She got Dr. Kellen into the house with the help of Lawrence the Sheriff. They laid him down in the great room off to the side on the leather couch.“If you’ll excuse me, I’d like to put on some more clothes.”
He nodded, checking Kell’s pulse.
“I’ll bring some ice when I come back,” she told him.
Sidney ran to her room, threw on a robe. She plucked a bag of frozen peas from the freezer and poured three ibuprofen into her hand. She filled a glass with some water.
Lawrence was standing off to the side when she returned. She set the bag of peas on Dr. Kellen’s jaw.“Ouch,” he said.“What in the heck was Dan thinking?”
“He thought you were trying to seduce Betty.”
“Yeah, well,I wasn’t. What’s with you thinking I don’t like women?”
Sidney held up her hand.“We can talk about that later. I need to say good-bye to the sheriff.”
Dr. Kellen looked at the sheriff.“Lawrence, thanks for coming.”
“You take care of yourself, Kell. I’ll see you at the cafe.”
Sidney walked the sheriff to the door.“Thank you. I’m sorry it wasn’t necessary for you to come out. I’m new in town.”
“Feel free to call whenever you want,” he said. His eyes went from the top of her head to the bottom of her feet and back up again. When their eyes met, his were sparkling.
“Thank you.” She opened the door.
“Before, I leave,” he said,“I was wondering, since you’re new in town and all. Maybe I could take you out for dinner sometime? Show you around the island.”
Sidney smiled. What a night. She cleared her throat.“I’d love to go out and see the island, but you should probably know, I’m sort of in the process of figuring things out with my ex-husband. I’m not really in a position to start a relationship.”
The sheriff’s face showed open disappointment.“Oh. Well, if it doesn’t work out with him, maybe you’ll let me know. We could go out, then?”
“Sure thing, sheriff.”
He stepped outside and Sidney shut the door behind her. What a nice man, she thought. Two guys wanting to take her out in one night. How momentous. Then, she remembered Dr. Kellen.
She pulled up a chair next to his head and handed him the water and ibuprofen she’d been holding.“Here. Take these.”
He opened his eyes.“Thank you. Gosh, what a mess. I’m so sorry.”
Her eyes widened and she raised her eyebrows.“It’s okay. And besides, I got to meet the sheriff. Nice guy.”
“Yeah. You’ve got the whole island lining up to take you out.” His voice turned more sour with each word.
“You don’t like Henry or the sheriff?”
“I like them fine.” He threw the ibuprofen in his mouth and swallowed.
She leaned back in the chair and sighed.“It’s nice to be asked out.”
“I’m sure it’s probably better than having the neighbor say something ridiculous about him not wanting you to get any ideas about him.”
“Much better, actually.”
“About that…”
Sidney waved her hand.“Don’t worry. I think I understand. You’re the gorgeous doctor everyone wants to marry. I just didn’t know that at the time.”
He turned his head and looked at her. She shifted in her seat. He had intense eyes and when he focused all his attention on her she felt stripped, almost as if he could read her mind.“I was wrong the way I talked to you,” he said.“It’d been a long couple of weeks. Jake had been pestering me about getting married for the whole summer. I had some patients try to come on to me. I’m really sorry.”
“Are you apologizing because I rescued you from the bad guy?”
“Yes. I am.” He chuckled, touching his face.“It hurts to laugh. Actually, I’ve been meaning to say something for a while now. I just didn’t know how to get it out. I should have been kinder to you.”
She leaned forward and slapped her hand on her leg.“Well, thank you. Very much. Apology accepted.”
He paused for a second.“What’s with the comment about me not liking women?”
“Well, since we’re speaking about misunderstandings and all. I figured by the intensity you had the first time we met, and a comment that Jake made about you not liking women, that maybe there was something more to it.”
“I’m not gay or anything.”
“It’s just, you came on so strong, like you were afraid of something.”
He leaned his head back.“Whatever it is you thought, I’m a normal man who is attracted to women, but who isn’t interested in having a relationship.”
