Natalie and Hannah left, but a big question stayed with Amy. Hannah would get over her obsession with Dan Prince, but would she?
Now she knew Dan was still homebound. The least she could do was check to make sure he had something for dinner. His fridge had been nearly empty yesterday.
After she’d closed the store, her nerve almost failed her. Would she be sending the wrong message if she showed up on Dan’s doorstep? What did she hope to accomplish? She couldn’t quite convince herself she was on an errand of mercy, so what would Dan think?
It was much too hot to sit in the car debating with herself. The best plan she came up with was to check in and see if he wanted her to go to the market for him. She’d do the same thing for a neighbor or friend who was laid up. If the California doctor read more into her offer, that was his problem.
Everything was quiet around the big Victorian house where he lived in his little apartment, but he was definitely home. His van was parked in plain sight.
“Hello.” She knocked softly, part of her hoping he was asleep so she could sneak away. This wasn’t the best idea she’d ever had.
Surprisingly, he came to the door, looking dumbfounded when he saw her standing there.
“You didn’t bring me any food, did you?” He hobbled aside so she could enter.
“No, but I’ll go to market if you want me to.”
“Look at this.” He stepped aside and pointed at his kitchen table.
Amy’s jaw actually dropped when she saw the assortment of platters, bowls, crockpots, and assorted serving pieces crowded onto the small surface.
“The fridge is practically full too,” he said, sounding as overwhelmed as she felt.
“It looks like a funeral buffet,” she said without thinking.
“Is this what people do in Iowa when someone dies?” he asked.
“Pretty much. The state motto could be: Let no event pass without food. That includes graduations, anniversaries, whatever. But I’ve never seen anything like this for a sprained ankle.”
“What am I going to do with all of it?”
“Well,” she said, trying to think. “You can’t give it to anyone in town without hurting feelings. Also, you’ll have to return the dishes. Maybe some will fit in your freezer. I suppose you could actually eat some.”
“Yeah, for the next six months. Why did people do this?” he asked.
“Because you’re nice and they like you? No, I must have someone else in mind.”
“Thanks a lot,” he grumbled.
“There should be names on the dishes. Let me see what you have here.” She walked over to the table and stared down at a collection of casseroles, a crockpot of pulled pork, enough salad for a convention of rabbits, and Mrs. O’Brien’s famous carrot cake with cream cheese frosting.
“It’s only a sprained ankle. I’ll be back at work tomorrow,” he said.
He scratched his chest, calling attention to his state of undress. Apparently he was trying to beat the heat by stripping down to a pair of red-and-white-striped bathing trunks and nothing else. She could hear the window air conditioner laboring away, but it wasn’t up to the ninety-five degree heat outside.
“Well, there’s no surprise here,” she said, focusing on the table so she wouldn’t have to look at his silky-haired chest. “Dorothy Gallagher makes a tuna casserole every time someone sneezes. But she’s over sixty and not predatory. Here’s the one you need to worry about.” She pointed at a cut glass bowl filled to the brim with shrimp salad. “Sara Perkins Hayworth Francollo Jones just divorced her third husband. I think this was intended to introduce you to her dubious charms.”
Dan groaned and hobbled over beside her. “Are you saying all this food comes with ulterior motives?”
“No, of course not. People here are kind. I bet Mrs. O’Brien gives away a hundred of her cakes every year. The word got around you’d been injured, so people responded in the way they can. It shows how much they welcome you.”
“Then why are you here? I didn’t feel very welcome after you left yesterday.” He stared down at her with dark penetrating eyes, forcing her to look away.
“I’m very happy to have a doctor in town,” she said stiffly, not adding she wished he were a short, tubby man with adolescent skin problems, someone who wouldn’t be keeping her awake at night.
“Look at me.” It was a command. He reached out and ran his fingers over the side of her throat sending shivers down her spine.
She met his eyes and saw something new and exciting in his gaze.
“Do you have any idea how much I think about you?” he asked.
“I guess not.” What else could she say?
“We’ve gotten off to a bad start.” He ran his fingers over the back of her neck while she tried not to squirm.
“Is that what you call it?”
“Are you afraid of me?”
He hobbled closer until her vision locked on the strong column of his neck. She wondered how it would feel if she ran her tongue over his throat, up the jut of his jaw to his waiting lips.
“No!” She certainly wasn’t afraid of the man, but she was terrified of what might happen if she let herself fall in love with him. Some women weren’t born for romance. She’d given up on having a great passion in her life before he came to town.
“I don’t know what the future holds for us,” he said in an earnest voice she scarcely recognized, “but I do think we’ll both regret it for a long time if we don’t give ourselves a chance.”
“A chance to what?”
“Get better acquainted as friends.” He smiled wistfully.
“As friends.” She took a deep breath and moved back a step. Was it possible to be friends with a man who made her heart race and her whole body tingle?
“Good friends,” he said.
“We can try.” Her voice was a hoarse whisper.
