Always (12 page)

      "Dr. Lane, Dr. Bowen saved Goldie's life."

      "I'm glad she was here for you," Gordon said, his voice quiet, his gaze continuing to hold Taylor's.

      Sue cleared her throat and slipped behind Gordon. "I'd better go check messages and see if anyone is in the waiting room."

      Gordon glanced at the bandage and gave Taylor a thumbs-up gesture. "Everything looks fine, Sally," he said. "I'll have to send her home in a cone collar, so she won't be able to chew the stitches, though."

      "All right. Thanks."

      "I need to get back to my office now and finish setting things up now," Taylor said, wanting desperately to escape. Gordon's approval felt too good and meant too much to her. It shouldn't. It couldn't.

      "I'm leaving the door open, Sally," Gordon said, putting his hand on Taylor's arm. "The minute you feel or hear Goldie waking, you call out and one of us will come running. Okay? And I'll have Sue bring you a soda. Dr. Pepper, right?"

      "Thanks, I'd like that."

      Taylor was trapped. Gordon shifted his hand from her arm to the small of her back and steered her from the room, giving Sue the instructions he'd just mentioned to Sally as they passed the reception desk and headed toward Taylor's new office.

      Bewildered, Taylor found herself in her office with the door closed and Gordon's arms around her before she drew her next breath. He gazed deeply into her eyes, then lowered his mouth to hers.

      Her momentary shock gave way to a cascade of joy. His kiss was deep and wet and thorough, and she returned it with far too much enthusiasm. He tasted as sweet now as he had ten years ago, and her heart swelled with something she refused to identify.

      Suddenly, he released her and she swayed to keep her balance, staring stupidly up into his glittering turquoise eyes. "Why?" she whispered, not sure if she'd been kissed or punished.

      "I had to see if it was as I remembered."
 

      Her belly flip-flopped and she drew a sharp breath. "Was it?" Not that she should care....

      He sighed and reached for the doorknob. "Better."

      The tone of his voice made it clear that he was disappointed with the results of his test. Taylor lifted her chin and struggled against the urge to throw herself into his arms. Her nose and throat burned, but her stubbornness wouldn't permit the tears to flow.

      He jerked open the door and closed it quietly behind him. Taylor rested her cheek against the cool surface and squeezed her eyes shut.

      
Oh, yes. Much better.

Chapter 6

      Gordon rubbed his temples, sensing what was about to erupt. Sue had that look–the one that spelled L-E-C-T-U-R-E. The infuriating thing about Sue's lectures was that she was almost always right.
Dammit
.

      "Taylor just left." Sue placed her palms on his desk and leaned toward him. "She's been here over a week. You
have
to talk to her, Gordon."

      
Yeah, almost always right, but not this time
. He summoned a bland expression and grabbed a pencil to occupy his hands, twirling it between his thumbs and forefingers. "I have talked to her. Every day."

      "About...what happened?" Sue's face paled. "You told her everything?"

      Gordon closed his eyes, remembering. "No, we haven't discussed that." He met Sue's gaze. "And we aren't going to. It's over, Sue. Let it go."

      She shook her head very slowly. "You're lying to yourself, buddy. It's far from over."

      Gordon's gut twisted into a knot and the pencil snapped in two. "Don't go there, Sue." His voice dropped to a whisper. "Just...don't." His dreams provided enough ongoing torture to send him to an early grave. He didn't need this.

      She stared at him as if trying to read his mind. "You have to talk to her." Her expression softened. "Gordon, I've seen the way you two look at each other. The sexual tension in this place is so thick you could–"

      "Stop."

      Sue smacked the desk with the flat of her palm. "No, I won't stop." She closed her eyes and drew a shaky breath, then gave him an imploring look. "It's all my fault, Gordon. Mine." Her lower lip trembled. "I can't undo the past, but I can try to do something about the future. I have to. This is k-killing me."

      "Ah, hell, don't cry." He raked his fingers through his hair, then stood and walked around the desk. "Come here, you." He pulled her into his arms. "It isn't your fault. Taylor knew what she was doing when she walked out on me." A fresh onslaught of pain stabbed through him. "She didn't trust me. I can't forgive that. It's over. Let it rest. I have."
What a crock.

      Sue pushed away and met his gaze, tears trickling down her cheeks. "I've lived with this guilt for ten years, Gordon.
Ten years
."

      "You don't have t–"

      "Yes, I do." She bit her lower lip and sniffled. "It's my fault she left and we both know it."

      "If she'd trusted me..."

      "Why does that matter now?" Sue's lips trembled again. "She was hurt and confused. That's why she left–the
only
reason she left, and we both know it. Because of me..."

      "Don't cry." Gordon pulled her against his shoulder again. "Please, don't cry anymore."

      "Will you talk to her?" Sue pulled back again, pinning him with her gaze. "Will you?"

      "I don't know." Gordon rubbed her upper arms and swallowed the bile burning his throat like battery acid. Taylor had tried to talk about the past that night the Jeep died out on Vista Road. He didn't want to dredge it up again. Ever. It hurt too damned much. "Not yet. Maybe. I don't know."

      "Think about it." A threatening tremor entered her voice. "Please?"