“I remember. I heard you loud and clear.”
He held out his hand.“But, I like women.”
She smiled and tilted her head to the side.“Just not redheaded women your son thinks you should marry.”
“I’m really sorry.”
“It’s fine.”
“Listen, it wasn’t you. It’s me. I lost my wife under very painful circumstances. I don’t want to deal with that kind of loss again. Better to just stay away from all things related to heartbreak.”
Sidney felt the blood drain from her face. Why hadn’t Betty mentioned he was a widower? How sad.
Dr. Kellen changed the subject. He spoke to her with the bag of peas over his eyes, so she couldn’t see his face.“Are you and your ex-husband going to get back together?”
“I’m not sure yet. Why?”
“Just curious is all. If you get back together are you going to sell the mansion?”
At first Sidney wondered if maybe he was jealous, but then she realized he was probably just curious about the house. After all, he was her neighbor.“I’m not sure. He’s coming for Thanksgiving. I’m hoping that will clear things up for me.”
A silence fell over them for a few moments and Sidney wasn’t sure if it was a comfortable one or not. She shifted in her seat and started to stand up.
“I’m not sure if I’ll be able to get up in the morning,” Dr. Kellen said.“The adrenaline is probably keeping the pain at bay. I’m sure I’ll be a wreck tomorrow.”
“Don’t worry. Maybe Betty will show up and offer to take care of you.”
Dr. Kellen laughed under his breath.“I think she might be taking good care of Big Dan right now. She may not want to come back tomorrow.”
“No. Betty would never.” Sidney’s eyes widened.“Do you think?” Sidney was shocked.“She’s still so angry with him.”
“Yeah,but he fought for her and punched me out. You never know.”
Sidney leaned back in her chair.“How archaic. You’re probably right. Some couples do the strangest things. I wonder what’ll happen?”
“Dan was a fool. Betty is one of the best women on this island. He should never have messed around with a younger woman. He knows it, he just needs to figure out the right way to tell her.”
Sidney didn’t say anything.“Let me get you a blanket and pillow. I’ll be right back.”
~
Kell sat there with his hand on his head. He’d been so stunned by Dan’s attack and his anger, he hadn’t responded fast enough, which is why he’d gotten so beat up. He was also struggling to wrap his head around the fact that the sheriff had just asked Sidney out on a date. Two men in one night. He felt like shooting the sheriff, and wanted to shove a plunger up Henry’s butt, not to mention how badly he wanted to tell Sidney’s ex-husband to leave her alone. He wanted to stand up and shout,“Leave Sidney Franklin alone!” Thank God he’d been in too much pain to say anything at all. Sidney wasn’t interested in him. She’d been thinking he had something wrong with him this whole time. How embarrassing. Old and grumpy, she’d told Amanda. His head hurt.
Sidney came back with a blanket. She was tired. Her eyes were exhausted. He wanted to reach over and put his hand on her cheek. He wanted to pull her in for a kiss. He wanted to…
Oh Lord, what was he thinking? “Thank you,” he said.“You look tired.”
“I am exhausted. Is th
ere anything else you need?” she asked.
His jaw hurt, his eye hurt, his body ached.“No, but thanks. I’ll see you in the morning.”
“Sleep well, Dr. Kellen.”
“My friends call me Kell,” he said, as she began to step away.
“Yes, I know. Which is why I call you Dr. Kellen.”
“Would you ever be willing to call me Kell?” he asked with the frozen peas over his eyes.
“I guess that depends.”
“On what?”
“On whether you plan on acting like a friend?”
“I’d like to try.”
She turned to walk away and paused for a moment.“See you in the morning, Kell.”
“I’ll be here.”
