Changing Lanes (The Lone Stars Book 3) (15 page)

“He bought you a car?” Nina’s eyes turned the size of Oreos. “And you’re not sleeping together?” She shook her head. “What is the world coming too? My view of life in general has just taken a serious hit. It’s like learning that Santa Claus is really your parents. I just can’t go back from that.”

Laney had been on edge all afternoon, and now her friends were taking her out for her birthday. They wouldn’t tell her where, and she was starting to worry. Lara was babysitting Kisses. Her little puppy had followed her around all day like a mini medical assistant listening intently while she talked to patient’s parents and then playing her heart out with the kids. At the hospital, she’d gotten smiles wherever she’d gone. And Lara was happy to watch her. They had played and wrestled a good portion of the afternoon.

Now, Laney and her teammates were all crammed into her Volvo roaring up Research Boulevard. The only reason they were roaring instead of creeping was that Nina was behind the wheel.

“So he likes you enough to buy you a car, but not to sleep with you?” January glanced in the rearview mirror and made eye contact with Laney in the backseat. “That’s a little strange don’t you think?”

“It’s nice.” Susie with her foot still in a cast sat next to Laney. “Maybe he’s saving himself for marriage?”

Susie always saw the glass as one hundred percent full, thought everyone in the world was good and kind, and believed implicitly in true love. Basically, she was Snow White with a broken foot. Even her coloring—black hair and green eyes—lent her the appearance of Dopey and Sleepy’s mistress.

“You think everything is nice.” January rolled her eyes.

“That’s because it is.” Susie leaned over and thumped January on the back of the head. She didn’t always act like Snow White.

“Ouch.” January rubbed the back of her head.

“Laney, what do you think?” Charisma leaned forward, looking past Susie so she could make eye contact with Laney.

These were her closest friends—her sisters—she could tell them anything. Right?

She took a deep calming breath and dove into her feelings. “He makes me nervous. I get the impression that Devon wants more from me than I can give him. Now that I’ve had some time to process it, I think he actually bought me the car because he wanted me to have it. It wasn’t some flashy move to impress me, I think he truly wants me to have it.” She took another deep, calming breath and let it out slowly. Emotions were hard for her—logic she had in spades, but emotion—not so much. “That’s what scares me. He isn’t out to impress me, because he feels like I’m already his. Not in a creepy stalker kind of way, just in a really likes me kind of way.”

That’s what really made her nervous. Not that she couldn’t see herself with Devon, but that she wouldn’t be able to give him back emotionally what he gave her. She wasn’t even sure that she was capable of love. Her mind went to Kisses. No, that wasn’t right. She was capable of love, but possibly not the deep intimacy that Devon deserved.

“Wow. That’s a lot of pressure for a new relationship.” Charisma leaned back. “How does that make you feel?”

“Nervous, scared and I don’t want to hurt him.” Which was ridiculous since she’d already hurt him. “His mom wants me to let him down easy if I don’t return his feelings.”

“Jesus, the lead weight on your chest just got heavier.” Charisma shook her head. “I don’t know what to tell you.”

“Yeah, there’s more at stake than a car.” Nina smiled at her through the rearview mirror.

“Want my advice?” January turned around so she could look in the backseat.

“Does she have a choice?” Susie grinned.

January stuck out her tongue.

“Of course I want your advice.” Laney ever the peacemaker jumped in before the yelling started.

“Get out of your head and live in the moment. Stop analyzing everything and just enjoy it. If something happens with Devon then great and if not, it will end and you’ll find someone else. Personally, I think the fact that you’re so worried about it means something. How about Dr. Dick last year? He was in love with you, but you didn’t care. You broke his heart—if he had one—and didn’t think twice about it.”

“He wasn’t in love with me, just my feet.” Laney shivered in disgust. “He used to sniff the inside of my shoes.” It was weird … so weird. “I could never figure out why he went into gynecology instead of podiatry. Clearly, feet were his thing.”

“How come we didn’t know about the feet?” Nina eyed Laney through the rearview. At least she didn’t take her eyes off the road too long.

“Yeah, it’s our responsibility to hear all facts—especially the weird ones—pertaining to your relationships.” January nodded. “It’s part of the whole friendship thing.”

