by K Carothers
She stopped moving and looked up at Luke in shock.
“What is it, Erin?” he asked, pulling her closer.
“My mom…She used to take me swimming in the ocean. And we’d gone the day she died—I’m sure of it. I remember she got me a new beach towel before we went, and it was out drying on the balcony that night. It was pink, with a mermaid on it. I’ve seen that image in my mind so many times over the years. I just could never place it until now.”
Erin looked up at the sky and concentrated on relaxing her body again as she floated, wanting to remember this time. “It was windy that day, and the waves were higher than normal. My mom held my hand and we waded out a little ways. I was afraid because the waves were so high. But she told me not to worry, that she wouldn’t let me go. And when the waves came in we floated up into them together, then came back down again, over and over. Pretty soon we were both laughing. I’d never seen her laugh like that before. I’d never seen her look so happy.”
Tears filled Erin’s eyes. “Here I go again,” she said with a sigh as they slid down her cheeks. She impatiently tried to wipe them away, but the water on her fingers only wet her face more.
“Why don’t we get out of here and sit on the beach? I think you’ve had enough for one day.”
Erin nodded, and without thinking she started to turn her body and lower her legs into the water, intending to stand up.
Luke quickly gathered her back into his arms. “Let’s not have you try that here, Erin. You’ll be up to your neck in water—literally. I don’t think you’re quite ready for that yet.”
He carried her a little closer to shore and eased her down there. The water barely reached her chest, but even so, when her feet hit the sandy bottom of the pond it still took her a moment to get her bearings, now that she was standing on her own this time.
“I’m like the reverse of a beached whale in here,” Erin ruefully quipped. “What would you call that? A ponded human?”
Luke smiled down at her, lightly resting his hands on her hips to keep her steady. “You remind me of a newborn filly I saw not too long ago. She was all legs when she got up for the first time and tried to walk. It was the cutest thing, watching her figure it out. I don’t know how many times I thought she was going to fall. But pretty soon she was galloping around like she’d been doing it forever.” He gazed searchingly into her eyes. “I’d love to help you figure this out, Erin. And if you do fall, I’ll be there to catch you.”
Looking up at him, Erin realized she might already be falling. “Luke…” she said uncertainly.
He took her hands in his, giving them a reassuring squeeze. “One step at a time,” he said, and pulled her gently toward the shore.
Erin glanced back to make sure Jenna was okay as they got out of the water, then wrapped a towel around her shoulders and sat down next to Luke in the sand. “Do you ride horses?” she asked, watching him dry his hair. She wondered what it would feel like to run her fingers through that thick hair.
“Yeah, I do. It’s kind of a hobby of mine.”
Erin opened her mouth to ask more about that, but he started rubbing his chest with the towel, and she couldn't remember what she was going to say. Yearning filled her all over again as she watched him, and she imagined her hands on his chest instead. And then her lips. Her tongue. Tasting him…She forgot how to breathe for a second and looked away, pulling her own towel closer.
Luke finished drying off and turned to her. “Colin O’Reilly, the surgeon I told you about, bought a horse ranch south of town when he moved back here. I go there to ride pretty often.” He debated whether or not to tell her that Colin’s wife, Sophia, was also a fertility specialist, the same one Scott and his wife had gone to. But he decided to save that for another day. “Do you ride?” he asked instead.
Erin hesitantly glanced at him. Much to her relief, he had his arms folded over his bent knees, reducing at least some of the bare skin her wandering eyes could behold. “I’ve never even touched a horse before. But I think I know the place you’re talking about. It’s probably the one I drove by yesterday.” Which seems like a lifetime ago, she thought.
“If you’d like, I can take you over there one of these days and teach you how to ride. I’m sure Colin and Sophia wouldn’t mind. In fact, if Colin is there he would probably insist on teaching you himself. He’s more into horses than anyone I’ve ever met. But it’s a great way to forget about the rest of the world for a while—or at least I think so.” Luke flashed her a grin and lay back on his towel, blissfully closing his eyes. “Hopefully we’d get a day like today. This is perfect weather for riding.”
