More Than a Touch: A Snowberry Creek Novel

by Alexis Morgan

  “Think you can handle a little time on the exercise bike over there? I’m thinking low resistance and going slow, aiming to stretch things out a bit more but without putting too much stress on the leg.”

  “You’re the boss.”

  Leif slung his legs over the side of the table and gingerly eased down to the floor. He hadn’t done much walking without the boot’s support, so he held his breath and waited to see if his leg would hold up under his weight. It was dicey at first, but the first step was the hardest. After that, he managed to find his balance as he slowly shuffled across the short distance.

  Isaac matched his steps to Leif’s, staying close enough to rescue him if necessary. A slug could’ve crawled across the floor faster, but at least Leif reached the bike on his own. Wow, what a victory. With considerable effort, Leif hoisted himself up onto the seat while Isaac set the controls for ten minutes and the lowest resistance the bike offered.

  “If it gets to be too much, stop. The idea is to push yourself a little further each time but not so much as to cause more damage. Got that, Corporal?”

  Isaac put enough growl in the question to have Leif grinning. “I’ve got it.”

  He pushed down on the pedal, wincing when his muscles protested a bit at being stretched beyond their comfort zone. After a few repetitions, though, it became easier and he picked up some speed.

  “Slow it down, Leif.”

  He should’ve known Isaac would be keeping an eye on him. The man must be attuned to the whir of the bike, because right now he had his back to him. Evidently that other guy had finally decided to cooperate. Good for him.

  Leif pulled his MP3 player out of his pocket and lost himself in his music for a while. It gave him something else to think about while he kept spinning the bike pedals. Slow, fast, it didn’t matter. Regardless of the speed, he wasn’t getting anywhere fast, and if that wasn’t a metaphor for his life right now, he didn’t know what was.

  • • •

  Mitch knew he was being a total jackass, but he couldn’t seem to help himself these days. For sure he owed Isaac an apology. He was lucky the big man hadn’t flattened him for a few of the things he’d said.

  Luckily, the two of them went way back together, so hopefully the man would cut Mitch some slack. He automatically fell into the same rhythm on his stationary bike as the guy next to him. Isaac had referred to him as Corporal something or another. At the time, Mitch had been too pissed about his own situation to pay much attention to anyone else.

  He risked a quick peek at the soldier’s left leg and winced. Damn, the poor bastard’s lower calf looked as if someone had carved a road map in it using scar tissue. That had to have hurt.

  At least the new scars on his own right knee were tidier. The surgeons had told him he was damn lucky they managed to repair the damage this time. One more hit like that last one and he could be looking at a total knee replacement.

  Where was the luck in that? Sure, he didn’t want to be walking around with a hunk of metal where he used to have bone. But either way, the surgery had shoved Mitch down a road he didn’t want to travel. Not yet, anyway. He could have done his rehab with the team’s trainers, but they had their hands full with the guys who had a better chance of returning to the playing field this season.

  Besides, there was nothing Mitch hated worse than the pity he saw reflected in the eyes of his teammates. There’d usually been a glint of fear mixed in with it, too. No doubt his potentially career-ending injury served as a vivid reminder of how tenuous their highly paid jobs were. One wrong move, and the money and all the bells and whistles that went along with the job description were gone for good.

  So instead of being on a jet flying to the next away game, Mitch was back in his hometown licking his wounds and wondering what to do next.

  The timer on the soldier’s bike pinged, jarring Mitch out of his one-man pity party. He watched as the man eased himself off the bike, grabbing a cane to support himself. Isaac saw him moving around and yelled across the room, “Hang tight, Leif. I’ll be right there.”

  Leif froze, but he clearly wasn’t happy about it. Mitch surprised himself by trying to distract the guy. “So what happened? Motorcycle accident in the rain?”

  A pair of rock-hard brown eyes glared straight at Mitch briefly before looking away. “No. An IED in Afghanistan.”

  The answer was delivered in a monotone as if the guy had somehow distanced himself from the incident. The expression in his gaze was equally as flat. Clearly no further questions on the subject would be appreciated.

