First Comes Marriage

CHAPTER TWO

IT WAS A minor miracle she made it to town without crashing the car. She’d almost forgotten which side of the road to drive on. Meera pulled down the visor and studied her reflection, checking that her makeup was perfect. She adjusted the collar of her suit dress. She’d paired it with her favorite Jimmy Choo heels and a string of pearls. Her mother always said that dressing like a princess would make her feel like she could conquer the world. And Meera already had a plan to fix her situation. She would talk to Dr. Harper about how to handle the townspeople and convince Marty to give her a room. She couldn’t stay at a cattle ranch. And I don’t need to tolerate that rude cowboy.

She stepped out of the car and took in her surroundings. There was a barbershop with the quintessential blue-and-red-striped pole, a general grocer’s displaying a table of fruits and vegetables, the silver-walled Betsy’s Diner and a post office proudly displaying the American flag. The brick sidewalks were lined with pretty trees and flowering bushes. The air was slightly dewy and smelled of fresh-cut grass. A picture-perfect small town.

Meera lifted her face to let the sun shine on it. She liked warm weather; England was always too cold and India was too hot. If one dressed properly, this weather was just perfect. Perhaps it wouldn’t be so bad to spend the month here. She would much prefer New York, but it wasn’t that far away and she still had the month to herself. She would pack a lifetime of freedom into the next four weeks. Then she could go home fully content and lead the life that had been planned for her.

She walked up the steps to Dr. Harper’s office but paused at the door, hand on the knob. I can do this. She turned the handle and stepped in. Chimes announced her presence.

“Ah, Rose, how nice to see you again.” Meera smiled warmly at the receptionist. She had only met Rose for a moment the day before, but she seemed to be a kind older lady. Rose was wearing a flowered dress, her white hair neatly pinned in a bun. Meera could picture her serving tea and biscuits like a British grandmother.

“We don’t need you here. Please go away.” The harsh tone was so out of line with the smiling, friendly face that it took Meera a moment to process the words. Her stomach dropped.

“Rose, I’m sorry, have I offended you? I don’t understand.”

Rose wagged her finger. “We don’t need your kind of doctoring here.”

“But Dr. Harper...”

“Dr. Harper is an old coot who—”

“That’s enough, Rose.”

Meera turned to see Dr. Harper emerge from his office. She blew out a breath she hadn’t known she was holding. He was a small man with bright blue eyes, a shock of white hair and a booming voice. She had seen him only briefly yesterday when he’d shown her around the clinic, then he’d left her to see patients on her own. She hadn’t expected to start work her very first day in Bellhaven, but there had been an emergency with Mrs. Harper, who was suffering from lung cancer. Dr. Harper had asked Meera to tend to his patients. He’d been rushed and distracted, but affable enough, which made sense since he was a friend of her British supervisor.

“Dr. Harper...”

He held up his hand to silence Rose. “Now, I won’t have you giving Meera a hard time. She did what was right.”

Meera stepped forward. “Dr. Harper, I don’t understand what the fuss is about.”

Rose scoffed, glaring at her with open hostility. “Derek Jenkins!”

Meera blinked. “The boy who had a concussion?” She didn’t understand. It was a simple case, and she had treated it with textbook perfection.

Dr. Harper sighed. “Meera, let’s go to my office to talk.”

Meera followed him and sat down in the chair opposite his desk. He took a seat beside her in the second guest chair. He was obviously trying to make her comfortable.

Did I miss something? She went over the details of the case in her head and ran through the treatment plan. She specialized in cardiology but had graduated at the top of her medical program and completed her consultancy training with commendations. She knew how to take care of a concussion.

“Was there a problem with Derek Jenkins?” She scanned his desk to see if he had pulled up the teen’s chart.

Dr. Harper shook his head wearily. “Meera, you provided appropriate medical treatment.”

Meera relaxed a fraction.

“But you didn’t necessarily do the right thing.”

Her heart stopped. “I beg your pardon?”

“Derek is the quarterback for the regional high school football team, and the first game of the season is this week. It’s against our biggest rival in the next county.”

Meera reminded herself that American football was not soccer. She had initially thought Derek’s injury was related to heading a soccer ball, but then he told her he’d been tackled during practice and hit his head on the ground.

She stared at Dr. Harper.

He tapped a finger on the table. “This might be hard for you to understand, not being from around here, but football is like a religion in Hell’s Bells, and Fallton is our arch rival. It’s the most anticipated game of the season.”