Chapter Twelve
Advice on Love
When Kell came to in the morning, the only thing he could do was moan. He couldn’t think, couldn’t move, couldn’t even open his right eye. He could open his left eye, which was facing the couch cushion and wasn’t very helpful in telling him where he was. He had momentarily forgotten he was sleeping on Sidney Franklin’s couch, and that he’d been hit by his best friend Dan, that he and Sidney agreed to be friends. On top of all that, he had finally admitted to himself that he liked her, but she was trying to decide whether or not to go back to an ex-husband. Everything came tumbling back to him in a slur of memories. His stomach hurt and since he was on such an honest kick, his heart hurt too.
Before he could even attempt to turn around on the couch, someone started coming down the stairs.“Holy crap, you scared me,” Candace said.“What in the world happened to you?”
Kell did his best to turn around.“Good morning,” he said.“There was a bit of a fight last night.”
“Yeah and it looks like you lost,” she smirked, under her breath.“Were you fighting over Sidney?”
“Why would I fight over Sidney?” he asked, trying to turn himself around enough to see her.
“No reason. Listen, is Sidney up? I need to talk to her about Thanksgiving.”
“That’s just around the corner, isn’t it?”
“Yeah, it’s in two weeks. Jeez, you’re such a guy. We’re hoping to get a bunch of guests that weekend. I got a few calls. There are some people coming in on that Friday afternoon.”
Kell finally got himself turned around. He tried hard to focus his open eye on her. She was wearing dark tights, a dark purple skirt, a black t-shirt that had a skull and cross-bones on it, a jean jacket, and dark boots. Her tummy was beginning to pop out.“You going somewhere?” he asked.
“Betty’s taking me to the mainland. We’re buying a bunch of stuff for Thanksgiving. She’s going to teach me how to make it all.”
“Is she home?”
“Why wouldn’t she be? She’s always up at the crack of dawn. You didn’t hear her humming down the stairs this morning?”
“She took Dan home last night.”
“Ooohhh, somebody got lucky. Funny how violence can bring out the love, huh?”
Kell tried not to laugh; it hurt too much.“She certainly came to his rescue when Sidney hit him over the head with a frying pan.”
“No way! Where was I? I can’t believe I slept through the whole thing.”
Kell sat up.“Is Sidney awake?”
“She’s probably in the kitchen trying to figure out how to inject coffee into herself with an IV. She keeps saying she wants to give it up, but for a woman who’s trying to quit, she downs more coffee than water.”
“I need some myself.”
“I’ll tell her you’re awake. I need to find out what’s going on with Betty anyways.”
Kell moved his sore arm. He thought he might have a cracked rib. It reminded him of the only other time he’d fought someone. It had been up at college. Some girl, whom he thought was single, had asked him to help her study for finals. They studied and when he drove her back to her dorm room, her boyfriend was waiting outside behind the bushes and attacked him. He’d been wary of studying with women ever since.
He hadn’t expected Dan to be so angry. Dan had wanted to kill him last night. He might have if Sidney hadn’t hit him in the head with that frying pan. When he asked Betty to the banquet, he thought he was doing Dan a favor. If Betty went with him, she wouldn’t be going with anyone else. It never occurred to him that Dan would be angry and jealous of him. What a mess.
Sidney stepped into the room. She wore jeans and a sweatshirt. Her hair hung down, drying in the air as if she’d just come out of the shower a few minutes before. Her bare feet showed off toes with bright blue nail polish on them. She carried two cups of coffee and had the whole bottle of ibuprofen under her arm. She held out the coffee. Her eyes were tired. She didn’t have any make-up on.“Did you sleep at all?” she asked, handing him the bottle. He breathed in as he took the bottle. She smelled fresh and intoxicating, like vanilla and autumn flowers.
He put four pills in his mouth and washed them down with a big swig of lightly creamed coffee. She remembered exactly how he liked it.“I can’t tell if I slept or if I passed out, or if the difference is even important. Betty come home?”
“No. I have a bad feeling about that,” she told him.
“Why? You don’t want them to get back together?”
She shook her head.“It’s not that. I only hope in the middle of it all Betty remembers not to be too vengeful. Betty’s angry. One shouldn’t mess with a scorned woman.”
“What do you know of scorned women?” he asked, leaning back on the couch, covering his eyes with his hands.
