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obstetrician, was a brilliant doctor, but he was very old school. Like Doc Graham. He thought pregnancy was a time when a woman should rest, put her feet up, be pampered. I, on the other hand, believe in the benefits of working through a pregnancy, if a woman’s physical condition allows it. And studies back that up. My dad and I used to argue over this all the time.”
    “And who won?”
    “He did with his patients. I did with mine.” And neither of them ever budged from their position. “So, in other words, beindulgent. Of course, you’re the one who has to define what indulgent is, according to your condition. Now, how about I do the rest of your physical, then we’ll talk about the really important things, like decorating baby’s room.”
     
    “So tell me about your hospital.” Gabby caught up to Neil in the hall and fell into step with him. Big steps, tall man. Broad shoulders that swayed naturally with his steps. Neil Ranard had an impressive stature, and for Gabby to notice was something out of the ordinary. Usually she didn’t pay attention, because most men looked her directly in the eyes, and she had a definite preference for tall. But he was tall, taller than Gabby by a good head, which put him well over six feet. Nice, considering how her five-feet-eight height towered over so many people. And intimidated so many men. “Tell me the five most important things I need to know in order to succeed here.”
    “Well, the first is that coffee breaks are essential. Do you prefer your coffee with, or without, cream and sugar?”
    “We’re on our way to a coffee break? That’s why you’re in such a big hurry?”
    “Believe me, at the end of ski season, you look for any excuse you can find to take a break. For five months we’re ridiculously busy. There’s hardly enough time to catch your breath. Never enough time to sit down and put your feet up. Sometimes you’re on call for days. Meaning, no coffee breaks whatsoever. Then the season changes and there’s time to take a break, so you do even if you don’t necessarily want one, because you know that will change in due course and soon you’ll bemoan the fact that you don’t have time to take a break. The two phases of our medical life here—with, and without, coffee breaks—are a vicious cycle.”
    “And you like that, don’t you? I see it in your eyes.”
    Neil laughed. “Or maybe I just like to complain.”
    “Ah, the foibles of being self-indulgent. I just had a talk with my patient about that.”
    “My foibles have more to do with leaving here and being so damned grateful to come back, under any circumstance, break or no break. I was away for a while, working in a clinic in Los Angeles, somehow deluding myself into thinking that I wanted steady hours, five days a week. It was a job most doctors would envy, because I was able to live like everybody else does. You know, getting up in the morning, going to work, coming home in the evening. Weekends for tennis and golfing, which I absolutely hate, but did anyway because I had the time. It was so amazingly normal it drove me crazy inside four months. Probably because it wasn’t…enough. Wasn’t personal the way it is here in White Elk, and by the time I’d worked to the end of my contract, I was more than ready to come back here, where nothing is normal. For me, that makes it better.” He motioned Gabby around the corner to the staff lounge, where he practically lunged at the coffee pot. “How do you take yours? I mean, I’m assuming you still allow yourself a little caffeine at this stage of your pregnancy.”
    “Caffeine in moderation is fine, and there’s always decaffeinated coffee if the caffeine causes side effects. But I don’t like coffee.” She turned up her nose. “Used to, but after I got pregnant I lost my taste for it. Started craving hot chocolate.”
    “But you do like the coffee breaks, don’t you?”
    “As long as I can sit down and put my feet up then, yes, I like