by Peggy Webb
“I've never danced with you, Colter.”
“Do you like it?”
“Immensely.”
His arms tightened. For the first time since he'd left White Mountain, he felt Apache music stir his soul. He leaned close and began to murmur in his native tongue.
Jo Beth almost lost her step. The words she had waited so long to hear were falling upon her ear like a gentle spring rain. She had no idea what the words meant, but she understood them anyhow. They were the poetry of Colter's Native American soul. They were words of mystery and beauty. They were words of love.
Her spirit soared. She had found Gray Wolf. He had not vanished in this city of neon and noise—he had merely been waiting for her to bring him out.
When the words stopped, she tilted back so she could look into Colter's face.
“That's beautiful. Will you tell me what it means?”
“In the red light of evening I come to you. With wings of eagles I lift you up and carry you into the sky.”
The music of his radio stopped, but still they danced. Her skirts rustled in the breeze off the bay and her hair whispered around her face. In that moment, if he had held out his hand and said 'Come,' she would have gone with him. If he had called her Yellow Bird or told her she was his woman, she would have gone into his houseboat and never looked back.
But he didn't. Instead, he dipped her low, so low that her hair hung down and touched the deck. With one strong arm supporting her back, he leaned close to her face.
“Could you live in San Francisco, Jo?”
“Is that a rhetorical question?”
“A point of interest.”
“It's so far from home... so far from Mississippi.” He raised her up and held her at arm's length. “But if the right man asked me,” she continued, “if someone I loved very much said to me, 'Jo Beth, come make your home with me,' I would.”
“What if that someone asked you to live in the desert or in the mountains?”
“Any specific desert? Any specific mountains?”
“Arizona.”
She tried to keep the hope from shining in her eyes and trembling in her voice. “Then I would say yes. Home is not a place, Colter. It's where love abides.”
“You once told me you didn't believe in love.”
She almost said, That was before I met you, Colter. But she remembered her purpose just in time. Make him ache for her, make him wait for her. And then, when she was certain he would never want to send her away again, only then would she speak of love.
“How can I know?' she said lightly. “It takes two to make love.”
“So it does, Jo.” He ran his hands lightly over her bare back. “If I had a tepee, I would take you captive.” He leaned over and ran his lips down the side of her throat.
She started to speak, and he moved his mouth to the front of her throat. His tongue found her pulse spot. She felt her resolve weakening.
“But I don't have a tepee,” he whispered against her throat. Then he straightened, smiling. “Good night, Jo.”
He left as quickly as he had come. She stood on the deck of her borrowed houseboat, astonished. She was the one who was supposed to say no. What was happening to the game? Playing hard to Get” had worked out fine, but Phase Two, Willing but not Easy, wasn't working out so well.
She kicked a deck chair. “Damnation.”
“Did you say something, Jo?”
Colter's voice floated to her through the sudden mists. She looked up, but could see nothing except fog. She assumed he was standing at his own railing.
“No,” she said. “I just bumped into something on my way to bed. Good night, Colter.”
“Good night, Jo.”
o0o
Jim Roman was just finishing his first cup of Monday morning coffee when his phone rang.
“Jim, I'm going to have to change my plans.”
“Jo Beth, is that you?”
“Yes. I hope I didn't wake you.”
“No. My little warriors have been up for an hour. What's up?”
“Coming to your houseboat was a really grand idea. And it's working... up to a point. But what I really need is a place where I can have Colter's undivided attention. I thought about it all last night, and here's what I want to do.”
She told him her plan.
After he had finished laughing, he agreed to help her. He had just hung up and was reaching for the coffeepot when the phone rang again.
“Jim, it's Colter.”
Jim chuckled. “Love does make early birds, doesn't it?”
“Has Jo Beth already called you?”
“She has. How long did it take you to figure out what was going on?”
“Not long. Everything clicked when I saw her on your houseboat. Jim, I don't intend to lose her again. Tell me her plans.”
