“Yes?”
“Take this man to room three.”
Jace put his arm under the most critical patient and helped him into room one. Tonight was going to be a long night.
* * *
“Stella!” Jace called out as he sat his patient on the exam table.
Stella raced in but didn’t look harried. “What can I do?”
“I need help getting this burned shirt off him. Can you cut here and here?”
Stella nodded and Jace passed her a pair of gloves and the scissors. “I’m going to give you a shot for the pain,” Jace told his patient. “While she works on getting your shirt off, I’m going to work on your face.
“Stella, when you’re done, run upstairs and get the Mepilex AG Dressing. I’ll use that for his hands and the Cuticerin gauze for his chest.”
“Mepilex, got it.” Stella finished cutting and rushed from the room.
Jace worked on cleaning the burned shirt from the wound. His dressing appeared and he heard Colton and Jack both calling for Stella. At some point he heard Sarah in the lobby and then Molly was by his side.
Jace didn’t need to tell her what needed to be done, which was why Molly was a good nurse. They worked in sync until Molly said she was running low on Mepilex dressing for the last part of the patient’s forearm.
“Stella!” Jace called out, not looking up from using tweezers to clean the last part of the man’s burnt chest.
“Yes, Jace? Oh hi, Molly. I thought you were in the other room.”
“I need more Mepilix. One package should be good,” Molly said from where she was wrapping the patient’s arm.
“Got it. And Jace, Colton is worried about a spot on the woman’s head and wants you to look at it soon. He thinks it might need a skin graft.”
“Tell him I’ll be there in five minutes. After I finish here, Molly can apply the dressing.”
“Don’t tell me I’m being replaced as your work wife,” Molly said with a little laugh.
“I think I’ll keep my garden center for now,” Stella joked back before disappearing down the hall.
“What’s Stella doing here? Not that I’m not thankful for the help. Sarah and I were just surprised it was her who filled us in when we got here.” Without being asked for it, Molly handed him the sterile water to clean the wound.
“She was at my place when Colton called and offered to help,” Jace told her as he cleaned the wound.
“Should I be placing a bet at the café?”
“I’d like to know that, too, Doc,” the patient added.
Jace shook his head mutely and set down his equipment before stripping off his gloves. “Molly, can finish you up? I’m going to call the ambulance and send you to Lexington. There’s a spot on your forehead where you’ll need a graft.”
Stella came in then with the dressing, and Jace asked her to tell Sarah to call Flint to bring the ambulance for a forehead skin graft. Jace felt bad issuing orders, but it helped. The faster they could get these burns cleaned, the better for their condition.
Jace thanked Stella and then walked into Colton’s room. He’d done basic cleaning measures, but it was Jace or Molly who needed to do the deep cleansing and dressing. It was going to be a long night.
11
Stella didn’t know what she was doing, but she knew she was helping. That was all that mattered as she got Jace and Molly whatever they needed as they worked their way from patient to patient and room to room. Stella was talking to the patients in the lobby and to Sarah when she wasn’t running things to Jace or Molly. Slowly the lobby emptied. Flint had come and gone twice. Now family members and friends were picking up the other patients. It was one in the morning by the time the last patient left.
“Stella, it’s been lovely getting to know you,” Sarah told her as she slung her purse strap over her shoulder. “But I’m exhausted and still have a twenty minute drive. I’ll talk to you later. You’re good for him,” Sarah whispered before giving her a wink and heading out the back door.
“I’m exhausted. Thank goodness tomorrow is Sunday,” Molly said, placing her hands on the small of her back and stretching.
Stella smiled at the nurse and then leaned into Jace when he put his arm around her waist. Here he’d been working way harder, yet she felt that she could collapse into him and he’d catch her. Which he did. Even better, he pulled her closer and kissed the top of her head.
“You were such a big help. Thank you, Stella. Definitely not the romantic date I’d had planned.”
“Yes, thank you for getting the things we needed tonight,” Molly said and then sighed. “Think I can crash here?” she said with a little laugh as she stared longingly at the couch in the reception area.
“One of the firemen can take you home if you don’t want to drive,” Jace suggested, but Molly just smiled and shook her head.
“Oh, no. I was kidding. You know us healthcare workers. Long hours are in our blood.”
“Be safe driving home,” Stella called out after they walked Molly to the back door. Stella waved as Jace turned off all the lights and locked up the first floor.
* * *
Together they climbed hand in hand to the second floor. “Go on up to my place while I lock down this floor,” Jace told her before pulling her in for another sweet kiss to her temple. Stella had been a lifesaver. She hadn’t been upset about their date going sideways or even him barking orders. Gosh knows how many times she ran upstairs that night to get supplies for them.
He watched Stella until he heard her enter his apartment and then went to lock up everything on the second floor. It didn’t take more than three minutes, but by the time he got into his apartment he found Stella asleep on the couch.
Jace bent down and slipped off her shoes. Stella stirred and then blinked her eyes open. “Did I really just fall asleep?”
“It’s been a long night.”
“I’m so sorry.”
Jace saw her struggle with keeping her eyes open and brushed the stray hair that had come loose from her bun off her face. “Come on. Let’s go to bed.”