Erin slowly smiled as she regarded him, realizing how much she did want to ride a horse. “Yes, I would love to learn.” Maybe that world wasn’t quite so far out of her reach after all.
Still smiling at the thought of riding a horse, Erin gazed back out at the pond—and her smile instantly vanished. Jenna was wading in, and something was wrong. She was moving a lot more tentatively than normal and had a dazed look on her face.
Then all of a sudden she staggered and appeared on the verge of falling over.
“Jenna!” Erin cried. And without a second thought she threw off her towel and frantically splashed into the pond. It didn’t even register in her brain that she couldn’t swim. Her only concern was Jenna.
Fortunately, her friend wasn’t in too deep, and she managed to grab hold of her before either of them went under.
“I—I think I may have…overdone it…a little,” Jenna whispered, her face ominously pale.
Luke reached them a split second later and scooped Jenna up into his arms. “Let’s get you out of here.”
“Really, Luke. This isn’t necessary,” Jenna feebly objected as he carried her toward the beach.
“Bring her to the house right away,” Erin said. And when they got back to shore she grabbed a bottle of water and opened it. “Drink this, Jenna. I’m going to run ahead and get my medical bag.”
“Erin, I’ll be—”
“Drink, Jenna.” Erin gave her the bottle, then picked up her swim robe and dashed to the house, throwing the robe on as she silently chastised herself. She should never have asked Jenna to go into the pond with her.
She retrieved her medical bag upstairs and came back down just as Luke was carrying Jenna in through the kitchen patio doors. “Take her into the bedroom,” she said.
Jenna shook her head in distress. “No, I’d rather lay on the couch. Please.”
“Okay, Jen. That’s fine,” Erin reassured her.
Luke brought Jenna into the living room and carefully laid her down. “I’ll go grab a towel.”
Erin put her medical bag on the floor and set Jenna’s water bottle aside, then helped her out of the wetsuit. And with her friend stripped down to the swimsuit she had on, a pang of sadness hit Erin, seeing just how thin Jenna had gotten.
“I’ll spare your eyes,” Jenna said with a weak smile, pulling a blanket off the back of the couch to cover herself.
Erin sat down and smoothed the wet hair away from Jenna’s face. “We have to work on your diet. And you need to start drinking more fluids.”
Luke returned a moment later with the towel and handed it to Erin. “How are you feeling, Jen?”
“I’m fine. The two of you are making this out to be a bigger deal than it is.”
“You nearly passed out in the water,” Erin said as she unfolded the towel and tucked it under Jenna’s head, using the ends to dry her hair. “I’m so sorry I made you go in there. I’m definitely giving myself the worst friend ever award for that one.”
“No, I’m glad you did.” A soft smile crossed Jenna’s face. “It brought back a lot of great memories. And being in the water took so much pressure off my bones. I haven’t felt that good in a long time…Thank you.”
Erin finished drying Jenna’s hair and hand
ed her the water bottle. “Well, I’m still giving myself the worst friend ever award. I deserve it anyway.”
Luke put his hand on Erin’s shoulder and gently squeezed. “No, you don’t. I was pretty impressed with how you jumped right into the water to help Jenna. You were halfway to her before I even knew what was going on.”
“She needed help. That’s all I was thinking about.” Erin grimaced. “I’m just glad she wasn’t in deeper. That would not have been a good time to find out if I’d literally sink or swim.”
Luke squeezed her shoulder again. “Another reason we need to have more swimming lessons.”
Erin nodded. After the way she’d jumped heedlessly into the water, there was no longer any question that she needed to learn how to swim. But another idea occurred to her as she regarded Jenna. “I think we should get a hot tub. It would be good for you, and I don’t want you swimming in the pond anymore.”
