“I panicked when he showed up so unexpectedly, and made him believe I didn’t want anything more than friendship.” Sniffing, she slowly sat down on her bed. “Actually, at the time that is all I wanted.”
The mattress sunk down as her father took a seat across from her. “Did Cole want something more than friendship?”
Lucy nodded her head. “He did, but I don’t think he does now.”
“Honey, I saw the way he looks at you, and I think all he needs is a little bit of encouragement from you.”
“It’s too late, Dad. He knows I’m leaving in the morning, and he hasn’t messaged me or called.”
“He’s a man, Lucy, and you wounded his ego. He’s not going to call you unless he knows you want him to.”
“So what am I supposed to do? Call him and tell him I’m an idiot and I’m in love with him?”
One of her dad’s eyebrows rose up. “This is more serious than I thought. You’re in love with him?”
“I think so. He’s all I can think about, and I feel miserable without him. I don’t want to go back to California, and I don’t want to get the promotion and move to some place like China.”
“Then that’s exactly what you need to tell him.”
“What if he doesn’t want me anymore?”
“You’ll never know unless you say something. He seems like a pretty decent guy, and my guess is he’ll be over here minutes after you talk to him.”
The sick knot in her stomach began to unwind as hope filled every part of her. “Okay.” She smiled, and threw her arms around his neck. “Thanks, Daddy. I love you.”
He gave her a gentle squeeze. “I love you too, sweetie.” He pressed a kiss to her hair. “I’m not going to say a word to your mother. If she got wind of this, Dr. Taggart would never have any peace.”
Lucy laughed softly. “If Cole doesn’t talk to me I might need Mom’s help. She’s pretty relentless and eventually he’d call me just to get her to leave him alone.”
“Good luck.”
As soon as her dad left her room, she pulled her phone out of her pocket. There still weren’t any messages or missed calls. She opened Cole’s contact information, but still couldn’t bring herself to make the call.
Another knock sounded on the door. “Come in,” she said, expecting to see her dad.
Logan poked his head in and handed her a small rectangular box wrapped in shiny red paper. “I just found this by the couch when I was looking for my shoes. It has your name on it.”
“Thank you.”
She waited until she was alone again before looking at the tag. She recognized the all caps writing style Cole had used to write both of her prescriptions. When had he left this for her? She still had his gift wrapped up in her closet. It wasn’t much, just a copy of The Polar Express book and movie, along with a few other DVD’s of her favorite Christmas shows.
Hands shaking, she tore at the paper. The slender box underneath the paper had the name of Snow Valley’s only jewelry store imprinted on the lid. Lifting off the cover, she found a beautiful silver charm bracelet. Immediately, she recognized the meanings of the charms he’d picked out. Lifting the bracelet up, she jingled the bell and laughed when she heard the light, tinkling sound.
Feeling braver, she picked up her phone and called Cole’s cell. It rang several times before rolling over to voice mail.
Nervous, she plunged ahead. “Hi, Cole. This is Lucy. You probably already knew that.” She cringed and debated about hanging up to start over. “Anyway, I hope you had a good Christmas, and that work wasn’t too crazy. My brother just found the gift you left, and it’s beautiful. I have your gift here at the house, but you’ve never stopped by again. I’ve wanted to call you because I miss you, but then you didn’t call and I didn’t dare call because I basically told you I only want to be friends.” She took a quick breath. “Well, I’ve changed my mind. I don’t want to be friends. Wait, that’s not right. I want to be friends but I also want more.”
She closed her eyes, imagining the look on his face when he got this message. She hoped it wouldn’t scare him off. “I want more, Cole. And if the job offer to help update your office with the latest computers is still on the table then I accept.”
Now what? She struggled to think of an appropriate way to end the message when she heard a beep. It seemed like her time was up. Would he even get the message?
Her shoulders tensed as she paced around her room, waiting for him to return her call. After twenty minutes had passed by, she started to think the worst. Was he sitting there trying to figure out a way to let her down gently?
Another ten minutes went by. Maybe the message didn’t go through. Maybe something weird had happened with the connection and he didn’t know he’d missed her call. When forty-five minutes went by with no response, she sank down on her bed, and rolled her shoulders back. If by chance he didn’t get the voicemail, a text message would be better than not doing anything.
Since it was still awkward typing with her finger, she repeated basically the same thing using her voice to text option. The process was tedious because her phone autocorrected a lot of her words so the message didn’t make any sense. It took her a while but finally the message was ready to be sent. Holding her breath, she tapped on the button to send it. She followed the progress of the little blue line at the top of the screen until the swooping sound indicated the text had gone through.
At least now she knew she’d tried. If he didn’t make a reply then she’d know it was too late.
