Chapter 10

10

“So are you and Dr. Fields involved now?” a male voice asked from far too close to Genny’s left ear. She jerked around quickly. She’d been a bit lost in thought after her brother had left. “Rather sudden, isn’t it? Didn’t you tell me last week you weren’t involved with anyone and weren’t going to be for a long, long time?”

Genny’s heart raced, and not in a good way.

She hadn’t even seen Dr. Hodges approach. Now the man was looming over her shoulder, crowding her worse than he had ever done before. “Excuse me?”

“I didn’t realize you and Dr. Fields were dating.” He settled into the chair her brother had vacated and looked at her through watery blue eyes. A lot of the women they worked with at the hospital found him attractive. “I saw you upstairs with him.”

Genny most definitely did not find this man attractive at all. Far, far from it.

“I have known Chad Fields practically from the moment I was born. Our relationship is between the two of us.” Genny did not want to spend even five minutes right now with Doug Hodges. The man just seriously gave her the creeps. It was the way he watched her all the time. “I’m sure you’ve heard the news. My brother and his sister were involved in what happened at his parents’ ranch. Is there something I can help you with? I’m going back upstairs to be with my friends and family.”

“I didn’t mean to upset you. Can I buy you coffee? As friends.”

He’d asked her out four or five times already. Each time, she had told him no politely. He liked to sleep around. Genny most certainly did not. And he didn’t seem to be getting the message. “Thank you, but my brother already did before he went back upstairs. He’s waiting for me now.”

Maybe not, but what guy would bother a woman with a big brother built like Gene just a few floors up?

“That was your brother? I thought your brother was Dr. Hiller, from obstetrics.” There was an accusation in his tone she definitely didn’t appreciate.

Did he think she’d lied, for heaven’s sake? And it was rather obvious she and Gene were related. She’d been called Gene’s mini-me too many times to count. Of all of her siblings, she resembled Gene the strongest.

“Guthrie from obstetrics is my brother. Gene is also my brother. I have five big brothers, Dr. Hodges, including the mayor of this little town. Five very big brothers, actually. Five very overprotective big brothers. Guthrie’s one of the smaller ones. I live with three of them.” That should scare him off. Mentioning her brothers had worked on guys before. Genny played every card she could when needed. “They do like to keep a close eye on me and my sisters.”

“At least let me walk you back upstairs.”

It was a hospital. A public place. Not like she could say no.

But the entire exchange really sent her spidey sense tingling. “No, thank you. I want to walk up by myself. To clear my head. The last day or so has been very traumatic. But thanks for the offer.”

Genny left him staring at her, an inscrutable look on his face.

That man just seriously freaked her out a little.

Some of the doctors in this place could be a bit beyond weird sometimes.

And it seemed they somehow kept getting weirder and weirder.

Like Dr. Chad Fields, for example.

There must be something in the water.