Dianne Drake - A Boss Beyond Compare

TOP-NOTCH DOCS

He’s not just the boss, he’s the best there is!

These heroes aren’t just doctors, they’re life-savers.

These heroes aren’t just surgeons, they’re skilled

masters. Their talent and reputation are admired by all.

These heroes are devoted to their patients.

They’ll hold the littlest babies in their arms,

and melt the hearts of all who see.

These heroes aren’t just medical professionals.

They’re the men of your dreams.

He’s not just the boss, he’s the best there is!

Now that her children have left home, Dianne Drakeis finally finding the time to do some of the things she adores—gardening, cooking, reading, shopping for antiques. Her absolute passion in life, however, is adopting abandoned and abused animals. Right now Dianne and her husband Joel have a little menagerie of three dogs and two cats, but that’s always subject to change. A former symphony orchestra member, Dianne now attends the symphony as a spectator several times a month and, when time permits, takes in an occasional football, basketball or hockey game.

Recent titles by the same author:

ITALIAN DOCTOR, FULL-TIME FATHER

A FAMILY FOR THE CHILDREN’S DOCTOR

THEIR VERY SPECIAL CHILD

THE RESCUE DOCTOR’S BABY MIRACLE

BY

DIANNE DRAKE

www.millsandboon.co.uk

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CHAPTER ONE

“YOU can’t just walk out like this!” Walter Ridgeway stepped away from the end of the conference table where, only minutes before, he’d just merged two small medical facilities into one larger one. He walked toward his daughter. “We’ve got too many things going on right now, and I need you here.”

“I’m not just walking out,” Susan said, on a weary sigh. “And you don’t need me here right now. You just want me here because you need someone to bully.” That was said affectionately. Her father really didn’t bully her, but he was demanding, used to getting his way.

“So what’s wrong with having my daughter by my side? We’re a team, Susan. I depend on you.”

She laughed. He was so good at the art of negotiation, yet he was failing miserably here. And he knew that. Yet he didn’t give up, which was what made Walter Ridgeway so successful at what he did. No matter what the situation, he went at it to win. “You depend on yourself and nobody else, Dad. But you’re right, we are a team, and this half of the team needs a holiday.” It was overdue. In fact, the last real holiday she’d had had been, what? Nineteen years ago? She’d been fifteen and her father had taken her away to Switzerland to ski. Of course, it had been a business trip, too. For him, it had always been a business trip.

But that week in Switzerland had been the last time she’d had any kind of a holiday, and having one now wasn’t just overdue. It was long overdue. “Dr O’Brien told me that if I don’t take a little downtime he’s going to put me on stress pills.” Her father was a doctor, she was a doctor, yet for her medical care she still relied on the kindly near-octogenarian who’d been her doctor all her life. It galled her father a bit, seeing that Ridgeway Medical employed some of the best doctors in the world, but there was something nice about going to a doctor who knew her, one who cared. It was a personal kind of medicine she didn’t get to direct in her capacity as chief medical officer for Ridgeway Medical, which was why she hung on to Dr O’Brien so fiercely, even though he was in semi-retirement. For Susan, the old family practitioner was like a cozy warm blanket and a good, hot cup of tea. Comfort items, all of them. “So, I’m going to follow doctor’s orders and take a holiday.”

“After the Hawaii deal is sealed. Then you can have all the time you need.”

Ah, the same old story. She knew he meant it when he said it, but it never came to pass. Which was the problem. She didn’t thrive on tension and having every last nerve ending in her body stretched to snapping point, the way her father did. He not only thrived on it, he invited it—the more the merrier. But her temperament was a bit more subdued. “Which is what you said after the Atlanta deal, and after the Chicago deal. Now here I am, still no holiday and it’s three years later. I need to go, Dad. Just for a few days.” She had some thinking to do and she needed time and space to do it.

Stopping three feet short of his daughter, Walter crossed his arms over his chest. There was no give in his expression. Glowering all the way. So much so, anyone looking on would not have been able to tell that this was a father looking at his daughter. “You can be replaced,” he warned.

This was the same argument he’d used last time she’d wanted a few days away. Only this time it wasn’t going to work. He was a formidable man, but she had her own amount of formidability, too. “If that’s what you want to do…” Susan shrugged casually. “Then do it.” He wouldn’t, of course. And he knew that she knew he would not. But this was just part of the relationship, part of the long-standing dynamic they had going between them. Her father was a controlling man, and he was used to getting his way.

Today wasn’t going to be his day, though.

Taking in a deep breath, Susan took those three steps that separated them, kissed her father on the cheek, then walked out of the office, and out of the building, without a notion in the world of where she was going, or what she was going to do for the next ten days.

Grant Makela caught sight of her. This was the third morning she’d come to the beach. Same time, same spot, same stupid hat.

He’d noticed her that first morning, picking up shells. Pathetic little shells, broken bits and pieces. Yet she’d seemed so delighted by them. Almost like a child finding a treasure. He’d really hoped she would find something good washed ashore, but that rarely happened on this beach.

So the next morning, for whatever reason he still couldn’t explain, he’d bought a little mesh bag of shells from one of the local souvenir dealers, and dumped them in a pile near the spot where she’d been sitting the day before, hoping she’d return.

She did come back, and when she found those shells she scooped them right into her pockets. She was a woman who was thrilled with a simple prize, and she didn’t question anything about it. That showed an innocence Grant found appealing. At a time in his life when so many things were going wrong, that was nice. Even if only for a few moments in the morning.

“Don’t do it,” he muttered to himself, as he prepared to take his first wave of the day. “Don’t even think about getting involved with her.” No time, no interest… He was about to say no sex drive either, but that wasn’t the case. It was there. Just not so noticeable these days.

Turning back to the surf, Dr Etana Grant Makela kicked his sandals into the sand and took his first steps into the water. Three. That’s what he’d allow himself this morning. Three waves, then he had patients to see.