by Janice Lynn
The EMT called for an ambulance while they worked. Jeff would be shipped to the local hospital for care.
Just as Taylor got back with the crash cart, the kid’s respiration rate dropped further.
If they could just keep him alive...
When Jack turned to Taylor, he didn’t have to say a thing. Like the great nurse he’d already discovered she was, she was ready, gloved him up, then gave him the intubation tube.
Intubating patients wasn’t something he did a lot of at the events he worked, but he’d gotten a plethora of practice at the emergency room these past few months. The tube slid into place. Jack slid his stethoscope on, listened to make sure placement was correct as the man’s chest rose and fell.
Glancing up at Taylor, he gave a thumbs-up.
* * *
“I feel as if I’m wearing half the farm.”
Jack glanced at where Taylor sat on the golf cart. Strands of her hair had worked loose from her braid and flew about in the wind. A folded bandana covered the lower part of her face to save her from breathing in the dust kicked up from the golf cart. Dark glasses shielded her eyes from the bright sun. She wore the “Medical Staff” T-shirt she’d been given that morning and loose cuffed khaki shorts. A shiny sheen of sweat coated her skin, as did a layer of dust.
“So many jokes I could make,” he teased, thinking she looked beautiful, if a bit tired. No wonder. The medical tent had been hell today. A total nightmare. Thank God it had calmed down about an hour prior to the end of their shift.
Taylor rolled her eyes. “You could, but should you?”
“Which is why I’ll keep my farm jokes to myself.”
“I appreciate that.”
“You don’t think you’d appreciate my farm humor?”
“Who knows? Maybe I would have even if they were baa-d.”
He laughed at her play on farm humor.
“Either way, even if I have to wait in line hours to get a shower, I am taking one.”
“Agreed.” He was hot and sweaty himself. And somewhere between emotionally exhausted and exhilarated.
Today had been rough for more reasons than one. Which was why he normally didn’t let the memory of Courtney into his head, ever.
Not that she was ever far away, it was just that he didn’t consciously let thoughts of her take hold. Not like he had today.
* * *
“Wow. Don’t you look as pretty as a Georgia peach?”
“Thank you.” Taylor fought not to blush at Duffy’s compliment. She wore a loose tie-dye sundress that tied around her neck and a pair of crisscrossed lace-up-her-legs sandals that she’d bought just for the weekend. For convenience’s sake, she pulled her hair back up into its braid. Plus, her hair off her neck would be much cooler in the Tennessee heat. Because she was spending the evening with Jack, she’d brushed on a light coat of mascara and glossed her lips.
He didn’t say anything, but his eyes told her he appreciated her efforts.
“You sure you aren’t up for a festival fling?” Robert asked, his tone light, teasing. “A few whispered sweet nothings and you could steal me away from Amber.”
“Yeah, yeah. You say that but I saw how you were following her around like a besotted puppy earlier today,” Taylor teased back, not feeling threatened by Robert in the slightest. Not after how she’d seen how kind he was during patient care. The man had a big heart.
Robert looked sheepish at her claim. “She is a pretty little thing, isn’t she?”
Taylor agreed. She’d met Amber earlier in the day. The woman was a tiny powerhouse of a nurse with bright eyes and a brighter smile.
Taylor’s gaze shifted back to Jack, who was watching her with those ethereal blue eyes. Despite the stressful day they’d had in the medical tent, he looked completely relaxed. He, Duffy, Robert, and a few others were sitting around. Jack’s guitar was propped beside his chair so they’d probably been playing but were just chatting now.
While she put away her toiletries, Jack moved her chair for her to join them. The guys sat talking about past music festival adventures, trying to impress Taylor by upping each tale told. At one point her belly hurt from laughing so hard.
“The first gig I want to see starts at seven. You game still?” Jack asked, standing to put his guitar back in a beat-up case, then putting it in the passenger seat of his Jeep.
“I am,” she agreed, conscious that the others were watching them. Ha. She imagined in this environment it wasn’t difficult to pick up on romantic happenings during the festival.
Grabbing her sunglasses, a loose bag to toss over a shoulder, and a straw hat, she joined him and they headed into the main event area to find a spot as close to the stage as they could get and still spread their blanket.
“I’m surprised we haven’t seen any injuries from people getting stepped on,” she teased as they spread their blanket. Even though there was still a good forty-five minutes before show time, a crowd was already gathering.
He laughed. “You’re right, but I don’t recall having seen anyone with that particular complaint.”
Once their blanket was spread, Jack offered to go and grab pizza and beer.
Taylor lay back, covered her face with her straw hat, and soaked up the late evening sunshine. It was hot, but not unbearably so. She must have dozed off because the next thing she knew Jack was back.
They ate, chatted, and Jack asked how she and Amy had become friends. By the time the show started, they were surrounded by festival goers.
Around them people were dancing and singing along. The band was one Taylor knew and soon, to her astonishment, she was singing along, too. Probably because the music was so loud no one could discern her voice over anyone else’s anyway.
