Hot Summer Nights

by Jaci Burton

“I know it does, sweetheart.” She scooped Tabitha into her arms, the pungent smell of blood about to send her vaulting to the bathroom. She pulled back. “Will is going to take us to the emergency room, and we’ll get you taken care of, okay?”

  Tabby nodded, and Jane fell into the chair, gulping deep breaths of non-bloody-smelling oxygen.

  Some mother she was.

  CHAPTER SEVEN

  Will took one look at Tabitha, and then his gaze crossed to Jane, who had gone pale and looked like she was about to lose the dinner they’d had earlier.

  He’d monitored her drinking, and though he told her she shouldn’t drive, it had been long enough that she should have been fine. She’d been drinking water and all she’d had was soda at Cain’s, so he had an idea her current dilemma had nothing to do with alcohol and everything to do with her daughter’s current state.

  “Hey, Tabitha,” Will said. “Mind if I take a look at your owie?”

  Tabitha nodded and Will walked over and lifted the towel to take a peek.

  “That’s a pretty good boo-boo,” he said. And it was. A nice gash across the top of her forehead, right near the hairline. It was going to need several stitches or staples.

  “I need to use the bathroom,” Jane said. “I’ll be right back, Tabby.”

  Yeah, that’s what he thought. He could see her stiffen, saw her chin lift, and knew she was going to tough it out on behalf of her daughter, but she looked like she was about to pass out.

  Jane was squeamish about blood or gaping wounds. Tough thing for a mom to deal with.

  “Guess what I have in my car?” Will said to Tabitha.

  “What?”

  “A siren. We can use it on the way to the hospital.”

  That caused her shaking sniffles to stop. “Really?”

  “Can you do that—I mean legally?” Sarah, Jane’s mom, asked.

  “Only for the most important of people that we take to the hospital,” Will said, looking at Tabitha as he responded to Sarah. “And we all know how important Tabitha is.”

  Tabitha sat straighter in the chair, grinning as Jane came back in the room. “Did you hear that, Mommy? I’m ’portant.”

  “I heard. I guess we should get going then.”

  “Thank you for the transport, Will,” Greg, Jane’s father, said. “I was all prepared to take her myself.”

  “It’s no problem,” Will said. “I can get her through the paperwork a lot faster, so we can get Tabitha back home and in her bed as soon as possible.”

  “Since Ryan has slept through the whole thing, we’ll bring him home tomorrow,” Sarah said.

  “Thanks, Mom. I’ll call you and let you know how it goes.”

  “You do that. Otherwise I’ll be up all night worrying.”

  Jane hugged her. “I know.”

  “Mind if I carry you?” Will asked Tabitha.

  “That’s okay with me.” She held out her arms and his heart clenched at her trust in him.

  He picked her up and they headed out the door. Once in the car, Will grabbed his first-aid kit, removed the bloody towel, and applied a loose bandage to the wound. The bleeding had stopped so he discarded the towel in a plastic bag and tossed it in the trunk. Maybe covering up the wound would save Jane from wanting to either pass out or throw up in his car.

  She climbed in the backseat and buckled up next to Tabitha. Will came around to her side of the car and leaned in. “Are you all right?”

  She looked a little less pale. “Yes, I’m fine.”

  He gave her arm a squeeze, shut the door, and got into the driver’s seat. It was a short drive to the local hospital. Hope Community Hospital had a decent ER, and he knew the staff there. They weren’t a huge trauma center—most of the tougher cases had to be transferred to the bigger hospitals in Tulsa. But for a simple stitch-up like Tabitha needed, the hospital in Hope would do the trick.

  And as promised, he threw on his siren—though only off and on.

  Tabitha giggled. “Cool.”

  He pulled up in front of the ER to let Jane and Tabitha out.

  “I’m going to go park. I’ll be right back,” he said to her.

  “I’ve got this,” Jane said with a wan smile. “Unfortunately, I’ve been here before.”

  Having kids, he’d just bet she had. Probably had to do it with Vic, too. “I’ll just be a few minutes.”

