“Cheyenne,” he said finally and looked away.
That one word hit me like a ton of bricks. I realized it was a nation of people, but it was also a name. The name of a boy, who nearly ruined my life. It was a name I had spent the last 15 years trying desperately to forget.
Cody continued. “My dad spent most of his life in prison and that’s where he died.” The somber look on his face told me he still had some unresolved anger toward his father.
“You were raised by your mom?”
He gave one unamused laugh. “My mom was a drug addict. Raising me was the last thing on her mind.” He looked into my eyes. “We don’t need to talk about my ugly past on such a beautiful day. I want you to have fun and enjoy yourself.”
He took my arm and led me toward another rock formation that looked like a sphinx.
Of course, Cody not wanting to talk about his past made me want to know about it even more. Now I sensed where all the intensity came from. The more puzzle pieces I put together, the larger the puzzle expanded. I wondered if I would ever know everything there was to know behind the depth of his beautiful brown eyes.
As we took in the view, I decided to try a different line of conversation, but one I was equally curious about.
“Can I ask you a question?” I ventured.
“Of course, you can ask me whatever you want,” he teased.
I smiled. “Will you answer a question for me?” I tried again.
“Depends on the question,” he said. I had my hands full with this one.
“Why didn’t you ask me out the first day we met? When you took me out on the Jeep ride?”
“It’s against company policy. Jim is strict about stuff like that.”
“You never make an exception?”
“As much as I wanted to ask you out, and believe me, I really wanted to ask you out, I could never disrespect Jim like that. I owe him a lot.”
I nodded. The man certainly had integrity.
“I’m just glad you like tea,” he said and gave me a wide grin. “Most people end up at the coffee shop and I was hoping you would, too. Besides, Sedona is a small town. I knew the chances of me running into you again were high.”
I nodded.
“Don’t you believe in fate? Destiny?”
“What do you mean?” I knew the definition of those words, but I wanted to hear more about what he meant by them.
He looked deep into my eyes. “The romantic notion that if two people are meant to be together, the universe, or God, whatever you want to call it, will find a way for them to be together.”
“I haven’t really given it much thought,” I said.
He chuckled. “I thought women were supposed to be the romantic ones. Don’t women want to find their soul mates?”
“Do you believe in soul mates?” I ventured.
He nodded. He didn’t take his eyes from mine. A shiver ran through me. I had a strong feeling that destiny had brought us together. I wasn’t sure why, but I felt like I was supposed to meet Cody.
“Besides,” he continued, “You gave me your email for the photos, remember? If fate didn’t eventually bring us together, I knew the Internet would.”
That made me smile. How could I have forgotten he was going to email me all of the photos?
He grabbed my hand. “We’d better keep hiking. I want you to see Brins Mesa.”
The trail got steeper and we had to traverse several stone staircases to get to the top, but when we made it, the view was worth the effort.
Cody turned to face me. His face alighted with a big grin. “So, was it worth the climb up here?”
“This is incredible,” I said. “I didn’t think Arizona could be this beautiful.”
“Sedona gets a lot of tourists, but not many people make it this far,” he said.
“Thank you,” I said.
“For what?”
“For a wonderful day. I don’t get too many of them.”
He stepped so close to me, I could feel his breath on me. “We’ll just have to change that.” He brought his lips close to mine and gave me a soft kiss.
When I opened my eyes, he was staring at me intensely. “Was that okay?” he said.
I couldn’t speak. I was melting inside. I nodded.
He bent down again, but this time his kiss was more passionate and urgent. My body responded with feelings I had never felt before. I longed for him to possess every part of me.
When he pulled away, he took my face in his hands. “Was that still okay?”
“More that okay,” I managed to mutter.
He grinned. “We need to head back so I can get ready for work.”
I looked at my watch. It was already past two. I knew he had an evening shift. “I hope I didn’t make you late.”
“You’re worth it,” he said.
