An Unexpected Kiss (6 page)

Cole
had a
few more patients to see before he could call it a day. It was a good thing
since his mind was preoccupied with Lucy. As much as he thought about her he
wasn’t so sure it was wise to spend any more time with her.

Since
they hadn’t made any definitive plans last night, maybe he didn’t need to worry
about her following through with her promise to change his Scrooge-like
attitude about Christmas.

She
obviously hadn’t wanted her mother to know she’d spent the evening with him on
the train, and not Lance. When Lucy’s mother texted her to meet up at the front
entrance, she and Cole parted ways with only Lucy promising to contact Pastor
John—a family friend and the minister of the church—to get names of
anyone they could play secret Santa to.

Out of
all the things Lucy loved about Christmas, secretly making someone’s Christmas
better was top on her list to help Cole like Christmas.

Uncle
Will had only stayed in the office for a few hours, but ended up covering the
ER at the hospital, leaving Cole to meet patients without his uncle’s
introduction. Things had gone smoothly, but Cole missed the efficiency of
having everything on the computer. He’d need to find someone to transition the
current hard copies to electronic medical records sooner than later.

Grabbing
the chart from the door of his next patient, Cole opened it up. TJ Parker, age
six. Sore throat, fever, and cough. He looked for the child’s previous history
but found none. The little boy was a new patient.

He
knocked on the door as a courtesy, and then opened it up and stepped inside the
room. A young mother sat on one of the chairs, holding a little girl. TJ sat up
on the exam table, his face pale.

“Hello,
Ms. Parker.” He held out his hand for her to shake. “I’m Dr. Taggart.”

The woman
timidly took his hand and quickly let go. Even though she smiled, he saw the
fatigue written all over her face. He suspected she was pretty when she wasn’t
sporting dark circles under her eyes from lack of sleep.

“It’s
nice to meet you, doctor. And you can call me Allie.”

Cole
would’ve said hello to the little girl, but she had her head buried against her
mother’s chest. Turning around, he faced his young patient. “You must be TJ.”

The child
nodded his head.

“I
understand you’ve got a sore throat.”

Again,
only a nod.

His
mother piped up. “He’s been sick for over a week now. I kept hoping he’d get
better, but he won’t eat anything, and today I could barely get him to drink
water.”

“We just
moved here,” TJ said in a soft voice. “I haven’t been able to go to school
yet.”

“Do you
like school?” Cole asked.

“Yes.”

“I’ll
tell you what, TJ, if you can let me take a look at your throat, I’ll be able
to know what we can do to help you get better.” Cole took the otoscope from its
base and turned it on. “This is a special light that helps me see inside your
mouth.” He shone it on his palm. “If you can open your mouth as big as you can,
I’ll use the light to look at your throat.”

“Okay,”
TJ said, opening his mouth wide. He said ahhhh without being prompted by Cole.
The child still had his tonsils, and they were so swollen and infected they
were nearly touching.

“Good
job, buddy.” Cole put a tip on the otoscope. “I’m just going to shine this
light in your ears now. I promise it won’t hurt.”

Cole
winced when he saw one of the eardrums bulging and red. Even if he started the
kid on antibiotics, he predicted the eardrum would rupture before the day was
done. The other side didn’t look as bad, but it was still infected.

TJ did
everything Cole asked as he listened to his lungs and heart. At least his breath
sounds were clear. That was more than he could say about the little girl. She
had a nasty cough. He’d ask the mother if he could take a look at her after.

Other
than his acute illness, TJ appeared to be in good health. As Cole turned to
talk to Allie, the little girl stated she needed to go to the bathroom.

“I’m
sorry,” Allie said standing up. “I’ll be right back.”

“No
problem. TJ and I will wait right here.” Cole opened the door for Allie and
pointed out the restroom.

Hoping to
make the child comfortable, Cole asked the age-old question for this time of
the year. “So, TJ, tell me what do you want from Santa?”

The
little boy’s eyes didn’t light up. Instead they grew dimmer. “Santa isn’t
coming to our house this year.”

Cole was
temporarily speechless. He felt sick inside, and wondered what the
circumstances were for a mother to tell her child Santa wasn’t coming. He hoped
it wasn’t some kind of punishment.

