Page 33 of Love's Home Run

“Come on inside and wait. You’ll be more comfortable there,” said Ross with a note of concern.

She walked into the office with him to please him and noticed a comfortable waiting area.

The receptionist checking him in smiled up at Ross. “It’s quite an honor to have you here. Margo can’t wait to work with you.”

A young woman with long blond hair woven into two braids walked over to greet him. Wearing jeans and a sleeveless top, she appeared to be at the height of physical conditioning. “Hi, Ross. I’m Margo, your new torturer.”

He grinned at the challenge. “We’ll see about that. Meet my neighbor, Melissa Hendrickson. She’s kind enough to drive me here for my appointments. She’s a talented chef, so if you come to Lilac Lake, be sure to eat at Fins.”

“I’ve eaten there, and the food was delicious,” said Margo.

“Hi, Margo, and thanks for the promotion, Ross,” said Melissa, feeling her cheeks burn. She wished she could be more sophisticated and handle compliments better, but she wasn’t used to them.

After Ross and Margo headed out back, Melissa sat and opened her eReader. While she read, she could hear Ross’s efforts echoing in the workout room as he pushed through the pain of getting full use of his leg again. This surgery was simpler than the ones he’d endured before, the ones following his motorcycle accident, and she realized how hard he’d worked to walk naturally again with pins in his leg.

She felt fortunate to have someone like Ross as a friend. He was kind, hard-working, and determined. In some ways, they were alike. Her thoughts flew to Dirk. What had happened to make him back away?

CHAPTER THIRTEEN

Later, when Ross stepped into the waiting room, he had a towel wrapped around his neck, and his face was still flushed from the exercise.

“How was it?” she asked him, turning off her reader, sliding it into her bag, and standing.

“Like Margo warned, torture. But it’s all good. The few weeks following surgery and what you do to get back into shape determine what a full recovery will look like.”

They went outside, and as Melissa helped him into the car, he turned to her. “Can you do me a big favor?”

“Sure, what is it?”

“I know how important healthy food is. And I’ve had a lot of food delivered to my house. But what I want right now is a drive-through hamburger and fries. I don’t care which restaurant it is. Can we do that?”

Melissa laughed. “What makes you think I don’t enjoy a double-double burger now and then? Though I must admit, no one makes better fries than Fins.”

“The treat’s on me,” said Ross, pulling his legs into the car.

She closed his door and climbed into the car, already hungry.

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Later, Ross turned to her as they sat in her car eating their lunch. “You’re such a good sport, Melissa. Thanks for doing this.”

“No problem. In return, I need to ask you something. My first date with Dirk went well. Or so I thought. But he hasn’t called to set up a second date.”

A look of surprise crossed Ross’s face. “Haven’t you heard? Dirk’s uncle has some sort of health issue and can’t work. Dirk has been covering for him while getting his orthodontist practice going. No one has seen or heard from him in days. I guess he’s working like crazy to keep everything going smoothly.”

“I must have missed the news. No one at Jake’s has mentioned it, but then, I haven’t been to Jake’s in a while. Sometimes, I feel so left out.”

“I get how you must feel, but believe me, his not calling has nothing to do with you. Just circumstances. The only reason I know is that I had to cancel my appointment with him.”

“Oh, good. I thought it had something to do with me,” said Melissa, feeling her stress ease.

Ross studied her. “You’ve been holding out on me. You never mentioned you were a state champion for the high school softball team. What’s up with that?”

Melissa shrugged. “It seems silly compared to your career.”

“You underestimate yourself, Melissa. I bet the boys in high school were crazy about you.”

“A couple,” Melissa admitted. “But it never went anywhere. High school is tough for some of us. Itcertainly didn’t help me. I was the tall tomboy with no fashion sense at all.”

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