Midnight Remedy (17 page)

Piper passed her hand over her eyes. This was going to blow up in her face, but there was no way she could resist her friend’s desperate pleading. “All right, I’ll talk to him, but I can’t promise it will do any good.”

Virginia rose. “I don’t want to make problems between you two, but we’re—”

“Desperate. I know. I’ll talk to Eric tonight.”

“Thank you, Piper.” She grasped her hands. “You can’t imagine what this means to us.”

The door closed behind her. Piper murmured, “Oh, yes I can, Virginia. That’s why I’m going to talk to him.”

She knew a cowardly desire not to talk to Eric, but Virginia was counting on her and she had no choice. That evening, she walked into the living room to find Eric and Cole wrestling. “Who’s winning?”

“So far” Eric panted, grabbing both of Cole’s wrists in one hand, “it’s a draw.”

Watching them roughhouse brought on a stab of pure longing. They looked so natural together, like father and son. Once again she wondered why Eric didn’t have children of his own. He’d make a wonderful father. With difficulty, she shook off the mood. “It’s past bedtime, son.”

“Mo-om,” he said, drawing the word out, “I was gonna win.”

“Come on, sport.” Eric stood and turned Cole upside down to carry him to his room. “Better luck next time.”

“Next time,” she heard her son say, “you have to keep one hand behind your back.”

“It’s a deal. Hey, no grabbing my leg while I’m walking. If I go down, so do you.”

Cole giggled.

The longing came back, with a vengeance.

“That kid’s going to go far,” Eric said a few minutes later. “I’ve agreed to a match there’s no possible way I’ll win.” He sat beside her on the porch swing.

“You’ll handle it, I bet. You seem to know just how to deal with him. Why didn’t you ever
 . . .
” She stopped in mid-sentence, aghast at what she’d been about to ask him. Thinking it was one thing, asking him was another. Forbidden territory. Oh, not that he’d said it, but it was implied.

“You can finish the question,” he told her, touching her cheek. When she said nothing, he finished it for her. “You wanted to know why I don’t have any kids.”

“Yes. But you don’t have to talk about it.”

He lifted a shoulder. “Dawn isn’t exactly the maternal type, for one thing. At first, I wasn’t in a big hurry to have kids and later
 . . .
” He shrugged again and continued, “Later I was glad we didn’t have any.”

“I didn’t mean to pry,” she said, uncomfortable with the subject.

“You’re not prying,” he said. “But I can think of things I’d rather do than talk about Dawn.”

“What things?” she asked, and kissed him lightly. It began lightly anyway, but it seemed Eric had other ideas. With something between a laugh and a groan, Piper pulled her mouth away from his. “I can’t think when you kiss me like that.”

“So who needs to think?” His arms tightened around her as he looked at her. “Maybe we should go to my place.”

“Good idea, but I can’t. I’ve got to get up early tomorrow.”

“Are you sure?” He started kissing the side of her neck.

“Maybe for a little while
 . . .
” Except that she knew it wouldn’t be a little while if she went with him. It never was. Then she remembered Virginia and tensed in his arms.

Eric drew back to look at her. “What’s wrong? All of a sudden you’re stretched tight as a bowstring.”

“We need to talk.”

He studied her. “I’m not going to like this, am I?” She shook her head. “Is it that bad?” He settled back with his arm around her shoulder.

“Virginia came to see me today.”

“Any special reason?” His fingers trailed over her neck.

“They want my herbal remedy again.” She felt his fingers tighten on the nape of her neck. “But I told her I couldn’t give it to them without talking to you first.”

“Piper—” he began.

“You don’t believe it worked,” she said in a rush, “but the point is, they do. Maybe it will help them. Let me try.”

“That’s not the point. I don’t have a problem with them trying it again.”

She stared at him, her mouth agape. “You don’t?”

“Not necessarily. As long as I’m sure it won’t harm him. I have to know what’s in it before we can go any further.”

“I told you—”

He held up a hand. “You said it wasn’t made to be ingested. Do you seriously expect me to prescribe a drug for one of my patients when I know nothing about it?”

“It’s not a drug for you to prescribe, it’s an herbal remedy. There’s nothing wrong with my giving them an herbal remedy.”

“No way, Angel,” he told her, shaking his head. “Randy’s on other medications. Your remedy could interact poorly with what he’s already taking. Tell me what’s in it and let me look into it.”

“There shouldn’t be anything in it that would hurt him. Oh, maybe the orchid, but—”

“Orchid?” he interrupted. “Some orchids are toxic, at least to a degree.”

“A very minute quantity,” she assured him. “Apparently, it didn’t bother him before.”

“You’re stalling. Are you going to tell me what’s in it or not?”

