“Doctor Harris.” Ryan sat up and had to adjust his nasal oxygen. He was small for his age. His labored breathing and his alabaster skin made his chronic condition evident. Ryan had never played in a ball game or raced down the street on a bike. However, there were toys he could enjoy, and Brett had made a special stop at a toy store earlier in the day.
“I know it isn’t Christmas yet, but it is never too early for a present.” Brett handed Ryan the gift bag.
“For me?” Ryan’s smile broadened, and his father reminded him to say thank you. The boy dug into the bag. Green tissue paper fell on the white bed sheets as he pulled the box out of the bag.
“Bumblebee!” he exclaimed as he looked at the box that contained the black-and-yellow toy Camaro, which could be transformed into an Autobot. “He’s my favorite Transformer!”
Brett helped Ryan open the box and remove the bright yellow Camaro. Ryan immediately started making an Autobot out of it. “It’s the best gift ever.”
Brett glanced at the cardiopulmonary monitor. Ryan’s abnormal heart arrhythmia worried Brett. Sudden cardiac death was one of the outcomes of cardiomyopathy. He had already been on the phone with Ryan’s pediatric cardiologist at Le Bonheur Children’s Hospital in Memphis, arranging for an immediate transfer.
“Guess what,” Brett said. “You’re gonna get to fly in a helicopter in a few minutes.”
Instead of being excited, Ryan gave Brett a wary glance. “I’m going to Le Bonheur again.” He had made the trip several times.
“Yeah. You need to see your doctors over there.”
Ryan turned Bumblebee back into a car. Then he looked up at Brett. “They can’t make me well.”
At that moment, Brett hated his job. “They will do all they can to make you feel better.”
Brett stepped out in the hallway with Kevin, who had aged prematurely, and Brett could understand why. “How are you doing?” Brett asked his friend, who had once been a good football player.
“Doing the best I can. For him and Lisa,” he said, referring to his wife. “Ryan’s a lot worse.” He looked to Brett for confirmation.
“Yes, he is.” Brett exhaled. “His pacemaker and the defibrillator are helping keep him alive, but the disease is progressing. Doctor McLendon wants to evaluate him and get him listed for a transplant.”
Kevin stared at the floor. “They told us a heart transplant is the last resort.”
“It is,” Brett said. “It’s the only chance he has.”
A moment of silence passed between the two men. Finally, Kevin spoke, “Thanks for everything, Brett. Remember us.”
The medivac team rounded the corner with a stretcher, and within minutes, they had Ryan loaded onto the stretcher and ready for transport. Ryan, who had Bumblebee clutched in his hands, smiled at Brett as he was wheeled into the hallway. “Bye, Doctor Harris. Thank you.”
Brett waved. Then he headed to the nurses’ station, where a small room was designated as a work area for physicians. He dictated a discharge summary on Ryan. “Prognosis poor,” he said in conclusion, and he took a moment to let his emotions settle.
Then he sent Natalie, who had been out with Amber Christmas shopping, a text message.
Hey. Are you home? He needed to be with her.
I’m at your house. When will you be home?
He smiled. Soon.
I have a surprise for you!
Are you gonna answer the door naked?
Sorry. It’s not that kind of surprise. But I will meet you at the door. If you barge in, you’ll ruin the moment of surprise.
Okay. How’s Anna today?
She is almost too perky now, but she isn’t doing anything she shouldn’t. I think she has her post-op list memorized.
Brett smiled. He didn’t doubt that.
After he left the hospital, he took a detour to the strip mall where he had bought the toy for Ryan. Next to the toy store was Lafayette Jewelers. He had glanced in the windows, looking at the jewelry. Especially the rings.
He wasn’t returning to buy a ring. Not yet. But he had seen a necklace he liked. It was a sparkling, white-gold heart pendant, trimmed with a row of small diamonds and a heart-shaped ruby in the center. The necklace would be a nice surprise. Not overkill.
Then he went to the toy store again and picked up another gift. A little something fun for Natalie.
