Friends? Is that what she called it?

Richard heard Anna’s explanation of their relationship with a mixture of anger and disbelief.

What the hell was she doing here? Why hadn’t someone warned him?

He had heard that Anna was working for Northeastern HealthCare, he just had never dreamed she would be on board for the conglomerate’s hostile takeover attempts at Walnut River General.

How could she sit across the boardroom table, all cool and gorgeous like some kind of damn Viking princess, acting as if her very presence wasn’t a betrayal of everything her family had done for this hospital and this town?

Yeah, he had been crazy about Anna once. But it had been a long, long time ago.

RAEANNE THAYNE

finds inspiration in the beautiful northern Utah mountains, where she lives with her husband and three children. Her books have won numerous honours, including a RITA® nomination from Romance Writers of America and a Career Achievement Award from Romantic Times BOOKreviews magazine. RaeAnne loves to hear from readers and can be reached through her website at www.raeannethayne.com.

A Merger… Or Marriage?

RaeAnne Thayne

www.millsandboon.co.uk

Chapter One

So this was what it felt like to be a pariah.

Anna Wilder tilted her chin slightly higher, tightened her grasp on her briefcase and walked firmly past the two gray-haired biddies at the information desk in the lobby of Walnut River General Hospital.

She didn’t need to keep them in view to feel the heat of their glares following her to the gleaming elevator doors. She also didn’t need to fully hear their whispers to catch enough to make her ulcer go into overdrive.

It’s her, Anna Wilder.

The traitor.

James and Alice must be rolling in their graves.

She did her best to ignore them—and the hurt that settled like greasy black bile in her stomach. Still, to her great shame, she wasn’t quite able to control the slight tremble of her hand as she pushed the elevator button to go up.

One of the two cars appeared to be permanently stuck on the second floor but the other one at last began creeping downward in what felt like excruciatingly painful slow motion.

She prayed the blasted thing would hurry up and arrive—not only to allow her to slip inside and escape the stares and whispers but, more importantly, because she was late.

She really hated being late.

The elevator stopped on the second floor and paused there for a few moments before continuing its descent. Suddenly a new apprehension fluttered her ulcer.

Why hadn’t she been smart enough to take the stairs? The only thing worse than being late for her meeting would be the social discomfort of encountering one of her siblings in the elevator during her first few minutes at the hospital.

She didn’t know which one would be harder to face right now. Ella? Peter? David? It probably didn’t matter. They were all furious with her and would no doubt love a chance to let her know.

Just before the elevator arrived, one of the two volunteers at the information desk raised her voice in what had to be deliberate malice so Anna couldn’t miss her words.

“She might have the Wilder name,” she said in a carrying voice, “but she’s not a true Wilder. How can she be, since she’s in bed with those who are trying to sell out this hospital and this town?”

Anna inhaled sharply. Apparently the doctors weren’t the only ones at Walnut River General who could wield a scalpel. The words effectively sliced straight to where she was most vulnerable.

Her hand tightened on the briefcase as she ruthlessly tried to ignore the hot tears burning behind her eyelids.

It didn’t matter what a couple of dried-up old prunes had to say about her. Why should it? They had nothing better to do with their time than sit around gossiping and watching all the human suffering march through their lobby.

She knew she was doing the right thing—the best thing—for Walnut River and its citizens. She just had to convince everybody else in town.

No problem.

At long, long last, the elevator car arrived and the doors whooshed open. She considered it nothing short of a miracle that it was blessedly empty. Not a Wilder in sight.

Only after the doors slid shut did she close her eyes and slump against the wall of the elevator, pressing a hand to her stomach before she dug in the pocket of her suit jacket for an antacid.

She did not want to be here. In Walnut River, at the hospital her family had all but founded, in this blasted elevator.

It helped nothing that she had expected the reaction she had received from those two volunteers and she expected much more vitriol in the days ahead.

She had read the reports and knew the merger she had been sent here to expedite wasn’t popular among the staff at WRG. Not that she had needed reports. Her family’s unreasonable opposition was all the evidence she needed. They had all made no secret that they were furious at her.

Traitor.

Not a Wilder.

She screwed her eyes shut. Focus on the job, she chanted to herself. That was all that mattered. Move in fast and hard and wrap things up so she could return to New York.

She had no choice, not if she wanted to keep her job. And she certainly did.

She loved working for Northeastern HealthCare, one of the fastest growing health care conglomerates in the region. She was on the fast track there and had great hopes of making vice president within the next five years. That goal would be even closer if she could pull this deal off.

Mercifully, though the elevator stopped on the second floor to pick up a couple of nurses, she didn’t recognize them and they didn’t seem to know her. One of them even gave her a friendly smile.

So maybe David hadn’t yet gotten around to plastering up wanted posters throughout the hospital of her wearing devil horns.

Beware of the evil HMO-mongerer.

She wouldn’t put anything past her second-oldest brother, a gifted plastic surgeon who had recently returned to Walnut River as well. Unlike her, he had come back to a warm welcome, embraced by one and all—the prodigal son giving up a lucrative career in L.A. as plastic surgeon to the stars to share his brilliance with patients in his own hometown.

On the fourth floor, the nurses exited with her. Anna stood for a moment, trying to catch her bearings.

This part of the hospital had been renovated in the past few years and she was slightly disoriented at the changes.

She remembered it as slightly old-fashioned, with wood-grained paneling and dark carpeting. Now everything was light and airy, with new windows and a far more modern feel.

“Do you need help finding something?” one of the nurses asked, noticing her confusion.

“Yes. Thanks. I’m looking for the administrator’s office.”

“Down the hall. Second door on the right,” she said.

“Thank you.” Anna gave a polite smile, grateful for any help she could find here in this hostile environment, then headed in the direction the woman indicated.

The receptionist’s nameplate read Tina Tremaine. She greeted Anna with a friendly smile, her features warm and open.

“Hello. I’m Anna Wilder. I’m here for a three-o’clock meeting with the hospital attorney and the administrator.”

The instant she heard Anna’s name, the woman’s smile slid away as if a cold breeze had just blown through the room.

“I’m here for a three o’clock meeting with the hospital attorney and the administrator.”

“Phil Crandall, the hospital attorney, is not here yet, Ms. Wilder. But Mr. Sumner and your attorney are in the boardroom. They’re waiting for you.”

Though she spoke politely enough, Anna thought she saw a tiny sliver of disdain in the woman’s eyes.

She fished around in her mind for something she might say to alter the woman’s negative impression, then checked the impulse.

She was working hard to break the habits of a lifetime, that hunger for approval she couldn’t quite shake. Did it really matter what J.D.’s receptionist thought of her? It certainly wouldn’t change anything about her mission here in Walnut River.

“Thank you,” she answered, mustering a smile she hoped was at least polite if not completely genuine. She headed for the door the receptionist indicated, tilting her chin up and hoping she projected confidence and competence.

This was it. Her chance to cinch the promotion at NHC and cement her growing reputation as a rainmaker there.

Or she could blow the merger, lose her job, and end up begging on the street somewhere.

Think positive, she ordered herself. You can do this. You’ve done it before. As she pushed open the door, she visualized herself handing over the signed deal to her bosses, both her direct supervisor, Wallace Jeffers—vice president for mergers and acquisitions—and the NHC chief executive officer who had given her this assignment, Alfred Daly.

