Free What the Doctor Didn't Tell Her by Jacqueline Diamond Page A

far from a major hospital.
    Apparently he had a daughter. Was he
married? But with a wife in the picture, why the need for an
overnight sitter?
    Jane reappeared. Fortyish and angular,
she zeroed in on her point, as usual.. “Is Daniel likely to be a
problem?”
    “ I’m sorry I spoke so
harshly.”
    The older doctor waved off the
apology. “Luke and I should have consulted you.” Her husband, Dr.
Van Dam, was also her business partner.
    “ It’s water under the
bridge. It’ll be fine,” Sarah assured her.
    “ You didn’t sound like it
was fine.”
    She might as well explain. “We had an
affair and he dumped me.”
    Jane winced. “Oh, dear. Was it the
let’s-just-be-friends sort of dumping?”
    “ No, it was the
eat-my-dust kind of dumping.” Sarah had had trust issues with men
ever since. “We made wild sock-flinging love. The next thing I
knew, he stopped replying to my emails and texts, except to say how
busy he was. And he became very good at ducking around corners
whenever he saw me.” She couldn’t resist adding, “I guess he must
be married now.”
    “ You mean the child?” Jane
said. “She’s his five-year-old niece. Her parents died about a year
ago, and he’s adopted her.”
    Not too many single males would take
responsibility for a child, Sarah conceded with reluctant respect.
“Here’s my mother’s phone number.” She jotted it down.
    “ Thanks.” Jane took the
slip of paper. “Are you okay for tonight? Not too
tired?”
    “ No, but I think I’ll go
home and take a nap.” Sarah’s on-call shift began in a couple of
hours at the North Orange County Medical Center, a block from the
office.
    “ Good idea.”
    A catnap should cure her sleepiness.
In the meantime, Sarah resolved to put Daniel out of her thoughts.
She had no doubt he’d long ago banished her from his.
    *
    With experience born of long practice,
Sarah fell asleep the moment she lay down. An hour later, the alarm
dragged her into wakefulness.
    That, and the fact that her mother was
sitting on the bed.
    “ Good, you’re awake.”
Betsy Matthews reached to shut off the alarm. “I promised Jane I’d
baby-sit the little Durand girl a few nights a week. Is that okay
with you?”
    “ Absolutely.” Scooting
around her mother, Sarah moved to the dressing table to brush her
hair. It was fine-textured and light brown, about the same shade as
her mom’s but without the traces of gray, she noted in the
mirror.
    “ It’ll be good to see
Daniel again,” said Betsy from behind her. “I always liked him,
right up until he showed such poor judgment about my
daughter.”
    “ He’s charming,” Sarah
said dryly. “I’m sure half his patients will fall in love with
him.”
    “ Look on the bright side,”
Betsy said. “Now that he’s coming to Orange County, maybe you’ll
finally receive an explanation.”
    “ Always a rainbow after
the storm, right?” That was one of her mother’s favorite sayings.
While appreciative of the upbeat attitude, Sarah considered the
image corny.
    Her mother stood up. “Come eat some
soup. The children helped make it, so it may have a few odd bits in
it.”
    Realizing she had barely forty-five
minutes to dress and eat before her shift, Sara shot to her feet.
“What kind of odd bits?”
    “ You’ll find
out.”
    While she ate, her mother thumbed
through a flyer advertising kitchen appliances. “I have to replace
the stove. It’s nearly thirty years old and it’s getting
temperamental. What do you think, black, white or
beige?”
    “ Anything but that
metallic industrial finish. Maybe it works for professional chefs,
but to me, it’s ugly.” Sarah peered at two lumps in her spoon.
“Mom, there are walnuts in my soup.”
    “ That was the kids’
contribution. There used to be a saying that a complete meal went
from soup to nuts,” Betsy said. “We’ve combined them in one
bowl.”
    Sarah knew better than to object
further. If she did, no doubt her mother would remind her