Chapter 8
He’d almost kissed her. Would have kissed her if she hadn’t stepped back. All through seeing emergency room patients the next day, that almost kiss was there in Ryan’s mind. But he was glad he hadn’t because he had a feeling that if he had, it would have changed everything between them.
She was a new person in his life, but he already considered her a friend, a woman he liked and respected a lot.
The last thing he wanted was to make things awkward with her.
But as he went about his rounds in the emergency room, patching up wounds and mending broken bones, he couldn’t shake the image of her from his mind.
How her beautiful blue eyes had darkened.
How her lips had slightly parted before she had stepped back, just out of reach.
It was a moment frozen in time, suspended between what could have been and what was.
At the same time he was glad he hadn’t kissed her, he regretted that he hadn’t.
He thought he always would, but Matti deserved more than he was capable of giving.
So, he would keep her as a non-kissing friend.
The ER had been busy for most of the day, but by midafternoon, things quieted down, and Ryan could finally grab a bite to eat. He was in the break room scarfing down a microwave-heated pizza flatbread when Dr. Colton came in.
“Heard it was a zoo down here today,” Jonathon said, taking a seat across from Ryan. He set a cup of coffee from Cup of Joe, a nearby shop, on the table and slid it across to Ryan.
“It’s been worse, but yeah, we were slammed there for a while.” Ryan lifted the lid from the coffee, sighing in pleasure as he inhaled the aroma. “And thanks. I needed this.”
Jonathon showed up in the emergency room once or twice a week to shoot the breeze and always brought Ryan a coffee from their favorite shop. He enjoyed his friendship with the older man and appreciated Jonathon’s guidance and advice.
“Matilda called earlier and wants me to stop by and meet this boy she brought home.”
“Sam.” From Jonathon’s tone, Ryan sensed that he didn’t approve of Matti keeping Sam.
“Right, Sam. She said you treated his gunshot wound?”
“I did. It wasn’t much more than a nick. He’s a good kid who did not get lucky with parents. They were drug addicts and negligent to the extreme.”
“Hate hearing stories like that, but Matilda shouldn’t be bringing strays home. That’s not her job.”
Ryan truly liked the man, but he bristled at hearing Sam referred to as a stray.
And although he’d had his own reservations about Matti keeping Sam, he had to bite his tongue to keep from reminding Jonathon that Matti was a grown woman and a trained social worker, capable of deciding the best place for Sam. If that was with her, so be it.
“He is a good kid, Jonathon. He’s not going to cause her any trouble.”
“That’s not my concern. Matilda has a tendency to get her heart involved in these kids.”
“I don’t think that’s a bad thing. It’s what makes her good at her job.” He really believed that.
Jonathon tapped his fingers on the table. “Wyatt said you’re spending time with her and the boy. Just don’t encourage her. That’s all I’m asking,” He stood. “I’m headed to her house now. Hopefully, I can convince her that she needs to find a foster family for the boy.”
Good luck with that, Ryan thought. From his short time around her, he gathered that Matti pretty much did what Matti wanted. He finished his now cold flatbread and the cup of coffee, then went back to work.
Three more hours until his shift was up and he could go home, shower, then head over to Matti’s.
For the first time in a long while, he was looking forward to something outside of his hospital life.
He was as eager to see Sam as he was Matti.
The boy had found his way into Ryan’s heart, and he understood Matti wanting to keep Sam.
Of course, she couldn’t keep him forever, but Sam was in the best place possible for now.
His workday finally over, Ryan went home, showered, and put on jeans and a blue button-down shirt. He was halfway to Matti’s when he realized he was only a few blocks from the police station. On impulse, he detoured there.
“Is Wyatt Colton here?” he asked the desk sergeant.
“Who’s asking?”
“Dr. Ryan Palmer.”
The sergeant picked up the phone. “Wyatt, I have a Dr. Palmer here asking for you.” He listened, then hung up the phone. “Down the hall, last door on the left.”
