Melting the Argentine Doctor's Heart / Small Town Marriage Miracle by Meredith Webber / Jennifer Taylor Read Free Book Online

His mother’s with him.’
    Could that be true?
    Of course it could!
    Like strangling a snake, this woman could do anything and was usually around when any kind of anything needed doing. The grumpy thoughts dogged his footsteps as he trod behind her to the clinic. The little boy was fine, his mother far too effusive with her praise of Caroline—a trained monkey could have given an epinephrine injection.
    Jorge wasn’t sure why her competence was making him so angry. It couldn’t possibly be because his libido was at war with his brain. He headed for his office, knowing she was following because every nerve ending in his back was standing to attention—probably saluting, if nerve endings could salute.
    ‘Did you make a file? Write it up?’
    ‘Juan did that for me,’ the aggravating female replied. ‘I didn’t think my Spanish was up to it.’
    ‘Why learn it at all?’ he asked, and realised immediately he should have kept his mouth shut. All he wasdoing was giving her more reason to show her wonder-woman skills.
    ‘I learned it for Ella. I’ve been sharing what I know with her, but it’s not the same as having her grow up in a bilingual family, hearing both languages all her life. It’s so much easier for children to learn at a young age—I see three-year-olds in the practice at home chattering away in Arabic or Vietnamese, then talking to me in English. By the time they’re five most of them can act as translators for their parents if it’s needed.’
    He wanted so much to hate her, but how could he when every time she opened her mouth she revealed more that was good and worthy?
    And best he didn’t think about her mouth, the way his body was behaving. Best he not be beguiled by those lips and memories of what they had done to him in the past.
    He wasn’t angry now, Caroline realised, not
angry
angry, more grouchy—put out—as well he should be.
    He’d had a tendency to grouchy, usually when unable to achieve miracles for the people they treated—unable to stop the wars and famines that made so many people’s lives so insecure, their health so fragile.
    Back then she’d found ways to divert him when the impossibility of it all had got him down—but though her body might ache with memories of those diversions, this wasn’t the time to be considering them. Especially as her own anger at him for treating her as he had—for doubting her love—still burned beside the love inside her.
    Yelling at him, bringing all the hurt out into the open,would be a diversion, but what would it achieve—more distance between them when what she needed was some kind of neutral ground where they could work out a satisfactory arrangement for their daughter? Besides, apart from the grouchiness, he was handling this massive disruption in his life so smoothly she’d lose ground if she didn’t match his … aplomb? She didn’t think she’d ever done aplomb before but she hoped that was what she was managing.
    There remained the issue of a diversion. She’d try a practical one.
    ‘Should I find somewhere to buy some food? You weren’t expecting visitors, particularly not a child. Ella will eat practically anything but I can’t expect you to be feeding us.’
    She saw anger flare again.
    ‘Of course I will feed you,’ he snapped. ‘You are my guests, even if totally uninvited ones.’
    ‘And unwelcome ones?’
    She couldn’t stop herself asking, although she knew the answer was sure to hurt.
    ‘Definitely unwelcome. You’ve deliberately staged this—this reunion—’ he spat the word at her ‘—to cause me maximum emotional disruption and physical inconvenience. The only worse way you could have played it would have been to go to my father’s home. Perhaps you didn’t think about that? ‘
    Stricken by his words, Caroline could only stare at him, until her own anger came to her aid.
    ‘You think I did this out of spite? Planned this deliberately to upset you? And why? To get back at you forhaving dumped