  He watched her help Tabitha inside, then he went to the parking lot. Fortunately with this being a small hospital, it wasn’t too crowded, so he grabbed a parking space and headed inside. Jane was still at the front desk filling out paperwork.

  “Hey, Felicia,” he said to the intake coordinator as he moved up beside Jane.

  Felicia looked up and smiled at him. “Hey, Will. I didn’t know you were working tonight.”

  “I’m not. I was out with Jane and her daughter, Tabitha, had a slip and fall. She has a cut on her head.” He looked over in the seating area. There were about ten people in there. “How’s the wait?”

  Felicia looked over the counter at Tabitha, who was leaning against Jane’s leg.

  “Poor baby.” Then she looked up at Jane. “I’ve got a couple kids myself. It’s never easy when they get hurt, is it?”

  Jane shook her head. “No, it’s not.”

  “We’ll get you into a room and have a doctor look at your daughter’s head as soon as possible.”

  She gave Will a nod and he smiled in thanks.

  Jane handed Felicia the clipboard along with her insurance information. Felicia had it all handled with her usual efficiency, then they took a seat. It wasn’t five minutes before Tabitha’s name was called and they were ushered into a room in the back.

  A nurse named Elaine came in, took Tabitha’s vitals, and removed the bandage to take a look at the cut. Jane started looking at the monitors.

  “Yeah, looks like the doc will probably want to put some stitches in. You got a nasty gash there, sweetie.”

  Tabitha’s eyes welled with tears, the fear evident on her face. She looked over at Jane. “Mommy.”

  Jane got up and took a seat on the examination table with her. “It’s okay, baby. I’ll be here to hold your hand.”

  Will wondered who was going to hold Jane’s hand.

  “I’m going to clean up this cut and get everything ready,” Elaine said to Jane, then leaned down to look at Tabitha. “This is going to sting a little when I clean up all the blood.”

  And Jane went pale again. But she held Tabitha’s hand. She even turned to look at her, started telling her where she and Will had had dinner, and how they’d gone to listen to a band tonight and had gone to the park and seen some ducks. Will knew what looking at the wound did to her. She was tough, taking it so her daughter could be distracted while Elaine cleaned up Tabitha’s forehead.

  “Okay, now we’re going to lay you down to get ready for the doc, okay, Tabitha?” Elaine asked.

  Tabitha looked at Jane, who nodded. “Okay,” Tabitha said.

  The nurse got her positioned and draped. Then the doc came in.

  Will breathed a sigh of relief when he saw Jeff.

  “Hey, Will.”

  “Jeff.”

  “You working tonight, or just here for fun and stitches?”

  Will smiled and introduced Jane. “Jane, this is Jeff Armstrong, a good friend and a great ER doctor. Tabitha is in very good hands.”

  “Good to know. Nice to meet you, Dr. Armstrong.”

  “Now that makes me sound old. Call me Jeff. And who’s hiding here on my table?”

  “Tabitha,” came a tiny muffled voice from under the drape.

  Jeff gloved up and took a peek. “Well, hello, Tabitha. My name is Dr. Jeff. I’m going to give you some awesome-looking stitches you’ll be able to show off to all your friends. They’re gonna be really jealous. You ready for that?”

  “Sure.”

  Jeff walked her through the entire procedure, including the pinch from the needle. Tabitha cried a little, and even Will’s gut twi
sted at her mournful sobs. But Jane soothed her through it with soft words and murmurs. After Tabitha’s skin was numb, she was fine, though, and Jeff stitched her up, talking to her the whole time about kid’s TV shows Will knew nothing about. But Jeff and Jane were laughing the whole time and talking, so Will took a step back and let them engage Tabitha, who, now that she couldn’t feel any pain, seemed relaxed and even laughed.

  “All done,” Jeff said, removing the drape from Tabitha’s head. He finished cleaning her up, then went through an examination.

  “I don’t think there’s any evidence of a concussion.”

  “That’s great news,” Jane said.

  Jeff presented a red sucker to Tabitha. “You were a good patient, Tabitha. Here’s your reward.”

  Tabitha’s eyes went wide and she looked to Jane. “Can I, Mommy?”

  “Absolutely,” Jane said with a sigh of relief.

