An Unexpected Kiss (9 page)

Lucy
watched
the surprise cross Lance’s face as he strode purposefully next to Cole. “You’re
a doctor?”

“Yes,”
Cole answered, producing his keys and unlocking his car.

“And you
have an office in Snow Valley?” Lance asked.

“Yes.”
They reached the Land Rover, and Cole opened the passenger door for Lucy.

She took
her seat, knowing that with any more questions about Cole’s recent arrival in
town, Lance would do the math and know things didn’t add up.

Her phone
started playing the song Mother Knows Best from the movie
Tangled
.
“That’s my mom,” she said, grateful for the distraction. “I need to answer my
phone.”

“Here,
let me do that,” Cole said, gently taking a hold of the glove wrapped around
her injured finger. “You answer your phone.”

Lucy dug
her cell out of her coat pocket. “Hey, Mom,” she said breathlessly. “What’s
up?”

“Allie
and her kids are leaving and heading for home. Her little girl, Hailey, got
sick on the Tilt-O-Whirl and is crying to go home. Pastor John and his wife are
walking them out to their car now. Are you and the your mystery partner done?”

“Almost.
I better go so we can finish up before they get home.” Laying the phone on her
thigh, she pressed the button to end the call.

“Allie
and the kids are on their way.” She glanced up at Lance. “Do you think you can
finish up? The Christmas gift bags under the tree have the ornaments in them,
along with the Christmas CD.”

“Yeah,
don’t worry about it. I’ll take care of everything and be gone before they get
home.”

“Thank
you, Lance.” Lucy took over holding the glove as Cole moved away and closed the
car door.

Lance and
Cole stood by her window talking, but she couldn’t hear anything. Lance’s face
looked tense. He glanced at Lucy with guarded eyes as Cole rounded the front of
the SUV and climbed in behind the wheel.

Lance
backed away from the car as Cole started the engine. Without looking at Lucy
again, he turned and walked back to finish stringing the lights.

Lucy felt
sick inside. Lance had to know something was up.

“You
doing okay?” Cole asked as he accelerated down the country road toward town.

“What did
you and Lance talk about?” she questioned, instead of answering.

“He
wanted to know where my office is.”

“Oh.”
Lucy closed her eyes and rested her head against the seat back. That wasn’t
bad. Maybe he didn’t suspect anything after all.

“He also
asked when you and I started seeing each other.”

Lucy’s
eyes flew open. “What did you tell him?” She didn’t want Cole to lie, but she
certainly didn’t want Lance to know Lucy had kissed a complete stranger.

“I told
him we haven’t been dating long.” Cole glanced over at her. “I could tell he
wanted to ask more questions. My guess is as soon as he’s done here he’ll swing
by the office to check on you.”

Yeah,
that and to probe deeper into her and Cole’s dating history. No doubt by the
end of the evening Lance would know the whole story.

Feeling a
little lightheaded, Lucy leaned back and closed her eyes. She’d made everything
so complicated. When she’d asked Cole to kiss her, she never expected to see
him again. She certainly never planned on falling in love with him.

Thankfully,
Cole didn’t try to talk with her the rest of the drive into town. By the time
they arrived at his office, her finger was hurting so much she wanted to cry.

The
office was cold, and Cole bumped up the thermostat before leading her back to
the first exam room. Lucy sat on the edge of the exam table while Cole took of
his jacket.

“Let’s
see if the bleeding has subsided,” he said, taking her hand and carefully
removing the glove.

The cut
still oozed, but wasn’t bleeding like before. “Does it need stitches?”

Cole’s
fingers were warm as he gently probed the injury. “I’m afraid so. The
laceration is deep, and every time you move your finger you’ll risk opening it
up before it can properly heal.”

He turned
around and rummaged through the cupboard, pulling out a box of sterile
bandages. Opening one of the packages, he gave it to Lucy to wrap around the
wound. “Have you had a tetanus booster in the last five to ten years?”

Lucy had
no idea the last time she’d had a shot. “I’ve lived in California for three
years now and I know I haven’t gotten one there.” She shrugged. “Would it be in
my chart?”

Cole’s brows
furrowed. “Maybe, but it may take a while to find. If I had everything
digitized I could just pull it up on the computer.”

“You’re
planning on going to electronic records?” Lucy asked.

“As soon
as I can find someone do it. Hard charts take up too much valuable time.”

“Good
luck finding someone. You might want to try contacting the university. They may
have interns looking for work.” During college, Lucy had interned one summer
digitizing patients records for an eye doctor. Although the pay had been fairly
decent, it had been the most boring and tedious work she’d ever done.

“That’s a
great idea.” He crossed the room and opened the door. “I’m going to get all the
supplies together, and grab your chart. Be back in just a couple of minutes.”

Once he
was gone, Lucy took a peek at her finger.
Ouch
. No wonder it hurt. The
stitches were going to hurt even worse. She tried not to feel too sorry for
herself. The injury could’ve been a lot worse, but it would seriously put a
damper on her plans to build a snowman with her brothers. Maybe she’d make Cole
come and build the snowman. Given his background, she doubted he’d ever made
one before.

Putting
the gauze back in place, Lucy closed her eyes and tried not to think about Lance
or Cole. Instead, she concentrated on her job and the possibility of the
promotion. She’d basically had no social life since moving to California. Other
than attending church, her focus had been solely on her career. All her hard
work would be worth the sacrifice if she got the promotion, which would afford
her the opportunity to travel and possibly live overseas.

That was
what she wanted, right? Images of the past few days she’d spent with Cole
flashed through her mind, and suddenly getting the promotion didn’t seem as
important. Her eyes flew open and she moaned just as Cole returned with his
equipment and her chart.