Meera furrowed her brows. “I know he was disappointed he couldn’t play, but the treatment for concussion is pretty clear.”

“You and I understand that, but the town doesn’t. Derek wants to play.”

“It’s a school game! Compared to the lifetime risk of exacerbating the head injury—”

“To you it’s just a school game, but as I said, to the town, it’s...”

“Worth more than Derek’s life?”

Dr. Harper took a breath. “They don’t see it that way.”

Her mouth fell open. He couldn’t possibly be serious. If she allowed Derek to play, he could make his concussion worse, and there was even a risk of death.

“Dr. Harper, surely...”

“Meera, I’m not arguing with you on medical grounds—I am telling you why the town is angry with you.”

Meera changed tactics. “What would you have done if you were here instead of me?”

“I would have done the exact thing you did. The risk to his life is greater than the importance of the game.”

Meera spread her hands, her eyes wide.

“But I would have handled the communication differently.”

He leaned forward and patted Meera’s shoulder in a fatherly gesture. “You should have walked Derek home and then talked to his father. Marty was a football star—he’s put a lot of pressure on Derek, but he’s not heartless. If you’d gone over there to explain things, he’d understand why Derek has to sit out a game or two.”

“Walk Derek home?” That was unheard of. If Meera did that with every patient, she would have no time left. She knew she was used to a different pace than Dr. Harper’s practice. She’d seen only three patients yesterday, when back in her father’s London practice, she would have evaluated five or six patients an hour.

“Meera, Dr. Thurm called me before you arrived.”

At the mention of her supervisor, Meera stiffened. Dr. Thurm had added this month-long rotation as a condition of approving the final dissertation for her research degree. It was an unexpected blemish on her otherwise stellar academic performance. None of the other students in the class were required to do this rotation. He had personally set it up with Dr. Harper after he disapproved the one her father set up in New York.

“He told me you’re the brightest student he has ever worked with. Your medical knowledge is outstanding.”

Meera smiled and blushed. Dr. Thurm was very hard on her, as he was on all his students. Coming from him, the statement was high praise indeed.

“However...he said that while you know medical science, you need to learn the art and practice of medicine.”

“I’m sorry... I don’t understand what you mean.”

Dr. Harper opened a drawer and pulled out a stapled document. He handed it to Meera.

She glanced at it, the title familiar. “This is the publication from my research study—I won an award for this work.”

“But your brilliant research will never benefit patients.”

She stared at him. “I don’t understand.”

“The chemical compound you found is incredible, but it counteracts with sodium. If, as you suggest in the article, you develop it into a medication to treat heart disease, how would you deal with the sodium issue?”

Meera didn’t know where he was going with this. He had obviously read the article, and it was clearly explained in there.

“The patient would have to cut salt from their diet.”

“And you do think someone could effectively do that?”

“If their health is important to them, they should. As I suggest, they can easily reduce salt intake by not adding any table salt to the foods they eat.”

“I ask you again—who would eat saltless, tasteless food day in and day out?”

“It’s for their health.”

“If someone asked you to eat red meat every day for your health, would you do it?”

“I’m a vegetarian.”

“Exactly. You couldn’t make such a drastic lifestyle change, and yet you’re suggesting that it’s perfectly plausible that patients will.”

“If there was a health reason to eat meat, then I would consider it.” Dr. Thurm had brought up a similar point, so she had calculated the typical sodium intake of an adult and factored in things that couldn’t always be controlled, like salt in natural and processed foods in a typical diet. She had figured out the probability of patients “cheating” on the diet. She had accounted for patient behaviors.

She sighed. “So you’re saying Derek won’t stick to the treatment.”

“I’m saying his treatment is not just medical. He has to face an entire football team calling him a sissy boy for not playing. He has to face everyone in town who’s placed significant bets on the game. Without Derek, Hell’s Bells is certain to lose.”

“I can understand that, but if you agree he can’t play, what can I possibly do to make the situation better?”

“He needs you to be the bad guy. He needs you to go tell everyone in town that playing could kill him, that even though he’s walking around like nothing’s wrong, his injury is serious. You need to go talk to Marty, Derek’s coach and his teammates.”

Meera groaned. I miss London. Patients came into the clinic, received a diagnosis and left with a treatment plan. That explained why Marty had kicked her out of his inn, and why the town was so hard on her.