It was a heady, enticing image, one she clung to as she faced the two men at the boardroom table, papers spread out in front of them.

Two men sat at a boardroom table talking, papers spread out in front of them. She knew both of them and smiled at J. D. Sumner and Walter Posey, the NHC attorney.

“I’m sorry if I’ve kept you waiting. I didn’t realize there would be so much construction surrounding the hospital.”

J.D. nodded. “Walnut River is growing. You just have to walk outside to see it.”

“Which is one factor that makes this hospital an attractive opportunity for NHC, as you well know.”

J.D. had first come to Walnut River as an employee of NHC. He had ended up falling—literally—for her sister, Ella, resigning from NHC and taking the job as hospital administrator.

She didn’t know all the details but she knew Ella had treated J.D. after he was injured in a bad tumble on some icy steps when leaving the hospital. Something significant must have happened between them to compel a man like J.D. to fall for his orthopedic surgeon and leave a promising career at Northeastern HealthCare to take the reins of Walnut River General Hospital.

She couldn’t imagine giving up everything she had worked so hard to attain for something as ephemeral as love, but she had to admit part of her envied her sister. J.D. must love Ella very much.

She could only hope his relationship with Ella had turned him soft. Judging by his track record at NHC, Anna feared he would be a formidable foe in her efforts to make the merger happen.

“Our attorney was caught up in the traffic snarl, as well,” J.D. answered. “He just called and was still parking his car but he should be here any moment.”

Though he spoke cordially enough, there was a reserve in his voice she couldn’t miss.

She had only known him casually when he worked for NHC, but their interactions as coworkers had always been marked by friendly respect. Now, though, they were on opposite sides of what was shaping up to be an ugly fight over the future of the hospital.

He didn’t seem antagonistic, as she had feared, only distant. She had to admit she was relieved. He and Ella were engaged, from what she understood. This was bound to be awkward enough between them without outright antipathy.

“I’m going for some coffee before we get started,” the NHC attorney announced. “Can I get either of you anything?”

Anna shook her head at Walter, whom she had worked with before on these due diligence reviews. “None for me, thanks.”

“Sumner?”

J.D. shook his head. “I’m good.”

As soon as Walter left the room, J.D. leaned back in his chair and studied her carefully, until Anna squirmed under the weight of his green-eyed gaze.

“So how are you? I mean, how are you really?”

She blinked at the unexpected personal question and was slow to answer, choosing her words carefully. “I’m managing. I suppose you heard I tried to stay out of this one, obviously without success.”

He nodded, his brow furrowed. “I heard. Does Daly really think your family connection will make anyone happier about NHC’s efforts to take over the hospital?”

“Hope springs eternal, I suppose,” she muttered.

J.D. laughed. “Alfred Daly obviously doesn’t know your stubborn siblings, does he?”

If her boss had any idea what he was up against, Anna had a feeling he never would have initiated the merger proceedings at Walnut River General.

“How’s Ella?” The question slipped out before she could yank it back.

J.D.’s eyes widened with surprise for just an instant that she would ask before they softened into a dreamy kind of look that filled her with no small amount of envy.

“She’s great. Wonderful. Except the wedding next month is making her a little crazy. I told her to just leave the details to someone else, but she won’t hear of it.” He paused. “She misses you.”

I miss her, too. The words tangled on her tongue and dried there. She couldn’t say them, of course. She could never tell J.D. how she hated this distance between her and her sister.

They used to be so close—best friends as well as sisters, only a year apart. They had shared everything—clothes, secrets, friends.

She remembered lying on her stomach in their backyard, daydreaming and giggling over boys.

“You’re going to be my maid of honor,” Ella declared more than once. “And I’ll be yours.”

“One of us will have to get married first,” she remembered answering. “So one of us will have to be a matron of honor.”

“That sounds so old! Like one of the gray-haired ladies at the hospital! How about we’ll both still be maids of honor, even if one of us is already married?”

Anna remembered shaking her head at Ella’s twisted logic but in the end, she had agreed, just like she usually did.

That had always been their plan. But now Ella and J.D. were getting married in a month and Anna wasn’t even sure she would receive an invitation.

Especially not if she successfully carried out her objective of making this merger a reality.

Her career or her family.

A miserable choice.

“You should talk to her,” J.D. said into the silence, with a sudden gentleness that made her want to cry again.

“I wish this were something that a little conversation could fix,” she murmured. “I’m afraid it’s not that easy.”

“You never know until you try,” he answered.

She didn’t know how to answer him, and to her relief she was spared from having to try when the door opened.

She looked up, expecting Walter with his coffee, then she felt her jaw sag as recognition filtered through.

“Sorry I’m late, J.D. That traffic is a nightmare,” the newcomer said. He was tall and lean, with hair like sunlight shooting through gold flakes. His features were classically handsome—long lashes, a strong blade of a nose, a mouth that was firm and decisive.

The eight years since she had seen Richard Green had definitely been kind to him. He had always been sexy, the sort of male women always looked twice at. When they were teenagers, he couldn’t seem to go anywhere without a horde of giggling girls around him, though he had barely seemed to notice them.

Now there was an edge of danger about him, a lean, lithe strength she found compelling and seductive.

J.D. rose and shook his hand. “I appreciate you filling in for Phil at the last minute.”

“No problem.”

The attorney looked over J.D.’s shoulder and she saw shock and disbelief flicker across the stunning blue eyes that had lost none of their punch even after eight years.

“Anna!”

In a different situation, she might have rushed to hug him but he was sending out a definite “back off” vibe.

“You two know each other, obviously,” J.D. said.

She managed to wrench her gaze away from Richard, wondering how she could possibly have forgotten his sheer masculine beauty—and how she ever could have walked away from it in the first place.

The reminder of how things had ended between them sent a flicker of apprehension through her body. He looked less than thrilled to see her. Could this merger become any more complicated? Her family was fighting against her tooth and nail, the hospital administrator was marrying her sister in a month’s time, and she and the hospital attorney had a long and tangled history between them.

How was she supposed to be focused and businesslike around Richard when she couldn’t help remembering exactly how that mouth had tasted?

“Richard lived only a few blocks away from the house where we were raised,” she finally answered J.D., and was appalled to hear the husky note in her voice. She cleared her throat before continuing. “We went to school together and were…good friends.”

Friends? Is that what she called it?

Richard listened to her with a mixture of anger and disbelief.

He supposed it wasn’t strictly a lie. They had been friends through school. Both had been on similar academic tracks and had belonged to many of the same clubs and after-school organizations. Honor Club, Debate, Key Club. Even later when they went off to different universities, they had stayed in touch and had gotten together as often as possible with their other friends.

Yeah, they had been friends. But there had been much more to it, as she damn well knew, unless she’d somehow managed to conveniently wipe from her memory something that had certainly seemed significant—earthshaking, even—at the time.

What the hell was she doing here? Why hadn’t somebody—J.D. or Peter Wilder or Phil Crandall, his absent partner—warned him?

He had heard from Peter and Ella that Anna was working for Northeastern HealthCare, their dreaded enemy. He just had never dreamed she would be a part of the conglomerate’s efforts to take over Walnut River General.

