The Rebel Doc Who Stole Her Heart

Mrs. Ross giggled like a young girl. “Michelle, I do believe your friend is a prince charming.”

Ty winked at Michelle and grinned.

Michelle groaned, and his grin grew into a smile.

“Mrs. Ross, I take that as real praise coming from you.” He helped her stand.

“How would you like to come to dinner some time?” Mrs. Ross asked him.

He glanced at Michelle. She looked appalled at the idea and as she opened her mouth to speak, Ty said, “I’d love to.”

“Mother!” Michelle hissed.

Mrs. Ross ignored her and asked, “Tomorrow night?”

“That would be wonderful. I look forward to it.” He looked past Mrs. Ross to find a resigned look on Michelle’s face. “I’ll get directions from Michelle.”

“Mother, the nurse is waiting,” she said in an exasperated voice laced with a tiredness that sounded bone deep.

Ty watched as Michelle assisted her mother into the office. He gaze rose to the large letters above the reception window. Oncology.

That was a tough diagnosis. No wonder Michelle could be difficult at times. She had to be worried about her mother.

* * *

Ty grinned at the look on Michelle’s face as she opened the door of her mother’s home the next evening. He’d had a warmer welcome from his cadaver in med school. “Good evening, Michelle.”

“Come in,” she murmured.

“Thank you for the heartfelt welcome.”

“You know this wasn’t my idea.” She moved as if to make sure their bodies didn’t touch as he entered.

“You’ve made that perfectly clear. But I’m glad your mother invited me. I’m going to enjoy having a home-cooked meal. It’s something I don’t often get.”

She looked contrite. “I’m sorry. I’m not being very gracious. Come in. My mom is in the kitchen. I normally cook for her most evenings but she insisted on doing most of the meal tonight.”

She closed the door behind them and he followed her to the kitchen. Michelle’s mother’s home was the kind that made him think of laughter and warm fires. It was as foreign to his growing-up years as he could imagine.

His life before Joey had really become sick had been carefree. He’d been encouraged to read and question but there had been little structure. Nothing permanent in his life other than his parents and Joey. In fact, he’d known nothing of his grandparents until he’d overheard his parents talking about them when he’d been around eight.

Ty paused to looked at the pictures in the hallway of Michelle at different stages in her life, some of them including her parents. There had been no family photos like these in his life. Heck, it was hard to hang a picture on the side of a tent.

When they entered the kitchen, Mrs. Ross turned away from the stove. She looked frail but there were red spots high on her cheeks. She wiped her hands and came towards him. “Welcome, Ty, I’m so glad you could join us.”

“I appreciate being asked.” He glanced at Michelle. She gave him more of a smirk than a smile.

“These are for you.” He handed flowers and a long thin box to the older woman.

The red of her cheeks all but glowed with her pleasure as she took them. “Why, Ty, how sweet. You didn’t have to.”

“I wanted to.”

“Michelle, honey, why don’t you put these in a vase while I see what’s in this pretty box? I can’t imagine.”

Michelle took the flowers and went to the sink.

Mrs. Ross opened the box and pulled out a multicolored scarf. “Oh, my, how beautiful.” She wrapped it around her neck.

“I thought you might like it. My mother always said a bright scarf lifts a woman’s spirits.”

He’d not thought of that in a long time. Not quoted his parents in years. His mother had wrapped a red scarf around her head the day they’d marched out to bury Joey.

Ty’s gaze shifted away from her mother to Michelle. Her eyes glistened and she mouthed, “Thank you,” and gave him a smile. It was the first full-blown one he’d ever seen from her.

His eyes widened, he blinked and returned her smile with a wink.

“Michelle, why don’t you take those flowers into the living room, and you and Ty have a little talk while I finish here? I won’t be long.”

Michelle looked as if she’d like to have the floor swallow her. He couldn’t help but grin. This might be the most entertaining evening he’d spent in a long time.

She gathered the vase and without a backward glance headed back the way they had come. He followed, admiring the sensual sway of her hips. Did she have any idea what she could do to a man? This power was stronger than any she employed as a heart surgeon. She could rule the world. His, anyway.

When they got to the living room Michelle placed the flowers on the nearest table and turned to face him. “I’m sorry about this. I couldn’t be more embarrassed.”

“Hey, don’t be. I’m flattered. I can’t say that I know of another mother who has thrown her daughter at me.”

He enjoyed the blush that covered her face. Yes, the ice queen had definitely melted.

Taking a seat on the sofa, he patted the cushion next to him. “Come sit and ‘talk a little’.”

Michelle sank next to him more out of defeat than anything else. He appreciated seeing her a little off center. The stiff doctor in control had all but been stripped away. She was just a daughter trying to make a sick mother happy.

“So your mother has cancer.”

“Yes.”

“How long?”

“We’ve been dealing with treatments for the last six months.”

“That has to have been tough. On both of you.”

“It has been. I have all this medical knowledge but I can’t help her. What good is it all if you can’t save the people you love?”

A stab of pain filled him. What would have happened if he’d defied his parents and taken Joey for help? He knew too well what it meant to watch a loved one die. He carried the guilt daily.

“So what is the prognosis?”

“Mom seems to be doing well medically but I worry over her depression. Tonight is the first time in months that she’s been this animated and energetic.”

“So the way to perk her up is to see you interested in a guy?”

Michelle shifted away. “I’m not interested in you.”

Ty took her hand in his and rubbed his thumb across the top of it. He turned it over to where he could feel the whip of her pulse under the delicate skin covering her wrist. “Are you sure about that?”

She pulled her hand away. “I appreciate you making my mother happy but I don’t plan to play the game any further than tonight.”

Was he playing a game? No, he didn’t think so. Suddenly he wanted to get to know this beautiful, complicated woman better. Careful, that idea sounded too much like getting involved. That, he wouldn’t let happen. They could be friends. Have a few laughs while he was in town but that was it.

“Ever thought that I might find you interesting? Want to get to know you better?”

“No. Why would you? I’m not your type. We are too different. We barely tolerate each other.”

“I think we’re tolerating each other just fine now.”

And they were. In fact, it had been a long time since he’d just enjoyed talking to a woman without there being any expectation on the part of either side.

Mrs. Ross stuck her head into the room. “Dinner is served.”

Michelle shot to her feet as if her mother had seen them doing something she didn’t want her to know about. He stood more slowly.

* * *

Michelle’s heart caught and fluttered back into rhythm. Maybe there was more to Ty than she’d given him credit for. At least her mother was happier than she’d seen her in a long time. For that alone Michelle could tolerate him for an evening.

She followed her mother back into the kitchen. Michelle came to an abrupt stop, causing Ty to bump into her. His hand touched her waist briefly, steadying

her.

Her mother had set her father’s place for Ty.

“You okay?” he asked next to her ear. If her mother turned round now she’d think there truly was something between them. They stood so intimately close.

“Yeah.”

“Ty, this is your place.” Her mother indicated her father’s chair.

“Thank you, ma’am,” Ty said as he sat. “This looks wonderful and smells even better.” Michelle sank into her chair. She watched as Ty’s well-manicured hands picked up his napkin and shook it out then placed it in his lap.

His hand touching hers under the table jerked her attention to his eyes. She smiled and shook off the melancholy. He removed his hand. It was past time to let her father’s place go. Maybe even other things about him. Her mother certainly needed to move on after so many years. Had they both been caught up in a void that they needed to get beyond?

“Michelle, why don’t you serve Ty some roast?”

Ty picked up his plate and offered it to her. His eyes still held a concerned look. He saw things about her that others never noticed. Far too often.