Chapter Seventeen
EARLY SATURDAY MORNING, Cole woke to pounding on his bedroom door. He was exhausted after staying up late searching the Internet for a reputable IT company to digitize his medical practice. He should’ve just broken down and called Lucy to ask for her professor’s name, but he couldn’t do it. The more time he spent away from her, the more he wanted her. He knew if he talked to her again he’d probably blurt out how much he loved her, and beg her to stay.
In a few hours she’d be leaving Montana, and maybe then he’d get his life back on track.
Climbing out of bed, he crossed the room and opened the door.
“Hey there,” Uncle Will said cheerfully. “I just listened to my answering machine and the hospital found your phone. They’ve got it waiting for you in the ER.”
“That’s great.” Cole ran his hand through his hair. “I thought I was going to have to buy a new one today.”
“Bev is coming over in a few minutes to make homemade crepes. You’re welcome to join us.”
Cole thanked his uncle for the invite, but wanted to go to the hospital first. After doing a double shift in the ER Christmas Day, Cole had come home and slept for ten hours straight. When he woke up, he couldn’t find his phone. After searching his car and his room, he remembered he could log into his account and locate his phone through an app he’d downloaded.
It indicated it was at the hospital, but it also showed it only had nine percent of battery power left. He’d immediately gone over to the hospital to look. Using a personal phone of one of the nurse’s, he’d logged onto his account to activate the audible sound. He’d only gotten a message that said the sound was pending until the phone was connected to the Internet.
Taking a quick shower, Cole skipped shaving and made his way to the hospital. He couldn’t volunteer to do doubles anymore. It was too exhausting. At least his turn to take call for the ER wouldn’t come around again for seven weeks.
The hospital parking lot was pretty empty. He entered the double doors and made his way to the emergency department. It wasn’t fair. They weren’t very busy and only had a couple of patients on the white board.
“Hey, Dr. Taggart,” a nurse said. “They found your phone in the laundry.”
He smiled. “I hope they found it before it went through the wash and not after.”
“You’re in luck. Housekeeping said she found it when she was sorting the laundry.” The nurse handed him his phone.
“
Thank you so much.” He glanced around. “I’m not gonna jinx you all, but next time I work here can it be a shift like this?”
They all laughed. It was taboo to mention how quiet the ER was. You were guaranteed to get slammed.
Returning to his Land Rover, Cole immediately plugged in his phone. He knew it would take a few minutes to get enough juice to power up. In the meantime, he drove past his house. Work wouldn’t resume until Monday. If he was lucky, the plumber would finish up before the New Year, and Cole could move in.
Tempted to drive by Lucy’s house, he turned around and headed back to his uncle’s. He didn’t know the exact time of her flight, but remembered her saying something about early afternoon. With the distance to the airport, and the time it took to get through security, she would be leaving soon.
Pulling into Will’s driveway, Cole powered up his phone. It showed he had a few missed calls, and one voicemail. There was also a text message from Lucy. He swiped his finger across the screen, and opened the text. The message was long, but not too far into it he realized what she was saying.
Letting out a loud whoop, he put the car in reverse and backed out. Lucy missed him, and wanted more. Even better, she wanted the job he’d offered her.
The drive there seemed to take forever, and he was careful not to speed. He’d already been pulled over once last week, and got off with a warning. He doubted his new doctor status would get him out of a second ticket. Besides that, it would take up too much time.
Finally, he pulled up in front of her house. Cutting the engine, he got out of the car and quickly made his way to her door. His adrenaline was ramped up so high his heart felt like it’d beat right out of his chest. He pushed the doorbell, and hoped just once Lucy would answer.
He was disappointed when her father pulled open the door. “Dr. Taggart, what are you doing here?” His voice had an edge to it that matched the hard look on his face.
“I’m sorry I stopped by so early, but I have to see Lucy.”
“It’s a little late for that,” Lamont said. “When you didn’t return her call or reply to her text, she cried herself to sleep.”
“But that’s why I’m here. I lost my phone at the hospital, and they just notified me they found it in Laundry. The second I read her text I came right over.”
Lamont blew out a big breath, shaking his head. “I tried telling her something like that might have happened, and she should just go by Doc Taggart’s, but she was too upset to listen.”
“I’m so sorry. Please let me talk to her.”
“She’s not here. Lila and I are taking the boys skiing so Lucy rented a car yesterday and left about an hour and a half ago.” He glanced at his watch. “Her plane leaves around noon. If you leave right now, you should be able to make it there in time.”
“All right.” He took a step backward and pulled out his phone. “I’ll try calling her, but if she happens to call you, please tell her not to get on the plane.”
“Lamont, who’s at the door,” Lila said, coming up to stand next to her husband.
“It’s Lucy’s doctor, and he’s going after her.”
“Oh thank heavens,” Lila said, putting a hand over her heart. “Now Lamont won’t have to go to prison for shooting you.”
Cole stumbled on one of the stairs, and glanced at Lucy’s father. Lamont grinned, and waved his hand. “I was kidding. Now hurry up.”
