by Kim Law
“Are you kidding me?” Her red lips parted with a wide smile, and he noted that she really was a good-looking woman. There had to be many men in town who’d love to take her to the fund-raiser. “It’s just down the street from your apartment, and I happen to be privy to the fact that Keri plans on working tomorrow morning. After today, you won’t have to report back to the office until Monday—assuming her water doesn’t break, of course.”
“Of course,” he agreed.
Holly tilted her head and studied him with an eye that made him nervous. “Then why else turn me down? It’s not like Sugar Springs is a bustling hotbed with a plethora of options for a Saturday morning.”
That was true. He opened his mouth to try another tactic but came up with nothing. Finally, he simply shrugged. “I’m sorry, Holly. I didn’t come to town to date anyone.”
“Hmmm...not even Lee Ann, then?”
“What? No.” He shook his head and rose from his seat, feeling suddenly pinned in. “Absolutely not Lee Ann.”
“But you dated her once.”
God, he hated small-town gossip. “Yeah, I dated her once. Years ago. We were teenagers, we kissed, we drank milkshakes after school, end of story.”
“Except from what I hear, you also broke her heart when you went ape shit off the deep end and tore the town down, then left without so much as a good-bye.”
Hell. Clearly the stories were flying fast and furious. Then something occurred to him. She’d only pointed out that he’d broken Lee Ann’s heart by leaving town. What about what he’d done with Stephanie? How had that not come up? It would soon enough. Unless...
He stared down at her, trying to figure out if it were honestly possible that what he’d done in the London living room that afternoon had been kept secret from the hordes of people who made gossiping a daily ritual. It was almost too unreal to believe. And then something else crossed his mind. Stephanie.
Shit, he hadn’t even thought about her. Was she around? Hopefully she’d gone back to Nashville for good after that day. If she’d remained in town for any length of time, he couldn’t imagine her not blurting to the world how she’d managed to screw over both the bad boy and her little sister, all in one fell swoop.
But from the obvious lack of knowledge on Holly’s part, it appeared that Lee Ann had somehow managed to keep that secret hidden. Otherwise, Holly would have mentioned it. After all, his behavior with Stephanie was the juiciest part of the gossip.
If Stephanie did happen to be in town, he now worried that the silence from that day would change. Would his being back end up causing Lee Ann even more grief than he’d already doled out? Damn. He hoped not. But he couldn’t imagine him being there and the past not coming back up between the two sisters. If that happened, a single conversation held anywhere but a thick, padded room would eventually be heard by the full population of Sugar Springs.
Maybe he should have thought this plan through better.
Holly was watching him silently, a gleam in her eye. “What is it, Doc? Was there more to the story than I’m privy to?”
Christ. He had to quit letting his thoughts roam across his face. Sitting back down, he went for calm and collected and focused hard not to say anything that could later be used against him. “Of course there wasn’t. Simply remembering the past. I hadn’t thought about it in a long time.” Liar. “And now I really do have to go.” He held out his hand again. “The bill?”
She pushed his hand away. “Don’t worry. The fact you have a secret is safe with me. And please, think nothing of my suggestion about the fund-raiser. I’m not after you. I merely wanted some company.” She gave him a mischievous wink. “As well as to work on one teensy secret of my own. It’s something that could benefit you as well as me, actually, if you cared to hear it.”
He lifted his brows in a questioning look before he caught himself, unable to believe that he was even mildly interested in hearing what she had to say. He felt like he was already being sucked into the cyclone that made up small-town living, and he didn’t care for it one bit.
She tucked her hair behind her ear and leaned forward. “I’m after Tucker Brown,” she whispered. “For some temporary fun—at least until I get out of town for good. He’s a teacher at the junior high and he’s playing hard to get. I thought a little jealousy by showing up with another man might push him in my direction.”