“Why do you like me so much?” I blurted before I could stop myself. He eyed me like it was a ridiculous question.
“What’s not to like?” he replied.
“I’m sure you could have your choice of women. Why would you choose me?”
He grinned. “When was the last time you looked in a mirror?”
I tried to make my expression more serious. “There’s a significant age difference between us.” There, I finally got it out into the open.
He chuckled. Not the reaction I was expecting. “Is that what you’re worried about?” He looked into my eyes. “It’s not even an issue.”
Maybe it was an issue for me, I thought, but I didn’t want to press the matter any further. Perhaps Mel was right. I should relax and have fun with my hot young date. It wasn’t like I was looking for a relationship with him. Was I?
He grabbed my hand. “Let’s get back to the Jeep.”
As we walked down one of the stone staircases, I somehow lost my footing. I looked over at Cody and I could see a look of panic spread over his face as he tried to catch me. But I dropped too quickly and went sliding what seemed like several hundred feet down the incline. The only thing that stopped me from taking an even worse tumble, probably to my death, was a huge boulder. When I slammed into it, I put my hand out in a panic and got it smashed between me and the big rock.
Within seconds, Cody was on the ground next to me and I was being cradled in his arms.
I could feel the tears well up in my eyes and I tried to stifle my urge to wail in both pain and embarrassment.
Cody attempted to calm me by gently caressing the side of my face with his hand. “It’s going to be okay,” he said. “I promise.”
My breath hitched and I could feel the hot tears streaming down my face. Cody did his best to wipe them away. Then he kissed my forehead.
“We need to figure out if anything is broken,” he said.
I felt so warm and safe in his arms, I had momentarily forgotten about the pain in my hand.
As he rose to his feet, he gently lifted me up with him. “Can you stand?” he asked.
I nodded. “It’s my hand.”
We both looked at my injured appendage. It was scrapped up pretty badly and starting to bleed. When I looked down at Mel’s silk shirt, I was horrified to see that it was torn up and filthy. I couldn’t hold my emotions back any longer. I sobbed.
Cody took my face in his hands. He wiped away my tears and tried to smile, but I could tell he was upset, too. “I need to get you to the hospital,” he said calmly.
I shook my head. I hated hospitals.
“You need to have your hand looked at.”
He was right. The pinkie side of my hand was now throbbing with pain. “Okay,” I finally agreed.
Before I knew what was happening, Cody scooped me into his arms to carry me back to the Jeep.
“This really isn’t necessary,” I said.
“What?” he looked puzzled.
“I hurt my hand,” I said. “I’m still capable of walking.”
“Just let me take care of you,” he said. “Please let me do that.”
I couldn’t remem
ber the last time someone took care of me. It had to be my parents when I was a kid. Rob certainly never did. He was always the one who needed to be taken care of. I nested my head on Cody’s chest and closed my eyes. I felt so safe in his arms.
Cody drove as fast as he could and we made it to the hospital quickly, but my hand was throbbing in pain. I could feel tears streaming down my face as we entered the Emergency Room.
Cody led me to the front desk. A stark looking woman with glasses pushed down her nose glanced up at me. “How can I help you?” she asked.
“I slipped and fell while I was hiking,” I said. “I injured my hand.” I held up the offending appendage.
She grimaced. “Ouch.”
I nodded.
She continued. “I’ll need to see some ID and your insurance card.” She looked down her nose at me. “You do have insurance, don’t you?”
“Of course,” I said. I fumbled for my purse, which was difficult with my hand in so much pain.
“Here, let me help you,” Cody said. He carefully removed the purse from my arm and placed in on the counter. He unsnapped the front and opened the pouch. He removed my wallet. When he opened my wallet, the photo holder contained a picture of Pugsy. I was mortified. I could see a smile forming as Cody said, “Cute dog.”
“My license and insurance cards are right behind Pugsy’s photo,” I told him.
