Read Online 03_The Doctor's Perfect Match by Irene Hannon - Free Book Online
Authors: Irene Hannon
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Ronnie’s. I don’t have to stay up until two in the morning working on term papers or studying for tests. I’m living in a cottage that belongs in the pages of House Beautiful . My time is my own, and I’m lovingevery minute of it. But the truth is, I’m used to being busy. If all I did was sit around on the beach day after day, I’d go nuts.”
J.C. studied her as he took a sip of water. “Is that how you got the scratch on your hand? Gardening?”
She shrugged. “Sometimes to uncover beauty you have to deal with a few thorns.” A few seconds of silence ticked by as she examined the long, jagged abrasion. Then she summoned up a smile. “But this won’t happen again. I have some garden gloves now.”
“Did you get them at Bartlett’s Farm? They have a great garden center.”
Marci dug into her mashed potatoes, thinking fast. “No. Henry’s neighbor offered me a pair. Heather, did you put some unusual seasoning in these? They’re great.”
“A touch of garlic salt.”
“What neighbor?” J.C. persisted.
“What difference does it make?” Marci shot him a peeved look.
His eyes narrowed. “Why are you evading the question?”
“Why are you playing detective? You’re supposed to be off duty now.”
Heather looked from brother to sister. “Okay. Change of subject. J.C., show your sister the drawing from Nathan. You’ll love it, Marci. We sent him a photo of The Devon Rose, and he did an incredible pen-and-ink sketch of it as a wedding present. It arrived while we were on our honeymoon. I’m going to frame it and hang it in the foyer.”
For a few moments, J.C. continued to regard Marci. Then, with a sigh of capitulation, he rose to retrieve the rendering, handing it to his sister without a word.
Thank you, God, if you’re listening , Marci said silently. The last thing she needed was to have her brother join the Nantucket matchmaking club. Now that he was married, she hada feeling he was going to be harping on her to start dating. He’d never understood why her social life was a big, fat zero. And she had no intention of enlightening him.
Taking the drawing, Marci set aside her fork and examined it. Both she and J.C. had been stunned last summer when they’d discovered their brother’s incredible talent during their emotional reconciliation at the prison where he was serving time for armed robbery.
“He gets better and better, doesn’t he?” Marci shook her head in wonder.
“Yes. I think he has a bright future ahead now that he’s started down a new path.”
“According to his last letter, it sounds like he’s on track to finish his GED by the end of the summer.” Marci handed the drawing back to J.C.
“That’s the plan. He just needs to hang in for one more year.”
“He wouldn’t have such a hopeful future to look forward to without you,” Marci said.
A flush crept across her brother’s cheeks as he set the drawing aside. “God can take most of the credit for that.”
Heather entwined her fingers with her husband’s. “That’s true. But without you, he wouldn’t have found God, either. You did good with both of your siblings.” She sent Marci a smile.
“I second that.” Marci lifted her water glass in tribute to the one person in her life she had always been able to count on. Whose love for his siblings had never wavered, despite the trouble and heartaches they’d given him.
There weren’t too many guys like him around, Marci mused as she buttered a roll.
But she was beginning to think a certain ’Sconset doctor might qualify for membership in that exclusive club.
Chapter Five
W hy wasn’t Henry answering her knock?
Marci tapped her garden gloves against her palm. Usually he met her at the front door. But she was a few minutes late. Maybe he was waiting for her in the yard.
Circling the house, she paused to inhale the heady, old-fashioned scent of the pink roses clinging to the arbor that arched over the gate to the backyard. She’d spent a
J.C. studied her as he took a sip of water. “Is that how you got the scratch on your hand? Gardening?”
She shrugged. “Sometimes to uncover beauty you have to deal with a few thorns.” A few seconds of silence ticked by as she examined the long, jagged abrasion. Then she summoned up a smile. “But this won’t happen again. I have some garden gloves now.”
“Did you get them at Bartlett’s Farm? They have a great garden center.”
Marci dug into her mashed potatoes, thinking fast. “No. Henry’s neighbor offered me a pair. Heather, did you put some unusual seasoning in these? They’re great.”
“A touch of garlic salt.”
“What neighbor?” J.C. persisted.
“What difference does it make?” Marci shot him a peeved look.
His eyes narrowed. “Why are you evading the question?”
“Why are you playing detective? You’re supposed to be off duty now.”
Heather looked from brother to sister. “Okay. Change of subject. J.C., show your sister the drawing from Nathan. You’ll love it, Marci. We sent him a photo of The Devon Rose, and he did an incredible pen-and-ink sketch of it as a wedding present. It arrived while we were on our honeymoon. I’m going to frame it and hang it in the foyer.”
For a few moments, J.C. continued to regard Marci. Then, with a sigh of capitulation, he rose to retrieve the rendering, handing it to his sister without a word.
Thank you, God, if you’re listening , Marci said silently. The last thing she needed was to have her brother join the Nantucket matchmaking club. Now that he was married, she hada feeling he was going to be harping on her to start dating. He’d never understood why her social life was a big, fat zero. And she had no intention of enlightening him.
Taking the drawing, Marci set aside her fork and examined it. Both she and J.C. had been stunned last summer when they’d discovered their brother’s incredible talent during their emotional reconciliation at the prison where he was serving time for armed robbery.
“He gets better and better, doesn’t he?” Marci shook her head in wonder.
“Yes. I think he has a bright future ahead now that he’s started down a new path.”
“According to his last letter, it sounds like he’s on track to finish his GED by the end of the summer.” Marci handed the drawing back to J.C.
“That’s the plan. He just needs to hang in for one more year.”
“He wouldn’t have such a hopeful future to look forward to without you,” Marci said.
A flush crept across her brother’s cheeks as he set the drawing aside. “God can take most of the credit for that.”
Heather entwined her fingers with her husband’s. “That’s true. But without you, he wouldn’t have found God, either. You did good with both of your siblings.” She sent Marci a smile.
“I second that.” Marci lifted her water glass in tribute to the one person in her life she had always been able to count on. Whose love for his siblings had never wavered, despite the trouble and heartaches they’d given him.
There weren’t too many guys like him around, Marci mused as she buttered a roll.
But she was beginning to think a certain ’Sconset doctor might qualify for membership in that exclusive club.
Chapter Five
W hy wasn’t Henry answering her knock?
Marci tapped her garden gloves against her palm. Usually he met her at the front door. But she was a few minutes late. Maybe he was waiting for her in the yard.
Circling the house, she paused to inhale the heady, old-fashioned scent of the pink roses clinging to the arbor that arched over the gate to the backyard. She’d spent a
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