by Hope Ramsay
“Thanks, Glinda,” Sara said, taking Hannah’s chart and knocking on the door. She was a little nervous about seeing Hannah as a patient. Of course she would keep Hannah’s concerns private, as she was obliged to do, but she wasn’t quite sure if Colton would like that or not. Hopefully he’d be relieved that Hannah had gotten all the info she needed and be grateful to be spared the details.
Hannah’s chart said she was here for a physical. A meningitis shot before college. And Sara couldn’t forget about the sex talk. Part of her job. An important part, she reminded herself, whether it was a little uncomfortable or not.
“How’s your summer?” Sara asked as she took a seat on the stool and put Hannah’s chart off to the side.
“Fabulous. But it’ll be coming to an end. I’m a little sad about that.”
Hannah’s tone was chatty, as always, the only evidence of nerves the fact that as she sat she twirled her long braid in one hand. “Are you nervous about college?”
“No, not really. Excited.” She dropped her hands into her lap but fidgeted them a little. “Except I met someone. A boy.”
Sara raised a brow. “A nice boy?”
“He’s awesome, Sara. Kind and sweet and really handsome.”
God, she loved this kid. Mentioning kind and sweet before handsome. Mature beyond her age. Colton would be so proud.
“My brother found out I was seeing him.” Hannah looked Sara directly in the eye, which also impressed her. “You won’t tell him any of this, will you?”
She wanted to make certain Hannah understood she had her trust. “Anything we discuss in this office is private.”
“Aiden happens to be my brother’s latest project.”
“Project?”
“Yeah, you know. The cops helped Colton when he was a wild teenager or something and now he feels like it’s his mission on earth to do the same for other kids. And he picked Aiden. He’s painting Cookie’s house, of all things.”
“Have you had a talk with your brother about this?”
“Well, he confronted me because he found out I was hanging out with Aiden. And he basically went ballistic.”
Colton going ballistic? Hard to imagine. On second thought, maybe not so hard, knowing how much he loved his sister. “Why’s that?”
“Because Aiden doesn’t come from a nice family—he’s not going to college, and he wants to be an electrician. And he got in trouble last spring, but that was an accident. But he works three jobs and he’s amazing.”
“Three jobs. That is amazing.” Sara made small talk but knew she had to somehow professionally broach the topic of sex while making the transition as natural as possible. She was just trying to figure out how to do that when Hannah spoke.
“I already know about the birds and the bees, if that’s what you’re wondering. And no, I’m not having sex with him. Not yet. But I have a few questions.”
“Well, I’d love to help you with whatever questions you have. Not just here in the office but anytime, right?”
“This isn’t a fling. I love Aiden. But Colt will be so upset.”
“Well, I know one thing—your brother adores you. He wants nothing but the best for you.”
“My brother is stubborn. He can’t see beyond Aiden’s past. Geez, he practically broke out in hives when he found out I was seeing him.” She grinned and waved her hands near her face. “I mean it, Sara, his face got all blotchy and he looked like he was going to pass out or something.”
Sara couldn’t help but chuckle. “My advice is to talk with your brother. And go slowly. Sometimes we think we’re in love, but it’s just infatuation.”
“And sometimes it’s love,” she insisted.
“I’m just saying waiting to have sex might be a good thing. Slow things down a little. Really get to know one another. Proceed with caution.” She certainly hadn’t done that with Colton. But she was old enough to realize the starry-eyed feeling she felt around him was not love. She would not allow herself to get burned by that again.
Hannah was sitting there, her long dancer’s legs dangling off the exam table, pretending to listen. Sara knew the look. Hannah was being respectful, but it looked as if she’d already made up her mind.
As Sara went on talking, educating, and informing, she thought about how dearly Colton loved his little sister and how she had to do right by him but also do right by Hannah. However that balancing act tipped, one side was bound not to be as happy as the other. But she had to do her job first.
