“Not so you’d notice. Got any for me?”

Linda laughed and patted her belly. “Not just yet, and I have to say—hopefully not at all.”

“Are you working down here now?”

“Just visiting this morning, but I’ll probably be here before too long.”

Hollis tried to think who was doing Linda’s prenatal care, but drew a blank. Usually, the hospital staff opted for an in-house OB, but sometimes for privacy reasons they went elsewhere. “Well, I’m sure you won’t see me until I stop by to see the new baby.”

“You’ve got an open invitation. You know where I live.”

Hollis paused. “Sorry?”

“Oh,” Linda said softly, coloring faintly. “No reason you should know. I’m having this one at home.”

“Are you?” Hollis’s chest tightened. Linda looked to be in her late thirties—not unusual any longer, but still, complications were more likely. “This your first?”

“Yes, lucky me, my partner took care of the first three.”

Hollis laughed. “I hope you both have a great time with this one.”

“Me too. Our midwife is terrific.”

Of course they’d have a midwife. She just couldn’t get away from it today. Hollis injected enthusiasm into her voice. “Home birth is really taking off.”

“Well, I know it’s not for everyone, and to each her own for sure. But I hope it works out because we’re really looking forward to this.”

“I can imagine.”

“You look like you’re on your way out. Better get going before something comes through the door.”

“You’re right about that.” Laughing, Hollis headed for the exit.

She cut through the ER parking lot, planning to cross through the park that stretched for four square blocks between the hospital and her house. As she skirted around parked ambulances and fire rescue vans, she saw Annie Colfax headed toward her. She stopped when Annie’s eyes widened in surprise. “Good morning again.”

“Oh,” Annie said, almost not recognizing Hollis in street clothes. Hollis looked even younger with the sun gleaming on her dark hair, lanky and lean in worn denim jeans and a shirt with the sleeves rolled up. Incongruously, her forearms were deeply tanned, as if she spent a lot of time outside in the sun. Running, she bet. Maybe not, though. Hollis had a lot more upper-body development than most runners she knew. And she was staring, wasn’t she. Could she get any more off balance around this woman? “I was just coming back to pick up my car. It’s around the corner. Visitors’ lot.”

Hollis frowned. “You left it here?”

“I wanted to walk.”

“Huh.” Hollis slid her hands into her pockets. “When I’m out of sorts, I like to pound on something.” Annie looked wary and Hollis added quickly, “Wood. Hammer and nails?”

Annie laughed. “Odd pastime for a surgeon. Aren’t you worried about your hands?”

“Not really. I’m careful. I’ve jammed my thumb a time or two, but you can’t sit around doing nothing because something might go wrong, right?”

“Are you saying that caution isn’t in your vocabulary?” Annie asked, an unexpected teasing note in her voice.

Hollis shook her head. “I’m not saying anything. I don’t want to get in any deeper.”

Annie flushed. “About this morning…I—”

“Why don’t we start this morning over again,” Hollis said. Something about Annie had changed. She was still cautious, still reserved and a little edgy, but there was warmth in her eyes and it wasn’t the hot hard fire of anger she’d had earlier. Not exactly welcoming, but maybe an olive branch. Her plans to pull up the porch suddenly lost all appeal, but something told her she’d have to move fast before Annie’s guard went up again. “Look, I don’t live very far away. I haven’t had breakfast…” She glanced at her watch. “Well, it’s lunchtime now, but I can rustle up something and we can start our meeting over again.”

“That seems like a lot of trouble,” Annie said, desperately trying to work through her surprise. She didn’t know how to handle a friendly Hollis, not on a personal level. She couldn’t really have lunch with her, could she? Well, she could, but certainly not at her house. “Maybe we can find a diner or something? Or there’s always the hospital cafeteria.”

Hollis shook her head. “No way. I just spent thirty-six hours in there. And hospital food isn’t great even in the best of circumstances. Omelets…mushrooms, a little broccoli, cheese? It’s safe, I promise.”

Laughing, Annie nodded, taken by the unexpected charm. Lunch was lunch, right? A business lunch should be safe enough. “All right, Dr. Monroe. Omelets it is.”

Chapter Five

“I’m parked right over there,” Annie said. “Do you want me to drive?”

“My place is only a few blocks away, if you don’t mind walking,” Hollis said. “I could stand a little fresh air and the weather’s perfect.”

