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  “If you say anything to hurt my patient…”

  Emotion flashed in his smoky-green eyes. Anger and determination. A need to protect.

  She supposed she should have been insulted or more frightened, but oddly enough his intensity reassured her. “You take care of them. Your patients, I mean.”

  “That’s my job.”

  “But that’s not why you do it. You care.” She smiled. “That’s nice.”

  “I’m glad you approve.”

  He didn’t sound as if he were glad at all, but that was okay.

  He motioned to Cece. “The dog is clean?”

  “Yes. I spoke with one of your nurses this morning and used the soap she recommended. She’s been kept away from the other dogs and hasn’t been outside since her bath.”

  “Thank you.” Simon frowned. “Won’t she have to go to the bathroom?”

  “Cece is paper trained. She can go on a puppy pad.” Montana did her best not to smile. “Don’t worry. She’s not going to pee on the bed.”

  “Good to know.” He glanced toward the doors, then back at her. “Since you’re not a medical professional, you probably don’t know what to expect. Kalinda’s burns are recent. While she’s bandaged, there are exposed areas of her skin. It’s raw and unattractive. There’s a smell, from the burns and the various medicines we use. She’s in pain and is exhausted.”

  Montana nodded, her smile fading. “I wish I could do something to help.”

  “Hopefully the dog will accomplish that. Recovering from burns takes years. It’s uncomfortable, to say the least. Despite our best efforts, the worst cases can never be what everyone would call normal. It’s a failing.”

  She studied him, suddenly aware that he considered it a personal failing. As if he should be able to do better than everyone else.

  “You’ll stay fifteen minutes, then leave. We’ll assess how the visit went before deciding if they will continue.”

  Before she was ready, he’d pushed open one of the doors and motioned for her to follow.

  The last time she’d been on the burn ward she’d been more concerned about getting Fluffy under control than noticing her surroundings. Now she was aware of closed doors with warnings about isolation and cleanliness. As she walked with Simon, she was aware of his scars. When he spoke of the effort of recovery, he spoke from personal experience. She wondered what had happened to him and when.

  They stopped in front of a half-closed door. Simon pushed it open and a woman in her late twenties stepped out. She was petite and obviously exhausted. Her skin was gray and dark circles shadowed her blue eyes. When she saw Montana or, more precisely, Cece, she smiled.

  “You brought a little dog!”

  Montana moved toward her. “I’m Montana Hendrix. This is Cece. She’s a trained therapy dog.”

  “Fay Riley.” The woman let Cece sniff her fingers. “This is exactly what Kalinda needs. Thank you so much for bringing her.” Fay’s gaze moved to Simon. “And you for arranging it.”

  “Let’s see how they get along,” Simon said.

  Montana moved toward the room. Fay put her hand on her arm. “Did he tell you about…” She swallowed and tears filled her eyes. “She was burned pretty bad.”

  “I’m so sorry for what happened,” Montana told her as she drew in a breath. “We’re going to do everything we can to make her feel a little bit better. That’s what Cece’s been trained for.”

  Fay glanced at Simon, then nodded and pushed the door open more.

  Montana drew a steadying breath. Whatever she saw would be nothing compared to what Kalinda was going through. Montana only had to deal with the burns from a distance. Kalinda was living them. Montana vowed she wouldn’t react in any way, no matter what.

  But the promise was harder to keep than she’d expected. The girl on the bed seemed so small and helpless. Her arms were wrapped in white bandages, only the tips of her fingers exposed. Her face was a mass of raw skin, as was her neck. Thick ointment covered the burns.

  The scent of disinfectant mingled with that of burned flesh and a rotting smell. For a second, Montana thought she might gag, but then she got herself under control and reminded herself to smile.

  “Kalinda?” Fay said quietly. “You have a visitor.”

  The girl opened her eyes. They were startlingly blue against the angry burns. Montana’s first thought was that she must have been a very pretty child, before the accident. Her second thought was she’d never seen that much pain in anyone’s expression before.

