Moonlight Over Manhattan(46)

“It’s hardly the same thing. If it’s a little child, don’t you get emotional?”

“Children are generally dealt with by the pediatric trauma unit. But whoever the patient, I try and detach myself emotionally because I need to be able to think clearly. Child or adult, their loved ones are relying on me to make the best decisions. I can’t do that if I’m thinking about the emotional impact on the family. It doesn’t help anyone.”

“That sounds great in theory, but is it really that easy to do in practice?”

“Not at first. It’s a skill I learned over time. Or maybe it’s not a skill. Maybe it’s a failing. Or maybe I just got a little too good at disconnecting and not feeling.”

“So you’re a block of ice inside?”

“I didn’t say that.” He paused. “It’s not that you don’t feel emotion, more that you learn to suppress it and then process it in your own way, in your own time.” But he’d discovered that if you suppressed emotion enough, it seemed to disappear altogether.

“What’s your way?”

“I practice karate. I’m a black belt.” He saw her eyes widen.

“So you beat people up and send them to the emergency room you just left?”

“No. If I injure anyone, I try and fix them right away.”

They strolled along the snowy streets, avoiding the noise and bustle of the west highway.

As the cold nipped bare flesh, he shivered. “Aren’t you cold?”

“No. I spend most of my working day outdoors. I dress for the weather. You don’t want to know how many layers I’m wearing.” She tipped her face up to the sky. “It’s snowing again.”

“You say that as if it’s something to be delighted about instead of an inconvenience that will no doubt bring misery to many.” He saw snow and thought about the accidents it would cause, and the fact that the emergency room would be full to the brim.

“I know it can be a nuisance, but I still think there’s something magical about snow, don’t you?” She held out her hands and caught a snowflake, examining it the way another woman might a diamond.

Ethan was charmed, which came as a shock. These days he was rarely, if ever, charmed.

Cynical, tired and disillusioned? All the time.

Charmed? Never.

“Magical?”

“Just seeing snow lifts the spirits.”

“I like snow when I’m skiing. In New York City, snow means the ER will be extra busy.”

“I’m surprised you ski, knowing everything you know about injuries.” She shrugged. “I guess you can fix yourself if you break something.”

He laughed. “If only it were that easy. Fortunately, I don’t plan on breaking anything.”

“You ski often?”

“I’m taking a vacation the week before Christmas. My godmother is getting married and my whole family is attending the wedding, always assuming Karen is cleared to fly by then.”

“Your godmother?”

“Elizabeth O’Neil. She’s one of my mother’s closest friends. They met while they were both doing a cookery course in Paris. They stayed friends. We used to go and stay with them every year when we were growing up. Twice, some years. Summer and winter. The family owns a resort by a lake in Vermont.”

“Sounds dreamy.”

“It is, although keeping it going hasn’t always been easy for them. It’s been in the family for three generations but it had started to decline. Michael, Elizabeth’s first husband, wasn’t much of a businessman from what I can gather. He died a few years ago, and Jackson, the oldest son, took it over. He has built it up into a destination resort. It’s very much a family concern and always has been. His brother Tyler helps now too, but Sean, the third brother, is an orthopedic surgeon so he isn’t directly involved.”

“I saw the photo of you on a ski slope. I thought maybe they were your brothers.”

“Growing up, we were as close as brothers. Now we see each other a few times a year. Jackson comes up to Manhattan for business, I go there for skiing—” he shrugged “—a few summers ago we walked part of the Appalachian Trail together.”

“And now Elizabeth is getting married again? How old is she?”

“Sixties? I’m not good at guessing ages. You’ve already discovered how tactless I can be, so don’t push me on that one.”

“I think it’s wonderful that she’s fallen in love again. So you’re all going to the wedding?”

He’d talked to her about the business and yet the subject that interested her most was the fact that Elizabeth was getting married again.

“We usually go at this time of year anyway. That’s probably why Elizabeth fixed this date. It’s before Christmas, so not too crazy, but there should be good skiing. We’ve booked out a few cabins.”

“Cabins?”

“The accommodation at Snow Crystal is mostly in luxury log cabins around the lake.”

“Sounds perfect. A winter wedding in a snowy forest. That would be my dream.”

The fact that she dreamed of weddings should have been enough to send him skidding back to his apartment but for some reason he was still standing here.

“Do you ski?”