Calico Cupid

by Kay P. Dawson

  “I’m fine. My hip hasn’t hurt at all. It’s almost as though this amazing miracle worker physiotherapist knew exactly what I needed to do to make myself better.”

  He looked over and grinned at her, his dimple drawing her attention.

  “He sounds wonderful.”

  She laughed and rolled her eyes. “I guess you could say that. At least my cat seems to think so anyway.”

  “Cats are usually quite a good judge of character, so I’ve been told.”

  He pushed ahead of her to go up the narrow trail and she watched his retreating back as he moved in the saddle. If she hadn’t known he was a physiotherapist living in town, she honestly would have believed he was a cowboy through to the bone.

  She followed slowly, letting her body just relax into the saddle. Her face lifted slightly to let the sunlight kiss her cheeks. This was where she felt alive. She couldn’t believe how much she’d missed riding, and what would have happened if she’d never even tried again.

  When she stopped behind Travis, she took her foot out of the stirrup to throw her leg over the horse’s back, wanting to show him how perfectly fine she was. Maybe then he’d be willing to go for just a little bit longer.

  But before she got her leg all the way over, her foot caught on something and she felt herself start to lose her balance. A quiet scream flew from her lips as she hit the ground in an inelegant cloud of dust.

  She clenched her eyes closed as she heard Travis’s boots hit the ground and race over to her. “Caroline! Are you all right? Why didn’t you just wait for me to help you down?”

  She was lying on her stomach where she’d rolled after she landed. Her pride was hurt more than anything, and if she had her way, she’d just stay here like this until Travis left so she didn’t have to face him. But since Frank was now over at her too, nudging her gently with his soft nose and snorting to get her attention, she knew that wasn’t an option.

  She rolled onto her back and sat up. “I’m fine. My ego is probably the thing bruised the most. I wanted to show you that my leg wasn’t hurting too badly, and that I was perfectly capable of getting off the horse by myself, like I’ve done a million times before.”

  He put his hand onto her shoulder, stopping her from standing up. “Just stay on the ground for a second. Let me see if anything is hurt.”

  She tilted her head slightly, starting to get annoyed at the needless attention. “I said, I’m fine. I just need to stand up.” She pushed both Travis’s hand, and Frank’s nose out of her way and stood up. As she slapped at her pants to get the dust out, she kept her eyes down. She hadn’t meant to snap at him like that, but she was embarrassed and a little bit angry with herself. Dismounting had always been so easy for her, but now she had to struggle to relearn so much after being away from it for so long.

  “You know, you could have just told me you wanted to go a bit farther. I wouldn’t have said no.”

  She shrugged and moved over to lead Frank to a small creek where the horses could have a drink. She still couldn’t look Travis in the eye until she’d had a second to compose herself. Of course, she knew the reason she hadn’t outright asked him.

  For so long, she’d been used to avoiding any kind of argument or confrontation, so she’d had to find ways to be creative to get her way sometimes. It was still going to take some time to get used to being around someone who would genuinely listen to what she was asking and not get annoyed or angry with her if it didn’t line up with what he wanted to do.

  “Here you go, boy. Sorry for startling you there. You’ve been such a gentleman today.” She patted Frank’s neck to assure him she wasn’t angry with him for what had happened.

  Finally, she knew she couldn’t ignore Travis forever, so she turned around to face him with a wide smile on her face. She hoped it would take his eyes away from the burning in her cheeks.

  He was leaning back against Wayne with his arms crossed as he watched her. “I’m not even going to ask how your leg is feeling.”

  She smiled sweetly at him. “Good. Because I’m not going to tell you.”

  He pushed off his horse and walked over to her, shaking his head. “You’re a stubborn woman.”

  But the way he said the words weren’t accusing, like she’d often heard from Lawrence if she’d tried to stand up for herself. Travis was smiling as he said them and didn’t seem in the least bit upset. In fact, she almost thought it sounded like he was giving her a compliment.

  He came right over to her and took her hand in his. “But please don’t scare me like that again. Next time, let me be a gentleman and help the lady down from her horse.”

  She rolled her eyes and laughed nervously, no longer able to focus on anything but the way his fingers were moving on her skin.

  When his other hand came up to softly touch her cheek, she automatically leaned her head into his palm.

  “Caroline, I know you’ve been through a lot and I don’t ever want to push you into anything you aren’t ready for. But I haven’t been able to stop thinking about you since the day I saw you in my parents’ office. And, I know—”

  She cut him off and brought her hands up to take his collar and pull him down to her. “Travis, would you please quit talking and just kiss me?”

  Never in her life had she been so bold, but this man in front of her gave her a confidence she’d never known before. And the truth was, she really did want him to kiss her.

  His smile sent goose bumps over her skin as he lowered his lips to hers. He gently started to move them as he held her cheek in his hand, his fingers slowly going to the back of her neck.

  This time, when her legs gave out beneath her, she was grateful to have him holding her up.

  As he lifted his head, he smiled down at her, brushing the few hairs back that had come loose from her ponytail. His other arm was around her back, holding her close to him.