  “Hi. I’m Montana and this is Cece. Your mom said you liked dogs, so I hope it’s okay I brought her to see you.”

  Kalinda nodded rather than spoke. She moved her head slightly, then winced and tears filled her eyes.

  Montana felt her own throat tighten at her obvious suffering. She wanted to turn to Simon and demand he do something. Make it better. Yet she already knew he was doing as much as he could. Some things simply couldn’t be fixed.

  She set Cece on the bed. Simon moved to the other side, hovering protectively. She expected him to start issuing orders, but instead he waited.

  Cece, all six pounds of her, studied Kalinda for a few seconds. Then she carefully made her way to the girl’s side. She curled up between Kalinda’s hip and her hand, stretched her neck a little and licked the exposed fingertips.

  The girl smiled.

  “Thank you,” she whispered, her voice scratchy. Her eyes sank closed, but her fingers moved against Cece’s side.

  Montana stood by the bed for what felt like hours, but was probably only fifteen minutes. When Simon nodded, she picked up Cece and whispered a goodbye.

  Fay followed them outside.

  “That was wonderful,” she said, wiping away tears. “She smiled. Did you see that? She actually smiled. Please say you’ll come back.”

  Montana glanced at Simon, who nodded.

  “Whenever you want,” Montana told her. “If Kalinda is strong enough.”

  “Let’s see how it goes,” Simon said. “We don’t want to tire her out.”

  “Whatever you think is best,” Fay said, already moving back toward her daughter’s room. “She smiled.”

  Montana felt a little sick to her stomach. While she was thrilled Cece had helped, she hated how both Kalinda and her mother were suffering. It seemed so unfair—the random cruelty of an accident.

  The dog shifted in her arms, an attempt to get closer to Simon.

  “Someone has a fan,” Montana said.

  Gray-green eyes locked with hers. “Excuse me?”

  She motioned to the dog, who stared at him intensely. “Cece has quite a thing for you.”

  He barely glanced at the animal. “I’m sure she’s like that with everyone.”

  “Not really.” Montana paused, thinking she should probably excuse herself, only to remember her assignment from Mayor Marsha. She was supposed to get close to Simon, to charm him into staying in Fool’s Gold.

  “I could show you around town,” she said before she could stop herself. “You’re new and the town is great and I could show you around. You know, so you could see it.” She cleared her throat and waited for him to say something scathing or simply walk away.

  Instead he continued to stare at her with as much intensity as Cece stared at him.

  “Thank you,” he said. “That would be nice.”

  Montana continued to stand there in the middle of the corridor long after Simon had excused himself and walked away. He’d said yes. She couldn’t decide if that was a good thing or a bad thing. Maybe, the problem was, it was both.

  CHAPTER FOUR

  SIMON WAS WAITING by the Starbucks, as instructed. Montana paused on the opposite corner, both admiring him from afar and not sure if she had the courage to approach. Telling herself she was doing this for the greater good wasn’t as helpful as it could have been. There was something about Dr. Simon Bradley. Something she couldn’t put her finger on.

  It wasn’t just his patronizing attitude. Sh
e’d never met anyone quite like him—obviously intelligent, but an emotional puzzle. Plus, he was good-looking. Sure, he had those scars, but did they really matter? When a man like him looked at a woman, the rest of the world just seemed to disappear.

  Not in a romantic way, she told herself quickly. She wasn’t attracted to him. After all, it wasn’t as if he was a nice guy. And wasn’t that what she was looking for? A nice guy. If he happened to have those smoky-green eyes, well that was a plus. Except, not Simon. She might not know many things, but she knew he wasn’t the one for her.

  All of which was very interesting, but wasn’t getting the job done. She drew in a breath, squared her shoulders and purposefully started across the street. Unfortunately, she didn’t look even one way, let alone both, and had to jump back to avoid being hit by a Prius driven by a distracted tourist.

