Read the book: «Love Chronicles»

Chapter One

Connor Forbes glanced up from the medical journal he was reading at the receptionist’s counter and looked at the office window.

“What a crock,” he grumbled, staring at the words Mr. Commitment painted in gold letters below his father’s name, Brady Forbes, M.D. Unfortunately, Connor’s name would soon take the place of his father’s and the whole town of Oak Valley, Oregon, would be coming to him not only for their medical problems, which he was more than qualified to handle, but for their relationship problems, too.

He snorted and shook his head, then rubbed his eyes under his wire-rimmed reading glasses. A man who’d failed to keep a girlfriend for more than three months at a time was the last person who should be Mr. Commitment.

He dropped his hands from his eyes and his dire thoughts were cut off when a large, black-and-white blur ran by the office’s floor-to-ceiling window. Drawing his eyebrows together, Connor straightened just as a slender woman dressed in a flowing skirt ran by. She was waving one hand in the air while the other clutched a large tote bag, her sunshine-blond hair streaming out behind her.

Intrigued—nothing remotely exciting ever happened in Oak Valley, and certainly nothing involving lithe, feminine legs and long, silky blond hair—he moved out from behind the desk and headed closer to the window to get a better view.

The blur reappeared across the street. Connor’s eyebrows went up when he saw that the black-and-white thing was a giant dog running at breakneck speed down the boardwalk.

The runaway mutt took a sharp right and leaped off the boardwalk and into the street, his huge paws flopping, his whip-like tail held high in the air. Just about the time Connor thanked heaven traffic was nonexistent in Oak Valley, the dog headed straight toward his office. In one mighty leap, the crazy canine cleared the step up to the boardwalk. Tongue lolling, he took another step and then skidded to a halt just in time to plant his huge front paws on the window facing Connor. He let out a huge woof, his tail wagging, his mouth pressed into what Connor would swear was a doggy smile.

Before Connor could recover from the attack of the humongous smiling dog, the woman with the sunshine-blond hair ran up, her brows knitted together, her pink lips pressed into a frown. She had high cheekbones and what looked like a smattering of freckles on her perfect nose. She wore a long, flowing pink skirt and gauzy white top.

She dropped her bag, grabbed the dog’s collar and pulled him off the window. She bent over, shaking a scolding finger at the delinquent mutt. Didn’t seem to faze the animal in the least. He playfully jumped around, barking, trying to get loose.

After her “scolding,” she hooked the leash on the dog, then straightened. She reached up with a noticeable huff and flipped her sunglasses onto the top of her head, exposing a strip of firm flesh at her waist where her top fell short.

Connor took his glasses off and stared, his blood heating up. She was beautiful. His last relationship, clocking in at a bare three weeks, had ended five months ago. He was due.

She turned his way and saw him, almost giving him a heart attack when her gorgeous topaz-brown gaze hit his. She stared back, the attraction clearly mutual; then her eyes refocused and she gazed at the words on the window. She mouthed the words Mr. Commitment.

He swore the flush on her cheeks deepened as she took in his white lab coat, then gave him a feeble little wave, as if it weren’t okay to swap stares with a doctor. Shaking her head, she pulled the dog to one of the wooden benches that lined the boardwalk, tied him up and then, surprisingly, made her way back toward Connor’s office.

Okay, maybe it was okay to stare at a doctor.

He returned to his spot behind the reception counter. June, his nurse/receptionist who would normally greet visitors, was having a problem getting her grandson to preschool and hadn’t arrived yet.

As the mystery woman opened the door and stepped inside, he got hold of himself and knitted his brow. Who was she? Not a scheduled patient; he knew everyone who had appointments with him this morning. He didn’t recognize her as a local, either. Although he had been in Seattle for a long time. Still, he’d been back for a month and he wouldn’t forget a woman who looked like her. Not in a million years. Besides, if he did know her, he sure wouldn’t be feeling a sharp lack of female companionship in his life right now.

Miss Sunshine stood on the other side of the oak reception counter, smiling, exposing straight white teeth. This close, he could see a there was indeed a light dusting of freckles on her nose, visible even through the pink blush staining her cheeks. Her smile made his blood surge, but it was her big brown eyes, the color of dark topaz, that really knocked him for a loop all over again.

He said the first thing that popped into his head. “What’s up with your dog?”

Her blush deepened. “Oh, I am so sorry. He’s a little…wild.” She bit her lip and glanced toward the smudged window. “I’ll be sure and clean up his paw and nose marks.” Her voice was distinctive—melodious and sexy at the same time.

