Only Yours (Fool's Gold #5)(24)

He had never considered himself the kind of man who had a preference for a physical type. The women in his life were temporary, a convenience. But now, staring into Montana’s brown eyes, he wondered if he would ever be able to look at another woman without thinking of her.

They settled in chairs next to each other. Nevada joined them, sitting across the table and leaning toward him.

“I won’t get into the whole ‘we really appreciate what you did’ thing,” she said. “Mom will thank you for all of us. I would guess at some point the thanks get tedious.”

“Not tedious,” he corrected. “Uncomfortable.”

She smiled. “Not into the gushing thing?”

“No.”

The curve of her mouth, the flash of teeth, was nearly identical to Montana’s. Yet his reaction could not have been more different. He wasn’t the least bit interested in Nevada. She was nice enough and pretty enough, but nothing like her sister. Quite the trick, considering they were identical triplets.

“Montana tells me you’re in town for a temporary assignment. You go from place to place doing surgery and then leave?”

He nodded. “I don’t usually go to large cities unless there is a special case. Every couple of years I spend a few months in other countries. I’m going to Peru as soon as I’m done here.”

“Doctors Without Borders?” Montana asked.

“I’ve worked with them and with other organizations. There is a massive need for surgeons in the Third World.”

“But you mostly work with burn patients, right?” Nevada asked. “Don’t they require long-term care?”

“Yes. I do the preliminary surgeries and their local doctors follow up with long-term care. Sometimes I go back a few years later.” If the case was difficult enough.

“Aren’t you kind of young to be doing what you do?” Nevada asked. “You’re what? In your early thirties?”

“I started college early and got through quickly. I knew what I wanted to do and was motivated.”

Montana enjoyed listening to the exchange. She didn’t know very much about Simon and having her sister grill him would make it easier for her to make some headway with Mayor Marsha’s request.

Although from what she could tell all he did was move around. While that sounded exciting, didn’t he eventually want a home?

As he and Nevada discussed the rigors of his education, Montana studied his face. She wasn’t surprised that he had seated her on his “good” side. But when he turned to her sister, she could see some of the scars. They were thick and angry, tugging at his skin. They went down the side of his neck. She wasn’t sure where they ended. At his shoulder? Did they go all the way down his back, his chest?

What had happened to him, all those years ago? How had he been hurt and how had he recovered? “Who was Simon Bradley?” she asked herself somewhat dramatically.

Before she could figure out how to ask, Kent and Reese walked up, Fluffy bounding beside the boy. There were bandages on the side of her nephew’s face and he had a couple of bruises. He was still kind of foggy from the accident and the surgery. At both his father’s and grandmother’s insistence, he was spending the afternoon in a lounge chair, while his cousins played around him. She had a feeling that come tomorrow he would be running around with the rest of them.

“How are you feeling?” Simon asked the boy.

“Okay. My face hurts a little. I’m kind of tired. Dad says you’re the doctor who operated on me.”

Simon nodded. “You were my easiest case of the day.”

Reese leaned against the table. He had the same dark hair that all the Hendrix men possessed. Montana could see a lot of her brother in his son.

“Doesn’t all that blood bother you?” Reese asked.

“I’m used to it.”

“It’s pretty sweet, the way you help people and all. But I’d worry about throwing up with all that blood.”

Kent looked surprised. “Are you thinking you want to be a doctor?”

Reese grinned. “Dad, I’m ten. I kind of want to be everything. But I think what Dr. Bradley can do is special. You know, fixing people.”

Montana watched her brother struggle. She knew him well enough to guess that he wanted to point out his profession was interesting, too, although she wasn’t sure how many ten-year-olds dreamed of being a math teacher.

“A doctor would be good,” Kent said. “You have to go to school a lot.”

“He has plenty of time to decide,” Simon said easily, then smiled at Reese. “You won’t be so tired tomorrow. And your face will stop hurting.”

“Sweet.”

Kent excused them both and went back to the house. Fluffy trailed along with them.

“I should go help Mom,” Nevada said, rising.

Montana started to stand but her sister waved her into place.

“Entertain our company,” Nevada said with a knowing smile. “I’ll take care of setting out the food.”

Montana sighed, then glanced at Simon to see if he’d noticed the not very subtle “pay attention to the cute guy” reference. Fortunately, he seemed intent on watching Fluffy.

Through the open sliding door, they could see Reese had plopped down on the sectional sofa. Instead of staying outside with the other kids, Fluffy settled at his feet.