Nurse To Forever Mum. Susan Carlisle

cleared the area again while he used the tweezers to remove the sliver before blood covered it again. “Excellent. Now, let’s get this boy’s leg pieced together.”

      Everyone worked patiently and efficiently over the next few hours arranging veins, ligaments and putting screws into bones as they put the human puzzle back together.

      It was almost morning when he, Stacey and the other staff walked out of the OR. Cody pulled his surgical gown and hat off, dropping them into the cloth bin beside the door. He was acquainted with tough surgery but this one had definitely been in the top three he’d ever done. The boy had damaged his leg almost to the point of no return. He would have additional surgeries ahead of him, painful rehabilitation and a limp.

      “Job well done, all.” He turned to Stacey. “Nice work in there. How much surgical training have you had?”

      “Very little.”

      She sounded exhausted but there had been no complaints from her. She’d done what needed doing without question. He couldn’t have been prouder of the work they’d accomplished.

      Stacey stripped off her surgical clothes in record time and was headed out the door. “I need to speak to the parents. They must be crazy with worry since I just disappeared on them.”

      Cody hadn’t thought of that. “Please tell them I’ll be right out.”

      * * *

      Hours later he and Stacey were standing at the ferry port, watching the vessel dock.

      “I’m sorry the helicopter couldn’t come get us. It’s out, bringing one of Rafael’s patients in.” Cody watched the water froth as the ferry, its massive engines rumbling, eased beside the dock.

      Stacey shrugged. “Part of the price of living on an island is living by the ferry schedule. It’s better than swimming.”

      Cody chortled deep in his chest. “That I can agree with. Especially since the water isn’t all that warm here. And it’s too early and too far for a morning swim.”

      “I like the beach but I’m too darned tired to enjoy it today. All I want is my bed.” She stepped onto the ferry.

      “I couldn’t agree more.” He was by her side once more. “You were good in the OR and with the senator as well. What’s a nurse with those skills doing traipsing around the world?” As a general rule he didn’t ask women personal questions, but for some reason he wanted to know more about this one, who was such an enigma. The need to learn what made her tick was beyond his control.

      “Much the same thing as here, nursing.”

      Something in her tone, or lack of it, made him believe there was more to it than that. “But why the traveling part?”

      Her slight frown suggested she was reluctant to answer yet she lifted a shoulder nonchalantly. “With a mother who has been married three times and is currently working on her fourth, I never really lived in one place very long. Being a traveling nurse was just an extension of that. It also gives me a chance to do all types of nursing in innumerable types of circumstances.”

      She was about going from one place to another, whereas he was about staying put. He wanted stability and calm in his life. He already knew what it was like to live daily with the anxiety of uncertainty. He pressed his lips together. Was Stacey’s reluctance to settle down generated by fear as well?

      They made their way inside to one of the bench seats. The engines rumbled as the ferry pulled away from the port. The sky was an orange pink over Maple Island, making it appear on fire. The best thing he’d ever done had been to move to the island. “So on-the-job training gave you those surgical skills.”

      She yawned behind the back of her hand. “Yes, even in developing countries a general practitioner will do major surgery if it’s in the right place at the right time.” She gave him a pensive look. “I know the clinic is great and all, but to move all the way from California seems a little extreme.”

      She’d deliberately changed the subject. Did she not want to talk about herself? He sure didn’t. “Yeah, but it was a necessary one.”

      “How’s that?”

      Now he was the one hesitant to answer. But she’d responded to his difficult question so it was only fair that he do the same. “I’d gone through an ugly divorce and the girls and I needed to start over. Have a change.” He leaned back, trying to get as comfortable as possible on the hard bench.

      “Their mother didn’t care that you took them so far away?” She watched him with disconcerting intensity.

      He shrugged, trying to appear as uncaring as possible. “It didn’t matter. She’s no longer in their lives.”

      Stacey covered another yawn. “I see.”

      Cody doubted that she did, but he wasn’t going into it any further.

      “I don’t want to be rude but I’ve got to close my eyes for a few minutes.”

      He stretched his legs out and crossed them at the ankles. “Not rude at all. It was a long night.”

      The ferry gently rocked. In minutes Stacey’s breathing turned even. When her head tipped forward Cody put his arm around her shoulder and brought her to him. Her head rested on his chest. It had been a long time since he’d held a sleeping woman. Unable to resist, he brushed his cheek against her hair. It was as soft as it looked and smelled faintly of the peaches he remembered.

      She murmured, shifted toward him then settled.

      Cody closed his eyes. It seemed only seconds later the push of hands on his chest woke him.

      Stacey’s eyes were wide and her hair wild as she stared at him in alarm. She had such expressive eyes. Cody couldn’t imagine her telling a convincing lie.

      “I’m sorry I went to sleep on you. I hope I didn’t drool on you.” She brushed at his chest, the tips of her fingers leaving hot spots through the fabric of his shirt.

      He grinned. “I didn’t mind. Your head was bobbing, and I felt sorry for you. Especially after I’d already woke you once today...uh...yesterday. I didn’t want to do it again.”

      “I wasn’t asleep on the deck. I was thinking. Enjoying the sunshine.” She stretched, showing a hint of skin at her waist before she tugged at her clothes, adjusting them.

      His body reacted in ways that had been dormant for far too long. This was his nurse. He had no business ogling her. He couldn’t help himself, though. Something about Stacey made his blood warm. He grinned. “Looked like sleeping on the job to me.”

      She stood over him, her hands on her hips. “I do not sleep on the job. Ever.”

      He winked at her. Even after a long night Stacey looked amazing. She had a knack for making him smile. There was a brightness to her that somehow made life look sunnier. He wanted to capture that. Hold it close. He reached for her but stopped himself, letting his hand fall to his thigh. “I was just kidding.”

      Kidding. He wasn’t a kidder. What was she doing to him?

       CHAPTER THREE

      STACEY CONTINUED DOWN the path leading to the harbor. The day was beautiful. The sun shone brightly, seagulls swooped and squawked. Sailboats and small fishing craft bobbed in the sparkling water. Had she found paradise?

      She’d slept well past noon the day before, exhausted from her all-nighter with Cody. To her horror she had actually fallen asleep on him. Yet she had to admit it had been nice to wake up in a man’s strong arms. Especially his.

      Cody was far better natured, more tender-hearted, than she’d assumed, given her initial assessment of his character. Just thinking about being so close to him raised goose-bumps on her