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  Joe nodded. “Thanks. Take Brynn to the other ambulance first, will you?”

  Michael nodded. “Anything you want to get out of your car before you go, Ms. Larkin?”

  Joe thought he’d never seen a more vulnerable expression than the one Brynn turned toward Michael. “Everything I own is in that car,” she said simply, clinging even more tightly to the purse in her arms.

  Michael glanced at Joe, then spoke to Brynn. “I’ll take care of everything here,” he said kindly. “You just worry about your friend and yourself right now.”

  “Thank you,” she whispered.

  Joe touched his brother’s arm in gratitude before climbing into the ambulance behind Kelly’s gurney.

  By the time the ambulance arrived at the hospital where Joe had already spent most of the day, he had examined Kelly as thoroughly as possible under the circumstances, and knew what would have to be done for her. After sending Kelly off with the emergency team to be prepped, he was waiting when Brynn was wheeled into the ER futilely insisting that she did not need a wheelchair and that she wanted to see her friend.

  Joe got his first real look at her then, under the harsh lights of the hospital emergency entrance. Bruised, pale and shaken, she was still a very attractive woman, probably somewhere in her mid-twenties. Her tousled nape-length, blunt-cut hair was almost as dark as his own, but her eyes were a clear, crystalline blue. The unexpected contrast was very appealing, particularly in combination with her delicately rounded face, small, straight nose and full, soft mouth.

  She spotted him and climbed quickly out of the wheelchair, resisting a nurse’s attempts to keep her seated.

  “Dr. D’Alessandro,” Brynn said urgently. “Where is Kelly? What’s being done for her? When can I see her?”

  “Your friend is being stabilized and prepped for surgery,” Joe answered in the southing voice he typically used for hysterical family members.

  “Surgery?” Brynn whispered.

  He nodded. “She has sustained a rather serious injury to her right leg, as you saw at the accident scene. There are other injuries, as well, but her leg took the brunt of the damage. I’m an orthopedic surgeon on staff here, so I will perform the operation, if you have no objection..”

  She moistened her colorless lips, gripped her possessions more tightly in her arms and looked him in the eyes when she asked, “Are you good?”

  “I’m good,” he answered simply—because it was what she needed to hear, and because it was true.

  “He’s the best, ma’am,” the hovering nurse piped in.

  Joe sent her a slight smile of thanks, then looked back at Brynn. “You’ll want to call your friend’s family.”

  “She doesn’t have a family. She and I were raised in the same foster home. I’m all the family she has—and she’s all I have.”

  “Is there anyone else we can call for you, Ms. Larkin? A friend, perhaps?” the nurse asked.

  Brynn shook her head. “We’re new to Dallas. We don’t know anyone here yet.”

  Joe frowned, feeling the urge to hurry to his patient but hating to leave Brynn so alone. “I want you to be thoroughly examined, as well. You’ve been so worried about your friend that you haven’t taken time to assess your own condition.”

  “I’m fine,” Brynn answered impatiently. “Kelly is the one who’s hurt.” She looked at him pleadingly. “Please go help her.”

  Joe placed a hand on her shoulder. She felt very fragile beneath his hand, as if she were holding herself together by sheer willpower. “I’ll take care of her,” he promised.

  He turned then to the nurse. “Do me a favor, will you?” he asked quietly. “See if any D’Alessandros or Walkers are still hanging around in the maternity ward. Ms. Larkin needs someone with her.”

  The woman nodded and hurried away. Joe led Brynn to a vinyl-covered bench at an unoccupied end of the waiting room. He urged her to sit down and then sat beside her, explaining as simply and reassuringly as possible what the operation on her friend’s leg would entail. By the time he’d finished, the nurse had returned, followed by a tough-looking, deeply tanned cowboy in flannel shirt, jeans and well-worn boots.

  “Jared.” Joe stood to greet the older man, pleased to see him. Jared Walker, with his calm, quiet strength, was the kind of man a frightened young woman would instinctively trust.

  Jared nodded. “Hey, Joe. I understand there’s been an accident.”

  Speaking quickly and in a low voice, Joe explained the situation to Jared, who looked at the slender young woman sitting alone and lost on the bench in the bustling emergency room and nodded. “I’ll sit with her.”

