28. Elsa
Chapter Twenty-Eight
Elsa
My cheeks were probably going to melt off today.
On the heels of a muffled laugh, Rachel cleared her throat. “Elsa, this is Dr. Franklin. She prefers to go by Charlie, or Dr. Charlie.”
“Nice to meet you.” My voice was squeaky. I was doomed to mortify myself with these women. “I’m Elsa, and I do stay out at Heartfire Falls. I grew up next door, and I just moved back to town. This is my old doctor’s office.”
“He retired, but I bet your records are still here,” Dr. Charlie said, politely ignoring Tommy’s teasing about Haven allegedly having a crush on me.
Nobody needed to know that I had way more than a crush on Haven.
The doctor reviewed everything with Tommy, checked all his vitals, and proclaimed him the healthiest Tommy Silver she’d ever known in the universe.
At which point, Tommy stood, thrust both fists in the air, and let out a whoop. “I am! Do I get a lollipop?”
Dr. Charlie studied him. “You know, I wanted to get rid of the lollipops because they have a lot of sugar.”
“But there have been a lot of complaints,” Rachel added, her eyes wide as she emphasized each word dramatically.
“Well, what the f—” Tommy cut in. “The front door?” he corrected at the last minute. “I’m not supposed to swear as much as I do,” he added.
Dr. Charlie pressed her lips together. “Learning the appropriate places to say certain words is good.”
“You mean swear words?” Tommy pressed.
“Yes. Swear words.”
“Do you swear, Dr. Charlie?” he asked next.
Rachel cleared her throat to cover up her laugh.
“I swear sometimes, Tommy. But just like you, I had to learn where I could and couldn’t swear. You definitely can’t swear in school,” Dr. Charlie said, her lips twitching with a smile.
Tommy’s sigh was enormous. “I know. That’s what my teacher says all the time.”
“Do you have any questions, Elsa, before we finish up with Tommy?” She looked over at me.
“I don’t think so. I was just making sure Tommy got here because Haven is tied up. I don’t really know what happened. Something to do with equipment,” I fumbled through my reply.
“Do I get to go out front and pick out my lollipop?” Tommy asked, barely waiting for an answer.
“Go for it,” Dr. Charlie waved him out.
He ran so fast I was surprised dust didn’t kick up behind him. “It’s nice to meet you. I don’t think I’ve met either one of you before. Are you both new to town?” I asked.
“That we are,” Rachel replied. “We both came to Willow Brook for different reasons.”
“And you know the Silver family?” I asked.
“Hard not to know them. There are six of them. They’re all firefighters, at least periodically, and we are both married to firefighters,” Rachel said, rolling her eyes. “Word on the street is Haven had a crush on you in high school.”
“How does everybody know everything? I didn’t know that!” I burst out.
“There’s gossip in this town. You’re just gonna have to deal with it,” Rachel said dryly. “But somebody should lay claim to that man because I might be married, but those Silver boys...” She gave an exaggerated brow waggle. “They’re all handsome.”
I bit my lip to keep from laughing. “They are.”
“So about you and Haven?” she prompted with a lazy circle of her hand in the air.
On the list of things I hadn’t been prepared to deal with, it was getting grilled at Tommy’s doctor’s appointment about Haven. I cleared my throat. “It’s possible I have a crush on him too.’”
Rachel bit her lip, grinning with glee. “This is so awesome. Right, Charlie?”
Charlie seemed a little more circumspect than Rachel. She chuckled. “If they want it to be awesome, then yes.”
“Anyway, it’s really nice to meet you,” Rachel added. “I’m sure we’ll see you around town.”
Just as I opened my mouth to say something, there was a knock on the door. Charlie caught Rachel’s eye. “I need to slip out now. I have to get to the next appointment.”
As she opened the door, another woman peered through. “Tommy’s dad is here.”
“Oh!” Rachel exclaimed.
I shrugged while Tommy rolled his eyes, letting out another dramatic sigh as he walked back into the room with his lollipop in hand. He was all about the dramatic sighs today. “He gets very stressed out if he misses my appointments,” Tommy said.
“He does?” I asked.
Rachel shrugged. “Bring him on back. We’ll give him the update that Tommy’s completely healthy, as if that was ever in question.”
“You never know,” Tommy chimed in.
I bit my lip to keep from laughing.
Rachel gestured toward the woman leaning in the doorway. “This is our new med assistant, Heidi.”
“Nice to meet you,” I said.
“Like you, Elsa, she just moved back to town.”
“You did?” I narrowed my eyes because, surely, I would recognize her.
Her cheeks went a little pink. She was gorgeous, with shiny dark hair twisted into a bun and dangly earrings. “I think I would have been younger than you.”
“Do you know me?”
She nodded. “Sorta. You lived out near Heartfire Falls, right?” Before I could reply, she glanced behind her. She gestured into the office. “Tommy and his mom are in here.”
Tommy’s face split into a mischievous grin. “Should I start calling you Mom?” he asked just as Haven walked into the office. His dark hair looked as if he’d run his hands through it about a hundred times.