“Don’t worry about it. Maybe he needs some obedience training,” Connor offered. “A training collar might help.”

She widened her eyes. “You mean a choke collar?” she said, horror studding every syllable. “That would hurt him.”

“A car nailing him would hurt more. Luckily, there’s no traffic in Oak Valley, or he might have been hit.”

She pressed her lips into a fine line. “I have my own ways of training my dog—”

“Ways that work?”

She snapped her mouth closed and glared. “My dog isn’t the issue here.” She stepped forward and grudgingly offered her hand. “You must be Dr. Forbes.” She sounded as if she thought he’d morphed into Dr. Frankenstein.

He took the proffered hand and shook it, liking how smooth and warm and small it felt in his, how its heat spread instantly into his body. “Uh, yes. Yes I am.” He tilted his head sideways and reluctantly released her, noticing her light floral scent in the air, wishing he could lean in close and sniff. He really hoped she wasn’t a patient. It would be unethical to have the sorts of thoughts he was having if he was supposed to treat her. “And you are?”

“Sunny Williams.” She scanned the area, her tight look fading a bit. “I can’t tell you how much I’ve looked forward to coming here, Dr. Forbes. I fully believe my holistic approach to healing will add a wonderful new dimension to your practice.”

He pulled in his chin, surprised by not only how fitting her name was, but also that he had absolutely no idea what she was talking about. “Holistic healing? You mean all of that ridiculous, New Age mumbo jumbo?”

She bristled again. “It’s not mumbo jumbo,” she replied, her eyes sparking. “I deal in massage therapy, yoga and aromatherapy.”

“And it will add a new dimension to my practice?” He laughed under his breath, shaking his head. “You’ve got the wrong guy.” He didn’t believe in that kind of garbage. Science was the backbone of his medical practice, not the touchy-feely theories that were making the rounds these days.

She pursed her glossy lips and frowned, creating appealing little lines between her dark blond eyebrows. “I don’t think so.” She put her tote bag on the floor and raised one brow. “You’re Connor Forbes, right?”

He widened his stance, crossing his arms over his chest. “Yes, I am, but I don’t know who you are.”

Mild panic rose in her eyes; then, her face cleared and she grinned. “Oh, that rascal.”

“Who are you talking about?”

“Why, your father, of course.” She pushed her hair behind her ear and gave him a funny look. “Who else?”

Connor stared at her, the bottom falling out of his stomach. “My father?”

Nodding, she said, “He met my parents at a marriage counseling workshop, found out I was looking to make a new start, and he invited me to come here and set up shop next door.” She gestured to the empty storefront next to his. “I guess we got off on the wrong foot.” She extended her hand again. “I’m Sunny Williams, your new partner.”

His partner?

Connor stared at her hand, trying to ignore how much he wanted to touch her again. He shoved his glasses back on. Raw anger began to bubble inside of him, along with a burning question he was damn sure going to find the answer to.

What in the heck was his dad up to?

Sunny withdrew her hand when the doctor didn’t shake it. She took a little breath to calm her racing heart, attributing her breathlessness to the fact that Rufus had been his usual naughty self this morning, leading her on a wild goose chase before she’d caught him. To make matters worse, he’d been naughty in front of her new partner, mortifying her in the process. It didn’t help at all that her new partner had never heard of her.

Struggling for calm, she noticed again that Dr. Forbes was one darn good-looking man, even with that stunned I-didn’t-know-I-had-a-partner expression on his handsome face. His deep green eyes, disheveled, dark brown hair and tall, muscular body made him look like her male fantasy come to life. She even liked his glasses, which gave him a scholarly air, and his rumpled tan corduroy trousers and light blue button-down cotton shirt looked appealing on him.

Then he’d opened his mouth. Choke collar! Ridiculous, New Age mumbo jumbo indeed!

But she’d have to set aside her dislike for the sake of her career goals. Oak Valley was her fresh start, a new chance to make a go of it with her holistic therapy practice. She’d failed in San Francisco. A lot. She wouldn’t—couldn’t—fail again. Seeing the disappointment in her parents’ eyes—again—after their own wild success would be too much to bear.

Besides, until she’d encountered the disagreeable doctor, she’d felt nothing but positive vibes from Oak Valley. This had to be the place. Her thirtieth birthday was coming up fast. And Robbie was already married. She needed an anchor, and she hoped she’d find one here in Oak Valley.

