“Let’s see how they get along,” Simon said.
Montana moved toward the room. Fay put her hand on her arm. “Did he tell you about…” She swallowed and tears filled her eyes. “She was burned pretty bad.”
“I’m so sorry for what happened,” Montana told her as she drew in a breath. “We’re going to do everything we can to make her feel a little bit better. That’s what Cece’s been trained for.”
Fay glanced at Simon, then nodded and pushed the door open more.
Montana drew a steadying breath. Whatever she saw would be nothing compared to what Kalinda was going through. Montana only had to deal with the burns from a distance. Kalinda was living them. Montana vowed she wouldn’t react in any way, no matter what.
But the promise was harder to keep than she’d expected. The girl on the bed seemed so small and helpless. Her arms were wrapped in white bandages, only the tips of her fingers exposed. Her face was a mass of raw skin, as was her neck. Thick ointment covered the burns.
The scent of disinfectant mingled with that of burned flesh and a rotting smell. For a second, Montana thought she might gag, but then she got herself under control and reminded herself to smile.
“Kalinda?” Fay said quietly. “You have a visitor.”
The girl opened her eyes. They were startlingly blue against the angry burns. Montana’s first thought was that she must have been a very pretty child, before the accident. Her second thought was she’d never seen that much pain in anyone’s expression before.
“Hi. I’m Montana and this is Cece. Your mom said you liked dogs, so I hope it’s okay I brought her to see you.”
Kalinda nodded rather than spoke. She moved her head slightly, then winced and tears filled her eyes.
Montana felt her own throat tighten at her obvious suffering. She wanted to turn to Simon and demand he do something. Make it better. Yet she already knew he was doing as much as he could. Some things simply couldn’t be fixed.
She set Cece on the bed. Simon moved to the other side, hovering protectively. She expected him to start issuing orders, but instead he waited.
Cece, all six pounds of her, studied Kalinda for a few seconds. Then she carefully made her way to the girl’s side. She curled up between Kalinda’s hip and her hand, stretched her neck a little and licked the exposed fingertips.
The girl smiled.
“Thank you,” she whispered, her voice scratchy. Her eyes sank closed, but her fingers moved against Cece’s side.
Montana stood by the bed for what felt like hours, but was probably only fifteen minutes. When Simon nodded, she picked up Cece and whispered a goodbye.
Fay followed them outside.
“That was wonderful,” she said, wiping away tears. “She smiled. Did you see that? She actually smiled. Please say you’ll come back.”
Montana glanced at Simon, who nodded.
“Whenever you want,” Montana told her. “If Kalinda is strong enough.”
“Let’s see how it goes,” Simon said. “We don’t want to tire her out.”
“Whatever you think is best,” Fay said, already moving back toward her daughter’s room. “She smiled.”
Montana felt a little sick to her stomach. While she was thrilled Cece had helped, she hated how both Kalinda and her mother were suffering. It seemed so unfair—the random cruelty of an accident.
The dog shifted in her arms, an attempt to get closer to Simon.
“Someone has a fan,” Montana said.
Gray-green eyes locked with hers. “Excuse me?”
She motioned to the dog, who stared at him intensely. “Cece has quite a thing for you.”
He barely glanced at the animal. “I’m sure she’s like that with everyone.”
“Not really.” Montana paused, thinking she should probably excuse herself, only to remember her assignment from Mayor Marsha. She was supposed to get close to Simon, to charm him into staying in Fool’s Gold.
“I could show you around town,” she said before she could stop herself. “You’re new and the town is great and I could show you around. You know, so you could see it.” She cleared her throat and waited for him to say something scathing or simply walk away.
Instead he continued to stare at her with as much intensity as Cece stared at him.
“Thank you,” he said. “That would be nice.”
Montana continued to stand there in the middle of the corridor long after Simon had excused himself and walked away. He’d said yes. She couldn’t decide if that was a good thing or a bad thing. Maybe, the problem was, it was both.
CHAPTER FOUR
SIMON WAS WAITING by the Starbucks, as instructed. Montana paused on the opposite corner, both admiring him from afar and not sure if she had the courage to approach. Telling herself she was doing this for the greater good wasn’t as helpful as it could have been. There was something about Dr. Simon Bradley. Something she couldn’t put her finger on.
It wasn’t just his patronizing attitude. She’d never met anyone quite like him—obviously intelligent, but an emotional puzzle. Plus, he was good-looking. Sure, he had those scars, but did they really matter? When a man like him looked at a woman, the rest of the world just seemed to disappear.
Not in a romantic way, she told herself quickly. She wasn’t attracted to him. After all, it wasn’t as if he was a nice guy. And wasn’t that what she was looking for? A nice guy. If he happened to have those smoky-green eyes, well that was a plus. Except, not Simon. She might not know many things, but she knew he wasn’t the one for her.
All of which was very interesting, but wasn’t getting the job done. She drew in a breath, squared her shoulders and purposefully started across the street. Unfortunately, she didn’t look even one way, let alone both, and had to jump back to avoid being hit by a Prius driven by a distracted tourist.
As she got closer to Simon, she realized he had traded in his white coat and dark trousers for jeans and a long-sleeved shirt. She hadn’t known him for long, but he didn’t strike her as a casual dresser. She would never have guessed he even owned jeans. Not that he didn’t look good in them.
“Hi,” she said as she approached. She was nervous and didn’t know what to do with her hands. Should she offer to shake, or give a little wave? “Good afternoon.”
Simon’s voice was as steady as his gaze. He looked calm, cool and completely unimpressed with her. How fair was that? He was the new guy in town. Shouldn’t he be at least a little uncomfortable?
But he wasn’t, and there was no getting around it. And if she didn’t get out of her head pretty soon she was going to make herself crazy.
Purpose, she told herself. She had a purpose. She had been assigned a task by the mayor and she would see it through to the best of her abilities. Starting right now.
“I thought I’d show you the town,” she said, hoping she sounded cheerful and confident. She was a happy person, so the cheerful part was easy enough. As for the confidence, weren’t they always saying, “Fake it until you make it”? God knew she’d been faking it for years.
“That’s what you offered,” Simon said, watching her in that steady way of his. “A tour of the town.”
She blinked. “Right. That is what I said.” She tried to smile, found herself fighting nerves again, then went to a safer place. She’d been learning about the history of Fool’s Gold since the first grade. When in doubt, stick to the facts.
She cleared her throat.
“In the early thirteen hundreds a matriarchal tribe called the Máa-zib settled on the shores of our lake. Not much is known about them. Legend has it that they’re a branch of Maya Indians who came looking for a place where women and their children could live in harmony. Without men.”