“I thought I’d told you.” Laney nodded to herself. Why hadn’t she told them? Because he hadn’t mattered enough. When she’d broken it off, all she’d felt was relief and not that least bit of sadness. What did that say about her?

Devon mattered. It was foolish to pretend that he didn’t. It still didn’t make sense to her that she could come to care for him in such a short time. But it didn’t feel short…it felt like she’d known him forever.

“Oh no, now you’re off in your head again.” January grabbed her heavy golden hair, pulled it into a ponytail, and wrapped an elastic band around it several times. “Stop analyzing things. Dr. Dick was a freak. There is no hidden meaning in his freakiness.”

January was right, Laney needed to stop analyzing things to death.

Susie touched her arm. “Feel free to analyze things, but you do need to give equal time to living in the moment. Devon sounds like a really good guy. It’s okay to like him back. And for now, that’s enough. Don’t worry about what the future holds.”

“When did y’all get so wise?” Laney knew they were right, but sometimes she couldn’t help the over–thinking. It’s what made her a good doctor. “So where are we going?”

She glanced at all the ladies in turn, and every single one of them had an I’m–not–going–to–tell grin.

“Do I get any hints?” Laney liked surprises … and if she told herself that a thousand times a day, maybe it would be true.

January thought about it for a minute. “It’s reckless and involves changing clothes … sort of.”

“Well that narrows it down to about half a billion things.” Laney rolled her eyes. “Can you give me a little more?”

“We’re going to iFly.” January turned back around.

Laney waited for someone to tell her what iFly was. “What’s iFly?”

“Indoor vertical wind tunnel. It’s skydiving minus the parachute and plane.” January smiled. “It’s controlled recklessness. You should start small.”

Controlled recklessness sounded like a good idea. Just jumping into skydiving or racecar driving might be a bit too much. Although part of her didn’t want to start off slowly, she wanted to do something really drastic like base jumping or cliff diving. When she did something she was all in.

“And then after, we’re going to Chez Zee for an all dessert dinner party. There will be only dessert—all carbs, no protein.” Nina added.

“Now that’s living on the edge.” A slow devious smile crept across Charisma’s face. “And we’ll have to do twice the workout tomorrow to compensate.”

“Spoken like a true sadist. I’m sure there’s a psychological diagnosis that explains you.” January looked at Laney. “Help me out here.”

“You called it … sadist. That’s someone who likes to inflict pain and clearly we are all masochists because we like the pain she inflicts or we’d leave.” Laney thought about it for a second. “Although the definition of a sadist is that he or she inflicts pain on unwilling victims, so I guess that doesn’t apply.”

“See, I’m not the one with the problem. I’m perfectly normal.” Charisma nodded.

“Normal in the way Hitler was normal … scary normal.” Susie smiled. “Yeah, scary normal works for you.”

One thing was for sure, this was going to be a birthday to remember. She’d gotten a puppy, semi–skydived, and had almost gotten a car. She’s won the birthday lottery—too bad she didn’t feel like a winner.

Chapter 11

Devon was sure that coffee and a scone wasn’t a grand gesture. Laney loved to eat and he was merely providing the food. It was harmless…he was harmless. The next morning should be long enough for her to forgive him. He’d have come last night but both CoCo and his mother had talked him out of it. He’d made her feel like she wasn’t enough…like he wanted her to change. He hadn’t meant it that way. She’d told him that it didn’t matter, but it mattered to him. Laney was perfect and he wanted her to know it.

He juggled the two beverage carriers full of coffee and the three large bakery bags that he’d gotten at Starbucks. Since he hadn’t known what Laney liked, he’d bought a little of everything. It wasn’t a grand gesture, it was indecision. Besides, he could pass it off as he was bringing something for his mother to eat.

Using his butt, he pushed open the double glass doors to the professional building at Dell Children’s, walked to the elevator, and used his left elbow to press the up button. Once inside, he used his elbow again to press floor number five.

His nervous stomach reared its ugly head, and he nearly vomited up the water he’d had in lieu of breakfast. Anticipating the nausea he always felt when stressed, he’d purposefully skipped his normal eggs and ham for room temperature tap water.

He would have put a hand over his stomach to calm it, but his hands were full. The elevator dinged heralding the arrival of floor number four and Devon leaned heavily against the back wall.