“More than I’d like to, but I’m not going to tell you my deepest and darkest,” she said.
“I thought we were going to try and be friends.”
“Yes, but one can’t jump into telling secrets in a day, can they? I think we’d better start at the,‘Do you want breakfast?’ routine first. Besides, I think I said enough about my love life last night.”
“I’d love some. I’d offer to cook,but I can hardly move.”
She laughed.“Candace is making eggs. I’ll bring some out. And ice?”
“Please.”
“I’ll be right back.”
Sidney left the living room and Kell sighed. He closed his good eye and wished he could fall into a deep dark hole.
The kitchen door slammed. He heard Betty’s voice. He heard Candace’s voice and Sidney’s intermingled here and there. He stayed put, waiting quietly for the ibuprofen to begin its numbing effect. Betty came out of the kitchen.“How’s my favorite doctor?” she asked.
“I’m on the mend.” He almost asked how Dan was, but he was too mad at him still.
“I’m so sorry about last night.” Betty sat down next to him on the couch.“You didn’t deserve to get hit. I don’t think Dan will ever do it again.”
“What’s that supposed to mean?”
“He got what was coming to him, is what I mean.”
“Elizabeth Holberg. What did you do?”
“Oh, I gave him what he needed. He thought all was going to be back to normal. He thought I was going to move back in and start cooking his oatmeal again every morning. No.” She held up her hand.“I mean no. I’ll never do that again. He won’t be confused about us and he won’t be beating anybody up ever again.”
“I thought you came to his rescue last night?”
“So did he. Instead, I gave him a taste of what he had coming to him.”
“What did you do?”
“Oh, nothing he didn’t deserve.”
“Did you tell Sidney?”
“Yes. She’s not so sure I did the right thing. I don’t care.”
Kell shook his head.“What’s going to happen now? Are you going to live at Sidney’s forever?”
Betty’s face pinched up into a tight ball, she clenched her fists and then stuck her pointer finger in Kell’s face.“Don’t you dare lecture me on sitting around, doing nothing with myself. You are the last one with anything to say on the subject of moving on. I don’t know what’s going
to happen, Kell. It’s only been a couple of months. But it’s been more than five years for you.”
Kell didn’t want to argue with Betty. He didn’t want to argue at all.“I don’t want to have this conversation with you. It’s different and we both know it.”
“It’s not different. We’re both hurt and we’re both trying to figure out how to go on with our lives. The only difference is I’ll move on sooner than you will.”
“That’s probably true, Betty. I have Jake to think about. It’s not as easy as you make it sound.”
“Kell, you can’t control death. But you can control how you’re going to live. And you’re not choosing to live. You’re like a walking corpse.”
“Jeez, that’s a terrible thing to say.”
“I only say it in love. You know I’m a woman who speaks her mind.”
“I know. I’ve been on the receiving end of your mind most of my life.”
Betty patted him on the arm.“Chelsea loved you, but she’s gone, Kell. I’m sorry about your heartbreak. What you went through is more than any man should have to live with. But part of living is loving and you’ve still got a lot of life.”
“I loved her.”
“I know. And you got a great kid out of it. It’s time to move on. Don’t let death have the last word.”
“What did you do to Dan?”
“Oh, I just tortured him with false pretenses is all. It’s not the first time a woman’s controlled a man with unfulfilled promises, and it won’t be the last.”
“Betty that’s not funny.”
“I know it. And it’s not funny that he cheated on me and thinks I’ll come back just because he needs me to. He needs to figure out what he really wants and when he does and can name it—then maybe we’ll have something to talk about.”
“What does he really want?”
“Don’t you know, Kell? It’s what we all want.” She sighed.“To love and be loved.”
“I thought Dan knew that?”
“Dan can’t see through his habit of needing me right now. He’s confusing need with love. And I’ll not be a part of it. That’s what got us into this mess in the first place.”
An Ordinary Love (A Christian Contemporary Romance) (Sidney's Sanctuary Book 1) Page 14