“Dr. Wallentine?” the nurse blurted. “We call him Dr. Dreamy. You’re one lucky lady.”
Harper chuckled. “Yep, that’s him. I’m glad to know y’all like him.”
“Probably the nicest surgeon on staff,” the nurse gushed. “It’s good to meet you, ma’am.”
Chase bit back a smile. The nurse had a good fifteen years on Harper, but being the surgeon’s wife made her a ma’am.
Time to get to work. Chase walked around the table and stood in front of the stretcher. He looked at the hand wrapped in the bloody kitchen towel. Wait, he wasn’t treating a hand lac. He was treating a person. He looked at her face at the same time she raised her eyes to look at him.
The chart fell from his hands. “Cat?” He reached down to retrieve it. He’d lost count of the number of times he’d thought of her over the years. Her soft, expressive eyes the color of fine chocolate. Her wide smile. Her zest for life.
Her eyes widened in recognition. “Chase, is it really you?” There was a joyous note in her voice that matched his own jubilation.
“You two know each other?” Harper asked.
Cat jumped off the table and threw her good arm around his neck. “I can’t believe it’s you!”
She was lithe and toned. Slender yet strong. Her long hair brushed against his skin, light and teasing. He caught a whiff of her perfume that held a hint of spice. When she pulled back, he just stood there, staring. For an instant, time turned back and he was again the tongue-tied kid who had a huge crush on the feistiest girl in school. Then, he remembered that he was supposed to be the one in charge here. Even so, he couldn’t stop the goofy grin from worming over his lips. “I kind of can’t believe it’s me either.” He clutched the chart. “Wow! I thought I’d never see you again. What brings you here?”
“Well, I kind of cut my hand, and I think I need stitches,” she said, a faint amusement touching her features.
He was an idiot! Of course that’s why she was here. Heat blotched up his neck. “No. I mean, why are you in Alabama? And here. Of all the emergency rooms in all the hospitals in all the world, you came to this one.”
“How do you two know each other?” Harper repeated.
Chase and Cat’s eyes met, sending a charge of energy through Chase. He’d been so over the moon for Cat he could hardly speak two words to her without choking on his own tongue.
Cat turned to Harper. “Chase and I went to elementary school together.”
A smile played on Chase’s lips. “Cat was my hero. She saved me from the biggest bully in school.”
A shadow crossed Cat’s features. “Attempted to save you.”
For a second Chase was confused by her reaction. Then it hit him. That’s right. She’d ended up dating that bully. Chase never could figure out how that happened. He shook his head, breaking his mind out of the past. “How did you end up here?”
Cat chuckled. “That’s a funny story. My car broke down in Clementine, twenty miles east of here. I was heading for Florida, and well, I never made it.” She shrugged. “That was six years ago, and I’m still here. I live in Clementine now, and sometimes I help Harper at her restaurant. I was doing prep.” She glanced down with a self-deprecating chuckle. “I got to jabbering and stabbed myself in the hand. What about you?”
“I’m halfway through med school over in Mobile. I’m doing a rural medicine rotation. This is my first day, twenty minutes into it, and you’re my first patient. I haven’t seen you since …” He let the sentence lag when he saw Cat’s features tighten and realized he’d overstepped. That was tactless to bring up a moment that had caused her so much pain. “Well, it’s been a long time.”
“Yes,” she agreed with a reminiscent smile.
Harper looked at the nurse. “I don’t know if you believe in fate, but if you don’t, then try to explain this.”
The nurse just shook her head. “I hear ya, honey.”
Dr. Simpson stuck his head in the door. “How’s it going, Mr. Brooks?”
Chase cleared his throat in an attempt to regain his professional control. “Sir, this is Cat Hernandez, an old friend of mine from back home. Would you mind taking over for me?” Chase could hardly concentrate with Cat here, much less treat her hand.
“Of course. Let’s see what we can do.” He was an amicable older doctor and clearly didn’t mind that Chase asked him to pitch in. He checked the lidocaine bottle and drew it up in a syringe. “You’ve got to trust your nurses, but on the other hand, when the decision is as important as whether you’re about to inject epinephrine or not with your lidocaine, you’d better confirm it for yourself. So how do you two know each other?”