“Hey, I'm double-crossing you, remember?”
“I'm asking for a double double cross. A man who would haul an antique bathtub up a mountain to win the woman he loves is capable of anything. Now, tell me her strategy so I can plan mine accordingly.”
“Whatever happened to Fate, Colter?”
“Fate is sometimes fickle. I'm not leaving my love life in the hands of Fate this time around.”
“Neither is she, buddy.” Jim outlined Jo Beth's plans.
o0o
Colter was not surprised when the call from ER came late that afternoon. In fact, he'd been expecting it for two hours and had begun to wonder whether Jim was pulling yet another double cross. His friend did have a wicked sense of humor.
“Dr. Gray, this is Nurse Langley in ER,” the nurse in charge of the hospital emergency room identified herself. “There is a patient here who insists on seeing you. She's adamant.”
“Who is she?”
There was a pause while Nurse Langley consulted her chart.
“A Jo Beth McGill. She was brought in by friends, a Jim Roman and his wife, but quite frankly I can't see a thing wrong with her. All her vital signs are fine and she looks healthy as a horse.”
“What's her complaint?”
“They're all very vague. First it's her heart and then it's her back and then it's her head.” Nurse Langley sighed. “I told her that Dr. Wright is the physician on duty, but she refuses to see him. What shall I do?”
“We can't be too careful these days. Too many lawsuits. I have one more patient to see, then I’ll be right down.”
Colter stifled his chuckle. Nurse Langley had done beautifully. Everything was in place—the staff was informed, a room in the unused wing of the hospital had been readied, and he was set to capture his Yellow Bird for all time.
o0o
Jo Beth hadn't bargained on this wretched hospital gown when she'd hatched her plan. She readjusted the tacky gown, trying to arrange it so only her best body parts showed through the openings. Then she looked at her watch for the fifteenth time. She'd been waiting an hour.
“Colter's not coming,” she said.
Hannah Roman, who was beautiful even in her ninth month of pregnancy, patted Jo Beth's hand. “Don't worry, he'll be here.”
Jim took his eyes off Hannah long enough to add his opinion. “Why don't you use some more of that powder? You don't look sick enough to me.”
Jo Beth re-powdered her face and practiced going into a decline on the narrow examining table. “How is that?”
“Perfect,” Hannah said. “You'll have Colter eating out of your hand.”
The door swung open, and Dr. Colter Gray strode in. “Did someone mention my name?”
Jo Beth got so excited, she almost forgot to decline, while Hannah and Jim started talking at once.
Colter held up his hand. “Please. If you two will leave me alone with the patient, I’ll find out what's bothering her.”
Hannah and Jim slipped from the room, closing the door behind them. Colter put his fingers on Jo Beth's pulse and gave her a serious, doctorly look.
“Jo Beth, I didn't expect to see you here, especially since
you looked so healthy last night.” Still holding her wrist, he bent close and peered into her eyes. He noticed that her pulse accelerated. Stifling a smile, he said, “What's the matter? Too much dancing?”
“Too much night air, I guess.” She went into the coughing routine she'd practiced all morning. Then she put a limp hand on her brow and tried for a swoon.
Colter slipped his arms under her shoulders and pulled her into a close embrace.
“Do you do this for all your patients, doctor?” Her voice was muffled against his white coat.
“I believe in total care.”
“Then you must be very much in demand.”
“See how well it works. Your voice already sounds stronger.” He laid her back down on the examining table.
Jo Beth was going into another decline when she noticed her powder on the front of Colter's lab coat. She hastily changed the decline to a coughing fit, complete with flailing arms. It was no accident that her arms flailed mostly at the telltale powder. When it looked like she had destroyed most of the evidence, she sank back onto the table and put a hand on her brow.
“Do you think it's serious, Colter?”
“I think it's very serious, Jo. The treatment could take a long time. Maybe even years.”
