The Army Doctor's New Year's Baby (6 page)

Without
commenting, Megan stared up at him from beneath her lashes, a knowing smile on
her face.

Out on the
slopes when they'd been having fun together, it was much easier to get close to
Megan. Being at Kindrogan with her was like stepping into a more genteel world.
All his usual flirtatious small talk seemed frivolous or inappropriate.
Normally if he was attracted to a woman, he knew how to behave. The people in
his circle understood how the relationship game was played. For the first time
in many years, he was unsure how to proceed.

"I'm
tired," she said, letting her head rest on the chair back. "It's been
a long day."

"I
enjoyed the skiing this morning."

She smiled.
"Me too. It's a shame we were interrupted."

"My
thoughts exactly." He sipped his cocoa, enjoying the kick of the whiskey
as it reached his stomach.

For a
moment, he recalled lying in the snow with Megan, the anticipation of the kiss.
Then his thoughts drifted on to the fallen climber, and to Kieran Smyth. His
pleasure dimmed slightly. The poor kid had a tough time ahead of him.

"I'm
worried about the Smyth boy. You know that after the hospital warmed up his
hand, they just dressed it and sent him home with a few painkillers? The
presenting symptoms might not look like much now, but there's a strong risk of
necrosis. The poor boy might end up losing some of his fingers. They should
keep him in for observation and pain management."

"You're
not in the ivory towers of private practice anymore. Welcome to the real world
of budget cuts and bed shortages in the National Health Service." Megan
heaved a resigned sigh.

She scooped
back her silky hair and let it fall over her shoulders in a mesmerizing
red-gold cascade that distracted Daniel from the conversation.

He cleared
his throat and gathered his thoughts. "When I trained, I did the usual
rotation in the National Health hospitals like you did."

"Well,
you've forgotten the reality, then."

"I
guess you're right." This was exactly why he'd wanted to get his feet back
on the ground and really help people, rather than cater to the whims of the
über wealthy.

"By the
way, you did a great job noticing the lad was injured. I was so occupied with
the father, I would have missed it."

Daniel
shrugged. "You focused on the serious casualty. I'd have done the same if
I were on my own."

As they were
talking, it seemed like a good time to ask a question that had been bugging
him. "By the way, what's the deal with you and Lyall? Are you dating or
something?"

She burst
out laughing, spitting drips of cocoa down her front. "Now look what you
made me do." She pulled a tissue from her pocket and mopped herself.

When she'd
finished, she leaned back with an amused sigh. "Lyall's like a brother to
me. He's Angus's son. We grew up together. I can't wait to tell him you thought
we were dating. He'll have a good laugh at that."

No, he
won't, Daniel thought. The poor guy was obviously in love with Megan and she
had no idea. Daniel almost felt sorry for him.

Tapping his
fingers on the arm of the chair, he watched her finish her cocoa and set the
cup aside. He longed to kiss Megan, but first he wanted to romance her, to make
her feel special. He wanted to make up for hurting her feelings after the New
Year's ball.

An iPod
docking station sat on a chest beside a stuffed fox. Setting his mug aside,
Daniel pulled out his phone and selected a romantic track, one they could dance
to. He rose, stepped over the dogs, and slotted his phone in place, pressing
play
.

The soulful
strains of a slow song filled the air. He extended a hand towards Megan.
"Will you dance with me, sweetheart?"

Her eyes
widened in that deer-in-the-headlights look she did so well, looking cute and
vulnerable rather than startled. As she stared at him, he had a tense moment
when he feared she might refuse. Then she rose to her feet and slid her slender
fingers into his palm.

***

Megan let
Daniel draw her into his arms, hanging on to her good sense by a thread. She
would not let the pleasure of his embrace turn her into a senseless ninny like
it had at the New Year's ball. Flirting obviously came to him as naturally as
breathing, but he'd made it absolutely clear the first night they met that he
didn't want a romantic relationship with her.

He was just
passing the time and having a bit of fun. She was the only woman here, so if he
wanted to flirt, it was with her or not at all.

He drew her
closer, his hand sliding up to cradle the back of her head and ease it against
his shoulder.

"Relax,"
he whispered.

She wanted
to. Her heart had gone all warm and fuzzy, her muscles soft with desire, but
her common sense retained a corner of her brain. Even as his hand stroked warm
circles of sensation on her back, his words from New Year's Eve played through
her mind.