Stella’s eyes widened in surprise and Jace laughed. “Not like that. Let’s go to bed to sleep. You can barely keep your eyes open.”
“Ugh,” Stella groaned as Jace took her hand and led her to his bedroom. “We totally failed on the romance part of this date.”
“I learned you’re calm under pressure and that you put others’ needs above your own wants, which is very sexy. Not all women would do that. Trust me. I had a date yell at me in the middle of a restaurant when I got called into the hospital once. You and I had a great meal together, and now I’m going to lie in bed holding you for the rest of the night. Sounds pretty romantic to me.”
Jace led her to the side of the bed and she sat down. He held her hands as he looked down at her from where he stood. Falling for someone wasn’t like being hit by a truck. Not for him anyway. Instead, it was the feeling of slow warmth spreading across his body as he gazed at her.
He cupped her face with his hands. Stella leaned to one side, resting her head in his hand, and looked up at him. “Thank you for everything you did tonight,” Jace told her sincerely before bending down.
His lips brushed softly against hers briefly before settling fully on them. He took his time kissing her since Stella deserved only the best. Before it had been quick and he hadn’t gotten to taste her, but now as her hands clutched his waist and her mouth opened to his, he finally got the chance. Jace savored the slow sweep of his tongue and the vibration of her moan that seemed to reverberate through his whole body. When he finally pulled back from the languorous kiss, he studied her face.
Stella’s eyes were still closed and then she hummed with pleasure as her lids fluttered open. “Wow.”
Her fingers absently came up to feel her lips. Wow was right. Jace felt that truck hit him, and he knew right then he didn’t want to let her go. So he didn’t. He pulled down the sheets to the bed and flicked off the light, stripped
off his scrubs, and climbed into bed in his boxer briefs.
His hand touched warm skin when he reached for Stella. She turned onto her side and snuggled against him. In the dark he ran his hand down her side and encountered only her bra and panties. In the same slow, unhurried way he’d kissed her, he let his fingers explore all the skin Stella had exposed to him.
In the dark he heard the way her breath held and then picked up in speed. He felt the small shifts of her body and then she finally rolled toward him and used her fingers to find his lips a moment before hers took their place. She kissed him just as deliberately as he’d done, but the pressure of her lips against his was more insistent. Jace basked in the glory of Stella’s hands coming up to rest between them on his chest. Her fingers pushed gently into his muscles before she trailed them down his abdomen, over his hip, and then up his back.
It was no longer a truck but a freight train plowing into his heart and sending it tumbling as he wrapped Stella protectively in his arms and pulled her against him. He rested his chin on her head as she clutched him just as tightly. “Wow,” she said again and all he could do was nod against the top of her head.
Stella awoke with one of Jace’s arms over her waist and the other under her head. They’d fallen asleep together after they’d explored each other at leisure. Wow was the only word for it. She somehow had felt both excitement and comfort at the same time. She felt safe and also as if she were standing on a ledge about to leap into the unknown.
Jace tightened his grip on her and pulled her closer to him. He would catch her if she leapt. She knew it with an unwavering certainty. Not even her mind was telling her it was too soon to know that. Every fiber of her already knew it. Jace Davies was a good man.
“Are you awake?” he barely whispered.
“This is a very nice way to wake up.”
“I couldn’t agree more. In fact, I think we should do it again tonight.”
“You’ve got a date,” Stella said as she snuggled up closer to him before her stomach rumbled.
“Come on, let’s get breakfast. They have stuffed French toast at the café for Sunday brunch.”
Stella’s stomach rumbled again and she laughed. “If you can’t tell, that sounds delicious.”
Stella reluctantly pulled her arms away and scooted out of bed. She borrowed Jace’s hairbrush and mouthwash before splashing some water on her face. Leaving the building, they walked hand in hand to the café. She was not only awake but so excited over feelings she’d never experienced that deeply before—she was beaming with happiness.
Jace opened the door for her to the café and came in behind her, his hand at the small of her back. The room went quiet except for the sound of silverware clanking on plates. Then chaos.
“Twenty on two weeks!”
“Twenty on ten days!”
“Twenty on eleven days!”
Some people were holding up cash while others had their noses in their phones as their fingers flew over them. “What’s going on?” Stella asked quietly as Poppy and Zinnia ran around grabbing the cash and scribbling in a notebook.
“I think our night together didn’t go unnoticed,” Jace whispered into her ear. “And they’re placing bets on our relationship.”
“How could they know?”
“Because you’re both smiling like goofballs,” Miss Lily said from the nearby table. When Stella looked, she saw the Rose sisters all bobbing their heads in agreement. She’d met the elderly sisters at her garden center’s grand opening. They’d surrounded her like a pack of hungry wolves and tore her apart with personal questions.
“I told you, Daisy,” Miss Violet said smugly a moment before Miss Daisy’s napkin flew through the air and smacked Miss Violet in the face.
Suddenly weapons were brandished. A spatula met a wooden spoon over a plate of biscuits and gravy.