“Sorry,
it took a little more time to look through your records, but the last time you
received a tetanus booster was just before you turned thirteen.” He placed a
rectangular object about the size of a laptop computer on a metal table. It was
wrapped in blue paper with a seal of tape keeping it closed. “So after we
finish with your finger, I’ll go ahead and give you a Tdap booster.”

Lucy was
grateful he thought her discomfort was due to her finger and not the
realization that her job might not be the most important thing. “All right.”

He broke
the seal and pulled at the corner of the blue cloth. “The antibiotic your
taking for the strep infection should cover you and help prevent the wound from
getting infected,” he said, continuing to peel back the other corners to reveal
a sterile tray with all kinds of sharp looking instruments on it.

Turning
around, he removed a brown bottle from the cupboard and a small vial of
medication, as well as a couple of syringes. He poured a dark liquid from the
brown bottle into a tiny metal cup on the sterile tray.

“You
know,” he said as he continued to make preparations. “I don’t know what it is
you do in California. Tell me about your job.”

Guessing
he was trying to distract her, Lucy told him the name of the prestigious internet-related
company she worked for.

“Wow,”
Cole said, donning a pair of blue latex gloves. “I’ve heard the employees there
are all pretty happy.”

“It is a
great company. I love my job.” Lucy watched him take one of the syringes to
draw up the medication in the small vial. “Is that the Tdap?”

“No, this
is lidocaine. It’ll numb your finger so you won’t feel any pain.” He moved over
to her and removed the gauze pad. “The medication stings, but it won’t last for
long.”

Cole
carefully held her finger and inserted the tiny needle. Lucy flinched, but
didn’t pull her hand away. The medication burned. She sucked in a breath and
felt her eyes start to water.

“So,
you’re a computer whiz,” Cole said as he moved the needle to another area of
her finger. “Any recommendations on who to look for to help convert my patient
records to electronic ones?”

Lucy
swallowed back a cry as he injected more of the lidocaine. “I can give you the
name of one of my professors at UM. He’d probably be able to hook you up with
the right person.”

“I’d
appreciate that.” Cole moved to another part of her finger. “I’m almost done,
Lucy. You’re doing great.”

Knowing
what was coming, Lucy clamped her lips together tightly as Cole pricked her
skin and injected the last of the stinging medication.

“I’m also
looking for someone to create a website for my practice. I’d like my patients
to have the ability to email me for medication refills, look at their lab
results, and schedule appointments.” He withdrew the needle. “All done. We’ll
just give it a few minutes to make sure your finger is completely numb.”

“Ouch,”
she said. “That hurt.”

Compassion
filled Cole’s dark blue eyes. “I know. Believe it or not, that is the worst
part.” He deposited the syringe in a red sharps container and removed the blue
gloves. “I’ll write a prescription for some pain medication as soon as we’re
done.”

He looked
around the room. “That is as soon as I can find a prescription pad.” Two lines
dented his forehead. “Having everything on the computer is going to make things
so much simpler. The ability to print prescriptions is another added bonus to
bringing my practice into the digital world.”

Now that
her finger was numbing up, Lucy was able to think about the changes Cole wanted
for his medical practice. She had to admit that part of her was intrigued with
the idea of equipping his office with the necessary computers as well as the
right software.

“That’s a
big project. I’m sure my professor will be able to give you names of competent
IT people qualified to make the transition.”

“Thank
you.” Cole smiled. “By the way, in case you ever have a desire to move back to
Montana, I’d hire you in a second to do the job.”

The tone
of his voice was light, but his eyes held a measure of sincerity, as if
silently asking her to stay.

“That’s
good to know.” Again, Lucy thought about the time she’d spent with Cole and was
tempted to take the offer. Still, the idea of doing exactly what her
mother had wanted her to do in the first place made her feel trapped. “But I
don’t think I’ll be moving back home for a long time, if ever.”

The smile
on Cole’s face remained frozen in place, but Lucy could read the disappointment
in his eyes. He nodded once and then turned toward the counter, opening a
rectangular package containing sterile gloves.

“Your
finger should be numb by now.” He put the gloves on, and turned back around, careful
not to touch anything. Then he moved toward the tray and picked up a green cloth
the size of a hand towel. “This will keep everything sterile.” He spread the
cloth out on the bedside table and instructed Lucy to put her hand there.

Cole kept
his eyes focused on his task, explaining each step in a professional manner.
Not one to be squeamish, Lucy watched in fascination as he sewed the gaping
wound closed with precise stitches.

“You’re
very good at this.”

He tied
off the last stitch and looked up at her with a soft smile. “I excelled in my
ninth grade home ec class.”

“Ah, that
explains why I wouldn’t make a good doctor. I nearly failed home ec.”

“How does
someone fail that class?” he asked, using an alcohol wipe to clean up the
orange betadine staining her finger.

“For some
reason I can hack into a computer but I can’t read a simple pattern or follow a
recipe.”

Lucy
hadn’t really failed, she’d just hated sewing and cooking, especially since her
mother expected her to love it like she did. Lila Phillips was the best
homemaker and wife, and she wanted her only daughter to follow in her
footsteps. She never could understand how Lucy loved playing volleyball and
softball instead of taking ballet, or that Lucy preferred writing code over
cooking.

Cole chuckled
as he bandaged her finger. “I’m definitely not a tech genius. I guess we all
have our talents.”

He was
close, and Lucy could smell his tangy cologne. She tried very hard not to think
about Cole’s obvious kissing talents.

“All
done,” he said, lifting his eyes to meet hers.

“Thank
you.” Lucy remembered Cole’s promise to kiss her again when Lance wasn’t
around, and she thought now would be a good time.