Cat answered. “We met back in elementary school and stayed friends until Chase and his family moved across town, and Chase went to another school.” She paused and Chase wondered if she would tell the rest. “Years later, Chase was the paramedic who came to my house the night my mom got sick and found out she had cancer.”
Chase had sat out on the front steps with her, holding her while she cried. He’d wanted so badly to tell her that he’d had a crush on her when they were kids. Then, Drew O’Hannon showed up, and Chase realized they were together. That night was the last time he saw Cat … until now. Was Drew still in the picture? He was surprised by the stab of jealously that went through him. He chided himself for the absurd reaction. Chase had moved on long ago.
Harper gasped. “You never told me your mother had cancer.”
Cat nodded. “She died four days later,” she said quietly.
A somber mood settled over the group. “I’m sorry,” Dr. Simpson said. A minute later, he started to whistle as he cleaned and probed Cat’s numb hand wound. “What did you say you were doing when you cut your hand?” he asked pleasantly.
“Cutting an avocado.”
“Well, I don’t see any avocado down in the cut. I’d say your vascular is intact.” He pinched Cat’s fingertips. “Can you feel this?”
“Yes, I can.”
“In a few seconds you won’t, but that’s just because of the medicine. I can’t see any sign of nerve injury. The cut doesn’t go deep enough to have hit any tendons. I’m going to put in a deep layer of dissolving sutures to pull the muscle together, and then a layer of nylon stitching in the skin. The nylon will have to be taken out in a week. Can you come back so we can remove them?” He paused. “Where do you live?”
“Clementine,” the nurse supplied, motioning to Harper. “This is Dr. Wallentine’s wife.”
A large smile filled Dr. Simpson’s face. “Hello. It’s a pleasure. We’re grateful to have Sam on our staff. On second thought, it would be easier to just get Sam … err, Dr. Wallentine to do it over in Clementine.”
Chase’s stomach dropped. He wanted an excuse to see Cat again.
Cat glanced at Chase, and he swore she could read his thoughts. “I’ll come back here, if that’s all right.”
“I’d like that,” Chase answered.
Simpson grinned without looking up. “Boy,” he said, obviously addressing Chase, “you’re going to be too busy working here in my emergency department to be trying to pick up patients.”
Heat blasted Chase’s face. He looked at Cat who wore an expression of amusement. His shoulders relaxed. “I hope you’ll let me have a few minutes for a lunch break at some point,” he said in a lighthearted tone, but there was some seriousness beneath the statement.
“Oh, all right,” Dr. Simpson sighed, shaking his head. “When I was in residency we worked thirty-eight hours a day and were lucky to grab a couple of pretzels between patients. You young kids are getting too soft.”
Chase glanced up at Cat, surprised that she was studying him. When their eyes met she immediately averted her gaze to her injured hand. He knew it was inappropriate to stare, but he couldn’t take his eyes off her. The lush, dark hair flowed over her shoulders in a shimmering curtain of light. Her flawless olive skin, those deep brown eyes, full perfectly shaped lips. What would it be like to kiss
those lips? To hear the sound of his name spoken as a sigh against his ear. Instantly, he felt guilty for his thoughts. Still they came, like water escaping through a cracked vase. Cat had always been a looker. But if anything, she’d grown even more beautiful now that her body had rounded out with the soft, shapely curves of womanhood.
Simpson snipped the last stitches and handed his tools to the nurse. “Dress it with some antibiotic ointment. Give her suture aftercare and follow up instructions.” He looked at Cat. “Is your tetanus up to date?”
“I’m not sure,” she said.
“Get her a TdaP booster,” he ordered the nurse. “Mr. Brooks, always cover patients with antibiotic prophylaxis after a hand repair. Cephalexin’s a good choice. Hand infections can go bad really fast, and when they do, you’ve got to deal with a compartment syndrome on top of the injury.”
“Yes, sir.”
Another nurse stuck her head in the door. “Dr. Simpson, EMS is on the way with an MI. ETA two minutes.”
