Intoxicated By You_An Exposed Hearts Novel

by Kristin Mayer

  “I would love that.” She thought for a second before adding, “I’ll contribute to the expenses.”

  As far as I was concerned, this was our place. The only thing hindering that was a technicality. And it was one I wanted rectified as soon as possible. But I’d settle for this… for now.

  The clock ticked closer to time for us to leave. It was going to be a long day at the bar with the tourists in town, and I needed to be there. “Do you want to join me for dinner at the Red Onion? After it slows down, we can come back here. If you don’t want to hang at the bar, you can hang at our place there.”

  She got a goofy grin on her face when I said our. That was one thing I loved about her. She never took things for granted.

  “I’d like that. I may reach out to Teagan, she if she wants to join me for a drink. Things seem really off with her. And I want to feel her out, see if she knows anything.”

  Teagan was definitely on my list of suspects. It would be good to have her close and see if I could find anything out. And at least they’d be at the bar. “Sounds good.”

  Lex finished her breakfast and took her plate to the dishwasher. “Let me know what I owe for my part of the bills. I can pay half of both places.”

  “Okay.” I wasn’t going to, of course, but it wasn’t a fight I wanted to have right now.

  She watched me carefully. “Drake. I mean it.”

  “How do I get out of accepting your money without pissing you off?”

  “That’s an impossible task.” With a smile, she gave me a kiss. “I’m not a freeloader.”

  Yeah, I wasn’t going to argue. I got that it was important to Lex to pay her own way. We’d figure out something. She looked at her watch. “I probably should head in soon. Most of the equipment is coming in within the hour.”

  “Are you excited?”

  “Very. It’s a dream come true. I wish Dad was here.” Lex grew quiet. “What should we do about the letter?”

  Early that morning, when I’d been holding Lex in my arms and watching the sun come up, I’d given that some thought. Only one option seemed viable—keep investigating. Somewhere along the way, the person behind this had to slip up. No one was perfect. “I thought I could talk to Hayden. See if he’s heard anything about Milano Incorporated.”

  Since Hayden flew everywhere, he knew a lot. Well, the people he knew, knew a lot. The people he flew around were generally well off, so it was worth a shot.

  “If you don’t mind.”

  “Not at all. Let’s head into town. The sooner we get done, the sooner I can have you back in my arms in our bed.”

  Chapter Twenty-Four

  Alexa

  A week later, I pulled into the clinic and smiled at the sign, fritz medical. We’d been officially open for three days. Thank goodness it was Friday. I took a sip of my coffee and just enjoyed the moment. We’d done it. And the town was overjoyed. I swore the majority of Skagway had booked an initial visit with Hollis. We needed to hire someone for the clerical work at some point.

  It was a success, and my heart couldn’t have been happier.

  Hollis had offered twenty-dollar initial visits, regardless of insurance coverage. He was also working on some cash discounts for those who didn’t have insurance. People were responding and interested. And they were also plying him with food. He had received more jelly, canned vegetables, and cakes in the past three days than he could eat in a month. I was so proud of my small town.

  Mom and Raquel hadn’t stopped by. Not that I’d expected them to, but still. And Teagan had also been a no-show. I’d sent her a few texts, called a few times, and got nothing. I’d driven by her place several times, but her car hadn’t been there. It was odd. While I was thinking of Teagan, I sent her another text. My heart hurt for her. It was probably why I remained friends with her for so long.

  Me: Getting worried. Let me know you’re okay.

  Of course, there was no response.

  My phone did, however, vibrate with a text from Drake.

  Drake: Just wanted you to know I love you.

  Me: Love you, too.

  We hadn’t found out anything else regarding the letter, and I was starting to think we never would. Drake and I had decided to keep moving forward with our lives. And if the past wasn’t supposed to be unearthed, we’d leave it buried. It still frustrated me, though. Raquel and Mom were at the top of my list, but they’d never confess. And I didn’t want them to know I knew the letter was fake. They weren’t supposed to know what the letter said… unless they wrote it. It was all a very twisted web.