“A hot tub sounds wonderful. But if you don’t go in with me, I will go back in the pond,” Jenna said, the sparkle returning to her eyes. “Although a hot tub might not be the best place for swimming lessons.”
Luke grinned devilishly. “I’m sure there are plenty of things I can teach her in there.”
Erin felt her heart skip a beat with his words. Jenna gave her a knowing smile, and flustered, she pulled her stethoscope out of the medical bag on the floor. “I need to check you over, Jen.”
“No you don’t. I’m fine now.”
“I’ll be the judge of that.” Erin placed the buds of the stethoscope into her ears and pressed the diaphragm against Jenna’s chest. Her heart rate was a little fast, but the rhythm was regular, with otherwise normal heart sounds. Then she listened to her lungs and heard the air move smoothly in and out. No rattling or wheezing anywhere.
Jenna grinned, watching Erin hang the stethoscope around her neck. “Do you realize, after all the years we’ve known each other, this is the first time I’ve actually seen you with a stethoscope? I always imagined you doing your job in scrubs, not in a swimsuit.”
Erin laughed shortly. “I never imagined myself doing anything in a swimsuit.” She took a blood pressure monitor out of her bag and wrapped the cuff around Jenna’s arm, checking her pressure. “It’s 90 over 54. That’s too low,” she said with a frown.
“Oh, blame it on the morphine,” Jenna responded mildly.
Erin removed the cuff and packed her equipment back into the bag. “You still need to rest. And I’m not going to let you get off this couch for the rest of the day. That’s an order.”
Jenna opened her mouth to object, but Erin cut her off before she could start. “I know you don’t want me to be your doctor, but just humor me once in a while, okay?” She smiled ruefully. “It’s about the only thing I’m any good at, after all.”
“I will on one condition,” Jenna said.
Erin groaned. “Your conditions have gotten us both into trouble so far.”
“Everything’s gone rather swimmingly, if you ask me,” Jenna quipped. Then she touched Erin’s arm, and her expression sobered. “I’d like you to talk to Luke’s dad about picking up an ER shift here and there. I think it would be good for you.”
“I didn’t take another job in Boston because I needed a break, Jen.”
“You were planning to take a break for a few weeks, not months. And this would be a complete change of pace from Boston. You’ll get a chance to experience a small town ER for the first time. I think it would at least be interesting.”
Erin reluctantly smiled. “Are you trying to get rid of me already?”
“No, I just want you to be happy. And if all you can do is check my blood pressure once in a while or listen to my lungs, you won’t be. I know you, Erin. You need medicine as much as it needs you.”
“I’m sure the shifts would be long. Even if I would only fill in here and there I don’t want to leave you alone for extended periods of time like that.”
“I’ll stay with her when I can,” Luke offered. “And we’ll make sure someone else is available otherwise. There are plenty of people who’d be willing to help.”
Erin sighed. “Okay, fine.” She turned to face Luke—and then wished she hadn’t. She’d forgotten he was still only in his swim trunks. And now she was at eye level with his groin. She blinked, forgetting what she was about to say. “I, ah…Will your dad be around Monday?”
Luke misinterpreted the pained expression on her face. “Why don’t you think it over a little more first, Erin? And if you’re still interested, you can talk to my dad about it after church tomorrow. Jenna said you were going with her, so we’ll look for you there.”
Erin tried to ignore the little thrill that went through her at the thought of seeing Luke again so soon. “As long as Jenna is feeling up to it.” She turned back to her friend, and a slight smile curved her lips. “Now I have a condition for you, Jenna Godfrey. If you don’t do everything I tell you to for the rest of the day, we won’t go to church tomorrow.”
“Okay, Dr. Pryce, I’ll follow your orders,” Jenna conceded.
“I’m going to head upstairs and change,” Luke said, giving Erin’s shoulder one last squeeze before he left.
Jenna laughed softly. “One question has been answered today: There is definitely some serious chemistry between you and Luke. The sparks I’ve seen flying should have set this house on fire by now.”