  “Thanks,” Will said, shaking Jeff’s hand.

  “Hey, it’s my job. And when I have cool patients like Tabitha, it’s a great one,” he said, winking at Tabitha, who smiled back at Jeff.

  “No, seriously,” Jane said, also shaking his hand and covering it with both of hers. “You made this much easier than I expected. Thank you for that.”

  Jeff grinned, then pushed his dark glasses up the bridge of his nose. “You’re welcome.” He turned to Tabitha. “No mad dashes in the dark for you anymore, princess. Okay?”

  Tabitha pulled the sucker out of her mouth and grinned. “Okay.”

  “Take her to her pediatrician in about a week to have those stitches taken out,” Jeff said to Jane. After he left, Elaine came back in with a sheet of instructions and discharge paperwork.

  “We’re outta here,” Will said. “Are you ready to go home, Tabitha?”

  “Totally,” she said with the sucker in her mouth.

  Will grinned at Jane, who sighed in relief. “Totally times two,” she said.

  He drove them back to Jane’s house. “Give me a few minutes,” she said, then took Tabitha back toward the bedrooms.

  She came out a few minutes later. “She’s restless. Wants a couple stories.”

  He nodded. “Understandable. I’m going to take off. I’m sure you’re exhausted.”

  She let out a soft laugh. “It’s been an eventful night.”

  He swept the pad of his thumb across her cheek. “Yeah, it has.”

  He started for the door.

  “Will.”

  He stopped and turned. “Yeah?”

  She stepped into his arms and he pulled her against him, his mouth meeting hers in a quick but deep kiss that reignited the passion they’d shared earlier.

  Just as quickly, she stepped away. “I need to go see to Tabby.”

  “Yeah. You do. I’ll call you tomorrow.”

  Her lips lifted. “I’d like that.”

  “Get some rest.”

  “Good night, Will.”

  He walked away and she shut the door. There was a finality to it that he didn’t like.

  He wanted to stay, wanted to be with her and make sure Tabitha was okay.

  But he was on the outside, not a part of that family.

  And that’s where he’d have to stay.

  For now.

  CHAPTER EIGHT

  For the next week, Jane focused on school and her kids. Dr. Jeff had been right. Jane had worried that Tabitha would suffer teasing from her friends at school. Instead, they’d all thought the stitches at the top of her forehead were cool. And her bangs covered what would undoubtedly be a slight scar, so she wasn’t too worried.

  Tabitha wasn’t worried at all. She was thrilled she didn’t have to suffer having to have her hair washed for several days, and she showed off the stitches like a blue ribbon at the county fair. Ryan, who’d had his fair share of visits to the ER for stitches and a broken arm, was highly jealous and proclaimed her a rock star, which nearly made Tabitha swoon since she was typically so uncool in her big brother’s eyes. He couldn’t believe no one had woken him up for all the blood and mayhem.

  Jane was just happy to have things go back to normal, or as normal as they got in her life, anyway. Will had called the following morning, just as he’d promised, but she’d been so busy with her parents bringing Ryan home that she’d had to cut the call short. She’d promised to call him back.

  And a week later, she hadn’t.

  “So did the date go badly?” Chelsea asked as they sipped iced tea at Bert’s after school. Tabitha had gone home with a friend, and she’d dropped Ryan off at practice. One of the moms was going to bring him home later, after he ate dinner at their house. For the next few hours, she was free, for the first time in a week, so Chelsea insisted they grab a bite to eat and catch up.

  “No. I already told you the date was awesome.”

  “Until the whole thing with Tabitha.”

  “Well, yeah, there was that.”

  “At which time he drove you and Tabs to the hospital, and got you promptly into an exam room, right?”

  She rolled her eyes. “We already talked about this.” Repeatedly, since Chelsea had also called her the day after her date with Will, and Jane had had to tell her about the evening, and about Tabitha’s accident.

  “I know we talked about this. What I’m trying to wrap my head around is why you haven’t called him back a week later. Has he called you?”

  She shrugged and took another sip of tea. “Yes. A couple times.”

  “And?”

  “I told him I was busy. Which I was. You know testing is next week.”

