Chapter Two
Hazel Kincaid tapped her foot and glared at the man standing before her. “I’m aware, Dr. Rawlins, that you wanted to start your weekend twenty minutes ago, but your patient is in the ER. You need to come see him. The on-call doctor is busy at Penn General at the moment. You are here. You can see your patient and then begin your weekend.”
She was tired and fed up with the holier-than-thou attitudes of some of the doctors. Dr. Rawlins was one of the worst offenders. Four years ago, when he’d just started at the hospital, he’d made all kinds of mistakes. The man made morons look smart as far as she was concerned. She’d bailed his ass out enough times to know he was only in it for the money. She didn’t care if he reported her or whatever. She was done putting up with his bullshit.
“Your patient needs you. It will only take you ten minutes to get him calmed down and treated. If you leave, he’ll be agitated for the next couple of hours before the on-call cardiologist gets here.”
Rawlins glared at her. “Listen here, you upstart little—"
“Dr. Rawlins,” said the head nurse Kerry Jackson, her voice piercing the general chaos of the ER. She stepped out from behind the nurse’s station desk and crossed the foyer. “Your patient, Mr. Vancleef, is in room two.”
Rawlins’ eyes narrowed before he cursed under his breath and then turned and marched down to room two where he disappeared inside. He knew better than to take on the head nurse. No one took on Kerry Jackson without a death wish.
“Hazel,” Kerry said, “you have to watch yourself.”
“I know,” she said as she walked over to the desk. “I’m sorry, Kerry. I’m just frustrated. Rawlins was willing to walk out of here and leave Mr. Vancleef upset and anxious for hours rather than take a few minutes to see him. It just gets to me sometimes. The attitudes of some of the doctors, like they’re gods. Meanwhile, we keep saving their asses.”
Dr. Paul Bryson appeared at the nurse’s desk. “Hello, ladies. How’s everyone this evening?”
There was a chorus of ‘fines’ and a few ‘how are yous?’ but Bryson just looked at the chart in front of him.
Vivian Jenk, the other ER nurse, smiled at Hazel and inclined her head toward Bryson. Hazel just rolled her eyes. Viv was always trying to set her up with someone. She glanced at Bryson. He was good looking in a bland sort of way. None of his features stood out, and although they created a lovely face, he wasn’t what she’d call handsome. She would give him credit, however, for being one of the more conscientious doctors in the hospital. As an anesthesiologist, he actually met with all of the surgical patients. He was great about taking time to answer all their questions and alleviating their fears. Why couldn’t more doctors be like him?
“Any big plans for the weekend, Dr. Bryson?” she asked. Out of the corner of her eye, she saw Vivian’s grin and sighed to herself.
“No big plans. Thought I might play some golf and just try and have a relaxing weekend. What about you? Any plans?”
“No. I’m going to take the weekend off. It’s been a long week.”
Grabbing the chart, he smiled at her. “You enjoy.” Then he turned and strode down the hallway.
Kerry looked at her over the top of the computer monitor. “I hope you really are taking the weekend off. You’re overtired and working too many shifts. You keep going like this, and you’ll make a mistake. You don’t want to do that, do you? You’re not scheduled again until Monday. No extra shifts this weekend.”
Hazel rubbed her face with her hands. She hadn’t planned on working this weekend anyway, but Kerry made her point. Hazel leaned back in the chair. “No extra shifts. I’m out of here in the next hour, and then I have a date with a tub of ice cream and the TV. I’m sorry for mouthing off. I’ll apologize to Rawlins.”
“You’ll do no such thing. He deserved it. I’ll have a word with Dr. Klein about him. He made a mistake and almost prescribed Mrs. Armstrong the wrong meds yesterday. As the head of the department, Klein needs to take him aside and give him a stern talking to.”
The next hour flew by, and soon Hazel was driving home. When her cell rang, she hit the button on her steering wheel. “Hey, Jory.”
“Hey, Haze. How was your shift?”
“The same as usual.”
“You sound tired.”
Hazel sighed. “I am wiped out. I’m on my way home. What’s up?”
“I was hoping you could help Mom at the concession stand today.”
“Oohh, Jory, I just can’t. I’m too tired. I need to sleep for at least a dozen hours. Can’t you help her?”
