Janet (13 page)

“This message came for you fifteen minutes
ago.”

He read the slip of paper she handed him and
began to smile.

“This is exactly the excuse I need. Thanks,
Barb.” He gave her friendly kiss on the cheek.

“You just made my day, Coach.” She went back
down the hall smiling. If the political correctness police were
watching they could kiss his ass.

o0o

Janet was exhausted. She was working the
emergency room, and it was always hectic.

“Dr. Hall?” The nurse was wearing a name tag
that said Eleanor and a big smile that made her one of the hospital
favorites. “There’s a man who insists on seeing you.”

“Is he a patient?”

“No. I told him to get his patient and wait
in examining room two.”

“If the patient needs assistance, send
somebody with a wheelchair.”

“I offered, Dr. Hall, but he insisted it
would be best if this patient waited in the car.”

“I’ll have something to say to him about
that.” Janet made a final notation on the chart. “And you, too,
Eleanor. The patient should be in that cubicle waiting.”

“I’m quaking in my boots.”

“You don’t wear boots, Eleanor.” Janet
glanced at her watch. “Did you get the patient’s name?”

“Harvey.”

It couldn’t be! Janet dismissed the idea as
ridiculous. Obviously, some nice old man named Mr. Harvey had heard
about Janet through Molly’s dad. Mr. Jed was always bragging about
his neighbor. The
great Dr. Hall,
he called her.

Still, this Mr. Harvey should have known
better than to leave the patient in the car. Janet’s heels clicked
against the linoleum as she headed toward cubicle two to set him
straight.

She parted the curtains to an empty room.

“Hello?” Had Mr. Harvey gone to the bathroom?
To car for the patient? “Hello?”

“Doc?”

Dan was suddenly there behind her, smiling
over the top of an enormous bouquet of roses—red, pink, white and
yellow, all jumbled together in a flamboyant riot of color.

“Is this a joke!”

“No. It’s a peace offering.”

“This is a
hospital.”

She stared at him and his roses so long that
Dan began to worry. But what had he expected? That she would tumble
into his arms like some pigtailed sixteen-year-old?

“I was a perfect jackass last night,” he
said.

“I wouldn’t say perfect.”

“Well, Doc. Aren’t you going to take the
roses? I was nearly picked up by men with nets and carted off to an
institution getting them for you. The florist thought I couldn’t
make up my mind about the color, and then she didn’t understand
that a dozen wouldn’t do. She said nobody had ever placed such an
order and she wasn’t even sure how to charge for it. And then—”

“Dan.”

“What?”

“I love the roses.”

“That’s a relief. For a minute there I
thought you were going to bash me over the head with them.”

“The thought crossed my mind.”

“Let’s get out of here, Doc.”

“Wait! I’m trying to find a patient named
Harvey. I don’t suppose you’d know anything about that, would
you?”

“Guilty.”

“That figures. When did he get out?”

‘I picked him up at the vet’s office this
afternoon. If you can take a quick break, he’s waiting in the car
to say hello.”

“I can’t wait!”

If you’d told Janet last night that all it
would take to change her mind about Dan Albany was a stray dog,
she’d have said you were crazy. But here she was, out of breath as
she hurried along beside Dan. And all because he had done this one,
incredibly thoughtful thing. She’d love to have seen him sweet
talking Eleanor into letting a strapping, healthy man into the
inner sanctum. The flowers were gorgeous, but the planning and the
execution he’d put into this surprise left her speechless.

She laughed aloud at the sight of him
hurrying along with that outrageously large bouquet. To the casual
observer, he would be just a football linebacker-sized man with a
ridiculous amount of flowers. But to Janet, he was an endearing man
letting his nerves show by squeezing the bouquet so hard three of
the roses were already drooping on broken stems.

Harvey was waiting for them in Dan’s pickup.
When he spotted them, he barked and wagged his tail.

“My lord,” she said. “What is that thing he’s
wearing?”

“A pink hospital gown.”

“I’m almost afraid to ask. Where did you get
it?”