  Joe clapped a hand on Jared’s shoulder. “Thanks. She needs the support.”

  “No problem. I’d want someone to do the same if it was my Molly in this situation.”

  He led Jared to Brynn, who was watching them questioningly. “Brynn Larkin, this is Jared Walker, a very good friend of mine. He’s going to stay here with you for a while, okay?”

  “Oh, that really isn’t necessary.” Brynn’s protest was automatic, and held a touch of shyness as she looked quickly from Jared to Joe.

  Jared gave her one of his rare smiles, and Joe could almost see Brynn warm to it—as most people did, from what Joe had observed during the more than ten years he’d known Jared Walker.

  “No trouble at all, ma’am,” Jared drawled, his tone pure, laid-back Texan. “Hospitals are bad enough without having to sit in them by yourself.”

  Reassured that Brynn was in good hands, Joe excused himself and rushed off to scrub for surgery.

  Brynn watched Joe disappear and then turned to the kind-eyed cowboy who had seated himself beside her on the hard bench. “You know him well?”

  “Joe?” Jared Walker nodded. “I’ve known him quite awhile now. My sister Michelle is married to his brother Tony which makes us family, in a manner of speaking.”

  Brynn thought of the man who’d assisted her at the scene of the accident, who had introduced himself as Joe’s brother Michael. She wondered briefly how many brothers the doctor had, but she pushed that question aside to concentrate on one that was much more important at the moment.

  “He’s a good surgeon?”

  Jared answered without hesitation. “I would let him operate on my wife, my son or my daughter. If you knew me better, you would understand how much confidence in him that indicates.”

  Jared’s love for his family was so obvious that Brynn’s throat tightened in reaction. “Thank you for reassuring me that Kelly’s in good hands,” she murmured.

  “I can tell you’re very close to your friend.”

  “She’s...” Brynn had to clear her throat. “She’s like a sister to me. The only family I have. I don’t know how I would bear it if...if she...”

  Jared covered Brynn’s icy, clenched fingers with his own work-hardened hand. “Joe will do everything he can,” he said.

  She might have preferred a reckless promise that Kelly would be fine, that there was no chance Brynn would lose her. Somehow she knew Jared Walker wasn’t the kind of man who made promises he wasn’t so sure he could keep. She sighed and nodded, grateful for the comfort he’d offered. “I know. It’s just...I’m afraid.”

  “I understand.”

  Brynn bit her lip, doubting that he could possibly understand how she felt at this moment.

  Jared’s hand tightened around hers. “I understand,” he repeated. “Eleven years ago, I sat in this very room waiting for word about my son, Shane, after a drunk driver ran a red light and smashed into the side of my truck. The side where my son was sitting.”

  Brynn went very still, searching his face. She could almost see the grim memories mirrored in his dark-blue eyes.

  “I had been driving,” Jared added. “I sat here, hardly injured, and blamed myself for the accident, even though there was nothing I could have done to prevent it. I thought if my son died, it would be my fault, because I should have seen the guy coming or reacted faster or something.
It didn’t seem fair that Shane was hurt so badly when I hardly had a scratch.”

  Tears filled Brynn’s eyes and spilled onto her cheeks. Jared Walker did understand how she felt. “I never saw the other guy,” she whispered, her voice quivering. “He hit us before I even knew he was there. I couldn’t do anything. I couldn’t...”

  Her breath caught.

  “I know, Brynn,” Jared murmured. “I’ve been there. And it doesn’t help to beat yourself up over something that wasn’t your fault.”

  “Your son...” She wiped at her face with her free hand. “He was all right?”

  “He broke his arm. Bruised one leg. Within a couple of weeks he was playing tag with his cousins. He was fourteen then. He’s twenty-five now. About your age, I would guess.”

  She nodded. “I’ll be twenty-six in a few months.”

  “How old is your friend?”

  “Twenty-two.”

  “So you’re the ‘big sister.’ You feel responsible for her. Which is making you feel even more guilty about the accident.”

  “I suppose so,” she admitted, caught off-guard by his perceptiveness.