  Hollis walked out of the clinic and waved to me. Ike had loaned Hollis some of the extra furniture he had until his order was done. I think he’d only finished the bed so far.

  By the look on his face, he wasn’t in the best of moods. Yesterday, Hollis had been a bear and a half to deal with. I’d come to find out he was irritable because of the lack of decent coffee. His current coffee maker was not cutting it. Apparently, according to Hollis, it produced sludge. So he was sweet as could be with the patients but grumpy as hell with me. He’d ordered a new, top-of-the-line unit, but of course it was going to take a couple of weeks to arrive.

  At one point, he’d made me so aggravated I threw a book at his head. Anything I did, he snapped at me. Anything. He was a little perturbed at how I used the paper clips. Or the stapler wasn’t sitting just right on the counter. The supplies weren’t stored in the alphabetical order he thought they should be. Grumpy with a capital G.

  When Drake had picked me up, Hollis had muttered something about flying books and attitude adjustments and headed upstairs. If he was the same today, I might drug him. Kidding. Maybe. Not really.

  My peace offering had to get him back on track. The local jewelry store in town had a Starbucks. Only the tourists really stopped there, and it had slipped my mind until Drake mentioned it the night before while we made dinner together at our cabin.

  I held up the cup as I got out. “I come with a peace offering in the hope that you’ll be less irritable.”

  Hollis’s eyes grew wide. “Where in the hell did you find a Starbucks?”

  “Jewelry store.”

  He slapped his head. “Of course. A jewelry store. Why would it be anywhere else in this town?”

  Okay, he was still a little grumpy. “Do you want it or not?”

  “Does a bear shit in the woods? I mean, yeah, they do and apparently in towns, too.”

  Yesterday, Hollis had read the Twiner sisters’ newsletter about a bear being spotted on the outskirts of town. That had led to a whole rant about something that had made no sense. I still had no idea what point he was trying to make.

  He reached for the cup, but I held it back. “If I give this to you, no more grumpiness.”

  “I won’t need to be aggravated because I’ll have a decent cup of fucking coffee.”

  I kept it just out of reach, and I swore I saw steam start to come out of his ears. “Hollis, I need you to promise me. Otherwise, I’m contemplating medicating you.”

  He gave me a grunt. “Promise.”

  Oh, man, he’s on edge.

  I handed it over. He took a sip and sighed. “Soy milk latte with a hint of vanilla and chocolate with a double espresso, I have never missed you so much.” He took another sip. “I thought I was going to have to fly back to the mainland for one of these to tide me over until my new machine arrived.” Then he pointed an accusing finger at me. “You withheld this on purpose.”

  I put my hands on my hips. “I will carry through with the threat. You better turn that finger around and point it at yourself. I forgot we had a Starbucks. Only the tourists drink it. That’s why it’s in the jewelry store. The cruisers come to port and trade diamonds while sipping their Starbucks. It’s not very Alaskan.”

  Narrowing his eyes, Hollis knew I’d backhandedly called him a tourist; he’d otherwise abandoned all those things in favor of being a true “Alaskan.”

  He took another sip. “We all have
our downfalls. I don’t have to be a full Alaskan on my coffee.”

  I laughed. “Come on, Dr. Fritz, you’ve got a busy day ahead of you.”

  We were filled with appointments for the next month. Plus, we had to keep some appointments open for the walk-in patients or those who needed emergency care.

  Before the first person arrived, I busied myself with making sure the charts were as I left them the night before. At some point, we would need to hire a receptionist, but for now, I could handle it. Keeping the office in order, charts pulled, appointments made was difficult on top of my duties as a nurse.

  “Ready for today?” he asked.

  “Absolutely. It’s a great day. There’s pep in my step. And someone is bringing you another coffee in about two hours.”

  He squeezed me hard. “You are the best of friends.”

  Yeah, I’d be bringing him coffee every morning for the foreseeable future.

  “That’s not what you were saying yesterday.”

