“Your father’s going to require open-heart surgery,” he said once he’d turned around to face her. “Right now his heart’s too weak to withstand the additional stress, but we’re fast approaching a crisis point, and you and your sisters need to prepare yourselves.”

“Here?” Valerie challenged. “And who’d perform the surgery?”

“I will— I am a qualified cardiovascular surgeon. And Orchard Valley has one of the best heart units in the state,” Colby said in a reassuring voice.

“I don’t want one of the best, I want the very best! This is my father we’re talking about.” Valerie knew she sounded unreasonable, even rude, but her concern about David overrode all other considerations, including her embarrassment at misjudging Dr. Winston. Why had Norah never mentioned that the man was a heart surgeon? Still, it didn’t matter; her father deserved the best-equipped facility and the best-trained specialist around. She spoke in a calmer voice. “If he needs surgery, then he’ll have it, but not here. Not when there’s a better hospital and more experienced…”

“Heart surgeons?” Colby finished for her.

She stiffened, wanting to avoid a confrontation and knowing it was impossible. “Exactly.”

“You’re welcome to a second opinion, Valerie. I’d be happy to review my credentials with you, as well.”

Her arms cradled her middle. Her breakfast seemed to lie like a deadweight in her stomach.

Colby had begun to speak again. “Norah—”

“You already mentioned the possibility of open-heart surgery to Norah?” she flared, disliking the fact that he’d talked to her sister first.

He nodded. “Just now. While you were out.”

That hurt her pride. She, after all, was the oldest, the decision maker, the strong one.

“If you’d like to talk to another specialist, I can recommend several.”

“That won’t be necessary,” Valerie returned stiffly, feeling like a traitor. “I’m having a friend get me the names of the top heart surgeons on the West Coast.”

A vacuum of silence followed her words.

“I understand.”

She glanced toward him, surprised not to hear any resentment in his voice.

“It isn’t that we don’t appreciate everything you’ve done,” she rushed to explain. “Norah’s told me several times that if it weren’t for you, we’d have lost Dad that first night. I’m grateful, more than you’ll ever know, but I want to stack the odds in Dad’s favor, and if that means bringing in another surgeon, I’ll do it.”

Her impassioned words were met with a cool but not unfriendly smile. “If David were my father I’d do the same. Don’t worry, Valerie, you haven’t offended me.”

She was so relieved that she nearly sagged onto the sofa.

“Let me know who you want to call in and I’ll be happy to confer with him.”

“Thank you,” she whispered. “Dad and Norah are right,” she added, almost to herself.

“About what?” Colby asked on his way out the door.

She looked up, realizing he’d heard her. “You really are wonderful.”

Their eyes met and in those few seconds an odd understanding passed between them. It wasn’t a look lovers would exchange, she thought, but one close friends would.

Norah came back from the five-minute visit with their father, pale and clearly distressed. Slowly she lowered herself onto the sofa, her hands clasped tightly together.

“Dad’s not doing well this morning?” Valerie ventured.

Norah nodded. “He’s so weak…he’s talking about dying and…” She paused, her light blue eyes glassy with tears.

“He isn’t going to die,” Valerie said vehemently, clenching her fists at her sides. She refused to let him die.

“He’d prefer if you and Steff and I were married, but that can’t be helped now, he says. He told me he’s sorry he won’t be around to enjoy his grandchildren, but—”

“Norah,” Valerie admonished briskly, “you didn’t honestly listen to that garbage, did you? We can’t allow him to talk like that.”

“He seems to think you should marry Dr. Winston.”

Valerie frowned. “So I heard. That just goes to show you how illogical he’s become. If anyone should marry Colby Winston, it’s you.”

Norah lowered her eyes and an attractive shade of pink flowed into her cheeks. “Every female employee in the hospital’s in love with Dr. Winston. Even the married women have a crush on him. He’s so strong, yet he’s gentle and caring. I—I don’t know what I would’ve done the last couple of days without Colby.”

“You really care about him, don’t you?” Valerie asked, fighting down an unexpected sense of disappointment.

“I’m not in love with him—not exactly. I admire him the way everyone else does, and if he ever asked me out, I’d accept without thinking twice, but he hasn’t.”

Valerie was sure she would. She paced the small room, wondering what had prompted this sudden need for movement—her father’s apparent death wish or Norah’s feelings for Colby Winston.

“I’ve been busy this morning myself,” she said, not looking at her sister. “I asked Rowdy Cassidy if he’d get us the name of the top heart surgeon on the West Coast. Dad has to have the finest medical—”

Norah’s head shot up. “You what?”

