21. Cal
Chapter twenty-one
Cal
Cal
I was a goner. There was no other way to look at it. Ruth Coldwell had me so completely ensnared that I barely had room for rational thought. Even though I’d helped her clean up in the car and return her dress to a semblance of tidiness after I’d debauched her in the back seat of my car, I hadn’t moved past it. The feel of her softness under my palms, the taste of her, the sounds she’d made—they all lingered and pressed in on my consciousness, clamoring to be savored.
But then again, she was right next to me, and that still took precedence. She had her hand in mine, and her airy, powder blue dress swished against my leg with every step we took through the event center. It was impossible to divert attention from her even for a moment as she talked about her plans for Kiss-Met and the success she’d been finding with her clients. I smiled down at her, taking in the way her curls bounced against her shoulders and her hand fluttered to her face, looking for her glasses that weren’t there tonight.
The building they were hosting the awards at was older, built long before the turn of the century, and full of charm. From exposed brick walls to low ceilings, it felt historical and bright. We were headed down a wide hallway, following signs from the elevators to the main room where I knew from past years they would have a temporary stage set up and dozens of tables and chairs.
She glanced up at me, pausing in the middle of her description about researching astrology. “What is your sign? I know way more about this now than I intended to.”
“Scorpio. I think. My birthday is November first.”
She nodded thoughtfully. “That would be Scorpio, yes. And I’m a Pisces.”
“When’s your birthday?” I asked, fully intending to remember it and embarrass her with a stupid grand gesture.
She gave me a skeptical side-eye. “I’m not telling you.”
“I’ll find out,” I said confidently. “And there will be no escape for you, Coldwell. There will be balloons. And cake. And celebrating, definitely celebrating.”
Ruth looked forward again, fighting a smile. “If it’s anything like your games…”
“Games and birthdays go hand-in-hand,” I said, bending down and lowering my voice.
Her shiver visibly traveled down her spine. “I don’t know if I can handle any more games. I’m surprised I can even walk.”
“Clearly, there’s room for improvement if you can walk.”
Ruth rotated a look my way. “You are very badly behaved, Dr. Reed.”
“Thank you. Although, despite that, I have to know—how do we match up? Astrologically?” I knew she would know. I knew that if Ruth had done research on something like astrology, she had likely memorized every bit of available knowledge on the subject. Ruth’s full lower lip slipped between her teeth and her neck turned pink. I smiled slowly. “It’s good, isn’t it?”
“If one were to believe that sort of thing,” she admitted reluctantly, “it… would be an advantageous match, yes.”
“I knew it.” I squeezed her hand, straightening again as we approached the busy convention center room. “You might be stuck with me, Coldwell. My mother won’t let you go if she knows our astrological signs match.”
Ruth looked pained. “I have a feeling it would be impossible to say no to your mother.”
“Like rearranging stars,” I agreed. As we entered the ballroom, with its raised balconies on the left and right of the space already full, and the stage teeming with crew, Ruth hesitated.
“Wow. This is… huge.”
“Well, they hand out awards for businesses in a pretty wide radius.” I looked around the guests, all of them dressed in gowns and suits. I spotted Rook, who stood nearby with a dark-haired bombshell on his arm. “And apparently,” I muttered, trying and failing to not glare at my med school nemesis, “they’ll let just anyone in.”
Ruth followed my gaze until she found Rook, who stood talking with some of his colleagues. “I recognize him.”
“You should. He’s your ‘doctor.’” I gave her a sardonic, angled glance.
Ruth’s mouth pinched together tightly. “Oh.”
“He must have won something. Pity.”
“You really don’t like him? Even though you went to school together?” Ruth asked as I led her away.
I pulled a disgusted face. “He’s an asshole, and he always did just better than me in residency that it pissed me off.”
“I see,” Ruth said slowly and paired it with a sly half-smile.
“You were second place to a toady villain?” I clarified.
Ruth’s smile grew. “No, I was always first. But I can imagine .”
I reached over and pinched her cheek briefly, and she laughed. “That was mean, Shortstop.”
We filtered into the packed space, weaving through the throng of guests who all wore suits and dresses, and the excited chatter droned through the cavernous room like a busy hive. Each table had been designated for attendees of the respective businesses, so I swept my eyes over each white-draped table as I looked for our urgent care’s logo. I found Laura first, seated with her husband to her left and dressed in a black dress.
As I navigated the clumps of guests who laughed and talked, I noticed a single figure standing off to my right in my peripheral vision. He stood out because he wasn’t talking. He wasn’t visiting with other business owners or even sitting and quietly scrolling on his phone. He simply stood there, hands in his khaki pockets and dark eyes fastened on Ruth and me as we made our way through the ballroom. As soon as I raked my eyes over him, he turned away and walked toward the exits.
Discomfited, I tugged Ruth closer to me and pulled us around the back of a large grouping of older guests to get out of his line of sight. I wasn’t sure what he’d been looking at, but I’d make damn sure he didn’t do it again without a direct confrontation from me. It was possible he had been just as enamored with Ruth as I was—she was impossible to miss. I glanced down at her, and her silver-blue eyes arced up and over, taking in the chandeliers above and the guests with silent watchfulness.
He had definitely been ogling her. Ruth looked like someone from a storybook. With her gentle curls framing her features, and her gauzy dress fluttering around her legs, she looked like Wendy from Peter Pan, dreamy and wide-eyed in silent fascination. And truth be told, I wished I could steal her away to Neverland and keep her all to myself. I didn’t know what fairytale land Ruth had dropped from, or where she’d been my entire lonely adult life, but I knew that I couldn’t let her go now that I had her. The stars themselves had written our match, and I wasn’t going to deny the cosmos.