  He waved me off. “Yesterday is in the past.”

  “If you say so.” I laughed.

  We got to work, and the day flew by in a blur. A walk-in had arrived with an infection from an untreated cut, which put us behind. Hollis was in with the last patient while I worked on getting the paperwork completed before I left. After a day like today, I was glad I could sleep in tomorrow. At one point, we’d talked about opening the clinic for a half day on Saturdays, but we decided it was best to not start that.

  Devney, the high school music teacher, was currently with Hollis. She was a year older than Drake and a year younger than Hollis, and she taught music on the side. The kids loved her. She’d always been quiet when I was around.

  The door opened, and she stepped out. “Thank you, Dr. Fritz. Welcome to Skagway.”

  Hollis had an interesting look about him as he said goodbye. It was odd—like he was in a trance. I put my pen down and watched.

  As she walked by my desk, her cheeks were flushed and stood out against her otherwise pale skin. Her dark hair was pulled up, and it looked like her neck was a little red, as well. “Goodbye, Alexa. Welcome home.”

  “Thanks, Devney. Have a good weekend.”

  She left, and Hollis stared after her for a full minute before he turned my way. “Do you know her?”

  Yeah, he was taken with her. Completely and utterly taken.

  “Yes, she graduated with Drake. We’ve never hung out, but I’ve heard great things about her. She’s the music teacher at the high school. Why?”

  Hollis blushed like a kid caught with his hand in the cookie jar. “No reason. Why would you ask? Can’t I ask a question about a member of the Skagway community?”

  It was hard to keep a straight face. Calmly, I stated, “Because we’ve seen twenty-two patients today, and not once have you acted goofy like this. Did something happen in there?”

  Hollis looked at me like I was crazy. “I can guarantee that nothing happened in there.”

  I teased, “Did you want something to happen in there?”

  He stood straighter and blinked a few times. “You need some rest, Alexa. I’m not acting goofy, as you say. And… you’re delusional.”

  “Or I’m totally on my game and see that the good ol’ doc has been bitten by the lovebug.”

  Hollis rolled his eyes at me. He was protesting too much for this. Normally, when I was wrong, he shrugged and moved on.

  “Skagway is too far north for lovebugs to reside. The southeastern United States is as far north as they’re typically found. I believe your diagnosis is wrong, Ms. Owens. The weather is not conducive to the lovebug species.”

  I giggled. “Sometimes you’re too smart for your own good. You know that’s not what I meant. Metaphorically speaking, the lovebug got you. Admit it.”

  Shaking his head, he replied, “I’m too tired for this nonsense. I’m going to head up to my place to read the medical journals that arrived.” He stopped and looked at the time. “No, I’m going to go get another coffee. That’s what I’m going to do.”

  “And hope you run into a certain music teacher?”

  That got no response. He stomped upstairs to get his keys. “Lovebug my ass. You know the threat of medicating me… it goes both ways.”

  On his way back down, he looked at me, and I smiled before making a kissy face. He mumbled, “Sometimes I feel bad for Drake.”

  “Night, Hollis. I’ve heard that asking someone out cures the lovebug.”

  He said nothing. Yeah, he had it bad. We’d revisit the Devney topic the next time he irritated me, which was likely the next week. When he got to the door, I asked, “Do you want to come to dinner tomorrow night at our place? You could see the cabin and start thinking about what you want to do for yours. I’m going to make your favorite dessert.”

  “You’re trying to bribe me.”

  “Maybe. Is it working?”

  “Count me in,” he said as he walked out the door.

  I finished the filing and got prepped for Monday. When I was just about done, the door opened again, and Hollis came back in and hugged me. “On a serious note, thanks for convincing me to come here, Alexa. It really has been what I needed all along.”

  I hugged him tighter. “Thank you for coming. It’s turned out better than I could ever have imagined.” Not only was there regular medical help, but people had a better chance of survival when there was an accident.

  He raised his eyebrow. “But we need a receptionist.”

