Cheryl Harper - Winner Takes All

The businessman seated across from him wrinkled his nose as though he wasn’t quite convinced, and the idea of starting all over again made Daniel want to escape. Head back to the mountains. Get his hands dirty and make a difference the best way he knew how.

But coughs needed medication, cuts needed stitches, and there were babies and mothers and little ladies with arthritic hands or worse all depending on this funding.

Why did good medicine always seem to come down to money?

When his email dinged, he seized his chance to do anything else and clicked to open the message from his sister.

“Won the lottery?” Daniel laughed out loud in relief. His sister would write a check, no problem. “And Jen and Steph, too.” His fist pump froze all activity in the restaurant while everyone waited to see what the crazy American would do next. He waved his arms broadly. “Good news!”

They all smiled awkwardly in return and kept on watching him surreptitiously.

He went back to the message and reread it. “A big investor coming here? Today? I don’t have time for that.” He tried to imagine what sort of businessperson would come all the way to Lima to check out his operation and decided it didn’t matter. He needed donations.

The plate of scrambled eggs and toast was demolished in a flurry of happy bites before he fired off a congratulatory email with the standard “make a donation now” request. Then he quickly drafted another message for Dr. Wright, a medical school colleague who’d founded HealthyAmericas, to let her know big donations were on the way and that his fund-raising letter would be delayed but he’d have it ready for the big donor event in two months.

“Or else,” Daniel muttered. He added his regrets that he couldn’t make it back to Texas in time for the event before he hit Send. She wanted him to be the face of the doctors serving in South America. He was pretty sure he didn’t want to show his face around there. Too many people would remember him leaving in disgrace. Austin was close to Holly Heights and it was a small, small world.

He clasped his hands behind his head, stretched in his chair and studied the ceiling again. “Definitely a case study. Maybe a few, with pictures to show the real-life benefits of having medical teams making regular stops. That’s the way to go.” He ignored the curious stares and tried to think of someone who could do a good job with the report in order to free up his time for more patients. “I should request an intern or something, somebody who’s good with a camera and a computer.”

Making a mental note to add that to his budget for the next year, he closed the laptop, shoved it in the beat-up bag he carried with him at all times and pulled out his wallet to leave nuevo soles as a tip. He smiled at the waitress again. “ Gracias .”

Before he could head back to Alto, he had to check out of the hotel and make sure the truck with the medical supplies was scheduled to deliver next week. And now he needed to come back to the hotel to meet with this investor. Flights arrived early from the States, so he should still be able to make it to Alto. He’d leave a message at the desk with a time and hope whoever it was checked in soon.

Every day he had a long list of things to do, so he was glad to push off the report that was making him crazy. When he made it back to Lima in another two weeks, he’d do it. Definitely.

A husky laugh drew his attention to the lobby desk where Paulo was talking with a tall blonde dressed for African safari. She was khakied and cargoed from head to toe, although silky hair trailed down her back. Something about her was familiar, but that could be attributed to the homesickness that struck now and then. He was happy in Peru, but that didn’t mean he never dreamed of going back to the way things were, when he was such a skilled surgeon he could bend the rules as he liked. As always, he shoved aside the disappointment and stood as the blonde turned away from the desk.

“Stephanie?” He had to sit back down before his weak knees made him stumble.

Stephanie pulled out the chair opposite him, but before she sat down, she wrapped her arms around his neck and squeezed so tight he almost turned blue. The hug surprised him, but it shouldn’t have. She’d always greeted him the same way. The bigger shock was that he wasn’t quite ready to let her go when she braced both hands against his chest. She smelled like lavender dryer sheets and about a million things he’d learned not to take for granted, things that made him think of home.

And immediately he was reminded of how sweet she’d been when she’d asked him out to dinner. Since he’d just burned every bridge at the hospital, he hadn’t been as careful with her as he should have been. Protecting Rebecca, Stephanie and Jen had been his job ever since the first night he’d been stuck babysitting.

Seeing her here brought his homesickness back—with a crash. He’d missed her. She was home and family and laughing and not taking himself so seriously in one beautiful, sweet package. He realized he was still holding on to her hands and forced himself to let go.

“What are you doing here?” He frowned as she settled in the chair with a tired sigh.

“The frown’s more like it. For half a second I thought you were happy to see me.” She rolled her eyes at him and waved the waitress over.

“Yes, ma’am, what would you like to order? May I bring you a menu?”

Stephanie waved her hands. “No, no need for that much trouble. How about eggs and toast? Orange juice?”

The waitress wrote down her order. “Certainly. I’ll have that right out.”

Stephanie clapped her hands. “Wonderful.” Before the waitress could walk off, she added, “Before you go, those are great shoes. Are they comfortable?”

Daniel did his best to keep the annoyance at a low simmer while the two women discussed comfortable shoes and where to find them in Lima. By the time the waitress walked off he was amazed she and Stephanie hadn’t exchanged phone numbers.

“So you’re surprised to see me. Didn’t Rebecca let you know I was coming?” Stephanie’s gaze darted away. “I’m happy to see you, too, by the way.”

The discomfort on her face reminded him that even if he’d almost forgotten their last awkward conversation, maybe she hadn’t. He hated that. He didn’t want anything to change between them. That had been the whole point of turning her down. Stephanie had always looked up to him. He’d watched over her. That was the arrangement he was comfortable with.

“No, she didn’t mention it. Obviously. You nearly missed me. I was about to go pick up medical supplies.” And now he had no idea what to do. Time to prepare would have been nice. “Did you buy one of everything at Camping Corral?”

She frowned at her outfit, studied his for a long minute and then grimaced. “Okay, I overdid it. A little. But this is what happens without enough time to study a place.”

As she surveyed the lobby, she pointed at the skylight. “Clouds. That’s something I didn’t expect. I had this picture of sunshine and green mountains, not oceans and heavy cloud cover.”

“You can get that here, too. Wait an hour and everything changes.” He watched her lean back and thank the waitress with a friendly smile.

“How wonderful. Scrambled eggs are my favorite. They’re the perfect start for a beautiful day. I bet you hear that all the time, don’t you?” She picked up a fork and waited patiently for the waitress’s answer.

The woman stopped and thought for a minute. “No, ma’am, I don’t. But I like a good breakfast, so it’s nice to meet another fan.” She pointed at the skylight. “And it’s nice to meet someone else who isn’t bothered by a few clouds.”