Jo Beth narrowed her eyes. That foxy Colter was on to her again. He knew darned good and well there was nothing wrong with her except an overactive libido and a huge talent for drama. Still, that didn't change things. She and Colter Gray Wolf had a few scores to settle, and they might as well settle them in the hospital arena with plenty of witnesses.
She made a failed attempt at sitting up, then put her hand dramatically over her heart. Next she put on her dying-calf-in-a-hailstorm look and made her voice as weak as last Tuesday's tea.
“What are you going to do about my condition?”
Colter put one large, warm hand on her chest. “Is your heart bothering you, Jo?”
She started to say no, for even she knew that she couldn't have pneumonia and heart trouble to boot without being near death's door. But just when she was going to deny that malady, Colter started massaging her chest. The swoon she went into this time was not practiced.
She lay on the hard, narrow table, fighting a losing battle to look sick.
“What your hands can do through a hospital gown ought to be considered illegal, Colter.”
“It's part of your cure, Jo.” He kept up the massage. “I can already see a noticeable improvement in your color.”
Heat had put two bright spots in her cheeks, shining through all the layers of powder.
“Would you prescribe these massages on a weekly basis?”
“Twice daily should do it.”
“I feel better already. Shall I set up another appointment with you?”
“I leave this sort of thing to the nurses and the interns.” He patted her knee. “Don't worry about a thing, Jo. They'll take good care of you.”
He turned to leave and was almost at the door before she could find her voice.
“Colter!”
With his hand on the doorknob, he turned to look at her. “Did you forget to tell me something, Jo?”
“No. You forgot to tell me. Where are you going? What are you planning to do about me?”
“I'm admitting you, Jo. We need to run tests to find out what's wrong with you before I prescribe treatment... except the massages, of course.” He smiled at her. “As to where I'm going... There's a wonderful seafood restaurant on the bay. I was going to invite you to go along. Too bad you'll be stuck here in the hospital. See you, Jo.” He left, whistling.
Jo didn't know whether to laugh or to cuss. She'd gotten what she wanted—to be in the hospital, where she would have Colter's undivided attention—but it hadn't turned out exactly the way she had planned.
Hannah Roman poked her head around the door. “How did it go?”
“I wish I knew.” Jo Beth swung her feet off the table and reached for her shoes. “Where's Jim?”
“He and Colter went for a cup of coffee. They invited me, but I wanted to talk to you.”
“I could sure as heck use some talking to.” Jo Beth began to dress. “I'm not an old hand at this, and I keep getting the feeling that Colter is always one step ahead of me.”
“He is.” Hannah put her hand over her stomach. “The baby's kicking.” She waddled to a chair and sat down. “Jo, Colter knows that you're here to pursue him and capture him, so to speak.”
“It's more than that. I want to prove to him that people in love stick together, no matter what sort of problems they're having.” Jo bent over to tie her jogging shoes. “How does he know?”
“Jim, of course.” Hannah smiled indulgently. “You have to understand. Their friendship goes a long way back. They're as close as brothers.”
“Colter would have guessed anyhow. He's too smart not to.”
“What I think we should do is double-cross the double-crossers.”
“That's the best idea I've heard yet. I'm open to suggestions, Hannah.”
“Then, here's what I think we should do....”
o0o
Colter made sure Jo Beth was settled in her room, where he knew Nurses Martin and Turner would take good care of her.
He made his hospital rounds, then left the hospital, laughing at the audacity of the woman he'd pursued in the desert. He intended to go back to his houseboat, change clothes, then have a long, leisurely meal at a good seafood restaurant. But by the time he'd gotten back to his boat, he knew he wasn't going to do that.
He changed into jeans, a denim shirt, and moccasins, prepared a quick meal in his galley, then headed back to the hospital.
Nurse Martin pursed her fat lips when he showed up. “Back again, Dr. Gray?”
“Yes. I have to see my patient.”