  I began to agree, but he cut me off. “Seriously, I need you with me in there. We’ll never make it as a fully functioning clinic if we’re not doing what we were each trained to do. You’re spending too much time on administrative tasks.”

  We were on the same page. “Okay, I’ll look for someone. Maybe we could start off with a part-time position.”

  “Just get someone trustworthy. Part-time, full-time—it doesn’t matter. And we’ll pay whatever is fair for here.”

  “I’ll start looking.”

  Satisfied that reason had prevailed, Hollis said goodbye. He was right, of course. Things would be less stressful if I were able to actually focus on the nursing aspect and not have to check in patients, schedule appointments, and deal with insurance.

  After locking up, I went to my truck. It wasn’t as late as I thought, and I’d beat Drake home by a few hours. Maybe I would make lasagna and start a fire. An easy night home sounded blissful.

  As I reached my truck, a car pulled into the driveway, and I groaned. As terrible as it sounded, I hoped it wasn’t a patient who needed to be seen. I was beyond tired. The car stopped, and I realized it was Teagan. Great. I was still sore about how she’d left my stuff on her front porch and hadn’t bothered to return any of my calls or texts.

  She rolled down her window. “Hi. I came to apologize for how I’ve been and see if I could take my best friend to dinner.”

  I almost turned her down, but she pleaded with me. “Please, Alexa. I need to talk to you. You’re the only friend I have.”

  There were dark circles under her eyes, and she looked almost gaunt. Did she lose weight? “Are you okay, Teagan?”

  She shook her head. “Not really. I was hoping we could talk. You’re the only person I can turn to. I’ve been waiting for you to come out.”

  I shut my truck door and walked over to her car. “What’s going on?”

  She looked around nervously. “Can we go somewhere to talk? Please? I know I don’t deserve a second chance, but I’m asking anyway.”

  “Sure.”

  Never before had I heard Teagan sound desperate. And I couldn’t deny someone who was asking for help. I’d never been able to. I grabbed my purse and got in the passenger seat of her car. My heart hurt for Teagan. All the years we’d been friends, I’d always had a soft spot for her.

  She let out a sigh. “I’m sorry for not returning your calls.”

  “What’s been going on?”

  Her hair was greasy, and her clothes looked dirty. “
Let’s go to the dock and talk.”

  “Okay.”

  We turned left, and Teagan scratched at her arm, which pulled up her sleeve. She had sores forming on her forearm. Suddenly, I had a bad feeling about what she’d been up to. I should have driven. Her knee bounced about ninety miles an hour. And the signs I hadn’t noticed before started to connect. I shifted uncomfortably in my seat, wondering how I should handle this.

  Don’t do anything drastic.

  Stay calm.

  Let Drake know where you’re at.

  There was a definite tremor in my hands when I grabbed my phone from my purse. Teagan scratched more viciously at her arm.

  I pulled out my phone and went straight to Drake’s number. An overwhelming queasiness settled in my stomach. I needed to get out of this situation.

  “What are you doing?” she asked, her voice a little too loud in the quiet car. The wheel jerked at the same time.

  Shrugging, I tried to hide my shaky voice. Being alone with her at the dock was not a smart idea. “Letting Drake know I’ll be home later. I was supposed to meet him for dinner. You know how he is. He’d have a search party out for me.”

  Her movements became even more jerky. “Yes. Good idea. Text him right now.” I started to text. “Now! Text him NOW!”

  “Okay. I will. I am.”

  Me: Hey, I got in the car with Teagan. I have a bad feeling. Where are you? Don’t call.

  Drake: At the Red Onion. Heading to my truck. Where are you headed?

  “What’s he saying? Tell ME! What is he saying?” She wiped at her nose, momentarily taking her hands off the steering wheel.

  Maybe I could talk her into stopping the car. “Why don’t we pull over and let me get a drink?”

  “WHAT DID HE SAY?” She was becoming more agitated by the second.

  I took a deep breath. “Told me to tell you hi and to have a good time. Where are we—”