The doctor finally spoke. “Look, I don’t know what kind of arrangement you made with my father, but I’m not in the market for a partner. Especially not one into holistic healing.” He rolled his eyes. “What was he thinking, anyway?”

She clenched her jaw, her hopes sliding; then she shoved her chin in the air, refusing to let this man mess up her dream. “He was looking to add a fresh dimension to this practice, which it looks like you need.” She crossed her arms over her chest and drilled him with a hard look. “What have you got against what I do?”

He pierced her with his gaze. “What I do is based on science, period. Anything else is of no use to me.”

She stepped forward, annoyed by his negative, judgmental attitude. She pointed at him. “So let me get this straight. You think what I do is totally useless?”

He nodded without hesitation. “Pretty much.”

She told herself she shouldn’t be surprised. She’d known attitudes would be different outside of San Francisco. But she’d come here with Dr. Brady Forbes’s blessing and hadn’t expected to run into such opposition from his son.

Even though she wanted to scream at the stubborn doctor, she tried to focus on the positive. She managed a tight little smile. “Well, then I guess I’ll just have to change your mind, won’t I?”

He didn’t smile back. “I’m afraid that’s a waste of time, Ms. Williams,” he said, taking off his glasses. “I have no intention of having you, or anybody else, as my partner. I’m sorry you came all this way to find that out, but I’m the Dr. Forbes in charge now, not my father, and I wasn’t in on this deal. I don’t feel obligated to honor it.”

Sunny stared at him, wishing he didn’t attract her so much on the outside when, on the inside, where it really mattered, he was a walking billboard for the uptight, repressed and uninformed.

She switched gears to the really bad news. Her dream of starting over and finally succeeding in business in this wonderful little town was suddenly in jeopardy.

This infuriating man was refusing to work with her. He probably didn’t have a clue about working with anyone but himself, about nurturing a relationship, business or otherwise.

She remembered something his father had told her, and recalled the words she’d seen painted on the window of this office when she’d pulled Rufus off the glass. A thought occurred to her. She gazed speculatively at the doctor, grimly holding her frustration at bay in favor of finding a way to make this work. She needed this job, needed to live in this town and be married by her thirtieth birthday, needed to succeed. “So are you the new Mr. Commitment?”

He rolled his eyes and nodded, then let out a disgusted sound. “Yeah.”

She raised a brow, pretty sure she was now coming at this problem from the right angle. “You don’t sound too happy about that.”

“I’m a medical doctor, not a relationship counselor.”

“So you don’t think you’re qualified? Is that it?” she pressed, leaning closer, catching a vague whiff of his clean, soapy scent. Her breath caught in her throat.

He scowled at her. “What’s with all the questions?”

“Hear me out,” she said, holding out a hand. “You don’t think you’re qualified to be a relationship counselor, right?”

He lifted a broad shoulder. “I guess you could say that. I’m the last person who should be helping people mend their relationships.” Turning away, he opened a fat file on the counter. “My track record stinks,” he muttered under his breath.

Sunny assumed he was talking about his relationships. No surprise there. The man appeared to have the warmth of a rock and not a compassionate bone in his body. Luckily, she found that information about his past fascinating—and useful, exactly the ammunition she needed.

Unable to corral her need to understand her adversary, she asked, “Why are you here if you’re so unqualified to be Mr. Commitment? Why not take a job somewhere else?”

He swung his darkening gaze her way. “Not that it’s any of your business, but I agreed to come home and take over for my dad years ago, back when Mr. Commitment didn’t exist. I had no idea that I’d be required to hold my patients’ hands regarding their relationship issues. Believe me, if I’d had any idea, I never would have agreed.”

“Then you need me.”

He crossed his arms across his broad chest again. “Oh, really?” he said, his voice rife with amusement.

She gave a quick nod, unwilling to let his bad attitude back her down. “Really. I have a knack for helping people with problems. Maybe we should make a deal—my relationship expertise in exchange for a partnership.”

He let out a heavy breath and abruptly flipped the file on the counter closed. “No deal, Ms. Williams. I don’t need help with Mr. Commitment that badly.” He straightened and inclined his head. “Now if you’ll excuse me, I have a patient in a few minutes.” With that, he exited the waiting room through a door in back of the counter, leaving Sunny alone.

And desperate. She’d been counting on this job to prove to herself, and to her parents, that she could make a success doing what she loved. Not to mention that she was dead broke. She needed this job for so many reasons, and she really wanted to stay in Oak Valley and settle down.

