Midnight Remedy (2 page)

“I was just tryin’ to feed it.”

“You murdered your crab.” She seemed unsurprised.

“Didn’t murder it,” the child said sulkily. “He wouldn’t come out.”

“Didn’t I tell you if you pulled that hermit crab out of his shell, you’d kill it?” Exasperation colored her voice.

“Just dropped him a
little
, Mom, honest.”

“From where, the top of the refrigerator?”

The child hung his head and started crying. Piper smoothed a hand over his blond hair and said, “Never mind. We’ll discuss this later. Where’s Grandpa?”

“Dunno.” The tears dried like magic. “Jason wants me to come to his house and play. Can I?”

“If it’s all right with his mom.” Before he could disappear, Piper added, “Cole, this is Dr. Chambers. My son, Cole.”

“Hi,” Eric said, thinking that the kid looked like a small clone of his mother.

“Hi. Are you an animal doctor?” Cole asked. Hope brightened his eyes.

“Sorry, sport. Just people.” It didn’t sound like there was much chance for the crab anyway, from what he’d heard.

“Oh. You didn’t come to see Grandpa, did you?”

“No, I came to see your mother.”

“That’s good ‘cause Grandpa don’t like people doctors. Yesterday I heard him say that if that sorry son of—”

“Cole! How many times do I have to tell you not to repeat what Grandpa says to Sam?”

“Oh, yeah, I forgot. Bye,” he said to Eric with an impudent grin for his mother.

“Poor Herman,” Piper said, shaking her head. “He lasted longer than I thought he would, though. I gave him a week, tops, and it’s been two.”

From what little he’d seen of the kid, Eric was surprised the crab had lasted a day. Wisely, he didn’t make that observation aloud.

Once inside the kitchen, Piper asked, “So, I guess you’re the new doctor from Capistrano?” What in the world did he want with her and what did it have to do with Randy and Virginia Johnson? Piper supposed she ought to give him a chance to explain, especially after Cole had all but insulted his profession. He’d taken it in stride, though. She could have sworn she’d seen a smile hovering around the corners of his mouth.

“That’s right. Let’s talk aphrodisiacs, Ms. Stevenson.”

“Let’s not,” she said. Great, was the new doctor a quack?

“Herbal tea, then.” He gestured impatiently. “Whatever you want to call that concoction you gave Randy Johnson.”

This was getting weirder by the minute, Piper thought. Concoction? “Excuse me? What the devil are you talking about?”

His eyes narrowed. “I want to know why you were treating my patient.
My
patient, Ms. Stevenson, not yours. Just what kind of aphrodisiac were you giving him in that herbal tea?”

Arrogant jerk, she thought, shooting him a withering look. “Herbal tea? Aphrodisiacs? You’re a little confused, doctor. I don’t treat people. I sell them plants.”

“You must have forgotten that when you decided to treat Randy Johnson.”

It was really too bad, she thought, her gaze sweeping over him from top to bottom, that he was so cute. And that he had such gorgeous green eyes. If there was any justice at all his looks would match his overbearing personality. “Are you sure the Johnsons are your patients?” she asked, eyeing him distrustfully.

He ground his teeth. “Of course I’m sure. Don’t be absurd. Randy and Virginia Johnson sent me to you. Call them if you feel the need to check my credentials.”

She mulled that over, irritated at him, yet curious about his reasons for being here. Herbal tea, aphrodisiacs, and the Johnsons. Where was the connection? There was one way to find out. “Okay, we’ll talk,” she said, motioning to a chair at the kitchen table.

Frowning, he took a seat.

Piper grabbed a faded blue plastic pitcher from the refrigerator. “Want some?”

He eyed the pitcher dubiously. “No, thanks.”

“It’s not herbal tea. Good old Lipton’s, FDA approved.”

His lips quirked. “In that case, yes, please.” As she reached for the glasses he added, “You’ve got a smart mouth, Ms. Stevenson.”

“Self-defense.” She threw him a pointed look over her shoulder. “It comes from years of people assuming blond equals dumb.”

“You left out beautiful.” His gaze slid down the length of her back before returning to meet her eyes.

Her breath caught at the unexpected comment. “Why, Dr. Chambers, a compliment?” she asked sweetly. “I’m flattered.”

“Don’t be. I merely stated the obvious.”

Obvious? Jerk, she thought, slamming the glass of tea down so hard it sloshed out on the table and dribbled off the edge onto his slacks. Reacting instinctively, she grabbed a dish towel and tried to blot up the tea. For an eternal, electrically laden moment, she froze with her hand on his thigh—high on his thigh. Her face flushed and she snatched her hand away and jumped back, throwing the dish towel toward the drain board as if it had bitten her.

“Thank you,” he said solemnly.

Their gazes met and he smiled. She wanted to sink into the ground from sheer embarrassment.

“Now, are you going to tell me what was in that concoction you gave the Johnsons?”

“The only thing I ever gave Virginia was a dry skin remedy. She bought the herbs from me to make it up at home.”

“Dry skin remedy? She told me you gave her an aphrodisiac.”

“Well, I didn’t.” Crossing her arms over her chest, she leaned back against the counter. “Herbal mixtures are a hobby of mine, but the things I make are more cosmetic than therapeutic.”

“Virginia and Randy Johnson say the recipe you gave them cured him.”

