Unfortunately, her response had been completely unexpected. He’d certainly never dreamed that the man she’d left behind had been her husband, much less that he was dead.

Certainly, the information she’d shared explained so much—her long hours, her avoidance of the dating scene, and her move to a new city and work environment. She hadn’t come to Pittsburgh on some grand adventure to see the world. Like his brother, Mitch. Sierra was picking up the pieces of her life.

All of which proved his theory—the best relationships were temporary.

“I’m sorry,” he murmured.

She nodded, apparently accustomed to hearing condolences if her frozen expression was any indication. “Thanks,” she murmured. Then, with a visibly shaky hand she smoothed her hair. “Are you sure you wouldn’t like me to see your patient?”

Her abrupt change of subject couldn’t have been more plain. Their question-and-answer period had come to a close, which was good. For a man who never had trouble finding something to talk about, he was suddenly at a loss for words.

He glanced at his watch. He only had ten minutes before his cafeteria appointment and it took nearly seven to walk there. “Do you mind?”

“Not at all. Enjoy your lunch.”

Eager to get away before he asked more questions, Sierra pulled the clipboard out of his hand and headed down the hall. She’d already shared more than she’d ever planned, and if she gave him enough time, the inevitable “What happened?” would follow.

She simply didn’t want to go there. Not now. Not yet. The tragedy had occurred over a year ago and she simply refused to dredge up those old feelings of shock, despair and anger, not to mention guilt. She’d finally come to the acceptance stage, but it hadn’t been easy.

Now, however, was not the time to walk down memory lane and analyze the past. At the moment, the only person who deserved her full attention was her patient—not Trey Donovan, and certainly not David McAllaster.

By the time she’d received the results of Karen Maxwell’s strep screen—it was negative—and referred her to an ENT specialist to evaluate her chronic sinusitis, Trey had returned, looking as rested and refreshed as he had before their full morning of traumas and regular patients.

As Sierra sank onto a chair in the nurses’ station, she noticed he was chatting up one of the radiology techs. The poor girl was smiling as if he’d single-handedly hung the sun, moon and stars.

“He has quite a knack with the women, doesn’t he?” Sierra mused aloud to Roma, who was clicking away on her keyboard at a nearby terminal.

“You must be talking about our famous Dr. Donovan,” Roma answered, without glancing away from her screen.

“How did you guess?”

“He does have a way with people,” she commented. “Young, old, male, female, staff, patients, it doesn’t matter. Why, I’ve seen him talk the most recalcitrant patients into behaving. When he’s on duty, things just run more smoothly.”

Sierra understood why. By virtue of his personality, he inspired people to dig deeply and give one-hundred-and-ten percent.

Just like David.

The only question was, did Trey do it for personal gain, or was he as altruistic as everyone believed? She wasn’t quite convinced of the latter.

Roma finally glanced away from her screen to direct her gaze down the hallway. “He’s so sweet to all of us. In fact, everyone fancies themselves a bit in love with him,” she remarked.

“I’ve gotten that impression,” Sierra said wryly. “Given the way women act when he’s around, I’d bet he never spends an evening alone. I’m surprised he has the energy to come to work.”

The nurse laughed. “There’s where you’re wrong. He doesn’t date as often as you might think. Oh, there are a lot who’d give their right arm for a night with him, but he’s very careful about who he takes out. And he never sees anyone more than a handful of times.”

“Really.” Sierra wasn’t convinced, but Roma seemed to know what she was talking about. “I find that hard to believe.”

Roma shrugged. “It’s true. Dr. Donovan seems like a happy-go-lucky sort, but don’t let his winning ways fool you. There’s a lot more to our good doctor than meets the eye.”

Sierra watched as the X-ray tech walked away with a light step, her face beaming in obvious delight over her encounter with Trey. Meanwhile, he wore his own satisfied expression, which suggested he’d gotten whatever he’d wanted.

Just like David, she thought with some disgust. Everything was a game, nobody was anything more than a chess piece. Thank goodness she’d grown wise to such manipulations. She’d been a pawn once in her life. She wouldn’t be one again.

After finishing with his next patient, Trey strode back to the doctors’ office. He’d requested a CT scan for one of his patients with a debilitating headache and Lila, the X-ray tech, had promised the images would be online by two o’clock. It was five minutes till, so he didn’t expect to see them posted, but it didn’t hurt to check.

He accessed Joan Villiers’s computer file and, as he’d suspected, the CT scan was still pending. A brisk knock at the door heralded Roma’s arrival.

“I’ve been looking all over for you,” the nurse remarked as she entered.

“What’s up?”

“Frances is here.”

“What’s wrong today?”

“Stomachache. Do you want me to give her to Dr. McAllaster?”

He thought a moment. “Yeah, but I’d better introduce them first, don’t you think?”

“Probably. Although I think the introductions are more for Dr. McAllaster’s benefit than Frances’s.”

“Right as usual.” Because he was curious, he asked, “From a nursing point of view, what’s your opinion of our new doc?”

Roma didn’t hesitate. “I think she’s doing okay. She’s a little tense, especially during traumas, but other than that I don’t have any complaints.”

“It’s her first day,” he reminded her. “She’s bound to be a little tense.”

“Hey, I wasn’t finding fault,” Roma protested. “Only making an observation which, as you said, is only to be expected. Now, if she’d come in all cocky and acting like a know-it-all, then I’d worry.” She patted Trey’s shoulder. “You done good, Doc, when you convinced them to transfer her to us.”

Pleased by Roma’s praise, he smiled. “I did, didn’t I?”

“According to the nurses on the fifth floor, they’re extremely upset because we stole her away.”

“It’s only for sixty days.” More or less.

“Yeah, well, they’re afraid they won’t get her back. According to them, she knows her stuff. Better yet, and unlike some doctors who shall remain nameless, she doesn’t treat them like they’re too stupid to live.”

“We were fortunate she came to Good Shepherd,” he commented, keeping the story Sierra had shared to himself. If she wanted everyone to know she was a widow—and she obviously didn’t if the information hadn’t circulated on the grapevine—she could divulge that news herself.

“Rumor says she didn’t want to be assigned to the E.R.,” Roma pointed out. “As you’re the one responsible for her transfer, I hope you intend to turn on the charm until she settles in.”

“Hey, I only made the suggestion,” he protested. “The decision came from people above my pay grade.”

“Be that as it may, if you hadn’t pushed for her, she wouldn’t be here.”

Roma was right. If he hadn’t waged his one-man war, his department would still be suffering from the lack of a physician. “Probably not,” he agreed. “We were lucky the upper echelon saw the situation from our point of view.”

Roma sighed. “I wish she’d applied for the E.R. post in the first place. Everything would be settled. As it is, who knows what her replacement will be like? “

The same thought had crossed Trey’s mind on several occasions. “I’m hoping she’ll grow to love us and will stay.”

“Hope all you want,” Roma said darkly, “but given how other physicians feel about E.R. docs, my money says she’ll run back to the fifth floor as soon as she can.”