“Oh, why
not?”

TJ’s
little shoulders seem to droop. “Mama says it isn’t because I’m bad. She told
me I’m the best boy in the world, but that Santa needs help this year and we
don’t have any extra money to help him.”

A feeling
of despair and helplessness enveloped Cole. How many other children were out
there with the same reality as this kid? Each year, Cole contributed money to
his pastor to help those families in need, but Cole had actually never met
anyone in person. They were just a paper star on the Christmas tree with the
age and gender of the recipient as the only information.

Fighting
back his emotions, he tried to think of something to say to give this little
boy hope. TJ continued, his tone accepting and matter-of-fact.

“My daddy
wasn’t very nice to me or Hailey. He was mean to Mama too. We moved away so he
can’t hurt us anymore. Mama says next year we’ll have enough money to give to
Santa. She says this year we can give each other gifts that we make.”

The door
opened and Allie walked in carrying her daughter who looked to be about four
years old. The child started coughing again, and Cole’s worries increased.
“Allie, it sounds like I better take a look at this little one. What’s her name?”

“Hailey.”
Allie swallowed, and Cole noticed her lower lip trembling. “I don’t have enough
money for two co-pays today.”

“Let’s
not worry about that right now, okay?”

Allie
nodded her head. “Okay.”

Cole sat
down on the chair next to Allie, unwinding his stethoscope from around his
neck. “Hailey, I’m Dr. Taggart, and I’m just going to listen to your breathing
just like I listened to TJ’s.”

Allie
lifted the back of Hailey’s shirt and Cole placed the diaphragm of the
stethoscope against the small back. After listening to each side, he ruled out
pneumonia. “How long has she been sick?”

“Her
cough started about five days ago but she’s had a cold for about two weeks. We
just moved here, and I’m still trying to get settled. I just kept hoping they’d
both get better.”

“Hailey’s
illness most likely started out as a virus, so bringing her in sooner wouldn’t
have helped.” Cole stood up and picked up the portable oxygen saturation
monitor. “She’s got bronchitis which should get better with antibiotics. I just
need to make sure she’s getting enough oxygen.”

Cole
crouched down low. “Hailey, will you let me put this on your finger? It won’t
hurt and you’ll be able to hear your heart beeping.”

Allie
helped her daughter hold out her small hand. Cole put the monitor on her finger
and watched the numbers on the display. Hailey’s heart rate clipped along in a
healthy rhythm and her oxygen levels were in the high nineties which was right
where they should be.

“Good
job, Hailey.” Cole removed the device and turned it off. “Her O2 sats are
great, Allie. Do either of your children have any known drug allergies?”

“Not that
I know of.”

“Good,
I’d like to prescribe a broad-spectrum antibiotic for both of them.” Right
away, Cole saw a new stress press down on this already burdened single mother.
“I’m going to have my nurse get a weight on Hailey while I go into our supply
room. Our pharmaceutical rep left us with a good supply of medication last
week, and I should have enough samples for both kids so we can start treatment
immediately.”

“Thank
you. That would really help.”

Cole
exited the room and asked his nurse to weigh Hailey. He went into the supply
room and found enough of the medication for both kids. He also grabbed samples
of children’s ibuprofen and cough medicine. Putting everything into a bag, he
made his way back to the examination room. Cole gave Allie the medication and
wrote the instructions down for each child. “If you don’t see a change over the
next four days, I want you to call me, okay?”

“I will.”
She put on her daughter’s coat and handed TJ his coat. “Thank you so much, Dr.
Taggart. You’ve been really kind.”

Cole
smiled, but his chest tightened with emotion. TJ’s coat was obviously too small.
The coat was clean, though, and Cole knew Allie was doing the best she could.

“You’ve
got a couple of great kids.”

He opened
the door and instructed the nurse to let the children choose something from the
treat basket. He planned on getting a vending machine with small toys the kids
could buy with a token. It was just another thing on his list to update Uncle
Will’s practice.

Cole saw
the last two patients of the day, grateful they were both follow ups which
didn’t take long. Uncle Will’s office was closed on Fridays, something Cole
liked and planned on keeping. The patients already were accustomed to this, and
Cole saw no reason to change it.

