53

Music spilled out of the barn into the night. Rand and Andy got out of the truck and joined the crowd headed inside. All the local people were arriving in droves. Many of them stopped to say hello to Rand and to meet the new doctor they’d heard about from this week’s patients. Andy had an easy way about him and had charmed most of the townspeople.

When they got inside, Rand glanced around the crowded room to look for Marian, trying not to be obvious. Andy had agreed Rand had done the best for both of them by cooling it. But the office didn’t seem the same without her, and Rand’s body ached for her touch.

“There she is.” Andy nodded his head toward the dance floor. “She’s with a tall, blond man.”

“Tom, he owns a large ranch to the north of town. Inherited it from his parents. They got killed in a car wreck about a year ago.” Rand never thought he was the jealous type, but he wanted to walk across the dance floor and pull her out of Tom’s arms. They seemed t