“Sure.” Annie fell in beside Hollis as they walked back to the street. Every time she started questioning her decision to join Hollis for lunch, she firmly pushed the doubts from her mind. After all, Barb expected her to work with Hollis on the clinic project, and they hadn’t gotten off to a very good start, mostly because of her. She was a professional and she could keep her personal feelings at home. That didn’t mean they would come to any kind of professional agreement, but they hadn’t even taken the first step. And she wasn’t doing a very good job meeting Hollis halfway. She was usually good at small talk—she had to meet new people all day long, women and families equally ecstatic and terrified by the prospect of a new baby. Why was she practically tongue-tied around Hollis?

“So,” Hollis said, “where did you train?”

Almost sighing with relief, Annie said, “Right here in the city…at Philadelphia College.”

“Nursing school?”

Annie shook her head. “I was at Temple for my BSN, but I never actually practiced nursing. I lost some time with Callie…well, anyhow, I transferred my senior year into the midwife program and they advanced me credit toward my bachelor’s so I could get my degree and accelerate my midwife training.”

“Explains why you’re so young.”

Annie laughed, ridiculously pleased. She thought of herself in two ways—as a mother and a midwife. She rarely thought of herself as a woman others might see as attractive. Of course, Hollis hadn’t said that. She quickly covered her embarrassment with a wave of her hand. “I’m not young. I’m probably your age, and…Oh God, I didn’t mean to suggest you’re old—”

“Thirty-three in a few weeks,” Hollis offered, laughing. Annie hadn’t actually asked her age, but for some reason, she liked getting to know her, even if it did mean sharing things she ordinarily wouldn’t. She liked learning about Annie, and that was as good an explanation as any she could come up with for why she wasn’t behaving at all like herself. “So?”

“What? Oh! Twenty-eight.” Why she wasn’t able to carry on a simple conversation escaped her. Even Callie was better at it.

“See? I told you you were young.”

“Hardly.” Annie snorted. “A four-year-old will age you decades. I feel like I’m fifty sometimes.”

“Yeah, I don’t know how my mother did it with six.”

“A lot of patience or a really big bark.”

Hollis grinned. “She has both.”

“No kids yourself?” Annie asked lightly, hoping she didn’t sound too curious. She was, infinitely curious. Outside the hospital, in this strangely personal sphere they’d somehow fallen into, Hollis was a very interesting woman. And a very attractive one. Bright, good-looking, and surprisingly easy to talk with.

“Who, me?” Hollis shook her head. “No. I’m single, no kids.”

“But kids aren’t necessarily not in your future?”

“Geez, I never really thought about it.” An uneasy prickle skittered between Hollis’s shoulder blades. How did they get around to her and what she wanted in her personal life—she didn’t even go there in private if she could help it. She sure didn’t discuss it with anyone, although her mother kept trying. When are you going to bring a girl home to meet the family, Hollis? Your brothers can’t do all the work of making me grandchildren. God, the family was big on kids, and after losing Rob’s—

“Hey,” Annie said gently, “I didn’t mean to pry.”

“That’s okay. Fair question.” Hollis flushed, her chest tightening. Annie’s eyes shimmered with a combination of tenderness and concern, and Hollis wondered what was showing in her face. She cleared her throat. “I suppose a bunch of kids would feel natural. But with my job—I’m hardly ever home and I’d hate being an absentee parent. I’m probably not cut out for it.”

“You might be selling yourself short,” Annie said quietly.

“Maybe.” Embarrassed, Hollis looked away. “Anyhow, the point is moot.”

“True. Besides, you’re not required to predict the future as one of your many talents.”

The pressure in Hollis’s chest eased as Annie subtly redirected the conversation. Annie was very perceptive, and that was both intriguing and worrisome. “Thanks for letting me off the hook.”

Annie laughed. “I think I owe you a couple of free passes.”

Again, Annie surprised her. She hadn’t been sure Annie was willing to put the past aside, at least for now, and the small bit of humor felt like a victory. She raised a brow. “Well, now that you mention it. Maybe a few free passes.”

Annie sighed. “I suppose we have to talk about the clinic situation sooner or later.”

“Yes, but fortunately, later.” Annie’s expression had shuttered at the first mention of the clinic, and Hollis wanted to put the laughter back in her eyes. She pointed to the sweeping three-story Victorian with a turret at one corner and a huge wraparound porch that sat on the corner of two quiet streets bordering the park. “This is my place.”