  As she got closer to Simon, she realized he had traded in his white coat and dark trousers for jeans and a long-sleeved shirt. She hadn’t known him for long, but he didn’t strike her as a casual dresser. She would never have guessed he even owned jeans. Not that he didn’t look good in them.

  “Hi,” she said as she approached. She was nervous and didn’t know what to do with her hands. Should she offer to shake, or give a little wave? “Good afternoon.”

  Simon’s voice was as steady as his gaze. He looked calm, cool and completely unimpressed with her. How fair was that? He was the new guy in town. Shouldn’t he be at least a little uncomfortable?

  But he wasn’t, and there was no getting around it. And if she didn’t get out of her head pretty soon she was going to make herself crazy.

  Purpose, she told herself. She had a purpose. She had been assigned a task by the mayor and she would see it through to the best of her abilities. Starting right now.

  “I thought I’d show you the town,” she said, hoping she sounded cheerful and confident. She was a happy person, so the cheerful part was easy enough. As for the confidence, weren’t they always saying, “Fake it until you make it”? God knew she’d been faking it for years.

  “That’s what you offered,” Simon said, watching her in that steady way of his. “A tour of the town.”

  She blinked. “Right. That is what I said.” She tried to smile, found herself fighting nerves again, then went to a safer place. She’d been learning about the history of Fool’s Gold since the first grade. When in doubt, stick to the facts.

  She cleared her throat.

  “In the early thirteen hundreds a matriarchal tribe called the Máa-zib settled on the shores of our lake. Not much is known about them. Legend has it that they’re a branch of Maya Indians who came looking for a place where women and their children could live in harmony. Without men.”

  Simon raised his eyebrows. “So they died out?”

  She laughed. “Okay, men were allowed in the village for certain purposes. They say there is a curse that keeps the men out. Maybe that’s the reason Fool’s Gold has a man shortage. Or at least we used to. More men are moving here all the time.”

  She thought about saying that he could move here, but didn’t think that was especially subtle. Although having him agree would get her job done very quickly.

  She motioned toward the park and started walking. Simon fell into step beside her.

  “In fifteen eighty-one an English crewman who served with Sir Francis Drake wrote about being injured in the mountains and cared for by a matriarchal tribe of natives. His account suggests he was here in Fool’s Gold and that the women were from the Máa-zib tribe.”

  Simon glanced at her. “Let me guess. He had sex with several of the women but they didn’t let him stay.”

  She grinned. “You have to respect their ability to get what they want.”

  “Would you still respect their actions if the tribe in question had been men?”

  “An unfair question. The women chose to get pregnant by him. I assume they wanted to refresh the gene pool, although they wouldn’t think of it that way. That’s completely different than a man getting a woman pregnant and walking away.”

  “Except he lost his children. He wasn’t allowed to see them or raise them.”

  “A good point,” she admitted. “But it’s kind of the town thing to respect the women.”

  “I’ll keep that in mind.”

  They walked down to the lake. As usual, children were feeding ducks, young couples picnicked on blankets in the shade of trees, and a few joggers made their way along the bike path.

  Montana paused to take in the familiar scene. This had always been her home. She’d tried living somewhere else, briefly, and hated it. She knew some people left for the big city and she was sure any large urban area had its charms. But this was where she belonged.

  She was aware of Simon standing next to her. He didn’t say much, which wasn’t a surprise. What she hadn’t expected was how much she didn’t mind his quietness. It was oddly relaxing. She was also aware of his height and his broad shoulders, but told herself not to be silly. Becoming interested in Simon as anything but a project for Mayor Marsha was just plain stupid.

  If he kept glancing at her, it was probably because he was waiting for the next burst of factoids or wondering if there was going to be a town history quiz. There was no way he was… She frowned. If she hadn’t known better, she would have sworn Simon was looking at her mouth. Not possible, she told herself. No way she could attract a man like Simon.

  Not that she would mind, but if the other men in her life hadn’t found her to be attractive enough, she figured she would be woefully lacking in Simon’s eyes, too.

