Read Online Bachelor Cure by Marion Lennox - Free Book Online

don’t want a gloomy face scaring Henry into another stroke.’
    â€˜My face is not gloomy,’ she said before she could stop herself, and he grinned.
    â€˜Well, maybe you’re right,’ he agreed. ‘In fact, it’s not gloomy at all.’ He smiled down at her, and Tess found herself flushing under his careful scrutiny. ‘But fearful, though,’ he amended gently. ‘Fearful of your grandfather’s future.’
    Her momentary lightness faded. ‘He’s at risk of another stroke, Mike. Isn’t he?’
    She didn’t need to ask. She knew the odds.
    â€˜He is,’ he said bluntly. There was no use giving false reassurance. ‘But you know we’ve started him on heparin as well as digoxin. I’m sure much of his weakness now is due to being left so long without attention rather than the stroke itself. I’d say, with good rehabilitation, we’ve a very strong chance of getting Henry back to his beloved farm. Between us, I think we’ve done an excellent night’s work.’
    â€˜I guess…’
    He looked down at Tess and his smile died. He could see what she was thinking.
    Henry had been so near death. To have pulled him back…well, there were no guarantees now that Henry would be grateful—especially if he was left with a body that wouldn’t do as he commanded. To be left with partial paralysis…
    â€˜I’m telling you, Tess, there can’t be major paralysis,’ he said gently, and his hand came down on thebed to cover hers. It was an unconscious action which he did with many patients, but he was suddenly acutely aware of the contact. He was acutely aware of the linking of their two hands. But he didn’t pull away.
    â€˜No, but…’
    â€˜But?’
    â€˜He won’t be out of trouble in a week,’ she said sadly. ‘Or even a month. He can’t be. So what happens now?’ She stared down at her grandfather’s gaunt face and a muscle worked at the side of her mouth.
    â€˜I won’t be able to return to the States now,’ she said at last. ‘I’ll have to stay.’
    Mike frowned, but he was aware of a tiny jerk inside him. It was like something deep within was really pleased with the words he’d just heard.
    Go for practicalities…
    â€˜Where does that leave you?’ he asked. ‘Are you on leave from your job?’
    â€˜I quit to come here.’
    â€˜You quit?’
    She looked up at him then, and her mouth twisted into a wry smile. She hadn’t moved her hand. It was still under his, and for the life of her she couldn’t find the energy to move it.
    This man was her only comfort in all this.
    â€˜It sounds dramatic, doesn’t it?’ She shrugged and managed a grin. ‘It’s not. I’ve been working in emergency medicine for the last two years. It’s been exciting but now… I’ve had enough excitement. I’m moving into family medicine.’
    â€˜You have a job to go to?’
    â€˜I’ve applied for a heap of positions in the States,’ she told him. ‘I was really just waiting to hear if—or where—I’ve been accepted when I had to leave to come here.’ Her gorgeous grin flashed out again. ‘If you must know, I’m expecting a pile of job offers—with salary commensurate with my expected lifestyle, of course—to be waiting when I get home. So it seemed only fair to tell the hospital I wouldn’t be back.’
    â€˜So you’re a free agent?’
    â€˜I guess. Until I have to start working to pay for food.’ She smiled again, that blindingly attractive smile that almost shook his socks off. ‘It seems to me that if Grandpa’s farming one sow, eight piglets and six goats and not a lot else, then I might be in trouble if I expect the farm to pay for my keep—and I don’t much fancy living on piglet.’
    â€˜No.’ Mike gave