  Instead, he asked, “And you?”

  Mitch automatically reached down to rub his knee, remembering the sound of the bone crunching and the waves of pain that had left him writhing on the ground on national television. “Linebacker tackled me, and I landed with my knee twisted in a direction nature never meant it to bend.”

  Instead of looking sympathetic, the soldier’s face immediately lit up. “Damn, no wonder you looked familiar. You’re Mitch Calder! I love watching you play. You have a hell of an arm.”

  And worthless knees. Before Mitch could respond, Leif’s grin widened. “Although you did cost me fifty bucks in that play-off game last year. My buddy Spence crowed about it for a week afterward. Said he knew you’d pull it off.”

  Now there was a name from the past. “You served with Spence Lang? I haven’t seen him in years. How is he doing?”

  “Actually, not so good.” Leif’s smile bled away. “He died in Afghanistan instead of me.”

  Then he turned his back and limped away.

  Chapter 7

  Okay, that had been the pain speaking. It wasn’t Mitch Calder’s fault that he’d accidentally stomped right on the detonator of Leif’s temper. Clearly Mitch hadn’t heard the news. That he’d obviously known and liked Spence only made the brutally blunt announcement worse.

  Leif coasted to a stop halfway across the busy room. Fuck, if his leg had been up for a quick sprint, he would’ve bolted out the door. On second thought, it was more than his bum leg that kept him from giving it his best shot. He needed to man up and apologize.

  It was a long, slow shuffle back to where Mitch sat in stunned silence. “Look, I’m sorry. I didn’t mean—”

  Mitch wasn’t having any of it and cut him off. “Didn’t mean what? To be a total asshole? I’ve known Spence my whole damn life.”

  He dragged himself off the bike to get right up in Leif’s face. “Do us both a favor and don’t talk to me right now. My leg might be screwed up, but there’s nothing wrong with my fists.”

  He had several inches on Leif and at least thirty pounds in pure bulk. Fine, but Leif knew more about down-and-dirty fighting than Mitch did.

  “You want to dance? Fine, but let’s take this outside.”

  Unfortunately Isaac had a different opinion on the subject. He shoved his way in between them, turning his back to the football player. “Stop this shit right now, both of you. You’re scaring the other patients.”

  Leif didn’t bother to look around. The uneasy silence surrounding them spoke volumes. So did the quiet movement around the edges of the room as Isaac’s staff evacuated the rest of the patients. At this point, he and Mitch would be lucky if someone didn’t call the police.

  “I said stand down, damn it!”

  Isaac’s voice was little better than a growl. Leif broke off the stare-down contest he had going with Mitch but stood his ground until Mitch backed up a step. Evidently satisfied that the two of them would listen to reason, Isaac gave them some breathing room.

  “In my office. Now.”

  Mitch started to speak. “But—”

  Isaac crossed his arms over his chest and planted his feet wide. “Argue with me and the next call I make will be to the cops. If that’s how you want this to play out, fine.”

  He paused long enough to give each of them a hard look. “But know this. If that’s what happens, you’ll both be looking for another therapist.”

  Mitch
frowned. “You’re the only one in town.”

  Isaac’s smile was nasty. “That’s not my problem. So what’s it going to be? My office or do I call in the cops to throw both of you jackasses out of here?”

  Leif didn’t trust what might come out of his mouth at the moment, so he let his actions speak for him. He started for Isaac’s office. When he stumbled a bit, the big man reached out to steady him, his touch gentle despite his obvious anger.

  When Leif reached the small cubicle in the corner, Mitch was right behind him. Leif took the chair in the far corner and left the closer one for the football player.

  To his surprise, Mitch gave him a rueful smile as he looked around the small room. “It’s been a while since I got sent to the principal’s office, but some things never change. I’m just hoping he doesn’t phone my folks.”

  Okay, that was cute. Leif couldn’t help but chuckle. “Yeah, I had my fair share of those calls, too.”