“I sweet-talked Eleanor and she found it in a
supply closet.” He grinned at her. “Harvey was a little upset about
the pink, but he calmed down after I told him it gave him a rakish,
charming quality and what a kick the Doc would get out of seeing
him dressed the part.”

Dan opened the truck door, and Janet hugged
her dog, not even trying to dodge his wet tongue.

“You, big cuddlebum. I’m so glad to see
you.”

“What about me, Doc?”

Sooner or later, she was going to have to
deal with this man, whether she was ready or not. But first, she
wiped dog drool off her face.

“When you set out to win a game, you do it
with style, Coach.”

“The game is over, Doc.” He cupped her
cheeks.

“Is it?”

“Yes.” His thumbs caressed her chin. “It’s
just you and me now, a man and a woman with totally incompatible
professions and wildly different life-styles. Two people who will
have to muddle through the best we can. Two people only a hair’s
breadth away from being in love.”

“You’re presuming I feel the same way.”

“Not presuming, Janet. Knowing.” Watching her
reaction, he gently traced the planes of her cheekbones, outlined
the shape of her lips. “I
know
that you feel the same
excitement I do when we touch. And when we kiss I think the angels
bend down from heaven.”

“Dan, you have the soul of a poet.”

“Didn’t I tell you? I love the
romantics...Wordsworth, Shelley, Keats and Byron.”

“I didn’t know.”

“There are other things you don’t know about
me. And there’s much I don’t know about you.” His finger traced her
lips again. “Janet, let’s learn each other.”

“No games?”

“None.”

She stalled. The timing was all wrong. He’d
never understand the hours she’d have to commit to finishing her
medical degree.

“Playing games with you was fun, Dan.”

“We can have the fun without the games.”

“I don’t know how to feel about all
this.”

He smiled. “Feel good about it, Doc. I love a
woman a high-powered career and a stinger, to boot. It makes you a
challenge.”

“And I love a man who is willing to be
declared insane over a bouquet of roses.”

Harvey, who had grown tired of thumping his
tail and being ignored, woofed from his perch on the car seat.

They both laughed.

“Harvey agrees with you, Doc.”

“I still don’t know how you managed to past
the receptionist
and
Eleanor. She’s a sweetie, but she’s
formidable when it comes to protecting her patients in the
Emergency Room.”

“That’s one of the things you should know
about me—I’m irresistible to women.”

“There’s one thing you should know about me,
Coach. I don’t like sharing.”

“Then you have nothing to worry about. When I
fall in love, I’ll be the most loyal, serious, one-woman man you
ever saw.”

Dan made it all sound so easy. But she wasn’t
quite ready to believe yet.

“What did the vet say about Harvey? And how
did you ever get him into this ridiculous gown?”

“You always do that.”

“Do what?”

“Ask two questions at the same time.”

“I suppose it’s because I usually
do
two things at the same time. I do most of my medical reading while
I’m in the tub.”

“I can think of more exciting uses for the
tub.”

She came very close to blushing. “You didn’t
answer my questions.”

Dan loved seeing the high color in her
cheeks, loved the idea that he had put it there, loved the lively
give-and-take of their conversations, loved the underlying current
of passion that was always between them.

“Harvey and I wrestled a while till I told
him the gown added just the right touch for our Doc. Except for
that scar on his leg, he’s is back to his usual exuberant self. He
can’t wait to get back to a home-cooked dinner of hot dogs and
pizza and cream-filled cupcakes.”

“Dan Albany, don’t you dare. He needs proper
nutrition to continue the healing process and to maintain his
health.”

“Spoken like a doctor.”

“I am.”

“I know, and I’m beginning to enjoy this
doctorly side of you. But I enjoy the passionate side more.” He
tossed the bouquet into the seat beside Harvey then swept her into
his arms. “Doc, it’s been too long since I kissed you.”

Janet felt as if she had been locked inside a
helium-filled balloon and turned loose in a sparkling summer sky.
She was intoxicated, and reluctant to let go.

They might have kissed forever if Harvey
hadn’t decided to get in on the act. He nudged his big head against
Janet and began to lick her arm.

“I think somebody wants some attention,” she
said.

“I think somebody wants out of that gown.
Harvey hates pink.”

