The Men of Medicine Ridge - Diana Palmer [30]
“I’ll pick them up on my way over,” she said. “You go ahead and catch your flight. I’ll be there in thirty minutes if they have her prescriptions ready.”
“They should be,” he said. “I dropped them off before I brought her home. I’ll phone and give them my credit card number, so they’ll already be paid for.”
“Thanks.”
“Thank you,” he added. “She feels pretty bad, so she shouldn’t give you much trouble. Oh, and there’s a little complication,” he said irritably. “Whit’s here.”
“That should cheer her up,” she reminded him.
“It will, as long as you don’t look at him.”
She laughed. “No problem there.”
“I know you don’t like him, but she won’t believe it. If there was anybody else I could ask, I wouldn’t bother you. I just don’t like the idea of leaving her alone with him, even if she does have pneumonia.”
“I don’t mind. Honest. You be careful.”
“The plane wouldn’t dare crash,” he chuckled. “I’ve got too much work to do.”
“Keep that in mind. I’ll see you when you get back.”
“You be careful, too,” he said. “And wear your raincoat. It’s already sprinkling outside.”
“I’ll wear mine if you wear yours.”
He chuckled again. “Okay. You win. I’ll be home as soon as I can.”
She said goodbye and hung up, rushing to get her bag packed so that she could get over to the ranch.
She walked into Viv’s bedroom with a bag of medicine, a cold soft drink that she knew her friend liked and some cough drops.
Viv looked washed out and sick, but she managed a wan smile as Natalie approached the bed. Whit was sprawled in an armchair by the bed, looking out of sorts until he saw Natalie. His eyes ran over her trim figure in jeans and a button-up gray knit sweater with a jaunty gray and green scarf.
“Don’t you look cute,” he said with a smile.
Viv glared at him. So did Natalie.
“Why don’t you make some coffee, Whit?” Viv asked angrily. “I could do with a cup.”
He got out of the chair. “My pleasure. What do you take in yours, Nat?” he asked smoothly.
She turned and looked him right in the eye. “Nobody calls me Nat except Mack,” she pointed out. “It isn’t a nickname I tolerate from anyone else.”
His cheekbones colored briefly. “Sorry,” he said with a nervous laugh. “I’ll just make that coffee. Be back as soon as I can.”
Viv watched him go and then turned cold eyes on her friend. “You don’t have to snap at him,” she said curtly. “He was only being polite.”
Natalie’s eyebrows went up. “Was he?”
“Mack shouldn’t have called you,” she said tersely. “I’d have been just fine here with Whit.”
Natalie felt uncomfortable and unwelcome. “He thought you needed nursing.”
“He thought I needed a chaperone, you mean,” she said angrily. “And I don’t! Whit would manage just fine.”
“All right, then,” Natalie said with a forced smile. “I’ll go home. There’s your medicine and some cough drops. I guess Whit can pick up anything else you need. Sorry I bothered you.”
She turned and walked to the door, almost in tears.
“Oh, Nat, don’t go,” Viv said miserably. “I’m sorry. You came all this way and even brought my medicine and I’m being horrible. Please come back.”
Natalie had the door open. “You’ve got Whit….”
“Come back,” Viv pleaded.
Natalie closed the door and went to the armchair by the bed, but her eyes were wounded and faintly accusing as she sat.
“Listen, Whit doesn’t like me,” Natalie told Viv. “He’s only flirting with me to make you jealous. Why can’t you see that? What in the world could he see in me? I’m not pretty and I don’t have any money.”
“In other words, he wouldn’t like me if I didn’t have a wealthy background?” Viv asked pointedly.
“I said you were pretty, too,” she replied. “I know you feel bad, Viv, but you’re being unreasonable. We’ve been friends for a long time. I don’t know you lately, you’re so different.”
Viv shifted against her pillows. “He talks about you, too, even when you aren’t here.”
“It isn’t what you think,” Natalie said, exasperated. “He’s never said or done a thing out of line.”
“He’s very good-looking,” Viv persisted.
“So are you,” Natalie said. “But right