A Creed Country Christmas ; The Doctor's Blessing by Linda Lael Miller

Author:Linda Lael Miller
Language: eng
Format: epub
Publisher: Harlequin
Published: 2019-07-10T18:00:18+00:00

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PHILLIP HALTED AT the sight of Amber framed in the doorway of the Shoofly Pie Café, an unappetizing name if he’d ever heard one. Once again he was struck by how lovely she was. Today she wore a simple yellow dress with short sleeves. Her hair hung over her shoulder in a single braid that reached her waist. Now he knew how long it was. Obviously, she hadn’t cut it in many years. It was a nice touch of old-fashioned feminine charm.

They stood staring at each other for several long seconds until a man with a thick black beard and a straw hat stopped in front of Phillip. Realizing he was blocking the door, Phillip stepped out of the way. By the time he looked back, Amber was on her way down the sidewalk heading toward the clinic. He sprinted after her, cutting between two buggies rolling down the avenue.

He and Amber had both been doing their jobs at the clinic, but it didn’t take a genius to see she was still upset. Her icy stares and monosyllablic replies weren’t going unnoticed by their patients. Somehow he had to find a way to break through her anger. Phillip couldn’t handle the practice by himself. There was more to medicine than treating symptoms.

Good medicine had physical, emotional and spiritual components. Amber had what he didn’t yet have in Hope Springs. A familiarity with the people he would be treating and knowledge of the inner workings of the town.

He needed to reach some kind of common ground with her if she could get past his stance on home deliveries. As much as he hated to admit it, he needed her help to keep his grandfather’s clinic running smoothly.

Besides, the last thing he wanted was to tell Harold that he’d driven away the irreplaceable Miss Bradley. During their brief phone conversation last night, Harold once again sang her many praises. If Phillip didn’t know better, he might have thought the old man was playing matchmaker.

After crossing the street at a jog, Phillip reached Amber’s side and shortened his stride to match hers. “Morning, Miss Bradley.”

“Good morning, Doctor.”

“Are you on your way to the office?”

“Yes.”

He glanced at his watch. “You’re a little early, aren’t you?”

“Yes.”

In spite of the warm summer sun there was no sign of thawing on her part. He said, “We didn’t see many patients yesterday. Can I expect our patient load to be so light every day?”

“No.”

This didn’t bode well for the rest of the day. “The weather has been agreeable. Are summers in Ohio always this nice?”

“No.”

Getting nowhere, he decided to try a different tack.

Phillip saw an Amish family walking toward them. The man with his bushy beard nodded slightly. His wife kept her eyes averted, but their children gawked at them as they passed by. One of them, a teenage boy, was a dwarf. A group of several young men in straw hats and Amish clothing walked behind the group. None of the younger men wore beards.

When

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