Together they undressed their dog, who shook
himself all over when he was free.

“I’ll take Harvey to my house. It’s bigger
than your apartment, and I have a fenced-in backyard where he can
get plenty of exercise.”

“That’s sensible.”

“He’ll expect his favorite doctor to make
house calls.”

“He will?”

“I will, too.”

They stood grinning self-consciously at each
other. Dan cleared his throat.

“Do you like movies, Doc?”

“Yes.”

Dan’s grin was huge. “That’s fantastic. I
love movies.”

Janet smiled. “Are you asking me for a
date?”

“I am. And doing it badly.”

“But with charm.”

“Let’s go on a real, honest-to-goodness
Friday night date, Doc. Just the two of us with bags of popcorn and
lots of butter and icy drinks that never taste as good anywhere
else as they do in a dark theater. What do you say?”

“I’m working till seven. Can we make it a
late movie?”

“I’ll see you at eight thirty, Doc.” He
caught the lapels of her lab coat and pulled her in for a quick
kiss. “You look good in white.”

“This old thing? It’s just something I picked
up with my degree.”

“It suits you.”

Smiling, he reached across Harvey for her
bouquet then handed it to her with all the fanfare of a man
delivering five dozen perfect roses.

Dan and Janet slid into empty back row
theater seats just as the late movie was beginning. Dan was wearing
a comfortable-looking red wool sweater under his leather jacket,
and jogging shoes that looked as if they were familiar with forest
paths, mud holes and grassy creek banks. When he settled back in
his seat, he looked as relaxed as if he’d been there all
evening.

She envied his capacity for relaxation. Her
neck was stiff with tension and her stomach was clenched in a knot.
She couldn’t get everything she’d seen in the emergency room out of
her mind.

Suddenly she felt Dan’s hand on her neck, his
fingers warm and strong, stroking, massaging,
caring.
She
closed her eyes and leaned back.

“How did you know I needed that?” Although
the back two rows of seats were empty, she kept her voice
quiet.

“Instinct.” He scooted down in his seat so
that his head would be on a level with hers. “You don’t come to the
movies often, do you?”

“I can’t remember the last movie I saw in the
theater.”

“Doc, I’m just what you need.” His hand
stopped its wonderful massage and slid down to cup her right
shoulder. With gentle pressure he eased her head down into the
crook of his arm. “Can you still see the screen?”

“Yes.” It was the truth, but she wouldn’t
have cared if she hadn’t been able to see a thing.

“You just stay right there. I’m going to take
good care of you.” He reached into the big cardboard tub of popcorn
that was sitting in his lap and took a handful of buttery morsels.
“Open wide.” One by one, he popped them into her mouth.

Butter drizzled down his fingers. Feeling
relaxed and pampered and reckless, she took his forefinger in her
mouth and sucked away the butter.

“Ahh, Doc. Keep that up and I won’t be
responsible for what I do.”

Grinning wickedly she stroked his finger with
her tongue. He took his finger out of her mouth and traced her
lips. Then he leaned over and nibbled away the salty, buttery
moisture.

Oblivious to the movie, they fed each other
popcorn.

“You get butter in the nicest places,” she
whispered as she leaned over to kiss his chin.

“A little bit lower, Doc.”

“Here?” She pressed her tongue briefly on the
pulse point at the base of his throat.

“Indeed. Janet, you make me hungry.”

“I can remedy that.”

She fed him another handful of popcorn,
lingering to caress his lips with her fingertips.

His eyes shone in the darkness. “Hungry for
you, Janet.”

“I’m sure it’s a temporary condition.”

“I’m not sure I want it to be.”

Looking deep into each other’s eyes, they
both reached into the popcorn tub at the same time. It was empty.
Their hands touched, and their fingers entwined.

“Neither am I,” she whispered.

They stayed that way for a small eternity,
searching for answers to questions they dared not ask. Finally,
hands still locked inside the greasy popcorn tub, they both turned
back to the screen.

The vast green cornfields of Iowa spread out
before them on the wide screen, and the larger-than-life actors
spoke of dreams, of knowing them, nurturing them, and not letting
them pass by unheeded.