“Ah...a woman with a plan.” He couldn’t fault her for that, but that didn’t change the fact he didn’t want to go. Doing so would place him exactly where he’d sworn to himself he wouldn’t be when he’d agreed to the job. Right smack in the middle of a big community lovefest.
His plan was to express his apologies to the general population by the simple act of doing a good job. By being the guy they could depend on while Dr. Wright was indisposed. And he’d planned to do all that from the outskirts. Being involved was not in the mix. “I must admit I admire seeing a person go after what she wants, but I don’t see how that could benefit me.”
“I’ve got a plan for you, too, of course.”
“For me?” He couldn’t imagine a scenario that would interest him.
“It involves Lee Ann.” She paused and he knew she’d said the only thing that could have gotten his attention. She snickered. “Yeah, I can see just fine from the grill line. Say what you want, but I saw the way you were watching her.”
He grunted. “I wasn’t watching.”
She smiled, a slow movement of her mouth spreading wide across rosy cheeks, and she suddenly looked even younger. “You were watching. And she was watching, too. Maybe only curiosity, maybe more, I’m not sure. But given your past, I’m willing to bet there’s something left there on both sides, even if it’s merely a proper good-bye.”
Cody considered the woman across from him, uncomfortable with the fact that she seemed to be keying in on him a bit too close to home. He hadn’t come back to Sugar Springs to start anything with Lee Ann, but he did owe her that apology. Given the way she’d run from him that morning, he suspected it was going to be hard to trap her anywhere long enough for a conversation. Could he do it at the fund-raiser?
“You think she’ll be there?” he asked.
“I know for a fact she will be. She’s in charge this year.”
His jaw sagged, and he felt his shoulders slump with the action. In charge of a junior high fund-raiser? He shook his head. Wow, the woman had changed. She may have fit into the community fine when she was younger—and yes, she’d liked to take charge and bustle everyone around to her liking—but she’d also had goals that didn’t involve this place. And she’d had definite plans on how to get herself there.
She’d wanted to get out of town, get away from the dependency her mother had on her, and make a name for herself with her photography. Yet years later she remained in the same one-stoplight town, with a portrait studio, leading fund-raisers for a bunch of kids?
Little about that made sense.
His heart sank with his next thought. Oh, God. She was married with a handful of kids. Was that it? Why she’d never left?
Holly shook her head with a knowing smile. “Nope, she’s not married. Never has been.”
He could see she was holding more information that she wasn’t willing to share.
“Then why would she be in charge?” he asked.
She rose from the table and smirked down at him. “There’s one easy way for you to find out, Doc.”
Go to the damned fund-raiser myself.
He held back a groan. The last thing he wanted to do was go, but the conversation had brought up some big questions that he found himself more curious about than he should have been. “Does the entire town still come out for these things?”
“Oh, yeah.”
He scanned the remaining customers. One man still openly scowled at him while the rest had resorted to stealing peeks, all probably trying to figure out if he planned to sneak out during the middle of the night and set the town square on fire. They weren’t goi
ng to accept him back into their community easily, and he doubted that showing up in the middle of an annual town event and upsetting one of their favorites would win him any awards, either.
He returned his attention to Holly. “I’d better not. Looks like people don’t seem overly thrilled with me being here as it is. Might be safer to stay in the background for a while.”
She angled her head as if not in total disagreement, then gave a quick nod. “You think about it, stud. Breakfast’s on me this morning, but you have to promise not to make yourself scarce around here.”
“You got it.” After eating the food placed before him, he could guarantee it. He rose to leave. “Thanks for the meal.”
As he shoved his wallet back into the pocket of his jeans and made his way to the door, Holly’s voice followed along behind him. “You know where to find me when you change your mind in the morning, Doc. Come on by. We’ll go after the breakfast shift.”
The old man to his right shot him a glare so blazing it should have singed the hair off his head. Yeah, right. Like he’d be taking any of the ladies of Sugar Springs on anything remotely resembling a date. He did not have a death wish, no matter how many stupid acts he’d pulled in his younger days.
