Safe in the Surgeon's Arms

by Molly Evans

  “Exactly. I do love to support my community when I can.”

  The driver negotiated his way around the stadium traffic and delivered them to the front doors of the Williamsburg Governor’s Mansion, the fantastically elegant historic structure very close to the historic section of town that had been built over two hundred years ago. The evening had begun to chill, but with the fizz of the champagne and her dashing companion she really didn’t notice it.

  “Allow me.” He held out an arm to escort her formally into the ballroom, where he handed over their tickets to the person at the front. She was a woman, mid-sixties, with sparkling blue eyes and a winning smile.

  “Welcome! Have a wonderful evening, and thank you so much for supporting our event.”

  “What a nice woman.”

  “Her daughter was raped and murdered.”

  Chase did a double-take. “Are you sure? She looks so happy.”

  “Oh, she is, because of the assistance of the center. She’s one of the board members and is a driving force to keep the place going.”

  “Looks can sure be deceiving.”

  “You aren’t kidding. She put her anger to good use.”

  “Maybe we should send her to congress. She’d get some things accomplished.”

  She stopped, her face serious. “Chase, stop a minute.”

  “What?” Puzzled, he raised his brows at her. Nothing had changed, but she was dead serious.

  “I just wanted to thank you for coming. You didn’t have to, but it means a lot to me that you’re here.”

  Touched at her words, he cupped his hand against her cheek, allowing himself the softest touch. “There’s no place I’d rather be.”

  Before Emily could respond to the kink in her stomach they were overcome by a group of attendees in high spirits. Mostly ladies, but a few men rounded out the group, who were laughing and hugging and carrying on with each other as if they were old friends. Soon they were swept away by the tide of people and conversation became impossible as the volume in the ballroom grew to disturbing proportions.

  Chase disappeared for a few moments but returned with two glasses of champagne and handed her one. “Trying to get me intoxicated, are you, Dr. Montgomery?” For some reason the vision of him handing her a fluted glass evoked the playful side of her that had been buried for some time.

  “Just wanting you to relax and enjoy the night.”

  “Indeed.”

  “Are you?”

  “I am.” She accepted the glass from him and a thrill of sexual energy shot through her as his fingers lingered on hers. It was just a touch, just a whisper of his skin against hers, but it was enough to make her take a step closer to him. The energy humming off him came in waves of heat that literally made her want to be closer to him, to reach out and trace the lines on his face that hadn’t been there three years ago, to push away the fatigue etched in his brow and trace her thumb over those lips of his.

  Swallowing took great difficulty as Chase held her gaze. He didn’t move, he didn’t speak, nothing in him changed, yet everything in her did in that moment.

  “Isn’t the champagne to your liking?” With one finger he reached out and touched the bottom of the glass, raised it toward her lips. She parted them and let him tip the champagne into her mouth. She swallowed without taking her gaze from him. “It’s perfect. Everything is just perfect.”

  Intense, Chase held her gaze and the energy between them nearly crackled. He leaned forward, but didn’t touch her. His cologne swirled in her mind, evoking feelings from the past she’d thought had been cremated and set free in the wind.

  “So are you.”

  Unable to think of anything clever to say, she guzzled the rest of the champagne and then took a few breaths. “Wow.” The buzz in her head was nothing compared to the buzz in her groin.

  “Hey, here they are!”

  She turned at the sound of her brother’s voice. Astonished, she suddenly wished for more champagne and clutched Chase’s arm as he drew near. She waggled her glass at him. “I think I’m going to need more of this.”

  Approaching them were her brother in a tux, a sight she’d never seen before, his girlfriend, looking stunning in a red sheath, and, gulp, her parents. The hostility between her parents and Chase had been overpowering in the early days of her recovery. They had held him responsible for the attack, and she’d been caught in the middle of it.

  Now, who knew what was going to happen? They’d realized it hadn’t been his fault, but by then she and Chase had split up. She stiffened as they approached. Danny grabbed her into a big brotherly hug.

  “What’s going on?” She hugged him, then pulled away and slugged him in the shoulder the same way she had when they had been kids. “I thought you had to work, big fat liar.”

  “I was, but there were too many guys covering shifts, so I volunteered to take off.” He held his arm out to his girlfriend. “You remember Amber. Let me introduce you to Emily’s date, Dr. Chase Montgomery.” Danny introduced them, and Chase shook her hand, said a few polite words, but remained in close proximity to Emily.

  Then Chase did something that surprised her and made her very proud of him. He strode toward Emily’s mother and father, held his head high and his shoulders firm. “Mr. and Mrs. Hoover, it’s nice to see you again.”

  “Why, Chase! I didn’t expect to see you here tonight.” Her mother gave the exclamation, her eyes soft and her smile pleasant. Then she did something that shocked Emily. She hugged Chase and patted his back. An act of forgiveness and acceptance. The work of the center was clear in that gesture.

  A waiter going by with a tray of champagne slowed down long enough for Emily to grab two more glasses of it. She was going to need them.

