A Match for the Doctor Read Online Free PDF Page A

laughed lightly, feeling sorry for the man’s distress. Who would have thought that anyone this handsome could also know how to apologize.
    â€œPlease, Doctor, don’t give it another thought.”
    â€œDr. Sheffield,” Edna called again. This time her voice was even reedier than before. It broke and faded toward the end.
    And then there was a loud thud, as if a large suitcase had been dropped on the floor. At the same moment, Madelyn, his eight-year-old, suddenly screamed and cried out, “Daddy!” in a frightened, high-pitched voice.
    Swinging around, Simon saw that his children’s nanny was lying facedown and prone on the floor.
    â€œHurry!” Madelyn implored, frantically beckoning him over with both hands. “Hurry, Daddy,” she said again. “Edna’s dead!”
    Beside her, Meghan covered her eyes and began to scream. Loudly.

Chapter Three
    W hirling around, Simon immediately hurried over to the fallen nanny. Crouching over Edna, he checked her pulse and was relieved with his findings. The pulse was going fast, but it was strong.
    â€œShe’s not dead, Madelyn,” he told his daughter, indicating Edna’s chest area, which was rising and falling rhythmically.
    Nonetheless, Madelyn didn’t appear to be completely convinced. “Then why are her eyes closed?”
    â€œâ€™Cause she’s sleeping.” Meghan emphasized the last word with feeling. She looked at her sister as if Madelyn should have known that.
    â€œThat’s not a bad explanation,” Simon observed, surprised with his younger daughter’s assessment. Meghan took it as praise and preened before her sister.
    Other than a few words of greeting each day, Simon hadn’t been accustomed to actually talking with hisdaughters. That had been a domain reserved for Nancy. Since her death, he’d found himself in a whole new world with little to no clue on how to navigate in it. Children were for the most part a mysterious breed to him.
    Aware that both his daughters were looking at him expectantly, he explained, “Edna fainted. She hasn’t been feeling well these last couple of days and she probably just turned too quickly.” He’d been too busy getting ready this morning to notice, but now that he reflected, Edna had been coughing and sneezing a great deal more today than yesterday.
    Madelyn still didn’t look convinced, or at ease. Her eyes still wide, she asked her father in a halting voice, “Is she— Is Edna going to be all right?” She stood there, nervously waiting for an answer. “She’s not going to—well, you know.” She lifted her small shoulders, as if the word on her tongue was too heavy to bear or utter. “Like Mama,” she finally whispered, trusting her father to make the connection.
    He’d been desperately trying to put a lid on his grief this past year, but he hadn’t been oblivious. He had noticed that of his two daughters, Nancy’s death seemed to have affected Madelyn more than it had Meghan. The latter had cried when she’d been told, but she also recovered a great deal sooner than Madelyn had, transferring her affection and loyalty to Edna almost effortlessly.
    But then, Meghan was only six and she hadn’t realized yet just how hard life could knock you down when you were least expecting it.
    â€œIs there anything I can do to help?” the soft voice behind him asked.
    Simon realized that he’d all but forgotten about thedecorator. Probably the first man who ever had, he judged, given how attractive she was.
    â€œYes, you can hold the girls back,” he instructed. He didn’t want either of them getting underfoot, even if it was eagerness to help that propelled them.
    Scooping the unconscious nanny up into his arms, Simon struggled to his feet.
    Edna was a decidedly solid woman, he thought, as his arms strained and a rather odd pain cut across the tops of his thighs.