Harlequin Heartwarming April 2018 Box Set

by Amy Vastine

  Now she had the feeling she should definitely know him. “He’s doing very well, thank you. He should be released in a day or two. Do you know Louis?”

  One brow ticked up. “Just from yesterday.”

  “Oh, were you part of the medical team treating him?”

  He gave his head a little shake. “Ms. Mowak, I met you yesterday. Pilot?”

  “Your name is Pilot? I have a cousin named Jett.”

  One hand came up to scrub his chin. “No, I was the pilot who flew you and your cousin in from Jasper Lake.”

  That was it. “Oh, yes, of course. Mr….?” Had he ever said his name?

  “Tag. Tag James. From Copper Crossing Air Transport.”

  “Sorry, I didn’t…remember you.”

  “Yeah, I got that,” he answered flatly.

  Ugh. This was uncomfortable, although she wasn’t sure why exactly. She recalled the brief interchange about which hospital to fly to and realized she might have been a tad short with him.

  “Your landing was excellent, by the way. That, I remember.”

  “My landing?” He repeated the word like he hadn’t quite heard her correctly.

  “Yes. In the bay. You’re obviously a competent pilot.”

  “Competent?” The word came out slowly while his brows dipped down along with the corners of his mouth. He looked baffled. He crossed his arms over his chest and kept them locked there.

  Hmm. Was he offended that she hadn’t recognized him? Or put out because she’d overridden his suggestion to go to a larger hospital? When she shifted into rescue mode, she tended to become hyperfocused on her patient and the circumstances surrounding the emergency at hand. And yesterday’s patient had been Louis, a family member, which had heightened both her concentration and concern. She felt it unnecessary to explain this.

  “I apologize that I didn’t recognize you?” she said, and immediately realized that it came out sounding more like a question. Ally didn’t believe in superfluous apologies, or conversations, for that matter. She found them both a waste of time, and hers was at a premium.

  With more smirk than smile, he said, “I can assure you I am more than competent, Ms. Mowak.”

  Oh, brother. She should have seen that coming, pilots and their egos. Her second oversize ego of the day. At least this guy wasn’t her boss.

  “Mr. James, what can I help you with?”

  “Please call me Tag. I’m here to discuss the flight yesterday. Do you remember anything besides my competent landing? Do you have problems with your short-term memory I should be aware of?”

  Ally felt a stir of dismay. Carefully, she answered each question and then followed with one of her own. “Of course. No, I don’t. And what about the flight?”

  “Specifically, I’m here to talk about how your new position as hospital liaison affects me and the patients I transport, as per my business arrangement with the hospital.”

  “I see.”

  “Do you?”

  “This is about the clay?”

  “Partially. Not entirely. I have more than one issue.”

  Oh, good, she thought wryly. She was about to get grief from the pilot, too. Who was next? The charge nurse hadn’t accosted her yet. But it was early, not even lunchtime. Patiently she waited for him to continue.

  “If we’re going to work together I think we need to establish some ground rules.”

  “I agree.”

  He got right to it. “I don’t have issues with alternative medicine per se—herbal, Ayurvedic, naturopathic, homeopathic, acupuncture, Reiki or any other type of traditional remedy, for that matter, is fine with me. I don’t care or interfere with what people believe or how they choose to treat their medical conditions. What I do have a problem with is when it directly affects my job, and more specifically, my ability to save a life.”

  “And you feel like my use of medicinal clay falls into the latter category?”

  “I do.”

  “Please keep in mind that yesterday I was treating a family member in an emergency situation. I wasn’t on the job.”

  “I understand that, which is why I’m here instead of in Dr. Boyd’s office.” He shrugged a shoulder. “Even though I do not understand why you would purposely put your cousin in danger.”

  “Obviously, I don’t see it that way.”

  “Obviously. You can see it any way you choose. But for the duration of time that we’ll be working together I need you to do it my way. My way is the right way.”