“I’m going to, but today’s game is going to draw a big crowd. It’s the charity event of the year, and Phoenix is standing in for his brother, which puts him up against Wilson, his archrival from high school. All of Cherry Valley is gonna turn out for this one. At least everyone we went to high school with. There’s no way she’ll be able to handle the cash and the cooking all on her own. I’ve gotta help with the supplies. It really needs three people.”
Hazel sighed again. “Jory, can’t you find someone else? I’m exhausted.”
“You wouldn’t be if you weren’t picking up all those extra shifts.”
She flexed her fingers on the steering wheel and gritted her teeth but stayed silent. She didn’t want to fight with her brother. She was too damn worn out and there was no doubt she would say something she would later regret.
“Fine. Come to the stand tonight, and we’ll talk about you wanting to move out. Mom needs our help. She can’t do it all on her own.”
Hazel’s head pounded and her knuckles were white on the steering wheel. Her brother had always known how to push her buttons but, lately, he’d gone for gold. She needed a break from Jory and her mother. Living in Mom’s basement wasn’t helping. Her mother never intruded exactly, but just knowing that her mom was in the house was enough to set Hazel’s nerves jangling. It was sapping her last nerves. She just needed a place where she could be alone, and no one would comment if she didn’t clean her room or do the dishes. She knew her mom and Jory worried that she would slide back into her old life, but dishes in the sink did not mean she was out of control. Sometimes, dirty dishes were just dirty dishes.
“Fine. I’ll be there.” Damn him. Jory was good at making her feel guilty, too. She couldn’t leave her mother in the lurch. What kind of kid would do that? But, sometimes, it was just so fucking frustrating to not have her own life. She wanted her own place with no one to look after but herself. Was that so wrong? She was twenty-fucking-eight! She deserved to live her own life.
She made a sharp right turn, leaving her normal route home. She was too wired to sleep just yet, plus her mother would be there. She couldn’t face talking to her just now. Hazel made a left and then another right. Minutes later, she pulled up in front of Aiden’s house.
It was a cute little place with its neatly cut grass and porch swing. It was the type of place she’d like to own someday. She snorted as she got out of the car. Not at the rate she was going. She needed to pay off her student loans and car loan first before she could even think of buying a house and, even then, with house prices these days, it would take a miracle.
She knocked on the screen door, opened it, and then walked in. “Aiden?” she called.
“Up here,” came the immediate response.
Just being in the man’s orbit calmed her frustration, and she relaxed for the first time all day. And then a small burst of excitement went straight to her belly. The rumble of Aiden’s deep voice always did that to her. It had since she’d turned sixteen. She ran lightly up the stairs and walked across the landing to the main bathroom.
“Hey.”
“Hey, yourself,” Aiden said as he glanced over his shoulder at her. He was on his knees, laying tile. He flicked his dark curls out of his insanely dark eyes and smiled at her. “What’s up?”
“I need your help.” She bit her lip. He’d gone back to focusing on the tile so she could openly admire him while he worked. He was well-built thanks to hours spent working out at the firehouse when he was on shift. His broad shoulders tapered into narrow hips. He’d tossed his shirt aside, and the spit in her mouth dried up as the muscles rippled on his back as he worked. She knew from years of being around him he also had a six-pack that was unbelievable.
“What do you need help with?” he asked, shooting her another glance over his shoulder.
“My brother.”
He grunted.
“Seriously. Jory is out of control. He wants to keep an eye on me constantly. I mentioned moving out, and he lost it.”
Aiden sighed. “He’s just worried about you. And your mom, for that matter.”
“Yeah, well, he needs to worry about himself. He has no life because he’s constantly trying to look after us. I love him, but he’s killing me.”
She leaned against the door frame and caught her reflection in the mirror above the sink. She was in desperate need of a shower. Her long blond hair was in a messy bun on top of her head, and there were big, dark circles under her pale blue eyes. Great. She looked like shit in front of Aiden once again. She hadn’t thought about that part when she’d decided to ask him for help. Too late to do anything about it now. Besides, Aiden had seen her look like shit many times over the last couple years. She hung out with him and Jory on a regular basis.