“That’s all I ask — for now.” He reached out and took her hand, gently kissing the tops of her fingers. It was such a sweet gesture. She had to fight back tears.
“Don’t you need to elevate your ankle?” It was a lame reaction to his tenderness, but she felt too emotional to give sway to her feelings at that moment.
“Great idea. I’ve had enough of balancing on one foot.” He moaned as he made his way to the couch.
“Do you want dinner now? I could fix a plate for you.” She needed to do something concrete until her heart rate slowed.
“Only if you’ll join me. I never did like eating alone. It reminds me of summers when Mom was at work and I was on my own. I can make peanut butter sandwiches thirty-two different ways.”
“You’re kidding!”
“Not entirely, but I have a secret. I like tuna noodle casserole. I’m the only person I know who does.”
“I like it too,” Amy said, glad the conversation had turned to something as simple as food preferences. She needed time to take in what had just happened. This was a side of Dan she hadn’t seen, and she very much liked it.
After warming two of the casseroles, she filled plates for both of them and brought them to the coffee table beside the couch, pulling up a chair for herself.
“The good ladies of Heart City know the way to a man’s heart,” Dan said as he tasted his way through a plate with a variety of dishes. “How should I thank them?”
“Phone calls, emails, letters — it’s up to you. Maybe you could put thank-you notes in the dishes when you return them.”
“I didn’t think about how I’d get rid of all those bowls and pans. Is there any chance … ”
“I’ll help, but the notes will have to be in your handwriting.”
“Doctors have notoriously bad writing,” he said.
“It’s the thought that counts.” She didn’t really believe that. As gen
erous as the donors had been, they undoubtedly wanted to know more about the new doctor.
“I can’t thank you enough for coming over,” he said when they finished eating. “It was a long, boring day until you got here.”
Amy had an instant thought about Mrs. Greenwich, alone in her little house day after day. She had to do something nice for her very soon.
“I have an idea,” she said, still thinking about the details. “I made a delivery to a very elderly lady who lives alone in the country. You’ll never eat all this food. Maybe I can repackage some in disposable containers and take it out to her. It must be dreary to fix meals for one.”
“You’re a thoughtful person,” Dan said. “Come here.”
Without hesitation she went to him and let him pull her onto his lap. His kiss was gentle, sweet, and wonderful. He kissed her eyelids and murmured in her ear, exploring her face with his lips.
“Now you should put the food in the fridge,” he said unexpectedly.
Amy knew it wasn’t food that concerned him. He’d given her an unspoken promise to go slow, to know each other as friends before they reached a point of no return. Reluctantly she wiggled off his lap, leaning down to kiss him hard on his lips before she walked away.
He seemed about to speak, but she hurried to the kitchen and spoke of practical matters before he could say something he might later regret. Her whole being was filled with feelings for him, but she had to hold back a tidal wave of love. Dan was injured, lonely, and unhappy in his temporary job. If he ever told her he loved her, she didn’t want it to be for any of those reasons.
CHAPTER 15
According to Dan’s patients, the biggest event of the summer was the county fair. It was late August, and it opened this weekend at the fairgrounds outside of town. Surprisingly, he was looking forward to seeing livestock exhibitions and the grandstand show. It might even be fun to try the rides and the rigged games on the midway. No doubt it was because he’d be there with Amy.
Driving back from a routine hospital visit, he thought about spending Saturday at the fair with her. In the weeks since he’d sprained his ankle, he’d seen her whenever possible, which wasn’t often enough. His practice had mushroomed, keeping him busier than he could possibly have predicted. Now that people knew him, they were spreading his reputation throughout the county. He’d even had to hire a part-time receptionist to help his nurse Georgia.
He was late for their dinner date, or maybe date wasn’t the right word. They hung out, took long walks, experimented with cooking dinner, and avoided the subject on both their minds: Where did they go from here? Dan wanted to be with her from the time he woke up in the morning until he fell asleep at night, but they both felt constrained from becoming lovers.
“We have to talk, Amy,” he said as he drove, practicing the speech he probably wouldn’t give.
The future loomed ahead like a big black hole. He was growing fond of his patients and the people of Heart City in general, but mostly everything he did was colored by his feelings for Amy. She loved the town and the people there. Could she be happy anywhere else?
As soon as he got to his apartment, he called her to say he’d be late. The weather had cooled down, and they were having a picnic at the city park with her niece. He adored Hannah and her fairy-tale imagination, and sometimes he even bought into it.
Amy checked her picnic supplies while she and Hannah waited for Dan. It had been his idea to take her with them, and she loved the way he included her family in their plans. Last week they’d driven to Des Moines with her mother for a concert, and he seemed to like her sister and brother-in-law too.
People saw them as a couple now, but were they really? There was something temporary and unsettling about their relationship, but she didn’t want to talk about it with him. She was happier than she’d ever been in spite of the uncertainty, but she didn’t know how they’d ever resolve their differences. Someday she’d take over the store. If she didn’t, it might close forever and Heart City would be without one. She couldn’t let that happen. What would people like Mrs. Greenwich do without the services Warner’s Drug Store provided?
