High Country Cop

by Cynthia Thomason

  “You’re not kidding. You back with Miranda Jefferson. I never thought that would happen.”

  “And you’re okay with it,” Carter added.

  “Of course. I never had anything against Miranda until she left you with your bleeding heart messing up the entire house. In fact, I always thought she was good for you. And that Emily...” Jace chuckled. “She’s about the cutest thing I’ve ever seen.”

  “Was that confirmed bachelor Jace Cahill who just said that?”

  “I can be a confirmed bachelor and a favorite uncle at the same time,” he said.

  Carter smiled. “And I’ll bet she’ll be a great older sister someday.”

  “You’ve got some important plans, brother,” Jace said. “I’d better brush up on my uncle-ing.”

  “Yeah, and it’s a change for me. Two months ago, I wandered through my life without a thought as to what the next day might bring. I just figured it would be the same as today. Now I’ll soon have a wife, a stepchild...”

  “Don’t forget a half brother,” Jace added.

  Carter recalled the day he’d told Jace about their father’s infidelity. Jace had taken the news almost as if he’d expected such behavior from the man he’d grown up avoiding. “The man just lit fires and left the charred remains in his wake his whole life,” Jace had said.

  Jace’s reaction to learning of Robert Kirshner had been unexpected. Jace had vowed the day he heard about the autistic boy that he wanted to meet Robert, establish a relationship with him if the boy wanted. Carter had seen a new side to his brother in that spark of family compassion that he’d always believed Jace avoided. Jace would probably still lead his life with no strings attached, but maybe their half brother would open Jace’s eyes to that old saying that no man is an island.

  “I suppose you and Ava haven’t talked Mama into letting us help her out with some of her expenses,” Jace said.

  Carter grinned. “I’d have just as much luck trying to talk a hurricane out of hitting the coast. We just have to believe that Mama will be fine, and as long as she’s got the three of us, she will be.”

  “Aren’t you dudes ready to go yet?”

  Carter and Jace turned toward the voice of Sam McCall, the one and only groomsman at the intimate wedding.

  “Woo-hoo, will you look at Sam McCall,” Jace said. “It’s not as if all the women in this town didn’t chase after you already. Now you’re making me look like the pathetic best man.”

  Sam stood in front of a mirror and slicked his copper hair back with the palm of his hand. “I do look darn sharp, if I do say so myself.”

  Sam talked a good game, but Carter knew he hadn’t recovered yet from discovering that Allie was involved with Dale Jefferson’s illegal pot field. Sam had said he wouldn’t trust her again, and that was just as well. Sheila and Allie had made bail thanks to Allie’s mother, and despite Carter’s claim that they were flight risks, both women had immediately run off. Carter had chased them across the state line, but by now they were probably so far away from North Carolina that they were dipping their toes in the Pacific Ocean. Maybe Sheila was bartending. Maybe Allie was a waitress in another café. Or maybe they were both hoping to hook up with another man who didn’t mind being on the wrong side of the law. Sam would be okay in time. As Carter knew, a broken heart took a long while to heal.

  “Let’s get this done,” Carter said, hooking his arms over the shoulders of his closest companions.

  Jace laughed. “We don’t want you changing your mind, bro.”

  “Not a chance.”

  They walked into the sanctuary, taking their places in front of the altar. Reverend Babbitt stood with the wedding service book in his hands. Lawton Jefferson, his arm now fully recovered, walked Cora to her place in the front pew before going back for Miranda’s mother.

  Carter looked at the friends gathered. People he’d known his whole life, people he’d tried to treat fairly, people he’d helped along the way. Carter had always set his sights on being a good cop, and today he thought maybe he’d achieved that. And so much more.

  Donny Larson was there. Carter and he had shared a beer the night before, and Carter was glad Donny had come to the service today. Holding a grudge wasn’t the way to lead a decent life.

  And then Ava appeared, her dark hair piled in a cascade of curls shining in the candlelight. She was stunning in an ice-blue knee-length dress that showed off her beautiful eyes. Ava would soon be joining the rest of the family in Holly River.

  Next was Emily, blonde and pretty and sweet as a spring breeze. Her matching blue dress reached the floor. She carried her head high and a bouquet of purple tulips at her waist. She smiled at Carter, and his breath quaked with love.

  And finally the wedding march signaled the beginning of Carter’s new life. Miranda’s hand was tucked into her cousin’s elbow as she walked slowly toward her husband-to-be. Lawton looked proud. Miranda looked angelic in a cloud of white with an ice-blue sash at her waist. There would be pictures later, but Carter wanted to remember this moment in time forever, just as he was living it now.

  Miranda reached the altar. Carter took her hand and turned toward the reverend. But his eyes saw only the beauty of the face of the woman he’d always loved.