As soon
as the receptionist and the nurse left, Cole located Lucy’s records and found
her cell phone number. He knew he could get into trouble, since his reasons for
getting the information had nothing to do with her health. But he knew Lucy
would understand.

She
answered right away. “Hello.”

“Hey,
this is Cole Taggart.” He cringed. She already knew his last name.

“Well,
hello, Cole Taggart,” she said with a small laugh.

“Hi.” He
suddenly felt like a dorky teenager who didn’t know how to talk to a pretty
girl.

“Hi,
yourself.”

Cole
laughed. “I’m not usually this awkward when I call a girl.”

“I make
you nervous?”

Yeah, now
that he thought about it. “A little.”

“It’s my
mother, isn’t it? You don’t want her hitting on you for me, right?”

He
laughed again. “Actually, that’s not the reason. But speaking of your mother,
why didn’t you want to be seen with me last night?”

“Seriously?
Don’t you know I was trying to protect you? If she learns I’m hanging out with
the cute new doctor in town, your life would never be the same.”

“You
think I’m cute?”

“Did I
say that out loud?”

“Yes.”

“Hmm.
Just trust me when I say I’m protecting you from my mother’s matchmaking
schemes.”

Cole was
about to make some flirtatious comment about not minding if her mother wanted
to push them together, but sobered when Lucy asked what he’d called about.

“Can we
meet somewhere for dinner? I just found our Secret Santa family and we need to
get started right away.”

Lucy
pulled
into the restaurant parking lot, and nervously glanced at her reflection in the
rearview mirror. “This isn’t a date,” she said out loud. She twisted her finger
around an errant curl, and then applied a fresh coat of lip-gloss.

It wasn’t
a date…not really. Just because Cole admitted she made him nervous, and she
apparently admitted she thought he was cute, it didn’t mean anything. They were
just friends.

Satisfied
by both her appearance, and her ability to lie to herself, Lucy climbed out of
the car and made her way into the quaint eatery. She suggested they meet here
because it was twenty minutes outside of town, and lessened the odds of running
into someone from Snow Valley.

As she
quickly made her way to the entrance, the cold air felt like icy fingers
slipping between the seams of her coat. Living in Southern California for the
past year and a half had obviously made her a wimp when it came to cold
weather.

A tiny
bell jangled when she opened the door. She stepped inside, and was immediately
enveloped in warm air, scented with heavenly aromas of something delicious.

“Welcome
to Granny’s Kitchen.” The bubbly hostess was a cute dark-haired girl that
looked to be a little younger than Lucy.

“Thanks…”
Lucy’s eyes dipped down to read the girl’s name tag. “…Harper. It smells
heavenly in here.”

“The food’s
even better.” Harper plucked up a menu. “Just one?”

Lucy
shook her head, and removed her gloves. “I’m meeting a friend here.”

The girl
lifted a sculpted brow. “Please tell me it’s not the hot guy in the corner.”

Following
the girl’s line of sight, Lucy felt her breath hitch when she spied Cole
sitting there studying his phone intently. “Yep, that’s him.”

“Ah, man.
I was like already to flirt with him and everything.”

“Sorry to
ruin your plans.”

Harper
brightened. “But you said friends, so does that mean he’s still available?”

Lucy
suddenly felt territorial. “We’re friends that kiss each other.”

“So
off-limits.” She smiled and lifted a shoulder. “Glad I asked before I made a
fool of myself.”

“For the
record,” Lucy said unbuttoning her coat. “I don’t blame you. He is pretty
cute.”

Harper
sighed. “Love. It always happens to everyone but me.”

“Oh,
I’m—” Lucy stopped herself from blurting out she wasn’t in love. Better
to not give the girl false hope. “I’m sure it will happen when you least expect
it.”

“Thanks,”
she said unenthusiastically. “Well, let’s get you seated so you two can order.”

Lucy followed
the girl, and could’ve kissed Cole the way his eyes lit up when he saw her. “Hey,
you made it.” He stood up and helped Lucy take off her coat.

“Thanks.”
She draped the coat on the back of the chair, and took her seat. “Have you been
here long?”

“No, I
just sat down.”

Harper
handed each of them a menu. “I’ll give you two a few minutes to decide what you
want.” She glanced at Lucy. “Can I get you anything to drink?”

