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doctor’s need for rest and wouldn’t call him so early knowing he’d had only a few hours of sleep. He went back to the phone and looked at the caller ID to verify his suspicion that Elaine was the caller. He thought back to the previous day and the wallop he’d got when he’d looked at Melanie Sparks for the first time. She hadn’t displayed her sexuality like the Monday wash drying on the line. She didn’t have to. It was an intrinsic part of her.
    Melanie communicated softness, sweetness and comfort. And her eyes! He shook himself out of his reverie. Melanie Sparks worked for him, and he didn’t dare dream of how giving she would be if he were ever wrapped in her arms.
    Having forgotten about the phone call, Jack dressed, got into his Porsche and headed for the hospital. Still, Melanie Sparks preyed on his mind. She had handled his patients as if they were her own children, filling out the forms, answering questions, reassuring them and relieving him in other ways. And she knew a thing or two about medicine. They worked together as if they had done it for years. It was as if God liked what he’d started and sent him precisely the help he needed, for Melanie understood people and their needs far better than he did. She suited him as perfectly as did his hands and feet.
    Jack drove to the doctors’ parking area. “I’m getting the help I need,” he said to himself, his thoughts still on Melanie, “but I’m also having a struggle that I don’t need. She stayed with me to the end, two and a half hours overtime, and was cheerful every minute. That means she’s loyal. If I’m not careful…” He didn’t let himself finish the thought. He got a doughnut and coffee in the hospital’s cafeteria and consumed it on the elevator en route to the operating floor.
    Later that morning, he walked into his Bolton Hill office suite and stopped short. “Hello, Elaine. Is there a problem?” She knew he didn’t socialize in his office or where he worked.
    She rushed to him, but he stepped back from her, reminding her that she was in his office waiting room. “What’s the purpose of this, Elaine? I’m late for my ten-thirty appointment.”
    “Oh, darling. Just tell me you don’t intend to go through with this silly notion of opening an office in a run-down area of South Baltimore.”
    He stared at Elaine Jackson. She had never paid attention to anything about him other than his red Porsche and the size of his wallet. “Don’t tell me you’re interrupting my work to say that.” Infuriated, he turned to his receptionist. “Give me two minutes and then send Mrs. Blount into my office. Ms. Jackson is leaving.”
    “Yes, sir.” He did not imagine the triumphant expression on his receptionist’s face, and he wondered what had passed between the two women.
     
    After his office hours the next Wednesday, Jack met his father for lunch as he usually did on that day, and it depressed him that his father would not rejoice with him about his success the previous night, his joy in having treated all those people with their varied problems and ailments. He was dog-tired, but he felt better than he ever had about his work as a physician.
    When his father arrived, Jack stood and embraced him. “How are you, Dad?”
    “I’m fine, because I don’t overtax myself. What about you?”
    “I’m tired, but I’ve never felt better or been happier in my life.”
    Montague’s left eye narrowed, and his fingers rubbed across his chin. “Is that a reason for you to brush off Elaine? She’s a fine woman, and—”
    Jack held up both hands to stop him. “She called you after she left my office? She knows I don’t want her coming to see me where I work. She’s never been in that office before. And how did she know about my South Baltimore clinic? I didn’t tell her.”
    “Well, as I said, she’s a fine woman—”
    Jack leaned forward, put his forearms on the pristine white tablecloth and balled both fists. “Listen to me,