      Gordon remained silent for several seconds, staring beyond Sue and into the past. "I said I'll think about it," he promised. As if he could stop thinking of Taylor. She occupied his thoughts every spare moment and then some these days.

      But there was an important point Sue had overlooked. "Has it occurred to you...?"

      "What?" Sue sniffled again.

      "That
you're
the one who should talk to her?"

      Sue's eyes widened. She pulled out of his embrace and paced the room. "Me?" She paused, biting her fingernail. "I don't know if she'd listen to me after–"

      "What makes you think she'd listen to me?" With a sigh, he tossed the broken pencil onto the desk and watched both halves roll until they came to a stop against the telephone. "It's late. Go home."

      "You said you'd think about it."

      "Trust me, I will." He gritted his teeth. "How's Patches doing?"

      "A little wheezing last night, and I'm starting to think Ryan's right about the weather causing this. It was colder last night." Her brow furrowed. "Aren't those test results due back from UNC?"

      "Yeah, I'll give them a call tomorrow and get a verbal." He rubbed his chin, thankful he'd managed to change the subject, but sorry to hear Ryan's dog was ill again. "Call me if he gets any worse, and have Ryan bring him by tomorrow after school. That mutt is an enigma."

      "He isn't the only one." Sue grabbed her sweater and purse from the chair where she'd left them when she first stormed into Gordon's office. "I expect you to think about talking to Taylor. You promised." She pulled on her sweater and retrieved her keys from her purse. "You're too stubborn to admit it, but you're still crazy about each other."

      "Ancient hist–"

      "Later." Sue waggled her fingers over her shoulder and headed for the back door in overdrive.

      "She always gets the last word," he muttered, throwing his hands into the air and shaking his head. Women. He'd never understand the creatures. Even his mother had softened her heart toward Taylor, inviting her to join church and community activities.

      Which reminded him he was due at City Hall this evening for a town council meeting. He glanced at his watch. "So much for dinner." After grabbing his jacket, he left last minute instructions with Hank, the retired truck driver who worked nights at the clinic, then headed for his Jeep with barely enough time to make the meeting.

      A few minutes later, he parked outside City Hall, the only three-story building in town, and bounded up the old stone steps. The meeting hall was packed. Odd. These meetings were usually sparsely attended unless something controversial was on the agenda.

      He sure as hell hoped they weren't resurrecting that limited stakes gambling issue. That would be the end of the small town he knew and loved. Legalizing gambling had irrevocably changed Cripple Creek. As long as he served on the Digby Town Council, he'd fight to prevent that from happening here. Fortunately, most citizens shared his feelings.

      Even the women's circle from church was here with cookies and punch. Something was definitely going on. He grabbed a cookie off a passing tray and shoved it into his mouth, ignoring his mother's arched eyebrow as he sped by.
 

      "Ah, there he is," Mayor Bradshaw said as Gordon hurried toward his chair at the head table. "Running a little late?"

      "Sorry, Tom," Gordon said, sliding into his chair. He nodded to the other three council members. Everybody in town seemed to be here tonight. Had he been so preoccupied that he'd forgotten something important?

      "This meeting will now come to order." Tom banged his gavel, taking his role much too seriously. "It's nice to see such a big crowd here to welcome our new doctor."

      
Taylor
. Sighing, Gordon rubbed the back of his neck and wondered how he could've forgotten this. Of course, the reason for his distraction was also the reason for this gathering.

      "Since I only came to Digby seven years ago, I didn't realize Dr. Bowen was a local girl." Tom chuckled. "But some of you have told me enough stories about her growing up here that I almost feel as if I knew her then."

      
Mom
. Gordon wished he could slide under the table.
 

      "Dr. Bowen graduated from Digby High School with honors," Tom continued. "She lettered in softball, was president of the science club, and served on the high school debate team..."

      
She's still good at that
. Gordon tuned out Tom's speech and scanned the crowd. Taylor sat in the front row with her legs crossed at the knees. A dark green dress hung from her shoulders to her belted waist, then fell in soft folds almost to her ankles. She'd gone home to change after work. Her hair curled around her shoulders. This was the first time he'd seen it down since her return.

      She looked good enough to eat.

      Musical notes drifted to him from the piano at the end of the riser, jerking Gordon's attention away from the woman who'd turned his life topsy-turvy. Mrs. Johnson had dragged herself away from Precious long enough to play for the women's choir from the First–and only–Congregational Church.
 

      As the singers lapsed into their third number, Gordon stifled a yawn and turned his attention back to Taylor. Her eyes widened and their gazes held. She'd been watching him, too.
Busted
. Well, he was as guilty as she.

      Her lips curved in a knowing smile, as potent as a gut punch. Like the teenager he once was, his body sprang to life. He seemed predisposed to a state of constant arousal where Taylor Bowen was concerned.

      His libido had no common sense whatsoever, but
he
sure as hell did–or better. Just because he couldn't keep his hormones in check around her didn't mean he had to follow through with his impulses. Though the thought of following through elevated the state of his male anatomy to dire and dangerous.

      Okay, desperate.

      Other than Meghan, a fairly long-term relationship after he'd returned from college to set up his practice, Gordon's love life hadn't amounted to much. He'd been unable to commit himself to marriage, and that's what she'd wanted. Now married to the high school football coach, Meghan had it all with one child and another on the way.