He was a badass football player who regularly intimidated other badass football players. He could handle a hundred pound doctor with commitment issues. Last night as he’d babysat Grace and Chord’s kids, HW, Cart, Coco, and Luke, he’d devised a plan. Or rather … Coco had. Since she was the only female around, he’d listened to her. The fact that she was sixteen and thought she knew everything had made the groveling apology she’d helped him write sound plausible. Now, he was rethinking the advice–from–a–sixteen–year–old.

The elevator doors swished opened and there was the front door to her office. The hall to her office seemed to elongate like something from The Twilight Zone. He stepped onto the tile floor and made his way to the door. Since he didn’t actually have an appointment, he was counting on sweet–talking the receptionist into sneaking him back. That shouldn’t be too hard because he’d been sweet–talking women since he’d learned to form words. The only person he couldn’t sweet–talk was Laney. He totally loved that about her.

With his forearm, he wiped the sweat running down his brow and opened the door. The waiting room was unlike anything he’d ever seen. There was a huge round aquarium in the middle of the room surrounded by cubicle like enclosed rooms. Every single room was brightly colored, had a TV on the wall, and was filled with toys and books. Because some of her patients were susceptible to common diseases, she’d sectioned off the waiting room to keep everyone safe. It was ingenious and fun.

A small round woman who bore a striking resemblance to Danny DeVito sat behind a half wall. As he got closer, he could make out a full–on mustache. Maybe this was Danny DeVito in drag? No wait, the hair wasn’t right. He was balding while this woman had a full head of dyed black hair. She had on black scrubs with pink bunnies all over them. Her name tag read, “Helen Reichs–Chief Smile Officer.”

True to her station, she smiled as he reached her desk. “May I help you?”

“I’m here to see Dr. Nixon.” He held up the bags. “We have a breakfast date.”

She tapped some keys on the computer and squinted at the screen. “That’s funny, I don’t have you on the schedule.”

“It’s okay, I’m her boyfriend.” He propped the coffees and bags of food on her desk, and leaned closer. “I screwed up yesterday—you know on her birthday—and I’m trying to make it up to her. Say, you wouldn’t happen to know if she’s a mocha latte, Frappuccino, espresso, or plain black coffee kind of girl? I have them all.”

“Laney’s plain black and so dark you could tar a roof with it.” She continued to smile.

“Thanks, you wouldn’t be a mocha latte, Frappuccino, or an espresso kind of girl?” Sweet–talking was one of his finest features.

Her smile turned kind. “You could talk me into a Frappuccino.”

He pulled one out of the holder and handed it to her. “How about some breakfast too?” He opened one of the bags. “I have a little of everything.”

“Just the coffee for me. You can feed the rest to Laney. She’s an eater.” Helen looked over her right shoulder and then leaned in conspiratorially. “Go on back. She should be in any minute. You can wait in her office. Spread out a little picnic on her desk. She’ll love it.” She winked.

“Helen, you’re a good woman.” He opened the door that separated her from the rest of the world.

“Are you the guy who gave her Kisses?” Helen sipped her Frappuccino.

“Yes, ma’am.” He nodded.

“Thank you.” She reached out and touched his hand. “You made so many children smile yesterday that Laney is going to bring Kisses to work everyday now. It takes someone special to make a kid smile, especially when they don’t have a lot to smile about.”

Devon’s queasiness eased. He’d known the puppy was a good idea and now that he had proof, he felt better about this morning.

A door opened somewhere in the back of the office.

“Oh, that will be her. Quick, her office is around the corner and all the way at the end.” Helen pointed to the corridor on his left. “I’ll stall her as long as I can.”

Helen was fast becoming one of Devon’s favorite people.

“Thanks.” Devon called over his shoulder as he dashed down the hall and into her office. He had just enough time to set down the coffees and the bags of food and sit down across from her desk when she walked in. Kisses ran to him, hunched down on her two front paws like she wanted to play, and barked. Her tail wagged so fast that it looked the blades of a helicopter. He half expected her to take flight.

Devon scooped up the puppy. He needed something to calm and run interference for him. Kisses seemed like the perfect tool.

Laney just stared at him for a full minute and then shook her head. “Good morning.”