Colton's Deep Cover. Эль Кеннеди

quit?” Tate interrupted. “Why the hell did she do that?”

      “Apparently St. Joseph’s in Philly made her a better offer.” Bitterness lodged in his throat like a wad of gum. “And she also gave me some bull about not being suited for small-town life.”

      There was a beat of silence. “Did you really just curse? Wow. You must be pissed beyond belief.”

      Derek grabbed the Vernon file and stalked to the door. “Look, I need you to find out more about this St. Joseph’s job. See if you can figure out how much they offered her—if it’s a money thing, I might be able to match it.”

      Tate’s whistle echoed in his ear. “You really want her, huh?”

      Derek stiffened.

      “As a nurse,” Tate added, amusement ringing in his voice. “You must really want her as your nurse.”

      Derek neared the exam room. “I’m about to see a patient. Can you help or not, Tate?”

      “I’m on it. I’ll get back to you.”

      Derek disconnected the call and returned to Mrs. Vernon, spending the next twenty minutes reassuring her that she wasn’t dying of any sort of conceivable disease. By the time he ushered her out of the room, he was ready to tear his hair out. Despite the packed waiting room, he told Nancy to give him a few minutes before sending in the next patient.

      He stalked into his office, shut the door and let out a string of curses that no doubt would’ve stunned everyone in his family speechless.

      Pacing the office, he thought of Amelia’s agitated hazel eyes, the way she’d wrung her hands together and avoided his gaze. Then he remembered the way her entire face had lit up yesterday when he’d offered her a permanent position. How did a person go from happy to distressed in less than twenty-four hours?

      Ask Tess.

      Derek halted midstep. A jolt of pain shot through him as the memory of his wife surfaced, followed by a lump of bitterness that rose in his throat. Yeah, he knew all about irrational behavior, didn’t he? The mood swings, the tears, the desperation. Tess’s illness had destroyed their marriage—no matter how badly he’d wanted to be there for her, he hadn’t been able to help the woman he loved.

      Ignoring the painful throbbing in his chest, Derek took a deep breath and tried to clear his head. Christ. He couldn’t hide out in his office thinking about Tess and Amelia. He had a responsibility to his patients and at the moment, that was all he could afford to concentrate on.

      Several hours later, Derek bid goodbye to his last patient of the day, sent Nancy home and marched back to his office. He kept a change of clothes in a small cabinet by the door, and he shrugged out of his jacket as he headed for it. He ditched his scrubs and put on trousers and a cable-knit sweater, then shoved his feet into a pair of leather wing tips.

      His cell phone rang just as he finished dressing. A glance at the caller ID revealed Tate’s number. Finally.

      “What’d you find out?” Derek asked in lieu of a greeting.

      “Come outside and I’ll tell you myself.”

      He wrinkled his forehead. “Why are you outside?”

      “Because we’ve got Sawyer’s parent-teacher thing in twenty minutes.” Tate chuckled. “You forgot, didn’t you?”

      Busted.

      Derek couldn’t believe the conference had slipped his mind—he was normally on top of stuff like that. But Amelia’s sudden departure had sent his mind reeling.

      Damn. He’d been planning on heading straight to her apartment once he’d cleared his schedule, but Tate had thrown a wrench in that plan.

      “I’ll be out in a sec,” he said as he grabbed the wool coat draped over the back of his desk chair.

      Tate was waiting on the sidewalk in front of the clinic when Derek strode outside. After locking up and setting the alarm, Derek turned to his brother with an expectant look. “So? Did you get the information?”

      Tate scrubbed a hand through his light brown hair. “Yeah, I did.”

      “What did St. Joseph’s offer her?”

      “Nothing.”

      Derek frowned. “What do you mean, nothing?”

      “I mean, the human resources department at the hospital has never heard of Amelia Phillips. She never submitted a résumé, and she certainly didn’t receive any job offers from them in the past twenty-four hours.”

      “You’re certain of this?”

      Tate nodded.

      A fresh wave of frustration crashed into him. What the hell? Amelia had lied to him.

      But why?

      And if there was no offer from St. Joseph’s, then what had spurred her to up and quit?

      He shook his head. “I need to see her. Do you mind going to the school on your own?”

      “No way, Doc.” Tate’s voice was firm. “We might all be Sawyer and Piper’s guardians, but you’re the one they look to as a father figure. And you’re the one who stays on top of the school stuff. I need you there, bro.”

      Derek suppressed his annoyance. As much as he loved Tate, Gunnar and Emma, he sometimes felt as if they’d left him holding the bag after their parents died. Gunnar had enlisted in the military and disappeared for more than a decade, and although Tate and Emma had stuck around, they’d been more focused on their careers than their little siblings. And sure, their jobs in law enforcement were demanding, but so was Derek’s practice. Why was he expected to juggle his work with the responsibility of raising two kids?

      He’d never voice the complaint, though. He’d come to accept the reality of his situation—he was Derek, the responsible rock of the Colton family, the healer and protector, the man who always did the right thing, who always put others first. But sometimes he wished his siblings would step up and shoulder some of the burden. A man could bear only so much weight before he broke.

      Sighing, he fished his car keys from his coat pocket. “We’ll take separate cars. I want to head over to Amelia’s the second the meeting ends.”

      Ten minutes later, he and Tate reconvened in the parking lot of Eden Falls Middle School. They entered the school through the back doors, their shoes squeaking against the linoleum floor as they made their way toward Sawyer’s homeroom.

      “So you’re really riled up about Amelia,” Tate remarked.

      “She’s a good nurse,” he replied in a terse voice.

      His brother’s answering silence lasted far too long for his liking. “What?” Derek said defensively. “Say what’s on your mind, Tate.”

      Tate lifted his shoulders in a nonchalant pose. “Seems to me you’re into more than her nursing abilities. You invited her to dinner—”

      “Sawyer invited her,” he cut in.

      “And the private ranch tour? That was all you, Doc. You wanted to be alone with her.”

      He found himself unusually flustered. “That woman is damn secretive. I just wanted to get some answers.”

      As they approached Sawyer’s classroom, Tate grabbed Derek’s arm and forced him to stop. “It’s okay to admit you like her,” Tate said in quiet voice. “Tess has been gone for two years. It’s about time you started to show interest in a woman.”

      Discomfort wrapped around his spine like strands of ivy. Tate was wrong. He didn’t like Amelia, not in a romantic way, at least. He respected her. Appreciated her skills. Enjoyed her company.

      Lusted over her gorgeous face and curvy body….

      Shock spiraled through him. Holy crap.