  “So? Your entire life has to go on hold because of testing? You know as well as I do that changes nothing in your curriculum—or your social life. So what gives, Jane? Why are you suddenly giving Will the cold shoulder? If your date was great, then why dump him?”

  She shot Chelsea a look. “I’m not dumping him. The date was fantastic. I’m just…regrouping.”

  Chelsea studied her for a minute, then sat straight up in the booth. “Oh. Now I get it. You’re afraid.”

  “What? Afraid of what?”

  “Afraid he’s going to be there for you, afraid you’re going to fall head over heels in love with him, and that he’s going to fail you like Vic did.”

  “That’s not it at all.”

  “Or maybe you’re still holding out hope that Vic will come back someday?”

  She frowned. “Oh, God no. And even if he did—oh, God no, Chelse. Never. Never in a million years. That door is firmly closed. Forever.”

  “Good to know. I’d like to give you credit for not being a stupid woman, Jane.”

  “I’m not that stupid. I’ll never be that stupid again. I was once, but no. Never, ever again.”

  “So you say. But what’s the deal with Will?”

  She lifted a shoulder and studied her tea. “I don’t know. Maybe you’re right. Maybe some subconscious part of me is holding back because I’m afraid of getting hurt again.”

  “He’d never hurt you like Vic did.”

  She lifted her gaze to Chelsea’s. “The logical part of me knows that. He’s a nice guy and I…feel things for him.” She felt a lot of things for him. Ever since that night, he’d been all she thought about.

  And maybe that’s what scared her the most. “But I feel things for him too fast, Chelsea. And it’s scaring me. I’m not ready to fall in love with someone after spending one night with him. Really great sex or not, it’s just too fast for me.”

  Chelsea reached across the table and grabbed her hand. “Sometimes love whacks you across the head and, like it or not, you have to be ready for it.”

  “I’d rather not be whacked across the head. I’d prefer to be eased into it.”

  “You don’t always get what you want, honey. And you don’t always get it in the way you think you want it.”

  “It’s like someone dropped a house on me. Bam. There it was. All at once. No gradual realization over months of dating that, hey, I like this guy a lot, and then, oh
, wow, I might love him. It was all right there, all at once. One date. Mind-blowing sex. And then he was this knight in shining armor when Tabby got hurt. And he not only took care of her, he instantly realized that I’m squeamish about blood, and he took care of me, too. What kind of guy does that?”

  Chelsea squeezed her hand. “The kind of guy you want to keep around forever and ever, amen, sister.”

  Jane shook her head. “I’m not sure I’m ready for forever and ever. I’m not sure I’ll ever be ready for it again.”

  “Maybe you won’t be. But shutting the door on it before it ever starts seems a little unfair, both to him and to you, don’t you think?”

  “Probably.” She laid her head in her hand.

  Chelsea slid Jane’s phone over toward her hand. “So why don’t you give him a call, and try for date two? See what happens?”

  * * *

  It had been a shit kind of day. A tractor-trailer had jackknifed at the entrance to the Will Rogers Turnpike, spilling its contents across both sides of the highway. Which meant shutting down traffic going in both directions an hour before the start of rush hour, and keeping it that way for several hours as the mess was cleaned up. Traffic had been backed up for miles, and had been a crap start to Will’s day.

  It had only gotten worse from there, as he’d dealt with an accident on Highway 44, with injuries that could have been prevented if people bothered to use their seat belts. What did folks think those things were for? Decoration?

  By the end of his shift, he was in a foul mood and he needed some stress relief. He decided to head straight for the gym. He ran off some of his agitation on the treadmill, already logging several miles in thirty minutes.

  Admittedly, as he looked through the glass into the hallway, he half expected Jane to walk by. But after she’d brushed him off for the third time in the past week when he called, he stopped calling.

  He should stop looking for her, too. He’d been so distracted, his head filled with the events from today, that he hadn’t looked for her car in the gym parking lot. He had no idea if she was here or not.

  She’d made it clear by her lack of return phone calls that she didn’t want to be bothered. He’d grabbed a clue and stopped calling, another thing to add to his irritation load today. He increased his speed and started running until sweat poured from him.