“It’s not like he wants to play poker with me. Hart House wants the retreat business.”
“And what,” Gabe frowned, “would you have to do with that?”
Cole shrugged. “Honestly, I don’t know. I was just as shocked as you guys are when the captain called me into his office to inform me of the stay.”
“Isn’t it against department policy to accept gifts?” Derrick ran a hand across the back of his neck. “I mean, a week’s stay at a popular lakeside vacation spot, even between peak seasons, is one hell of a gift.”
Payton nodded. “He’s got a point.”
“Again,” Cole repeated, “I have no idea. For all I know there isn’t a fire chief in the state willing to go against the General. Whatever the reason, starting tomorrow, like it or not, I’ll be taking my vacation in Hart Land.”
“Do you get to bring a guest?” An impish grin teased at one side of Payton’s mouth. “A week on the water with a hot date could have its advantages.”
“Dude, the guy is going on the invite of a retired United States Marine Corps general.” Derrick waved a wooden spoon in Cole’s direction. “I don’t think the General’s looking for the guy to turn the cabin into party city.”
The sly grin slipped from Payton’s face.
Like Cole had said before, he was about to spend a long week of restful solitude on the lake, whether he liked it or not.
Chapter Two
Sometimes Lily wondered if she shouldn’t have become something more nocturnal. Like a nightclub singer, or a late night DJ. Instead, unless she moved to Alaska, she’d fallen in love with the career that required her rising daily long before the sun. Not that chief baker at the Hilltop Inn wasn’t everything a local girl could want, but most local girls hadn’t studied in France. With her own bakery, Lily could reach so many more people. Of course, even with her own business, sleeping in would never be an option. Fortunately, she could practically bake in her sleep. A little of this, a little of that, extra butter, and voila.
Once she’d finally gotten to sleep last night—correction, earlier this morning—the initial uneasiness that had set in at learning about Margaret’s retirement plans had given way to the enthusiasm that Violet had exuded. If she could somehow come up with a way to pull this miracle off, at least she could count on the Hilltop Inn for her first client.
“Purse, keys, coffee,” she mumbled to herself. “Looks like I’m all set.” Maybe one of these days she’d talk her mother into letting her get a cat. Then she could at least pretend she was talking to someone else and not herself while she got ready in the mornings.
A burst of cool air smacked her at the opening of the front door. Pulling her jacket tightly closed, she had no choice but to admit that the recent tease of warm fall weather had come and gone, and now it was just plain cold.
Hurrying up the path, she fumbled with the key, unlocking the car door the old-fashioned way. No sense in risking waking up a light-sleeping neighbor with a beeping key fob. Her handbag on the passenger seat, her safety belt latched, she paused for a nice long sip of coffee then started the engine. The night air was just cold enough that she indulged in another long swallow before shifting into first gear.
There were lots of things about people she really didn’t get, and the love of automatic transmission was one of them. She adored her old Honda. The engine had 10 years of miles on her, used way less gasoline than the guzzlers her sisters drove, but the piece de resistance, the manual transmission was its own theft prevention system. One of the perks of briefly living in France had been learning to drive a stick shift.
Rolling along onto the gravel road that meandered from one side of the family property to the other, she took another quick sip of coffee before turning onto the slightly wider paved road that led off the Hart land. One hand on the gearshift, steering the wheel with her knee, Lily took another swallow of coffee in hopes she might actually feel human by the time she got to the Inn.
Reaching the main drag that cut over the creek and across the small town of Lawford, she set the travel mug down, looked left for any oncoming traffic—not that there was ever anyone on the road at this hour of the morning—and spun the wheel around to the left and picked up speed. Barely into the turn, her headlights flashed on a tall animal in motion.
Her left foot shoved the clutch into the floorboard at the same moment she threw the stick into neutral and slammed on the brakes so hard the rear of the small car heaved up high. Before she could catch her breath or slow her racing heart, what was clearly not an animal but a two-legged man rolled over her hood.