Turning around, Cole ran to his car and climbed inside. Lucy’s dad might be kidding, but he made a mental note to never get on his bad side.
All the way to Billings, Cole tried calling Lucy. Her phone immediately rolled over to voicemail, like it wasn’t even on. He left several messages, explaining why had hadn’t returned her call. He also begged her not to get on the plane.
About a mile before taking the airport exit, Cole saw the flashing blue lights come up behind him. Shoot. He looked down at the speedometer and groaned. He was going ninety miles an hour.
Slowing down, he pulled over into the emergency lane. When he came to a stop, he grabbed his wallet and pulled his license out. Leaning across the seat, he opened the glove box and found the registration.
Hoping his preparedness would buy him some points, he rolled his window down as the state trooper approached the driver’s side.
“I’m sorry, officer. I have a very good reason for going so fast.”
“License and registration, please,” he said, ignoring Cole’s confession.
Cole handed him his license and paperwork. “If you’re going to give me a ticket, can you make it fast? The woman I love is boarding a plane in thirty minutes.”
Once again, the trooper ignored Cole. “I’ll be back in just a minute.”
Fifteen minutes later, the trooper knocked on Cole’s window. “I clocked you going ninety-two in a sixty-five zone. The woman you love isn’t gonna be too happy if you get yourself killed, and take someone with you.” He handed Cole his license and registration. Then he gave Cole a handheld computer for him to sign.
“Slow down,” he said, once Cole was finished.
“I will,” Cole said.
He waited until the trooper was back inside his vehicle before he dared pull away. Going exactly the speed limit, Cole took the exit and groaned when he saw the posted speed limit had dropped to forty-five. Using his Bluetooth, he tried calling Lucy again, but still got no answer. By the time he finally made it to the airport parking garage, it was five minutes past noon.
Running inside, he found the monitor and located the right flight. The flashing words made his stomach sink. Departed. He couldn’t believe he had missed her. He stared at the monitor, wishing the status would change. He knew it wouldn’t, and needed to come up with another plan. He wasn’t going to let Lucy go that easily.
People congregated around the monitors, and encroached on his space so he couldn’t concentrate. Moving to a secluded alcove, Cole pulled out his phone. He swiped his finger over the screen to open his travel app, and typed in the information. Impatiently, he waited for the results to load.
A tap on his shoulder startled him and Cole turned around, half-expecting to see the state trooper. A smile spread across his face as Lucy stepped near enough for him to catch the scent of her perfume.
“Um, hi,” she said, sliding her arms around his neck. “I’m Lucy, and I need you to kiss me. Right now.”
Bringing his hands to rest on her lower back, he pulled her to him, and lowered his head until their mouths were so close their breath mingled. “I’d be crazy not to,” he murmured before covering her lips with his. Unlike his mad-dash to the airport, Cole was in no hurry, and savored the slow caress of her soft lips.
Gradually, the need for more of her increased, and he deepened the kiss. Lucy rose up on her toes and, returned his kiss with an urgency that ignited all the feelings he’d kept bottled-up. Indescribable happiness filled him, making him complete.
After a while, the kisses softened and Cole reluctantly drew back. “I love you, Lucy.”
Her kissable mouth curved up. “I love you too.”
“I was so miserable without you.” Cole gently pressed his forehead against hers. “I know I have a heart, Lucy, because it broke when I thought I’d lost you.”
“Mine too.”
“I wish we could have a do-over for Christmas. I wouldn’t work, but spend every second with you.”
She tipped her face up so their eyes met. An adorable smile appeared on her lips. “Did you know I sent Santa a letter and asked if I could be on his naughty list?”
Cole smiled. “And why is that?”
“Because…” She nestled close. “All I want for Christmas is Cole.”
Laughing, Cole kissed her again. And just like the Grinch, he felt his heart grow three sizes that day.
Other Books
By
Cindy Roland Anderson
Fair Catch
Discovering Sophie
Under a Georgia Moon
About the Author
To contact Cindy or to see other projects she is working on go to www.cindyrolandanderson.com or check out her author Facebook page at https://www.facebook.com/cindyrolandandersonauthor
Feels Like Love
Jeanette Lewis
For my family.
Loves, always!
Chapter One
“HOW MANY WEDDINGS ARE WE planning to have?” April’s fiancé Scott cast a horrified look at the stack of bridal magazines in her arms.
“Shush,” April said, giving him her best withering stare. “I like to be prepared.” She fumbled for the handle of the car door and lost her grip on the slippery pile. Two dozen magazines hit the ground with a splat.
Scott sighed and began gathering them up. “You know, there’s this wonderful thing called the Internet. I’ve heard there are all sorts of pictures and articles and information. You can find anything you want and save a few trees in the process.”
“I won’t have internet during the whole drive,” April pointed out, “and this is the perfect chance to get something done.” She opened the door of the red BMW and slid into the passenger seat.
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