She had changed. She used to wear her hair down, a long, luscious waterfall. Now it was tightly contained, pinned back in a sleek style that made her look cool and businesslike. Her features were just as beautiful, though some of the bright, hopeful innocence he remembered in the clear blue of her eyes had faded.

How could she sit across the board-room table, all cool and gorgeous like some kind of damn Viking princess, acting as if her very presence here wasn’t a betrayal of everything her family had done for this hospital and for this community?

The depth of his bitterness both shocked and disconcerted him. What did it matter if the NHC executive was Anna Wilder or some other mindless drone they sent?

Either way, the outcome would be the same.

NHC was determined to purchase the hospital from a city council eager to unload it and a solid core of doctors and administrators was just as determined to prevent the deal.

Richard numbered himself among them, even though he was here only in a fill-in capacity for his partner.

Yeah, he had been crazy about Anna once, but it had been a long, long time ago.

That fledgling relationship wasn’t significant in the slightest. It hadn’t been important enough to her to keep her in Walnut River and whatever might have been between them certainly had no bearing on the current takeover situation.

“Shall we get started with the hearing?” he said icily.

She blinked at his tone—and so did J.D., he noted with some discomfort.

Richard had built a reputation as a cool-headed attorney who never let his personal feelings interfere with his legal responsibilities. He supposed there was a first time for everything.

After a long awkward moment, Anna nodded.

“By all means,” she replied, her voice matching his temperature for temperature.

Chapter Two

Two hours later, Richard understood exactly why Anna Wilder had been brought into this takeover.

She was as cold as a blasted icicle and just as hard.

While the NHC attorney had been present to vet the information offered by the hospital side, all of them recognized that Anna was truly the one in charge.

She had been the one leading the discussion, asking the probing questions, never giving an inch as she dissected their answers.

Richard had certainly held his own. Anna might be a tough and worthy opponent but he had one distinct advantage—he was absolutely determined to keep NHC from succeeding in its takeover efforts while he was still alive and kicking.

“Thank you, everyone.” Anna stood and surveyed the men around the boardroom table with the sheer aplomb of a boxer standing over the battered and bloody body of an opponent.

“We’ve covered a great deal of ground. I appreciate your forthrightness and the hospital’s compliance with the municipal council’s disclosure order. You’ve been very helpful. I’ll take this information back to my superiors and we can go from there.”

Richard gritted his teeth. Until they could find a way out of it, the hospital administration had no choice but to comply with the municipal council’s strictures.

For now, city council members controlled the purse strings and they appeared eager to escape the costly hospital business that had been a drain on taxpayers for years.

Even the NHC contretemps a few weeks ago involving charges of corporate espionage hadn’t dissuaded them.

The only bright spot in the entire takeover attempt was that the municipal council seemed genuinely committed to listening to the opinion of the hospital board of directors before making a final decision to move forward with the sale of the hospital to NHC.

Right now, the board members were leaning only slightly against the sale, though he knew the slightest factor could tip that ultimate decision in either direction.

Who knows? Maybe the NHC bigwigs would take a look at the hospital’s tangled financial and personnel disclosures and decide another facility might be more lucrative.

Though he was committed to doing all he could to block the sale, Richard was nothing if not realistic. He wasn’t even the hospital’s lead attorney, he was only filling in for his partner, who had called begging the favor only an hour before the meeting.

Before he knew Anna Wilder was on board as the NHC deal-closer, he would have jumped at the chance to step up and handle the merger discussions. Seeing her at the board table with her sleek blond hair yanked ruthlessly into a bun and her brisk business suit and her painfully familiar blue eyes changed everything.

He sighed as he gathered his laptop and papers and slipped them into his briefcase. He was zipping it closed when Anna managed to surprise him yet again, as she had been doing with depressing regularity since he walked into the boardroom.

“Richard, may I speak with you for a moment?”

He checked his watch, his mind on the very important person waiting for him. “I’m afraid I’m in a hurry,” he answered.

“Please. This won’t take long.”

After a moment, he nodded tersely, doing his best to ignore the curious glances from J. D. and the NHC attorney as they both left the room.

Anna closed the door behind the two men and he was suddenly aware of the elegant shape of her fingers against the wood grain and the soft tendrils of hair escaping her pins to curl at the base of her neck.

She had changed perfumes, he noted. In college she had worn something light and flowery that had always reminded him of a sunwarmed garden. Now her scent was slightly more bold—and a hell of a lot more sexy, he had to admit. It curled through the room, tugging at his insides with subtle insistency.

She turned to face him and for an instant, he was blinded by the sheer vibrancy of her smile. “Richard, I know I didn’t say this before, but it’s really wonderful to see you again! I’ve wondered so many times how you were.”

He found that hard to believe. She had to know where he was. If she had wondered so much, she could have found out as easily as sending a simple e-mail or making a phone call.

“I’ve been fine. Busy.”

Too busy to spend time mooning over the only woman who had ever rejected him, he wanted to add, but managed to refrain.

He was an adult, after all, something he would do well to remember right about now.

“Rumor has it you got married,” she said after a moment. “Any kids? I always thought you would make a wonderful father.”

“Did you?”

She either missed the bite in his tone or she chose to ignore it.

“I did,” she answered. “You were always so great with the neighborhood children. I can remember more than a few impromptu baseball games with you right in the middle of the action. You didn’t care how old the players were or anything about their ability level. You just tried to make sure everyone had fun.”

He was trying really hard to ignore the softness in her eyes and the warmth in her voice.

She had walked away from everything he wanted to offer her, without looking back. He had a right to be a little bitter, eight years later.

“So do you have any children?” she asked. She seemed genuinely interested, much to his surprise.

“One,” he finally answered, not at all pleased with her line of questioning. He didn’t like being reminded of old, tired dreams and newer failures.

“Boy or girl?”

“Boy. He’s just turned five.”

And he would be waiting impatiently for his father to pick him up if Richard didn’t wrap things up quickly and escape.

“I do the best I can with him, especially since his mother and I aren’t together anymore. The marriage ended right after he was born. I have full custody.”

He wasn’t sure why he added that. It wasn’t something he just blurted out to people. If they hadn’t been friends so long ago, he probably would have kept the information to himself.

Shock flickered in the depth of her blue eyes. “Oh. I hadn’t heard that part. I’m so sorry, Richard.”

He shrugged. “I’m sorry she’s chosen to not be part of Ethan’s life, but I’m not sorry about the divorce. It was one of those mistakes that make themselves painfully clear minutes after it’s too late to be easily fixed.”

“That doesn’t make it hurt less, I would imagine,” she murmured softly.

“No, it doesn’t,” he answered, his voice short. He regretted saying anything at all about Ethan and especially mentioning his failed marriage that still stung.

He gripped his briefcase, desperate to escape this awkwardness, but her words stopped him before he could do anything but put his hand on the doorknob.

“Can I ask you something?”

He eased his hand away, flashing her a wry look. “You haven’t seemed to have any problem asking questions for the last two hours. You’re amazingly good at it.”

“That was different. Business. This is…not.”

For the first time since the meeting she seemed to reveal her nerves weren’t completely steel-coated. Wariness flickered in her eyes and she appeared to be gripping a file folder with inordinate force.

He ought to just push past her and get the hell out of there but he couldn’t quite bring himself to move.

Instead, he shrugged. “Go ahead.”

“I just wondered about this…hostility I’m sensing from you.”

