CHAPTER TWO

      “I’LL DO IT.”

      Adam whipped around from his position by the patio doors at the sound of Madison’s voice. She stood in the doorway, her expression belligerent.

      “But I’ll only give you two days a week.”

      “Two days?” Danny protested. “But your practice is small and mine is—”

      “I realize my rural office isn’t up to your city standards, Dr. Drake, but I’m proud of it and I’m needed there.”

      Adam’s father flinched at doctor, then sadness filled his eyes.

      “I’ll help you because you helped me. But once I get you through this, my debt is paid. I won’t come back.”

      “Now, Maddie, let’s not be that way,” his father placated, the hurt quickly giving way to determination. “You’re family, and families stick together.”

      “Mondays and Tuesdays,” she continued as if he hadn’t spoken. “I can’t afford a hotel every week. You’ll need to provide accommodations.”

      Her demands and her cold tone reinforced everything Andrew had said about her career-driven selfishness. Not that his father couldn’t easily afford to provide a hotel room, and it would be best if his mother didn’t have to worry about playing hostess, but Madison was making this all about herself. What she wanted. What she needed. When it should be about how she could best accommodate her mentor.

      “For two months,” she added in an irrefutable tone.

      “Two—” his dad protested. “What if that’s not enough time?”

      “Then you’ll call the service.”

      His father mulled over her words with a frown on his face. Adam waited for him to tell her where she could shove her selfish stipulations the way he had when Adam had announced his plan to pursue something other than a veterinary degree.

      “I knew you’d come through for me, Maddie.” The senior Drake crossed the kitchen and embraced the enemy.

      Protests filled Adam’s mouth. He bit his tongue. He’d learned long ago that trying to change his father’s mind once he’d made a decision was a waste of time. Instead Adam focused on the success of achieving the desired outcome. With Madison’s assistance they could pursue the most aggressive and successful treatment protocol. When she eventually let them down—and she would—his father would have already had the surgery. He’d be forced to call the service Madison mentioned.

      The coldhearted witch kept her arms by her sides and her fists balled rather than return the hug. Adam studied her emotionless whiskey-brown eyes and tight face and his jaw tensed with irritation. Had she no compassion?

      She detached herself from the embrace. “Let me know when you’ve arranged your surgery.”

      “I’ve tentatively scheduled the procedure for Monday.”

      Surprise ricocheted through Adam, mirroring the shock on Madison’s face. Had his father been that certain she would agree?

      “This Monday? You’re only allowing me what’s left of the weekend to make arrangements?”

      “Wishful thinking on my part, I suppose, but I want to beat this disease, and the sooner we get started the better my chances,” he said with just the right touch of earnestness. But his father had always been a master manipulator. “I called the surgeon as soon as Adam told me you were coming.”

      Adam watched the war wage in Madison’s eyes, and he wouldn’t have been surprised if she’d changed her mind.

      “I’ll be back tomorrow night. Let me know where I’m staying.” She pivoted and stalked from the room, her slim figure as rigid as a steel beam. The front door snapped shut behind her.

      Silence descended on the room. Moments later the sound of Andrew’s truck engine struggling to turn over carried to them. It took three attempts before the ignition caught.

      “That went well.”

      His father’s smugness infuriated Adam. “I have to hand it to you, Dad. That took balls. What made you sure she’d agree?”

      “I know Maddie.”

      It had always irritated Adam that he’d tried for years to win his father’s approval, but from the moment Madison had waltzed into their lives she could do no wrong in Danny Drake’s eyes.

      Adam whipped out his cell phone. “I’ll make the hotel arrangements.”

      “No hotel. Madison’s family.”

      “The motor home only has one bedroom,” Helen pointed out.

      “That’s why she’ll stay here with Adam.”

      The words hit him like a sucker punch to the gut. “Me? Why?”

      “I’m not putting her on the sofa bed in the motor home when I’ll probably be up and down all night, and our house is far from being habitable—with walls ripped down and wires hanging everywhere. You have two empty bedrooms.”

      “I don’t want that viper here.”

      “No talking about her like that. And Madison’s going to need transportation. While I like that she’s still sentimental enough to drive Andrew’s truck, it doesn’t sound as reliable as she claims it is.”

      “You’re going to rent a car for her?”

      “No. You’re going to drive her to and from the office. We’ll send Andrew’s truck to my mechanic and have him take his time on the repairs.”

      Adam gaped at his father’s audacity. “Are you out of your mind? I don’t have time to babysit or play taxi. I have a job.”

      “You have that hospital running like a well-drilled army unit. It’ll survive if its administrator cuts his days a little short while Madison’s in town.”

      Was that the compliment he’d waited a lifetime to hear or just another form of manipulation? “Dad—”

      He joined Adam by the window and clapped him on the shoulder. “Adam, I need you to make sure she gets to work on time each day. I can’t lose patients over this health scare. The medical bills from this treatment are going to be astronomical even after my health insurance pays its part. I don’t want to burn through my retirement paying them off. Your mother and I will need something to live on...if I make it through this.”

      Damn it. He was being manipulated. But his father’s points were valid.

      “We’ll have dinner together every night Madison’s here. Helen will cook all of our favorites. Just like old times.”

      Old times, his ass. Life would never be the same again. If his father believed otherwise, then he was in for a reality check. And it irritated Adam that his father, who’d never been late or left the office early a single day in his career, expected Adam to do so.

      “You’re asking too much.”

      “Fine. Call Madison. Tell her never mind. I’ll cancel the surgery and take my chances with the chemo-radiation cocktail.”

      Once more Adam had underestimated his father. Danny Drake knew which buttons to press to get what he wanted.

      “Fine. I’ll handle it.”

      * * *

      MADISON CRADLED THE phone, marked the last name off Tuesday’s appointment roster then leaned back and massaged her throbbing temples. She was already beginning to regret her decision to help Dann—Dr. Drake.

      He’s not friend or family anymore. Keep it strictly business.

      A