* * *
“Hey,” Colton said as he walked into Sara’s office at twelve fifteen and found her writing up a chart at the counter. “Have time for lunch?”
“Yep. I’m done and I’m starving,” Sara said, closing the chart and beaming a bright smile that told him she was happy to see him. He couldn’t help grinning back like a smitten teenager, and bit down on his cheeks to control it. What was it about her that made him feel like he wasn’t in control at all?
“I’m starving too,” he said, giving her a look that let her know exactly what he was starving for.
She blushed at his comment, a fact that did not go unnoticed by Leonore and Glinda, who gave each other a knowing look.
He leaned through the open reception window. “Ladies,” he said. “How goes it?”
“Great, Chief,” Leonore said with a wave.
Sara hung her lab coat on the hook and walked into the waiting room. As they headed for the outside door, Glinda said, “Lord, I am having a hot flash. Did you see the way that man looks at her?”
“Like he’s a sailor home after a six-month voyage,” Glinda said. Colton held the door for Sara and gave her the most indecent look he could muster, which wasn’t hard at all. As soon as they got outside, Colton swung her up against the side of the building and kissed her. “Ahoy there, matey,” he murmured against her neck.
She giggled. “They said a sailor, not a pirate.”
“I like the pirate better. Shiver me timbers, lass.”
She groaned at his bad impression, but kissed him back just as eagerly, wrapping her hands around his waist and gazing at him with those stunning green eyes. In the cool shade by the door, under the old lilacs, he wished he could keep kissing her forever. “I hope you didn’t mind I came in?” He grinned—again. He really had to stop with all the grinning. “I missed you.”
She laughed. “But you just saw me yesterday morning.”
He shrugged. “I know, but I missed you last night.” Dammit, he shouldn’t have said that. He knew she had commitments to her grandmother. Plus he was supposed to be treating this as casual and instead he was acting stalker-ish. What had gotten into him?
But then she grabbed him by the shirt and went in for another kiss. She tasted wonderful, felt so good in his arms. He skimmed her jaw with kisses, then trailed them down her neck.
She arched her neck to give him better access. “Maybe we should go to your place for lunch?”
“Can’t,” he said. “I have to be in court in Richardson by one. But I do have lunch for us in my car. And I thought I’d take you somewhere special to eat it.”
She raised an elegant brow. “Somewhere special?”
“Yeah,” he said. “You’ll see.” His gaze skimmed lightly over her. She was wearing a flowered dress and red sandals, and her hair, up in its usual ponytail, was catching golden highlights in the sun. Gorgeous woman. Mine, something primal cried out inside him. He started walking around the back of the building to his car before he could say something stupid. Sara was stirring feelings in him he had no business feeling. Ones he’d made it a point not to feel with women, and especially not her. Yet he couldn’t seem to rein them in.
Just then they saw an older woman walking toward them with a cane. It was Mary Mulligan, the angel photographer. She must’ve seen them kissing outside the door in broad daylight. He uttered a curse under his breath. What had he been thinking? Did he really want the whole town knowing about them?
“Oh, hello, Chief, Dr. Sa
ra,” Mrs. Mulligan said. “Seems I always catch you two kissing.”
Colton felt his face flush, a rare occurrence. He was suddenly at a loss for words. Fortunately Sara chimed in.
“Hi, Mary,” Sara said, shooting a glance at Colton. “Headed to see my dad?”
“Yes, my stupid arthritis is acting up.” She stopped and rummaged in her purse, then pulled out her iPhone. “Say cheese,” she said, suddenly snapping their picture. “You two are such a cute couple. Are you headed out to lunch? It’s such a lovely summer day.”
A sense of apprehension spread through Colton. Terms like couple and catch you two kissing were the kinds of words that were apt to give him hives.
Mary replaced her phone, and Colton offered her his arm as she walked over to the office door.
“Have a nice day, Mary,” Colton said.
