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A real doctor. What was she? A pretend one?
Darby sighed.
Might as well be, since she was faking everything else this weekend.
Blake didn’t have to be a rocket scientist to see that Darby was irritated with most of her family.
As the youngest of five children, and the only girl, her family treated her as if she were incapable of doing anything for herself. At each point Darby attempted to do something, even if it was only to refill her glass of tea, someone jumped in and did the task for her. Couldn’t they see what a talented young woman she’d grown into? How much their attitude annoyed her?
Another part of him envied her the camaraderie, the loudness, the interactions that came with having a large family who so obviously adored her.
As a little boy he’d heard his grandfather talk about huge family gatherings back in Malta, but only Vic Di Angelo had come to the States to make his fortune. He’d met a lovely young New Yorker who’d died giving birth to their only child—Blake’s mother. Victoria Di Angelo had gotten pregnant while a teenager and, although she’d married numerous times, she had never had more children, leaving Blake an only child. Since his grandfather’s death family dinners had consisted of Blake and his mother in a nice restaurant in whatever city she currently lived in, making small talk while sipping on wine and pretending they had something in common other than memories of the gruff old man they’d both loved.
“More banana pudding, Dr. Di Angelo?” asked one of Darby’s sisters-in-law. He couldn’t recall which one of her brothers the tall redhead was married to, but she was obviously the mother of the three red-headed kids who ran in and out of the dining room every so often.
He was a tad jealous of the freedom the Phillips kids enjoyed. How exciting growing up in a place like this must be when compared to the fancy downtown apartments and condos he’d always lived in.
“Call me Blake—and no thanks on the pudding.” He patted his flat stomach, thinking perhaps French fries had been knocked down a notch from the top of his food chain. “Wish I could, but I’m stuffed.”
“Did he just say he’s buff?” Another sister-in-law, giggled from across the table, fanning her face.
Blake grinned. Yeah, he liked Darby’s family. A lot.
“I’d second that,” another said, cradling her three-month-old daughter in her arms so she could nurse her.
When at the last minute she threw a baby blanket over her shoulder and soon-to-be-exposed breast, Blake felt Darby’s relief much louder than he heard the soft sigh. Hoping to reassure her, he caught her eye, winked.
“I’m sorry,” she whispered, leaning close to his ear.
Her warm breath tickled his ear, goosebumping his flesh, hyper-driving his heart rate.
“What for?” he asked, wondering if she’d apologized for making him so aware of her, for the fact that despite the table still being laden with delicious food all he could smell was her delicate floral scent. Or the fact that every time he looked at her he wanted to peel away her clothes to see what she wore beneath. And then he wanted to peel those away, too.
“For making you eat chicken, of course,” she teased, but he read the truth in her eyes. Her worries centered around her assumption that he was enduring her family for her and was barely able to do so.
He would endure any unpleasantness for Darby—after all, they were business partners. But he was enjoying her family.
Well, except for the way her brothers kept glaring and asking leading questions about his intentions regarding their little sister.
That he could have lived without.
Then again, he’d never had a sister. If he had, he’d have been just as tough on any guy she brought home. Actually, knowing what he usually did with women, he’d have been tougher. If they knew what he wanted to do to Darby, her brothers should take him out behind one of those long barns.
“I think it’s so romantic, you two working together and falling in love,” the redheaded sister-in-law sighed dreamily, pulling a carrot-topped toddler into her lap.
“We worked together at the Co-Op during high school. I don’t hear you calling that romantic,” her husband pointed out, reminding Blake which brother she belonged with. Best as Blake could recall, Jim was Darby’s oldest brother, and the only one to share his sister’s deep blue eyes.
“’Cause folks fall in love down at the Co-Op all the time. I think it’s the hormones they put in the feed. You just don’t hear about two doctors falling in love.” She sighed again, accepting wet kisses from the little boy who had his palms smashed against her cheeks. She laughed at her son’s antics, then said to no one in particular, “It’s like something you’d see on television.”
“What she means,” explained the brunette sister-in-law nursing her baby, “is that Armadillo Lake doesn’t have a doctor, much less two. That’s why they haven’t heard of doctors falling in love except on T.V.”
Blake blinked. “Armadillo Lake doesn’t have a doctor?”
“Closest one is in Pea Ridge, a clear thirty miles away. That’s the closest hospital, too.” She gestured to the blanket covering her nursing baby. “I thought I was going to have to deliver this one here in the calfing barn.”
The calfing barn? Did he really want to know? He turned to Darby, who conspicuously stared at her empty plate.
“I’m surprised you didn’t set up a clinic here.”
