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The shock came onenight while he was left at home with them. Her mother had gone toEurope with friends, and Brooke was excited to see her leave. It hadbeen the middle of summer, closer to the time they would return toschool.
It had also been atorrid night, the air still as if waiting for a storm to pass. Thecentral air had been on, and she had also turned the fan above herbed on, but she was still hot, her nightgown sticking to her skin.
She still existed onthe high of having pizza for dinner and sodas, which would never havehappened had her mother been there. Dwayne had been allowed to stayovernight with a friend, something she had been happy about.
It meant she had herDaddy all to herself, which had been excellent. Not only had heordered pizza, but she had been served her favorite ice cream, mintchocolate chip. She had worshiped him that night.
She had climbed outof bed, deciding to creep downstairs and dip in the pool. She was notallowed to do so without an adult supervising her, but she was anexcellent swimmer.
Telling herselfeveryone was fast asleep and she would not get caught, she quicklystripped off her nightgown and donned a one-piece pink and whiteswimsuit. Grabbing a towel from the bathroom, she opened her door andpeered out cautiously.
When she did notdetect anyone in the hallway, she carefully descended the stairs,stopping now and then to listen. Grinning that she had gotten so farwithout being caught, she disengaged the alarm and skipped toward theoctagonal body of water.
The moon was high inthe sky, bathing everything in silver, and she could recall beingamazed at how beautiful the night was. Before she reached the poolarea, she heard the sounds that stopped her. Someone had the sameidea she had.
She was about to turnback in disappointment when she was drawn to what sounded like moans.The curiosity of a seven-year-old pulled her towards the source, hertiny footsteps making no sounds in the springy grass. A man wasmoving on top of a woman, and even at that age, she realized what washappening.
She rememberedclapping a hand over her mouth to stop the giggle. At first, shethought it was one of the maids having that kind of party with a manshe had snuck into the yard until he lifted his head.
Shaking the painfulmemory away and tamping down on the rage and horror she had felt torealize that it was her father, she pushed away from the counter totake the clothes out of the dryer.
Chapter 3
“Brooke, thisis Dr. Cooper Rochester.”
“What happenedto Dr. Graham?”
“He had to flyout of town for a conference and asked me to replace him.”
“You are tenminutes late.”
“I apologize-”
“The waitingroom is full, and we are behind.” She looked up from the notesshe had made on a patient’s file and barely glanced at himbefore pushing away from the scarred desk.
“White labcoat?” Her brow drew in a frown as she gave his snowy whitecoat a scathing look. “Dr. Graham did not give you the headsup.? This is not some fancy hospital with rich people’sailments. At the clinic, we wear scrubs; the darker, the better. Youwill find out for yourself why that is.”
Turning away fromhim, she gave Miranda, her receptionist, a brief nod. “Pointhim to where he needs to be. I have to deal with a patient.”Without another word, she turned on her heels and walked away,leaving Cooper staring after her with a frown.
“Is she alwaysthis pleasant?” He asked the woman who had accompanied himdryly.
“She is underextreme pressure, and you were late. Dr. Rochester? Any relationshipto the Rochester’s?”
“I am afraidso.”
The woman gave him anappreciative look before indicating that he should follow her. “Youare in for a shock to the system, I am afraid.” She continued.He passed a small lobby with doors leading off to the left. Openingone of those doors, Miranda gestured to the people waiting in thatroom.
“It’s notso bad.”
“There isanother room with more people than this. Today is Monday, which meansthat it is our busiest day.” Her gaze wandered over hispristine white jacket with a grimace. “That’s going toget grimy pretty soon. I will leave you to it then.”
“Wait. What doI do now?”
“You see to thepatients.” The cultured voice behind him had him turningaround. “I hope we do not have to tell you how to do that.Miranda, I just treated Sylvie; she needs a follow-up appointment.”
“I will see toit,” Miranda assured her before hurrying away.
“I just meantthat I don’t know these people by name,” Cooper told hercoolly, resenting that the petite woman standing before him wastreating him like an imbecile.
