Death Benefits. Hannah Alexander
off on you. Now both of you are controlling the lives of others.”
“Then I guess that’s a trait that runs in the family,” Willow said drily. “I seem to remember a lady who refused to take no for an answer when I needed a place to stay after the cabin burned last spring. I was a complete stranger to you, and you took me in.”
“Don’t change the subject,” Ginger said. “Don’t you think a fifty-three-year-old woman should be given the option to choose with whom she spends her time?”
Willow finally had the grace to look abashed. “Of course.”
“Except when it comes to me, is that right?” Ginger asked.
“I think we all tend to take extra liberties when it comes to close family members, who we know will have to forgive us, because they have such a forgiving nature.”
“Don’t patronize me,” Ginger warned. “It won’t work. My conflict with Ray Clyde is my business and no one else’s.”
“Then you’ll be happy to keep it to yourself until after the wedding, right?” Willow’s tone grew slightly sharper.
A familiar, masculine scent of spice alerted Ginger that Ray had reached them. She looked up at him looking down at her.
“Hello, Ginger,” he said quietly.
She nodded, startled at the look of vulnerability in those eyes.
Graham rose from Ginger’s seat across the aisle and greeted Ray, pumping his hand. They were best friends reuniting after a long time apart. It stung. It did more than sting, it stabbed at her.
Her brother had no idea what kind of game he was playing this time, but he wasn’t going to win. If he had some crazy notion of mediating a peace, he was in for a disappointing trip.
FIVE
Ray Clyde had always been able to read Ginger Carpenter’s thoughts in her face. It wasn’t a difficult accomplishment, nor was it even necessary most of the time. Ginger rarely minced words, and she seldom concealed her emotions. She said what she thought.
Today, Ray was glad he wasn’t sitting near her for the first leg of the flight. Judging by the daggers she shot at him with her glare, he might be bleeding profusely by the time they reached Lambert International in St. Louis.
Quiet, watchful Lucy tapped Ginger on the arm.
The daggers left Ginger’s eyes, and that same gaze filled with gentleness and love as she listened to the child.
Ray was lost once again. He had known it would happen. He’d been half in love with the talkative and strong-willed woman since their first meeting. The more he’d come to know her, the more he’d admired her vibrant spirit and caring heart.
But it was also her caring heart that had placed a wedge between them later, when he was forced to make a difficult decision. Ginger had always been passionate about what she believed in—a trait that he found extremely attractive, even though it created complications from time to time.
Ray and Ginger had become good friends during her time in Belarus. They had even shared a few friendly meals together when she was home on furlough, and Ray had enjoyed it much more than was comfortable—he’d always wanted more time with her. He’d known, however, that the clinic she directed in Minsk was the top priority in her life. He’d always honored that priority and admired her dedication to it.
Ray’s place was not in Belarus, but in Columbia, Missouri. Located in the center of the state and the center of the United States, Columbia enabled him to be on a flight anywhere in the country or the world in a short period. This way he could keep his finger on the pulse of GlobeMed.
His personal mission was located right there in Columbia. Young doctors came straight out of med school and residencies in that university town, hungry for work and experience, and idealistic about the future. Ray’s goal was to reach as many of them as possible before their idealism gave way to materialism. His desire was to show as many young doctors as he could the joys of true service.
Yearlong mission trips in places of greatest need—mostly third world countries torn by war and famine—gave these doctors not only valuable experience working with the sickest of patients, but a better grasp of the needs of the larger world that didn’t revolve around a life of ease and luxuries.
If only those young grads would realize what was truly important in life. It was not the size of their homes, or the number of cars, or bank balances they could acquire. Their true calling was to touch and heal the hurting, no matter the financial reward.
Sometimes, in his efforts to reach the most people, Ray knew he failed others. It broke his heart that Ginger thought she had been a casualty of that mission.
After the jet took off and the seat belt light went off, Graham came down the aisle and slid into the empty seat across from Ray.
“That went over well, I think,” Graham said drily.
“Could’ve been worse,” Ray agreed.
Graham chuckled. “I consider it an achievement that she didn’t grab the girls and leave.”
“Definitely encouraging. Tell me something, Graham. Did you ask me to be your best man for the sole purpose of helping me work out the knots between your sister and myself?”
“I asked you to be my best man years ago, remember? After my divorce, when I was staying with you. I told you if I ever got married again, you would be my best man, and you said I would be yours. So now you need to give me a chance to return the favor.”
Ray gave him a look. “That’s what I thought.”
“Ginger’s frustrated, Ray. I’ve tried to keep her busy at my clinic, and she’s been working some hours at the Hideaway Hospital when the girls are in school. But I know Ginger. She’s restless. She’s never come to terms with what happened last year. I’d like to see her do that.”
“I thought you had her working with you at your free clinic.”
Graham sighed and sat back, shaking his head at the flight attendant with the beverage cart. “That isn’t the kind of challenge she needs. It isn’t as satisfying as we had first hoped. There are so many who aren’t willing to pay their own way, when they are perfectly capable of doing so. Ginger’s spent more time screening patients for genuine need than she’s spent in the treatment room.”
“I would imagine she’s good at it. She’s always had a knack for reading a person’s thoughts. Uncanny.” Uncomfortable, too.
“Last week she had to inform a businesswoman who makes more than a hundred fifty thou a year that she wasn’t eligible for a free elective surgery,” Graham said.
“Hasn’t the woman ever heard of insurance?”
“Her complaint was it costs too much. Ginger’s tired of it. Her most fulfilling task lately has been caring for Lucy and Brittany, and this trip represents the end of that role. Willow’s ecstatic about the adoption. Ginger, on the other hand, has been despondent for days.”
“What about you?” Ray asked, studying Graham’s pensive expression. “You’re not adopting the girls just to please Willow, are you?”
“No. I honestly can’t imagine life without those two little girls in it now. Their primary residence has been with Ginger and me, and I find myself resenting the time I have to spend at work because I can’t spend it with the people I love, both Willow and the children.”
Ray smiled at his friend. “I couldn’t be happier for you, Graham. It’s been a long time coming.”
Graham nodded. “The time was right, as it never had been before.”
Ray and Graham had met fourteen years ago, when Graham was in surgical residency. Even then, Ray had sought opportunities to help recruit the brightest and best for GlobeMed. To his disappointment,