by Tina Beckett
He was going to take her words about keeping his distance from Chloe to heart. But he’d also told her he had no intention of keeping his distance from her. With her hair pulled back from her face with a headband, snug jeans and a shoulder-baring tank top, he could barely keep his eyes off her. They kept taking little sips of the view and coming back for more. It went to his head as surely as a fifth of whiskey. Smooth to the senses. But like whiskey, it could trap him in its grip almost before he realized what was happening. Which was probably why the next words came out.
“Why don’t you let me take you out for your birthday? We can get something to eat.”
Before she could reply, Roxy—who’d lifted Chloe onto her hip at some point—reached them.
Maddy shook her head. “She’s too heavy to be carried like that.”
Roxy put the girl down, wagging her finger at the child. “I told you you’d get me in trouble.”
“I did not. You said you wanted to carry me. Said it was safer if you did.” She took a loud slurp of the icy liquid in her snow cone, her grin infectious.
Roxy’s face colored, and she blinked as if her persona of carefree hipster had just been single-handedly obliterated. “Well, it’s true, you little stinker. Safer for me.” She tickled the girl’s ribs until she squealed.
A man with a clipboard stopped in front of them, glancing at the tag at the kite on the ground and writing something down. “You folks ready for the big send-off?”
“Yippee!” Chloe punched her small fist into the air. “Are we ever! We’re going to win. Right, Kaleb?”
Maddy frowned. “Dr. McBride, Chloe.”
He started to say it was okay for her to call him by his first name, but there was a slight tightening of Maddy’s lips that warned him not to contradict her. She was right. Chloe was her daughter. Not his. He had no right to give his opinion one way or the other. About anything.
Except maybe this kite, which the judge was waiting for them to launch.
He started to take Chloe’s hand and then had second thoughts. Glancing at Maddy, he asked, “Can she help me?”
Her teeth came down on her lower lip for a second before she gave a quick nod.
Chloe gave a couple of sideways hops, clapping her hands. “Yes!”
The judge gave a few last-minute instructions. Kaleb was allowed to take a running start to get the kite up, letting out the string as he went. But the kite had to stay in the air for five minutes, while the judge watched. If it passed the test, the kite was entered into the final drawing. Unfortunately, Roxy’s unicorn hadn’t made the cut. But he had high hopes for this one.
Several bystanders came over to watch.
Kaleb turned to Chloe. “You wait here for me. I’m going down the hill, and then I’ll run back toward you. When I get here, I’ll hand you the string and you can help me keep it up.”
“Are you sure that’s wise?” Maddy still seemed a little agitated. He wasn’t sure if she was regretting letting Chloe help him or if she was worried about the kite falling from the sky prematurely. Maybe it had to do with that whole attachment thing she’d mentioned earlier.
Well, since he wasn’t planning on being a permanent fixture in their lives, it didn’t really matter. There was no way Chloe could actually get attached to him since she wouldn’t be seeing much of him after today.
Unless the kite won. But even then, he could give his ticket to them and let them choose someone else to go with them to the Space Needle. Probably not a hard prospect. Both Maddy and her sister were beautiful. Although the man in him recognized Roxy’s charm and good looks, she didn’t send his blood pressure skyrocketing as Maddy did. Probably not a good thing for him to admit.
Ignoring those thoughts, he glanced at the woman herself. She crossed her fingers, gave the digits a quick kiss and held them up. Wishing him luck.
He was going to need it. Because his heart had almost convinced his head to re-ask the question about having dinner with him once this whole thing was over.
But for now, down the hill he went, checking the kite as he went. The girls had done a wonderful job decorating it. The black paint even had little brushstrokes that made it look like fur. And those mismatched eyes Roxy had glued gave the illusion of following you.
He reached the spot he’d chosen, holding the kite right next to his body. He checked the tail—black, of course—which was made to resemble the puffed-up tail of an agitated cat. Then he double-checked the structure itself. Remembering Maddy’s good-luck gesture, he tossed the kite into the stiff breeze and began jogging up the hill, letting the string out as he went.
The kite caught the wind perfectly, just as he’d hoped it would do, edging higher and higher, those glittery black claws catching the sun and reflecting back at him.
It was going to work. He could tell by the way it swayed gently back and forth as it ascended. It wasn’t the jerky sawing motions of an unbalanced kite. It was almost going up too well.
He had a little girl to impress, so he crossed his own fingers, trying not to think of his daughter, as he scaled back his jog and then finally slowed to a walk. He reached the gathering crowd, which clapped to encourage them. You would have thought this was their kite and not his, Maddy’s and Chloe’s.
The judge glanced down at his watch. “You’ve just passed the one-minute mark. Four more to go.”
The kite dipped for a second, but Kaleb gave it a couple of quick tugs, keeping some play in the rope as he tried to find the perfect altitude.
“Can I hold the string?” Chloe’s question was a reminder that this was not just about him.
Maddy, now out of her chair, took hold of Chloe’s hand. “Let him get it where he wants it first, okay?”