Piper stood, walking over to lean against the porch railing and stare silently out at the moonlit pasture, at the low, rolling hills in the distance that gave way to the taller mountains. She saw the dark shapes of the cattle, settling in along the foothills for the night, a soothing scene that usually made her feel better, but it didn’t now. “If I want to help them I don’t have a choice, do I?” she said finally.

Eric came to stand behind her. “Can’t you trust me on this? What do you think I’m going to do with it?”

“You want to send it to Dave.”

“Only with your permission.” When Piper said nothing, he asked indignantly, “Do you really think I’d betray your confidence like that?”

“No, of course not, but you still think I should let him have it.”

He put his hands on her shoulders and turned her to face him. “I’ve thought that from the first. You owe it to yourself and to others like the Johnsons to let Dave research it.”

“I’m afraid.”

His gaze was sincere, intent. “Why? What is it that frightens you about it?”

“The publicity. If this gets out—”

“Why should it? Dave can keep a confidence.”

“What if it works, Eric? What if it’s a success? Dave will have to make it public if he’s going to help anyone. And I guarantee you that they’ll trace the origin of the remedy right straight back to me.” She pulled away and began to pace the porch.

He studied her while she paced. “Don’t you think it’s time you told me about this phobia you have of publicity?”

“Phobia? It’s a very reasonable fear.”

“Reasonable? Why?”

“Because of my past,” she burst out. “Because I’ve been hounded by the media before, and I won’t go through it again. Or put Cole through it.”

“What happened?” he asked softly.

“You know what happened.”

“Not the details.”

Her hands tightened into fists. “Eric, I can’t
 . . .
I can’t talk about it.”

“It’s not going to make a difference in our relationship, if that’s what’s bothering you. Your past doesn’t matter to me, you should know that by now. Don’t you know how much I
 . . .
” He stopped. “I care about you, Piper.”

Cared about her. Not loved her, cared about her. And God knows, he didn’t trust her. Discovering that he didn’t love her hurt. More than it should have. Great sex, no strings attached. Wasn’t that what she’d thought she wanted at first? Wasn’t that all she’d been ready to give? Could Eric help it that she’d changed the plan and fallen in love with him?

She forced herself to unclench her fists. “I’ll go write it down for you. You can send it to Dave tomorrow.”

“You don’t have to do this.”

“Yes, I do.” She sighed and shoved a hand through her hair, which fell back in its usual wild disarray. “I just hope it doesn’t turn out like I think it will.”

“Nothing bad is going to happen. Why can’t you believe that?”

Remembering, she gripped the porch rail and gazed at the fields again. “Because in my experience, something bad always does happen.”

Piper was the only woman
Eric had ever known who could drive him to insomnia. Once they’d become lovers, he’d thought that insomnia was a thing of the past. But here he was, lying in bed alone and trying not to think about what had happened that evening. He’d been within an inch of telling her he loved her. He wasn’t sure how he felt about that.

What had happened with that married man that was so terrible she couldn’t tell him? You’d have thought once he knew the basic facts, that she could have told him the rest of it. Had it really been spread all over the papers? Or was Piper overreacting? He could Google it and find out but he didn’t want to. Somehow that seemed like a betrayal. No, he would wait until Piper told him herself.

Eric would warn Dave of the need for discretion, but he didn’t feel it was really necessary. As physicians, both of them were accustomed to dealing with confidential matters. She had nothing to fear.

The next morning, after he’d talked to Dave, Eric called Piper. “The recipe is fine, except the orchid can cause nausea, vomiting, and a few other uncomfortable symptoms. Is it really necessary?”

“For all I know the orchid is the thing that makes it work.”

“Hmm. Still, I’d rather you dropped it.”

“Fine. Are you saying I can give it to Virginia?”

“Yes, I’ll call her myself. I want to make sure Randy lets me keep an eye on him.”

“Did you send it to Dave?”

He could hear the tension in her voice. “Talked to him this morning. Don’t worry, Angel, he understands the need for confidentiality. Dave won’t let a soul know.”

“He’d better not.”

Her doubt was tangible, he could feel it, emanating from the phone line. “Trust me on this, I won’t let it hurt you.”

“Famous last words.”

“Piper—”

“It’s done, Eric. Listen, I’ve got to go to a flower show in San Antonio this weekend. Do you want to come with me?”

An effective way to kill the subject, Eric thought. “You and me in San Antonio? Alone?”

She laughed. “Except for several thousand plant enthusiasts. It’s a working weekend for me. But I’m free at night.”

Still, two nights with Piper with no beepers, children or grandfathers? “Forrest owes me. I’ll get him to cover for me.”

“Good. I was hoping you could come.”

“Angel, there wasn’t a chance I’d have turned you down.” He hung up, deciding his uneasiness over the remedy was simply a reflection of Piper’s. He trusted Dave. Nothing bad would happen.

“Are you trying to break your back, Piper?”
Eric grabbed hold of one side of the heavy box she was dragging to her booth and pulled with her.