While Love Stirs by Lorna Seilstad Page B

car responded with an impressive thirty miles per hour. He shifted gears and sighed. Maybe he should turn around and go home, but Charlotte had looked awfully pale when he’d sent her home from the competition earlier today. Besides, if his sister learned he’d come this far and then hadn’t spoken to Charlotte, she’d harass him for days.
    Joel passed one stately columned house after another as he drove. What was he thinking? Going to Mrs. Samantha Phillips’s fancy home without being summoned?
    Not that he minded visiting Mrs. Phillips. She’d been an avid supporter of the hospital and was one of his first patients in the area. Even after he accepted the position at the hospital, she’d continued to retain him as her personal physician. He found her unconventional ways truly delightful, but even she might not appreciate the breach of etiquette.
    Pulling to a stop at the corner of Chatsworth and Summit, he parked in front of the enormous brick mansion, picked up his medical bag, and bounded up the walk to the front porch. Howmany bedrooms would a house this size have? Seven? Eight? And fireplaces? From counting the chimneys, he guessed at least five or six. No wonder Mrs. Phillips had her two nieces living with her.
    The porch’s tiled floor caught his eye. His mother would have loved the rust-colored diamond pattern as much as the wicker furniture scattered along the porch’s length. He rang the bell and waited. A half minute later, a butler answered.
    He stepped aside and welcomed Joel inside. “Good evening, Dr. Brooks. I wasn’t aware Mrs. Phillips summoned you. May I take your coat?”
    Joel handed the man his coat and hat. “Actually, I came to check on Miss Gregory. When I saw her earlier today, she was feeling faint.”
    “Very well. I’ll tell her you’re here.”
    Joel shifted from foot to foot in the foyer. What was he doing here? No matter how down-to-earth the owner of this home might be, a man with his background shouldn’t be calling uninvited. He glanced from the mahogany staircase with its hand-carved curlicues to the wide crown molding on the ceiling. All of the details in this home made it truly spectacular. Even the top of the newel post had been carved to resemble a lantern.
    Unable to resist, he ran his hand along the banister’s smooth finish.
    “Sir.” The butler stepped into the foyer again.
    Joel yanked his hand away.
    “Mrs. Phillips and Miss Gregory will see you in the drawing room.” The butler opened a heavy mahogany door and motioned Joel inside.
    Dressed in a brown-striped cycling costume, Mrs. Phillips stood as he entered and clapped her hands together. “Dr. Brooks, what a wonderful surprise! Have you had dinner?”
    “No, ma’am, but I simply came to check on your niece.” His gaze moved to Charlotte seated on the davenport in an apricot dress. Her cider-colored hair remained pinned up, but some curlshad sprung free, framing her face. She no longer looked pale. In fact, from the blush of her cheeks and her uncharacteristic silence, he’d have to say his attention embarrassed her. “She looked quite peaked when I last saw her.”
    “As you can see, I’m much improved,” Charlotte said. “You needn’t have come.” Mrs. Phillips pinned her with a stern look, and Charlotte cleared her throat. “But it was thoughtful of you to do so.”
    Mrs. Phillips laid a hand on his arm. “It certainly was, and you must stay for dinner.”
    He turned to gauge Charlotte’s reaction, but she quickly looked down. Although he thought this might be the perfect time to talk to Charlotte about educating the nurses, if she didn’t want him there, perhaps it was not. “I don’t want to impose, Mrs. Phillips.”
    “It’s not an imposition, and Charlotte made her specialty for dessert.”
    “Her specialty?”
    Mrs. Phillips beamed. “Apple charlotte, of course.”
    So she hadn’t followed his advice and rested this afternoon. That figured. He glanced at Charlotte again. As if