Nurse Martin didn't dare lift an eyebrow when he picked up Jo Beth's chart and left the station. But as soon as he was out of earshot, she walked over to Nurse Turner, who was sorting pills for the nine-o'clock rounds.
“Tilly, I'd love to know what's going on between those two. He wouldn't tell me much, except that it was sort of a joke.”
Tilly grinned. “Maybe I’ll saunter down that way to see if she needs anything.”
“Try the bedpan. That always shows the true state of their health.”
Nurse Tilly Turner left the station and eased down toward Room 306. The first thing she heard was the laughter. That was enough to stop her dead in her tracks. Dr. Colter Gray was one of the most serious physicians she knew. He smiled at his patients, of course, and he was always friendly with them. But she had never heard him laughing the way he was right now.
She eased open the door. She didn't see it as sneaking. Not exactly. She just wanted to get a candid view of what was going on. What was going on gave her another jolt. Dr. Gray was actually sitting on the bed holding the patient's hand.
He suddenly looked up and saw her.
“Nurse Turner, is there anything you want?”
He didn't even get off the side of the bed. That was one for the records. Tilly adjusted her cap and put on her most professional air.
“I came by to see if the patient wants anything—juice, ice, bedpan?”
Dr. Gray laughed again. Then he did the most astonishing thing: He leaned over, in an intimate way, and said, “How about it, Jo? Do you want Nurse Turner to fetch the bedpan?”
The patient had one of the prettiest smiles Tilly had ever seen.
“I can still manage that on my own, and I expect to get better every day, now that you're taking care of me, doctor.”
“She doesn't need the bedpan, Nurse Turner.” Dr. Gray was still smiling. “Anything else?”
“No, I'll just tidy up.” Tilly walked over to the bed and straightened the covers, on general principle. Then she puttered around the lavatory and fiddled with the bed rails. “Everything seems to be shipshape. Good night, Jo... Dr. Gray.”
She couldn't get back to the nurses' station fast enough
. Geraldine looked up from her charts.
“Well, if that face is any indication, I'm in for quite a story.”
Tilly sat down and put her hand over her heart. It was going ninety miles an hour.
“You'll just never believe what I saw. In all my years of knowing Dr. Gray, I never thought I'd see it.”
“If you don't tell me in about two seconds, Tilly Turner, you're never going to live to see another day, let alone another year.”
“Well, first of all... you should have seen that nightgown she was wearing. It was a beautiful blue and so sheer I could look right through it and see everything she's got. And that's just what Dr. Gray was doing. Looking down at that gown like he was going to rip it off with his bare hands. Oh, he was laughing and joking, but Lord! were those eyes of his sizzling.”
Geraldine pushed her charts aside and propped her fat chin on her dimpled elbows. “I'm panting. Tell me more.”
“Well, he was sitting on her bed, and she had one hand on his knee. It was meant to look casual, even accidental, but when I was straightening up the soap dish I watched them in the mirror. She was running her hands down Dr. Gray's legs.”
“I've been waiting fifteen years for somebody to ring Dr. Gray's chimes, and when it happens, I'm not even there to see it.” She sighed. “Next time I'll offer the bedpan.”
“You're not going to believe what happened next.”
“Tell it before I have heart failure.”
“He said something, real low like, and I know he didn't mean for anybody to hear except Jo. But I heard it.”
“What did he say?”
“Lord, how do I know? He was talking Indian or something.”
“Shoot, I’ll bet that was the best part. What else, Tilly?”
“I ran out of excuses to hang around. That's all I know.”
“If he's not out of there in another fifteen minutes, I'm going down to see exactly what's going on.” Geraldine gave a dramatic sigh as she picked up her charts. “I hope it's something good. I'm so tired of listening to everybody's aches and pains I don't know what to do.”
o0o
Colter couldn't bring himself to leave Jo's bed. He was beginning to get used to that shockingly sexy gown, so that he didn't have to stare so much, but he couldn't bear to deprive himself of her hand upon his knee.