Anyway, she couldn’t see herself working in a big chain store in California with customers she didn’t know and corporate policy ruling her life.
“Aunt Amy, when will he get here?” Hannah was nibbling on carrot sticks, but she really did need her dinner soon.
“Dr. Dan has to take care of his patients. He’ll get here as soon as he can,” Amy said. “Why don’t you tear this stale bread into little pieces to feed the ducks?”
“I don’t like the big ones with green heads,” she complained.
“You loved the babies when they were little. They’re just the boy babies grown up. Anyway, we’ll eat first, and then play on the slide and swing. Now remember what you promised. You’re not going to say a word to Dr. Dan about having a wedding or being a flower girl.”
“Okay,” Hannah said half-heartedly.
Suddenly animated, Hannah was the first to rush to the door when Dan knocked. Amy was just as excited as her niece to see him, but she stood back and let the little girl be the greeter.
“Sorry I’m late,” he said, handing a small bouquet of flowers to Hannah. “I didn’t swipe them. My landlady said I could pick them any time for my two best girls.”
Hannah had her mother’s love for flowers and made a big production of putting them into a water glass. While she was distracted, Dan put his arms around Amy and gave her a long, slow kiss.
“I thought about that all the way back from the hospital,” he said, his eyes saying even more than his lips.
“It’s nice of you to invite Hannah to go with us,” she said as the little girl carefully placed the flowers on her kitchen table.
“I get a big kick out of her,” he said. “She gives me an excuse to act like a kid myself.”
“You don’t miss surfing in the ocean?” She regretted asking as soon as the words were out.
“Sure, like I miss volleyball on the beach, hot babes in bikinis, and skate boarding. But those are things I did when I was younger. Sometimes it seems a long time ago.”
Amy didn’t know whether that was bad or good, so she didn’t say anything.
“What’s for dinner?” Dan asked as Hannah raced for the door.
“Surprises,” Amy said, hardly remembering all the things she’d thrown into the basket she’d borrowed from her mother. If it caught her eye as she went down the market aisles, she’d tossed it in the cart. She and Dan were learning to cook together, although she had to admit he had more flair for it.
“The peanut butter sandwiches are for me,” Hannah told him.
“You mean you won’t share with your favorite doctor?”
“You’re the only doctor I know,” Hannah told him seriously.
Dan put the basket in his van while Amy buckled Hannah into the booster seat she’d borrowed from Natalie. Her sister liked to give lots of instructions whenever she allowed her daughter out of her sight. It was a measure of how much she liked Dan that she’d only told them to have fun.
At the park, Dan helped her spread a plastic table covering on one of the rustic log tables in the park, weighing down the corners with things from the basket so they wouldn’t have it flapping in the wind while they ate.
“Let’s see what we have here,” he said, peeking at the contents of a sandwich. “It looks like cheese and mustard.”
“No, it’s peanut butter,” Hannah said giggling.
Everything tasted wonderful, even though it came straight from the deli section of the market. Dan convinced Hannah to try the potato salad even though she thought anything with mayonnaise was “yucky.” Amy knew sharing a meal with him made everything taste better.
After they’d cleaned up and carried the basket to his van, Hannah could hardly
wait to play on the equipment. Dan followed her up a ladder to the top of a slide that angled down through a big plastic tube. They both came down laughing.
“Give it a try,” he called over to Amy.
“I’m not much on confined spaces,” she said, but Dan wasn’t taking any excuses.
All three of them climbed to the top, and Hannah went down first, giggling with pleasure.
“Our turn,” Dan said.
“I really don’t want to do this.”
“Sit between my legs. I’ll be with you all the way.” He maneuvered her into position and let out a whoop as they slid down. Hannah was so amused she had to scamper to get out of the way.
All three of them were having so much fun, Amy forgot Hannah’s bedtime. Most people had left the park as dusk approached, and Amy hurriedly called Natalie on her cell phone to say they were on their way.
“No problem,” her sister said, surprising Amy. Apparently rules weren’t important when Dr. Dan was involved.
After they dropped Hannah off along with her car seat and a partial bag of cookies, Dan drove to her apartment and stopped in a far corner of the parking area.
“I could make coffee,” she suggested. Were they going to sit in the van and neck like a high school couple? That wasn’t Dan’s style.
“No thanks. I have a long day tomorrow. I have enough on my mind to keep me awake without caffeine.” He reached over and caressed her cheek.
“Tonight was fun,” Amy said. “Hannah adores you.”
“She’s a special kid.”
He leaned toward her and moved his lips over hers, parting them with his tongue. His kiss was brief and left her wanting to be held in his arms. Instead, he backed away and looked at her with an expression she couldn’t read.
“We’ve got to stop doing this,” he said.
“Kissing?” She didn’t want to understand what he meant.
“Denying how we feel about each other.”
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