  “Keep reminding yourself that it wasn’t your fault. You’ll start to believe it after a while.”

  “I saw Kelly’s right leg,” Brynn murmured after a moment of silence. “It’s more than bruised. It was so bloody and twisted. She looked horrible.”

  “Joe’s an excellent orthopedic surgeon,” Jared said again. “He’ll take care of her. You were fortunate that he was there when the accident happened.”

  “It’s almost as if he was sent to be there for us,” Brynn murmured.

  “Maybe he was.”

  She wanted to believe that was true.

  A uniformed hospital employee approached with a clipboard and a list of questions for Brynn. Jared sat patiently beside her as she answered as many as she could, trying to concentrate over the noise and activity going on around them. Once again, Brynn refused to be examined by a doctor; she insisted that she wanted to remain where she was until she had news of Kelly’s condition.

  “You’re sure about this, Brynn?” Jared asked. “Car accident injuries can be sneaky.”

  “I’m fine,” she repeated firmly. She was being truthful; other than feeling sore and stiff, she was uninjured. “How long do you suppose this operation will take?”

  “It could take a long time,” Jared warned. “If your friend’s leg is as badly injured as you suspect, the repairs could take hours.”

  Brynn closed her eyes and shuddered, thinking again that Jared Walker was not a man prone to sugarcoating his answers. But he was being so kind to stay with her, a total stranger. She was certain he had other things to do.

  She opened her eyes to look at him. “I’ll be fine, you know, if you need to leave. I certainly can’t expect you to wait here with me all evening.”

  He shrugged, looking perfectly content to remain where he was. “I’ve got nowhere else to be at the moment. I was here at the hospital because my sister had a baby this morning. My wife was here earlier, but Molly—our ten-year-old daughter—had a motherdaughter thing at Girl Scouts this evening, so Cassie took her to that. Unless you would rather be alone, I would like to stay and keep you company. It’s easier to wait when you have someone to talk to and take your mind off your worry.”

  “I don’t want to be alone,” Brynn admitted. “Not if you really don’t mind staying.”

  “I really don’t mind.” He sounded utterly sincere.

  Brynn blinked back a fresh wave of tears, thinking that Joe D’Alessandro wasn’t the only one who’d been heaven-sent to help her through this.

  Half an hour into the operation, Brynn glanced up to see a good-looking man in boots, jeans and a denim shirt strolling toward the bench where she and Jared sat. He was of average height, athletically built, brown haired, tanned, and had gray-blue eyes so much like Jared Walker’s that Brynn immediately guessed this must be Jared’s son, Shane.

  “Hi, Dad,” he said, confirming her suspicion. “What’s going on?”

  Jared and Brynn both stood, and Jared made the introductions. Hearing what had happened, Shane looked sympathetically at Brynn. “Joe’s an excellent surgeon. You couldn’t ask for anyone better for your friend.”

  “So I’ve been told,” Brynn murmured, glancing at Jared.

  “Can I get you some coffee? A soda, maybe?” Shane offered, looking as though he would really like to do something to help.

  Brynn started to decline, then realized that her mouth was very dry. “A soda sounds good,” she said, a bit shyly. “If you don’t mind...”

  Shane was already in motion. “Be right back,” he promised. “I’ll get you some coffee, Dad,” he called over his shoulder.

  Jared grimaced. “The coffee around here isn’t much better than drinking lighter fluid. I should know—I’ve drunk enough of it.”

  Shane had hardly returned with the beverages when another man appeared, this one tall and handsome, with wavy dark hair, frosted with gray at the temples, and dark, smiling eyes.

  Jared introduced him as Tony D’Alessandro, a name Brynn recognized.

  “You’re the new father,” she said. “Congratulations.”

  Tony grinned. “Thank you. This is our fourth—and final—child.”

  “Boy or girl?”

  “Boy. His name is Justin. We also have a nine-year-old boy, and two girls, ages six and four.”

  “A big family.”

  “My wife and I love children.” Tony’s smile faded. “I heard about what happened to you and your friend. Is there anything I can do to help you, Ms. Larkin?”

  “ ‘Brynn,’ ” she corrected him. “And thank you, but no, there’s nothing you can do for now. I only wish I had some word about Kelly.”