  She motioned to the trucks parked along the side road by the lake. “They’re setting up for the Fourth of July celebration. Fool’s Gold is known for its festivals. I don’t know how many we have every year. A lot. There’s the Book Festival and the Waterskiing Festival. The Fall Festival, which is before the Halloween party.” She glanced at him. “It’s fun.”

  “An active community.”

  She couldn’t tell if he meant that in a good way or a bad way, and decided not to ask.

  She led him back to the main street and started pointing out various businesses before continuing her discussion of the town. “Mayor Marsha is the longest serving mayor in the state of California. The festivals are run by my friend Pia. It’s a big job and, now that she’s pregnant, it’s even more difficult. Although she has a new assistant, which is helping.” She searched her mind for some other factoids. “My family was one of the founding families, on my dad’s side. Not counting the matriarchal tribe, of course. There’s Morgan’s Books.”

  She led him to the store and showed him the window display of Liz Sutton, their resident mystery writer.

  “Have you read her?” she asked.

  Simon shook his head and shifted so he was on her other side. “Is she any good?”

  “Of course. She’s fabulous. She’s married to my brother, Ethan. They have one son together and are raising her two nieces. It’s complicated.”

  “Most family relationships are.”

  “Tell me about it.” She started walking again and Simon fell into step beside her. “My dad passed away eleven years ago, so it’s not surprising my mom has started dating. It really would have been okay, only she seemed fine alone and now we have to get used to this and it’s strange. I want her to be happy, but it’s the whole parental thing. She talks about her dates and we want to be supportive, but then she talks about kissing with tongue and I just want to cover my ears and hum.”

  She came to a stop. “You’re a medical professional. Why is hearing about parents having sex so creepy? Okay, not creepy exactly, but strange.”

  “I don’t have an answer to that.”

  “Didn’t you go to medical school? Don’t they have a class on this?”

  And then it happened. Simon smiled at her. His lips curved, there was a flash of white teeth and a surprising dimple on his unscarred cheek.

  Montana felt a sudden rush of sensation in her midsecti
on. Not attraction exactly, but not disinterest either. The smile was unexpected and very appealing. It made her want to hear his laugh and maybe even make him smile again.

  “I must’ve missed that day,” he told her. “Sorry.”

  “You work at a hospital. You could ask around.”

  “Is it really that important to you?”

  “I don’t like feeling uncomfortable. Especially around my mother. I love her and we’re really close. And I feel like a really good daughter would be able to talk about her mother’s dating life.”

  “Not even a good daughter is expected to discuss tongue.”

  She laughed and saw he was smiling again. Suddenly the morning seemed a little brighter, the sky a little bluer.

  They came to a stop at the corner. Montana walked over to push the Walk button, then returned to Simon’s side. “Where were you before you came to Fool’s Gold? I heard you travel around a lot.”

  The pedestrian signal changed and she and Simon started across the street. As they reached the other side, he stepped around her.

  “I was in India.”

  “That counts as travel,” she admitted. “You go all around the world?”

  “I go where I’m needed. I operate on whomever needs my help the most. Mostly children. But adults as well. After I leave here, I’m set to go to Peru.”

  That sounded very altruistic. “So you’re a giver?”

  “No.”

  She waited, but he didn’t say anything else. There was no sign of the smile and she wondered if she’d annoyed him, or crossed some invisible line.

  “Burns are my specialty,” he said.

  “You must get lonely, always being in a different place. What about family?”

  “I have my work. That’s enough.”

  It couldn’t possibly be enough, she thought. He was a difficult man to understand. Obviously he was very gifted. His work was demanding and, from what she had seen, he was relentless when it came to taking care of his patients. But who took care of him?

  No, no. Don’t go there, she told herself. No rescuing. Simon was perfectly capable of taking care of himself. He’d been all over the world, doing amazing things. He didn’t need her and she didn’t need to make this assignment more than it was.