her every thought. Michelle started laughing even as she shook her head.
'We've got to get to the clinic,' she told them.
'Just a second, Michelle,' Noah said as he flipped through the playbook. 'Theo, look at page fifty-three. Do you remember-'
'Theodore, take that book away from your friend and get him moving now.'
Calling him Theodore did the trick. He grabbed the book and got up. Noah was impressed. 'She sounds like a drill sergeant,' he said as he watched Michelle standing in the doorway, tapping her foot impatiently.
'She can get tough when she has to.' Theo made the comment sound like a compliment.
'That's a real talent,' Noah remarked.
'She gives as good as she gets. She doesn't back down. I like that. You know what else she does? Vegetables,' he said as he walked through the dining room to get to the front door.
'Did you say vegetables?' Noah asked, certain he hadn't heard correctly.
'Yeah. You should see her cut vegetables with a paring knife. It's incredible. You could put it to music.'
Noah followed Theo outside. 'What the hell does that mean?'
'She's so… precise.'
Noah laughed. 'Man, oh man.'
'What?'
'Have you got it bad.'
CHAPTER TWENTY-NINE
Noah and Michelle didn't make it to football practice. There was simply too much work to get done at the clinic. Her friends amazed her. They got the files back in order and stacked them alphabetically in boxes, so that as soon as the new file cabinets arrived, all she had to do was drop them in the drawers. Theo drove over to the clinic to pick up Michelle, while Noah went
back to his motel to shower and change before heading to The Swan to help Jake.
Michelle felt guilty that neither Theo nor Noah had gotten to fish. When she made that remark to Theo, he told her not to worry. Saturday he would be in a boat from sunup to sundown, and, anyway, the anticipation was almost as much fun as the actual
event. He rattled off all the items he thought they should pack in the cooler. like the Boy Scouts, he wanted to be prepared, and God forbid he should run out of sandwiches and beer.
He had parked the car in her driveway, and they were just getting out when Elena Miller pulled up in her little hatchback, tooting her horn to get their attention.
'Dr. Mike,' she called as she ran around to the passenger side, 'would you ask your young man to carry this box in?'
'What's in the box?' Michelle asked.
'Didn't you get my message? I called you from the hospital and left it on your machine.'
'As you can see, I just got home, Elena,' Michelle answered.
'I've had it with you doctors cluttering up my ER. This box is full of mail that was scattered all over the counters,' she said, motioning with both hands to the backseat of her car. 'I started with you, and next Monday I'm taking on Dr. Landusky's junk.'
Michelle introduced Theo to the exasperated woman and explained that the staff secretary was trying to organize the ER.
'Why can't you have your journals sent to your clinic, Doctor? It really would help if you would just take your mail home every night. Is that too much to ask?'
'No, it isn't,' Michelle said, feeling as though she were in school again. 'Why didn't you just leave all this stuff in the doctors' lounge?' she asked when Theo picked up the box and she saw all the magazines.
Elena shut the door behind Theo and then got in behind the wheel. 'Because I just finished cleaning out that mess,' she said.
'You doctors…'
She was backing the car out of the drive and didn't finish the sentence.
'I'll try to do better,' Michelle called. Placated, the woman waved as she sped down the road. Theo followed Michelle inside. 'Elena reminds me of someone,' he remarked as he carried the box into the library and put it on the desk. She nudged him out
of the way so she could look through it. There were several journals, parcels from two pharmaceutical companies, and a pile of junk mail.
'Who?' she asked as she dropped the envelopes back into the box. There wasn't anything that required her immediate attention.
'Gene Wilder.'
'She's just got a bad perm,' Michelle said, laughing.
'Where's your cooler?' he asked.
'In the garage. It needs to be washed, though,' she said as she headed for the steps.
'You go ahead and take your shower first while I hose it off. Then I'll clean up. And don't use all the hot water,' he called after her.
He'd been a guest in her house for a couple of days, and he was already trying to tell her what to do. She shook her head as she laughed. Nice, she thought. Having him here was very, very nice.
The deep resonant boom of thunder awakened Theo. It sounded like a firecracker had gone off inside the bedroom. The bed actually shook. It was pitch black outside, but when he turned his head, he could see lightning streaking across the sky.
A heD of a storm was raging. He tried to go back to sleep, but it was too hot. The air conditioner was humming, but because the window was open a crack, the cold air was being sucked out into the storm.
Michelle was sound asleep, cuddled up against his side, one hand flat on his stomach. He gently eased her onto her back, kissed her forehead, and smiled when she tried to roll over on top of him. He was suddenly thinking about waking her up and making love to her again, but then he glanced at the glowing green numbers on the clock radio and changed his mind. It was three o'clock. Waking her was out of the question. She needed her sleep, and so did he. They'd gone to bed at ten, but they hadn't gone to sleep until midnight.
If he wanted to spend Saturday fishing, he would have to get everything else done tomorrow. He had another meeting with the Carsons and their attorneys to hammer out the details, and when he was finished, he was going to help at the clinic.
Michelle didn't want to waste the entire day Saturday fishing until Theo told her about a little side bet he'd made with Noah. Whoever caught the most fish had to pay the loser a thousand dollars.
She had been appalled by the amount of the wager-how could anyone bet that kind of money when it could be put to much
better use-but as soon as Theo told her he couldn't and wouldn't call the wager off, she got with the program and became determined that he win. Boasting that she had a secret strategy, she explained that her father would take Noah to his favorite fishing spot deep in the swamp, just around the bend from John Paul's cabin. But on the other side of the bayou was an even better spot where the fish were so plentiful and friendly they would all but jump into the boat.
When he'd asked her how come she'd never told her father about her special fishing spot, she explained that she didn't want him going there alone because it was so isolated, and there were predators in the area. He'd translated the remark to mean that there were alligators in the area. She didn't deny or confirm his suspicion but took his mind off his worry by kissing him as she slowly removed his clothes. Taking his hand in hers, she'd led him to her bed. The diversion had worked like a charm.
Until now.
