Chapter 7
Chapter Seven
" W hat do you think?" Tracey asked me, eyes bright and excited as she cornered me during one of my volunteer shifts.
"I love it," I told her.
Tracey's idea for a winter holidays in July event for the children's ward was genius. It would give the kids something to look forward to, give them a reason to throw a party with presents and sweets and games. We could celebrate Christmas, New Years, and all the other holidays that took place around the winter solstice. I was sure the kids would love it.
Tracey beamed at me. "Wonderful, then you can get started planning it right away."
"Wait, what?" I asked.
"Thanks a million, Becca!" she said with a wave as she quickly made her way into one of the hospital rooms.
I stood there as the door closed in my face, then groaned, defeated, and went to gather my things.
How did I always get roped into doing this kind of stuff?
Nathan would probably say I was too nice.
And there my thoughts went again, back to Nathan Walker.
I hadn't been able to get him out of my head. Not that night we'd spent together, and not our encounter at the pet shop.
He'd asked me why I'd walked out on him.
Wasn't the answer obvious? He was a playboy rock star. He no doubt had a new girl in his bed every night. I knew what to expect. If I hadn't left right then, he would have kicked me out the next morning. I was sure he would have done it in a smooth, charming way, but I knew for certain he wouldn't have asked for my phone number or offered to call me sometime.
I hadn't expected anything more from him than a good time, and he'd given me one. I didn't regret it in the slightest.
There was a small part of me, though, that regretted it would probably never happen again.
I scolded myself to stop thinking that way. I'd wanted some fun, to live a little, and I had. There was no more to it than that.
Besides, even if I'd wanted something long term, Nathan didn't seem like the kind of guy you could rely on. Who knew how he'd react when things got tough?
But the way his thumb had caressed my skin, the intense way he'd stared at me…
I shivered, feeling his phantom touch on my inner wrist.
So maybe that regretful part of me wasn't so small. It didn't matter. I was going to put it all behind me and move on, grateful to Nathan for the amazing night he'd given me, and nothing further.
But no sooner had I made that decision, than I saw a familiar head of sandy blond hair.
Nathan was sitting in the hospital cafeteria, back to me. His broad shoulders were slumped, making him seem shorter than I knew he was. He practically towered over me when I was in my bare feet. He held a coffee between two tightly clenched hands, almost crushing the styrofoam cup.
I was on my way out. I'd been at the hospital all day. I'd planned to have dinner with my parents.
Nathan's shoulders heaved up, as if taking a deep breath, then he seemed to collapse in on himself, seated listlessly in the hard plastic hospital chair.
Crap.
I made my way over, careful to shuffle my feet so as to not startle him. He didn't look up when I stood in front of him on the other side of the table.
"Mind if I take a seat?" I asked.
Nathan looked up. His eyes were red-rimmed as they roved over me. There wasn't anything to ogle over. I was wearing the standard issue volunteer t-shirt with the hospital logo and plain denim jeans.
"Volunteering again?" he guessed, his voice liquid and thick.
"I'm done for the day," I told him.
I kept my hand on the back of the chair, not yet sitting. He gestured for me to take a seat with a vague wave of his hand.
"Visiting your friend?" I asked.
He nodded once.
"Are they okay?"
He jerked his chin, as if to nod again, then hesitated. He shrugged instead.
"I'm sorry," I said. "Have they been in the hospital very long?"
"No," he said shortly.
What was I doing here? He clearly didn't want to talk about it. I made a move to stand back up and leave him be.
He grabbed my hand in a soft grip.
"What do you do here, when you volunteer?" he asked.
I sat back down gingerly.
"I usually visit the kids in their rooms, bring games to play, or books to read to them." If he didn't want to talk about his own problems, I was more than happy to ramble on. "Sometimes the kids all gather together in the activity room and we do group stuff, like movie night. I just got assigned to work on a sort of Christmas and New Year's in July event. Because some of these kids won't make it to see the new year…"
I trailed off, going quiet. Volunteering with sick children was rewarding, but there were always those moment of heartbreak that made me wonder whether it was worth it.
"You should take part," I said suddenly.
Nathan looked up from his coffee. "Take part?"
"You could dress up as Santa Claus."
He gave me a quizzical look before chuckling. "Only if you'll dress up as one of my elves." He winked. "I've always had a thing for pointy ears."
"I bet you're a huge Lord of the Rings fan," I said.
"I've read the books a dozen times," he said. "But as much as I would love to see you dressed up as a sexy elf, I think I'll pass on this one. Kids like me even less than cats."
"At least kids don't scratch," I pointed out.
"No, but those little rugrats have a mean bite."
"You just need to learn how to act around them."
"Are you talking about kids or cats?"
"Both."
"Maybe you should give me lessons." He held out his other hand, showing off another deep scratch.
I winced. "What did you do to that poor cat?"
"Nothing," he said, affronted. "I think Cleo and I just got off to a bad start."
"If that's how cats treat you, maybe you should stay away from the kids."
Nathan laughed. I joined in, glad I was able to lighten the mood.
I wondered why he was sitting here, alone, in a hospital. Why wasn't he with his friends? Why wasn't he in rehearsals with his bandmates? He'd mentioned that one good friend, Gael, his wingman. Why weren't they out having fun together, drinking and partying like the rock stars they were?
But Nathan had said Gael used to be his wingman. What had changed?
Maybe he was sitting here in a hospital, letting me chatter at him, because he had no one else.
I could understand. It had been hard to keep people in my life as well. The only ones I'd been able to rely on were my parents. They'd done a good job of taking care of me, but I knew it had put stress on their marriage.
The last thing I needed was to get someone else wrapped up in all the turmoil that was my life.
"I'm a little worried about Cleo," Nathan said. "I don't think she's been eating. Her food just sits there in the bowl."
"Do you think something's wrong?" I asked, alarmed.
"I don't know. She doesn't come out when I visit. She just hides. I think maybe I don't have the right food. Or maybe she hates me and refuses to eat anything I put out for her. "
"If Cleo is sick, that might be why she's not eating," I said.
Nathan looked visibly upset at the thought.
"I'm pretty good with animals," I said without thinking. "I can probably coax her out."
He looked at me, surprised. "You want to cat-whisper Cleo?"
Dammit. I had just offered, hadn't I? What happened to my resolve to put this guy behind me?
"I would hate for Cleo to be sick and not know," Nathan said.
I thought carefully, then nodded. I couldn't stand to see the worried look on his face.
"Yeah. Let's go help your cat."