“Thanks.” Following the directions, he walked into a large room with a dozen or so cubicles. Wyatt stood in one, waving him over.
“Wasn’t expecting to see you walk in here,” Wyatt said, then scowled at the man sitting in a chair next to the desk. “You have no manners, brother. Get up and let Doc sit.”
Ryan held up his hand. “You’re fine. I’m only here for a few minutes.
” The man had the same blue eyes as Matti and Wyatt, so their brother?
He also wore a sheriff’s uniform. Jonathon frequently talked about his children, and Ryan knew one was a sheriff, he just couldn’t remember which one. There were so many.
“Why are you grinning?” Wyatt said.
He hadn’t meant to, but he did find the thought of that many children amusing. Six of them, he thought Jonathon had once said. “I was just thinking of how many of you there are. The reason for Jonathon’s gray hairs, I’m guessing.”
Wyatt snorted. “Most of them from Cal, here.”
“Nope,” Cal said. “Definitely from Dylan.” He stood and extended his hand. “Cal Colton. You’re the doc who treated Sam.”
“I am. Great kid.” Cal had a firm handshake but didn’t try to pull any I’m-so-tough-I-can-break-your-hand BS.
Cal dropped back onto the chair. “Just glad he wasn’t hurt worse.”
“That brings me to why I stopped by. How much danger is Sam in? Is anyone going to come looking for him? I’m asking since Matti’s keeping him for now.”
“Not a good idea,” Cal said.
“So, he is in danger?” Which would mean Matti was, too.
“If these bad guys think he can identify them, then yes, he probably is,” Wyatt said. “He knows what tattoos they have on their wrists, and even though he can’t tell us exactly what they look like, I think there’s a good chance he’d recognize them if he saw them.”
Not good. Ryan didn’t like the thought of Matti being in danger, but he didn’t know what he could do about it if she wouldn’t agree to place Sam with a foster family. He couldn’t argue with her belief that if she did, it would put that family in danger.
“Matti needs to place the boy with a foster family,” Cal said.
Ryan shook his head. “She won’t because she refuses to put anyone else in danger.”
“Wyatt was just telling me that,” Cal said.
The brothers exchanged a look, Cal nodded at whatever message was passing between them, then both turned their attention to him. “We’re both chest-deep in this investigation,” Wyatt said.
“And?” There was definitely more on the brothers’ minds.
“Because we are, neither one of us has the time to keep an eye on Matti,” Cal said.
Ah, he saw where this was going. “So, you’d like me to?”
Both men nodded.
Although he should be looking for ways not to spend time with the woman he was liking too much, it was an assignment he didn’t mind. “I work some long hours at the hospital, but I’m free every night, along with my two days off, so I can stick around her when I’m off as much as she’ll let me.”
“Use Sam as your excuse,” Wyatt said. “When I was over last night, it seemed the boy’s taken a liking to you.”
“He has.” He should pick up another toy or two for Sam.
Wyatt gave a satisfied nod. “There you go, the perfect reason for being around her.”
“Until we can convince her to turn the boy over to foster parents,” Cal said as he stretched out his legs and crossed his ankles. He studied Ryan for a moment, then said, “What are your intentions toward our sister?”
Wyatt snorted. “Matti hears you asked him that, she’ll put a hurt on you.”
“You gonna tell her?”
“Not me,” Wyatt said.
Cal turned to Ryan and raised his brows.
Ryan held up both hands. “The last thing I want to do is get on the bad side of either of you.”
“Smart man. Now answer my question.”
“My answer is none of your business. Whatever my intentions are is between me and Matti.”
Wyatt slapped him on the back. “I like you.”
“I’m still making up my mind,” Cal said.
“Let me know when you decide…not that I’m waiting with bated breath.” On that note, he walked away, smiling to himself when he heard her brothers laugh.
The Colton family was an interesting one, and he was finding he liked the ones he’d met so far, even Cal. He especially liked Matti.