At his house, he waited at the garage door until she opened it. She was not naked. She had on a red-and-white-striped dress over red leggings. Her blond hair was pulled back in a ponytail at the nape of her neck and held in place by a large red bow with a twig of holly.
“Don’t you look like Christmas?” He bent and gave her a quick kiss.
“I’m sorta in the Christmas mood today.” She pulled him inside. “Close your eyes.”
She led him down the hallway. “I smell something like an apple,” he said.
“That’s an apple candle.”
“You’re not taking me to the bedroom.” He knew they had not gone in that direction.
“The world doesn’t revolve around the bedroom, Brett.”
“Really?”
“Silly.” She squeezed his hand. “Turn left.”
He knew they had to be in the main part of the house, where the great room and the kitchen were located. She maneuvered him past the furniture. “Stop here,” she said.
He stood still, his eyes still closed. “All right.”
She positioned herself in front of him. “Open your eyes.”
He did and the first thing he saw was her smile. “Surprise,” she said as she stepped aside to reveal a Christmas tree beside the fireplace, where a couple of logs burned. The artificial pine tree was aglow with colorful Christmas lights, and hanging from its limbs were little model cars attached to red ribbons. He stared at the tree. It was a heart-jarring moment, something he would have never expected.
“I know you said you don’t put up a tree.” She looked as if his silence had given her second thoughts. “I thought it would be fun to have one this year. Complete with Hot Wheels. When Amber and I were shopping, she was looking at toys for her son, and I saw the boxes of Hot Wheels. The idea hit me, and I just had to try it. So with some ribbon and hot glue, it worked.”
He nodded, unable to speak for the lump in his throat.
“Brett, are you okay?”
He swallowed. “It’s my first Christmas tree. I don’t remember Uncle Mark ever putting one up. I guess he did when I was little.” He walked over to the tree and touched one of the miniature cars. A replica of a Dodge Charger.
“It’s amazing.” He glanced at the cute blonde who had made this tree especially for him. “You’re incredible.”
She grinned. “When I checked out all those boxes of Hot Wheels, the cashier asked me if I had a bunch of little boys. I told him I only had one.”
Brett reached for her hand and pulled her close. “Your little boy is thrilled with his tree.”
As she leaned in for a kiss, “Hail to the Chief” rang out from her smartphone that she had left on the fireplace mantel. The presidential march, played by a military band, signaled a call from her father.
While she answered the call, Brett headed back to the garage, where he fetched a large pink gift bag out of his car. He brought the gift bag into the house, set it on the dining room table, and went into the kitchen to get a bottle of beer out of the fridge.
He walked back into the great room, where Natalie stood by the French doors as she talked to her father. “Okay,” she said. “Next Friday. Okay. It’ll be great to see you.”
She paused. “I know I’ll love the surprise, Dad. I can’t wait. Yeah. Love you. Bye.”
Brett took a sip of the beer. “So your dad is coming home?”
“He’s coming next Friday and going back on Sunday. He wants to present my surprise in person, he said. Then he’s coming back on Christmas Eve and staying for Christmas.”
“I’m looking forward to meeting him.” Natalie’s father was the
one member of her family he hadn’t met, and as much as he felt the age-old dread that came with meeting your girlfriend’s father, he knew it was necessary.
Distracted, she tapped her phone to her lips and shook her head. “I don’t know what my father is planning.”
“He wouldn’t give you any clues?”
“No. But my dad is a great manipulator when it comes to getting what he wants. He doesn’t want me to go back to England, so I’m thinking the present is a house. I hope not, but big gifts are his thing.”
Brett set his beer bottle on a coaster. “Would that be so bad? Staying here in this country. You have family here. Friends here.” He approached her. “I’m here.”
She gave him something of a lonesome gaze that concerned him. “You’ve been happy in Lafayette Falls, haven’t you?” he asked, hoping the answer would be yes.
“I have,” she admitted in a pained voice. “Everyone has been very kind to me. Even you.”
He felt a fracture within his chest, which he struggled to suppress as he made a joke. “I’m a changed man, thanks to you. No longer an asshole.”
