Heal Me (Coopers Creek Book 2)

by Bronwen Evans

  “There are a lot of specialists that we need around here, but without the proper funding, the hospital couldn’t afford to bring them on board. So, since we have the means, we figured that we could help the people of our hometown by improving the healthcare around here,” Ric said.

  Kate’s estimation of Ric went up. There was a lot more substance behind him than she’d thought. “That’s really kind of you all.”

  “Well, none of us had the best childhoods. Ty’s dad ended up dying in prison when he and his sister, Lizzie, were just teenagers. Same for me and Emily. I was fourteen when Mom passed. Ty’s mom, Maggie, became a sort of surrogate mother to us, and to a lot of kids in town.”

  “What about your father?”

  Ric snorted. “He fell apart after Mom died and drank himself into oblivion every night and eventually pickled his liver. I basically finished raising Emily. He drank away most of our money, so I worked at the Hamiltons and one of the cattle ranches outside of town to make ends meet. If it wasn’t for Maggie having me and Em over for supper a few nights a week, we’d have gone hungry sometimes.”

  “I’m so sorry. I had no idea.” Kate admired him for taking care of a younger sister when he’d been just a kid himself.

  “It’s okay. It made me more driven to succeed in life and it taught me a great work ethic. It hasn’t been easy, but we’ve all pulled ourselves up by the bootstraps. We became each other’s family,” Ric told her.

  Kate played with one of Cinders’ front paws. “That’s great. I’ve met Tyler. He can be a little…intense.”

  Ric laughed. “To say the least. He’s a real bastard when it comes to business, but he’s a pushover with the people he loves. He has a pretty short fuse and he and I butt heads a lot, much like brothers do.”

  Kate was putting the dynamic of Ric’s relationships together. “What about Chase? You mentioned him, but how does he fit into the picture with your group?”

  Ric’s laughter surprised her. “I’m sorry. You have to meet Chase to fully appreciate him. He’s the exact opposite of me and Ty. Footloose and fancy free. He’s loyal, kind to a fault, and hates wearing clothes. He makes us sick because he’s one of those people who’s good at everything and everyone loves him. He’s hard to explain.”

  “He’s good at everything? Like what?”

  “You name it, he’s good at it.”

  Kate decided to test him. “Singing?”

  “Sings, plays guitar, and tinkers around on piano. He was our best receiver in high school, he’s a great dancer, and he knows his way around a kitchen. He draws, likes to write poetry, and loves to play just about any sport,” Ric said.

  “Wow. He sounds like quite the guy. Perhaps I should meet him,” she teased.

  “Right now I’m really glad he’s in LA.”

  “Well, I’m not interested in anyone who lives in LA.”

  Who she might be interested in hung in the air like a balloon about to be popped.

  Ric said, “Glad to hear it.” Then his voice turned seductive. “Does this qualify as a phone date?”

  Talking to Ric was so easy that they’d slipped into conversation before she’d meant to. “I guess so,” she said, chuckling.

  “All right. I hate to ruin the mood, but I need you to tell me what upset you so much the other night.”

  Her stomach tightened with nerves. She’d known that he would ask, but that didn’t make telling him any easier. “Do you remember the day at the Diner when I said that I hadn’t been out with anyone since Phil died?”

  “Yeah, I remember.”

  Kate fidgeted with Cinders’ collar. “What I meant was that I haven’t dated anyone since then. At all. You’re the first man I’ve…been intimate with since him.” Silence met her quiet announcement and she checked to see if Ric was still on the line. “Ric?”

  “I’m here. I wish you would’ve told me, Kate. We’d have taken things a lot slower. That’s a big step, you know?”

  His kind tone of voice brought tears to Kate’s eyes. “I’ve been thinking about that a lot. I think I didn’t mention it because I didn’t want to overthink it. I didn’t want to feel nervous or scared. I just wanted to feel alive and free and you certainly made me feel those things.”

  “You could’ve had that with any guy you wanted to. What made me different, Kate?”

