A Distant Summer by Karen Toller Whittenburg Read Free Book Online Page A

soothing tone of Tucker’s voice. “Were you dreaming of me?”
    Kristina stretched beneath the crisp sheets, feeling a wave of sleepy arousal drift through her awakening limbs. “If I were, would I tell you?”
    “Wouldn’t you?”
    “No, I don’t think I would.” She cleared the night huskiness from her throat. “If nothing else, it might keep you from awakening me so early. This is my vacation, you know.”
    “And you’re dreaming it away. I’ve been awake for hours.”
    “Hours?” she questioned, raising herself on an elbow and allowing the sheet to slide slowly to her waist as she squinted at the clock.
    “Actually it’s been only about twenty minutes, but it seems like hours.”
    At the hint of impatient humor in his words, her toes curled with an unexpected tingle of pleasure. “Why don’t we make it hours and I’ll go back to sleep?”
    There was a pause, and then she heard the rough texture of his voice. “You’re teasing ... and so early, too.” Another less certain pause followed. “You don’t really want to go back to sleep, do you?”
    “No,” she said softly, with a fleeting image of awakening in his arms. “How soon will you be here?”
    “A half hour? Less? I’ll come upstairs.”
    “That won’t be enough time, Tucker.”
    His sigh was revealing. “All right, I’ll wait in the dining room. I’ll order coffee or something, but Kris….” His tone deepened seductively. “Don’t keep me waiting too long. Please?”
    Any further protest she might have made dwindled to incoherence with his quiet persuasion. “I’ll be there as soon as I can. And, Tucker?”
    “Yes?”
    “Good morning.”
    She could feel his smile singing through the telephone wires to reach her. “Good morning,” he answered.
    * * * *
    The morning progressed into afternoon at a lazy pace, and Kristina enjoyed the novelty of sharing a leisurely day with Tucker. She felt simultaneously relaxed and exhilarated. The anticipation of private moments together flavored their conversation with unspoken urgency, but the hours slipped past with no sense of haste.
    Kris resolutely turned a deaf ear whenever conscience intruded into her thoughts. Logic had no part in her impulsive break from reality ... until Saturday, when she would have to sweep the cobweb dreams from her heart.
    Tucker made it easy to pretend that the world was theirs for the asking and that “tomorrow” was merely a synonym for “today.” There was only one blemish on the golden glow of her day, and it occurred while she and Tucker window-shopped in Larimer Square.
    “I thought real doctors always had to stay in constant contact with their office,” she said teasingly. “In case of emergencies.”
    His answer followed a sobering pause. “Not always.”
    “Come to think of it,” she persisted with innocent cheerfulness, “I haven’t seen you even glance at your phone, much less check messages.  Are you off duty or out of practice or something?”
    “Out of practice about sums it up.” The bitter inflection in his voice caught her unprepared, but in an instant he regained control “Actually I’m just taking a breather from my medical practice right now. It feels pretty nice not to be on call, especially when I’m with you. This is one time I’d resent the intrusions.”
    Kris didn’t doubt his sincerity, but she did wonder if perhaps he resented the absence of intrusions more. “Tell me what happened, Tucker,” she asked quietly.
    For a moment she thought he was going to ignore or deliberately misunderstand her request, but then slowly his defenses lowered, and as they walked past store after store, the story of Sarah Abernathy unfolded.
    Sarah had been referred to Tucker by another doctor, a trusted colleague. The facts had seemed straightforward and concise. He’d concurred with the diagnosis and agreed with both the other doctor and Sarah that a hysterectomy would solve her problems. The surgery was performed; the early