“Oh, God.” She’d hit a person. A man. With her car. “Oh, God.”
Opening the door, Lily flew from the driver’s seat to the other side of the vehicle where the man lay sprawled on a patch of grass—still as stone. “Oh, no.” Where was her cousin Heather the doctor when she needed her? Or Cindy. The guy wasn’t a pet but at least as a veterinarian Cindy knew more about trauma treatment than she did. Lily sucked in a breath and moved closer. This was no time to panic. Placing two fingers on his neck, she blew out a relieved breath at the steady pulse under her fingertips. “Hospital.” She needed to call for help. Except her phone was in her handbag on the passenger seat. Turning on her heel, she glanced at her car. Or where her car should have been. “Oh, no!”
Already on Ralph’s neighboring property, the car was rolling down hill and picking up speed. “No,” she muttered, running full speed after the old car. She’d left it in neutral without the parking brake. Focused on retrieving her phone and getting help, she didn’t see the root sticking up and went flying, arms wide, landing face down with a thud at the exact moment her car slammed into the old neighbor’s shed. Someday she’d have to thank her grandfather’s friend for not tearing that dilapidated piece of garbage down when the General had asked him to, or her car would now be dangling in the creek.
Ignoring the scrapes on her arms, she scrambled to her feet, flung the door open, grabbed her phone and tore back up the hill. Tapping the familiar numbers nine one one, her mind replayed the body tumbling over her hood in slow motion. What in the name of all that was holy was a good looking guy—yeah, she’d noticed in the seconds it took to find his pulse—doing running in the middle of the street in the middle of the dang night?
***
Daring to open his eyes, Cole blinked up at the stars. The pain shooting up his right shoulder competed with the throbbing in his leg. More precisely, his ankle. Blinking again, he debated if sitting up would be a good idea. Somehow lying still seemed to be leaving all other options behind in the dust. At least until he could unscramble his brain enough to remember why he was lying on the ground, in pain, staring at the stars.
“Yes, Fred. I didn’t do it on purpose, hurry.” Panic laced the pretty voice. “Oh, his eyes are open!”
Preparing himself for more pain, Cole dared to turn his head in the direction the voice had come from.
“Are you all right?” On her knees, she dropped her phone at her side and ran gentle fingers along his shoulder and down his arm. The one that didn’t hurt and was now tingling under her touch.
He blinked. Long red locks hung down in front of his face as she narrowed her eyes in concentration.
“Follow my finger.” If he wasn’t in so much pain he would have smiled at the intensity with which her orders were given.
A slender finger with trimmed nails and no polish moved from one side of his face to the other.
“Oh, good.” Her breath blew low and warm on his face.
Clearly she was pleased with his ability to follow her commands. A nurse or doctor maybe.
The frown deepened. “Where does it hurt?”
Where does it hurt? It would have made more sense to ask where does it not hurt. Wiggling the fingers on his left hand, he determined all was well enough, but the movement on his right side had him wishing for a bullet to bite on. Not good.
“Lie still. An ambulance is on the way.”
&
nbsp; “All I need is a few more minutes.” He sucked in a deep breath, and using the arm that he was positive didn’t hurt, shoved himself to a sitting position. A good soak in a warm tub and an ace bandage was all he needed. He flexed his right hand and swallowed a grimace. Or maybe not.
Even in the dark predawn hours he could see bright green eyes round with worry. “I don’t think you should move. I could have, I mean, maybe, I mean… you could be seriously hurt.”
Now that he was at her level, he was positive fear and concern were tumbling about behind those eyes. “What happened?”
“You don’t remember?” Her brows dipped into a sharp V. “Oh, dear.”
Blinking hard, he fought the fog clouding his thoughts. “I went for a run.”
“Yes.” She blew out a slow breath. “You ran out in front of my car.”