The group led into one of their most popular hits and the crowd went wild, cheering, screaming, and jumping up and down. Jack stood and held his hand out to her. Not sure what he intended, Taylor let him pull her to her feet.
The next thing she knew she was in front of him, dancing, his arm around her waist as they sang along with the band.
It might have been the beer. Or it might have been Jack’s arms around her, but Taylor felt good.
Really, really good.
And free.
She’d never felt comfortable singing or dancing in front of others, but as she swayed to the beat and sang the words, she felt great.
The song ended, and another started. The crowd was really into the music and someone had started hitting a giant beach ball around.
When it bounced her way, Taylor tapped it back up into the air, thinking, How fun.
“Good hit,” Jack praised, taking her hand into his then turning his attention back to the stage.
His hand holding hers stole all Taylor’s attention.
Jack. That was the song she was interested in singing. In dancing to.
Jack.
Jack.
Jack.
He turned toward her and she realized she’d said his name out loud.
Caught up in the moment, she stretched forward and planted a kiss on his lips. A habit she seemed to be developing.
Surprise lit his eyes, then he grinned. “Enjoying yourself?”
“Immensely,” she answered, then laughed and spun around. As she did so, a young man in his early twenties grabbed her hand, bowed, then spun her again.
Laughing, Taylor shrugged at Jack and let the man lead her in another spin, after which he handed her back to Jack and moved on to another nearby lady to do the same.
Taylor’s gaze met Jack’s. He was smiling. It struck her that Neil wouldn’t have been. First off, she couldn’t imagine him at a music festival. But if he had been and had witnessed her dance, he’d have accused her of flirting with the man, of egging on his attention. Despite her efforts to reassure him, she’d have paid the price for the young
man’s foolery.
Tension started tightening her neck muscles, but she shook it off. Neil was no longer in her life and never would be again. She wouldn’t let him ruin the present or her future the way he’d tainted her past.
She squeezed Jack’s hand. “Thank you.”
Jack’s brow lifted. “For?”
“Not being upset.”
Genuine confusion shone on his face. “Why would I be upset?”
Exactly. He shouldn’t have been.
Still holding her hand, he pulled her to him. “I want you to have a good time, Taylor.”
“Because you promised Amy?”
“Amy who?” he teased, brushing his lips across her forehead.
Smiling from the inside out, Taylor laughed.
“Come on,” he told her. “Let’s dance.”
They danced. And sang. And got caught up with the partying crowd around them. One band led into another.
Never in her life had Taylor let herself go and just let the music take over who she was and move her body. Never had she laughed so much, felt so much like she belonged to the beating rhythm of the crowd.
On a high, Taylor flopped down on their blanket and stared up at the night sky with awe and amazement at herself, at the music, at the fun crowd, at Jack.
Rolling over, she pulled her cellphone from her bag. “It’s after midnight.”
Lying down beside her, Jack asked, “You have somewhere you need to be?”
“Not particularly, but we’ve been up since before four this morning,” she reminded him.
“You tired?”
“Maybe a little,” she said, knowing he had to be exhausted. Just because she felt energized it didn’t mean he wasn’t tired. Not that he looked it but, still, she needed to be respectful of the fact that for him this wasn’t all new and sparkly.
“Ready to go back to the campsite?” he asked.
She wasn’t really, but logic said she should. “Whenever you are.”
His gaze narrowed then he shook his head. “If you’re up for it, we’ll stick around for the next band.”
* * *
It was almost three when they made it to their tents.
Taylor had wondered how they’d do this. If Jack would kiss her goodnight or if she’d kiss him again, and they’d go from there.
Other than when she’d kissed him earlier and his having kissed her forehead and hand a couple of times, they hadn’t kissed, not really kissed, since the night before.
But rather than kiss her outside her tent, he squeezed her hand and whispered goodnight.
It had been, Taylor thought as she watched him go into his tent. A very good night.
The best night.
But it could have been better, a voice shouted in her mind.
It could have been a night where she invited Jack into her tent so she could kiss him as many times and ways as she wanted.
Because, despite her vow that she was fine without a man, she definitely wanted this one.
CHAPTER SIX
THE HEAT WOKE Taylor earlier than she’d planned. Using baby wipes, she cleaned the stickiness off her skin as best as she could, then climbed out of her tent.
“Good morning, Sleeping Beauty.”
“Morning.” She glanced toward Jack’s tent, then smiled at the man who’d starred in her dreams. His hair was in its usual loosely pulled-back style. His T-shirt advertised a music festival she’d never heard of and his shorts were more colorful than her dress from the night before. He should look ridiculous, but instead he looked relaxed and gorgeous and perfect.
“Breakfast?” he offered. “I saved some.”
She joined him beneath his canopy tent and took his offering. Eggs, bacon, and a couple of slices of buttered toast. The man knew how to camp.
“You’re spoiling me.”
“Gotta keep up your strength. We have a long day ahead of us.”