“I already spoke with your brother this morning. He’s gonna ease up. Just give him a bit of time.”
“Sure he is.” She knew her brother enough to be skeptical. “Did he tell you he was?”
Aiden grabbed another tile and set it in the goo he’d spread on the floor. “He said you threatened to leave Cherry Valley for New York City. Are you really thinking of leaving?”
“Yes,” she said firmly. “No.” She ran a hand over her face. “Maybe?”
Was she seeing things, or did Aiden’s back just tense up a bit? Was he worried she’d leave? Nah. She must be imagining things. He didn’t care what she did. Too bad. She’d had a crush on Aiden since her sixteenth birthday when he leaned down and gave her a kiss on the cheek after she’d blown out her candles.
“I said it because I needed him to back off, but part of me wants to go. I love Jory and he has done so much for me, but I need space. It’s unnerving to have people watching my every move. It’s like he’s waiting for me to fail.” She held up a hand. “I know he’s not. Not really but it’s hard to have him hovering all the time. I know I didn’t handle Dad’s death well. I tend to panic and then make less-than-stellar decisions when bad things happen. I understand that now and I am working to make sure I don’t make the same mistakes again, but I need his support, not his judgement.” She sighed. “Am I being too selfish?”
“No. And no one is waiting for you to fail. He just doesn’t want to see you struggle. The difficulty you and your mom had when your dad died almost killed him. You know what he was like, but you’re right. You deserve your own life and he needs to back off a bit.”
“I didn’t mean to put Jory through hell. It just sort of happened, but I’m better now. I went through hell too, which I think he sometimes forgets. It isn’t all about him. It wasn’t easy to get my shit together, but I did it. I have no interest in screwing things up. I was a stupid teenager, but now I’m an adult. I just wish Jory would recognize that.”
Aiden sat back on his haunches and looked at her in the mirror. “He will. Just give him time. Did you hear about the warehouse fire?”
She nodded. “Arson. You and Jory need to be careful. If something happens to you, then whose ass will I kick at pool Thursday night?”
Aiden snorted. “In your dreams, buttercup.”
She grinned. They had a standing date to play pool on Thursday nights. They’d been doing it most weeks since Aiden had come back to town. It was always fun to hang out and chat with Aiden without anyone, like Viv, asking too many questions. Just because Hazel had a thing for Aiden didn’t mean the world had to know.
She frowned. “I think Jory is getting on Mom’s nerves, too. He’s always dropping by unexpectedly, which used to be okay, but since Mom started at the police station, I think she’s less inclined to be happy about it.”
“Why?” Aiden asked looking puzzled.
“I think she and the police chief might have something going on.”
Aiden whirled around and looked at her. “You think your mom is dating Chief Bowers? Seriously?”
Hazel nodded and smiled. “Watch them together next time you see them. I’m telling you, there’s something going on there. I think that’s why Mom doesn’t want Jory dropping by quite so unexpectedly.”
“That’s great news. Your mom deserves to be happy.” Aiden grinned. “But I would not want to be either one of those two when Jory finds out. He will not like that one bit.”
She laughed. “You’re probably right. Might take him a while to relax about it.”
“Are you gonna tell him?”
She shook her head. “Oh hell no! Not my news to tell. Mom will bring it up with us if and when the time is right.”
Aiden nodded but then just stared at her. Heat crept up her cheeks. “I know I look like shit. I’m exhausted.” She hated to admit it, but Jory was right. She was working too hard.
“You don’t look like shit. You look…good.” The way his eyes danced over her reflection, she almost believed for a second that he was interested in her, but then he started laying tile again.
“Listen,” he said, “I’ll talk with Jory again, but why don’t you start looking for a place? I’m sure between the two of us we can get him to ease up enough so you can move out of your mom’s without too much of a hassle.”
She smiled. “Thanks, Aiden. I knew you’d come through for me.” She yawned. “Sorry. I’m bushed. I’m going home to sleep. I’ll catch you later.”
“Uh-huh.”
She waited for a couple of beats, but he didn’t bother to turn around, so she left. Aiden would help convince Jory for her. That she knew. Now, if only she could convince Aiden to go out on a date. That would be a real bonus.