He raised an eyebrow. “Pugsy?” He stifled laughter. He glanced at me and said, “Sorry,” then kissed the tip of my nose.
“I wanted a Pug since I was a little girl and I always wanted to name him Pugsy.”
The woman at the counter cleared her throat. “The two of you are very cute, and so is Pugsy, but I’d like to get a photocopy of your ID and insurance cards, so we can get your paperwork processed and you can see a doctor,” she scolded.
Cody took the ID and insurance cards from my wallet and handed them to the woman. She took the two cards from Cody and handed him a clipboard with paperwork and a pen. “She’ll need to sign the bottom of this form.”
My eyes went back and forth between the pen and my hand. Grin and bear it, I thought.
“I can help you,” Cody said. Very gently, he placed the pen in my hand and then guided my signature with his hand.
He smiled at me like a proud father. “You did it,” he said. He took the clipboard and pen and handed them back to the woman.
“I assume you want your boyfriend to go back with you,” the woman said.
Before I could say that Cody was not my boyfriend, he nodded. “I want to be there for you,” he said.
I nodded to the woman and she told us to take a seat in the small waiting area until my name was called.
We were the only two people waiting so it didn’t take long before a nurse peeked her head out and said, “Jennifer Ellis.”
We both followed the young woman as she led us into the emergency room area. She opened a curtain and motioned for us to take the small room.
“I need for you to sit on the bed,” she said to me. She then motioned to Cody, “You can take a seat there.” She pointed to a chair right next to the bed.
I did as I was instructed and parked myself on the hospital bed. Cody sat on the chair next to the bed and made sure that he moved the chair as close to the bed as was humanly possible. The nurse excused herself and closed the privacy curtain before exiting.
I slumped down onto the pillow at the top of the bed and sighed. What a great ending to our date. Not.
Cody took my non-injured hand and held it in his. “I’m sorry you were hurt.”
I gave him a half-hearted smile. “Don’t you have to go to work? I don’t want you to get in trouble or anything.”
“I’ll phone my boss and let him know. It’s not a big deal. I’m more worried about you.”
“Thank you,” I said.
He kissed my cheek. “My pleasure,” he whispered in my ear. The gesture sent shivers surging through my body.
“Why don’t you just rest until the doctor comes in?” He gently stroked the top of my good hand and let his fingers move up to softly caress my arm. Despite the unfortunate setting, I was getting completely turned on by Cody’s touch.
I thought about the last time I was in a hospital Emergency Room. I had fallen while taking Pugsy for a walk and twisted my ankle. It was when he was still a puppy and had tons of energy. I had to practically beg Rob to take me for X-Rays because he was working on his application for tenure. He drove me to the ER and dropped me off in front of the driveway. I was lucky he even stopped the car for me to get out because he was in such a hurry to get back to his work.
Of course, I could barely walk and it was several hundred yards to get into the building. Luckily a hospital employee saw me struggling and he got me a wheelchair so I could make it into the building. It was difficult to stomach some of the pitying looks the hospital staff gave me when they asked me if I had someone with me and I had to say no. And how pathetic was I when I had to wait in that same driveway, with my foot all bandaged up, for over an hour, for Rob to pick me up. He said he was “on a roll” with his application and couldn’t pull himself from the computer. I guess his indifference to my injuries should have been a clue that he was also indifferent toward me and our marriage.
I looked over at Cody and smiled.
“What’s that smile for?” he asked.
“I appreciate you being here with me,” I said. “It means a lot to me.”
He furrowed his brows. “Where else would I be?”
He pulled my non-injured hand up to his lips and gave my fingers a soft kiss.
When the privacy drape opened, a middle-aged woman in scrubs walked in. “I’m Dr. Weller,” she said in a professional tone. “What happened?”
I explained how I had tumbled down the mountain and sustained my injuries. She carefully lifted the elbow connected to my injured hand in an effort to inspect my hand more closely.