He was still busy trying to make sure they didn’t lose before they even got started. Yes, the kite was judged by looks primarily, but the ease of getting it in the air and keeping it there was bound to have some influence over the voting members of the crowd. Someone pointed up at the kite. “It looks great. Almost real.”
Oh, but they hadn’t seen the best part. And they wouldn’t unless he could get it facing the wind in just the right way. He was aware of Chloe’s impatience as he edged the kite one way and then the other. If he could just get it to...
There.
He saw it before he heard it, those slits catching the wind and beginning to flutter.
It took a minute. Then someone said, “What’s that? I hear something.”
Maddy picked up Chloe, putting paid to the idea that she wasn’t supposed to be carried. Then the little girl sent up a whoop that took him by surprise. “He’s doing it, Mama! Jetta is purring!”
A young man standing close enough to hear Chloe’s words jerked his head around to look up at the kite. “I thought I recognized that sound. Awesome!”
The words spread through the group and phones came out to take pictures and videos of the kite. More people gathered.
“Two minutes.”
Time was dragging. But that was okay. Chloe was staring up in rapt silence, probably unable to believe that their creation was in the air. And purring. She probably wasn’t even aware of the reaction of the people around them. Kaleb didn’t much care either. What he did care about were the mother and daughter gazing toward the heavens. He’d made this happen. And suddenly, Kaleb was damned glad he’d put the time and effort into that kite. Those endless hours of calculations and planning now seemed worth it.
Grace would have loved this.
“Four minutes.”
Only one minute left. And Jetta the cat was still holding his own, his tail swishing back and forth in the sky. Who said black cats brought bad luck? This looked like one lucky feline.
“Five minutes.” The judge reached out and shook Kaleb’s hand and then held it out to Chloe. “Did you help decorate that ca
t, young lady?”
The little girl nodded.
“Well, you’ve done an excellent job. Congratulations.”
“Thank you, sir.” You would have thought the judge had already awarded her the prize from Chloe’s expression. She was in awe of the official and just as in awe of the kite they’d put in the air.
“Would you like to hold it now, Chloe?” Kaleb offered her the spindle of string. She took it in both hands, holding it just as he showed her.
Roxy came over. “That was a really nice thing you did. It means a lot to Chloe. To both of them.”
“It was nothing.”
The woman smiled. “It most definitely was not nothing. And I won’t forget it.”
He had no idea what she meant by that, but he’d evidently won her approval. For some reason, he got the impression that if Roxy didn’t like someone, it would be all over for that person as far as getting close to Maddy went. Roxy was protective. Because of what had happened to her? Or because of Maddy’s late husband?
Either way, he was glad of it. Glad that Roxy was taking it upon herself to make sure that Maddy didn’t get involved with any more men like her ex.
Just then he heard a scream in the distance. At first he thought it was someone laughing at one of the kites. There were about fifteen of them in the air at this point, spaced far enough apart that they couldn’t get tangled up with each other. The hospital had figured they would get about fifty to a hundred kite entries and, from what Kaleb could see, they were probably going to get close to the top figure. There were five judges working to get the kites launched and, so far, they’d had about an equal number go up as they had ones that crashed and burned, like Roxy’s.
The scream rang out again. This time sounding a little more urgent. He glanced at Chloe to see that she was still holding the string like a pro. At this point, unless something happened to the steady breeze, she wouldn’t have to work to keep it up there. It would continue flying until they brought it down. He’d pounded a holder into the grass so they could drop the string caddy into it and be able to watch the kite without having to manage it the entire time.
He caught Maddy’s eye. She’d heard the sound as well. “Is somebody hurt?”
“I don’t know.” Using his hand to shade his eyes, he tried to look through the crowd, but couldn’t see anything.
Another shout went up. This one a man’s voice. Kaleb didn’t like it. “I’m going to check it out.”
“I’m going with you.” Maddy turned to her sister. “Can you watch her? If someone’s having a medical emergency, I might be able to help.”
Though a lot of the hospital staff were at Fountain Park enjoying their day, he wasn’t taking any chances.
“Of course.” Roxy laid her hand on her niece’s shoulder. “Let’s sit down on the blanket so we can watch Jetta in action. Do you want me to hold the string?”
“No. I want to.”
With one last glance at the pair, he and Maddy headed in the direction of the distressed calls.
* * *
Maddy didn’t like the look of that crowd. In fact, she knew she didn’t. Breaking into a sprint, she noted that Kaleb had had the same reaction and had outpaced her by a good ten yards. Damn, she knew she should have taken up running.
He pushed through the crowd a few seconds later and was lost to her sight. Just a couple more yards and she would be able to...
That was when she saw it. One of the golf carts that had been cruising around the park had overturned. How that had happened, she didn’t have a clue. But sticking out from beneath the undercarriage of the vehicle was a pair of feet. Oh, God, the cart was lying right on top of someone!
Kaleb must already be on the other side of it, because she couldn’t see him anywhere. She hurried around it, clearing the way by yelling that she was a doctor. When she reached her destination, she was stunned to see that the victim was an elderly man, his head and torso visible. He was also still conscious, but obviously in agony, moaning, his eyes blankly searching the faces of those gathered around him.