The need for the commitment and stability she’d never had growing up still burned inside of her like a smoldering fire, impossible to put out or ignore.

Besides, a pact was a pact.

But one man had torn up her dreams with his highly questionable bedside manner—what a grump!—and my-way-or-the-highway beliefs about healing. Uptight Connor Forbes claimed he didn’t have any use for a partner.

A tight knot formed in her chest. She had to think of a way to change his mind.

Maybe a cup of herbal tea and a bagel were what she needed to maintain an even keel during this unexpected, upsetting crisis. It was a cool morning, even though the sun was shining. Rufus would be fine if she put him in the van for an hour or so, especially since she’d parked in the shade.

With a sigh, she picked up her bag and headed out the door, hoping Oak Valley had a restaurant open for breakfast. She simply needed time to figure out how to deal with Doctor Disagreeable’s rejection.

She laughed humorlessly under her breath, feeling the fool. Her reliable instincts told her there wasn’t enough herbal tea in the world to help her change the stubborn, absolutely annoying man’s mind.

Talk about an awkward situation, Connor thought. Gorgeous female massage therapist/yoga instructor unexpectedly shows up at his father’s behest, expecting to be Connor’s partner, nosing her way into his business. He might want to be her partner in other things—she’d smelled, and looked, really good—and a little feminine companionship sounded great.

But his business partner? No way. Even though he wasn’t the type of guy who wanted to make a pretty girl sad, he’d find a way to live with that.

He shook his head and sat down behind his oak desk. Damn his father for arranging something so outrageous without his approval. It was bad enough Dad was demanding that Connor take the dubious title of Mr. Commitment. Now he was making business deals with medically unqualified people. What was the old guy thinking?

Connor shoved his reading glasses in his lab coat pocket and pushed his irritation with his dad aside in favor of the controlled, professional attitude he always strived for when he was with patients. He proceeded with his day and saw two patients, Margery Leventhal, who had vague stomach complaints that turned out to be simple gas, and Jeb Hornsby, whose gout was acting up.

Connor then took his usual morning break and strolled down the boardwalk to Luella’s Diner for a doughnut and coffee. On the way, he lifted a hand to Lester Parsons and Ozzie Peterson, two retirees who were sitting at their usual morning spot on a bench in front of Jeremiah’s Barber Shop across the street. He smiled at Abigail McNeil, out walking her basset hound, and greeted Frank Osbourne, the local contractor, who was loading his pickup with building supplies outside Truman’s Hardware Store.

Connor shook his head. A man couldn’t burp in Oak Valley without the whole town knowing it. After living in a big city like Seattle, he’d expected to feel stifled here, and that had proven true. He liked the people of Oak Valley well enough, but everyone had always bugged him to loosen up. If things worked out the way he’d planned, he wouldn’t have to stay here forever.

A few minutes later, Connor stepped into Luella’s, enjoying the usual aroma of sizzling bacon, fresh brewed coffee and fried doughnuts. Luella’s place had looked the same since Connor was a kid and his parents had brought him and his siblings here for Sunday breakfast. The quaint eatery boasted rustic tables and booths with high backs, white paper placemats, red-and-white checked curtains and a long counter with worn wooden stools.

As she did every day, Luella’s daughter, Mary-Jean, waved to him from the kitchen, visible through the cutout wall behind the counter. He smiled halfway and waved back. She was always so friendly to him. For the life of him, he couldn’t figure out why—he had said only a handful of words to her.

He noticed Steve McCarthy, an old high school classmate, sitting in a back booth, enjoying a cup of coffee with his sister, Julie, who’d married Bud Whitesell, the owner of the local garage. Connor waved at them and then went to sit in the third booth from the door, his usual spot. He looked forward to a cup of hot coffee and a sinfully fattening doughnut. He’d think about anything but Sunny Williams.

Just as that idea ran through his brain, he saw the subject of his thoughts sitting in his booth, a cup of tea and a half-eaten bagel in front of her, talking animatedly to, of all people, his own sister, Jennifer.

He raised his brows. Sunny had certainly made friends quickly. Obviously, she was the outgoing, friendly type. She would probably fit in with his sociable family perfectly. He gritted his teeth.

Despite the fact that he was irritated she was in his booth, he couldn’t help but appreciate her beautiful skin, delicate bone structure and flashing brown eyes all over again. And her shiny pink lips, pulled into a broad, appealing smile, exposing straight, white teeth, made his insides burn.