Simpson looked up at Chase and gave an exasperated sigh. “EMS isn’t bringing us an MI. EMS is bringing us a person. This person is unfortunately having a myocardial infarction.” He winked. “Now you two love birds exchange numbers in those fancy phones all you youngsters have nowadays. Brooks, you get yourself out here. We’re about to have work to do.”
Chase wanted to shrink down to the size of a bug and crawl away, especially when he saw Cat’s uncomfortable expression. It went through Chase’s mind that he should’ve affirmed that they were only friends, but that would probably just make things even more awkward. He gave Cat an apologetic look to which she responded with a smile that said, No worries. Was Cat still involved with Drew O’Hannon? He’d not thought to look for a ring. Too late, her hand was now bandaged. Surely, Cat had more sense than to stay with that meathead Drew.
“Hey,” Harper said as Chase and Cat exchanged numbers. “Cat’s teaching an adult salsa class this Friday. You should come.”
He looked at Cat whose head had jerked back, her mouth falling open slightly. “You teach dance?”
“Yes,” she stammered, shooting Harper an exasperated look.
Chase was confused by Cat’s reaction. Was she frustrated that Harper had invited him to come? He searched her face. “That’s wonderful, right? You always danced.” He caught eyes with Cat. For an instant, everything else vanished but her.
“You remembered,” Cat said softly.
An unconscious smile tugged at his lips. “Of course, I remembered.” Losing touch with Cat had been one of Chase’s largest regrets from his childhood.
“Cat owns a studio,” Harper said with a touch of pride.
“Really? That’s fantastic,” he said.
“So, will you come?” Harper pressed.
“Sure. I’d love to … if it’s okay with Cat.” He held his breath, waiting for her response.
Cat tipped her head thoughtfully. Chase would’ve given anything if he could read her thoughts. “I’d love to have you,” Cat answered, but Chase couldn’t tell if her response was genuine or merely polite.
“All right.” Harper threw a wink at Chase. “We’ll see you Friday. Eight p.m. It’s a date.”
Cat’s cheeks flushed.
“See you Friday,” Chase uttered, wondering how it was that Cat could have just stepped back into his life like a beautiful whirlwind that was sure to disrupt his planned, orderly life.
5
The minute they got in the car from leaving the ER, Cat turned to Harper. “Salsa lessons? Really? I haven’t taught salsa lessons to adults in over two years.”
Harper laughed. “You can’t let grass grow under your feet in these types of situations. When you see an opportunity, you take it.”
Cat groaned. “You might as well have announced that I’m a desperate single who hasn’t had a date since I left Chicago.”
“Well, it’s not for the lack of men asking you,” Harper shot back.
It was true. There had been plenty of opportunities for Cat to go on dates since coming to Clementine. However, she hadn’t been interested in any of the guys who’d pursued her. Also, Drew O’Hannon had left such a bad taste in her mouth that she wanted to make sure from here on out that the guy she ended up with would respect her. It was scary to think that she’d allowed herself to be so controlled and manipulated by Drew. Some hero he turned out to be! Her thoughts went back to the salsa lessons. “Who can we get to come to the lesson?”
They pulled out onto the highway, headed back to Clementine.
“Hmm …” Harper said, her jaw working. “I can twist Sam’s arm. The two of us will be there.”
Cat rolled her eyes. “We have to have more than just two people.”
“Okay, what about Frank, Stan, and their wives?”
Cat burst out laughing. “Can you imagine Frank and Stan trying to learn salsa?”
Harper giggled. “Or Stephanie and Mildred?”
Cat laughed harder, trying to picture Frank and Stan dancing with their wives.
“Maybe Andi and her boyfriend can come,” Harper suggested. “We can have one of the other girls fill in for Andi in the hostess area.”
“That’s a good idea.”
“I’ll put some feelers out to see if we can round up more couples. I’ll sweeten the deal with a complimentary piece of sweet potato pie to anyone who’ll come.”
“Great. Now you’re having to bribe people with pie.”
“Whatever it takes,” Harper quipped in a practical tone. “So, tell me about Dr. Chase. You saved him from a bully when you were kids. What else?”