Now the pieces were falling into place. He might be on vacation, but his internal clock thought it was another work day and had him wide awake long before the crack of dawn. He’d opted to follow his regular routine of an early morning jog. Except his normal run didn’t include colliding with a two thousand pound hunk of metal-in-motion. Quick reflexes had him practically vaulting over the hood to avoid injury, but the effort didn’t go as planned. Especially not if the pain on his right side was any indication.
Sirens whirred in the distance, growing louder. Great. Just what he didn’t want, to be peeled off the asphalt by one of his EMT buddies and razzed for the rest of his life about losing a match with a… He looked around. “Where’s the car?”
“Oh, um.” A not-so-steady hand pointed down the hill. “Over there.”
Leaning forward for a better view, he cocked an eye. “Where’d you say you got your license?”
Those bright green eyes rolled heavenward and he bit back the urge to smile and tease some more.
“I’ll be fine. Help me up.” He waved his good arm at her.
Fisted hands came to rest on her hips, elbows sticking out like chicken wings, and a fire in her eyes. They really were very expressive eyes. “Absolutely not. You could have serious injuries. If you would please just wait—”
More words weren’t necessary. The ambulance came speeding over the hill, sirens blaring.
“They’re here.” Relief took over her face.
Doors flew open and two guys in standard uniform stepped out of the vehicle, one coming to a stop beside him. “Well, fancy meeting you here.”
The reason Cole was in this mess blinked up at the six-foot former all-star famed for what the women in his department called bedroom eyes. “You two know each other?”
“Work together,” Jason answered.
As Cole had expected, he knew the EMT crew. In a county this small, all the emergency services and first responders knew each other both on and off the job. The only way he’d have escaped being the butt of the joke would have been for them to find him bleeding in pieces on the ground. “I’m a firefighter,” Cole replied.
“You two don’t know each other?” Bryce, the second EMT already assessing Cole’s injuries, waved at the woman looking down at them.
The redhead shook her head. “I hit him.”
Jason nodded, checking Cole’s vitals. “So it seems.”
“I’m fine. Twisted my ankle. Maybe dislocated a shoulder.”
Bryce looked up from immobilizing the ankle. “No maybe about that shoulder. We’ll let the doc get that back in place. Your real problem is the wrist.”
Looking down at his right hand, Cole noticed the wrist that was perfectly fine not long ago was twice its normal size. Crud.
Gritting his teeth, he turned to face the woman who had carelessly almost mowed him over, only to see all the color drain from her face. “I’m so sorry,” she muttered, eyes gleaming with guilt.
He liked the fire in her gaze better. Cutting her some slack was probably in order. After all, it wasn’t every day a person slammed into a pedestrian in the middle of the night in the middle of nowhere. He doubted she’d woken up this morning and decided to run down an unsuspecting jogger. On the other hand, it wasn’t every day that he got nearly run over by a beautiful woman with eyes the color of a newly sprouted shamrock. All he had to decide now was if that was a good or bad thing.
Chapter Three
It had taken both EMTs a good fifteen minutes of arguing, and a failed attempt to stand on his own two feet before the man she now knew was named Cole agreed to be transported to the hospital. She’d taken advantage of the few minutes to shoot her boss a text explaining she’d had a little mishap with her car and would not be available this morning. Fortunately, the Inn always kept an emergency stash of frozen baked goods for just such a morning.
“That wrist is going to have you out for at least six weeks,” Jason announced.
Cole merely groaned and Lily leaned back a little further in the ambulance. Maybe she should have woken one of her sisters and asked for a ride. Her presence didn’t seem to be helping the patient any.
The teasing tone when the EMT driver had smiled at Cole and announced, “Wives and girlfriends are allowed to ride in the bus,” told Lily she’d only been allowed along so the guys could taunt him.
Cole had bit down on his back teeth so hard she was afraid he might break a tooth. Not wanting to make things worse—though she didn’t know how she possibly could—she opted to keep her mouth shut the entire ride. The way the two men joked and teased went a long way toward minimizing her concerns that the man she’d hit might be more seriously injured.