“I wouldn’t go that far.” She shook her head.
“I’ve got proof. Get ready.” He headed for the dining room. “I’m about to really impress you. You’re gonna think I’m wonderful,” he called as he retrieved the pink gift bag. “You’re not the only one with a surprise.”
When he returned to the great room, she was sitting on the sofa. She looked at the gift bag. “If it’s a Christmas gift, we can put it under the tree.”
“No, it’s not a Christmas gift.” He took a seat on the sofa beside her. “It’s just something I saw, and I thought of you.” He handed her the bag and gave her a hopeful smile as he put his arm around the back of the sofa so their sides touched.
She pushed aside the tissue paper and gasped as she pulled a soft, plush doll from the bag. “Miss Piggy!” she gasped at the sight of the pig with long, fluffy blond curls dressed in a lavender evening dress, sparkling heels, and tiara.
“I haven’t had a Miss Piggy doll in forever! I love it!” she gushed.
He loved the sparkle in her eyes as she gave him a fond smile. For a moment, he could have sworn he saw love in her gaze. She gave him a quick kiss. “Thank you so much.”
“What do you think about her necklace?” He grinned as Natalie turned the doll to look at the necklace.
She touched the sparkling white gold heart. “It’s real!” She turned to him. “Is it real?”
“Yeah, it’s real. Here.” He took Miss Piggy from her, dug the chain out from beneath the back of the doll’s dress, and unfastened the clasp. The necklace spilled into his palm and shimmered in the light.
“It’s beautiful,” she said.
“Here.” He put the necklace on Natalie. “It looks pretty on you.”
She ran her thumb over the heart pendant that lay against the center of her chest. “It’s gorgeous.” Holding the Miss Piggy doll, she waved its arm at him. “Moi is most impressed with you, Doctor Harris.”
“I knew you would be.”
“You are far too sure of yourself.”
She had no idea how unsure he was when it came to her. The girl who had told him she couldn’t make him any promises. Things were complicated between them, dating all the way back to high school when he had been a dick. He had no right to expect anything from her, and yet he wanted everything.
He looked at the twinkling lights of the Christmas tree. “I never realized how magical a tree could be,” he said, his heart filling with that magic. “This is going to be the best Christmas ever.” He gave her knee a squeeze. “I need to change clothes, and we’ll go get something to eat.” He gave her a quick kiss and headed for his bedroom.
He came out of the walk-in closet with a navy shirt and a pair of jeans. He dumped them on the bed and tugged his scrubs top over his head.
As he finished taking it off, he noticed Natalie standing in the bedroom doorway. As he tossed it on the bed, he said, “I stopped by Jerry’s store, and he tried to get me to buy you a duck call. I was like, no way, she doesn’t need a duck call. So he said he was going to give you one for Christmas.”
“Brett,” she struggled with his name, and he looked up.
“Yeah?”
She pressed her hand against the heart pendant. “I love the necklace. I love that you got it for me.” A single tear slid down her cheek. “I really do.”
The tear terrified him. “You don’t have to cry. It’s just a necklace.”
He wiped the tear from her face with his thumb, and she apologized for getting emotional.
“I’m sorry. I guess I’m a little overwhelmed.” She cleared her throat. “It’s been a while since there was anything special in my life. Like holidays and family. Christmas trees. Presents.” She blinked back another tear as she chewed on her bottom lip. “And you.”
The girl who couldn’t make him any promises was taking a step forward. The euphoria of possibility swept through him as he pulled her into his arms. At that moment, he had never needed or wanted a woman more than he did her.
He kissed her. Softly. Deeply. Urgently. He needed her to know. He took the ribbon from her hair and caught her loose hair with his hands. “Natalie.” He stared into her wide blue eyes and kissed her again, dipping his tongue between her lips.
“You are everything,” he said. “Everything my heart desires.”
She leaned back and they exchanged grins. “That was so mushy.”
“I know.”
“Kind of a turn-on, too.” She reached for the drawstring of his scrub pants.
“I didn’t know that.”