Mouth full, she arched a brow.
“You’re at a music festival, Taylor, and we don’t work. As soon as you’re through eating, we’re going to go have fun.”
“More fun than last night?” She hadn’t thought there were any bands playing until late afternoon, but perhaps she’d been wrong.
“Way more.”
It was hard to imagine recapturing the carefree abandon she’d experienced with him the night before. However, today was a new day and she was game for whatever he had planned for them.
All in the name of new adventures and life experiences, of course.
* * *
Taylor eyed the little sand-filled sack dubiously. “I’m not sure about this.”
“It’s easy once you get the hang of it.” As if to prove his point, Jack kicked his foot up to his side and hit the small sack a few times.
Behind her shades, Taylor’s eyes narrowed at the ball being kicked around. “Let’s go have fun, you say,” she intoned, knowing she was about to try something else she’d never done. “Way more fun, you say. This is easy, you say.”
Jack laughed and hit the sack to her.
She missed, picked up the sack, and tossed it to him. “I’ve changed my mind and think we’d be better off playing dodgeball.”
He laughed. “You seemed interested until you found out they were playing with water balloons.”
“Getting hit by a water balloon is appealing more and more,” she mused as she missed the sack again. “In this heat, being doused with water would be a good thing, right?”
His grin was lethal. “That’s what I was thinking.”
His tone was both suggestive and teasing. Unable to repress her smile, Taylor shook her head and tried again to hack the sack.
“You’ll catch on. Here, let me show you.” Jack put his hands on her hips, then guided her leg through a series of motions where the bag rested on the medial aspect of her foot.
“Now, let’s try an inside foot delay. Just catch the sack. Don’t worry about doing anything with it at this point.” From about her chest height, he dropped the ball onto her foot.
It fell to the ground.
He walked her through the motions again. This time it rested on the inside of her foot. Over and over, he repeated his lesson until she was lifting her leg to catch the bag when he dropped it.
“You’re doing great,” he encouraged when she went several times in a row without missing. “Now, let’s try with the other foot.”
His patience amazed her and slowly she began to try to mimic the motions he walked her through time and again.
Soon a few others joined them on the grassy open area. Several others also had foot bags. Who knew people actually did this?
Before long, someone had music going and a foot bag challenge was on.
“Yeah, I’m sitting this one out.” Taylor tossed the sand-filled ball back to Jack. “You’ve got this.”
Waggling his brows, he and a half-dozen others kicked sacks around. After a few minutes only Jack and a guy named Will were moving to the beat, keeping their sacks in the air. A crowd gathered around them, chanting and urging them on.
“Go, Jack! Go, Jack!” she cheered, along with several others.
Will had his own cheer section, too.
“They’re making this look too easy,” a guy complained. “Someone get them a drink. We’re going to add a new element to the competition to speed things along.”
Two drinks showed up within seconds and were handed to Will and Jack.
Jack finished off his drink, keeping his sack in the air. Will did as well, but with kicks that sent the sack high into the air over his head, and he’d kick it back up from behind him, then repeat the motions, all while chugging his drink. His movements were so fluid he looked as if he’d done the trick a zillion times.
When he’d finished his drink, loud cheers went out.
Laughing, Jack caught his foot bag in mid-air and bowed. “You are the master.”
The crowd clapped. Soon a group game started up of sacking it up.
“Come on,” Jack encouraged, taking Taylor’s hand. “You have to play, too.”
Taylor wanted to say no. It’s what the old Taylor would have done, claiming she just wanted to watch.
But she didn’t want to just watch.
She wanted to do more than sit on the sidelines.
Even if she failed miserably.
She wanted to live. Not just exist but live.
The sack made it all the way around and Taylor managed to catch Jack’s toss with the center of her foot and kick it to the person to her left without letting it touch the ground.
She was unable to hold in a big “Yes!” and do a little victory dance.
A giggly girl with flowers in her hair and an itty-bitty bikini on her equally itty-bitty body missed her toss during the second round.
No one seemed to mind and they started back over at round one.
The few times Taylor recalled being involved in games, there had been such a competitive element she hadn’t had fun. She wasn’t even sure those games had been about having fun, just winning. That wasn’t what this was about. The smiling, happy people around her just wanted to enjoy being alive and at the festival. Wow.
Taylor wasn’t sure how long they played, but they did so until a midday comedy show drew several away. Taylor took a break to rehydrate and reapply sunscreen.
“Need help with your shoulders and the back of your neck?”
She started to tell him she had it, but only a fool would turn down Jack’s offer. “Please.”
Squirting a generous portion of lotion onto his palm, he then rubbed his hands together.
“I doubt that’s needed today,” she mused, appreciative, though he’d thought to warm the lotion prior to applying it. Jack was a thoughtful man. She liked that.
She liked him.
“You’re probably right.” He placed his hands on her exposed shoulders, running them slightly beneath the edge of her sleeveless T-shirt, then down her arms.