  “Noted,” she replied calmly. “My turn.”

  “What?”

  Ally almost laughed at his look of utter confusion. “You said we were establishing ground rules. You gave me yours. If this works the way I think it does, then it’s my turn to outline my rules?”

  Narrowing his gaze, he studied her like he was puzzling out this detail. His eyes burned into hers, and she couldn’t tell if they were green or brown. Inexplicably, the back of her neck began to tingle.

  “Do you want to have a seat?” she asked, partially to stop his perusal, partially to bring him closer to her eye level. If Dr. Boyd hadn’t intimidated her, there was no reason this guy should. But it might be easier to manage if he wasn’t hovering over her.

  “Fine.” Moving closer, he lowered his tall frame into the seat across from her.

  Better, she thought, meeting his gaze head-on. Except now he seemed really…close.

  Gathering her thoughts, she said, “When I’m out on a call and acting as the paramedic on behalf of Rankins Hospital my word is final. My way is the right way. I also have some ideas on how you can improve your efficiency. It took you too long to take off after you landed at the lake.”

  He scoffed. “Are you kidding me? The only thing holding up my takeoff was you chatting with Jessie while I waited for you by the plane.”

  Hands folded neatly on the desk in front of her, she went on. “I disagree. It took three minutes for you to get inside the plane and settled after I’d already boarded, and your dissension took at least another minute. Had you already been on board, we would have landed approximately five minutes sooner. I don’t think I need to remind you how vital five minutes can be in an emergency medical situation.”

  Ally waited for him to respond, steeling herself for whatever came next. He didn’t look angry or upset, though. In fact, he was completely still. Too still?

  “Hmm. You know what? Coming here might not have been the best idea, after all. Because I don’t need professional advice from someone who was still in grade school while I was getting my EMS certification.”

  * * *

  TAG WISHED HE could take the words back before they were even out of his mouth. A flicker of something was there and gone from her face faster than the beat of a swallow’s wing. Disgust maybe? Which he might deserve. Bering was right. Normally, Tag was the easygoing, slow to boil, diplomatic one.

  Admittedly, he’d come here geared up for a possibly unpleasant conversation, but a professional one. Ally Mowak didn’t seem to have any problem maintaining a professional tone, whereas he’d just blown it. Her expression remained as unreadable as a slab of granite, and he couldn’t help but think he’d disappointed her in some profound way. Or maybe that was his own disappointment nibbling at him.

  When she didn’t speak, he let out a sigh and tried backtracking, “What I was trying to say is that I don’t need anyone to advise me on how to do my job, Ms. Mowak. I’ve been at this a very long time.”

  “Ally,” she said. “Please call me Ally. And the same goes for me.” Shrugging a shoulder, she continued in that same serene, not-quite-condescending way that he was fast learning was how she spoke. “But isn’t that what you’re really doing here now? Telling me how to do my job?”

  “Uh, no.” He resisted the urge to scratch his itchy scalp because he sort of was, wasn’t he? He hadn�
�t meant to, not exactly. “That wasn’t my intention, anyway.”

  “Did you or did you not see a woman who you interpreted as too young for this job and then decided that you’d teach her a thing or two? You, with your wisdom honed from years of experience, would come to the aid of an inexperienced, newbie female colleague?”

  “No!” That he was not doing. “Nope. No way. Don’t even try that on me.”

  “Don’t try what on you?”

  “There’s no misogyny or ageism or sexism or racism or any other ‘ism’ going on here. I have four sisters and a boatload of female cousins, all of whom are younger than me. Each one is equally as smart and capable as I am, more so in many, many ways. This isn’t about any of that. This is about your workplace attitude, your approach and your lack of respect. After your behavior yesterday, I would have come in here today if you were an eighty-six-year-old man wearing a honey badger suit.”

  One side of her mouth twitched. Only slightly, and he probably would have missed the movement if he wasn’t so intent on watching her, marveling at her composure.