He didn't
want a relationship with her.

Yet he confused
her. She was halfway in love with the charming man whose company she enjoyed,
the kind man who'd taken Kieran Smyth under his wing. But the Daniel she knew
didn't connect with what she'd found out about him on Google or what Olivia had
said.

The spicy
fragrance of Daniel's aftershave filled her nose, his stubble rough against her
temple. Dreamy sensation whispered through her, wiping her mind of worries.
Being in Daniel's arms was her fantasy. Why was she resisting? His embrace
tightened and his lips pressed against her hair.

Daniel
Fabian had stormed his way into her heart. Despite her best defenses, she could
not resist him.

"I
can't stop thinking about you," Daniel whispered.

Even though
Megan knew he was just sweet-talking her, she melted inside.

"I love
being with you, sweetheart." As he continued, her legs went all wobbly at
the knees.

He stopped
in front of the fire and put a finger beneath her chin, tilting her face up.
Firelight danced over his golden hair, turned his beautiful face into a sculpture
of light and shadow. Any resistance Megan had dissolved at the flash of desire
in his blue eyes.

"Daniel."
Her befuddled brain could manage nothing but his name, whispered in the
reverential tone of a prayer. Her heart ached; she loved him so much. She had
never felt like this before, never known it was possible to yearn so hard for a
man to care for her.

Lowering his
head, he brushed his lips across hers. Her breath caught, her heart stumbled,
and she fell into the blissful sensation as he deepened the kiss.

After long
moments, he pulled back and stroked a finger across her cheek, a smile on his
face. "You're adorable."

Daniel
Fabian was a master of sweet words that probably meant nothing. Even as she
drowned in the pleasure, pain pulsed through her heart.

She hoped
the old saying, "It's better to have loved and lost than never to have
loved at all," was true. She had a nasty feeling she would soon find out.

A young army
nurse knocked on Daniel's consulting-room door and popped her head around.
"Kieran Smyth is here to see you, sir. Shall I show him in?"

"No.
I'll come out."

Daniel rose,
relieved to leave the report he was writing. He couldn't concentrate with
thoughts of Megan constantly bugging him. He had barely seen her since their
kiss two weeks ago. Most evenings she'd worked late and last weekend she'd
disappeared off to a wedding with Lyall.

After the
kiss, he'd expected them to grow closer and things to heat up. Instead she'd
backed off, or that's the way it seemed.

He'd been
certain she liked him. What had he done wrong?

He blew out
a frustrated breath and pulled open his door. A short walk down a corridor took
him to the waiting room. The clinic was small scale. Being so specialized, only
a few civilian outpatients visited. Most of the cases he'd dealt with since he
started three weeks ago had been joint forces personnel who were admitted
directly onto the ward from active service.

The moment
Mrs. Smyth's anxious face came into view, guilt filled Daniel. Here he was
moping about his love life, or lack of it, when the poor Smyth family really
did have things to worry about.

This was
Kieran's third visit to the clinic for his injury to be monitored. "Hello,
Kieran." Daniel smiled at the boy. His damaged hand was splinted,
bandaged, and held immobile against his body in a sling. "Hello, Mrs.
Smyth. How are things?"

The woman
rose, her gaze brightening. "Hello, Dr. Fabian. Thank you so much for
seeing Kieran again."

"You're
welcome. I'm glad to help. I gather Mr. Smyth is making good progress."

Tears filled
her eyes and she dropped her gaze. "So they say, but he'll be in the
hospital for months. I don't know how we'll manage with him off work."

Daniel
placed a hand on the woman's shoulder in silent support, not sure what to say.
At least Mr. Smyth was expected to recover. Daniel hadn't seen much of Megan,
but she had taken the time to keep him updated on that.

"Come
through and we'll talk about Kieran." Daniel led the way to his room and
ushered them inside. He tapped the back of the chair nearest his desk.
"Sit here, Kieran. We'll take a look at your hand."

The boy and
his mother sat down, both tense and pale. "How have you been since I last
saw you?" Daniel asked the boy.

"My
fingers tingle and burn sometimes, and they throb at night so I can't
sleep."

