Pamela Bauer - 15 Valentine Place

“I’m not going to check up on him,” he said with a hint of impatience. “I just want to visit him and see how he’s doing. Any other warnings you want to give me?” Dylan tried to keep his voice light but failed.

“Actually, there is. It’s about Mom.” He set his spoon down and stared at Dylan. “She was really upset by the way things went the last time you were home. The stuff that went on between you and Shane—”

Dylan interrupted him. “I’ve already had this conversation with Shane, and we’ve worked things out, so let it rest, okay?” He was disappointed to sense that Garret seemed to be on Shane’s side.

“Good. I’m glad to hear that. We’re brothers. We should act like it.”

There was a bit of an uncomfortable silence, which was broken by a nurse who stopped by to give Garret a message. When she eyed Dylan curiously, Garret made the introductions.

After a few minutes of small talk, she was gone and Garret said, “I can see you haven’t lost the touch.”

“Touch for what?”

“If you’d patted your knee she would have sat on your lap.” He shook his head. “Man, you have always had a quality that women respond to.”

“She stopped by to talk to you,” Dylan pointed out.

Garret chuckled. “Yeah, and if you believe that, I have some nice oceanfront property in South Dakota I can sell you.” He took a sip of his coffee, then said, “I don’t suppose these northern girls have the same appeal as those sun-kissed, bikini-clad island beauties running around on Saint Martin.”

Dylan smiled. “A beautiful woman is a beautiful woman, no matter what the climate.”

“And you’ve always had an eye for one, haven’t you,” he said with a sly smile. He took a bite of his sandwich, then asked. “How many are there in your life? Still juggling more than one at a time?”

“What makes you think I have any?”

He chuckled. “Come on. I may be five years younger than you, but I did know what was going on when we were kids. By the time I hit junior high your reputation with women was legendary.”

Dylan couldn’t suppress his smile. “All right, so I made the most of my youth and the opportunities that presented themselves.”

“Are you saying you don’t have those opportunities now?”

Dylan shook his head. “If I had kept going at that pace, I’d be dead.”

“So it’s one woman at a time now?”

“It always was. They just came closer together back then,” he said with another grin.

“Come on, be serious. Is there a special woman in your life?”

“Not at the moment.”

“I thought Mom said there was someone named Andrea.”

“Was is the correct word. That didn’t work out,” Dylan said, not wanting to tell him the details of a relationship he had already put in the past.

“What about you? Last time I was home you seemed pretty serious about another med student. A Sarah with auburn hair, nice legs.”

He shook his head. “It didn’t work out, which is probably good because I really don’t have time for anything but medicine right now.”

“Then Mom hasn’t tried to find you the perfect mate?”

“She’s not a matchmaker, Dylan. She only responds to those who seek her advice. Mom would never try to interfere in our love lives. She’s not like that.”

“I’m glad to hear that. The last thing I need is to have Mom trying to fix me up with someone. It’s going to be difficult enough staying in a house full of women. I’m used to living alone.”

Garret shook his head. “It’s hard to think of you living alone. I mean, I guess I just assumed you lived with some woman but didn’t tell us.”

Dylan chuckled. “I’ve had a few try to move their things into my closet, but they haven’t made it past the front door.”

“At least with the remodeling Mom’s done, Maddie and Krystal shouldn’t get in your way. What do you think of what she’s done to the house?”

“It was a bit of a shock at first, but I think it looks good.”

He nodded in agreement. “It was a good project for her. Shane offered to deal with the contractors, but she insisted on doing it all herself. And she did just fine, although I think Maddie helped her.”

Mention of the other woman gave Dylan the opportunity to ask the questions he hadn’t wanted to ask his mother. “How did Madeline Lamont end up renting from Mom? I thought she only took in college students.”

“Maddie was Mom’s first boarder. She came here shortly after Dad died. She was with some theater production that came to the Twin Cities.”

“She’s an actress?”

“A dancer.”

“Is that what she does for a living?”

“She’s not performing anymore, just teaching.”

Again the image of Maddie dressed in the harem pants flashed in Dylan’s memory. “There’s a big demand for belly dancing in the Twin Cities?”

“Not belly dancing. Ballet,” he corrected. “The belly dancing is something she does on the side. Mainly she teaches kids ballet and tap at a studio just a few blocks from here.”

“Mom said something about her working at a food co-op, too,” he went on. “Is she one of those health food nuts who won’t eat anything that isn’t organically grown?”

“Just because she’s conscious about her health doesn’t make her a nut. And why all the questions about her anyway?” He paused with his fork in midair. “You’re not thinking that she might be a pleasant distraction while you’re here, are you?”

He clicked his tongue. “If she’s a distraction it won’t be the pleasant kind.”

“Why not? She’s hot and she’s smart. What more could a man want? And she can still beat me at chess.”

Dylan agreed with his brother about her being hot but kept his opinion to himself. “She may be your type, but she’s definitely not mine,” he told Garret, wanting to dispel any notion Garret had that he was interested in the woman.

“I’m glad to hear that, because she’s taken.” There was no mistaking the warning in his brother’s voice.

“By you?” Dylan asked with a sly smile.

“No, but she does date a very good friend of mine.”

“Well, your friend has nothing to worry about from me. Even if I were looking for a woman—which I’m not—I wouldn’t be looking in Madeline’s direction. If anything, I’ll be doing my best to avoid her as much as possible.”

He stared at him in amazement. “That’s the first time I’ve ever heard anyone say that about Maddie. It might be a good idea if you didn’t share your opinion of her with Mom. She regards Maddie as the daughter she never had.”

“So I’ve noticed.”

“You sound as if you disapprove.”

“I’m just worried about Mom, that’s all. I’d hate to see her be taken advantage of by anyone.”

Garret laughed. “You don’t need to worry about that with Maddie.”

“You sound awfully confident.”

“That’s because I am.” He’d already finished his lunch and shoved aside his plate, resting on his elbows as he asked, “Have you met Krystal?”

Dylan shrugged. “Other than a brief introduction, we haven’t talked,” he answered honestly. “Why?”

Just then Garret pushed his lab coat aside to reach for the beeper on his waist. “I’m being paged. I have to go.” He quickly drained the remains of his coffee and was about to load his dishes back on the tray when Dylan stopped him.

“I’ll get them. You go attend to your emergency.”

Garret smiled. “Thanks.” Before he left he said, “I’ll try to stop by the house tonight, but if I don’t, I’ll see you in the morning before you go into surgery.”

Dylan nodded.

As he walked out of the cafeteria, he called over his shoulder, “Don’t worry about a thing. Pete’s the best.”