  And then her father, the tough nut that he was, reached out to shake hands with Chase. Two of the men she’d loved most in this world faced each other as true gentlemen. Tears clouded her eyes, and her heart pounded mercilessly in her chest. If she hadn’t had two hands full of champagne, she’d do something, at least wipe away the dribbles of tears running down her face and ruining her makeup.

  Forced to abandon one of the glasses, she set it down on the table closest to her and dabbed at her eyes with one of the linen napkins. She swallowed and took a few deep breaths. She had to control herself, control her emotions, control all those feelings bubbling to the surface that she totally hadn’t expected and totally wasn’t prepared for.

  “Hey, you okay?” Amber asked, and patted her shoulder.

  “Yes, yes, thank you.” She pulled away from Amber and blew her nose on the napkin. “I don’t know what happened.”

  “Chase happened. That’s what,” Danny said, and took the second glass of champagne and gave it to Amber. “Caught you off guard, didn’t it?”

  “You could say that.” She controlled herself and watched as Chase approached. “You could definitely say that.”

  CHAPTER THIRTEEN

  CHASE WORE AN enigmatic expression as he left her parents. She opened her mouth to say something. She didn’t know what it was going to be, but she was interrupted by someone speaking from the front of the room. “Attention, everyone, please take your seats. We’ve a lovely dinner for you, so please enjoy.”

  The usual mayhem ensued where people found seats and conversations changed topics while the servers set plates in front of everyone. The clatter of utensils on plates was a low undertone as people ate more and talked less.

  “It’s so nice to see our young folks together and dressed so nicely, isn’t it, Bob?” her mother Lois observed. Though her mother had been a homemaker and had never experienced trauma the way Emily had, she had stood firm with her daughter through the entire court process and had been more of a rock than Emily had ever known her to be.

  “It is. And looking pretty snazzy, too, I mi
ght add,” her father said. “Haven’t seen either of you dress up like this since your proms.”

  “Don’t remind me,” Danny said. “That tux was horrible.”

  “Have any pictures?” Amber asked, and waggled her eyebrows at Danny. “I’d love to see them some time.”

  “I kept some, just in case I needed to blackmail him later in life,” Emily said. “I can email them to you, Amber.” She winked.

  “You. Did. Not.” Danny stared at her, mouth open and eyes wide in shocked horror.

  “What are big sisters for, anyway?” She laughed and it felt good to share this night with this company in this way.

  After dinner the speakers began by thanking the patrons and attendees, as well as the volunteers and the other people who made the whole place run efficiently. While the band got organized, people shuffled together and broke into small groups.

  “Anyone else need more champagne?” Chase made the offer and only Emily nodded. “I’ll be right back.”

  Chase stood in line at the bar, listening to the conversations near him. He had to take a deep breath as he overheard a woman talking about the reason she was there.

  “Yeah, I thought he was a good guy. Seemed nice enough, but when I said no, he went off on me.”

  “I’m just so glad you were able to find help at the center.”

  “I would have killed myself if I hadn’t found them. I was on the verge of it when I had my first meeting.” She gave a caustic laugh. “Going to the center was actually a last-ditch effort before doing something terrible to myself.”

  “I’m so glad.” The women hugged.

  “So am I. My life is different now for sure, but so much better than I could have ever imagined. I’m even going to take a self-defense class too. Can’t wait.”

  Chase closed his eyes, not wanting to hear the pain of the women expressed so openly, but it was unavoidable as he stood in line right beside them. And it was more humbling than he could ever have imagined. He’d been such an ass back then. Such a complete and utter ass. No wonder Emily had left him in the dust. He’d deserved it.

  “What can I get for you?” the bartender asked. “More champagne?”

  “Yes. Two, please,” Chase said absently, as conversations around him buzzed in his ears.

  “Excuse me,” a man said. He was tall, carried himself well and looked vaguely familiar. “Aren’t you Dr. Montgomery?”

  “Yes,” Chase said, nodding, wondering if he’d taken care of the man as a patient in the ER at some point.

  “I’m Mark Hampton, Detective Mark Hampton. I worked your girlfriend’s case. Emily Hoover, right?”

  “Yes. That’s her.” Words had difficulty forming in his throat as Chase was instantly transported back to that time and the guilt that washed over him. Guilt that had never resolved.

  “She’s one remarkably lucky woman.”

  “Really?” Chase couldn’t fathom that.

  “Really.” Mark moved closer and the two men stepped aside where they could talk without being overheard. “She was the first victim. As bad as her injuries were, she survived by her wits and her personal strength. The longer he went without getting caught, the more violent he became. You may or may not know, but he killed the last two.” Mark’s face was stern, his eyes cold as he talked of the man who had nearly ruined Emily’s life.

  “I didn’t... I didn’t know.” That took a minute to sink in. Oh, God. If it hadn’t been for his one careless mistake that day, things would have been completely different.

  Mark huffed out a long sigh. “Take good care of that woman. She’s a fighter. That’s what got her through the whole thing.” He shook hands with Chase and walked away.

