Page 32 of Dream a Little Dream

“Apparently, I wanted to see you. How’s Tim Jr.?” Her eight-year-old son was a bundle of mischievous energy who once took down a whole display of microwave popcorn while I watched.

“Lives in his treehouse and pretends he’s Spider-Man. About gives me a heart attack every time I walk into the kitchen and find him perched on the counter like a statue. Follow me.” Tasha opened a door to one of their small, uninteresting, and uncomfortable looking exam rooms that could really take a page from the library’s book, no pun intended. She gingerly helped me onto the bed with the glamorous tissue paper covering and gave my knee an affectionate tap. “You make yourself comfy for a few and fill out this paperwork. Then we’ll get you all fixed up.”

“Will do,” I said, trying to ignore the throbbing from smack in the middle of my foot. I hadn’t yet revisited the semi-dramatic scene I’d caused at the store. I knew there would be an onslaught of inquiries about how I was doing for the next four years. I would now be remembered for being taken down by a wayward berry brigade. A shame I’d have to live with. I turned dutifully to the clipboard Tasha had handed me and went to work.

“How’s the pain?” Elizabeth asked, offering a sympathetic wince. Her perfectly messy ponytail showed off the intermingling shades of brown and blond unique to Elizabeth. She even had a few auburn additions if you looked closely enough. I’d always been a fan of her hair-of-many-hues.

“It’s significant and infuriating. Of all the things I truly didn’t need.”

She quirked her head. “Hey, look at me. Sometimes you just have to surrender to what the world has in store for you. Today, you’re supposed to be right here in this very room for reasons we’re not even aware of. So, make friends with this room and let go.”

“I should be at work right now, not—”Staring into the eyes of a gorgeous woman who makes me hot every time she walks into a room. Kyle Remington, soap opera doctor and bridge ditcher, stood right there in our very exam room, wearing a lab coat and hitting me with the vibrance of those aqua eyes. Did the universe just have it out for me?

“I hear there was a fall,” Kyle said, an iPad pressed to her side like a boss. “You okay?” She dropped her brows in concern.

“Why is it you again?” I blurted, taking a beat to look at the door behind her as ifithad made a mistake. They’d sent the wrong person in, surely. I took a breath and tried the word thing again. “I don’t understand. You don’t work here.”

“I do. Temporarily.” She smiled and hooked a thumb behind her. “I met Dr. Collette at the duck pond in the park. He and his son were feeding the little guys and we got to swapping stories. He told me how short-staffed they were this season and wondered if I’d be interested in jumping in.”

I honestly couldn’t believe this.

“I said okay, and what do you know? They extended me privileges.”

Of course they did. I was more than floored. I wasn’t rolling well with this particular punch, and my foot throbbed so much I could scarcely work my busy brain. Wasn’t I due for some sort of hiatus from plot twists? “Wait. Aren’t you leaving tomorrow? I have you down for checkout and another booking for the house right behind it. Unfortunately, I can’t cancel it.” That should do it. Back to Charleston she’d have to go.

“Not exactly,” Kyle said, brightening. “I thought I’d stick around a little bit. I like the town, and Dan set me up with a place on the beach for a little while.”

Dammit, Dan. I stared her down with white hot intensity. “Fabulous,” I bit out. “That’s so, so great.” I apparently found it important to emphasize each word.

“Well, we can always use more doctors,” Elizabeth said. “I, for one, always say the more doctors, the safer we all are.”

“You’ve never said that.” Then a thought struck. KC Colette was her best friend in all of life, and Dan was KC’s husband. “You knew about this.”

I watched the blood drain from her face. “I heard a little bit in KC’s kitchen.”

“Traitor,” I mouthed as Kyle worked on her iPad. Apparently, my week on this planet had pushed me too damn far.

Caught, Elizabeth’s eyes went wide and she stood looking fearful. “I’m going to give you two a minute or eighteen.”

“You don’t have to do that.” I pointed at the chair she’d just vacated.

“Do, too.”

I watched her scurry away, realizing Kyle and I were about to be alone.

Kyle watched me, brow arched in interest, but seemingly unaffected. She always managed to project happy and collected, which made me wonder all the more about what went on inside her head. What did Kyle actuallythinkabout things? I felt like there had been a time when I knew. It wasn’t today.

“So, tell me what happened to your foot.”

I sighed. “Damn strawberry attacked me.”

“With a weapon or without?” she asked without delay, now fully engaged with the iPad. She was too good at this.

“Without. I was walking through the produce section, technically aisle one, and knocked a carton of those suckers with my elbow. The assailant and his group of friends tumbled to the floor. I did my best to avoid.”

“And failed,” she said like it was the most unfortunate story, all the while typing away.

“Yes.”

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