  “I’ve wanted to do that for so long.”

  Her heart pounded in her chest as she tried to get her breathing under control. “You’ve only known me three weeks. That’s not too long.” She couldn’t believe she was actually standing here in his arms, flirting with him like this.

  “It was for me.” He brought his lips back down to hers, and she knew that he might have been waiting a few weeks to kiss her, but she’d been waiting her whole life to feel like this.

  Chapter Fourteen

  “Now push against my hands as hard as you can. Don’t be afraid to knock me over.”

  Travis held his hands out for Caroline to push her feet against his body strength. She was lying on some mats on his office floor that he’d set up for working on patients.

  “Well, I don’t know if I can now. My leg was feeling perfectly fine until I got here and now you’ve made me do so many exercises, it feels like every muscle from my waist down is on fire.”

  He grinned down at her flushed face. “I have to say, you’re one of the more difficult patients I’ve had in my room. Most of the people are so grateful for my help, they don’t dare complain.”

  She huffed and closed her eyes as she strained to push against him. “Not to your face, at least.”

  He grunted as she pushed hard enough to move him backward, almost making him topple over. “That’s great! I knew you had a little bit of strength left in there.”

  The exercises he’d given her before had obviously helped to improve her muscle strength, but today he’d wanted to see what else he could do to heal things completely. By the way she was already progressing, he suspected it would be no time at all until she was a lot better. There would likely always be a lingering ache if she stood too long or sat in one position, but at least she wasn’t going to be suffering with it as often as she had been.

  “Well, I don’t now. I’m done. If you make me do one more exercise, I’m going to pick this weight up and throw it at your head.” He laughed as she weakly fumbled to lift the light weight he’d wrapped around her ankles for one of the previous exercises.

  “Ye
s, I’d say if you’re at the point of threatening your therapist, you’re likely done for the day.”

  She started to sit up, so he reached out and offered his hand to get her upright on the mat. She sat with her arms over her bent legs and tried to slow her breathing down. He felt a slight twinge of guilt for working her so hard, but he couldn’t take it easy on her just because she was Caroline.

  Even if it did bother him more than it did with his regular patients.

  “Now, if we do this at least once a week for just a few weeks, I’d say you’ll be as good as new.”

  She squinted at him and shook her head slowly. “If I do this once a week, you’re going to have to get used to carrying me everywhere because I’m pretty sure I have no feeling left in my legs.”

  “Funny, until now, I didn’t realize you were so melodramatic.” He helped her to stand up, holding onto her hand for a moment longer to steady her. She leaned onto the table beside her while she got her balance.

  “Well, I’m not saying I don’t appreciate your help but I kind of thought maybe you would go easy on me since I let you kiss me.”

  He grinned at her as he pulled her a little closer. “If I remember correctly, you demanded I kiss you. I was just being a gentleman and doing as asked.”

  She pretended to think about it for a second, looking off to the side as though she was deep in concentration. “No, I distinctly remember you were fumbling around, trying to ask if you could kiss me. I just made it a little easier for you.”

  He lowered his head toward her but just before their lips touched, her phone rang, the sound echoing through the quiet room. He groaned and shook his head.

  “Can we just ignore that? I’m sure if it’s important, they’ll call back.”

  She gently pushed him away, laughing as she walked over to her bag. “It’s probably your mom wondering when I’m coming back to work. I didn’t think I’d be gone this long. And I still need to have a shower.”

  He leaned back against the table and watched her. Her cheeks were red and shiny from exertion and her hair had strands poking out all over from her ponytail. But he was sure he’d never seen anyone more beautiful in his life.

  As she pulled her phone out and looked down at the number, her eyebrows pulled together. “It’s my brother. He never calls me during the day.”

  She quickly answered, a concerned look on her face. As he listened, he knew something was wrong. He went over to her and reached out to hold her arm, letting her lean into him slightly.

  “Okay, Dylan. I’ll be right there. Tell him I’m on my way.”

  When she hung up, tears started to roll down her cheeks. “Dad’s had a heart attack. I need to go home.”

  His mind raced as he thought what he could do to change his appointments around and go with her. He knew he was booked solid for the rest of the week, so he wasn’t sure how he was going to do it.

  She was frantically grabbing for her bag and trying to find everything she needed as she stumbled around in confusion. “I have to hurry and get a flight booked and get to the airport. I need to tell your parents what’s going on, and Bentley…” She looked up at him with her eyes so big and full of fear, he just wanted to take it all away.

  Instead, he reached out and pulled her over to him. “Stop, Caroline. Just take a breath. What did your brother say?”

  She swallowed as she leaned into him. “Dad had a heart attack this morning. He’s in the ICU at the hospital, and he didn’t know anything else.”

  “Well, I’ve never met your dad, but from what you’ve told me about him, he sounds like a strong man. Now, stop worrying about all the details. I’m going to walk you back to your place so you can have a shower and pack what you need. I’ll take care of everything else.”