  * * * * *

  Be sure to look for other titles from

  acclaimed author Cynthia Thomason:

  RESCUED BY MR. WRONG

  THE BRIDESMAID WORE SNEAKERS

  A BOY TO REMEMBER

  FIREFLY NIGHTS

  THIS HERO FOR HIRE

  A SOLDIER’S PROMISE

  BLUE RIDGE AUTUMN

  MARRIAGE FOR KEEPS

  DILEMMA AT BAYBERRY COVE

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  Healing Hearts

  by Syndi Powell

  CHAPTER ONE

  APRIL SPRADER WANTED one moment of sanity. Just one minute when she didn’t have to run between examination rooms because she didn’t have enough staff, which she didn’t. Her emergency department was shorthanded. Again. Half of the doctors and nurses out with the flu. Again. And the patients kept coming. She listened to her current patient’s breathing sounds. “Another deep breath, please.”

  The older man sucked in air. She could hear the distinctive wheeze of infected bronchial tubes and removed the stethoscope from her ears. “I can run more tests, but it seems you
have bronchitis.”

  The man had a scrunched expression. “Not pneumonia, then.”

  “Like I said, I could run more tests, but you’re wheezing due to inflamed lungs. They don’t have the liquid buildup of pneumonia.” She made a note on his chart and took a prescription pad from the front pocket of her lab coat. “You need to drink plenty of fluids and get some rest.” She wrote two prescriptions and ripped the slips from the pad before handing them to the man. “You can either fill these here at the hospital or take them to your local pharmacy. One’s for an inhaler, the other for a stronger cough medicine. If things don’t improve in a week, see your regular doctor.”

  He thanked her and stuffed the prescriptions in the front pocket of his flannel shirt. One down. Only twenty-two more or so to go before she could take fifteen minutes for herself.

  She left the curtained area and returned to the pit, where she checked the charts of waiting patients. Her head nurse, Janet, had prioritized them in order of urgency, so she only had to grab the top one and walk away. Heart palpitations in curtain five. Yep, that would be a priority.

  She pushed the curtain aside and double-checked the chart. “Antonio Johnson?” She glanced at the African American kid sitting on the hospital bed. He looked no more than eighteen, although his chart gave his age as twenty-two, so why was he having heart issues? The kid offered her a weak smile as she stepped forward. “What brings you to my ER tonight?”

  “He complained of chest pain and passed out at practice today.” A good-looking man with artfully messy dark hair in a charcoal-gray business suit and light blue tie, with a cell phone plastered to his ear, moved closer to Johnson. “I need to know. Is his football career over? Is it his heart?”

  She raised her eyebrows at this. “And you are?”

  “His agent.” He then ignored her and spoke softly into his phone.

  April tried not to roll her eyes at him and focused instead on Antonio. “What were you doing before you passed out?”

  “We were trying a five-ten-five shuttle run, which I’ve done a million times. And when I hit the forty-yard line, things got fuzzy and the next thing I knew, I’m lying on the field and the coach is yelling at me to get up.”

  The only words she had understood were that he’d passed out on a sports field. “A five-ten-five?”

  “You know. It’s a drill we run at practices. But this was a tryout.” Antonio gave a one-shoulder shrug. “I’ve never had that happen before.”

  “Your...” She glanced briefly at the man hissing into the phone. Really? “Your agent mentioned chest pains?”

  Antonio shook his head. “That was before. I felt fine. Well, dizzy but fine. But you know. So is it my heart, Doc?”

  She removed her stethoscope from around her neck and used the earpieces before pressing the chest piece to his back. “Take a few deep breaths for me.”

  The kid complied, and she could hear normal breathing sounds. She then placed the chest piece over his heart. She could hear the rhythmic beating as well as a distinctive click. She removed the earpieces and placed the stethoscope around her neck once again. “Have you experienced these palpitations and chest pains before?”

  “No, he’s in perfect health. This has never happened before. Like we said.”

  April was taken aback at the agent and tried to keep her lip from curling. “I was asking Antonio. My patient.” She turned back to the kid. “Has this ever happened before?”

  The kid looked at his agent, then shifted back to her. “Maybe a couple times, but then it was okay. And I didn’t pass out or nothing.”

  “You never told me about that.”

  Antonio shrugged off his agent’s comment. “It didn’t seem like a big deal. I could feel my heart beating out of my chest, but then it would calm down. Besides, I was in the middle of a workout and your heart is supposed to be pumping that hard.” He focused on her. “Right?”

  She gave a nod and made some notes on his chart. “I’d like to do some tests to be sure I understand what’s going on with you.”

  The agent scoffed. “Tests? He needs to be back on the field before the coach starts wondering if he needs to find another receiver.”

  She didn’t second-guess herself, getting into the agent’s personal space and poking him in the chest. “Hey. Antonio needs to be sure that this isn’t something more serious, something that could end his life, much less his career.”

  The man clenched his jaw, and she could see a steady heartbeat in his carotid artery. He narrowed his eyes at her. “Can I see you in private for a moment?”