Apparently he wasn’t as good at concealing his inner turmoil as he’d thought. “I’m sure you’re imagining things.”

“I don’t think so,” she answered, her voice pitched low. “I’m not an idiot, Richard.”

Abruptly, suddenly, he was furious with her, as angry as he’d ever been with anyone. She had no right to come back, dredging up all these feelings he had buried long ago. The rejection, the hurt, the loss.

He had thrown his heart at her feet eight years ago. The hell of it was, he couldn’t even say she had stomped on it. That might have been easier to handle, if she had shown any kind of malice.

But he supposed that would have been too much bother for her and would have required her to care a little. Instead, she had politely walked around it on her way out the door.

And then she dared to stand here now and ask him why he wasn’t thrilled to see her!

This wasn’t personal, he reminded himself. Or if some part of him couldn’t help making it so, he shouldn’t let everything between them become about their shared past. He couldn’t afford it, not in his temporary role as hospital counsel.

“Why would I be hostile?” he said instead. “You’re only the point man—or woman, I guess—for a company trying to destroy this hospital and this community.”

She blinked a little at his frontal assault, but it only took her seconds to recover. “Not true. I would have thought as an attorney you could look at this with a little more objectivity than…” Her voice trailed off.

“Than who? Your family?”

She sighed. “Yes. They won’t listen to reason. Peter and David think I’ve betrayed the family name and Ella…well, Ella’s not speaking to me at all.”

He didn’t expect the sympathy that suddenly tugged at him, fast on the heels of his own anger. Her family had always been important to her. Sometimes he thought she placed too much importance on their opinions. She had always seemed painfully aware that she was adopted and struggled hard to find a place for herself among the medicine-mad Wilders.

As a single child himself, he could only imagine what she must be feeling now—alienated by her siblings and bearing the brunt of their anger over her role in the NHC takeover attempt.

On the other hand, he instinctively sided with her siblings in this situation, not Anna.

He pushed away the wholly inappropriate urge to offer her comfort. “How did you expect them to react, Anna? This hospital is in their blood. Your family is basically the heart of Walnut River General. Everyone here knows that. And the soul, the essence, of this place is the sense of community—neighbors reaching out to help neighbors. That’s what has made this hospital such an integral component to the quality of life in Walnut River. No one likes to go to the hospital, but the ordeal is made a little easier here when you know you’ll be treated with respect and dignity, often by someone who has known you all your life.”

She blinked with surprise. “Times change,” she answered. “The health-care industry is changing. Independent community hospitals just don’t have the competitive edge anymore.”

“Nor should they. It’s not about making money. It’s about helping people heal.”

“Exactly! And if Northeastern HealthCare can help them heal in a more efficient, cost-effective way and provide better access to cutting-edge procedures not currently available in this market, don’t you think that will be better for everyone in the long run?”

“Will it?”

“Yes!” she exclaimed. “Walnut River would be part of a powerful consortium of health-care providers. With that backing, the hospital can afford to bring in state-of-the-art equipment and the newest procedures. NHC is already talking about building a cancer treatment center so patients don’t have to drive twenty miles away for radiation treatment! And they’re talking about an entire renovation of the labor and delivery unit and an after-hours Instacare facility for parents who work during the day to bring their children to see a doctor….”

Her voice trailed off and color brushed her cheeks like the first hint of autumn on the maple trees along the river. “I didn’t mean to ramble on. I’m afraid I get a little… passionate sometimes.”

She obviously believed the NHC takeover would truly be best for the hospital. Richard had to admire her passion, even if he disagreed with it.

“You certainly are free to believe what you want,” he said. “And I’ll do the same.”

After a moment, she nodded. “Fair enough. But that doesn’t really answer my question.”

“What question would that be?”

She opened her mouth to answer but before she could, the boardroom door opened and Tina Tremaine, J.D.’s receptionist, stepped through.

“Oh. I’m sorry. I thought everyone was gone.”

“We’re just on our way out,” Richard answered.

“You don’t have to rush. Take your time. I only needed to make sure things were straightened up in here for a meeting J.D. has first thing in the morning.”

She smiled at Richard but he was surprised to see her smile disappear completely by the time she turned to Anna.

Anna didn’t seem to miss the sudden disdain in the other woman’s eyes. Her shoulders straightened and her chin tilted up slightly but she said nothing.

“We’re just leaving,” Richard said again.

“Fine.” Tina closed the door behind her, leaving behind a sudden awkward silence.

“Look, would you like to go somewhere? Grab an early dinner or something?” Anna asked.

He gazed at her, stunned that some tiny part of him was actually tempted, even though the more rational part of his brain recognized the absurdity of the impulse.

“That’s not a good idea, Anna.”

Somewhere in the depths of her blue eyes he thought he saw a shadow of vulnerability, just the barest hint of loneliness. But she mustered a brittle-looking smile. “Really? Why not? What could possibly be the harm in it? We’re just two old friends catching up over dinner.”

“Two old friends who happen to be standing on opposite sides of a corporate battlefield.”

“Oh, for heaven’s sake. That doesn’t mean we can’t be civil to each other! You were one of my closest friends, Richard. I told you things no one else in the world knows about me.”

You said you loved me and then you walked away when something better came along.

His bitterness again seemed to sweep up out of nowhere, taking him completely by surprise.

He thought he had dealt with all this years ago. He never would have guessed seeing her would dredge up all those feelings and make them fresh and raw all over again.

He chose his words carefully, not at all eager to reveal too much to her. “I’m sorry, Anna. Even if not for the gray area regarding conflict of interest ethics in seeing you socially, I have other plans.”

She froze for an instant and color climbed her cheeks. “Some other time then, perhaps. It was…great to see you again.”

She headed for the walnut-paneled door. As she reached out to pull it open, he thought she paused slightly. Her gaze met his and if he hadn’t known her so well years ago, he probably would have missed the flash of trepidation there.

He wondered at it for only an instant before he realized what must lie beneath her hesitation. Judging by Tina’s reaction in the boardroom just now, he was willing to bet Anna wasn’t at all popular at Walnut River General Hospital. The antimerger forces were vocal and vociferous in their opposition.

Again that unwanted sympathy surged through him. He might not agree with her position but he couldn’t argue with her convictions. She was only doing her job and she didn’t deserve to be mistreated by employees of the hospital who might oppose her mission here.

“I’ll walk out with you,” he said impulsively.

Her lush, delectable mouth opened a little with surprise, then she rewarded him with a glowing smile that made him far too aware of how the years between them had only added to her loveliness.

Much to his dismay, he suddenly felt a familiar clutch of desire twist his insides. He wanted to reach across the space between them and capture that mouth with his, to see if her skin was as silky as he remembered, if she still tasted heady and sweet.

He had been far too long without a woman. Between Ethan and trying to build his practice, he had little time or inclination left for extracurricular activity.

Maybe he needed to make time—especially since the one woman who stirred his interest in longer than he cared to remember was. Anna Wilder.

It was ridiculous for her to be so grateful Richard was walking beside her. What did she expect, that she would need a bodyguard to help her safely make it through the hospital?

She might be persona non grata around the hospital right now, but she couldn’t quite believe anyone would physically assault her to keep NHC at bay.