“This will need to be cleaned, but I don’t think you’ll need stitches. The bleeding seems to have subsided. We’ll have to do a few X-Rays to make sure nothing is broken. I’ll be back in a few minutes with a nurse assistant. They’ll also be someone coming by to complete your paperwork.” She gave me a forced smile then exited the room, pulling the privacy drape back in place as she exited.
“She’s all business,” I said.
“Hopefully, nothing is broken and you can get back to normal soon,” Cody said. He now had the fingers of my good hand entwined in his.
“Or as normal as possible for me,” I joked.
The privacy drape opened again and a young women entered with a clipboard and more paperwork.
“Jennifer Ellis?” she asked.
I nodded. She asked for my ID and before I could even reach for my purse, Cody had removed my wallet and handed her my driver’s license.
“What’s your date of birth?” she asked.
Ugh. Really? Cody was sitting right next to me. Did I have to say it out loud for him to hear it? I knew he’d find out how old I was eventually, but I wasn’t sure I was ready to admit to him that I was forty.
“It’s on my license,” I squeaked.
She glanced over at Cody and gave him the once-over. Then she looked at me more closely. Yes, I’m an older woman, I wanted to shout. But do I have to make it that obvious how much older?
“I actually need for you to tell me your date of birth,” she said. “It’s required.”
“August 8, 1972,” I said. I didn’t dare look over at Cody but I noticed that he gave me hand a squeeze.
The woman used a small machine she carried to scan my license then she handed it back to Cody, who placed it carefully back into my wallet.
“The doctor should be back in a few minutes,” she said as she exited the room.
Once again, we were by ourselves. I looked over at Cody. He was grinning. “So, why are you so hung up on the age thing?”
“Because I’m forty. Middle aged,” I said as I held back tea
rs.
Cody rose and kissed my cheek. Then he put his lips up to my ear. “I heard women reach their sexual prime in middle age,” he whispered. “I’m dying to find out if that’s true.”
My entire body began to quake as he put little kisses down my neck.
“And men reach their sexual prime at twenty-nine, so we’re a perfect match.”
I didn’t think that was true, but it didn’t matter when he grabbed my earlobe in his mouth and sucked on it.
“We’re in a hospital room,” I said anxiously.
“I know,” he said as he kissed my chin and made his way to my lips.
His kiss was soft but still erotic. It was as if he was caught between wanting to give me a harder and more penetrating kisses and not wanting to hurt me. When our lips separated, I felt a bit of a letdown. I didn’t ever want him to stop. I never felt like I belonged with someone as much as I felt I belonged with Cody. It didn’t make any rational sense whatsoever, but I really did feel like destiny was at play. It was both exhilarating and panic-inducing.
“How are you doing?” he whispered as he gently kissed my forehead.
“My hand doesn’t hurt as much anymore,” I said and exhaled. He left me nearly breathless.
“I’m glad I could be of service,” he said and grinned.
When the privacy curtain opened again, the doctor walked back in with a nurse. She was carrying all kinds of wound care items. Cody stepped back and let them do their work on my cuts.
After I was cleaned, doused with anti-septic and bandaged, the nurse said, “Now we’ve got to get you to X-Ray.” She looked at Cody and asked him if he’d carry my personal effects. I couldn’t help but smile as the gorgeous and uber-masculine Cody walked dutifully down the hallway with my purse in his hand. It didn’t seem to faze him a bit. Maybe he wasn’t lying about wanting to take care of me.
Luckily, nothing was broken. I was discharged from the hospital with some additional bandages and antibiotic cream. Cody looked tired as he walked me back to his Jeep.
“Thanks, again,” I said.
“I’ve never actually had anyone to take care of before,” he admitted. “I like it.”
I smiled. “Well, you’re good at it.”
He leaned close to my ear and whispered, “There are other ways I’d like to take care of you.”
Still Fine at Forty Page 6
