Trouble in Tourmaline (Silhouette Special Edition) Read Online Free PDF Page A

into her bedroom and had changed into jeans and a polo shirt, she went downstairs to the office where she knew Gert would be. As she walked into the waiting room, Gert was just putting the phone down. She gestured Amy to a seat.
    “That was Hal Hathaway, thanking me for choosing a young, good-looking associate. He thinks the town has enough old fogies as it is.”
    “News travels fast in Tourmaline,” Amy said.
    “Hal makes sure of that. He’s the town’s prime gossip. I assume he got his chance to talk to you when you checked out of his hotel.”
    Amy nodded.
    “I’m sure he told you some things about David. How much?”
    “Well, that David was divorced and there’d been some kind of a problem in New Mexico.”
    “Over a year ago, yes. David was at a low point when he came here. I felt he needed some therapy,but being a relative, it wasn’t ethical for me to treat him. I tried to get him to go to a psychiatrist in Reno, but he refused. I have little doubt that he would have refused therapy even from me, had I been able to offer it.”
    “I don’t know him well,” Amy said cautiously, “but he doesn’t seem to be in a depression now.”
    “Hard work in the sun and fresh air has been good medicine.”
    “The landscaping,” Amy murmured.
    “Exactly.”
    “Mr. Hathaway mentioned David was a lawyer.”
    “Is. He passed both Nevada bar exams.” Gert sighed. “I remember him telling me when he was ten that when he grew up he was going to be a lawyer and help people, just like I was a doctor and helped them. Law was his dream. But now—” She paused and shook her head. “He’s disillusioned with the profession. Who knows if he’ll ever go back.”
    “If he passed the exams…?”
    “I think he took them just to shut me up.”
    “He’s in denial.” It wasn’t a question, Amy was offering a diagnosis.
    Gert shrugged. “I’ve told you this because I know you’ll hear more gossip. I also realize that you and David got off on the wrong foot. He’ll work things out eventually. Try not to be too hard on him.”
    “No, of course not.” Even as Amy said the words, a plan was forming in her mind. Though she was Gert’s associate, she wasn’t related to David, so it wasn’t exactly unethical for her to try to help him. Not that she’d be overt. With his negative attitudetoward therapy, it’d never do to let him realize she was going to be attempting to steer him into overcoming his denial, so he could return to the profession he’d once loved.
    She felt really noble for about ten seconds. Then it hit her. She, who had absolutely no use for the legal profession, was going to try to find a way to get this man to embrace law again? What a crock. On the other hand, she’d gone into psychology because she wanted to help people understand their problems and overcome them. David had a real problem. It shouldn’t matter what it was, she was a psychologist and it was her duty to help him face up to his.
    Should she discuss it with Gert? For a moment or two she wavered, then decided actually there was no need to, since she wasn’t going to officially be David’s therapist. Hers would be a covert operation. If it didn’t work, no harm would come to him. There was a good chance she could pull it off, in which case he’d be better.
    “Given time, I believe David and I can become friends,” she said.
    Gert smiled at her. “I hope so. Now I’ll show you around a bit so you’ll know where everything is when we start seeing patients tomorrow.”
     
    David, T-shirt slung on the porch rail again, inserted the last of today’s shrubs into its hole, a hibiscus the nursery owner thought was hardy enough to survive a Nevada winter. Time would tell. He’d given it a southern exposure near the house so the plant would have a fighting chance.
    “So are you through for the day?” Amy’s voice came from behind, startling him.
    He turned to look at her. “More or less.”
    “I’ve been thinking about our