The Passion of Patrick MacNeill by Virginia Kantra

Author:Virginia Kantra [Kantra, Virginia]
Language: eng
Format: epub
Published: 0101-01-01T00:00:00+00:00

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Chapter 9

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Patrick was still grinning as he hung up the pay phone in the ball. In spite of his reluctance to impose on Kate, he liked imagining the brisk lady doctor in his house, in his bed.

Bridget MacNeill came out of the waiting room. Her steps were firm. Not a strand of her salt-and-pepper hair was out of place. But the crow's-feet punctuating her expression appeared deeper than usual, and her smile was tired. Patrick frowned in concern.

She slipped her fingers into the crook of his arm. "How's everything at home?"

He covered her hand with his large one. "Fine. Jack's sleeping."

"Sean mentioned you have a—friend?—staying at the house."

He hedged, unwilling to expose his involvement with Kate to his mother and yet grateful for anything that would distract her from her worry. "Not a friend, exactly. Jack's doctor."

Bridget's eyes, blue as his own, widened speculatively. "Jack's doctor makes house calls?"

He was in for it now, Patrick realized. United in crisis, the family would once more feel free to meddle in his personal life. Resigned, he started to walk his mother back to the waiting room. "Remind me to kill Sean when we get to the hotel okay?"

Bridget chuckled. "Now, Padraig, you know it's not his fault. None of you boys could keep a secret if I had a mind to get it out of you." Her fingers tightened briefly on his arm. "Except you."

Patrick shrugged. "That's because I don't have any secrets."

His mother sniffed, unconvinced. "Is she young?"

"Not old. My age, maybe a little more."

"Pretty?"

"I guess." How could he describe the potent combination of strength and insecurity that drew him to Kate, the soft body and hard-as-nails attitude, the crisp speech and compassionate brown eyes? "She's prickly as hell."

Bridget put her head to one side. "So, not that young, not particularly pretty, but still … special?"

Patrick narrowed his eyes at her.

She smiled sunnily, not the least bit intimidated. "I think she sounds wonderful. It's about time you found someone."

"Mom, you're way ahead of me here. We're not— It's not like that. Kate's just helping me out."

And he was just trying to get her into bed, but he wasn't confessing that to his mother.

Bridget nodded as if she understood. "That's very generous. I imagine with her job at the hospital— She is with the hospital?"

"Yeah."

"I imagine she doesn't have a lot of free time."

"No. But she makes time for her sister's family." And that, too, was part of what drew him. He admired the way Kate shouldered responsibility without any thanks that he could see. He thought of the cans of tuna she'd carted to her sister's, the space blaster her nephew toted around. Her sense of commitment was as deeply ingrained as his own. Like a fellow Marine, he would trust her with his life. He could trust her with his son.

"She's got somebody to cover for her on Monday," he added. "After that, we'll see. I thought I might go home Monday night, once we know…"

Once we know if Dad's going to be all right, he thought but did not say.

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