Still, she couldn’t deny she found great comfort from Richard’s calm presence as they headed for the elevator. She always had, she remembered now. He had been a source of strength and comfort through high school and college—the one she always turned to for advice, for counsel, for encouragement.

And more.

She pushed the memories away, refusing to dwell on them. She couldn’t think about them right now, when he was only a few feet away looking blond and dangerously gorgeous.

They paused at the elevator to wait for a car and stood in silence, watching the numbers rise. She was just about to ask him about his other clients when she heard a commotion down the hall.

“Hold the elevator. The trauma lift isn’t working.”

Anna sucked in her breath as the familiar voice rang through the hallway. Her insides knotted with dread but she had no choice but to turn her head.

She wasn’t at all surprised to see her sister working an oxygen pump as a team of medical personnel pushed a gurney down the hall. Anna had a quick impression that the patient was a middle-aged woman with her face covered in blood.

Ella faltered for just a moment when she saw Anna but she didn’t break her stride. “Have the ER hold trauma room one,” she told a nurse running beside them. “And alert the surgical team that we’ve got a femoral compound fracture and possible head trauma.”

She snapped out other commands firmly in a crisp, focused tone that reminded Anna painfully of their father, leaving no doubt exactly who was in charge of the situation.

She had never seen her sister in a professional capacity, Anna realized, as a mixture of pride and awe washed through her.

She always knew Ella would kick butt as a doctor. Seeing her in action was all the confirmation she needed. Ella was cool, composed and completely in control—all the things Anna couldn’t quite manage during her single year of med school.

Anna and Richard stepped aside to allow the team access to the elevator. Just before the doors slid closed, Anna’s gaze met her sister’s for only a millisecond.

Everything on the periphery seemed to fade, and for a moment Anna was ten years old again, snuggling in her sleeping bag in a tent in their big backyard next to her sister and best friend while the stars popped out, sharing secrets and popcorn and dreams.

Oh, Ella. I miss you so much, she wanted to whisper, but she could never say the words tangled in her throat, and in an instant, the doors closed and the moment was gone.

She fought back tears, praying her emotions wouldn’t betray her in front of Richard.

“Wow,” he said after a moment. “Hurricane Ella, as usual.”

“Right.” She didn’t trust herself to say more than that as a thousand different regrets pinched at her.

Their rift was largely her fault, one that had been widening for eight years since she left Walnut River, and it had become an unbreachable chasm these days.

If she had told Ella and their brothers about her job with NHC, her involvement in the merger might not have come as such a shock to the other Wilders. Instead, for two long years she had chosen the coward’s way, avoiding their questions when they asked about her work, offering them half-truths and evasions.

She had suspected exactly how they would react. She supposed that was the reason she had deceived them for so long.

“Not a good time for sisterly conversation, obviously.”

She wrenched her mind away from her guilt to Richard, who was watching her with entirely too much perception in his blue eyes.

She forced a smile past her aching heart. “Ella runs a mile a minute. She always has. When we were kids, she was always on the go. You remember what she was like.”

“I do. There was never a quiet moment with the two Wilder girls around.”

She forced another smile, though she had a feeling it was probably as transparent as it felt. She could only hope he didn’t see the hurt washing through her in fierce waves.

“You never asked your question,” he said.

She blinked at him. “Sorry. What question was that?”

“I don’t know. You said you wanted to ask me something and then we were sidetracked.”

She frowned, replaying their conversation of the past few minutes in her mind. Suddenly she remembered the direction of her thoughts and she could feel herself flush.

If not for the encounter with Ella, she might have made some laughing remark and changed the subject. But her emotions were too raw for equivocation and for some strange reason she decided to be blunt.

“I did ask you, but you didn’t give me a straight answer. I’m just wondering if it’s business or personal.”

“What?”

“The…hostility. Coolness, antipathy, whatever you want to call it. I’m just wondering if you’re angry because I work for NHC or if there’s something else behind it.”

A strange light flickered in his eyes for just an instant before his handsome features became a mask once more. He opened his mouth but before he could say anything, the elevator arrived.

Only after they stepped inside and he pushed the button to return to the main floor did he turn to answer her.

“I suppose a little of both,” he said. “We were friends. You said it yourself. And for one night, we were far more than that. I guess I’m trying to figure out how a woman I considered a friend could turn her back on her family and this town.”

I didn’t, she wanted to cry. But she was already so tired of defending herself and her choices to everyone in Walnut River. Didn’t anyone think it was possible—just maybe—that she might have the community’s best interests at heart?

Richard certainly didn’t. She could see the censure in his eyes. She couldn’t argue with him. That was the hell of it. He had the right to his opinions and she suspected nothing she said would convince him her motives were anything other than crass profit.

The elevator arrived at the main floor and the doors sprang open. He walked with her through the lobby, past the censorious eyes and out of the hospital.

She wanted to thank him for providing a buffer, but she couldn’t figure out just how to put the words together.

“I’m parked over there,” he pointed.

“Oh. I’m on the other side. I guess I’ll see you around, then.”

“Probably not. I was only filling in temporarily today in the meeting. My partner is usually the one at our firm who represents the hospital. He should be back on the job tomorrow.”

She should be relieved, she told herself. The prospect of spending more time with this prickly, distant Richard who had once been so very dear to her was not appealing.

“Well, in that case, it was…good to see you today.”

“Right,” he answered.

She walked to her car, wondering why she felt worse leaving the hospital than she had going in.

Chapter Three

Twenty minutes later, Anna walked into her duplex apartment and was instantly assaulted by a miniature dynamo.

Her dark mood instantly lifted as if dozens of sunbeams had followed her home.

“There’s my Lilli-girl.”

Her tiny dog gave one short yip of greeting then did a standing leap on all four legs, jumping almost to Anna’s knees. She laughed at the dog’s antics and bent to scoop Lilli into her arms, all five pounds of her.

“Did you have a good day, sweetheart? I hope those two big monsters didn’t run you ragged.”

Lilli—short for Lilliputian—yipped again and wriggled in her arms maneuvering so she could lick eagerly at Anna’s chin with her tiny sandpaper tongue.

Anna smiled and cuddled the dog closer. What a blessing this duplex had turned out to be, one of the few bright spots in her life since she had been ordered by the NHC CEO, Alfred Daly to come home to Walnut River to wrap up the hospital merger.

She hadn’t been able to find a single hotel in town that would allow pets, but then she’d stumbled on this furnished place near the river that would allow a temporary lease for the short time she expected to be in Walnut River.

The duplex itself wasn’t anything fancy, just bare bones lodging with little personality or style. But it had a good-sized backyard for Lilli to play in, and the landlady had two gentle yellow labradors who already adored her little Chihuahua-pug mix and kept her company all day.

Yeah, Anna was paying an arm and a leg above her per diem for the few weeks she expected to be here. But she figured it was worth it if she didn’t have to kennel Lilli during her time in Walnut River or confuse her with a temporary placement with one of her friends or coworkers back in Manhattan.

She adored the dog and had from the moment she heard her tiny whimpering squeaks from a Dumpster near her subway stop in the financial district. Anna had been on her way back uptown on a cold dank January evening after working late and only heard the puppy by a fluke when she had paused for a moment to fix a broken heel on her shoe.

Another night, she might have been in too big a rush to investigate the sound. But that night, something had sparked her curiosity and she had dug through the Dumpster until she found Lilli, bedraggled, flea-infested, half-starved. The tiny puppy had looked at her with pleading dark eyes and Anna had been lost.

