Winner Takes All. Cheryl Harper
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to Alto, he had to check out of the hotel and make sure the truck with the medical supplies was scheduled to deliver next week. And now he needed to come back to the hotel to meet with this investor. Flights arrived early from the States, so he should still be able to make it to Alto. He’d leave a message at the desk with a time and hope whoever it was checked in soon.
Every day he had a long list of things to do, so he was glad to push off the report that was making him crazy. When he made it back to Lima in another two weeks, he’d do it. Definitely.
A husky laugh drew his attention to the lobby desk where Paulo was talking with a tall blonde dressed for African safari. She was khakied and cargoed from head to toe, although silky hair trailed down her back. Something about her was familiar, but that could be attributed to the homesickness that struck now and then. He was happy in Peru, but that didn’t mean he never dreamed of going back to the way things were, when he was such a skilled surgeon he could bend the rules as he liked. As always, he shoved aside the disappointment and stood as the blonde turned away from the desk.
“Stephanie?” He had to sit back down before his weak knees made him stumble.
Stephanie pulled out the chair opposite him, but before she sat down, she wrapped her arms around his neck and squeezed so tight he almost turned blue. The hug surprised him, but it shouldn’t have. She’d always greeted him the same way. The bigger shock was that he wasn’t quite ready to let her go when she braced both hands against his chest. She smelled like lavender dryer sheets and about a million things he’d learned not to take for granted, things that made him think of home.
And immediately he was reminded of how sweet she’d been when she’d asked him out to dinner. Since he’d just burned every bridge at the hospital, he hadn’t been as careful with her as he should have been. Protecting Rebecca, Stephanie and Jen had been his job ever since the first night he’d been stuck babysitting.
Seeing her here brought his homesickness back—with a crash. He’d missed her. She was home and family and laughing and not taking himself so seriously in one beautiful, sweet package. He realized he was still holding on to her hands and forced himself to let go.
“What are you doing here?” He frowned as she settled in the chair with a tired sigh.
“The frown’s more like it. For half a second I thought you were happy to see me.” She rolled her eyes at him and waved the waitress over.
“Yes, ma’am, what would you like to order? May I bring you a menu?”
Stephanie waved her hands. “No, no need for that much trouble. How about eggs and toast? Orange juice?”
The waitress wrote down her order. “Certainly. I’ll have that right out.”
Stephanie clapped her hands. “Wonderful.” Before the waitress could walk off, she added, “Before you go, those are great shoes. Are they comfortable?”
Daniel did his best to keep the annoyance at a low simmer while the two women discussed comfortable shoes and where to find them in Lima. By the time the waitress walked off he was amazed she and Stephanie hadn’t exchanged phone numbers.
“So you’re surprised to see me. Didn’t Rebecca let you know I was coming?” Stephanie’s gaze darted away. “I’m happy to see you, too, by the way.”
The discomfort on her face reminded him that even if he’d almost forgotten their last awkward conversation, maybe she hadn’t. He hated that. He didn’t want anything to change between them. That had been the whole point of turning her down. Stephanie had always looked up to him. He’d watched over her. That was the arrangement he was comfortable with.
“No, she didn’t mention it. Obviously. You nearly missed me. I was about to go pick up medical supplies.” And now he had no idea what to do. Time to prepare would have been nice. “Did you buy one of everything at Camping Corral?”
She frowned at her outfit, studied his for a long minute and then grimaced. “Okay, I overdid it. A little. But this is what happens without enough time to study a place.”
As she surveyed the lobby, she pointed at the skylight. “Clouds. That’s something I didn’t expect. I had this picture of sunshine and green mountains, not oceans and heavy cloud cover.”
“You can get that here, too. Wait an hour and everything changes.” He watched her lean back and thank the waitress with a friendly smile.
“How wonderful. Scrambled eggs are my favorite. They’re the perfect start for a beautiful day. I bet you hear that all the time, don’t you?” She picked up a fork and waited patiently for the waitress’s answer.
The woman stopped and thought for a minute. “No, ma’am, I don’t. But I like a good breakfast, so it’s nice to meet another fan.” She pointed at the skylight. “And it’s nice to meet someone else who isn’t bothered by a few clouds.”
Of course she wasn’t bothered by clouds. Stephanie was like sunshine—wherever she went it was only a matter of time until the clouds passed.
The waitress made sure to pour Stephanie a nice cup of coffee. She happily dug into her breakfast and he shook his head as the waitress brought her a fresh bowl of jelly, a stack of clean napkins and a paper from the front desk.
He’d had to lay down a healthy tip to get service with the same friendly attitude.
“I’m sure you’re in a hurry to get on with whatever brings you to Peru.” He was always in a hurry. He sipped his lukewarm coffee and wondered if he could get her to ask for a refill. “How long are you here?” And could you just hand me the checks and let me get back to my day?
The homesickness had no cure, but getting back to work would help the symptoms.
She fiddled with the edge of the folded napkins for a minute and the niggling thought that everything wasn’t going to go according to his plan settled in his brain.
“Your sister, Jen and I have this sort of agreement. Maybe it’s a dare. I’m not really sure.” She picked up a slice of toast and carefully, thoughtfully chewed it all while he did his best to ignore the impatience he could feel building with the tick of the clock. He rested his elbows on the table, propped his chin on his hands and pretended he was patient.
“I threw a dart. It landed on Alto. I have to go there or listen to them clucking at me for the rest of my life.” She shrugged. “You get that, right?”
He leaned back in his chair and wondered who in the world could figure out what was happening from a nonsensical statement like that.
Only one who’d spent countless Friday nights listening to his sister and her friends giggle over badly thrown darts. He’d also learned to carefully consider every sentence that came out of Stephanie’s mouth. She’d always been the one to give him the most trouble. Rebecca he could threaten into compliance by mentioning their parents. He was pretty sure nothing threatened Jen but she’d never tried cajoling him, either. All that had come from Stephanie. At sixteen she’d been good at getting cooperation, even from a cocky high school senior.
“Let me translate. You won the lottery. They dared you to throw a dart at the map and get on a plane. If you don’t do it, they’ll never let you forget it.” And just like when they were kids, he’d been dragged into their brilliant plan.
The urge to lecture her on the dangers of traveling alone to spots off the beaten path was strong.
“Sort of. You’ve got the basics anyway.” She spread grape jelly on her toast. “So, how soon can we leave for Alto? I need a picture of you, me and your clinic. Then I’ll be out of your hair and you’ll have some nice donations.”
She didn’t meet his gaze as she said it, so he was pretty sure that wasn’t the full story. “You want to come to Alto?” He shook his head. “Impossible.”
“There’s the reaction I was expecting,” she muttered and sipped her steaming hot coffee.
“Now