Chapter 2
AUTUMN “FALL” SEASON
“Did you see him, Autumn?” My heart escapes my body before I jump in response to a blur of blue scrubs and Stacy bouncing up to the nurses’ station. Luckily, the counter in front of me is anchored to the floor, or I’d be under it from the impact of my coworker landing against it.
“Cheez-Its on a cracker, Stace.” With my hand still pressed to my chest, I try to restrain the beats threatening to swallow my heart and groan. “You almost gave me a heart attack.”
“Sorry.” Her mirthful grin isn’t shy as it spreads.
“At least you’re in the right place if you do have one.
” Her laughter makes me think she’s not really that sorry for scaring my soul right out of me.
The sterile halls of the hospital and revenge scheduling I’ve been suffering through for more than a year can’t keep me from grinning in response to her.
I’m glad I have a friend to work with, another nurse in the trenches with me.
Since an attack was averted, she presses on with her mission, “But did you?”
Leaning back against the sweater draped over my chair, I cross my arms over my chest. “Did I what?”
She rocks over the high counter between us and plants her elbows down like she’s discovered new territory, and whispers, “Did you see the firefighter in room 8?”
I glance at the room situated catty-corner from me across the hall.
“There’s a firefighter in room 8?” Her head drops to the side, and she purses her lips in disappointment when she realizes I can’t share in her excitement.
“I just sat down for my shift and haven’t logged in yet.
I’ve been in Boston for two days, remember?
I went with my sister to watch her husband’s hockey team play. ”
She lands solidly back on her heels, pushing off the counter. “I forgot you’ve been out of town, so I guess you haven’t heard. How’d the Brooklyn Breakaways play?”
I was hoping this weekend would provide a distraction from the hierarchical games I’ve been forced to play ever since Dr. Ludlow decided to have it out for me last year, but unfortunately, I was unsuccessful.
It was impossible to enjoy the quick getaway, not when I knew what I’d be returning to—overnights and task work.
I eye the stack of files already waiting for me.
I’m so glad I graduated at the top of my nursing school class just to have my skill set underutilized and a doctor seeking revenge by swaying the administration to keep me from promotions. Defiance rings through me, and I raise my chin. I won’t let him win.
“It was only an exhibition game,” I reply, “but they won.” I grin as if I have a right to feel proud. I suppose I do since my brother-in-law is a star player.
“That’s great. Now back to the firefighter,” she starts like I’d taken her down a detour she didn’t ask for. “He’s cute. Really cute.”
“And here I thought you’d give me an update about his condition.
” I laugh. Stacy makes working here bearable and always gets me smiling.
“I’m shocked I haven’t heard anything. A firefighter being injured .
. .” I take a breath, the gravity of the situation pulling me back to concern.
Mountain Laurel Cove is a tight community.
It’s always big news if one of our own is injured. “Is he okay? What happened?”
I’m surprised I wasn’t greeted by gossip the moment I stepped onto the back porch when Summer and I returned from Boston. Neither my grandmother nor either of my sisters said a thing.
Stacy looks down the hall one way and then to the opposite end, causing her brown ponytail to flip from one side to the other. As if she was making sure the coast was clear, she replies, “He’ll be okay, thank goodness. It’s going to take some recovery, though.”
“Oh.” My heart clenches. “That sounds serious.”
“I have no doubt he’ll be good as new. He just needs to rest and recover. And,” she says with one hand holding onto the counter and dropping her weight back on her heels again. Her good mood is getting the best of her. “I’ll be happy to nurse him back to health personally.”
“Stacy,” I playfully reprimand, though her smile is contagious, causing me to grin along with her. “You’re so bad.”
“I’m trying to be bad, but the lack of opportunities in this town is staggering.”
“Tell me about it.”
Ticking off a finger, she says, “Well, first of all—”
“I was kidding. I don’t need the reminder of how few available men there are within a sixty-mile radius.
Much less men who are within forty years of our age.
I live it. Daily.” Glancing behind Stacy when someone walks by, I clamp my mouth shut until they’ve long passed.
In a lowered voice, I say, “And look what happened when I dared to even try to date one of the few that exist in that range.” I roll my eyes, hoping to wipe my brain of the image of Dr. Ludlow that dared to infiltrate my head before my gaze lands on the stack of files I’ll be dealing with all night.