Dr. Harper stood. “I think you’ll find that medicine is far more satisfying when you can actually treat the whole person rather than just the ailment that bothers them.”

Meera left his office and went to the little corner desk in the waiting room that had been set up as her workstation. She put down her purse, fully aware of Rose glowering at her. She would not dignify the older woman’s petulance with a response.

“When is my first patient?” she asked calmly.

Rose snorted. “You’re not going to be getting any patients.”

Meera stepped toward her. “Listen, Rose, I’m only here for a month. Surely, we can find a way to work together.”

“Only a month! Ha! And how do I know you don’t have your sights on Dr. Harper’s practice? We all know the old coot’ll be retiring soon.”

“Stop talking about me like I’m not here, Rose,” Dr. Harper mumbled as he went into an examination room.

The front door chimed and a woman walked in. She was wearing short shorts and a red halter top. Her auburn hair was perfectly styled in waves. An image of Jessica Rabbit popped into Meera’s head.

“Gloria!” Rose walked around the reception desk to give the new arrival a hug.

Gloria eyed Meera. “Is she the one who...”

Rose nodded. “Can you believe it? Three days before the big game. I don’t know why Dr. Harper hasn’t told her to go home.”

Meera seethed.

Stop talking about me like I’m not here! “Do you think it has anything to do with Jake?” Gloria asked.

Jake? What does Jake have to do with this?

“I wouldn’t put it past her. Who wouldn’t want the town’s number-one bachelor.”

I should set them straight. Meera would never date an American because she didn’t plan to stay in America. Her parents, her research, her entire life was in England, and she couldn’t leave them. Besides, she was most definitely not interested in Jake.

“If she goes after him...”

“I have a fiancé in London,” Meera blurted. “My entire family is in London, and my father has a very successful medical center that I’ll be taking over. I do not plan to live in a town like this. After my rotation, I’m going home.” She looked pointedly at Gloria. “And I don’t fancy Jake—he’s not my type.” She didn’t need to know what her type was. With Raj in the picture since childhood, she’d always had everything she needed in a life partner.

Rose grunted. Gloria’s pout disappeared, and she raised an eyebrow, appraising Meera anew.

“Like I said, I’m only here for a month. What do you say we find a way to work together?” Meera held out her hand to Rose.

Rose wrinkled her nose. “The people who live in a ‘town like this’ don’t want to see a doctor like you.”

Dr. Harper came out of the examination room just as Rose huffed past her. Meera looked at him helplessly.

He shrugged. “You did say you enjoyed a challenging work environment.”

CHAPTER THREE

MEERA GRIPPED THE steering wheel. After the day she’d just had, this was the last thing she needed. I could step on the accelerator, just ram right through. She had purchased the extra insurance on the rental car. She dropped her head onto the steering wheel. Why can’t anything go according to plan?

“Don’t even think about it.”

She looked up as Jake stuck his head through her open window.

“Think about what?”

“About driving through that gate.”

“I wasn’t serious about it,” Meera said guiltily.

He opened her door. “Come on, I’ll show you how it opens. It’s a guard gate to keep the cattle from getting out, so it’s a little tricky.”

After he was done showing her how the gate worked, he hopped in the passenger seat. “Drop me at the house, will you?”

He smelled like he had yesterday—sweat, dirt and something...Jake. Great. Now her car smelled like Jake.

She drove up the gravel road.

“How was your day?”

Was there amusement in his voice? “It was fine.”

“Did you find another place to stay?”

“You know very well I didn’t.”

She couldn’t see his face, but she knew he was grinning.

“The guest cottage is still available.”

“And I’m thankful for that.”

“What about bad karma?”

She took a breath. If her parents were here with her, or Raj for that matter, they would tell her it was wrong to stay. They would remind her that she couldn’t in any way support the killing of animals. She looked ahead as the house approached.

If she didn’t stay, Jake would continue his business. Her presence was of no consequence to him, but to her it was the difference between finishing her research degree and having this month of freedom or starting all over again with a new rotation.

She chewed her lip. “Do you kill them on the premises?”

He snickered. “You’ll be happy to know we don’t. We take them to a slaughterhouse.”

She breathed out. At least that was something.

“Does that mean your karma is safe?”

She smiled. “I’m pretty sure this life is ruined, but you may have saved my next one.”

Meera pulled into the carport next to the house and turned to look at him. “Why cattle ranching?”

“Excuse me?”

“This is such a beautiful property. You could do so much with it—why do you raise cows?”