  Isaac had hung back long enough to talk to his staff. When he marched into his office, he slammed the door behind him.

  Parking his ass on the edge of his desk, he gave them each one of those looks that said he wasn’t going to put up with any more bullshit from either of them. “Which of you idiots wants to tell me what the hell happened out there?”

  The two of them hung their heads, not in shame, but to hide their growing need to laugh. Maybe it was time to give Isaac a break.

  “It was my fault, and I apologize to you both. Isaac, I’ll understand if you want to kick my ass to the curb.”

  “As tempting as that is at the moment, Corporal, I don’t have the time to fill out the paperwork required to ship said ass back up to the military hospital.”

  Then he rounded on the football player. “I don’t give a rat’s rear end what he said to you, Mitch. My schedule was already full when you called, but I made room because we were friends once upon a time. Lose the attitude or you’re out of here. Got that?”

  Mitch no longer looked as if he was fighting the urge to laugh. “Yeah, I’ve got it. I’m sorry I’ve put you in this position, Isaac.”

  “Okay, then. Both of you get back out there. Your time’s up, so we’ll ice your legs for a few minutes before you hit the road.”

  Leif started to push himself back up to his feet. Isaac opened the door for him. “I’ve got you both on the books at the same time on Wednesday. Let me know if that is going to be a problem, and I’ll change it around.”

  Leif looked past him to where Mitch was sitting. “It won’t be a problem for me. Can’t speak for him.”

  Mitch had made it back up to his feet, too. “I can stand it if he can.”

  “Go on out there, both of you. And I don’t want to hear any bitching about how cold the ice is. It’s supposed to be that way.”

  Leif got his book out of his pack and settled back to endure the cold burn of the ice pack on his leg. After the first few minutes, his leg grew blessedly numb enough to mask the pain. If only it had the same effect on his memories.

  • • •

  Zoe set a steaming mug of herbal tea down in front of Isaac. “I hear you had quite the morning.”

  He was usually a coffee drinker, but when either of them had a particularly rough day, Zoe broke out the soothing blend of tea that she purchased from Something’s Brewing, the coffee and tea shop in town. Her friend stared at the cup as if trying to decide if the day had been bad enough to warrant drinking it.

  When she added one of the blackberry muffins she’d also bought, his expression lightened up considerably. “It wasn’t anything I couldn’t handle.”

  He took a big bite out of the muffin before continuing. “Your soldier boy and Mitch Calder almost came to blows, and I had to evacuate the other patients. I came this close”—he held up his thumb and forefinger indicating a space of about a quarter of an inch—“to calling the cops on them. I don’t need that kind of shit going on in my clinic.”

  Zoe’s stomach tightened into a knot. Mitch Calder wasn’t her patient, but everyone in town knew who he was. He’d been the star athlete at the local high school before moving on to college and then the pros. But her real concern was for the other man in the equation. If Isaac refused to treat Leif, he’d have to go all the way to Tacoma for his therapy. Chances were he wouldn’t stay in Snowberry Creek if that happened. All things considered, she’d really hate that for him, especially because he would need the emotional support of his friends to get through all of this.

  “How about Leif? Is he doing all right?”

  Isaac took a big sip of the tea. “I think so. As far as I could tell, they exchanged some heated words and glared at each other. I got there before it escalated beyond that point.”

  “What were they fighting about?”

  Isaac had finished his muffin and was eyeing the remaining half of hers. She pushed it across the table to him. She was no longer hungry.

  “They didn’t say, and I didn’t press for answers. I suspect it had something to do with the incident in Afghanistan that ripped up Leif’s leg, but I could be wrong. The biggest problem is that both of them have hair-trigger tempers right now. They’re hurting, frustrated, and pissed off in general.”

  He paused for another bite of muffin. “However, they seemed to have made peace on their own. By the time I got ready to lay down the law, they looked more sheepish than mad. Anyway, they both promised to be back same time, same place on Wednesday. If they act up again, I’ll change their appointments around.”

