T-Bone
came out of the barn and hovered within earshot near the fence.

Eldon Kincaid climbed back into his truck and slammed the door. He revved his engine and spun his tires as he left the
circle.

Breck watched his departure, his gaze narrowed. He turned back to his truck and
carried the dog and cat food onto the porch. He nodded at T-Bone and Frank and departed in a more sedate manner.

Cami stepped out onto the porch to watch the truck turn off onto the
caliches road leading to the highway. She turned to T-Bone and Frank lounging against the fence. They suddenly sprang to life and T-Bone disappeared into the barn. Frank touched his finger to the brim of his hat in a salute, his eyes dancing.

She
waved him over to the porch.

When he spoke
puffs of steam came from his mouth. “Let me carry this inside for you, Miss Cami.” He hefted the dog food onto his shoulder and tucked the smaller bag under his arm.

She
held the door and followed him to the pantry. He set the bags down and turned to leave.

“What was going on between Breck and Mr. Kincaid?”

“It was like, you know?” Frank hung his head and glanced at her, grinning. “Like two roosters in the chicken yard.”

She
threw her head back and laughed. It was the first time she’d noticed Frank’s grin. He was really cute. “What do you know about the dance at the Eagle’s Hall?”

He shrugged
and then grinned again. “It’s the place to be on Friday nights in Langston. They always have a live band.”

She
nodded and Frank headed outside.
The place to be, huh?
She wanted to be in a position to meet the townsfolk, so she figured this was a good opportunity to do just that. She heaved a big sigh. She just wasn’t sure she could handle dancing with Breck.

She
put away her groceries and looked over the haul of food people had dropped off. The most reasonable thing would be to feed Breck the smoked ham he’d brought. She found a green bean casserole and a couple of potatoes to bake. And she could cut into the cherry cheesecake brought by the Secretary of the First Baptist Church.
That should feed him.