Chapter Eight
DIANA’S HEART BEAT fast for several reasons.
First, it had that habit in Laredo’s presence. Second—and it should’ve been first—this could be the lead that would, well, lead them to Pat. Diana didn’t want to pin too much hope on this development, but she already had.
Her thoughts roiling, she slipped behind the steering wheel and clicked her seat belt closed. Then she snatched Laredo’s left hand—the one not in the sling. “Thank you so much for doing this for me!”
“I’m glad if I can help.” His gaze, so open and sincere, seemed to look into her very soul.
Her heartbeat went into overdrive. Then she frowned at his hand in hers. What had she just done? Something she wasn’t supposed to. Heat roiled her and no doubt pinked her cheeks and neck. She let his hand go and started the engine.
What was she thinking? Did she need to remind herself of all the reasons they couldn’t be together? Including her secret?
She nearly bit into her lower lip, then let the long-suffering lip go as she drove from the restaurant parking lot. The too-familiar burning thirst inside her flared and demanded quenching. It would’ve been so easy. Just a glass, even a few drops... Please... But the glass wouldn’t be enough. It was never enough.
She shouldn’t even think about it. Should keep it inside. Would Laredo be as judgmental as her parents? Though they had the right to be. Everything they’d said to her was true. They’d been ashamed of her, and she should be ashamed of herself. Her gut tightened while her fingers tightened around the steering wheel.
“Turn to the right here, please.” His voice sounded unusually husky. “Then keep going straight ahead.”
Had her touch affected him as much as it had affected her? Or was that wishful thinking?
She forced herself to concentrate on the road and the surrounding Christmas decorations. Red garlands wrapped around the lampposts, and smiling snowmen hung from their tops. Christmas lights stretched in swags along the stores’ rooflines, and winter-themed displays shimmered in almost all the shop windows.
A crafts and yarn store displayed a penguin in a knit scarlet hat and scarf. The neighboring bookstore offered a window seat reading nook to a snowman with a wide coal smile and a long carrot nose topped with oversized reading glasses—he’d better not melt all over the books he cozied up with. The health food store beyond that somehow accumulated an entire reindeer herd—they must’ve come for the organic grains.
Growing up, she’d spent most Christmases with a nanny. Then Pat had sometimes joined them when her mother had a new fling and a child might hinder their holiday trip. Unlike Pat, Diana couldn’t complain. Her parents were doing an important job and saving lives. Diana’s loneliness on Christmas couldn’t be compared to that. She’d even resigned herself quickly to the continuing loneliness when Adam had to spend Christmas at the hospital instead of with her.
For some people—like her—this was a lonely holiday. If only that loneliness didn’t feel so much sharper when other people celebrated with their families.
Last Christmas, once Pat had left, Diana’s only companion had been a bottle of wine. Adam had been gone, and her parents had an important job to do. Her heart felt as cold as that snowman in the shop window, and her smile was probably as artificial as the coal one.
Enough of that.
“How far is the pharmacy?” She tapped the brakes as the traffic light far ahead glowed yellow. Argh. She ached to find Pat.
“It’s relatively close. After this traffic light and the next, turn right, please.”
“Got it.” She loved that about small towns, so different from Dallas where she’d grown up. Everything was close by here—or almost everything was—and traffic wasn’t nearly as bad. That especially mattered right now, when she might be close to solving what had happened to Pat. Time was important.
So was Laredo. She glanced his way as she stopped at the red light. As desperate as she was to find Pat, she didn’t want to leave this place yet. Didn’t want to leave him yet.
Her heart fluttered.
How had it happened? And how had she let it go this far so soon? Like Pat, Diana didn’t usually get attached to people—one of the very few things they had in common, and it had taken Adam a long time to persuade her something serious could happen between them. But in a matter of days, she was getting attached to Laredo.
That wouldn’t do.
Someone honked behind her. Just great. The light had changed to green while she’d gawked at Laredo.
“Sorry about those rude people,” he said.
Flustered, she looked away from the good-looking cowboy and floored the gas pedal. “It’s my fault.”
After the next traffic light, the sunny pharmacy sign beckoned. Large snowflake cutouts dangled in its shop windows, probably the only place here with snowflakes as the weather was still relatively warm. She found an empty parking spot and shot out of the truck without waiting for him to open the vehicle door for her. She didn’t dare wait another second if she might find out Pat was all right. Because her friend had to be all right.
Had to!
“Wait up, please!” He caught up with her fast. Then he shielded her, like before.
By now, she almost believed that falling capstone was an accident. Almost.
She stilled near the front door as she glimpsed a redhead walking from her car to the toy store nearby. Diana tensed. Hadn’t Laredo said he’d noticed every redhead after Lolly left him, even said he’d run after them, hoping it would be her?
Would he do the same now? Just how much space did Lolly still hold in his heart? And no, Diana wasn’t going to color her hair red. Because it wasn’t about the hair. She knew it now. She could change her appearance, but she’d never become the easygoing, free-spirited woman Lolly seemed to be. Over decades of friendship, Pat’s free spirit hadn’t rubbed off on Diana, so nothing would change her now.
