Page 8 of Stolen Kisses
Krista laughed. “I buy my clothes online, but I don’t find men there.” She didn’t find them anywhere actually. Or she did, but they didn’t compare to her mental image of the perfect date. Krista hooked a thumb behind her. “I’ve got patients to check on.”
Karen nodded. “Of course.”
Expelling a heavy breath, Krista walked out and headed back toward the nurse’s station. Getting called into Karen’s office was akin to getting sent to the principal’s office as a child, which had only ever happened once. She’d been chewing gum, which was against the school rules. Then Noah had made her laugh so hard she’d spit the gum into the hair of the girl in front of her. Purely accidental, but the girl had cried and sworn that Krista had done it on purpose. So off she’d gone to the principal’s office. Noah had promptly misbehaved on purpose to get sent down there with her—and then he’d taken the blame for her behavior, too. Her misguided knight in shining armor.
Krista had done nothing wrong by being nice to Mandy, though. She’d offer her number again in a heartbeat—even if it did screw with her chances of becoming head nurse.
After checking in on a few patients, Krista sat at her spot in the nurse’s station and pulled her bottled water to her. She took a healthy drink, washing down all the competing thoughts in her head, vying for attention that she needed to give to the kids here.
The nurse’s call bell rang for room 23—Adam’s room. Krista shot up and went to see what he needed. Poking her head in the door, she saw that his eyes were open, staring into the sterile room. Without the warmth of his mother, it must’ve felt cold to him. Krista remembered that feeling well. She’d only been in the hospital for two weeks, but the memory was ingrained in her brain. It was a cold and scary place, and all she’d wanted was to go home and be normal again. All she’d wanted was to run up and down the Blushing Bay banks, fishing with her best friend, who lived across the street.
“Hey, your mom will be back soon,” she told Adam, without him having to ask.
His rounded eyes stayed on Krista.
As she checked his vitals, she soothed him by talking and taking his mind off the mechanical beeps filling the room and the IV needle jabbing into his little arm. “Guess what? It’s Friday the thirteenth,” she said in a spooky voice.
Adam rewarded her with a slight smile.
“Have you ever made surgical-glove spiders?”
He shook his head, his rust-colored hair falling onto his forehead.
“Dr. Jacobs is terrified of spiders, you know. Want to make some and watch him scream when he comes to check on you after lunch?” Krista didn’t really have time to play, but blowing air into a glove only took a second. She could spare that if it made Adam feel better.
Adam was showing teeth as he smiled at her now. “Yeah,” he said, color filling his cheeks.
Krista laughed and pulled a pair of gloves out of her pocket. “Cool. Let’s do it.”
—
Noah left the fish house and sucked in a big breath of fresh air. He didn’t mind the smell of fish, but the fish house was a little overwhelming even to a seasoned fisherman. His catch today had been good, but it would’ve been better with another experienced crew member.
“No offense,” he told Beauty, untangling her leash from the leg of the bench he’d secured her to while he’d gone inside. He couldn’t bring a dog into the fish house. For one, Beauty might’ve contaminated the whole catch. For two, he didn’t want her to carry the scent back to his houseboat later. Or now, because he couldn’t wait to take a shower and stay in, be it a Friday night or not.
“C’mon, Beauty. You’re my date tonight,” he told the energetic canine. God knows he didn’t want another night with Amber. He was lucky Krista had forgiven his brief lapse of judgment there.
His phone buzzed in his pocket. He pulled it out and checked the caller ID. Joey Nelson’s name lit up the screen. “Hey, man. What’s up?”
“Tell me you’re docked already,” Joey said.
“Docked and the fish are delivered. ’Bout to head home for a drink or two. Wanna join me?”
“Yeah, but I’m stuck on the side of the road at the moment. I think the cab has finally died. Luckily it wasn’t until after I dropped that last customer off.”
Noah tugged on Beauty’s leash as he crossed the parking lot toward his Jeep. “Need me to come get you?” he asked.
“If you don’t mind. Krista’s at work and I don’t want to bother her.”
“No problem. Where are you?” Noah cranked his engine and laid on the gas. Ten minutes later, Joey climbed in the passenger seat beside him.
“Blasted transmission. It’ll cost more to fix it than the cab is worth.”
Beauty climbed in Joey’s lap and propped her feet up on his chest.
“Meet my new first mate,” Noah said, chuckling. “I think she likes you.”
“Yeah?” Joey gave the dog a good rubdown. “You’re a fishing dog, huh? That’s cool.”