“You too.” She turned around at the top stair, grabbing on to the door frame for support. “It’s nice to finally see you both together. But those angels are certainly taking their time with you two.”
Colton waved to Mary and steered Sara to his car, reminding himself that this was only a summer fling. No big deal. It was only lunch. He couldn’t allow himself to think further than that.
* * *
“Are you OK?” Sara asked as Colton drove them downtown and turned up a side street right after the falls. “You’re not letting that angel stuff get to you, are you?”
“No, of course not,” he said. But frankly it had, a little, and he wasn’t quite sure why. Sara had said she wanted to keep things casual, which was exactly what he wanted too. What she’d said just now seemed to confirm that. Then what was his problem?
He’d decided on impulse this morning to show Sara his plot of land. But now he was having second thoughts. Maybe it was too personal. Half of him wanted to show her everything, tell her everything on his mind because his heart was bursting like a damn teenager’s, but the other half told him he was a fool. A relationship wasn’t what she wanted. Or what he wanted, right?
One more turn, and they were suddenly traveling up a gravel driveway surrounded on both sides by trees. He felt a little nervous about what she would think, but didn’t want to even think about why that was important to him.
“Someone lives back here?” Sara asked.
He laughed. “Well, they used to.” The car crunched along the road, which wound through a patch of woods and over a tiny stone bridge where a creek gurgled below.
“It’s like a park back here,” Sara said.
“It’s next to the park. Pretty hidden, isn’t it?” He felt the same peace come over him that he always felt making this climb. As if he’d left his world of problems back on the main road.
They continued through a clearing, and that’s where Colton killed the motor. He got out of the car and grabbed a bag of food from the back seat and a blanket from the trunk.
“We’re eating lunch in the field?” Sara asked.
He quirked a smile and signaled her to keep walking.
Suddenly, past the weedy field, a view opened up of a house that at one time used to be a showstopper but was now crippled with age. It was a big rectangular colonial, the bottom half covered in brown stone. The top half was made of wood and had been painted white, but the paint was now gray, chipped, and peeling. The front steps were crumbling, and a big tree alongside the house was growing through the roof.
“So who owns this decrepit old house?” Sara asked as Colton led her over to the tree and laid out the blanket. She seemed fascinated by the tree limb climbing through the window and popping out the roof. “I’ve never seen a tree do that before.”
“I own the land, up to the house.”
“You own this?” She squinted at him in the sunshine. “How could I not even know about this place?”
He shrugged. “Believe me, kids know about it, and sometimes they come out here and cause trouble. An elderly couple lived here, but it’s been abandoned for years. Their grandchildren are finally selling it. They intend to knock down the house and sell this piece of land off too.” Colton reached into the bag and pulled out two wrapped sandwiches. “Want to eat?” But she was already taking off toward the house, so he set down the food and followed her.
She climbed onto the porch, stepping around the crumbling stone steps, and peeked in one of the windows.
“Hey, be careful, Red. It’s not safe. Plus it looks like Hoarders in there.”
That of course made her peek in all the windows. “Oh, wow. I see all kinds of furniture. Newspapers, magazines. Lots and lots of stuff.” When she turned, it surprised him to see excitement on her face. “So what made you buy the land?”
“Sometimes being police chief makes me feel like I’m in a fishbowl. I wasn’t really ready for it with Hannah’s college expenses, but sometimes you just know when something’s right.” He winced. That seemed to reflect some other feelings he might be having too. Ones he did not want to assess that deeply right now.
“So what are you going to do about the house? You have to buy it, or you’ll have neighbors.”
“The family asked me if I want it, but I said no. Too big for me. Not to mention it’s a train wreck.”
“It might not be too big if you have a family one day. Do you like old houses?”
A sudden picture popped into his head. Kids running around this field playing, dogs running right alongside. Some of the kids had red hair. Oh geez. He shook his head and made himself focus on the front door, which was coming off its hinges. “I’m not sure this one’s worth saving.”