“Ice
water, please.”

The girl
turned to Cole and flashed him a bright smile. “And what would you like?”

“Ice
water for me too, Harper.” Cole gave the waitress a smooth grin, and Harper’s
cheeks flushed a pretty pink.

Did he
really have to be so charming? Lucy wanted to kick him under the table. So she
did.

Cole
grimaced and shot her a questioning gaze.

“Oh,
sorry,” she said sweetly. “I forget how long your legs are.”

“It’s…okay.”

Harper’s
eyes narrowed slightly as she looked between the two of them. “I’ll go get your
drinks.”

As soon
as she was out of earshot, Cole asked, “What was that for?”

“What was
what for?”

“Lucy,
you kicked me. On purpose.”

She tried
to hide her grin behind the menu. “I said I was sorry.”

Cole
pulled the menu down. “Why did you kick me?”

Lucy knew
her explanation would give him the wrong idea. The room suddenly felt warmer as
he waited for an answer. She wanted to make something up, but ever since
meeting this man she’d been telling more half-truths than the Whitehouse press
secretary.

She
really would end up on Santa’s naughty list.

“Harper
has a thing for you, and you smiling at her like that was giving her the wrong
idea.”

A slow
grin spread across his handsome face. “Are you jealous?”

“Don’t be
ridiculous.”

“Admit,
it. You’re jealous.”

“I am
not.”

“So you
wouldn’t mind if I asked for her number?”

Lucy
squirmed in her chair. “Go ahead.” She raised the menu again. “But at least
wait until I leave. I told her we’re together.”

“Lucy?”

She
continued to hide behind the menu. “What?”

“Look at
me.”

“I’m
trying to order here.” Couldn’t he just drop it?

There was
silence, and she could feel his electric blue eyes staring at her.

“If
you’re trying to order, then why is your menu upside down?”

Heat
flooded Lucy’s face as she realized the menu was upside down. Slowly, she
righted the menu.

Unfortunately,
Harper came back to take their order. “Ready?” she asked, placing down a
glass of ice water for each of them.

Lucy had
no idea what she wanted. She lowered her menu. “I can’t make up my mind.” Her
eyes flickered to Cole. “Why don’t you go first?”

Cole
winked at her and ordered Granny’s pot roast. That sounded good to Lucy.

“I’ll have
the same thing.”

“Coming
right up,” Harper said, plucking their menus off the table. She pitched a
curious gaze at Lucy, as if to ask if she’d been telling the truth.

Lucy
smiled. “Thank you.” She wanted to add: “We
are
friends, and we
have
kissed.” Instead, she kept her mouth shut.

Knowing
she couldn’t avoid Cole, she tentatively met his gaze. His eyes were full of
amusement, and the smile curving his mouth came off as sexy and confident.

“Thank
you for meeting me for dinner,” he said.

“You’re
welcome.” She nervously tucked a blonde curl behind her ear. “So, you found
someone who might need a little cheering up for Christmas?”

The
sparkle in his eyes dimmed, as if someone turned the lights down. “They need
more than cheering up.”

Cole
proceeded to tell Lucy all about the small family, and the obvious dire
circumstances. Lucy’s heart ached not only for the little children, but for the
mother. She couldn’t imagine the burdens and stress she carried.

“I’ll
call Pastor John to see if he knows anything about the Parkers. Did you happen
to get their address?”

Cole took
a sip of water, and nodded. “I got all the contact information on my phone.” He
pulled out his cell and tapped on the screen a few times. “I plugged the
address into my Maps app, and it looks like they live on the outskirts of town.”

He held
out his phone to Lucy. During the transfer, their fingers touched, and she felt
a zing of electricity from the brief contact. Ignoring the attraction, she
studied the map and immediately recognized the area.

“This is
the old Carpenter house.” She frowned and returned the phone. “And when I say
old, I mean old.”

“Was it
for sale?”

Lucy shrugged.
“I don’t know. The house is near Lance’s ranch. Maybe he’d know.”

“Are you
comfortable contacting him?”

“Sure.
Despite how obnoxious he is, we are friends.” She pulled out her phone. “I’ll
text him and ask if he knows anything.”

While
Lucy typed out the message, Harper delivered their meals. The food smelled as
incredible as it looked.

