Chapter 22
brANDON
“As much as I love our town and diner, I would kill for a fast-food burger and fries right now.” She glances over, still riding the high from our getaway. “And a shake. Chocolate. What kind would you get?”
It doesn’t escape me that she’s detouring the conversation she wants to avoid. “Chocolate,” I reply, though my head is still on what Mrs. Carson insinuated. “Are you leaving Mountain Laurel Cove?”
“No, we’ll just pick up food from the store.”
I have to give it to her, though. When she’s focused, she sticks to that track like a pro. “I meant the hospital.”
“Oh.” She glances over at me. “It’s, um . . .” Her eyes return to the road. “It’s complicated, Brandon.”
The ache in my shoulders dulls on the trails my thoughts are currently trekking. The possibility of Autumn leaving doesn’t sit right. We just connected, or reconnected if we’re counting the relationship I can’t seem to remember, and now she might be leaving? I ask, “Can you elaborate?”
The smile strips away from her face, her expression tensing as her knuckles whiten on top of the steering wheel. I watch as her gaze hardens, and she stares ahead into the distance. “I don’t have plans.”
“You don’t have plans to leave or plans to stay?
” I stare at her like this is my business.
It’s not, but I don’t know. The past week hasn’t been as horrible as it could have been since she’s been with me.
She thinks I don’t need her, and her keeping me company isn’t part of the job description.
It’s not really something I can insist she stay and tend to.
Though the burning lick of increasing pain through my muscles from moving that cabinet would say otherwise. Is it so bad to want her to choose me?
We laugh like good friends.
Spend time together in a comfort that doesn’t need to fill any silence.
And I see how she looks at me. It’s the same way I catch glimpses of her when I can. The chemistry between us is out of this world. Add in the right compounds of situation, opportunity, and desire, and we’re going to combust.
She laughs, but it fades quickly. Tucking her hair behind her ear, she says, “That’s an interesting way to phrase it.”
“Mrs. Carson inferred it was a done deal.”
“It’s not.” She pauses, dragging her teeth over her bottom lip in a thought that furrows her brow. “Though, admittedly, I may not have a choice.” Her arms slacken as she continues to drive. “I’d like to be able to do what I trained to do, but I only get to briefly touch on that during my shift.”
She’s a good nurse, caring and attentive. Seems like the kind of qualities they’d want in their nursing staff. “Why is that?”
“I crossed the wrong person at work, and he has more power than I do.”
“He?” If this is some power play by an arrogant . . .
“A doctor.” Fucking knew it. Gliding her hands down the sides of the steering wheel, she glances at me before dragging them back to nine and three. “Mrs. Carson is spreading gossip.”
“Is it gossip or is it true?”
“Can’t they be one and the same?”
I shift in the seat, trying to find more room for my legs but not wanting to look away from her. “Sure, but you once said whispers and warnings go hand in hand. It’s not a rumor if it’s the truth.”
Pride lifts her pretty features. “You remember.”
“I’m trying.” Settling into the seat, I ask, “But what started it all?”
“Want to know the truth, Brandon?” I’ve been hoping we would get here, but her offering makes it better than me feeling like I’m pulling teeth.
“It’s not something I’ve told anyone for good reason.
I didn’t want to deal with the rumor mill, so I’m not sure who she would have heard anything from.
I’m certain it wasn’t from the people involved.
But it’s out there, and the story will only get more twisted like a game of Telephone. ”
“I won’t tell anyone. You can trust me.”
Her sweet grin brightens my world once again. “I know I can. Thank you.” Taking a quick breath, she leans back on the headrest and says, “It’s not even an interesting story.”
“I’m interested. I’m interested in anything you want to share with me.”
She reaches over again and tugs on my sleeve.
“You’re sweet.” Rolling her head to face forward again, she says, “It’s really making something from nothing.
We went on a bad date.” Her gaze slides back over to me.
“I knew before our entrées were served. He didn’t pick up on the unsubtle hint for a month after I left the restaurant.
When he finally got the message after I told him no at least twenty times prior to ‘giving it another shot,’ he accused me of using him to get ahead at the hospital and reported me for harassment. ”
Scraping my fingers through my hair, I sigh. “Fucking hell.”
“Yeah, you can say that again.”
“Fucking hell.”
Laughter bursts from her mouth. She reaches over, this time resting her hand on my forearm and leaving it there. The warmth of her palm seeps into my skin, her care felt in the light but relaxed touch we’re sharing. “Since I’m sharing, want to know a doozy of a secret?”
“I’m all ears.”
“And abs but I’m sure you hear that all the time.”
“No, I don’t, but I don’t mind hearing it from you.
” This time, I reach over and rub the top of her leg.
Her skin is soft, matching her expression.
“It’s not so much a secret but something from your past. I don’t know if you remember, but you called me when my sister was in an accident.
That’s why I had to leave the date. I never got to thank you for that.
” She laughs. “You saved me that night.”
“Sounds like I caused a lot of headaches for you down the road, though.”
She’s unbothered with a pop of her shoulder and a tilt of her head. “You’re not to blame. He is.”
“Who is he? Ludlow?”