  “I don’t see how my attitude plays into this. My approach was honed through four years of military service, a civilian EMS-P certification, and a decade and a half of studying and practicing under the tutelage of a renowned medical expert. And as far as respect goes, I subscribe to the ‘respect is something you earn’ school of thought. And you being here right now and complaining about nonissues isn’t helping on that front.”

  “Your résumé already got you this job, Ms. Mowak. You don’t need to recite it for me, and the fact that you are speaks to your insecurity, which I’m guessing has something to do with your attitude. Your approach is my concern because I have to work with you. And the respect I’m talking about is the respect you should innately have toward a fellow medical professional whose job and reputation you put on the line because you chose to smear mud all over a patient.”

  “It’s clay.” Her tone was flat, but her shapely black brows arched higher and Tag had no idea what that look was supposed to convey.

  Waving a hand, he said, “Whatever. Since we’re sharing our qualifications, I am going to give you a piece of advice based on my eighteen years of experience as an EMS-P, my fifteen years as a volunteer firefighter, and a lifetime as both a friend and a big brother. If you don’t want people to notice your age, don’t draw attention to it.”

  “You’re the one who brought it up.”

  “That’s true. But I—” Biting back the words he’d been about to say—I’m not used to people questioning my skills—he went with “I shouldn’t have. For that, I apologize.”

  A head tip told him she acknowledged the mea culpa.

  Exhaling, he checked the time on his watch. This meeting had been an epic fail, and he had no hope of turning it around at this point. He’d promised his sister Hannah he’d give her a hand with some repairs up at the ski resort this morning before his flight to Anchorage at noon. He needed to wrap this up.

  “For now, I’m going to quit wasting both our time. Maybe we should meet with Dr. Ramsey and talk about our professional expectations?”

  “That would be fine.”

  “Good. I’ll set it up.”

  * * *

  ALLY STARED AFTER HIM. At least he’d suggested the meeting with Flynn and not Dr. Boyd. She had no more time than that to dwell on it, though, because the phone on her desk let out a buzz. She answered it and proceeded to deal with the first call for the job she’d actually been hired to do. She tackled paperwork and fielded calls until lunchtime, when she placed one of her own to Louis’s mom, her aunt Gina, who Ally knew was sitting vigil in his room.

  Quinn was there, too, she learned, so she headed to the hospital’s cafeteria and ordered cheeseburgers, fries and strawberry shakes for them all. In the room, she was heartened to see Louis already sitting up, laughing and chatting with Quinn. At least she’d made the right call regarding his injuries.

  When her break was over, she said goodbye to her family and promised to stop by again when she could. The afternoon was spent visiting patients and their families, assessing their needs and making notes about any questions or concerns they had regarding hospital, hospice or at-home health care.

  The interaction with patients revived her, reminding her why she wanted this job. Back at her office, she immediately began cataloging the patients’ needs while they were fresh in her mind. One was ready for palliative care, so she called the hospice and set up a meeting for the patient and her family.

  The remainder of her day consisted of more phone calls, emails, strategizing, and plotting out her to-do list and schedule for the next week. Just past six, a knock sounded on her door and relief flooded through her when she discovered this one had a much friendlier form attached to it than the morning’s.

  “Flynn, hi.”

  A dimpled grin transformed the young doctor’s already handsome face into a combination of sweet and gorgeous. Too bad she thought of him like family. With no siblings of her own, he was as close to a big brother as she could imagine. Their grandfathers were friends, so Ally and Flynn had known each other since childhood.

  Flynn’s grandfather—“Doc,” as he was more commonly known in Rankins—had always welcomed her grandfather’s advice as a Native healer and doctor. Likewise, Abe had never had a problem calling on Doc when modern medicine was needed. A friendship had sprung up early in both of their respective careers, one based on mutual respect.