She sighed. “There’s something to be said about a house that’s quirky and one of a kind. Have you been inside?”
He laughed. And remembered Tagg complaining when he and Sara had house hunted that she’d been drawn to houses precisely like this one. “There’s not an inch of space in there not covered with junk. Plus it smells like mouse pee and other bad things. I know a lot of guys in the trades who can help me build a nice house from the bottom up. I’ve been clearing the field on my days off.”
“Oh, c’mon, Colt,” Sara said with a wink. “You’re not afraid of a little challenge, are you?”
“No, but I’m also not crazy. Thanks for the pep talk, though.” Then he kissed her, nice and long and slow, and it was the perfect kiss, on the most perfect day imaginable, being out here in the warm sunshine, the birds singing, the smell of summer grasses and growing things thick in the air.
“Can you stay over tonight?” he asked. He missed her in his arms, in his bed. If they’d had more time he would’ve made use of that blanket he’d brought, just sitting under that shady tree.
“I’ve got to stay with Nonna tonight.”
“I understand. Disappointed, but I understand.”
Impulsively she kissed him again, standing on tiptoe, tugging on his shirt to bring him closer.
“Woman, you are bewitching me,” he murmured against her lips. Definitely not a safe thing to say, but nothing with her seemed to be following the rules.
“I tend to have that effect on men,” she said, smiling against his lips. “Thanks for showing me this place. It was fun.” Her phone went off with a text, and she looked at it. “Oh, how about that,” she said incredulously.
“What is it?”
“It’s from a friend of mine at Columbia. Looks like there’s going to be a sudden opening in the type of fellowship I almost started last year. They’re taking applications, and they want to fill the vacancy by Christmas.”
Dread tore through him. “So you’re going to apply?” he asked, hoping he kept a positive expression on his face.
“My dad assumes I’ll just pick up where I left off last year and go back to doing research and working at a big hospital. I’m not sure he believes I’m cut out to be a family doctor.”
“What is it you want?”
For a heartbeat, her gaze searched his. “I don’t know.”
He had no idea what to say. He wanted to cry out, Don’t go, but who was he t
o hold her back? Or imply there would be commitments of any kind? He’d always known she wasn’t long for Angel Falls, and this just confirmed it.
They ate lunch, but Colton had lost his appetite.
This reinforced what he felt in his gut: he did not want rumors to spread about them dating. He shouldn’t have been so reckless as to kiss her outside her father’s office. And it was of questionable judgment to be sharing his land with her too. The more he thought about it, the more he realized it was a bad idea to go too public with this—whatever it was. It was fantastic and amazing, but as far as he was concerned, it was too good to be real. Even if she didn’t take that fellowship, she’d soon tire of him, a small-town cop still stuck in the same old place they’d grown up in. He’d just be happy for each day and stick to his rules—that he didn’t get serious. Or do family dinners. Whatever it took to avoid a broken heart.
Because he could read the writing on the wall. Sara would be off soon, on to a big city, a big hospital, something much bigger than the life he had here. Keeping it casual would make it easier to say goodbye.
He dropped her off at her office. “Bye,” she said, kissing him and lightly running her hand down his cheek. “Your land is awesome. Thanks for sharing that with me.” She gave a little smile before she closed the door and walked away.
Leaving him more confused than ever.
Chapter 16
Colton was working out at home that evening when Sara’s text came through. OK to come over? He’d just set down his free weights and decided to hit the shower when his doorbell rang. He opened the door to find her standing there, holding her phone, wearing a gray T-shirt, leggings, and a long gray sweater with flip-flops. A flowery little overnight bag was slung over her shoulder. If she’d been in a gorgeous gown and heels, he wouldn’t have wanted her any more.
“Surprise,” she said.
His heart rolled over and surrendered right there. It struck him that it was an ordinary evening—he was sweaty from his workout, he still had earbuds in his ears from the audiobook he’d been listening to—and there she was, looking like everything he’d ever wanted.
