her skin. It’s raw and unattractive. There’s a smell, from the burns and the various medicines we use. She’s in pain and is exhausted.”
Montana nodded, her smile fading. “I wish I could do something to help.”
“Hopefully the dog will accomplish that. Recovering from burns takes years. It’s uncomfortable, to say the least. Despite our best efforts, the worst cases can never be what everyone would call normal. It’s a failing.”
She studied him, suddenly aware that he considered it a personal failing. As if he should be able to do better than everyone else.
“You’ll stay fifteen minutes, then leave. We’ll assess how the visit went before deciding if they will continue.”
Before she was ready, he’d pushed open one of the doors and motioned for her to follow.
The last time she’d been on the burn ward she’d been more concerned about getting Fluffy under control than noticing her surroundings. Now she was aware of closed doors with warnings about isolation and cleanliness. As she walked with Simon, she was aware of his scars. When he spoke of the effort of recovery, he spoke from personal experience. She wondered what had happened to him and when.
They stopped in front of a half-closed door. Simon pushed it open and a woman in her late twenties stepped out. She was petite and obviously exhausted. Her skin was gray and dark circles shadowed her blue eyes. When she saw Montana or, more precisely, Cece, she smiled.
“You brought a little dog!”
Montana moved toward her. “I’m Montana Hendrix. This is Cece. She’s a trained therapy dog.”
“Fay Riley.” The woman let Cece sniff her fingers. “This is exactly what Kalinda needs. Thank you so much for bringing her.” Fay’s gaze moved to Simon. “And you for arranging it.”
“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,