Cody took in the rounded belly of the woman making her way up the sidewalk and had to agree with Holly’s earlier assessment. Keri Wright was about to pop. That baby had to be making its entrance soon.
He stood from the rocker on the clinic’s front porch and moved to reach out a hand to help the lady vet up the brick steps. She looked like she might topple over backward if she didn’t have something steady to hold on to.
“Thank you,” she said, the words wispy with a shallow breath, and accepted his hand graciously. Her other hand pressed low on her bulging belly as she made her way up the three stairs. “Cody, right?” At his nod, she continued, “Sorry I didn’t make it back over last night. I get home these days and can’t seem to get myself back up to do anything.”
“No problem,” he said. He opened the door to the office and held it for her to enter before him. “I got in later than intended anyway and found the key exactly where you said I would. Boss and I made it fine.”
“Boss?” Keri shot a wave and a smile at the curly-haired receptionist as she led the way through the narrow halls to her office.
“My dog.”
“Oh, that’s right.” She laughed a little as she fanned her face with her hand. “Pregnancy brain. I can’t keep anything straight these days. I also can’t believe you’re going to be okay in that little space with a Great Dane.”
It wasn’t ideal, but they’d had worse. “He’ll spend the better part of the days down here with me, and we go for runs a couple times a day. It’s only six weeks. We’ll make it work.”
With an audible grunt, she lowered herself to her chair and motioned across the desk. “Please, have a seat. I need to rest a minute before I show you the place.”
“Looks like you need to go have that baby.” The words were out before he could catch them and keep them in, and he instantly felt heat form in the back of his neck. “I’m sorry—”
Her laughter cut him off. “No need to be sorry. You’re right. Only this little guy is being stubborn.”
“When’s he due?”
A tired smile touched her lips. “Yesterday.”
“Oh.”
“Yeah.” She sighed in agreement. “Oh. I needed to keep working at least until you got here, anyway, so I can’t decide if he’s being helpful or stubborn. Given the doctor says I’m likely still at least a week away, I think it’s pure stubbornness.”
Cody couldn’t help but agree. He’d been around plenty of animals in the later stages of pregnancy, but no humans. He was aware each gestation period could be somewhat unique and that babies came in their own time. He felt bad that he hadn’t been able to make it to town before yesterday so she could take some time off, but the surgery he’d needed to handle in Los Angeles couldn’t be scheduled before Tuesday. As it was, he’d made it cross-country in only two days. Luckily, Boss liked to travel as much as he did.
A black long-haired cat wandered into the room and wound through Cody’s legs. He reached down to scratch the top of its head and it purred in contentment.
“That’s Howard,” Keri said. “He showed up right after I opened the doors to this place three years ago. No one claimed him, so I kept him.”
“Well that answers one question. I didn’t remember the clinic here when I was last in town.”
“And that was what? Ten years ago?”
“Closer to fourteen.” He’d learned she wasn’t a Sugar Springs native when they’d talked on the phone, so anything she knew about him would have come purely from the residents. “Seems there was a guy who came to town once a week back then, but not a full clinic. I don’t remember his name, though.”
“That’s right. Dr. Goldberg. Crotchety old man, from what I hear. He retired a year before I opened this place. Okay,” Keri said, pushing herself up out of her seat. “Enough lollygagging. Let’s get to it. I’m going with the theory that if I stay busy, this little guy will decide to make his entrance just to disrupt something else I have going on. We’ve got a couple surgeries scheduled for today, as well as getting you acquainted with the staff and equipment.”
As they made their way through the treatment rooms and small laboratory, Cody learned that the clinic could handle most common diagnostic tests and treatments. Routine surgeries were performed almost daily, and only for the more difficult cases did they have to refer patients to a larger clinic, simply because Keri hadn’t yet managed to afford the needed equipment.