I pat the top of the stack. “That earned me ten hours of fun. Yay, me.” Sarcasm is my fallback these days. Gotta find the silver linings.
Excitement brightens her eyes, and they sparkle under the LED lighting of the hospital. “He is good-looking, though.”
“Ugh. I never want to see his face again—”
“I’m talking about the firefighter, Autumn, not Dr. Ludlow .
. . though,” she says, tapping her fingers on the counter as she ponders what I can only imagine are the possibilities.
“He is handsome, even if he is a jerk of epic proportions.” At least she has the wherewithal to sour her face when she says his name.
Shaking my head, I reply, “His looks can’t overcome the jerk part, but have at him if you’re desperate.”
“Who’s not desperate these days? Look at us. Two attractive women who don’t need a man but would like one in their lives, even if it’s only for the night.” She winks before laughing again. “I’m getting more desperate by the day.”
Even desperation wouldn’t send me on another date with Ludlow. I slide my chair over to grab my bag from the counter and tuck it in a drawer. “I don’t need my blood pressure elevated. Can we please talk about the firefighter?”
“That’s what I’ve been trying to do, Autumn.”
“All I’m hearing is that he’s cute and you haven’t secured a date with him yet. Is that correct?”
“Correct, but if he was conscious—”
“He’s unconscious?”
At the end of a heavy sigh, she replies, “A minor roadblock on my first shift tending to him. The second shift, he was sleeping. Debbie was on duty the other times when he was awake. I’m jealous.
His hours are off, so he wakes at night.
” Disappointment slipped into her tone, but she says it all so casually like it’s a foregone conclusion that if he were awake, they’d already be on their merry way.
Or would it be married way? The woman’s got moxie.
She’s not shy about going after what she wants, and I don’t envy her. If this guy isn’t married, which I assume she already knows he isn’t, he doesn’t stand a chance. I’m expecting a wedding invitation in the next two months.
The reality of living in a small town is that if you hesitate, some other girl will be all over the guy you had in your sights in seconds.
I’ve never been into the rat race of dating, especially here.
It was the biggest and only hesitation I had when I returned home to Mountain Laurel Cove. I may end up alone.
My family needed me after I graduated from college. The town needs medical personnel. It helps that the reason I became a nurse—to help others feel better—is still a driving motivation behind my resolve to return home.
Getting to spend time with my grandmother, Dolly, and my sisters is also good for my soul. I’m doing what I always dreamed about when I was little. But now, at all of twenty-six years, my dreams have unexpectedly shifted.
Leechy Ludlow has turned the career I love into day-to-day doldrums.
And is it so awful to want to have a little space of my own?
There’s nowhere to decompress after a ten- or twelve-hour shift.
I love my family, but I need a little privacy now and again.
Showering without someone barging in to use the toilet or do their makeup is the kind of dream I have these days.
It’s also one I keep to myself. I don’t want to upset anyone.
I say, “I’m glad he’s not in a coma.”
“Yeah. Debbie said everyone was relieved that he had woken up so soon after being brought in three nights ago. He’s stayed on that overnight schedule since.
Another firefighter visiting him told me he works a lot of nights.
” Glancing back at room 8, she says, “I bet he has great eyes.” Her words swim longingly toward the image of a happily ever after she’s already created in her head.
I’m still grinning when I log in, but before the screen wakes up, I glance back at her. “I’ll report back when he wakes up.”
“Good because I have to boogie,” she says, tapping the counter again. “I ordered food for pickup from the diner on the way home. Lasagna is always better fresh from the oven.”
“Of course.”
Blanketing her hand over her forehead, she says, “Oh wow, I almost forgot to tell you. Debbie called in sick, and since I’m coming off a double, I can’t stay on the clock to assist you. Will you be okay handling this hall alone?”
“I can handle it.” We’re a small hospital in a rural community, with a little downtown, and a peak summer tourist season that ended two weeks ago on Labor Day. I glance at the screen again. “Three patients. I’ll be fine.”
“Joyce and Carrie are in the critical care wing if you need backup. The ER is covered. The patients were sleeping when I last checked.” She peeks at her watch.
“It’s just past eleven.” Looking back at me, she says, “Four o’clock will be the next round.
I’ve prepped the station, and there’s fresh coffee in the break room. ”