He bristled. “You ask too many questions.”

“I’m a naturally curious person, and surely it’s not a personal question. Have you always raised cattle here? I thought I saw horse stables earlier.”

He sighed. “Every generation has made its own mark on this land. My dad boarded and trained horses. Wasn’t very profitable, so I went into cattle ranching. I like cows and steers—they’re good animals, just need to be fed, and they do that mostly by themselves, grazing in the fields during warmer months. Horses need to be groomed and brushed and exercised and on and on every day. I do have a few horses left over from my father’s days. Mostly, I lend them out to the town for events or when we need to get a tractor out of a ditch.”

He stepped out of the car, then came around the other side and held the door open for her. The British were known for manners, but Raj had never held a car door open for her. She was surprised and pleased at the gentlemanly gesture.

“Do you want to come inside and have dinner? We made some delicious steak and cheese.”

There you go again. She shot him a look of daggers. He was grinning.

“Oh, just go ahead and have a good laugh at my expense.”

“What’d you expect?”

“How about some courtesy and kindness to a visitor? This is my first time in America, I’m all alone and I can barely remember which side of the road to drive on. Why must you be so unkind?”

“You do know we Americans threw the British out of the colonies.”

Aaarrghh! This was useless. Her shoulders sagged; it had been a long day and she was tired. Why was she trying so hard? This was a bad plan. Perhaps Raj was right and my expectations are too high. Tears stung her eyes, and she turned to walk to the cottage. She didn’t want to give Jake the satisfaction of seeing her cry.

She felt him grab her hand as she passed him. A jolt sizzled through her arm, and she froze, unable to explain the energy vibrating through her.

“Listen—come inside, have a cup of tea. I bought you a box of English breakfast when I went into town earlier.” His voice was soft, somewhat apologetic.

A cup of tea did sound good. She could come up with a new plan, a way to salvage her ruined trip.

As she walked into the kitchen, Meera noticed the warmth, the smell of food mixed with dish soap. Pots and pans were laid out to dry on the butcher-block counter. Noisy clanks came from a dishwasher. She ran her hand over the large wooden dining table, where everyone had been eating breakfast earlier. It was scratched and dented in several places.

“I need to sand and restain this old thing.” She looked up to see Jake’s eyes following her.

“I like it—the table has character. Mum’s kitchen is always polished, not a pot or pan in sight. Her appliances are those quiet ones that make this really eerie vibrating sound. We have a formal dining room where we eat, which feels a little sterile sometimes.” She touched the dents in the table, enjoying the sensation of the little dips in the wood. “This feels like a home.”

He smiled. “It is home, at least for the month you’re here.”

She felt as if someone had wrapped her in a warm blanket on a cold day. She liked the sound of a noisy, cozy home.

He walked into the pantry and came out holding a kettle and a box of tea bags. He handed them to her, and she noticed his lips curve shyly at her thanks. He could be a sweet man, when he wanted to be.

She went to the sink and poured water into the kettle. She would take a private moment to drink tea and think about what to do. To her surprise, Jake sat down at the table. She set the kettle to boil and pulled out two cups.

“I have a teapot somewhere, but I couldn’t find it.”

She gave him a small smile. “I can make do.” She steeped the tea in the mugs then poured some milk and a little sugar into both, the way she liked it. She handed him a cup, and he took a tentative sip.

“This isn’t half-bad. I think my mother took her tea this way.”

His mother? She wanted to ask but decided not to.

“Listen, I know I’ve been giving you a hard time, but don’t worry. The town will come around.”

She shook her head.

“That’s what I thought this morning, but I don’t think they will. Dr. Harper had me go talk to Marty Jenkins about why Derek couldn’t play. Marty just told me he hit his head all the time when he played and nothing happened to him. Then I went to see Derek’s coach, who said Derek had to toughen up and that if I didn’t clear him, he’d make sure I couldn’t show my face anywhere in Bellhaven.”

Jake’s eyes crinkled, turning an interesting shade of green.

“The icing on the cake was when I walked into a locker room full of half-naked teenagers and had to cover my eyes while they snickered at my explanation.” She took a breath. “I had no patients all day. All my appointments canceled, and everyone who walked in refused to even let me be in the room while Dr. Harper examined them. I sat around doing nothing.”

He laughed. “Oh, give it a couple of days and something else will rile everyone up.” He looked at her with warm, reassuring eyes, tempting her to believe everything would be okay.