Daniel
nodded. The boy had been on a number of drugs: antibiotics, codeine, and a
nonsteroidal anti-inflammatory. There was a limit to the type of pain relief
Daniel could prescribe for home use. It might be time to admit the boy to the
ward and give him some morphine. That would make him more comfortable and help
him sleep.

"The
district nurse popped in to change the dressing as you requested," Mrs.
Smyth said. "She said Kieran's fingers didn't look as bad as she
expected."

"That
sounds promising." Daniel gave them a smile, silently hoping the district
nurse was right. He gently removed the boy's injured hand from the sling.
"If you stretch out your arm, we'll take off the dressing and have a look,
shall we?"

Daniel
pulled on gloves, unwrapped the bandage, and set it aside in a plastic tray. He
held the boy's left hand by the wrist and angled it to check the fingers. The
skin had blistered and scabbed over in places, but the injury was proving to be
less extensive than he'd feared. The nail on the little finger would fall off
and the tip of that finger and the ring finger would need to be amputated, but
the middle finger and index finger would not need surgery. The serious problem
was going to be the thumb.

Supporting
the damaged hand, he examined the thumb in more detail, carefully schooling his
expression. "Okay, thank you." He rested the boy's hand back on the
arm of his chair. "In a moment I'll ask a nurse to redress that for
you."

"Will
he need an operation?" Mrs. Smyth said.

"Yes.
Let's talk about that. See where the ends of the two smallest fingers have
discolored?" Mrs. Smyth nodded and Kieran stared at his hand. "That
part of Kieran's fingers got frozen and will need to be removed. The good news
is that once it heals, you'll quickly adapt and it shouldn't affect how you use
your hand."

"What
about my thumb?" Kieran tried to flex it and winced.

Daniel
feared both the soft tissue and bone were necrotic. "Some of your thumb
will have to be taken away, but I have lots of experience with reconstructive
surgery. I'll make sure you can still use your thumb."

With five
years of experience reshaping faces, often having to break bones to transform
noses, cheekbones, brow bones, and jaws, repairing Kieran's thumb would be a
cake walk. "It'll be a simple procedure. I'll replace the two small bones
in the end of your thumb with a metal post and take a skin graft from your
forearm to build you a new thumb."

"Will
it hurt?" The boy's voice wobbled.

"You'll
be asleep when I operate, but it will be sore for a while once it's done."

"And
it'll work like his old thumb?" Mrs. Smyth asked.

"It
won't feel quite the same, but with practice I'm sure Kieran will get used to
it."

The boy
nodded and gave Daniel a weak smile. Daniel returned it with feeling. He was a
brave kid. Daniel would do his best to repair his thumb.

***

Megan added
some sliced haggis to the pan beside the sizzling sausages and strips of bacon.
Lyall stood a few feet away, his hip propped against the kitchen counter,
cradling his coffee cup in his hands.

They were a
sorry pair. Saturday morning and they were hanging out together because neither
of them had significant others. Lyall was a good-looking man. He dated tourists
sometimes, but his problem was the same as Meg's—nobody stuck around for long
up here in the middle of nowhere. They all scurried back to the bright lights
of the cities.

"Any
plans for today?" Lyall asked.

Megan
glanced over her shoulder to where Fergus sat in his high chair, chomping on
toast and peanut butter fingers. Most of the peanut butter was spread over his
face, hands, and tray by the look of him. "Babysitting all day."

"If you
have to stay with the bairn, I'll keep you company."

"Thanks."
She tried to inject some enthusiasm into her voice. They had been best friends
forever. She enjoyed his company, but she hoped to see something of Daniel this
weekend. Last Saturday and Sunday, she and Lyall had gone away to a mutual
friend's wedding. Add in the evening surgeries she'd been stuck with when a
colleague was sick, and she had seen little of Daniel these last two weeks.

Her gaze
drifted to the door to the hall for the umpteenth time, eager for him to come
down.

"The
Sassenach major is not for you, Meg."

Lyall's
uncompromising tone snapped her attention back to him. "Says who?"

"Have
you not seen the articles on the Internet about him? He likes fast cars and
fast women. He'll not settle down here with you, lass."

"When I
want your opinion on the matter, Lyall Stewart, I'll ask for it." Megan
banged about, taking her irritation out on the cast iron skillet as she turned
the bacon, sausages, and haggis. What annoyed her most was that Lyall had
voiced her own fears.