There!
She spied Kaleb kneeling beside the man, along with several other people she recognized from the hospital. His hands were busy feeling beneath the cart. For what? The spot where it was resting on the victim’s legs?
How were they going to get it off him? They couldn’t just push it back upright. Not without risking crushing the man’s legs as the vehicle slid over them a second time.
How, then?
Kaleb conferred with several other people, then stood. “I need about ten men. Four for the front of the vehicle and four for the back. And I need two men to find me some concrete blocks or some heavy timbers.”
Volunteers came forward immediately. A police officer arrived as well. Kaleb told him what he needed and the officer got on his radio. Within five minutes there was a pile of concrete blocks.
“We need to lift the golf cart straight up, or we’ll risk injuring him more than he already is. Can I get one person on each end to slide blocks under the cart as we lift it? We’ll do it by twos. Push two blocks beneath it, then two more on top of those and so forth, until we can get his legs clear.” He glanced around at the assembled group. “Questions?”
Several heads shook.
“Let’s get this done, then.”
Without a lot of discussion, each man found his spot and waited for the signal. Kaleb had ahold of part of the undercarriage, while Jamie Brooke, the hospital’s cardiothoracic surgeon, remained next to the patient’s head. “On three. As soon as we lift, you other men shove the first of the blocks beneath the cart.”
Maddy joined Jamie, feeling helpless. “We’re going to get you out in just a few minutes.”
The man didn’t respond, but, then again, Maddy hadn’t expected him to. Jamie placed two fingers on the side of the victim’s neck, taking his pulse as the volunteers got ready to lift.
“...three!”
The golf cart groaned along with several men as they strained to lift the thing. But up it went. Just a few inches, but enough to wedge those bricks underneath it.
The victim cried out for a second, before going quiet again.
Maddy worked with Jamie, trying to see if there was enough room to pull him out, but she couldn’t see much space under the vehicle at all. The ground was soft, though, so the first set of blocks had probably sunk a little under the weight of the cart.
The cardiothoracic surgeon called up. “We need to get it higher.”
“Right,” said Kaleb. “Okay, everyone, on three.” A trickle of sweat made its way down his temple, the only visible evidence of the struggle under way. “One...two...threeeee.”
Up it went another six inches. This time she could see the man’s legs. Both of his shins were sliced open from the impact, and there could be crush injuries as well. “I can see his legs.” She turned to Jamie. “Can we get him out?”
“I think so.”
Kaleb instructed the men to hold their positions while he came around to where Maddy and Jamie were and peered beneath the vehicle. He let out a low curse, probably hoping the same thing everyone else was: that the man hadn’t severed any deeper vessels. But they wouldn’t know that until they got him free. There was no better person to be on the scene than Jamie, though. He dealt with delicate surgery and blood vessels on a regular basis.
Kaleb looked up at the men who were around the cart. “The blocks should hold the weight, but I need you all to stay there and make sure it doesn’t shift as we try to pull him backward.”
Kaleb grabbed one of the man’s shoulders, while Jamie took hold of the other. They glanced at each other.
“Let’s try to make this quick.” He nodded at Maddy to clear out of the way. “Okay. Go.”
She stood to the side, mentally pulling with the two doct
ors as they dug in their heels and used the leverage to haul the victim backward with them. Within seconds they had him out from under the cart.
The sound of clapping went up from those around them. Despite the momentary victory, most of those gathered knew that crush injuries could wreak havoc with blood pressure and other vital systems. They weren’t out of the woods yet.
She couldn’t worry about that now, though. She and Jamie immediately moved to the man’s legs to assess his injuries while Kaleb helped the men push the golf cart over until it flipped off the bricks and landed back on its wheels. Twin rust-colored streaks marred the lower edge of the vehicle.
Several more medical professionals gathered around the man, forming their own triage team. Each knew his job and did it well.
Kaleb knelt beside her. “Ambulance is on its way.”
“Good.”
The man, thank God, had finally passed out from the pain and trauma.
“His legs are intact,” Jamie said.
She understood immediately what that meant. Neither limb was severed. His shins were sliced all the way down to the bone and blood oozed in a steady stream down his calves. But somehow, it appeared there were no actual breaks or sliced arteries that she could see. “We need to bind those wounds with something.”
A bystander offered up a T-shirt, and Kaleb and Jamie worked to wrap it around both of the man’s legs, using a broomstick someone handed them to crank the garment tight enough to compress the wounds without being so tight that it cut off the blood supply completely.
The telltale sound of a siren came from a distance. “Here comes transportation,” she said.
Five minutes later, two EMT workers were beside them. Details were relayed to the pair, while Maddy pushed the man’s thin white hair off his forehead. He was still out, but he was breathing and his pulse was strong enough. She’d been worried that his blood pressure might bottom out once the cart was lifted off him. It hadn’t. He might look frail on the surface, but the man was obviously tough inside. Where it counted.
