Jacqueline Diamond - The Police Chief's Lady

Dear Reader,

The Police Chief’s Lady is the first of three books set in the imaginary but real (to me, at least!) town of Downhome, Tennessee. It’s a place that needs doctors and offers them a second chance—with unexpected results.

People often ask where I get my ideas. In this case, the answer is easy: My father was, for a time, the only doctor in the small town of Menard, Texas. He rarely took a vacation because of the difficulty in finding another doctor to cover for him. Rather than have her babies at the nearest hospital, which was in another county, my mother gave birth at home, with Dad delivering my brother and me.

We eventually moved away, and I grew up mostly in Nashville, Tennessee, which is why I’ve chosen that state as the setting for these books. Although I live in California now, my mother still resides there.

I hope you’ll enjoy the story of Jenni and Ethan, and look forward as I do to the next two books, to be published in February and April. My heroines will be Leah Morris, the teacher who’s ready to spread her wings, and Karen Lowell, who’s never entirely fallen out of love with Dr. Chris McRay, even though his testimony sent her brother to prison.

You can e-mail me at jdiamondfriends@aol.com, and check out my latest books at www.jacquelinediamond.com.

Happy reading!

The Police Chief’s Lady

Jacqueline Diamond

www.millsandboon.co.uk

In memory of my father

HARLEQUIN AMERICAN ROMANCE

913—THE IMPROPERLY PREGNANT PRINCESS

962—DIAGNOSIS: EXPECTING BOSS’S BABY

971—PRESCRIPTION: MARRY HER IMMEDIATELY

978—PROGNOSIS: A BABY? MAYBE

1046—THE BABY’S BODYGUARD

1075—THE BABY SCHEME

Chapter One

Chapter Two

Chapter Three

Chapter Four

Chapter Five

Chapter Six

Chapter Seven

Chapter Eight

Chapter Nine

Chapter Ten

Chapter Eleven

Chapter Twelve

Chapter Thirteen

Chapter Fourteen

Chapter Fifteen

Chapter Sixteen

Chapter Seventeen

Chapter Eighteen

Chapter Nineteen

Chapter Twenty

“Nobody knows better than I do how badly this town needs a doctor,” Police Chief Ethan Forrest told the crowd crammed into the Downhome, Tennessee, city council chambers. “But please, not Dr. Jenni Vine.”

He hadn’t meant to state his objection so bluntly, he mused as he registered the startled reaction of his audience. Six months ago, he’d been so alarmed by the abrupt departure of the town’s two resident doctors, a married couple, that he’d probably have said yes to anyone with an M.D. after his or her name.

Worried about his five-year-old son, Nick, who was diabetic, Ethan had suggested that the town advertise for physicians to fill the vacated positions. He also recommended that they hire a long-needed obstetrician. In the meantime, patients who couldn’t be helped by the nurse practitioner or staff nurse had to drive twelve miles to Mill Valley.

Applications hadn’t exactly poured in. Only two had arrived from qualified family doctors, both of whom had toured Downhome recently by invitation. One was clearly superior, and as a member of the three-person search committee, Ethan felt it his duty to say so.

“Dr. Gregory is more experienced and, in my opinion, more stable,” he said. “He’s married with three kids, and I believe he’s motivated to stick around for the long term.” Although less than ideal in one respect, the Louisville physician took his duties seriously and, Ethan had no doubt, would fit into the community.

“Of course he’s motivated!” snapped Olivia Rockwell, who stood beside Ethan just below the city council’s dais. The tall African-American woman, who was the school principal, chaired the committee. “You told us yourself he’s a recovering alcoholic.”

“He volunteered the information, along with the fact that he’s been sober for a couple of years,” Ethan replied. “His references are excellent and he expressed interest in expanding our public health efforts. I think he’d be perfect to oversee the outreach program I’ve been advocating.”

“So would Jenni—I mean, Dr. Vine,” said the third committee member, Karen Lowell, director of the Tulip Tree Nursing Home. “She’s energetic and enthusiastic. Everybody took to her.”

“She certainly has an outgoing personality,” he responded. On her visit, the California blonde had dazzled people with her expensive clothes and her good humor after being drenched in a thunderstorm, which she seemed to regard as a freak of nature. It probably didn’t rain on her parade very often out in the land of perpetual sunshine, Ethan supposed. “But once the novelty wears off, she’ll head for greener pastures and we’ll need another doctor.”

“So you aren’t convinced she’ll stay. None of us is in the mind-reading business,” Olivia opined. “Is that the extent of your objections? This isn’t typical of you, Chief. I’ll bet you’ve got something else up that tailored sleeve of yours.”

Ethan was about to pass off her comment as a joke, when he noticed some of the townsfolk leaning forward in their seats with anticipation. Despite being a quiet town best known for dairy farmers and a factory that made imitation antiques, Downhome had an appetite for gossip.

Although Ethan had hoped to avoid going into detail, the audience awaited his explanation. Was he being unfair to the applicant? he asked himself. True, he’d taken a mild dislike to Dr. Vine’s surfer-girl demeanor, but he could get over that. What troubled him was the reason she wanted to leave L.A. in the first place.

“You all know I conducted background checks on the candidates,” he began. “Credit records, convictions, that sort of thing.”

“And found no criminal activities, right?” Karen tucked a curly strand of reddish brown hair behind one ear.

“That’s correct. I also double-checked with the medical directors at their hospitals.”

“You didn’t mention that,” Olivia murmured.

“I hoped I wouldn’t have to bring it up.”

“I wasn’t criticizing,” the principal said. “I admire your thoroughness.”

Around the room, heads bobbed. Ethan felt glad the townspeople respected his approach. Four years ago, when he left the Nashville Metropolitan Police Department and returned home after his wife’s death, he had believed his professionalism was the reason they’d chosen him as chief over several other candidates.

Well, he had a bombshell to drop, so he’d better get it over with. “A few months ago, Dr. Vine became enmeshed in a controversy.” He tried to ignore the impatient way Karen twirled a pencil between her fingers. “Dr. Vine was counseling one of her patients about marital problems. She met with the woman and her husband outside of work.”

“What’s wrong with that?” demanded the nursing home director.

“Nothing, on the face of it,” Ethan replied. “However, a short time later, the patient filed a complaint. She told the medical director that her husband had confessed to becoming involved in an affair with Dr. Vine.”

Karen’s pencil went flying. In the audience, a couple of exclamations broke the stillness and some faces registered disapproval.

Olivia raised one eyebrow. “From this you conclude that she’s a husband-stealing tart who would sully the moral fiber of our community?”

“If we hire her, we’re placing her in a position of trust,” Ethan responded. “If she’s the type of person to exploit a situation, it makes me uncomfortable.”