“I’m impressed,” he said. “For a town this size you’ve got a really good setup.”
“Thanks. We’re beginning to get more patients from surrounding areas, so I try to budget in as much as I can to grow. It’s difficult when it’s all yours and you have to make the big decisions, but I’ve never been more thrilled.” She patted her protruding stomach. “Little Eli and I love that this is where we landed. I couldn’t be happier.”
As long as you didn’t mind everyone knowing your business, it wasn’t a bad place.
“Come on, I want to formally introduce you to the techs, assistant, and my receptionist slash office manager. I also have a groomer who comes in twice a week and a part-time receptionist who works here after school. She’s a senior this year, sharp kid. The groomer doesn’t live in town, but the rest of the staff does.”
Cody spent the remainder of the day getting acquainted with everything in the office and performed the two surgeries on the books. He apparently passed the test, because by four thirty Keri had her feet propped on a low stool and a satisfied smile across her face. “You’ll handle things just fine while I’m out, I think. Thanks for coming on such short notice. You’ve no idea how much I appreciate it.”
“It was no problem. Worked out perfectly in fact. Especially seeing as it’s on my way to my next contract.”
“I just hope you don’t go stir crazy while here. The pace is far removed from that of LA.”
He chuckled. “Tell me about it. But I knew that coming in. Also, I’m rarely in LA anyway. It’s my base, but I travel the majority of the year. I actually spend many of my weeks in towns similar to this one, so I’ve gotten used to entertaining myself.”
“That’s good. As long as you know what you’re up against.” She raised herself to an upright position and began gathering the papers from her desk. “There’s not much going on this weekend. A bake sale up at the junior high, then a basketball game over at the high school tomorrow night, I believe. Unless you’re interested in helping put out Christmas decorations with the town council. They’ll finish up this weekend, so the lights will be ready to be turned on the day after Thanksgiving.”
“Sounds like lots of options,” he murmured. When she’d mentioned the bake sale, his mind had immediately returned to Lee Ann. He’d thought about her on and off throughout the day, unsur
e what the best plan of attack was. He kept telling himself that if he put off approaching her too long, that would make it even harder when he finally got around to talking to her. He preferred to deal with things head-on and get them out of the way. It was a practice he’d started some years back, and so far it had been working for him. “Actually, someone mentioned the fund-raiser to me earlier. Holly over at the diner offered to go with me.”
He wasn’t about to call it a date, but also wasn’t going to let it be known she merely wanted to make some man jealous. That was her business and he wasn’t sharing it.
“Yeah? You should go. The women of this town seriously know how to bake.” She shoved a couple of notes in her purse, then she popped her head up, beaming at him. “If you go, you have to get some of Lee Ann London’s cinnamon rolls. I swear, they’re legendary. They seriously melt in your mouth. I’d be forever in your debt if you’d bring me one, too.”
He went mute at the request. He hated to not bring the pregnant woman what she wanted, but really, he couldn’t go.
“You might have seen her at the diner if you were in this morning. Short, always on the go, dark hair—”
“I know her,” he said, stopping her mid-description, hoping to stop the talk about him bringing anything back from the fund-raiser.
“Really? Oh, good, I hadn’t heard. Then you’ll find her easy enough. Get me two, if you don’t mind. I’ll get you some money.” She shoved a hand into her purse, but he reached over and stopped her before she could draw out any bills.
“How about you go and I work here tomorrow? You probably need to rest more than I do, anyway.” He wasn’t going to tell her that she looked like she needed to be horizontal, but it was the truth. He didn’t know how she’d remained upright the whole day without falling over.
She eyed him from underneath long lashes that were way past drooping. “I can hold up my end of the deal, Dr. Dalton. I told you when we talked earlier this week that I would work this Saturday. That’ll give you time to do your grocery run, get the lay of the place, rest up from your cross-country drive. Whatever you need to do, you take the weekend and do it. Monday is soon enough for you to start full time.”