The hesitation tells me what I need to know. “He’s the only single doctor, Autumn. You’re not giving away any secrets.” A lady pulls my attention to the car next to ours when she gets in.
“If you see him, steer clear. That man gives off a bad aura.”
The fucker better be steering clear of me for the hell he’s caused her. “Was your sister okay?”
Autumn’s introspective smile sweetens like tea at the county fair. “She was okay because you were at the scene to help before I showed up.”
I can vaguely remember an accident involving Summer and a cow named Bessie, but the rest isn’t sticking. It’s okay. I’m still fixed on this asshole doctor. “What’s he done to you?”
“I lost my seniority even though I wrote a sworn statement that I didn’t do what I was accused of.
It’s a small hospital with limited staff.
They need doctors here more than nurses.
So, if one of us is being shown the door, it’s not him.
” She grows quiet as she drops her hands to the sides of her legs on the leather seat and rubs her palms. “I might as well tell you everything because it matters more now than when I originally accepted the job.”
“Which job? The hospital or me?”
“I ended up at your house because I didn’t want to get fired or transferred to Ocean’s Bay.
Overseeing your recovery was the last option.
I took it without hesitation, and it was the best decision I’ve made in a long time.
” That sense of pride returns, weighing in her eyes, along with the confession.
“Why?” I ask, wanting her to feed my ego as much as my curiosity.
“Because this time with you has watered a garden inside me that had long died. There were weeds that needed pulling and vines that had to be cut back to reveal new growth. I feel alive again because of you, Lieutenant. And look at us grocery shopping together like we do it all the time. I could have never predicted it. Things are changing for the better, and it’s all because I took this job with you. ”
If she was trying to win me over, she did it back when I was in the hospital. But hearing that I might have helped her as much as she has me, this woman just stole my heart. “And you call me charming. You got some good lines and moves, too, Nurse.”
“They’re not lines.” She taps me on the nose. “I only speak the truth to you.” Her stomach growls, and she wraps her arm over it.
“Petty larceny builds up the appetite.” She giggles, and the sound shakes the tense feelings from my shoulders as well.
I can tell she feels better, although I’ve taken on some of her irritation with the doctor as my own.
I’m not one to let things slide as easily as she does.
I pop my door open. “Let’s get some food to get you fed. ”
When we meet at the back of the Corolla, she says, “I still wish there was a faster restaurant than the diner in town. Lord knows they’re slow as molasses, even in the off-peak hours.” We walk together toward the doors. “Maybe that’s how we make our first million.”
“It wouldn’t be my first.” Fuck. I shouldn’t have opened my stupid mouth.
She set it up so perfectly for me to interject what she doesn’t need to know.
I’ve been good about keeping my business and bank account quiet around town, stealthily moving to build my personal wealth and set myself up for a future of my choosing.
But Autumn has me out here forgetting myself and tossing private information around like in disc golf.
Just under the green-and-yellow-striped awning of Foodie’s Supermarket, she stops before passing through the automatic doors. I halt, pretending I didn’t word vomit one of my biggest secrets to this woman who has my lips as loose as a jellyfish.
The tune from the kiddie ride kicks in when a kid drops a quarter in the slot after hopping on the dolphin.
Autumn turns to look over her shoulder and then lands back on me under a series of blinks and squeezed-together brows.
Holding up a finger between us, she says, “Bananas, oranges, fish, chicken, and some veggies. All are good for you but also promote healing.” She walks in, letting me off the hook.
I’m sure the topic of that comment will come up again, but for now, we walk into the air-conditioning. “Bananas, oranges, fish, chicken, and veggies. Got it.”
We get the items she listed off, and I add a few things along the way. I stop to breathe. Moving that case wasn’t my smartest move, like the attempted run this morning that didn’t end well for me. I’m now paying for it.
She peeks back around the endcap. When she sees me, she returns, wrapping her arm around my back, and whispering, “Let’s get you home so I can take care of you.”
All day, I didn’t know if this was some madcap last adventure together and we’d go our separate ways, or if she would stick around a while longer. The way I breathe easier knowing she’s coming home with me tells me this is work for her, but for me, it’s now personal.
Half an hour later, I’m resting on the couch, like I was told, with my feet propped up on the arm while she’s in the kitchen unloading the groceries. “Hey?”
“Yeah?”
“You snuck Ding Dongs into the order. That’s not on the approved list.” She sits on the coffee table beside me holding a Ding Dong with a bite out of it between her fingers.
I snatch it and shove the whole thing in my mouth before she has time to protest. “I won’t tell if you don’t.”
“Want to count that as your hard-earned reward?”
Coming to rest my hand on her knee, I rub the pad of my thumb over her soft skin.
There are a billion things I’d want as a reward for running around with her today, but none would be necessary since spending time with her feels like the prize itself.
I’m not stupid enough to let this opportunity slip away, though.
“The Ding Dong was good, but it’s not what I was hoping for. ”
“Oh yeah?” She leans forward, covering my hand with hers and looks me in the eyes like she’s never backed down from a challenge. “Tell me what you have in mind, Lieutenant.”
“I’d rather show you.”