Huh. Laredo didn’t even look in the redhead’s direction. Instead, he opened the pharmacy door with his left hand, his focus on Diana as if she were the only person in the world for him. Of course, she’d only imagined the latter.
Then the urgency to find Pat spurred Diana on, and she hurried inside, stepping into the cheerful sound of festive Christmas carols. Beyond shelves with medicines and, interestingly, candies, as well as an assortment of herbs and herb teas, an artificial silver fir tree huddled under an overload of emerald-green ornaments.
A citrusy aroma, maybe some customer’s perfume, tingled her nostrils. Or maybe her imagination conjured it as she approached an end-aisle display offering lemon cough drops. More lemon-citrus yellow tinted the T-shirt on the freckled young clerk with carroty hair. Who knew so many redheads were in the world? And to think she’d thought red hair was rare.
“Good afternoon! Welcome to Sunshine Healing!” the chirpy girl greeted them.
“Good afternoon. And thank you.” Laredo grinned at the girl while Diana managed only a feeble smile.
“These are my guests, hon.” A woman, presumably Dr. Carol, waved at them behind the pharmacy counter, then unlatched the gate, released herself, and wobbled toward them. A giant artificial magenta flower graced the headband holding back her wiry gray bob, and a matching one had been pinned to her white cardigan. Plastic flowers even decorated her magenta shoes. She must love plants and gardening. That might also explain the impressive range of herbal teas for sale here.
Being tall and stout, Dr. Carol looked nothing like Diana’s petite grandmother who dressed in pastel colors. But both seemed to share a love for tea and herbs, and it endeared the woman to Diana right away. It also put nostalgia in her heart. Even after all these years, she missed her grandmother with a passion.
“Good afternoon, Dr. Carol.” Laredo hugged the woman as if he’d known her for ages, which he likely had.
“You sure got here fast, hon.” The woman returned the hug and patted his back.
“Dr. Carol, this is...” He paused as if searching for the right word. “This is my friend and ranch guest Diana Medina. Diana, this is Dr. Carol.”
Like an engine that encountered oil it didn’t like, Diana sputtered at the word friend . Was it selfish to want to be more than friends? It must be.
“Pleasure to meet you, ma’am.” She extended her hand to the woman.
“Nice to meet you, young lady. Come on into my office, both of you.” Dr. Carol shook Diana’s hand, her palm wide and strong like a garden shovel, then ushered them into a side door.
Sparsely furnished with a well-used oak desk and an adjustable green chair, the office also provided two simpler chairs for the guests. An array of plants on the shelves, including poinsettias, silver garlands on the walls, and a miniature Christmas tree on the desk gave it a festive atmosphere. Seemed everyone was welcoming the coming Christmas season.
Diana swallowed hard. Everyone except her.
She didn’t want this holiday season to be just her and an empty wine bottle again, while everyone else cheered with their families and friends. But she’d learned the hard way that her wishes hadn’t always mattered. In fact, most of the time, they didn’t.
“Please sit down.” Dr. Carol lowered herself into her chair with a dignified grimace that bore pain—just like Grandma, too—and turned the computer screen toward them.
Diana made sure to stay away from not just one but three—yes, seriously, three —potted cacti on her desk, one blooming with a white starburst of a flower. Laredo took the chair closest to the cacti. Was he trying to protect her here, as well? Her heart warmed. Someone protecting her was rare in her life, much rarer than flowers in winter. She’d been raised to be independent and self-sufficient.
As a child, she’d once reached over her father’s desk for a pen and encountered a cactus. Getting out all the tiny needles wasn’t fun. She might’ve cried a little. Her father hadn’t taken her to his work ever since, and it was all her fault.
Dr. Carol caught Diana’s glance. “I had to bring the cacti here. My cat tried to knock them down at home.”
“Then the plants will be much better off here.” Diana did her best to hide her impatience to see the recording. Why didn’t Dr. Carol place the cacti on the shelves? Granted, the shelves were occupied, but the cacti could’ve traded places with, say, the begonias.
Dr. Carol lifted her chin. “It’s better for the cat, too. He wasn’t too happy while I was getting needles out of his paw.”
Diana could easily commiserate with the cat, but she needed information about Pat. However, she didn’t want to offend Dr. Carol. “I hope he felt much better afterward.”
“He did.” She picked up one of the pots and squeezed it into a space on the shelf. “This one is nicknamed ‘mother-in-law’s tongue.’”
Diana could totally see why from her own experience. Frankly, she’d rather get cactus needles out of her palm than talk to her former mother-in-law. “You have a beautiful collection. You must be a fantastic gardener. My... my grandmother loved tending to her garden.” Sadly, once Grandma passed away, Diana’s mother sold the tiny salad-green house and its garden that smelled of mint and daisies.
A smile blossomed on the woman’s tanned face. “Thank you. I’m thinking of retiring next year and just spending time in my garden. Anyway, we’re not fancy here. Or techy for that matter. We have cameras because we carry certain types of drugs on the premises and suffered break-ins years ago. So it’s pretty much an insurance requirement.”
“Sorry that happened to you.”