  “Don’t tell him I said so, but my brother is a heck of a surgeon,” Tony assured her. “Your friend is getting the best of care.”

  Under any other circumstances, Brynn might have been somewhat amused by the repeated assurances that Joe D’Alessandro was such an excellent surgeon. Instead, she took each word to heart.

  Brynn knew the time she spent waiting for word of Kelly’s condition would have been pure hell had she been sitting there alone, bruised and sore and terrified. As it was, Jared, Shane and Tony kept her company, even making her smile several times with their banter. She wondered if she would ever be able to express the full extent of her gratitude to them.

  Someone entered the waiting room and she glanced up expectantly, hoping for word of Kelly’s progress. Instead, she recognized the new arrival as Michael D’Alessandro, from the accident scene. He was followed by an older man, who looked like a seventy-something version of the D’Alessandro brothers.

  Michael walked straight to Brynn, nodding at the men surrounding her. “How are you?” he asked her.

  “I’m fine. Kelly is in surgery. Your brother is operating on her leg.”

  Michael nodded, and Brynn was struck by how much he resembled his brother Tony. “Your car has been towed to a reputable body shop, though I imagine the insurance company will declare it a total loss. My father and I unloaded all your things from the car and took them to his house, where they’ll be safe. We made an itemized list of everything, and we had a police officer watch what we removed and sign the list at the scene. We also gave the officer our names and Dad’s address, in case you worried about our trustworthiness.”

  “Michael’s a lawyer,” Tony murmured with a smile for Brynn. “He believes in dotting every i and crossing every t.”

  “I don’t know how to thank you,” Brynn said to Michael, and then looked around the group to include the others. “All of you. You’ve been so kind to me.”

  The men cleared their throats, shuffled their feet and appeared embarrassed. And then all started talking at once, obviously wanting to change the subject.

  Vinnie D’Alessandro sat beside Brynn, while the others scattered for a break. Tony and Michael went upstairs to check on the
new baby; Jared and his son moved to a quiet corner to call Jared’s wife.

  “My son’s a good doctor,” Vinnie told Brynn, patting her hand in a grandfatherly manner that touched her. “Don’t you be worrying about your friend.”

  The faintest lilt of an Italian accent in his gruff voice intrigued Brynn. All three of his sons sounded Texas born and raised, their surname and dark coloring the only hint of their heritage.

  “Thank you, Mr. D’Alessandro. Everyone has been telling me that your son is a good surgeon. I believe it.”

  He nodded in satisfaction. “You call me ‘Vinnie.’ Everyone does.”

  She smiled. “Vinnie.”

  “My son said you’re new to Dallas. From the number of boxes you had in your car, I assume you were moving here today.”

  Her smile faded. “We were going to spend tonight in a motel and start looking at apartments tomorrow.”

  It had seemed like such an adventure when she and Kelly left Longview earlier that day. They’d moved to Dallas to “seek their fortunes,” as they’d told their friends. The future had seemed to spread in front of them like a sumptuous buffet waiting to be sampled.

  They’d had no idea, of course, that everything would go so horribly wrong only minutes after they’d entered the Dallas city limits.

  Vinnie frowned. “You don’t even have a place to stay for tonight?”

  Brynn ran a hand through her hair, wincing a bit when her fingers brushed the tender lump at her temple. “I’ll worry about that after I find out how Kelly is.”

  Vinnie opened his mouth to say something, but Brynn wouldn’t have heard him had he spoken then.

  Joe D’Alessandro had just entered the waiting room, his handsome face lined with exhaustion.

  Brynn sprang to her feet, her heart leaping into her throat. She couldn’t help noting the somberness in the doctor’s dark eyes as he looked at her.

  Oh, please. Let Kelly be all right, she prayed fervently. And then she stepped forward to meet Joe half-way.

  Chapter Two

  Joe had had little time to think of Brynn during the operation on her friend, but seeing her again affected him the same way it had before. Those crystal-blue eyes of hers were lethal, he mused, trying to hold on to his professional objectivity. When she looked at him, so worried and pleading, he found himself wanting to promise her anything, just to put a smile in those beautiful eyes.