“Listen, if you’re concerned about offending Colby, I’ve already spoken to him and he agrees we should get a second opinion.”

“But Colby teaches at Portland University. He’s the best there is!”

“For Orchard Valley.” Of that Valerie was confident, but there was a whole world Norah knew little or nothing about. Her sister’s entire universe revolved around Orchard Valley and their five-hundred-acre apple orchard ten miles outside town.

“Colby’s one of the best cardiovascular surgeons in the state.” Norah didn’t bother to disguise her irritation. “Do you know what you’ve done?” she demanded. “You’ve just insulted one of this country’s most—”

“I didn’t insult him,” Valerie insisted, interrupting her sister’s tirade. “I made sure of that. Furthermore, you never even let me know he was a heart surgeon— I thought he was just a G.P. And even if he’s considered good here in Orchard Valley, Dad needs absolutely the best one available anywhere. Shouldn’t you be concerning yourself with his problems and not worrying about offending your doctor boyfriend?”

Norah’s eyes widened with shock and hurt. She stood and without a word walked out of the room, leaving Valerie swamped in remorse. She hadn’t meant to snap at her sister, nor had she wanted to sound so overbearing. Referring to Colby as Norah’s boyfriend had been childish and petty, which proved how badly her nerves were frayed.

An hour passed and Valerie hurried down to the lobby to call Rowdy on her cell phone.

“It’s Valerie,” she said breathlessly when he answered.

“Listen, you’re in luck. There’s an up-and-coming heart surgeon working out of Portland University. Apparently he’s developed an innovative surgical technique. I’ve talked to three of the top heart specialists in the country and they all highly recommend him.”

“Great.” She groped through her purse until she found a pen and a notebook, which she positioned against the lobby wall. “Ready.”

“His name is Dr. Colby Winston.”

Valerie dropped her arm. “Dr. Colby Winston,” she repeated.

“I’ve got his phone number here.”

“Thanks, Rowdy,” she said, pride and shame clogging her throat, “but I’ve already got it.”

She hadn’t been home for twenty-four hours and she’d already managed to alienate her sister, insult a family friend and at the same time disparage a highly regarded doctor.

“Just great, Valerie,” she muttered to herself. “Can things get any worse?”

Three

“Steffie?” David Bloomfield’s eyes fluttered open and he gazed up at Valerie.

“She’ll be here as soon as she can,” Valerie reassured him. It was now early evening, and during every previous visit that day, he’d been asleep, his heart’s activity reported on the monitor.

How weak he sounded, she thought, as though death was only hours away. Her own heart clamored with dread and fear; she wanted to shout at him to fight, to hang on…

It wasn’t that easy or straightforward—as Valerie knew. In the past two days she’d learned more about the functions of the heart than she’d ever imagined. In more ways than one… She’d learned that the symbolic heart, the center of human emotion, grew larger with the sorrows as well as the joys of love. And the physical heart was subject to its own stresses and risks.

Colby had strived to make the explanation as uncomplicated as possible. Simply put, her father was experiencing heart failure; his heart was pumping blood less efficiently than it should. The decreased strength of the muscles then resulted in distended blood vessels that leaked fluid into his lungs, which interfered with his breathing. Each hour he was growing weaker and closer to death.

“Can’t…hold out much longer.”

“Of course you can,” Valerie insisted, railing against discouragement and defeat. “You’re going to live long enough to be a problem to your children. Isn’t that what you’ve always said? You’ve still got years and years. Good years, with a houseful of grandchildren.”

Her father’s smile was fleeting. “Go home, sweetheart,” he whispered. “You haven’t even been to the house yet.”

“There’s nothing there for me without you.” She rubbed her thumb soothingly across the back of his hand, avoiding the IV needle. “Get well, Daddy, please get well. We all need you.”

His eyes drifted shut, and the oppressive need to give in to the weakness of tears nearly overcame her. She blinked furiously in an effort not to cry, succeeding despite the enormous lump in her throat.

Valerie was grateful her features were outwardly composed when Colby entered the cubicle a few minutes later. He read over the clipboard that outlined her father’s progress, then made a brief notation.

“He’ll sleep now,” he said, guiding her out of the room.

“What’s happening?” she asked once they’d left the Coronary Care Unit. “Why is he so much weaker than before? It’s like watching his life ebb away. Surely you can do something?” She heard the note of hysteria in her own voice and didn’t care. Perhaps she was being selfish in wanting him to live when he so clearly wanted to be released from life. But she loved him so desperately. She needed him, and so did Steffie and Norah.

“We’re doing everything we can,” Colby assured her.

“I know—but it’s not enough.”