“Can I
get you anything else?”

Lucy
paused long enough to see Cole smile and give the girl a quick shake of his
head. “Not right now, but thanks.”

“Just let
me know if you change your mind.” Harper gave him a decidedly flirty smile, and
backed away from the table. She glanced at Lucy briefly before turning and
leaving them alone.

Lucy
quickly finished the message and sent it. “Hopefully Lance will know
something.”

Cole
studied her for a few seconds. “I want to do more for this family than just get
them a few Christmas gifts.”

The
conviction in his voice made Lucy like him even more as well as respect him. “I
agree.” She pulled a notebook and pen out of her purse. “Let’s brainstorm while
we eat. Since Christmas is less than a week away that needs to be our first
priority.”

“How do
we find out what the kids want?” Cole started in on his meal while Lucy
answered him.

“I’ll
talk to my mother, and see if she can put some kind of welcome basket together
with Christmas goodies and breads, along with some oranges and apples.” Lucy
shook out a cloth napkin and laid it across her lap. “Trust me when I say my
mother will be able to get the information we need.”

Lucy cut
into the tender meat with her fork, and took her first bite. “Mmm, this is
good.”

Cole
agreed and took a forkful of meat and mashed potatoes in one scoop. “I might be
coming back here for more than a few of my meals once I move into my house. I’m
not really that great of a cook.”

Lucy took
another bite of food, and studied Cole. Did he want to come back here to get to
know the cute waitress as well? Ignoring the twinge of jealousy, she took a
drink of water and then wrote gift basket and her mother’s name down on the
paper.

“I’ll bet
they don’t have a Christmas tree,” Cole said. “We could get a fresh tree with a
stand and put the lights on. Then we can anonymously leave it on their porch
with some ornaments.”

“Good
idea.” Lucy wrote it down.

“We also
need to get them a Christmas CD so they can listen to music while they decorate
it.”

Lucy
glanced up at him and smiled. “You remembered.”

Warmth
filled his blue eyes. “I was listening to everything you said.”

His words
sent a ripple of pleasure through her. Lucy ducked her head, hoping to hide the
heat in her cheeks. “Okay, what else?”

They
discussed several other ideas, including buying the Parkers tickets for the
Winter Carnival on Saturday. Hopefully both of the kids would respond to the
medication Cole started them on and would be well enough to enjoy the outdoor
activity. Lucy and Cole decided if the family went they could use that time to
put lights on the house.

Just as
Lucy and Cole finished dinner, Lance texted her back.

I
asked Mom and she wasn’t aware of anyone moving into the place, but I did see
smoke coming out of the chimney when I drove home today. Mom said she’ll see
what she can find out and I’ll get back with you.

Lucy read
the text to Cole, and then thanked Lance. A few seconds later he sent her
another text.

I
guess you’re still seeing that guy?

It wasn’t
fair to use Cole to avoid Lance, but technically she was seeing him. And they’d
be spending a lot of time together over the next week until she went home. She
quickly typed a reply.

I’m
with him right now
.

Figures
.

“Is
everything okay?” Cole asked.

“Yes. Lance
is just being Lance.” Not wanting Cole to ask more questions about Lance, she
tucked her phone into her purse and gathered up her notebook and pen. “So I’ll
talk to Pastor John this evening, and then tomorrow you and I are Christmas
tree shopping, right?”

“Sounds
like a plan. The office is closed tomorrow, and I’m not on call this weekend so
we can go anytime.”

Lucy had
absolutely nothing to do tomorrow. “How about I meet you at Dove’s at ten? They
sell most everything there, and we can get the ornaments, lights and tree stand
in one stop.”

“How
about I just pick you up at ten and we’ll go together?”

“And let
my mother see you?” Lucy shook her head. “I don’t think that’s a good idea.”

“Your
mother doesn’t scare me.”

“She
should.”

“My name
doesn’t start with an L so she probably wouldn’t want you to date me anyway.”

Lucy
smiled. “Your name has an L in it and that might be enough for her.”

Harper
suddenly appeared. “Would you two like any dessert?”

“No
thanks.” Lucy and Cole both spoke at the same time.

“Okay,
here’s the check. Just bring it to the register when you’re ready.”