Erin smiled weakly in response, smoothing the blanket out over Jenna. “Yes, there’s a whole lot of chemistry. But I just don’t see how it could possibly work out.”
Jenna covered Erin's hand. “Confucius once said, ‘Life is really simple, but we insist on making it complicated.’ Don’t overthink this, Erin. Just let it happen.”
Erin sighed in frustration. “But what if I can’t get past my inhibitions, Jen? They’ve destroyed every relationship I’ve been in, including my marriage. I’m sure Peter’s infidelity was just the end result. Even if I’d gotten pregnant it probably would have happened eventually anyway. There was so much of myself I never gave him, either emotionally or physically. And I don’t want to make the same mistakes with Luke. I feel things for him that I’ve definitely never felt before, and we connect on so many levels. But knowing me, there’s still a really good chance I’ll screw things up, especially…well, especially the sex part.”
“You sound more comfortable saying the word, at least.”
“I need to do a whole lot more than say the word.” Erin smiled wryly, remembering their conversation yesterday. “Maybe I should get a vibrator. It would at least be a start—a jump start with a handheld power tool.” As soon as she said it they both burst out laughing.
“What’s so funny?” Luke asked, walking back into the room.
Erin’s eyes widened, and she continued to look down at Jenna, not daring to turn her head.
Jenna grinned. “We were just talking about how to jump start Erin’s car.”
“Jenna,” Erin whispered, though she couldn’t help but smile at the mischievous expression on her friend’s face.
Luke sat down on the arm of the couch. “Is something wrong with your battery, Erin?”
Trying not to laugh, Jenna answered for her. “Oh, I think her car just needs a really good tune-up, that’s all.” Then she gave Erin another impish grin, and before long they were both choking back laughter.
Luke eyed them with a raised brow. “It might be funny to the two of you, but in my experience women often don’t think hard enough about taking care of their vehicles. No offense, but guys usually pay more attention to theirs. A woman tends to forget about things like her battery, and then she ends up stranded somewhere. I’ve seen it happen more times than I can count. The good thing is, they make these portable jump starters now that are handy to keep in your vehicle—”
Both women started laughing hysterically before he could finish, and he slowly shook his hea
d. “I’m obviously missing something here.”
“Luke…Dear Luke,” Jenna said between laughs, wiping tears from her eyes.
“I think I have enough room—for one of those—in my trunk now,” Erin managed to get out, and they laughed even harder.
“Oh, Erin,” Jenna said after a while. “I don’t think I’ve ever laughed this hard in my life.”
Erin smiled down at her. “You’re forgetting about that time we were in Virginia and I was attacked by an ostrich. I think you laughed just as hard that time.”
“How do you get attacked by an ostrich in Virginia?” Luke asked curiously.
“Call yourself Erin Pryce,” Jenna said with another laugh.
Erin finally glanced back at Luke and saw he’d changed into a T-shirt and jeans. But when that inquisitive blue gaze collided with hers she felt the heat of a blush creep over her cheeks. “We went to a drive-thru zoo there, and an ostrich put its head through the open window while I was driving. It scared me to death, and I ended up swerving off the road and almost hit a buffalo.”
“I still say it was trying to kiss you, not peck your eyes out,” Jenna said, breaking into more helpless laughter.
“Okay, you need to settle down, my friend, before you overexert yourself with laughter this time,” Erin told her. “And you haven’t had enough to drink. I’ll go make you a glass of chocolate milk since we need to get more calories into you, too.” She also needed to make a quick escape before Luke asked any more questions about her battery.
She headed to the kitchen, contemplating what she would say if he brought that up again. She could just imagine him offering to pop her hood and check things out. Jenna would probably have a lot to say about that.
After making the chocolate milk, Erin returned to the living room and saw that Luke was giving Jenna a hug goodbye. It meant she didn’t have to worry about him asking any more questions that would make her blush, but she wasn’t as relieved as she thought she would be. In fact, she wasn’t relieved at all.