  Kate must have asked herself that question a thousand times and she still didn’t have a definitive answer. “I can’t really explain it, Ric. All I can say is that you’re the first man who’s caught my attention since Phil. You did the first day we met and I couldn’t resist you the day you invited me to lunch.”

  “And I couldn’t get you out of my mind,” Ric said. “That said, do you still want to see me?”

  The hope in his voice was endearing. “Yes. Still the same rules though. Just something light and fun?”

  “Definitely. Light and fun. And any time you want to break another bed, just let me know.”

  Kate laughed and Cinders barked. “Shh.”

  “Who’s that?”

  “My dog, Cinders. He’s a very handsome Scottish Terrier and my best friend,” she said.

  “I’ll bet he’s cute.”

  “Well, I’m sure you’ll meet him,” she said.

  “I look forward to it. So, what are you doing Friday night?”

  “Actually, I’m going away for the weekend. My best friend and I are going kayaking. I’d invite you along, but…”

  Ric chuckled. “One broken ankle is enough, thanks. I hope you guys have a great time.”

  “We always do. I’d say that we could get together tomorrow night, but I hold evening hours every Thursday night and it’s usually pretty late until I get done at the clinic,” she said.

  “Yeah. Tomorrow doesn’t work for me, either. I have to go to Denver for a meeting and we most likely won’t get back to town until late,” Ric told her regretfully. “We’ll just shoot for next week. No sweat.”

  Kate was disappointed, too, but she’d been looking forward to kayaking and she wasn’t going to change her plans. “Right.”

  “Well, I’m going to let you go so that you can get some rest, but I’ll give you a call tomorrow, okay?”

  “Sounds good. Have a good night.”

  “You, too. Don’t go breaking any beds without me.”

  “Get off the phone, Stanford,” she said and laughed when the phone went dead in her ear.

  Chapter Eight

  Ric sat going over expense spreadsheets at a small conference table in Tyler’s office at their Denver headquarters the next afternoon. He had his ankle propped up on a chair on the opposite side of the table. Tyler stormed into his office and slammed the door shut, causing Ric to jump and bang his cast on the bottom of the table.

  “Jesus H. Christ, Ty!” he shouted as his ankle throbbed. “What the hell’s wrong with you?”

  “I’m going to kill him. I swear I will.”

  The fury in Tyler’s stormy gray eyes alarmed Ric. “Who are you talking about and what did they do?”

  “Chase sent the McKnight’s the marketing material for their debenture offer without sign off and I’ve just had a very pissed off Doug McKnight on the phone.”

  Ric sighed. Chase was never one to play by the rules and often forgot to get the material signed off by all three of them before approaching the clients with his often out of the box ideas. It took Ty and Ric to reign in Chase’s creativity. Often Ric was needed to position whatever madcap idea Chase came up with.

  “How pissed was McKnight? Enough for us to lose this deal?” Raising over five hundred million in one deal would be a very nice fat commission for the firm but if they lost the deal after so much fanfare their reputations would be in tatters.

  “We have to fly out and see McKnight in Seattle and ensure we do damage control.” Tyler shook his head and sobered. “I feel like a major shit. I called and bitched him out in a voicemail.”

  Ric groaned. “Ty, why do you always jump the gun li
ke that? You should’ve waited for me. You know I handle Chase better than you. I love his creative side and we just need him to understand that we are here to temper his off the wall ideas when it’s needed.”

  Tyler dropped heavily into a chair. “One of our biggest investors, Ric. If we lost McKnight, the market would soon know why, and the word would spread. We still don’t know the full fallout from this. We have to do damage control. And the fact remains that he didn’t consult us. We always decide this stuff together. He knows that.”

  Ric, the most reasonable of the partners, went into mediator mode. “I know, but let’s just see what happens before we panic. We’ll talk to Chase about ensuring this doesn’t happen again without our knowledge, and we can fly and visit McKnight. That should show how serious we are and pacify his ego.”

  “Yeah, you’re right.” Tyler smiled. “I have to admit I may have overreacted.”

  Ric laughed. “We raise more money for our clients because of Chase’s creativity, let’s not forget that.”

  “True,” Tyler said as his phone rang again. “It’s Chase.”

