“You’re leaving today,” he said evenly. “And you’re leaving alone.”

“Dammit. This isn’t even your concern, MacBain. I only came here this morning because you seem to have some sort of… influence with Elizabeth. And I need to know what she did to my patient.”

Again, the fine hairs on Michael’s neck stirred at the realization that this conversation was not about medicine or its politics. The man was hiding something.

Or fishing for something.

And suddenly, Michael knew there was more at stake here than Libby’s career.

Whatever had happened to the two patients Libby had seen that day had affected her so strongly that she’d turned her entire life upside down.

And she had run here to protect herself. Michael rubbed the spot where Libby’s snowball had hit him yesterday. Did he really care what had happened in California?

Nay. All that mattered was that she belonged to him now, and that James Kessler had just become more of a threat than an inconvenience.

Michael smiled and stepped forward. “Aye, Kessler, I’m only a farmer,” he said evenly.

“But I know more about the human body than ya might think. For instance,” he whispered, touching Kessler’s chest just below the knot in his tie. “I know that if ya poke a man right here, with just enough pressure, ya can crush his windpipe.

“And,” he continued, removing his hand and holding it palm forward, ignoring Kessler’

s suddenly defensive stance, “if I were to shove on the end of your nose, I could drive the cartilage into your brain before ya even realized my intent.”

Kessler took a step back, bumping against the fender of the car. “Are you threatening me?” he asked, his eyes widening and his face flushing with anger.

“Aye, I am,” Michael growled, taking hold of his tie and pulling him closer. “So, decide, Kessler. Is interfering in Libby’s life worth risking your own?”

Kessler grabbed Michael’s hand and tried to tug free. Michael simply twisted his wrist, tightening the knot against his throat. “Go home, Kessler. And don’t come back. And if I ever hear of ya contacting Libby again, I’m going to hunt ya down and show ya exactly what I know about human anatomy.”

His warning delivered, Michael opened his hand and stepped back. Kessler immediately stuck his finger into the knot of his tie and pulled it loose, gasping for air as he took two steps to the side.

“You’re actually threatening me,” he said, more in disbelief than in horror. “There are laws against that, MacBain.”

Michael crossed his arms over his chest again. “I don’t particularly care for those laws,”

he drawled.

Kessler smoothed down his clothes in an attempt to regain his composure. “Look. We’re both civilized men. There’s no need to reduce this to a pissing contest. I came to see you this morning to explain my concern for Elizabeth.”

“There’s only one civilized person here, Kessler, and I’m beginning to think it’s me. You’

re pretending concern for Libby when you’re really trying to destroy her career.”

“Dammit. Don’t you get it? Something strange happened to those two people, and Elizabeth’s at the center of it. Aren’t you even curious about what she did to them? Or are you too blinded by lust to see that you’re panting after a damn freak!”

Michael quickly stepped forward and wrapped one hand around Kessler’s throat while using his other hand to lift him up by the belt. He threw him onto the hood of the car, shifted his thumb to the pulse in Kessler’s neck, and pressed.

“As I live and breathe, I’m going to regret not beating you to a bloody pulp,” Micheal whispered into Kessler’s flushed face. “But you’re worth more to Libby whole and hearty,” Michael explained, pressing his thumb deeper.

“Because you’re going back to California, and you’re going to make all those questions about her go away.”

Kessler squirmed, trying to pull his neck from beneath Michael’s thumb. Michael repositioned his grip on Kessler’s tie again and dragged the man across the hood as he walked around the front of the car. Once on the driver’s side, he pulled Kessler back to his feet, opened the car door, and shoved him inside.

“Ya have one hour to get out of town,” Michael said, leaning down to look him in the eye. “But you’ll stop at Libby’s first and assure her that you’ll smooth things over for her at the hospital.”

“You’re insane,” Kessler whispered, his eyes bulging and his face flushing red as he stared up at Michael in horror.

“Aye,” Michael agreed. “I’ve been told that before. And I’ve been known to start wars for lesser reasons, which is why you’d be wise to do as I say.” He took hold of Kessler’s shoulder and squeezed until he winced. “And the news Libby gets from California had best be flattering, Kessler, or I’m coming after ya and finishing this. Understand?” he asked, squeezing harder.

James Kessler frantically nodded.

Michael decided their conversation was over. He gently closed the car door and walked back through his field of Christmas trees, sweat trickling down his back despite it being almost cold enough to snow. And as he returned to work, he wondered what had happened between Libby and the two critically injured people who were now walking the earth as if they’d never been hurt.

“He seemed in a bit of a hurry,” Katherine said as she stood beside Libby, both of them watching James pull out of the driveway. “Where do you suppose he went this morning, before he came here?”

“My guess is he went to see Michael.”

“Oh,” Katherine said, lifting her hand to her chest. “I would love to have been there.”

“Not me,” Libby said, rolling her eyes. “Michael probably got all manly and clammed up and wouldn’t even talk to him.”

“That doesn’t explain James’s decision to leave so suddenly, after coming all the way here and not really accomplishing anything,” Katherine said with a frown. “And he looked a little wild-eyed, don’t you think?”

Libby lifted a brow. “Are you implying Michael scared him off?” She laughed. “That’s ridiculous. He’d never do something like that.” She hooked her arm through her mother’

s and walked them back into the house. “James probably realized how foolish he was being. Now that he’s seen I haven’t suddenly grown a set of horns or a tail, he’s anxious to get home and claim that grant money before I change my mind and go back.”

Katherine stopped them just inside the kitchen door and took Libby by both hands. “Do you really think he’ll drop it?” she whispered.

“He has to,” Libby assured her, reversing their grip and squeezing Katherine’s hands.

“Like you said, he can’t prove anything. And he’s beginning to realize he’d only make a fool of himself if he pursues this.”

Katherine smiled with relief. “Of course, you’re right.”

Libby looked around the kitchen, then back at her mother. “So, what do we do for the rest of the day, now that we got rid of James?”

“You take me to town to buy an orange jacket so I don’t get shot. And a hat. I want an Elmer Fudd hat.”

“Katherine Hart.” Libby gasped, giving her mother a wide-eyed stare. “I’m going to take your picture and send it to your garden club.”

“No, we’ll make a Christmas card with the two of us dressed in orange and holding rifles, looking as if we’re about to shoot something. Do you suppose Ian will lend us a couple of guns?”

“So it’s Ian now? What happened to Mr. MacKeage?”

Katherine turned and reached for her coat and purse. “I woke up this morning deciding you’re right. He’s all bluster, under all that hair.”

Libby grabbed her own purse and headed into the garage. She went to the passenger side of her Suburban, took out the apple crate, and set it on the ground.

“I’ve really got to see about getting some running boards,” she said as she helped her mother climb into the truck. “This is getting annoying.”