  “But, I’m going to need a ride to the airport, and I don’t even know when I’ll be back, so someone’s going to have to watch Bentley…”

  “Caroline, stop. I said I’d take care of things. I’ll get your flight booked and take you to the airport. I wish I could go with you, but I just don’t know how I can get away right now, so I’ll do the next best thing. Bentley can come and chill at my place for a few days. He’s there half the time now anyway.”

  Her chin was wavering as she fought the tears. “Thank you. I don’t know how long I’ll have to be gone. I need to make sure I talk to your mom and dad.”

  “They’ll understand. There’s nothing more important to them than family, trust me. Now, let’s go get everything ready. Bentley is most likely already at my house, so that will be one less thing to do.”

  The cat was still coming over every day, either to the office or his house. Sometimes, he’d be sleeping on one of his patio chairs waiting for him to come home and let him in. And they still couldn’t figure out how he was escaping but at least he only seemed to go straight to Travis without making himself a nuisance anywhere else.

  She was still standing in his arms, so he held her close and offered her the time she needed. His hand reached up and cupped the back of her head as he planted a kiss on top. “Everything is going to be okay, Caroline. Just worry about one thing at a time, and right now, that’s getting yourself to your dad. Nothing else matters.”

  She held onto him tight and nodded. “I know. And thank you. Having you here to lean on means more to me than you know.”

  Travis knew he’d quit his job and fly to the end of the earth for her if that’s what she needed right now. But thankfully, she just needed his shoulder, and that was something he was more than willing to give.

  Chapter Fifteen

  Caroline ran down the hall toward the small waiting room the nurse had pointed to. She’d texted her brother to let him know she’d made it and had rented a car from the airport. As soon as she saw him sitting in a chair, hunched over from hours of exhaustion, she broke down crying.

  “Dylan, is he okay? I got here as fast as I could. You haven’t told me much else, so I still don’t know how serious it is.”

  The drive to the airport and then the flight and drive to the hospital had taken almost twelve hours from when she’d first received the phone call about her dad. Her brother had been giving her updates, but not much except to say he was still in intensive care. She worried that her brother just wasn’t telling her how bad things really were until she got there.

  Dylan stood up and hugged her, and they stood in the darkness of the small room lit only by a small lamp in the corner and the glow from the streetlights outside.

  “They’re going to do surgery tomorrow, if he’s stable enough. It will be a triple bypass but they say if he comes through that all right, his prognosis is very good. So, we just have to keep praying that he’s tough enough to get through this.”

  She laughed quietly through her tears. “Well, we know he’s tough enough. If anyone is strong enough to get through this, it’s him.”

  Ian MacGregor was a tough-as-nails Scotsman, who even though he was born in the United States, still held onto the burly gruffness in his personality which he’d learned from his father. Her grandfather had moved here from Scotland years ago, and from what she could remember of him, her dad was the spitting image. All her life, Caroline had known her dad was the strongest man alive. He’d been her rock and the person she counted on the most.

  “Can I see him? Is he awake?” She pulled back and looked up at her brother.

  He nodded slowly. “He is, but I should warn you. He probably doesn’t look as tough as you remember. Just don’t go in there and be surprised.”

  She swallowed as he led her to the doorway to her father’s room. When she stepped inside, it was dimly lit so she struggled to see him. As soon as she did, she brought her hand up to her mouth to cover her shock.

  He was lying in the bed with tubes everywhere, and cords hooked up to monitors. But the part that scared her the most was seeing him look so pale against the whiteness of the pillow behind him. His eyes opened slowly, and a weak smile came over his face.

  “Ca
roline.” She could barely hear his voice over the constant humming of the monitors in the room.

  She raced over and took his hand, bringing it up to her cheek. “Hi, Dad. I came as soon as I could.”

  He shook his head and closed his eyes for a second. “You didn’t need to come. I’m going to be fine. It would take more than a heart attack to slow this old guy down.”

  “Dad, just relax and stop trying to talk. I’m here now, so there’s no use grumbling about it.”

  He smiled at her and squeezed her hand. “It’s nice to see you back to your old feisty self again, my girl.”

  “If I’m feisty, it’s because I learned it from the master.” She grinned at the man everyone had always told her she was so much like when she was growing up.

  “It must have something to do with that physiotherapist you’ve been hanging around with up in Idaho.”

  She rolled her eyes at her father. “Dad…”

  He chuckled softly. “I wasn’t born yesterday, Caroline. I watched you become a shell of yourself when you were with Lawrence, but as soon as you were away from him, you started to bloom again. I’m just happy to see you’ve found someone who doesn’t want to change you and who makes you happy.”

  She thought about Travis and wished he could have come with her to meet her dad. She knew he would approve of him. “Well, I’ll make you a deal. When you get better, you can take a trip up to visit me, and you can meet him to make sure he’s acceptable.”

  He laughed and shook his head again. “No need. I can tell by the tone of your voice when I talk to you on the phone and by the look in your eyes while we talk about him. I’d say you’ve got yourself a good one there, Caroline. And trust me, after Lawrence, winning my approval was going to take someone pretty special.”

  Hearing her dad believe Travis was good for her, eased any lingering worry she might have had that he could end up being just as bad as Lawrence someday.