Coltrain's Proposal. Diana Palmer

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      Dear Reader,

      I really can’t express how flattered I am and also how grateful I am to Harlequin Books for releasing this collection of my published works. It came as a great surprise. I never think of myself as writing books that are collectible. In fact, there are days when I forget that writing is work at all. What I do for a living is so much fun that it never seems like a job. And since I reside in a small community, and my daily life is confined to such mundane things as feeding the wild birds and looking after my herb patch in the backyard, I feel rather unconnected from what many would think of as a glamorous profession.

      But when I read my email, or when I get letters from readers, or when I go on signing trips to bookstores to meet all of you, I feel truly blessed. Over the past thirty years I have made lasting friendships with many of you. And quite frankly, most of you are like part of my family. You can’t imagine how much you enrich my life. Thank you so much.

      I also need to extend thanks to my family (my husband, James, son, Blayne, daughter-in-law, Christina, and granddaughter, Selena Marie), to my best friend, Ann, to my readers, booksellers and the wonderful people at Harlequin Books—from my editor of many years, Tara, to all the other fine and talented people who make up our publishing house. Thanks to all of you for making this job, and my private life, so worth living.

      Thank you for this tribute, Harlequin, and for putting up with me for thirty long years! Love to all of you.

      Diana Palmer

      DIANA PALMER

      The prolific author of more than a hundred books, Diana Palmer got her start as a newspaper reporter. A multi–New York Times bestselling author and one of the top ten romance writers in America, she has a gift for telling the most sensual tales with charm and humor. Diana lives with her family in Cornelia, Georgia.

      Visit her website at www.DianaPalmer.com.

      Coltrain’s Proposal

      Diana Palmer

       www.millsandboon.co.uk

      To Darlene, Cindy and Melissa

      Contents

      Chapter 1

      Chapter 2

      Chapter 3

      Chapter 4

      Chapter 5

      Chapter 6

      Chapter 7

      Chapter 8

      Chapter 9

      Chapter 10

      Chapter 11

      Chapter 1

      The little boy’s leg was bleeding profusely. Dr. Louise Blakely knew exactly what to do, but it was difficult to get the right pressure on the cut so that the nicked artery would stop emptying onto the brown, dead December grass.

      “It hurts!” the little boy, Matt, cried. “Ow!”

      “We have to stop the bleeding,” she said reasonably. She smiled at him, her dark eyes twinkling in a face framed by thick, medium blond hair. “Maybe your mom could get you an ice cream after we’ve patched you up.” She glanced at the white-faced lady beside them, who nodded enthusiastically. “Okay?”

      “Well…” He grimaced, holding his leg above where Lou was putting pressure to bear.

      “Only a minute more,” she promised, looking around for the ambulance she’d asked a bystander to call. It was on the way. She could hear the siren. Even in a small town like Jacobsville, there was an efficient ambulance service. “You’re going to get to ride in a real ambulance,” she told the child. “You can tell your friends all about it on Monday at school!”

      “Will I have to go back?” he asked, enthusiastic now. “Maybe I could stay in the hospital for a whole week?”

      “I really think the emergency room is as far as you’re going to get this time.” Lou chuckled. “Now pay attention while they’re loading you up, so that you can remember everything!”

      “I sure will!” he said.

      She stood up as the ambulance pulled alongside the police car and two attendants jumped out. They started loading the boy onto a stretcher. Lou had a brief word with the female EMT and described the boy’s injuries and gave instructions. She was on staff at the local hospital where he would be taken, and she planned to follow the ambulance in her own car.

      The police officer who’d been citing the reckless driver for hitting the small boy on the bicycle came over to talk to Lou. “Good thing you were having lunch in the café,” he remarked with a grin. “That was a bad cut.”

      “He’ll be okay,” Lou said as she closed her medical bag. She always had it in the car when she left the office, and this time it had paid off.

      “You’re Dr. Coltrain’s partner, aren’t you?” he asked suddenly.

      “Yes.” She didn’t add anything to that. The expression on the officer’s face said enough. Most people around Jacobsville knew that Dr. Coltrain had as little use for his partner as he had for alcohol. He’d made it all too evident in the months she’d been sharing his practice.

      “He’s a good man,” the officer added. “Saved my wife when her lung collapsed.” He smiled at the memory. “Nothing shakes him up. Nor you, either, judging by what I just saw. You’re a good hand in an emergency.”

      “Thanks.” She gave him a brief smile and went to her small gray Ford to follow the ambulance to the hospital.

      The emergency room was full, as usual. It was Saturday and accidents always doubled on weekends. She nodded to a couple of her patients that she recognized, and she kept walking, right behind the trolley that was taking young Matt to a treatment room.

      Dr. Coltrain was on his way back from surgery. They met in the hall. The green surgical uniform looked sloppy on some of the surgeons, but not on Coltrain. Despite the cap that hid most of his thick red hair, he looked elegant and formidable.

      “Why are you here on Saturday? I’m supposed to be doing rounds today for both of us,” he asked sharply.

      Here he goes again, practicing Coltrain’s First Law…jump to conclusions, she thought. She didn’t grin, but she felt like it.

      “I wound up at a car accident scene,” she began.

      “The hospital pays EMTs to work wrecks,” he continued, glaring at her while hospital personnel came and went around them.

      “I did not go out to—” she began hotly.

      “Don’t let this happen again, or I’ll have a word with Wright, and you’ll be taken off staff here. Is that clear?” he added coldly. Wright was the hospital administrator and Coltrain was medical chief of staff. He had the authority to carry out the threat.

      “Will you listen?” she asked irritably. “I didn’t go out with the ambulance…!”

      “Doctor, are you coming?” one of the EMTs called to her.

      Coltrain glanced toward the EMT and then back at Louise, irritably jerking off his cap and mask. His pale blue eyes were as intimidating as his stance. “If your social life is this stale, Doctor, perhaps you need to consider a move,” he added with biting sarcasm.

      She opened her mouth to reply, but he was already walking away. She threw up her hands furiously. She couldn’t ever get a word in, because he kept talking, or interrupted her, and then stormed off without giving her a chance to reply. It was useless to argue with him, anyway. No matter what she said or did, she was always in the wrong.

      “One day you’ll break something,”