  He put it on speaker and they were treated to a ten-minute tirade from Chase about Tyler’s voicemail, during which Tyler managed to remain calm. Ric alternated between being amused at some of the inventive names Chase called Tyler and concerned by Chase’s erratic speech pattern.

  When he’d finally run out of steam, Tyler asked, “Are you done?”

  “Yeah, I guess, you fuckerbitch.”

  Ric’s jaw tensed as he fought down a laugh.

  Tyler smiled. “Well, there’s a new one.”

  “Nah. The kids are saying it now.”

  “Look, Chase, I’m sorry. It’s just that this deal will cement our place as one of the bigger investment firms. Any chance of it going wrong and our reputation and profit goes down the drain,” Tyler said.

  “So you said in your bitch-mail,” Chase retorted. “I’m sure Ric the Fixer can get McKnight to stay. Besides, if McKnight would pull his head out of his ass for one minute he’d see it’s a winner campaign.”

  Ric was impressed. “I must say having gone over it while you boys ranted at each other I think you’re right.”

  “No worries.”

  Tyler said, “Chase, please don’t do something like this again without our sign off? I know you don’t like rules but they are there for a reason.”

  “I was going to, but I told my P.A. the wrong send out date. It wasn’t supposed to go to McKnight until next Thursday after you guys had seen it. My bad.”

  Tyler put a hand over his mouth and walked away from the table.

  “Uh, Chase, that’s a pretty big mistake. What’s up? Is everything all right?” Ric asked.

  “Just some family troubles. Can’t you cut me some slack? I realize that I ain’t perfect like you and Tyler.” They heard Chase sigh. “Never mind. I got work to do.”

  “Chase,” Ric began.

  “Sorry, it’s been a bad week. I’ll try not to fuck up in the future.”

  He hung up and Ric and Tyler exchanged somber glances.

  “Maybe I could’ve handled it a little differently, but you know that I’m not wrong about this,” Tyler said. “Screwing up a launch date isn’t a little mistake.”

  Ric blew out a breath. “Yeah. I know. Well, we’ve dealt with worse. It’s just a matter of doing some damage control. Speaking of which, I’ll book a flight to Seattle.”

  As Tyler started discussing their strategy to save this deal, Ric had the feeling that it was going to be a very long weekend.

  *****

  As Kate rode home with Robert on Sunday afternoon, she looked at her cellphone for the hundredth time, but there was no answering text from Ric yet. They’d talked briefly Thursday when he’d called her, but she hadn’t heard from him since then, so she’d sent him a text that morning. He’d said that they’d been dealing with a work emergency, so she hoped that was the reason why he hadn’t answered her.

  “No word from lover boy, huh?”

  Kate narrowed her eyes at Robert. “Shut up. I was checking email.”

  “Mmm hmm. Sure you were.”

  “You know what you need, Robert?”

  Robert glanced at her. “What?”

  “A new girlfriend.”

  Robert laughed and took the next exit, which would take them to the road that was the back way to Cooper’s Creek. “No, I think I’m better off single right now. I have to get my sea legs under me again before I get involved with someone again.”

  “I know that feeling. But your situation is a lot different than mine. And you weren’t together very long before she bailed.”

  Robert gave her an irritated look. “That’s not helpful. I realize that I didn’t hold her interest. I don’t need you to point that out to me.”

  Kate rubbed his shoulder. “That’s not what I meant. She didn’t deserve you, Robbie. You’re a fantastic guy. You’re sexy, smart, and you have a kind heart. If she couldn’t see all that about you, then it’s her loss. You’ll find somebody much better.”

  He shook his head. “How did my question turn into you consoling me, even though I don’t need it?”

  Kate laughed. “Because I don’t want you lecturing me about Ric.”

  Robert grinned. “I’m just practicing my Dr. Phil routine, that’s all.”

  “Well, I don’t need you playing Dr. Phil any more than you need me to console you. Got it?” Kate asked.

  “Yes, ma’am!” Robert saluted her.

