Linda Turner - Mission - M.d.

The words were hardly out of his mouth when the door was pulled open and he found himself facing an older, white-haired woman with rounded cheeks, a quick smile and faded blue eyes that seemed to have a perpetual twinkle.

Her gaze moving from him to Daisy and back again, she lifted a delicately arched brow. “Yes? May I help you?”

“I’m sorry, ma’am,” he said with a rueful smile, “but I seem to owe you an apology.”

Surprised, she blinked. “I don’t think so, young man. I don’t even know you.”

“I just moved to town this week,” he explained, and held out his hand. “I’m Turk Garrison. And this is Daisy,” he added, nodding to the Lab. “She owes you an apology, too. She just ate one of your pies.”

“What?” Startled, she glanced past him to the side porch, where an empty trivet spoke of the missing pie.

Watching the emotions flicker lightning quick across her face, Turk wouldn’t have blamed her if she’d given him a piece of her mind. Daisy had wolfed down in seconds something that had, no doubt, taken her hours to make. She had every right to be furious.

Instead, she laughed. “Well, this is a first.”

“I’m so sorry.”

“It wasn’t your fault,” she assured him. “Or Daisy’s.” Holding out her hand to the dog so she could sniff it, she grinned when Daisy licked her fingers. “I was the one who put the pies outside,” she told Turk, her blue eyes twinkling behind the lenses of her wire-rimmed glasses. “And I’ll tell right now, they smelled darn good. How was a dog supposed to resist?”

“But—”

“It was just a pie. No harm done. I can make another one.” The matter settled, she held out her hand. “I’m Evelyn Martin. Welcome to Hunter’s Ridge. How about a piece of pie for you? I just finished lunch and was about to have some dessert and coffee. We can have it out here on the porch and you can tell me all about yourself. Are you married? I’ve got a granddaughter…”

“Oh, no,” he said quickly, laughing. “Nothing against your granddaughter, but I just moved away from my woman problems. I don’t need any more. Not that your granddaughter would be a problem,” he quickly assured her. “I’m sure she’s very nice, but—”

“It’s okay,” she chuckled. “I’m not offended. You’ll change your mind if you ever meet her. In the meantime, you should know I make a darn good pie—best in the county. If you don’t believe me, ask Daisy.”

Daisy barked at the mention of her name, drawing a laugh from both of them. “I’m sure it was delicious,” Turk said wryly. “I’ve never seen her gulp down anything like she did that pie, but I’ve really got to get home. Thanks again, though, for being so understanding. Daisy and I owe you.”

“No problem,” she replied. “I’m sure I’ll see you around town. And come back when you’ve got some time. We’ll talk.”

Promising to do just that, Turk headed home with Daisy in tow, thankful that the two of them had gotten off so lightly. “You’re just darn lucky that Mrs. Martin didn’t call the dog catcher on you,” he told the Lab as they reached the house. “You could be at the pound right now and I’d be fined for disobeying the leash law.”

Far from chastised, Daisy just wandered over to her bed in the corner of the living room and collapsed with a heartfelt sigh. Within a matter of moments, she was snoring.

Turk rolled his eyes. “Brat. You’ve got your belly full of cherry pie and now it’s time for a nap. You don’t have to worry about anybody wanting to set you up with some cute chick. No, I’m the lucky one who gets to deal with that. Twice in one day. That’s got to be some kind of record. It must be something in the water here.”

It was more than that, however, and he knew it. Women just liked to set people up, and now that he was the new man in town, he’s was probably going to get hit a lot with that. And he could handle it, he assured himself. After dealing with Susan and Laureen, he could deal with just about anything.

He still didn’t know how he’d gotten himself into such a mess. Susan Presley was the daughter of his father’s best friend, and she and Turk had lived together for the past year and a half. He’d thought she was the woman he was going to spend the rest of his life with. Then he’d told her he was going to give up working with his father to move to Hunter’s Ridge, and she’d dropped him like a hot rock.

He was stunned and hurt. Then his friends had convinced him the only way to get over one woman was to go out with another. So he’d asked Laureen Becker out. A nurse at the hospital, she was cute and fun and didn’t appear to be the gold digger that Susan was. Then a week after they’d gone out a couple of times, she’d told everyone at the hospital that they were engaged.

Turk’s gut knotted just at the thought of how Laureen had reacted when he questioned her about the rumor. Not that least bit chagrined that he’d found out about the rumor and that she was the one spreading it, she only smiled and kissed him and told him of course they were getting married. She wasn’t like Susan. She knew a good man when she saw one and she’d fallen in love with him the first time she laid eyes on him. She knew he felt the same way.

He’d thought she was joking. They’d only gone out twice! And he hadn’t done anything more than kiss her, and his heart hadn’t been in that. He couldn’t tell her that, of course—he wasn’t that insensitive. So he’d tried to spare her feelings and explained instead that he was moving, starting a new life, and he was doing that alone. Any woman with an ounce of pride would have assured him she was just teasing and let the subject pass. Not Laureen. Far from discouraged, she’d laughed…then assured him that he would eventually realize they were soul-mates. He just needed time.

She’d been so confident, she’d scared the hell out of him. Left with no choice but to be brutally honest, he’d made it clear that not only were they not soul-mates, he didn’t love her, she wasn’t a part of his future, and she never would be. Then he’d broken things off with her and hadn’t spoken to her since.

That was a month ago. Considering how determined she’d seemed, he hadn’t expected her to let him walk away without a fight. But that’s exactly what she’d done. There’d been no phone calls, no letters, no more rumors that they were engaged. She’d avoided him like the plague, thank God, and he’d left Dallas without contacting her again. It was over.

Then, she’d left a message on his cell phone yesterday morning. And last night. And both messages were virtually the same.

“Turk, sweetheart, how are you? I know you must be incredibly busy, setting up your practice and everything, darling, but I thought you’d call me by now. Do you miss me? I think of you constantly. I know you must do the same. Isn’t it awful? We have to find a way to be together, darling. Have you found us a house yet? When you do, let me know. I can decorate it for us. We’re going to have a wonderful home, sweetheart. Think of that, think of me, in the dark of night, when you’re all alone and missing me. We’ll be together soon, darling. I promise. Then we’ll never have to be apart again. I love you. I don’t need to tell you that—you already know. Call me when you can.”

He should have called her and made it clear once and for all that she was wasting her time—he wanted nothing to do with her. But there was something in her voice that turned his blood to ice. Something that set alarm bells clanging in his head. Something that wasn’t quite right. And for the life of him, he couldn’t put his finger on what it was…confidence, determination, insanity. Whatever it was, he knew he wanted nothing to do with it…or her. Immediately calling his cell phone company, he changed his cell phone number.