“Can dinner wait?”
“Definitely.”
She snatched the comforter off the bed. “Come on.” She hauled the comforter down the hallway to the great room, where she spread it on the floor before the twinkling Christmas tree and the warm fireplace.
With their clothes discarded, the necklace was all she wore as they lay on the pallet together. A couple of throw pillows supported his head and neck, and his gaze locked on her as she sat beside him—his scarred beauty, with hair the color of sunshine, eyes of ocean blue, skin that smelled of jasmine soap, and enticing curves that were like the keys to the kingdom.
The sparkling heart glittered as it dangled from her neck when she bent to kiss him. He rested his hand over the pendant, pressing it against the swell of her breast as she slid her tongue into his mouth. She was truly everything his heart desired. No mushiness intended.
He wrapped his arms around her and tasted her fully, his open mouth covering hers. She settled atop him and a groan escaped his lips as their bodies fit together as if they had been made for one another. “Sweet Jesus, you’re incredible,” he said as he grasped her hands, linking his fingers inside hers. He rocked between her thighs, and she squeezed his palms tightly.
She swayed to the rising tempo of their bodies, and he relished this intimate dance between them. He loved the sight of her as she gave herself to him. The way she raked her teeth over her bottom lip, the flush of her cheeks, the dampness collecting between her swollen breasts.
She arched against him, driven beyond rational thought. He matched her pace, dealing with his own struggle to maintain control a few seconds longer. He felt the crest in her body, the intimate tumult as she reached the brink of an orgasm, and he rolled her onto her back. She cradled him as he sank into her, lost in the urgency that overtook them. She was heaven and more.
She swore and sobbed his name, “Brett,” as if it were the beginning and end of all things bearable, and for him, briefly, all his misgivings and doubts were laid to rest.
She said his name again. But he was beyond hearing her. He had let himself go and spiraled into his own release, letting the white-hot heat of her body devastate him. Drain him. Exhaust him. And remind him of how fleeting pleasure, in and of itself, was.
While the fire snapped and crackled and the lights on the tree twinkled a
bove their heads, he touched the pendant resting between her breasts. Beneath it, he felt the soft thud of her heartbeat. The heart was a magnificently designed pump essential when it came to survival, and since the beginning of time, man had considered the heart the center of life and love.
He traced the scar on her side and thought about love and how he was falling in love, for better or worse. He had never gone to a jewelry store and looked at engagement rings. He had never hoped to become more than just a passing fancy. Women had passed through his life, and none of them had come with too great a cost.
He knew that would not be true of Natalie Layton.
She rolled away from him and retrieved the Miss Piggy doll from the sofa. She waved the doll’s arm at him and spoke in her Miss Piggy voice, “Moi has never seen such a thing. Doctor Harris, moi is most impressed with your body parts. If only Kermy had such, he and moi would still be a couple.” She broke into laughter, handed him the doll and hopped to her feet.
She made some remark about getting ready and going out to eat as she headed toward the bathroom. He watched her go. Then he glanced at the Miss Piggy doll and at the Christmas tree decorated with miniature cars and twinkling lights. For the first time in his life, he felt an odd sensation like contentment. Like he was suddenly blessed.
He spoke to the doll. “I’ve gotta make this work.”
Chapter 17
“Everybody’s loving it!” Amber waved a new copy of Around Town, the magazine supplement that had been published by the Lafayette Falls Daily on Sunday. The slick cover picture was the composition that Natalie had created using photographs of Mozart and his sister.
Amber joined Natalie at a window table in the Country Corner Café. “All my clients are wild over it. Everyone is hunting for a copy.”
Natalie smiled. She had already heard from Sid Gatlin at the paper, who called to tell her what a great response they’d had and that they were going to do another print run. “What did you think of the story?” she asked Amber.
“There’s a story?” Amber let out a cackle. “I was too preoccupied looking at the pictures, and by the way, they are awesome!” She got serious for a moment. “I did read the story. The bond between him and his twin was so touching. You did a great job on that.”
Everything His Heart Desires Page 19