  The agent moved past her and she followed him, but she wasn’t going to back down. She didn’t care how handsome he was or how important he thought his client was, Antonio needed these tests to confirm what she suspected. The man studied her name tag. “Dr. Sprader, I’m sure you can understand the pressure that Antonio is under. He’s a rookie who needs to prove himself. Any kind of issue before he signs with the team, and he’s not likely to see a contract.”

  “And I’m sure you can understand that my number one concern is the health of your client. That should be yours, as well.” She put her hand on the curtain to push it aside. The man put his hand on hers to still it. She turned toward him. “Don’t touch me.”

  He removed his hand from hers. “What if we promise to go to his regular doctor...tomorrow?”

  She doubted that they would make it a priority if Antonio had a tryout scheduled at the same time. “What if I order these tests, and you stop interfering with my job?”

  “He’s my job, too. My client.”

  “And he’s my patient. Now, why don’t you go to the cafeteria and get a coffee while I take care of Antonio?” She glanced down at his buzzing phone. The sound was annoying. “Or better yet, take your phone to the parking lot and look after your business so I can look after mine.”

  The agent bristled, but put his phone to his ear and stalked away. April seized a deep cleansing breath to center herself and focus again on Antonio. Now she pushed the curtain aside. “Okay, then. I’m ordering an echocardiogram to get a better picture of what’s happening with your heart.”

  Antonio’s face paled. “Doc, be straight. Is it bad? Am I going to die? Is my football career over already?”

  “Let’s see the results of the tests first, then I’ll have a cardiologist take a look at you, too.” She put a hand on his knee. “If it’s what I suspect it is, with treatment and observation, you’ll still have a long life.”

  He gave a nod, then cocked his head to the side. “And football?”

  “You can still have that, too.” She made more notes on his chart. “But let’s wait and find out what the tests say.”

  She sent him a reassuring smile and stepped beyond the curtain. As she did so, a man grabbed her and put a knife to her throat. “Where’s the drug closet?”

  Great. It was going to be one of those days.

  * * *

  ZACH HARRISON FINISHED his last phone call and glanced back at the entrance to the emergency room. Coach Petrullo had called to check on Antonio’s condition. “The overzealous doctor is running tests, but Antonio will be on the field good as new tomorrow,” he’d assured the man. He only hoped he hadn’t overstated the truth. The kid had to be okay. He was young and active. His football career was about to begin. Fate wouldn’t be so cruel as to take it away. Right?

  Zach slipped his phone into his suit coat pocket and walked through the open automatic doors. He needed Antonio in action, but he needed the kid healthy even more. He regretted how callous he’d probably come across to Dr. Sprader earlier. He’d noticed how she’d barely kept her contempt under wraps, and he wanted to go back in time and change that. He wasn’t that kind of guy. He could be nice. A sweetheart, even. Though he’d been accused of using that to his advantage, rather than being sincere.

  Shaking off all though
ts of his ex-wife, he practiced what he was going to say to the cute doctor and headed toward where Antonio waited. He saw the doc talking to another patient, a man who seemed to be standing too close to her. Zach paused and assessed the situation. Not only was the guy standing too close, the knife in his hand meant he was a threat. Zach couldn’t spot the security guard he’d seen earlier in the hallways. He knew what he had to do. He’d had self-defense training for situations like this.

  He sauntered up to the curtained area. The patient noted him and waved the knife. “Stop. Or I’ll slice her throat. I swear I will.”

  Zach held up his hands. “I’m not going to stop you. I’m only here for my client.” He pointed to Antonio, who watched with wide eyes. He looked as if he were ready to jump off the bed and pummel the guy. Zach waved him off. “Why don’t you tell us what you want?”

  The grizzled man wore clothes that smelled as if they hadn’t been washed in weeks. “I want to stop the pain.”

  Dr. Sprader struggled in the guy’s arms. “I told you last time that you don’t need the drugs, Harley.”

  So the good doctor knew the man. Probably had a history of coming into the ER. Zach saw how Harley’s grip on the knife was loosening the more they talked. His knuckles were no longer white from strain. Instead, he flexed his fingers on the handle. If Zach could keep them talking, maybe he could disarm the guy.

  “Harley.” The man turned to look at Zach. “What kind of drugs will help you? Maybe if you tell me, then I can go get them.”

  The doctor’s eyes flared with emotion, probably anger and even shock. Harley licked his lips. “Oxy works best. Takes the edge off.”

  Antonio shifted in the bed, drawing Harley’s attention to him. And as that happened, Zach rushed forward and did a roundhouse kick to knock the knife out of the guy’s hand and send it skittering across the floor. Dr. Sprader used the man’s shock to grab his arm and twist it behind his back. She pushed him facedown onto the hospital bed. “Go get security,” she told Zach.

  He nodded and ran to the front desk. When he returned, he saw that Dr. Sprader had help from a few nurses to keep the man subdued. The security guard came and took the guy away. Zach hurried to Antonio’s side. “Are you okay?”