The sound of
a door shutting upstairs carried into the kitchen, followed by the faint thump
of footfalls on the stairs.

Lyall put
his cup on the counter. "Think I'll be on my way. I've just remembered
something I want to do."

"What
about your breakfast?" Megan nodded towards the pan.

"I've
lost my appetite." With an unreadable glance, Lyall stomped out the back
door.

What was
eating him? Megan stared after him for a moment, puzzled, then turned as Daniel
strolled through the door, his usual grin in place.

The dogs
jumped up, tails wagging, and wriggled around his feet, vying for attention.
"Hey there, Bruce, hey, Torrie. Are you good boys?" Daniel patted
them and stroked behind their ears.

Megan's
heart did a happy jig, her pulse rate increasing at the sight of him.

The dogs
went back to their beds in the corner and Daniel turned his attention to Megan.
"Good morning, stranger. I've missed you this week."

"I had
to cover evening surgery at short notice. A bit of a pain."

Fergus
bounced in his high chair, slapping his palms on his tray, squealing with
excitement.

"How
are you, Gussy? Wearing your breakfast, I see," Daniel said.

"Dan,
build. Dan, build." Gus pointed at the wooden bricks on the floor.

Daniel
picked up a few and built a tower on the table.

"Gus
wants." Fergus bounced some more.

"I
think Auntie Meg would like to wipe those dirty fingers before you touch
anything, bud."

To distract
him, Daniel grabbed a toy dog and bounded it around the table, making it
snuffle and bark. Fergus giggled while Bruce and Torrie jumped up from their
spot in the corner and joined in the racket.

It seemed
her nephew and the dogs had also fallen under Daniel's spell. Everyone seemed
to like him except for Lyall and Angus, but then Angus didn't like anyone much.

Megan
laughed, the atmosphere in the room lighter now Daniel had arrived to lift
Lyall's gloomy cloud.

"I hope
you're hungry. There's lots to eat."

"Ravenous.
Can't beat a Kindrogan Scottish breakfast, cooked by the fair hand of the
laird's daughter."

Megan
blushed, more at his intonation than his words, and the way his eyes twinkled
with memories of their kiss. She had thought about that kiss a lot. Lyall was
no doubt right; Daniel was only passing through. She already knew that in three
weeks he would fly to Norway for cold weather training with the army. He might
then return to the institute, or he might be posted overseas.

If she wanted
to spend time with Daniel, she must take her chance while he was here. With two
brothers and a father in the army, she knew that army doctors had to go where
they were sent. Wives and girlfriends came in second place.

Daniel sat
beside Fergus, seemingly unconcerned by the sticky fingers waving dangerously
close to his oatmeal-colored cable-knit sweater.

He was not
the shallow pleasure-seeker that the news reports and pictures suggested. There
was so much more to Daniel than that. She was certain.

Megan set a
huge plate of breakfast before him of fried eggs, haggis, sausages, bacon,
potato scones, fried tomatoes, and mushrooms.

"Wonderful.
You cook the best breakfasts." He tucked in with relish, giving a little
groan of appreciation that made her knees weak.

"Lyall's
mother taught me. She's our housekeeper. She's a lovely woman. It's a shame
she's not here at the moment." Megan set her own plate on the table and
sat down.

"I
thought I might go on a tour of the local area today. Maybe have lunch out. Would
you like to join me?" Daniel said.

If Mrs.
Stewart were here to look after Fergus, Megan would jump at the chance.
"I'm babysitting all day, I'm afraid."

"Bring
Fergus." Daniel tapped the end of the baby's nose, making him giggle.
"You'll enjoy a day out, won't you, Gus?"

Daniel's
gaze moved back to Megan and her heart skipped a beat as their eyes met. What
was it about this man that arrowed right to the core of her being? She'd never
felt anything like it before.

"Sean
and Kelly have baby carriers to go on their backs. Does Hew have something like
that?" he asked.

"Yes.
It's at his cottage."

"Can we
pick it up on the way out? I don't mind carrying Gus."

Megan would
take lots of photos of Daniel hiking with a baby on his back and post them on
her Facebook page. This kind, friendly man was the real Daniel, not the Romeo
who had dated so many glamorous women. If she wished hard enough, she would
make that true.