That had been six months before, just after her father died. She freely admitted that while dog ownership had been an adjustment, especially with her hectic schedule and the added complications of city life, she had never once regretted her decision to rescue the puppy. Lilli had brought boundless happiness into her world.

Not that her life hadn’t been fulfilling before, she reminded herself. She had carved out a comfortable life for herself in New York. She enjoyed her job and found it challenging and interesting. She had good friends in the city, she volunteered at an after-school mentoring program, she enjoyed a full and active social life.

Still, somewhere deep in her heart, she sometimes yearned for the comfortable pace and quiet serenity of Walnut River and she couldn’t deny that she missed her family, especially Ella.

She remembered the heated anger that had flashed in her sister’s eyes earlier at the hospital and hugged Lilli a little closer to her. She had ruined her chance for any kind of reconciliation with her family by deceiving them for two years.

Understanding and accepting her own culpability in the situation somehow didn’t make it any easier to endure.

She sighed. “I need a good ride to clear my head. What do you say, Lilli-girl?”

The dog gave a yip of approval and Anna smiled and set her down, then hurried into her temporary bedroom. The dog followed on her heels, then danced around the room impatiently as Anna changed from her business suit to lycra bike shorts and a matching shirt. The transformation only took a few moments, with a few more needed to change her work chignon to a more practical ponytail.

A short time later, they set off with Lilli in her safety harness, watching the world pass from her perch inside a custom-made basket on the front of Anna’s racing bike.

Almost instantly, Anna felt some of the tension leave her shoulders. Even in the city, this was her escape, riding along her favorite trails in Central Park, exploring new neighborhoods, darting around taxis and buses.

Rediscovering the streets of her hometown had been a particular pleasure these past few days, and she could feel herself relax as the bike’s tires hummed along the asphalt.

Early summer had to be her favorite time of year, she decided, when the world was green and lovely. As she rode down one street and then another, she savored the smells and sights, so different from her life the past eight years in Manhattan.

The evening air was thick with the sweet smell of flowers, of meat grilling on a barbecue somewhere, of freshly mowed lawns.

She pushed herself hard, making a wide circuit around the edge of town before circling back. By the time she cut through the park near her duplex, she felt much more centered and better equipped to tackle the mounds of paperwork still awaiting her attention that evening.

The trail through the park took her past a baseball diamond where a game was underway. Because it seemed like such a perfect ending to her ride, a great way to celebrate a June evening, she paused to watch for a moment in the dying rays of the sun.

The players were young. She had never been very good at gauging children’s ages but since many of them still had their baby fat and seemed more interested in jabbering to each other than paying attention to the game, she would have guessed them at five or so.

She smiled, watching one eager batter swing at the ball on the tee a half-dozen times before he finally connected. The ball sailed into right field, just past a player who ran after it on stubby little legs.

“Run for it, bud. You can catch it. That’s the way.”

Anna jerked her head around at the voice ringing from the stands and stood frozen with dismay.

When Richard claimed another commitment, she had assumed he meant a date. Instead, he sat in the bleachers looking gorgeous and casual in jeans and a golf shirt, cheering on the towheaded little outfielder she assumed was his son.

For just an instant, she was tempted to ride away quickly so he didn’t think she was stalking him or something, but Lilli chose that inopportune moment to yip from her perch in the basket.

Drawn to the sound, Richard turned his head and she saw his eyes widen with surprise as he recognized her.

For one breathless instant, she thought she saw something else flicker there, something hot. But it was gone so quickly she was certain she must have imagined it.

She raised a hand in greeting and then—mostly because she didn’t know what else to do amid the awkwardness of the chance encounter—she climbed from her bicycle, propped it against the metal bleachers then scooped Lilli out of the basket before joining him in the stands.

“That must be Ethan out there,” she said.

“It is. We’re up one run with one out and just need to hold them through this inning and it will be all over.”

He turned his attention back to the game in time to cheer as the next player at bat hit the ball straight at the shortstop, who tossed it to first base. The fielder on first base looked astonished that he actually caught the ball in time to pick off the runner.

“I have to admit, I’m a little surprised to see you here,” Richard said after a moment when the crowd’s wild cheers subsided. “I wouldn’t have expected a T-ball game to be quite up your alley.”

Anna gave a rueful smile. “I only stopped on a whim. We live just a block away from here and have ridden through the park several times. This is the first game I’ve stopped at.”

“We?”

She held up Lilli and Richard raised one of his elegant eyebrows. “Is that a dog or a rat with a bad case of indigestion?”

She made a face. “Hey, watch it. This is the queen of my heart. Lilli, this is Richard Green. Say hi.”

The dog deigned to lift her paw but Richard only blinked.

“You’re kidding.”

Anna shook her head, hiding a smile. “I’m afraid not. She’ll be offended if you don’t shake.”

With a sigh, he reached out a hand to take the dog’s tiny paw in his, which was all the encouragement Lilli needed to decide he was her new best friend. She wriggled with delight and gazed at him out of adoring eyes.

This wasn’t the first time Anna had noticed her dog had a weakness for handsome men.

“So you said the center fielder is your son?”

Richard nodded. “He’s the one picking dandelions,” he said wryly.

Anna laughed. “Correct me if I’m wrong, but I see three kids picking dandelions out there.”

He smiled and she wondered how she could possibly have forgotten the devastating impact of his smile. “Mine’s the one in the middle.”

As if on cue, the center fielder began to wave vigorously. “Hi, Daddy! Can you see me?”

Richard nodded. “I see you, buddy,” he called out. “Watch the ball, okay?”

Ethan beamed at his father and obeyed, turning his attention back to the game just in time as a pop fly headed straight for him.

“Right there!” Richard exclaimed. “You can do it!”

Ethan held his glove out so far from his face it seemed to dangle from his wrist but the ball somehow miraculously landed right in the sweet spot with a solid thud.

Caught up in the moment, Anna jumped to her feet cheering with delight, along with Richard and the rest of the onlookers on their side of the bleachers.

“That’s the game,” the umpire called. “Final score, sixteen to fifteen.”

Anna held tight to Lilli as the little dog picked up on the excitement of the crowd, yipped with glee and vibrated in her arms, desperate to be part of the action.

“Great game,” she said after a moment. “Be sure to tell Ethan congratulations for me.”

“I’ll do that. Or it looks like you can tell him that yourself. Here he comes.”

An instant later, a small figure rushed toward them, his features bright with excitement as he launched himself at his father.

“Did you see that, Dad? I caught the ball right in my glove! Right in my glove! I won the game! Did you see?”

Richard hugged his son with enthusiasm. “Nice work! I’m so proud of you, bud. You’re getting better every game.”

“I know. I am.” He said it with such blatant confidence that Anna couldn’t help but smile.

Lilli, never one to sit quietly when hugs were being exchanged and someone else was getting attention she thought rightfully belonged to her, gave another of her love-me yips and the boy quickly turned toward her.

“Wow! Is that your dog?” he exclaimed to Anna, the baseball game apparently forgotten.

Anna set Lilli down, careful to hold on to the retractable leash while Lilli trotted eagerly to the boy. He instantly scooped her into his arms and giggled with delight when the dog licked the little-boy sweat from his cheek.