“Here we are.” Jason pushed the doors open.
Waiting her turn, she followed the group, surprised when her phone sounded. She didn’t even bother to look at caller ID. It had to be Barb her boss checking up on her. After all, who else would be up at this hour of the morning?
“What in blue blazes is going on?” The General’s voice boomed so loudly both EMTs turned to look at her.
Wincing at the sound, she smiled at the men and flashed a thumbs up. Stepping aside, she leaned against the wall and turned her back to the big room. “Good morning, General.”
“Might’ve been if I hadn’t strolled outside to see your car kissing Ralph’s old shed. Since you were nowhere in sight and are answering your phone, am I to presume you are all right?” Despite the stern tone and harsh words, she could hear the concern seeping through.
“I wasn’t in the car when it rolled down the hill.”
“Young lady,” concern shifted to frustration, “the parking brake is there for a reason.”
“Yes sir, I know, sir.” Now all she had to decide was how much she wanted to share with the old man. Starting out with “I’m at the hospital” wasn’t the best idea. “I accidentally ran over your new guest wasn’t much better,” but he’d have to find out sooner or later. “I sort of had a little incident at the top of the hill and I got distracted.”
“What happened and where in blue blazes are you now?”
Lily swallowed hard. “A jogger, your new guest, the fireman, was hurt—just a little—in a small accident, and I came with him to the hospital.”
“Hospital,” his voice boomed again. “How small?”
“The EMTs say probably just a sprain, possible dislocated shoulder, and fractured or broken wrist.”
Silence lingered a little too long. “Lily Nelson, what was your part in this?”
Sucking in a calming breath, squeezing the phone a little tighter, and focusing on a crack in the ceiling, she muttered, “I sort of hit him with my car.”
Her grandfather’s exasperated breath sounded moments before he spoke, “Lily, sweetie, there are easier ways to reel in a man.”
“I am not trying to reel him in.” Her voice went up just enough for the nurse at the station to look up at her with a raised eyebrow. Lily shrugged an apology, smiled and, turning away from the desk, leaned into the phone. She lowered her voice. “It was an accident. What normal person is jogging at 4 o’clock in the morning in the dark in the middle of nowhere?” Sh
e sighed. “Never mind. Let me find out how bad it is and then I’ll give you a call. We’re going to need a ride back to the lake.”
“Ten four. Don’t you worry, I’ll have reinforcements at the ready.”
“Sir—” About to ask him to please not do anything till she knew more, she heard the line disconnect. Looking away from the wall, Lily realized she was actually in the ER, not the waiting area. It hadn’t occurred to her that the ambulances used a different entrance than the walk-ins. Despite living her entire life in Lawford, this was the first time she’d set foot in the ER. So distracted by the General’s call, she hadn’t noticed which way the EMTs had gone and didn’t have any idea how to find her way out.
“Excuse me,” she asked the nurse behind the counter at the same moment a curtain swished open and the two EMTs came toward her, pushing their collapsible gurney and laughing.
“You came in with the hit and run?” the nurse asked her.
“No run. Just hit.”
“Yes. Well.” The nurse glanced at her screen and back, her chin jutting out toward the cubicle Jason and Bryce had come from. “Your husband’s being taken to x-ray as we speak.”
“Oh, no. You’ve misunderstood. He’s not my—”
“You behave yourself,” Jason called to Cole being pushed away in a wheelchair, and reaching the nurse’s station, tapped his ring on the counter. “We have to get going. Don’t let the hotshot give you any trouble.”
“We can handle him.” The nurse smiled brightly and turned to Lily. “You can go with him, or if you’d like you can wait for him in the cubicle. There’s no one else in x-ray at the moment, he shouldn’t be long.”
“Thank you.” Lily considered trying once again to explain that she wasn’t married, engaged, or in any way involved with the injured party, but decided sometimes, as Lucy would say, you with your little mouth closed look very pretty.
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