  All of the people in this room had in some way been affected by a sexual assault and the traumatic aftermath. It was staggering, looking around at the number of people who were here, who were victims, friends or family of victims and had come in support of something that needed to be brought from the shadows into the light.

  “Here you go.”

  Chase paid the man and took the drinks back to Emily. She simply shone like a light tonight. Though dressed all in black, it suited her and was a striking contrast to the vibrant color of her hair, her eyes, the ruby lips. The strength of heart and soul shone in her tonight. He was dumbstruck by her.

  She was anything but a victim, and he was so proud of the accomplishments she’d made it nearly staggered him. As he approached, she looked up. The expression on her face froze, then molded into something else, something he hadn’t seen on her face in some time.

  Female. Gloriously female. Confident in her body, her mind and her heart, she stood there, silently declaring she was whole once again.

  “Thank you,” she said, and accepted the glass, just as the music started.

  Danny grabbed the glass from her hand and set it down before she could take a sip. “Come on, big sister. This one is mine.” He dragged her out onto the dance floor before anyone else got there and spun her around several times.

  Chase watched as she grinned and the two of them fell into a routine they’d obviously done many times in the past to a song about shaking it up. Chase shook his head. Things were definitely shaking up in his life since Emily had returned and he didn’t think he ever wanted to go back to the way it had been before.

  Three songs into it, Chase had had enough and cut in on Danny. “You have your own girl to dance with. She’s looking awfully lonely over there by herself.”

  “Oh, good point. Better go take care of my lady and you can take care of yours.” With a gallant bow, Danny placed Emily’s hand in Chase’s. “Now, get to it.”

  Gladly, Chase eased into position with his right arm around Emily’s waist and her right hand cupped in his left.

  “You’re gorgeous, and I’ve been a complete idiot.”

  “I like the first part, but not the second.” She placed her left arm on his right shoulder and moved with him to the music. There was a light sheen of perspiration on her brow and the lighting picked up some sort of sparkle at the corners of her eyes. The pixie was emerging.

  “It’s true.” They moved on the dance floor together, remembering how to move as one, and in seconds their bodies melded together in time with the music as if they’d never been apart. “I have to admit it, admit my part in our breakup.”

  “It’s blaming, Chase. In the therapy I’ve taken, blaming doesn’t work for healing. Forgiveness does.”

  “Don’t tell me you’ve forgiven that bastard.” Righteous indignation burned white hot in him.

  “No. I will never forgive him for what he did to me...to us, and my family. Never. I’m still working on letting it go.” She took a deep breath and pressed her right temple to his right cheek. “But I’ve forgiven us back then. The people we were couldn’t cope with what happened, and I’ve let it go.” She cupped his cheek. “I want you to let it go, too. For you and for me. It wasn’t your fault, ever.”

  He pulled back slightly to look at her face. Nothing except serenity showed, and he returned to his position with her cheek against his, her arm around his shoulders and his hand splayed on the small of her back.

  “Let go, Chase.”

  “I don’t want to let you go.” Not yet. Not when he had her in his arms. He couldn’t.

  “I mean the pain. It’s the only way you’ll heal. The memories will always be there, but will fade away if you lay down new memories on top of them. Kind of like paving a new road in your mind.”

  “I... I haven’t done that.” Thoughts of other women in his life the past few years were meager at best. Memories had power and emotion associated with them, and he hadn’t built any new ones. Hadn’t wanted to, had simply roiled in his pain.

  “You need to.”

  “I will. Starting now.” He closed his eyes, savor
ing the sensations of her in his arms, the way her body felt and moved in time with his. Right now. This was a memory he wanted to keep in his brain forever.

  The night progressed, and they danced, drank champagne and danced some more. Tonight Emily felt freer than she had in the past three years. She laughed, her spirit was light, and she needed nothing else, aside from being in Chase’s arms on the dance floor.

  Her parents said their goodbyes after a few dances, but Danny and Amber still hung in there on the dance floor. As the night wore on, the tempo of each song seemed to get slower and more intimate. More attendees left, dwindling down to just a few couples hardy enough to stick it out until the very end.

  Reluctant to leave just yet, Emily wanted to have just a little longer in Chase’s arms. She didn’t know where things were heading with him, if anywhere, but right now, living in the moment, in this moment, it was pure bliss.

  “Hey, I think they’re gonna kick us out now.” Danny approached them with Amber clinging to his side, looking lush and in love. “We’re gonna head out.”

  “Okay. Good night.” Emily extracted herself from Chase’s embrace to hug each of them. “Be safe.”

  She turned back to face Chase and had to catch her breath. The way he looked at her right then she almost felt like she was being devoured. “Guess we should call it a night, too.”

  “I’ll call the limo and have it meet us out front.” He led her to their table and collected her wrap, placed it around her shoulders, then frowned. “Hmm. That’s too bad.”

  “What?” She looked down at the black velveteen shawl. “Did something get spilled on it?” She couldn’t see anything.

  “No.” He gave a wistful sigh and brought his gaze to hers. “It just covers up too much of your skin.”