“What’s his name?” Ethan asked eagerly.

“She’s a girl and her name is Lilli,” Anna answered.

“I like her!”

She smiled, charmed by how much this darling boy resembled his father. “I do, too. She’s a great dog.”

“My name is Ethan Richard Green. What’s yours?”

She sent a swift look toward Richard, not at all sure if he would approve of her engaging in a long conversation with her son. He returned her questioning look with an impassive one of his own, which she took as tacit approval for her to answer.

“My name is Anna. Anna Wilder. Your dad and I knew each other a long time ago.”

“Hi.” He set Lilli on the ground carefully and held out a polite hand to her, a gesture that charmed her all over again.

She shook it solemnly, tumbling head over heels in love with the little boy.

“I’m very pleased to meet you, Miss Wilder,” he said, obviously reciting a lesson drummed into him by someone.

“And I’m very pleased to meet you as well, Mr. Green,” she answered in the same vein.

His solemnity didn’t last long, apparently, at least not with Lilli around. He knelt to pet the dog, giggling as she tried to lick him again.

“Would you like to hold her leash?” Anna asked.

“Can I?”

“If it’s okay with your dad.”

Ethan looked at his father, who nodded. “You can take her once around the bleachers but don’t go farther than that.”

The little boy gripped the leash handle tightly and the two of them headed away.

“I wouldn’t have pegged you for a dog person,” Richard said after a moment.

“Why not?”

“I don’t know. Just seems like a lot of responsibility for a single executive living in the big city.”

Though his words echoed her own thoughts of earlier in the evening, she still bristled a little that he apparently doubted she might possess the necessary nurturing abilities.

“It’s not always easy, but I make it work,” she answered. “What about you? I wouldn’t have pegged you for Little League games and car-pool duty. Talk about responsibility, Mr. High-Powered Attorney.”

One corner of his mouth quirked into a smile. “Point taken. Just like you, it’s not always easy but I make it work.”

She didn’t doubt it was a major juggling act—nor did she doubt Richard handled it with his typical elegant competence, just as she remembered him doing everything.

Both of them turned to watch Ethan and Lilli make their way through other onlookers and players back around the bleachers.

Richard sighed as the boy and dog approached. “You know this is going to be one more salvo in our ongoing, occasionally virulent we-need-a-puppy debate.”

She laughed at his woeful tone. “Sorry to cause more trouble for you. But Ethan is welcome to borrow Lilli anytime he’d like while I’m still in Walnut River.”

He looked less than thrilled at the prospect, which only made her smile widen.

“That was super fun,” Ethan exclaimed. “Can I do it again?”

“You’d better give Lilli back to Anna now, bud. Remember what I promised you after the game?”

“Oh yeah!” He handed the leash over to Anna. “We’re gonna get a shaved ice,” he exclaimed. “My dad promised I could have one if I was a good sport and didn’t get mad if I didn’t get on base again. Hey, do you and Lilli want a shaved ice, too?”

She slanted a look at Richard, who was again wearing that impassive mask.

Common sense told her to pick up her dog and run. She didn’t need to spend more time with either of the Green males, both of whom she found enormously appealing on entirely different levels.

On the other hand, all that awaited her at her place was more paperwork. And she couldn’t escape the sudden conviction that Richard wanted her to say no, which conversely made her want to do exactly the opposite.

“I’d love a shaved ice,” she proclaimed. “It’s thirsty work carrying a huge dog like Lilli around. Wears me right out.”

The boy giggled as he eyed the miniscule Chihuahua. “You’re super funny, Miss Wilder.”

She hadn’t heard that particular sentiment in a long, long time. She couldn’t remember the last time anyone had thought she was anything other than a boring numbers-cruncher. She decided she liked it.

“You know what? You can call me Anna, as long as I can call you Ethan. Is that okay?”

“Sure.”

“Ethan, would you mind holding Lilli’s leash while I walk my bike?”

He nodded eagerly. “I won’t let go, I promise,” he said.

“Okay. I trust you.”

She slanted one more look at Richard, who was watching their exchange with only a slight tightening of his mouth showing his displeasure. She almost apologized for forcing herself into a family event but then gave a mental shrug.

They were only sharing shaved ices, not spending the entire evening together.

This was completely unfair.

Richard barely had time to adjust to the idea that she was back in town and here she was again, crowding his space, intruding in his carefully constructed life, making him think about things he had put on the back burner.

A casual observer probably wouldn’t be able to imagine that the coolly competent executive he had spent two hours with earlier in the day could be the same woman as this softer, far more approachable, version.

This Anna looked sleek and trim and sexy as hell, with all that gorgeous blond hair pulled back in a ponytail and her skin glowing with vitality.

She looked much like he remembered his old friend from eight years ago—bright and vibrant and so beautiful he couldn’t manage to look away for longer than a minute or two at a time.

She seemed completely oblivious to her allure as she walked beside him, pushing her bike. And he would have bet she had no idea how hard it was for him to fight down the surge of pure lust.

The evening was one of those beautiful Walnut River summer evenings and the park was full of families taking advantage of it. He greeted several people he knew on the short walk to the shaved ice stand but didn’t stop to talk with any of them.

“Do you know every single person in town?” Anna asked after a few minutes.

“Not quite. There are some new apartment complexes on the other side of town and I believe there one or two tenants there’re I haven’t managed to meet yet. I’m working on it, though.”

He meant it as a joke but she apparently didn’t quite catch the humor. “Are you running for mayor or something?”

He gave a rough laugh. “Me? Not quite. I’ve just lived here most of my life. You can’t help but come to know a lot of people when you’re part of a community.”

“Why did you stick around Walnut River?” she asked him. “You always had such big plans when you were in law school. You were going to head out to the wild frontier somewhere, open your own practice and work on changing the world one client at a time.”

He remembered those plans. He had dreamed of heading out West. Colorado, maybe, or Utah. Somewhere with outdoor opportunities like skiing and mountain biking—all the things he didn’t have time to do now that he was a single father.

“Things change. Life never quite turns out like we expect when we’re twenty-two, does it?”

He didn’t think he had ever confided in her the rest of those dreams. He had been desperately in love with Anna Wilder and wanted to bundle her up and take her into the wilderness with him.

She was quiet, her eyes on his son, who was giggling at her little rat-dog. “Maybe not. But sometimes it’s better, though, isn’t it?”

The fading rays of the sun caught in Ethan’s blond hair and Richard’s heart twisted with love for his son.

“Absolutely.” He paused. “And to answer your question about why I’m still here, mostly it’s because this is where my mother lives. She takes Ethan most days when I’m working and they’re crazy about each other. She’s a godsend.”

“Is Ethan’s mother in the picture at all?”

He wasn’t sure he could honestly say Lynne had ever really been in the picture. Their relationship had been a mistake from the beginning and he suspected they both would have figured that out if not for her accidental pregnancy that had precipitated their marriage.

“Is that the wrong question?” Anna asked quietly and he realized he had been silent for just a hair too long.

“No. It’s fine. The short answer is no. The long answer is a bit more…complex.”

He wasn’t about to go into the long and ugly story with Anna, about how Lynne hadn’t wanted children in the first place, how she had become pregnant during their last year of law school together, that she probably would have had an abortion if she hadn’t been raised strict Catholic.