  Her text message alert went off and Kate almost squealed when she saw that it was from Ric. However, she kept her excitement inside as she clicked on it.

  Ric: Hi Doc. Sorry I didn’t get back to you until now. It’s been a nightmare of a weekend.

  Kate: That’s ok. Sorry to hear that.

  Ric: Did you have fun?

  Kate: Yeah.

  Ric: Good.

  Kate: Are you still in Denver?

  Ric: No. On the way home.

  Kate: Me too.

  Kate bit her lip in indecision. It would be more prudent for her to unpack and get ready for the week ahead, but she really wanted to see Ric.

  Kate: Would you like to come over and watch a movie tonight? I make great popcorn.

  Ric: Sounds great. I’ll bring the beer. What time?

  Kate: Seven?

  Ric: Ok. What’s your address?

  Kate sent it to him, trying not to grin like a school girl.

  Ric: Got it. See ya then. :)

  Feeling wicked, Kate texted: Know what? Instead of watching a movie, I’d like to see if we could break my bed.

  Ric: LOL That can be arranged. I’ll still bring beer.

  Kate: And I’ll still make popcorn.

  Ric: Ok, I’ll bring chocolate sundaes

  Kate: That could get messy if they melt

  Ric: Best we watch movie naked then so if you spill it’s easier for me to lick off

  Kate’s imagination went into overdrive and she hoped that her cheeks weren’t pink.

  Ric: ??

  Kate: Only if you buy me new sheets.

  Ric: Deal! See ya at 7.

  Kate: See ya! :)

  “I take it from that silly smile that that was lover boy.”

  Kate laughed. “Yes, it was. He’s coming over to watch a movie tonight.”

  Robert grinned. “I guess you’ll be in late to work tomorrow since you’re having a sleepover.”

  She smacked his arm. “We’re just watching a movie.”

  “Like hell. It might start out that way, but you’ll wind up in the bedroom.”

  “Shows what you know. We’ll just watch the movie in bed, then we’ll already be there.”

  Robert cracked up. “Good idea. Economize your time, and, hey, if you watch a porno, you can do it all at once.”

  “We’re not going to watch a porno. Ric gets me hot all on his own. He’s better than any porn star.”

  “Okay, okay.” Robert put up a hand to stop her. “Enou
gh. I’m officially done with this conversation.”

  Kate sent him a cheeky grin. “I thought you might say that.”

  Robert steered the topic back to kayaking for the rest of the trip home.

  Chapter Nine

  “You can’t drive.”

  Ric scowled at Emily as they stood in the kitchen of the big farmhouse that evening. “Yes, I can. Your car is automatic, so I only need my right foot. And I haven’t taken any pain meds since Tylenol seems to be doing the trick. There’s no reason I can’t drive now. Please let me borrow your car.”

  Worry creased Emily’s forehead. “What if something happens and you have an accident?”

  Ric’s expression softened. “Em, nothing is going to happen. I’m a big boy. I can handle this. Please?”

  Emily relented and took her car keys off one of the hooks by the door. “Okay, but be careful.”

  Ric took them and kissed her cheek. “Thanks, sis. Don’t wait up.”

  Emily smiled and shook her head as she opened the door for him. He swung his way out to her car and opened the door. Unbeknownst to Emily, Ric had already had Tyler deposit the beer in Emily’s car. Tyler still drove Ric’s Hummer, affectionately named The Beast, because Ric couldn’t get up in the vehicle at the moment. Therefore, Emily’s car was the only transportation Ric had.

  Ric put his crutches over on the passenger seat, sat down, and swung his legs in. He had to move the seat back to accommodate his long legs, but otherwise it felt fine. After settling in, he turned the ignition and waved at Emily, who stood outside the kitchen door with a concerned expression. She gave him a little wave and he put the car in gear.

  It felt good to drive again and Ric turned up the radio. Emily loved 80’s music and Bon Jovi sang Living on a Prayer as he went down the road. Ric reflected on the weekend spent sorting through the mess that Chase’s lapse in judgment had caused. McKnight chewed their asses off but Ric worked his charm, calming him down and talking numbers that McKnight could not ignore.