“Cured him of what, for heaven’s sake?”

“Impotence.”

For a moment, she could only stare at him. Then she burst out laughing. “
Impotence
? Oh, Lord, that’s the best joke I’ve heard in a week. I promise you, if Virginia got an aphrodisiac, she didn’t get it from me. The herbs I gave her were for dry skin.”

Unamused, Dr. Chambers went on. “Virginia Johnson is pregnant now and she claims that your remedy is the reason why.”

“That’s ridiculous.”

Dr. Chambers inclined his head in agreement. “Yeah, that’s what I thought too.”

“Oh, really? If you thought it was such a crock, then why are you here?”

“Because Randy Johnson is my patient,” he said, irritably. “Even though I don’t believe your herbal mixture had a blessed thing to do with Mr. Johnson’s cure, they believe it. They are so firmly convinced that your remedy works, and so insistent on continuing to use it, they’ve given me permission to discuss their case with you. You can appreciate how difficult that was for them. Now I want to know what’s in that remedy. I intend to make certain that this stuff won’t harm Randy.”

“How could it? It’s not for ingesting. It’s to rub on your skin.”

“I knew it,” he said, shaking his head with a look of disgust. “That’s what’s wrong with you people dabbling in things like this. Randy Johnson drank that remedy.”

“Drank it?” Piper asked, her mouth dropping open. “Good God, you’re not supposed to drink that. It might have made him sick.”

“Exactly,” he said dryly. “But they didn’t ask me, they just told me after he’d done it. He thought it was herbal tea and he liked it so much he drank it several times. Two months later, Mrs. Johnson turns up pregnant.”

“And you think my recipe did the trick.”

“No. The Johnsons think that. I think
 . . .
” He broke off in mid-sentence. “I think that medications should be prescribed by an M.D. We’re talking practicing medicine without a license, Ms. Stevenson.”

Jamming her hands on her hips, she faced him defiantly. “Don’t try to scare me, Dr. Chambers. Those herbs weren’t even meant for Randy.”

“But the fact remains that he took them.”

“It’s not my fault he drank that stuff. I told Virginia exactly what to do with it.” Hadn’t she?

“Did you?”

Lord, he was sharp. He’d picked up on her momentary qualm instantly. “I can’t believe it would help him, anyway. There wasn’t anything purported to be an aphrodisiac in that mixture.” She frowned in concentration and tapped her fingers on her arm. Doubtfully, she added, “At least, I don’t think there was.”

“Don’t you know what you gave her?” He raised his eyebrows.

“Of course I do, it’s just
 . . .
” She stopped and looked at him suspiciously. “Now wait just a minute. Are you trying to trick me into giving you the ingredients?”

“Why? Is it a secret formula or something?” Regarding her with more than a hint of condescension, he sipped his tea. “Come now, Ms. Stevenson, you said yourself it’s merely a dry skin remedy. Aren’t you being a little ridiculous?”

Ridiculous, was she? She’d had just about enough from him. Placing her hands on her hips again, she faced him loaded for bear.

“Aren’t you being a little offensive? No, let me rephrase that. You’re being extremely offensive. You attacked me from the moment you stepped into my greenhouse.
My
greenhouse, doctor. Let’s see.” She held up a hand and started ticking items off on her fingers. “First I stole your patient. Next I’m practicing medicine without a license. Before I know it, you’ll be accusing me of drug trafficking. Tell me, Dr. Chambers, why in the heck should I tell you a thing about my herbal mixture?”

For a long moment he stared at her, then a smile spread over his face. “I didn’t mean to be offensive. My concern for my patient made me overreact.”

Tricky devil, she thought, but she was a bit mollified, nonetheless. When he smiled he didn’t look arrogant. He looked almost
 . . .
sweet, but with a bit of the devil thrown in too. Women probably ate up that clean cut charm.

“You still haven’t given me a good reason to tell you,” she reminded him.

“Look, if there’s a chance that your remedy might help people with this problem, don’t you think we ought to pursue it?”

“No.” He didn’t really believe it would help. Hadn’t he just said so? And she didn’t think so, either.

“No?” He stared at her as if the word was totally beyond his comprehension. After a long moment, he looked down at his thigh and plucked something off it. “What the—”

“Herman!” Piper exclaimed. The little creature he held was about two inches long, mostly thin legs and eyes, staring at them from the safety of its shell.

“The late Herman, I take it?” His lips twitched as he placed the hermit crab in her outstretched hand.

“Oh, Cole will be so glad.” Happily, she stroked a finger over the shell. “Thank you.” He looked at her as if he seriously doubted her sanity. “What is it?”

“Nothing. I’ve just never gone into someone’s house and found a hermit crab crawling up my thigh.”

“You know,” she told him, “these things must be a lot hardier than I thought.” She stifled a giggle at his look of pure bewilderment. “You must not have kids.”

“I don’t.” He sent her a repressive glance. “Could we get back to the subject?”

“Of course. Let’s simplify things. Forget it.”

He opened his mouth, then shut it with a snap and glared at her. “Are you refusing because I pi—ticked you off? It’s childish at the very least to let a personal bias stop you from doing some real good.”

Piper shook her head. “You haven’t thought this through, and that’s because you don’t believe my herbs could have cured Randy. Think about it. What if it works? What happens then?”