Instead, he had talked her into marrying him.

Though she had tried hard for the first few months after Ethan was born, Lynne had been a terrible mother—impatient, easily frustrated, not at all nurturing to an infant who needed so much more.

It had been better all the way around when she accepted a job overseas.

“I’m sorry,” Anna said again. “I didn’t mean to dredge up something painful.”

“It’s not. Not really.”

She didn’t look as if she believed him, but by then they had reached the shaved ice stand. Ethan was waiting for them, jumping around in circles with the same enthusiasm as Anna’s little dog as he waited impatiently for them to arrive.

“I want Tiger’s Blood, just like I always have,” Ethan declared.

Richard shook his head. His son rarely had anything else but the tropical fruit flavor. “You need to try a different kind once in awhile, kiddo.”

“I like Tiger’s Blood,” he insisted.

“Same here,” Anna agreed. “You know what’s weird? It’s Lilli’s favorite flavor, too. I think it’s the whole dog-cat thing. Makes her feel like a big, bad tough guy.”

Though Ethan looked puzzled, Richard felt a laugh bubble out as he looked at her tiny dog prancing around at the end of her leash.

His gaze met Anna’s and for just an instant, he felt like he was back in high school, making stupid jokes and watching movies together and wondering if he would ever find the courage to tell the prettiest girl in school he was crazy about her.

They weren’t in high school anymore, he reminded himself sternly. She might still be the prettiest girl he had ever seen but he certainly wasn’t crazy about her anymore. The years between them had taken care of that, and he wasn’t about to change the status quo.

Chapter Four

The line was remarkably short and they had their icy treats only a few moments later.

“I saw a bench over there,” Anna said. “Do you want to sit down?”

Richard knew he ought to just gather up his son and head home. But he couldn’t quite force himself to sever this fragile connection between them, though he knew damn well it was a mistake to spend more time with her.

He was largely silent while they ate the shaved ice. For that matter, so was Anna, who seemed content to listen to Ethan chatter about his friends in kindergarten, his new two-wheel bike, the kind of puppy he wanted if his dad would ever agree.

Though Richard wondered how he could possibly have time to eat around all the never-ending chatter, Ethan finished his shaved ice in about five minutes flat then begged to play on the playground conveniently located next to the stand.

“Not for long, okay? It’s been a long day and you need to get home and into the tub.”

Ethan made a face as he handed Lilli’s leash back to Anna then raced off toward the slide.

“He seems like a great kid,” Anna said after a moment.

“He is. Seeing the world through his eyes helps keep my life in perspective.”

“He’s lucky to have you for a father.”

She paused, her eyes shadowed. “My dad’s been gone for six months and I still can’t believe it.”

Her father’s opinion had always been important to Anna. Maybe too important.

He had respected her father—everyone in town had. James Wilder had been a brilliant, compassionate physician who had saved countless lives during his decades of practicing medicine in Walnut River. He doubted there was a family in town that didn’t have some member who had been treated by Dr. Wilder.

But he didn’t necessarily agree with the way James had treated his children. Even when they were younger Richard had seen how James singled Anna out, how hard he tried to include her in everything and make her feel an integral part of the family.

From an outsider’s standpoint, Richard thought James’s efforts only seemed to isolate Anna more, reminding her constantly that she was different by virtue of her adoption and fostering resentment and antipathy in her siblings.

“I tried to find you at the funeral to offer my condolences but you must have left early.”

She set her plastic spoon back in the cup, her features suddenly tight. “It was a hard day all the way around. My father’s death was such a shock to me and I’m afraid I didn’t handle things well. I couldn’t wait to get out of there and return to New York so I could… could grieve.”

He found it inexpressibly sad that she hadn’t wanted to turn to her siblings during their moment of shared sorrow.

“Have you seen Peter or David since you’ve been back?”

“No. Only Ella, today at the hospital.” Her brittle smile didn’t conceal the hurt in her eyes. “I’m quite sure they’re all going out of their way to avoid me.”

“They may not even be aware you’re back in town.”

“You know better than that, Richard. They know I’m here.”

She was quiet for a moment, then offered that forced smile again. “It’s not exactly a secret that NHC has sent me here to close the merger after six months of problems. I might not have received an angry phone call from holier-than-thou Peter or a snide, sarcastic email from David, but they know I’m here.”

He didn’t want to feel this soft sympathy for her but he couldn’t seem to keep it from welling up, anyway.

She had created the situation, he reminded himself sternly. Why should he feel sorry for her at the estrangement with her siblings when she had done everything possible to stir up their wrath?

She shrugged. “Anyway, I’m sure J. D. spread the word he was meeting with me today.”

She rose suddenly and threw her half-eaten shaved ice in the garbage can next to their bench. He had the distinct impression she regretted letting her emotions filter through.

“Which reminds me, I’d better go. I’ve got a great deal of paperwork to file after today’s meeting.”

He didn’t think the reminder of their adversarial roles in the takeover was at all accidental.

She picked up her little dog and set her in a carrier attached to the handlebars of her bike. In bike shorts that hugged her trim, athletic figure, she looked long and lovely and so delectable she made his mouth water.

“It was nice bumping into you and meeting Ethan. Thank you for letting me share a little of your evening together.”

“You’re welcome.”

She gave him one more small smile then, to his surprise, she stopped at the playground to say goodbye to Ethan. She even went so far as to take the dog out of her carrier one last time so the petite creature could lick at Ethan’s face.

Their interaction touched something deep inside him. In his experience, most women either completely ignored his son or went over the top in their attentions, fawning all over Ethan in an effort to convince Richard how maternal they could be.

Anna’s interest in Ethan seemed genuine—and it was obvious his son was smitten by her.

Or at least by her little rat-dog.

After a moment she gave Ethan one last high five, settled Lilli in her carrier again and rode away with one last wave to both of them.

He watched her go—as he had watched her go before. He sighed, his mind on that last miserable day when she had left Walnut River.

He still wasn’t sure exactly why the hell she had left—or, more importantly, why the memory of it still stung.

They had been good friends through high school and he could admit to himself now that he’d always had a bit of a crush on her, though he hadn’t fully realized it until college.

They went to different universities for their undergraduate work. He was at Harvard, but since she had only been a few miles away at Radcliffe, they had seen each other often, but still only as friends.

Though he could sense his feelings for her deepening and growing, they had both been running in opposite directions. He was headed for law school while she was busy preparing for med school.

But one summer night after their first year of graduate work everything had changed.

By a happy coincidence, they had both been home in Walnut River temporarily for the wedding of a friend. Since neither of them had dates, they had decided to go together—again, strictly as friends.

But he had taken one look at her in a sleek, pale-blue dress he could still remember vividly and he hadn’t been able to look away.

They had danced every dance together at the wedding reception and by the time the night was over, he’d realized he had been hiding the truth from himself all those years.

He was in love with her

Deeply, ferociously in love.

And she had returned his feelings—or least, she had given a good imitation of it.

After the wedding festivities were over, they had gone to his house for a late-night swim. His parents were gone and he and Anna had stayed up long into the night, sharing confidences and heady kisses, holding hands while they looked at the stars and savored being together.

And then they had made love and he still remembered it as the single most moving experience of his life, except for Ethan’s birth. She had given him her innocence and had told him she was falling in love with him.

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