“Jace, Stella, join us for Sunday brunch.” Stella saw Tammy wave at her from a large round table. The handsome older man sitting next to her bouncing Cricket on his knee must be Jace’s father. Then Stella saw Piper and a hard-looking man sitting very close together. That must be her husband who sat with an arm over the back of Piper’s chair. There was also a very pretty woman who looked to be about four or five years younger than Stella, sitting with a head full of blonde curls pushed back from her face by a colorful cloth hair band.
“Do you mind?” Jace asked her quietly.
“Not at all. I’m looking forward to meeting the rest of your family.” And she was. They all smiled at her except for the hard-looking man who waggled his eyebrows at her and mouthed, “Run.”
Jace took her hand in his and led her to the table. He pulled out the chair next to his father for her and then took the seat next to her as everyone said their hellos.
“Stella,” Jace said as he drew her attention to the curly blonde woman. “This is my younger sister, Cassidy. You’ve met my older sister, Piper, and this is her husband, Aiden Creed.”
Stella shook hands with both of them and then looked back to Jace. “You have another older brother, right?”
“Dylan,” Jace told her, reminding her of the name. “He and his wife, Abby, are out of town at the moment for work.” Jace then gestured to the man to Stella’s left. “Dad, this is Stella Winters. She opened the nursery and garden center down the road from Mo and Dani’s. Stella, this is my father.”
Stella held out her hand as Mr. Davies shifted Cricket to his other knee so he could shake it. “A pleasure to meet you. My wife has told me your garden center is beautiful.”
“Thank you so much.” Stella stopped midshake and then laughed. “You know, I studied someone named Pierce Davies in some of my agricultural engineering classes at Kentucky and here I am surrounded by Davies. Maybe you have an inventor extraordinaire as a distant relative.”
Everyone at the table tried to hide their laughs and Stella cringed. “Sorry, Mr. Davies. That’s totally not relevant to who you are. So, what is it that you do?”
“I’m a farmer.”
“Oh, Pierce Davies that I studied was originally a farmer, too.” Stella turned to the table, excited to be able to talk about her passion—agriculture. “I learned all about him. It’s really a fascinating story. He was a farmer but found a hole in the market for agricultural robotics. He’s invented so many things. The CropBot that helps maintain the crops and the BugBot that helps organically keep bugs off the crops. Anyway, I was so inspired I almost double majored in agricultural engineering and agricultural business, but the advanced math classes tripped me up so I dropped the AE class down to a minor.”
Stella looked around and saw everyone looking from her to Mr. Davies. “Sorry, again. I get a little excited talking about plants.”
“You forgot the SoilBot,” Mr. Davies said into the silence.
“The what? I don’t think I know that one.”
“The SoilBot combs pastures or yards, taking samples and then analyzing them to let you know the optimal location to plant and also will tell you when the soil has reached the optimal temperature,” Mr. Davies explained.
“That’s brilliant,” Stella exclaimed before launching into lists of hard-to-grow plants, crops, and flowers.
“Exactly the purpose of it. It can save farmers so much in seed if they plant at the optimal time, plus enhance growth and sale prices of their final product.”
Stella shook her head. “It’s a great idea, but I don’t think Pierce Davies has put that out. In fact, I know it’s not on the market at all or I would have scraped and saved for years to get it.”
Mr. Davies leaned forward to look around Stella to Jace. “Son, grab her one from the barn on your way to drop her off at home, will you?”
“Sure thing, Dad.”
Mr. Davies leaned back and continued to bounce Cricket. “Do you have a BugBot? I could see that helping at the nursery.”
“Not yet, but I’m saving for one. I almost have enough for the CropBot I’m going to put in my flower fields . . . wait, what’
s going on?”
“Son, grab her one of the CropBot and BugBot, too.”
Jace nodded as if it were no big deal. Wait . . . no? “Are you Pierce Davies? The man who revolutionized agriculture?”
Tammy rolled her eyes. Pierce beamed proudly.
Stella forced herself not to overwhelm Jace’s father with questions, but it was hard. Through brunch she learned about Aiden’s hometown in England and his company, learned that Piper inherited her father’s inventive side and learned about nanotechnology, and then learned about Cassidy’s love of foreign languages and what it was like working with world leaders.
By the time Jace drove her home, she was simply stunned. “I can’t believe your family.”
“I know they don’t understand personal space. Sorry about that.”
Stella shook her head and laughed. “No, well, yes. They didn’t mind asking personal questions, but they’re so accomplished.”
“My parents always taught us to follow our passions. We’re all very different, but they always supported us in whatever we chose to do. When my dad didn’t understand Dylan’s desire to be in the military, he stepped back and asked his brothers who had all served come in and teach him. Loving what you do and having the courage to do it were the most important things they taught us.”
“Nanotechnology? I’d never heard of half of that before. I could listen to your sister talk all day long.”
Jace motioned to the backseat. “One of her inventions, the jacket she was telling you about, is back there. Take it. I have another one at home.”
Stella felt bad about taking so much, but she also wasn’t foolish enough to say no. The robots Mr. Davies had given her were worth so much, she’d never have been able to afford them all. Stella reached behind her and found the jacket. It was surprisingly light and looked almost like a windbreaker. “Do you think I can gift them with some flowers or special-order trees as a way to say thank you?”
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