We approached Laura at her table, and as soon as she saw us, her features lit up with interest. As she stood, I said, “Hey, Laura. This is Dr. Ruth Coldwell, and Ruth, this is Dr. Reynolds. She’s the one receiving the award tonight.”
“Hi Dr. Reynolds,” Ruth said and took the hand that Laura had held out to her. “It’s lovely to meet you. Cal told me all about what you did for your center.”
“Well,” Laura smiled, bopping a look to me briefly before looking at Ruth again. “I can’t deny, he’s spoken of little else but you recently, too. It’s wonderful to finally meet you.”
“Oh,” Ruth said, and that pink on her neck crept up to her cheeks.
“This is my husband, Jacob.” Laura motioned to a tall, hefty man who looked more like a linebacker than the systems analyst I actually knew him to be.
His glasses looked far too small on his meaty face, but his smile was soft and genuine as he waved. “Nice to see you, Callum. Hi, Ruth.”
“Glad you could both make it,” Laura said, and for the first time, I detected a hint of breathless anxiety in her voice. Laura didn’t like public speaking or even large events. She often joked that she’d had four kids so she’d have an excuse to stay home from social situations like this one.
“We got here first,” Michael pointed out with a drawl. He was seated at the same table, and Annie next to him. Neither of them had dates, I noticed, but they looked content enough with half-eaten breadsticks on their plates and drinks from the bar in front of them.
“I’m very impressed,” I said deadpan.
Annie stood, and her glittering, red dress matched her personality to a fault. She held out a hand to Ruth. “Hi, I’m Annie. You must be the matchmaker turned date, right?”
“I guess I am.” Ruth’s voice went rubber on rubber squeaky.
“Amazing.” Annie shook her head. “You’re way too pretty for him.” She lowered her voice to a conspiratorial whisper. “Did he blackmail you?”
Ruth laughed nervously. “Uh, not… technically.”
“Hey now,” I cautioned.
But Michael cackled as he shook Ruth’s hand as well. “I’m Michael. Blink twice if you need help, Ruth. We’ll save you from Dr. Suave.”
“You’re both fired,” I said.
They laughed, and Ruth chuckled along with them. “And here, I thought Cal was the charming type who wins over his co-workers.”
“I am the charming type,” I muttered, putting a hand on the small of her back and leading her to a chair at our round table. “I’m also the pushover type, and these two take advantage. Incessantly.”
Annie flashed a pair of straight, white teeth before sitting down again with Michael. “It’s true. We’re terrible to him.”
“There was this one time we made a big deal out of our necks cramping—” Michael started.
“—and we whined about it for days because we could tell it was getting on Cal’s nerves,” Annie joined in.
“Here we go,” I grumbled under my breath.
“And we honestly just thought we were teasing him,” Michael continued, his features animated and voice hovering over laughter. “But Cal is such a softie, he bought us all heated neck pillows—”
“—with certificates for chiro appointments,” Annie finished. She gave me a cheeky grin. “ Such a good pushover.”
Ruth laughed softly, and her gaze swung from Annie and Michael to me. Her gray eyes softened a touch as she took in my chagrined expression. “I have also found him to be exceptionally kind. I wouldn’t say he’s a pushover, though.” Her eyes twinkled at that, and I knew she was thinking about our exchanges in the bedroom. And the car. And hopefully, anywhere else she would let me.
“True,” Laura chimed in, refilling her water glass. Around us, the other attendees were finding their seats, and the chatter fell to a low hum. “He’s not actually a pushover. He stands up for his patients.”
“Okay, yes,” Annie acceded. “We’re teasing. He’s pretty great all around.”
Michael made a disgusted sound. “Don’t give in. He’s the only one who found a date, and we hate him.”
I rolled my eyes. “By accident.”
“It certainly wasn’t with my help,” Ruth murmured with a reluctant smile.
Annie squinted, turning her heavily lined eyes into black slits. “I knew he blackmailed you.”
Laura shushed us as the presenter came to the podium at the center of the stage. The room had been simply decorated with banners sporting the area’s business coalition logo, and hues of blue and silver adorned each table. There had to be at least three hundred people in the room, and they all found their seats as the lights dimmed and a spotlight shone on the presenter. He seemed to be talking with someone off to the side about a technical issue.
I leaned over to Ruth and whispered, “I RSVPed for your dinner by myself since I wasn’t sure if you were still coming. You know, after ‘kissgate’ and all.”
Ruth flashed a rare, full smile. “Kissgate?”
“It was an epic fumble on my part. It needed a name.”
She shook her head, still smiling. “Whatever you ordered is fine. I’m not picky.” That fit with my growing understanding of her character. Ruth, who took things in stride, who adapted to challenges with intelligent resourcefulness and flexibility, would be the one to assure me she didn’t mind.
I’d gotten both meals—one for me and the other for her—so she could pick which one she liked. I was doubly glad I had because I was beginning to see that Ruth was the type of person who would forgo her own comfort in favor of another’s. She’d silently endure without saying a word. I both admired her strength and worried for her in tandem.
The presenter turned to face the crowd again, and his mouth hovered just above the mic. He cleared his throat. “Good evening, everyone. Thank you so much for joining us here for the 2024 Portland Greater Area Business Bureau Accolades. Or, as we like to call it, P’gabba.”
The crowd laughed collectively.
“Before we get started, we have a bit of an unusual circumstance. It’s certainly a first for us. A call was put in through the center directly trying to reach a wife whose phone must be on silent. Will Mrs. Ruth Coldwell take a look at her missed calls? Your husband would appreciate it.”