He didn’t want his insides burning, knew from experience what kind of failure that always brought about, despite his need to socialize with someone of the female persuasion who wasn’t his mother or his sister. He clenched his jaw tighter, ready to cut out.

Jenny noticed him, smiled and spoke up. “Hey, Connor, have you met Sunny?” She turned to Sunny and gestured to Connor. “This is my brother, Connor.”

Sunny looked up and her smile faded. “Oh, we’ve already met.”

He inclined his head. “Yes, we have, haven’t we?”

Jenny frowned and looked at Sunny. “Didn’t you say you just arrived in town?”

“I did.” Sunny took a sip of tea. “I stopped by your brother’s office first thing.” She put her tea down, smiled and drilled him with her amber-shaded gaze. “We had business, didn’t we, Dr. Forbes?”

He nodded, betting she was going to go into how he’d turned down her bid to be his partner to Jenny, whose mission in life was to take over.

Jennifer looked at him, one blond brow raised. “What kind of business, Connor?” She glanced back at Sunny. “You’re not sick, are you?”

Sunny shook her head. “No, I’m not.”

“Then what…?” Jenny asked, looking back and forth between them.

To her credit, Sunny remained silent, her gaze now on her teacup, when she could have busted him to his sister. He forced out a breath. He might as well come clean. Jenny would ferret out the truth eventually, and would definitely hear about it from their dad. Besides, he’d done the right thing. Sunny’s treatment methods had no place in his world. She was a temptation he wanted to avoid. No way was he changing his mind.

Connor sat down next to Jenny. “Dad brought Sunny here to be my partner. I vetoed the idea,” he said, dumping out the whole story in a few words. He braced himself, waiting for Jenny’s outrage.

She gasped and widened her eyes. “You did what?” she said, delivering the expected reaction right on cue. She was so predictable, even to someone like him, who, according to his second-to-last girlfriend, was horribly left-brained and didn’t clue into people’s personalities very well.

“I said no,” he reiterated, wanting this whole thing over. “End of story.”

“But why?” Jenny asked, her voice rife with amazed puzzlement. “Sunny’s just what you need, brother.”

He ignored the need Sunny could help him with and shook his head. “I know what I need, and she’s not it.” He gazed at Sunny. “It’s nothing personal. I just don’t want a partner.”

Sunny stared back, nodding. “Oh, so when you said that everything you do is based on science, and anything else is of no use to you, you didn’t mean for me to take it personally?” She lobbed him a sweet-edged smile. “I would hate to misunderstand you, Dr. Forbes.”

“Connor!” Jenny said, her hazel eyes full of sisterly horror. “Tell me you didn’t say that.”

Both women stared at him; if looks could kill, he’d be keeling over dead. What was the big deal? “Look, I based my decision on concrete, practical reasoning,” he said, explaining his rationale. “I simply meant that my practice is based on science, not massage or yoga, and that Sunny and I wouldn’t be compatible working partners. Dad arranged this without my knowledge and since I’m in charge now, I felt I had the right to make that decision.”

They were silent for a few moments, and then Jenny gave a long-suffering sigh and skewered him with a hard gaze. “You’re so full of it, Connor. The truth is, you’re a stick-in-the-mud from way back. The thought of doing something differently, of straying one millimeter from your moldy science textbooks and boring medical journals scares the pants off of you.”

He mentally rolled his eyes. His family had been trying to loosen him up for years, Jenny especially. She just didn’t understand that he was his own man and was nothing like her or anyone else in his family.

While he sat there wondering why he needed to explain something so simple, Sunny reached over and touched his forearm, sending sparks racing up his arm. She chimed in with, “Don’t worry, Dr. Forbes. I’m sure you look very, very good with no pants.”

Jenny and Sunny laughed and Connor raised his brows at Sunny. Wow. She was something, able to fling the horse manure right back at him. Oddly, he liked that.

So what? He might appreciate her spunk, but he wasn’t about to let her know it, or let it matter. She stared back, a becoming blush spreading across her cheeks. Then her eyes popped wide and she jerked her hand back, knocking Jenny’s orange juice over.

Right onto his lap.

He let out a colorful oath. Sunny jumped up and clapped a hand over her mouth. “Oh, oh, I’m so sorry.” She picked up a napkin, obviously intending to blot up the mess.

She stopped, her hand holding the napkin hovering over his juice-saturated lap. “Uh, well…” She blushed and waved the napkin. “I…guess you better take care of that.” She shoved the napkin at him. “I’m so sorry. I’m not usually the clumsy sort.”