  She felt marginally better about the situation. “Let me know how it goes. If there are any more problems, I’d be glad to have a heartfelt talk with Leif.”

  Isaac grinned at her. “I just might take you up on that offer, lady. Hell, the last time you had one of those talks with one of my troublesome patients, the jerk behaved himself for weeks afterward. My size and color make some folks nervous, but little do they know I’m the pussycat around here. You’re the real badass.”

  That much was true, a fact Zoe took no little pride in. “Keep me posted. No use in letting things get out of hand.”

  “Will do.” He finished the muffin down to the last few crumbs. “Now we’d better get back to work.”

  She stayed right where she was. “Not me, my friend. I have the afternoon off because I traded shifts with Dr. Tenberg. Saturday afternoon, I’m covering the walk-in clinic for him so he can attend Mr. Wolfe’s funeral.”

  He scooped the wrappers from the muffins into his hand and stuffed them into his empty cup. “Enjoy your afternoon, Zoe. It’s Friday, so do something fun. You’ve been putting in some long hours lately.”

  “Don’t worry. I’ve got plans.”

  Her friend nodded his head in approval. “Good. It’s about time.”

  She didn’t bother telling him those plans consisted of catching up on her laundry, washing her car, and paying the bills. If she got all of that done, she might treat herself to dinner at the Creek Café. There were other restaurants in the area, but there was something about a Creekburger and sweet potato fries that sounded good today.

  If she also got the apartment vacuumed and dusted, she might even throw caution to the wind and have a big piece of Frannie’s banana cream pie. Eating that woman’s cooking full-time would clog her arteries and add on the pounds, but some sins were worth the cost. Besides, if Zoe did succumb to temptation, she could always do penance on the exercise equipment at the clinic tomorrow.

  Her work at the office done and her plans made, Zoe gathered up her things and headed out into the bright sunshine.

  • • •

  Leif wanted to gag. If he had to watch Nick and Callie making goo-goo eyes at each other much longer, he might just toss his cookies. Although neither of the pair ever made Leif feel like a fifth wheel, that’s what he was. Now that Nick had gotten over his reluctance to get involved with Callie, thinking she’d belonged to Spence, they no longer needed Leif to play chaperone.

  Besides, the sergeant was leaving in a few day
s to finish cutting his final ties with the army. The couple would appreciate some time alone even if they were too damn noble to ask for it. Leif figured he’d grab dinner in town and then hunt down the bar that Nick had discovered recently. According to him, it was nothing fancy, but the place had decent pool tables and an array of local microbrews.

  Apparently the only things that identified it as a bar at all were a parking lot full of motorcycles and a flashing neon sign that simply said BEER. Leif was definitely looking forward to tossing back a couple of cold ones while he knocked a few balls around.

  He waited until he had his keys in hand before announcing, “I’m out of here, guys. Don’t wait up.”

  He was out the front door before Nick could do more than sputter a protest. But thanks to the snail’s pace at which Leif moved these days, Nick caught up with him before he’d made it off the front porch.

  “Where are you headed?”

  Leif rolled his eyes and kept going. “Aw, Dad, I’m a big boy now. I’ll be back by curfew.”

  Nick planted his size thirteens right in front of the driver’s-side door of Leif’s truck, his arms crossed over his chest. “Don’t be a jackass. I just thought you might like some company.”

  Yeah, he would, but Nick needed the time with Callie more than he needed to shoot pool with Leif. “I plan on grabbing a burger someplace and then maybe hang out at BEER for a couple of hours. I’ll be all right on my own.”

  He softened the refusal with a wicked smile. “Considering Callie’s folks could potentially arrive any day now, I’d think you’d want as much alone time with her as you can get. You don’t really think they’re going to let her invite you to a sleepover at their house, do you?”

  The look on Nick’s face was priceless. Seriously, had that never occurred to the man?

  His friend gave him a disgusted look. “Did anyone ever point out that you have a mean streak a mile wide, Leif? Besides, I’m only worried about you being out on your own because you could barely walk when you got home from your therapy this morning.”