  An image of Tag James flashed into her mind, embarrassment rushing through her because she realized in that moment that he’d been right about one thing: she’d been so concerned about his respecting her that she hadn’t shown him the respect he deserved.

  Lowering himself into the chair Tag James had occupied that morning, Flynn said, “Hey. Good job with Dr. Boyd.”

  “Thank you. I only wish all of my confrontations today could have gone as smoothly.”

  Eyebrows a shade darker than his seal-brown hair darted up on his forehead. “Uh-oh. What else?”

  “Among other affronts, I was told I need to work on my attitude.”

  Scrunching his features into a grimace, he said, “Seriously?”

  “Yes.”

  “Not by a patient, though?”

  “Of course not! It was a colleague. Although, in thinking about it now, I may have deserved part of it.”

  “Well, honestly…” he drawled, pursing his lips as if thinking about the statement. “I’m not that surprised. You know you’re not exactly warm and fuzzy, right? Outside of patient care, I mean.”

  “Yes, but I think basically this guy was telling me that he didn’t like me. Right before he made a crack about my age.”

  “Ooh. How politically incorrect of him. I know how much you hate that.”

  “Right? He apologized, but for some reason I let it get to me. You’d think I’d be used to it by now.” Working with her grandfather at his medical clinic, Ally had been given a lot of responsibility at a young age. She’d joined the Army at seventeen, but she’d looked even younger, so she’d grown accustomed to people asking about her age. At twenty-two, it was still a common occurrence. “I thought I was. But this guy…”

  Why did she care what he thought? She didn’t, she reminded herself. She didn’t care what anyone thought about her. But she would apologize properly because they needed to work together.

  “Never mind, I don’t want to talk about it. I’m using my energy to focus on the future. And right now, I’m focused on that dinner you promised.” Ally logged off her computer. “I believe fish and chips were mentioned?”

  “Lucky you.” He held his hands aloft as if he were a prize she’d won. “That’s what I’m here for.”

  She stood and stretched before stepping over to the corner behind her desk to fetch her bag.

  “Speaking of the future—do you want to
go to a party with me this weekend?”

  “What kind of party?”

  “It’s a welcome home, congratulations on getting your graduate degree party for my friend Iris. Casual, fun and there will be a ton of people.”

  A party was exactly what she needed to meet people, make some connections, become a part of the community. She wanted people to get to know her before hearing about her and reaching the wrong conclusions, although she knew the “mud story” had probably already raced through town faster than a staph infection in an untreated wound.

  “That would be wonderful, Flynn. Thanks.”

  CHAPTER THREE

  “WE’RE GOING TO the Cozy Caribou,” Flynn said after they exited the hospital. By silent mutual consent, they paused to admire the water of the bay sparkling below them like freshly ground glass. Thick green forest fanned out from snow-capped mountains jutting upward in the distance.

  “See that red roof over there?” He pointed toward the middle of town, and Ally couldn’t help but notice the rectangular-shaped building situated roughly in the center. It seemed to be a pretty big place by small-town standards, certainly in relation to Saltdove, the remote village she’d grown up in, where there were exactly two “large” buildings, neither of which would ever be described as such.

  “It would be difficult to miss. Let’s walk?”

  Flynn nodded and took off at an unhurried pace. “This kind of evening makes me remember why I love it here.”

  Ally agreed it was gorgeous. She’d only visited Rankins a few times before moving here, and she enjoyed the walk, seeing the tiny historic town through Flynn’s enthusiastic eyes as he pointed out businesses and landmarks, adding fun facts and anecdotes.

  And clearly, Flynn wasn’t the only resident proud of their little town. Evidence of Rankins’s heritage was everywhere. They passed old fishing boats and equipment, vintage logging and mining tools, all strategically displayed and interspersed with newer, attractive sculptures and wood carvings. Along with the eclectic mix of building styles, the layout provided a pleasing glimpse of the town’s interesting and varied past.