“Sorry,” Diana echoed Laredo, though she couldn’t muster the same compassionate tone as she scooted to the edge of her chair, her back straight. She tucked her hair behind her ears, her fingers jittery. She was often uncomfortable around people she didn’t know, except for her patients. So she was grateful Laredo took the initiative again, especially considering he already knew Dr. Carol.
“I’ll get my nephew to put the recording on whatever he needs to put it on and give it to you. Or perhaps send it as an email attachment. But he won’t be here until this evening, and I figured you’d want to see it much sooner.”
“You were right about that. We appreciate it.” Laredo smiled.
Diana did her best not to let that smile get to her heart. She failed. How could she, though? Laredo was the opposite of a cactus. He was like her grandmother’s favorite mint tea with honey—warm, sweet, smooth—and that gave her a refreshing feeling of belonging. Unlike her parents, who’d always wanted her to marry a doctor, Grandma would welcome Laredo with open arms and a generous smile.
“Thank you so much, Dr. Carol.” This time, Diana didn’t need to infuse gratitude into her voice. It already spurred the words free.
The images came through far blurrier than she’d hoped. Still, she easily recognized Pat. She had such a light gait, almost appearing to float like a swan on a lake instead of walking, and she always kept her head high.
Plus, once again, it was difficult to miss that mermaid-blue hair. And of course, her clothing stood out, this time a Hawaiian shirt with magenta hibiscuses, which reminded Diana of Marina’s lunch invitation with the Hibiscus Club. Diana had never belonged to a friendship group, but Marina was probably just being polite. Pat’s stylishly torn jeans sported all the right tears and holes, and her flip-flops added a splash of bright green. Yup, this was Pat all right.
But unlike most times, that smile didn’t quite reach her eyes when Pat smiled on the recording, and a strange intensity, almost a jerkiness, accompanied her hand movements. Several times, she glanced at the man beside her. They purchased over-the-counter aspirin, not prescription drugs, so the police wouldn’t be able to identify the man based on the prescription. Argh.
Diana’s stomach clenched.
Plus, she didn’t recognize the guy. He seemed a few years older than Pat, which wouldn’t matter to Pat. She’d never discriminated based on age—or on anything else for that matter. She’d dated guys older or younger than she was, as long as the pendulum hadn’t swung much in either direction and the guys were of legal age, of course.
But her neutral posture and expression didn’t exhibit those all-too-familiar signs of infatuation, and the gaze in her eyes... Was she sad? Maybe even concerned?
Hold on. Diana froze. Pat’s lips were moving as she looked at the man, but there was no sound. Diana swallowed hard. She needed to know what her friend was saying. “Would it be possible to have audio?”
Dr. Carol turned the computer her way again and rubbed her temples. “Let me see what I can do. I hope we won’t have to wait for my nephew for that, as well.”
Then Pat’s familiar voice bounced from the room’s walls. And the audio, much clearer than the visual recording, felt so real that longing filled Diana. But Pat’s voice lacked her usual joy and instead was as tense as her movements. “I need to make sure to get a new phone. Such a pity I dropped mine into the ocean when we were on that boat.”
Diana breathed a little easier. Well, that might explain why her friend hadn’t called or answered her phone. But wouldn’t she have called when she got a new phone?
Wait—that large birthmark above the guy’s left eyebrow. Was it vaguely familiar? Maybe that was why the man started looking more than vaguely—very!—familiar. Diana perked up and strained her brain and vision.
Yet after searching her memories, she couldn’t place him. She gritted her teeth. Worse, she’d returned to her first assumption that she’d never seen him before. Did she start thinking something was familiar because she was desperate to identify him in the hope he held the keys to her friend’s whereabouts?
She caught Laredo’s gaze and the silent question behind his arched brow, then nodded. She got up from her chair. “Thank you so much for your help, Dr. Carol. We truly appreciate it.” Then she managed a smile. “I noticed you have a spectacular collection of herbal teas. I love herbal tea. I find it soothing. Relaxing. I’d love to buy a few. Chamomile is my favorite, but I’m open to others, as well.”
Dr. Carol beamed as she led them back into the pharmacy. “You have good taste, young lady. It’s such a shame how the fine art of tea drinking is lost on many young people these days.”
They talked about teas while Laredo waited patiently. Then Diana picked her favorite chamomile and maybe a new favorite, passion fruit.
“You come back anytime, young lady.” Dr. Carol walked them to the door, then patted Laredo’s good arm. “You have good taste, as well. Though not in tea, sadly.”
What was that all about?
Laredo just chuckled as he and Diana walked to the truck.
While she buckled into the driver’s seat, his hand touched hers, and a pleasant wave sluiced through her. “It might not be much, but it’s progress.”
“It is,” she echoed, still racking her brain for why that birthmark looked familiar. “Thank you.” She breathed in the scent of Laredo’s aftershave, its fresh tones evoking images of the ocean, just like his eye color. Her senses seemed sharpened by both worry for her friend and the cowboy’s proximity.
She turned the key in the ignition, the growl of the motor loud in her ears. She might temporarily hold the key to the vehicle, but if she wasn’t careful, Laredo would permanently hold the keys to her heart.