Speaking of his hands—those big, strong hands that I loved having all over me—they were dirty and streaked with grease. The med assistant who’d let him in gave him a dimpled smile. “Nice to meet you,” she said to me and departed, closing the door behind Haven.
Being the big man he was, he filled this entire space, or that was how it felt. “Sorry I’m late.” His eyes flicked to mine. “I caught a ride into town with Jude. Thank you for getting Tommy here.”
“No problem.”
“I am healthy!” Tommy lifted both fists in the air and bounced his heels against the floor. He’d already finished his lollipop and tossed the stick in the wastebasket by the door.
Haven looked, to say the least, out of place. He dipped his chin in acknowledgment toward Rachel. “Hi there.”
“Rachel,” she said helpfully. “We’ve met before. Tommy’s doing great. His blood work looks great, he’s up to speed on his shots, and we’re good to go.”
“Okay, so I probably didn’t need to rush in.”
“Sit, big guy.” I patted the chair beside me. Rachel’s brows hitched up at that, and my cheeks got hot.
“Is that what you call him?” Tommy asked.
“Sometimes.”
Tommy’s gaze flicked between us. “I told Rachel you have a crush on Elsa, and that other lady thinks she’s my mom.”
The tips of Haven’s ears turned pink, but that was the only giveaway that he was feeling anything at this moment. The man could barely fit in the chair in the doctor’s office. He smelled like spruce trees, dust, and fresh air, and I was instantly hot and bothered. Not the place for it.
“Do you have any questions for Rachel?” I asked. “Dr. Charlie already saw him and says he’s all good. She had another appointment.”
Haven shook his head. “Not unless you have any questions for me.” He focused on Rachel. “He seems to be growing by the week, maybe even the minute. I can’t keep up with the shoes and the clothes. It’s a lot.”
Rachel bit her lip, and I could tell she was trying not to laugh.
“Go ahead and laugh at the big guy,” Tommy offered, spreading his hands wide.
“Kids Tommy’s age grow fast,” Rachel explained. “And he has tall genes. I’ve seen all of your brothers around town, and you’re all tall.”
Haven finally cracked a slight grin and nodded. “We’re not short or small.”
“Tommy’s rate of growth is to be expected. It is what it is. You just have to keep up. Just wait until he hits the teenage years. He won’t be growing by the minute. He’ll be growing a foot a week,” she said with a grin.
Tommy rolled his eyes. “There are fifty-two weeks in a year. I’m not gonna be fifty-two feet tall.”
“Thank you for everything,” Haven said, standing as Rachel did.
“You are most welcome,” she said, her tone soothing. “Now, I need to get to another appointment. So if you don’t have any other questions…”
Tommy shook his head, the authority at this moment. “We don’t.”
Haven chuckled, and I bit my lip to keep from snorting a laugh.
We filed out together. A few minutes later, we were in my car. As I started driving, I realized this was the first time I’d ever had Haven in my car.
“What?” he said when I kept glancing over at him.
“Nothing. I’m just not used to having you in my car.”
“Can I ride shotgun? We can switch,” Tommy called from the back.
Haven laughed softly as he looked over his shoulder. “No.”
He slipped his phone out of his pocket and handed it to Tommy. “You can play your game on the drive home.”
“Sweet!” Tommy exclaimed, instantly falling into silence as he focused on Haven’s phone.
Haven reached his hand over, placed it on my thigh, and gave me a squeeze. It was all I could do not to wiggle in the seat. Who knew going to a doctor’s appointment and having this guy show up would get me all hot and bothered? But here I was. Absolutely bothered.
I knew Haven could tell. He could read me fairly well.
“Thank you again for getting him to the appointment.” Haven’s voice was low.
“Anytime.”
“I was driving to fix that small walking bridge near the falls and drove over a deep hole, kicked up a rock, and I’m not kidding, it literally punched a hole in my oil pan. Oil everywhere. It’s a mess. I can deal with it, but it’s a pain in the ass.”
I flicked a glance down to his hand. Even though it was filthy, I loved the way it looked on my denim-clad thigh. “I’m sure you’ll take care of it. You’re handy like that.”
His hand slid up, his fingertips trailing along the seam on the inside of my jeans before he rested that big palm right between my thighs. The heat of his touch nearly drew a moan out of me. I bit the insides of my cheeks.
“How was your day?” he asked.
“Busy,” I all but choked out.
“Was it okay for you to leave early?” His fingers teased just over where, if he put enough pressure, I might go off like a rocket.
“Don’t,” I whispered under my breath. When I flicked my gaze to the side and saw his sly grin, I reached down and removed his hand.
“It was fine to leave early,” I said in response to his question.
“My boss told me I have flex time, which apparently they told me at my onboarding, but I didn’t pay enough attention. ”
“You do get distracted sometimes.” At that sly comment, his hand slid back up between my thighs.
I sucked in a breath, trying to cool the heat suffusing me. Pointless, but I could try.
He cleared his throat, letting out a sigh. “What did you do today?”
I didn’t even know what he was talking about. “Huh?”
“What did you do today?” he repeated. “You know, at work, wildlife biology and all that.”