Cat shrugged. “There’s not that much to tell. I had a huge crush on Chase all throughout elementary school. He used to hang out with me and my friend Miriam.”
“Well, he’s certainly handsome with those startling blue eyes and that strong jaw. Of course, I prefer green eyes myself,” she added.
Cat grinned. “Doesn’t Sam have green eyes?”
“Yes, ma’am,” Harper quipped with a dreamy smile. She shook her head as if coming out of her reverie. “Okay, back to Chase. You said y’all lost touch when he moved away?”
“Yup. It was a sad day.” Memories of her past overflowed, washing Cat with a sense of nostalgia.”I wiled away many an afternoon daydreaming about Chase Brooks. There was a time when I wondered if he might be Hero,” she mused.
“Hero? Like the Greek sandwich?” Harper laughed at her own joke.
Cat let out a long sigh. “No, smarty pants. Like a real hero. When I was in the fourth grade, I discovered notes that someone had written me. They were in the knothole of a tree in my front yard.”
“Really?” Harper pulled her eyes off the road and glanced at Cat.
Cat smiled, remembering. “They were the kindest, sweetest notes. Anyway, I thought they might’ve been from Chase, but I later found out they were from someone else.” Her eyes narrowed thinking of Drew.
“Oh. You didn’t like the guy they were from?”
Cat’s jaw tightened. “He was the guy who was bullying Chase.”
A burst of breath left Harper’s mouth. “What?”
“Yeah,” Cat said tonelessly as she turned and stared unseeingly out the window.
“Okay,” Harper said a few minutes later, “I can tell there’s more to the story. Do tell.”
Cat shifted in her seat. “Well, when I found out that Drew O’Hannon had left the notes in the knothole, I was mortified.” She paused. “Then, as time went on, I started to view Drew differently. I caught glimpses of the kind, insightful person trapped inside the cocky jock persona that Drew showed to the world. Or, at least, I convinced myself that I did. Drew and I started dating when I was in high school. He was a star football player and one of the most popular guys in school. I was quiet, stayed mostly with my group of friends who were studious and nerdy like me. I was just happy that Drew noticed me. Suddenly, I was catapulted to stardom.”
“Wait a minute. Is Drew the jerk you left Chicago to get away
from?” Harper’s voice hardened. “The one who hit you?”
“Yes.” Cat had told Harper everything that happened the night she left Chicago.
“Unbelievable,” Harper grunted. “Well, I’m glad you had the good sense to get rid of him.”
“Me too,” Cat said heartily.
Harper’s voice took an upward swing. “I’ll bet you never dreamt you’d run into Chase again.” She chuckled. “Of all places, an ER in South Alabama. Go figure.”
Cat held up her bandaged hand, flashing a sheepish grin. “All because I didn’t have enough sense to use a spoon instead of a knife.”
“That’s true,” Harper said with a laugh. “Well, it’s no secret that Chase is interested in you.”
The notion shot a burst of hope through Cat. “Really?” she asked casually.
“Really,” Harper said with a perceptive look. “Don’t play dumb. You know he is. You like him too.”
A smile pulled at Cat’s lips. “He is handsome.” The last time she’d seen Chase, she’d been in crisis mode and hadn’t given much thought to how he looked. However, today, she noticed. A little over six feet tall, he was lean with long, defined muscles. His dark hair had a messy, spiked look, which she found rather sexy in a tough and tumble way. Cat liked his easy manner and the dimple that appeared in his left cheek when he smiled. Harper was right, his bright blue eyes framed with dark lashes were his most distinguishing feature.
“It must be a sign that the two of you are meant to be together.”
Cat laughed. “Down girl. We’re just friends.”
“At the moment,” Harper chimed.
“Yes, at the moment.”
The forest on each side of the road broke and they were back in Clementine. They drove through town and around the square where Harper parked in front of The Magnolia. She shut off the engine and turned to Cat. “You can take the rest of the day off. It’s called Worker’s Compensation.”
Cat wrinkled her nose. “Nonsense. I have bills to pay and no dance classes scheduled today. You must have something I can do.”
Dancing With the Doc Page 4