The Nurse's Secret Suitor. Cheryl Wyatt
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added. “Bri’s strapped with wedding plans. I’m not the type who thrives alone. I get into too much trouble.” Mischief brightened her gorgeous eyes.
He laughed and tried not to dwell on how astonishingly pretty she was when she smiled. “Somehow, I can believe that.”
“See? I told you that you get me. It’s proof we’re going to be great friends.”
The waitress, a pale-skinned waif with coal-black hair, came back and took their orders, then left them alone again. “I’m glad we’re both comfortable with just being friends,” Kate continued. “Otherwise, people in town might try to fix us up.”
Caleb struggled not to choke on his water. “R-really?”
Kate nodded. “Yeah, besides our waitress and a few others, there aren’t many people our age in town, so everyone seems to think a newly arrived single man must be my Prince Charming.”
“But that’s not what you think,” he said, even though he already knew the answer.
“Nope. I’m not interested in you romantically. It’s nothing personal!” she hastened to assure him. “You seem like a great guy, and I’m glad we’re going to be friends. But you’re military all the way, and that’s not what I’m looking for.”
He nodded. “Fair enough. I’ll only be around for a few months anyway, and then hopefully it’s off to ranger school, so it’s not like I have time for romance, either.” He thought he saw a flash of disappointment cross her face, but it was gone before he could be sure.
“So we’ll make the most of the months as friends. After all, we’ll be spending a lot of time together with fund-raiser meetings and the work we’ll do together to ready props. Plus, Ian texted Mitch and informed him you applied at EPTC part-time as a surgery tech. Mitch called Ian first thing this morning.”
Caleb perked up. “You think I got the job?”
Kate grinned. “I mess with his and Mitch’s to-do list all the time. You’re top of the list for him to call for an interview. Well, after SpongeBob.”
He chuckled. “You wrote that in, or what?”
She shrugged. “You know from being a military medic that humor is what gets us through hard nights and heavy case loads.”
He nodded slowly, enjoying having that military and medical connection with her. Maybe being friends with her while keeping the secret from her wouldn’t be awkward after all. Sure, he wasn’t as smooth as he’d been as BB, but they were still getting along.
“We’re bound to run into each other at the trauma center and in surgery,” she continued. “Plus, Bri and Ian invite me for dinner once a week, and I assume, since Bri can’t stand to leave anyone out and you’re her beloved brother, you’ll be there.”
Caleb coughed. He’d swallowed a piece of ice whole when she said beloved brother. Okay, yeah. Totally awkward here. After he recovered, Caleb leaned in. “Good point. Look, you don’t have to try so hard to convince me to be friends, Kate. That’s not like you, anyway.” He grinned. “I’m fine being friends with you. To friendship?” he suggested, lifting his water glass in a toast.
“To friendship,” she agreed, clinking her glass against his.
Chapter Four
Kate had been right about one thing—Caleb had been told in no uncertain terms that he was absolutely required to attend weekly dinners with his sister, Ian, Tia and Kate. And that’s where he found himself the next week’s Thursday evening, grinning as he watched his soon-to-be-niece give the doll he’d brought her a “ride” on the back of her puppy, Mistletoe.
The cotton-on-ginger-colored dog pranced in a regal circle, but the entire back half of the dog wagged as he stopped and peered up. Caleb, looking down at him, was met with soulful brown eyes, a playful bearing, a happy pant and breath only a puppy could get away with. His expectant, hopeful expression matched Tia’s mischievous one.
“It’s a toss-up as to which of you is cuter.”
Tia’s increasingly comical antics caused him to chuckle. He’d about decided that someday having a little girl wouldn’t be half bad. Caleb glanced over to see Kate watching them with an approving smile as she chopped apples in the kitchen for a fruit salad. He grinned back at her and winked.
For a guy with limited experience dealing with kids, his babysitting gig seemed to be going pretty well. Sure, Bri and Ian were there to step in if anything went wrong, but they were so wrapped up in each other, he wasn’t sure they’d notice if he and Tia set the kitchen on fire. Things had been so busy for both of them lately that he knew the engaged couple needed time together.
Two beepers sounded. Bri shrank in disappointment. Ian and Kate sobered and pulled out their chiming cell phones. Caleb’s grin faded as he stood, instinctually knowing Ian’s creasing forehead meant something bad was headed to the trauma center. Tia quieted, and the dog seemed to sense her unease because he moved closer.
“I’m sorry, babe. I gotta go.” Ian kissed Bri’s forehead, hugged Tia then followed Kate, already out the door. Every nerve ending in Caleb strained and ached to go with him. He’d been doing combat medicine for so long it felt strange to sit back and watch an emergency go by without running headlong to help.
Bri sighed. “He’s been on call four days in a row. With Mitch and Lauren away, and Dr. Lockhart, the anesthesiologist, taking some personal time, the trauma center is short staffed. He really has no choice but to be there,” Bri said, as if to convince herself it was all right and temporary.
But Caleb could tell she missed Ian and he her. The center had erupted with traumas this week and the engaged pair barely saw each other in the two weeks since Caleb had been here. Even then, they’d only waved in passing when Ian came to pick up Tia. No wonder Bri’s renovations had fallen behind. She couldn’t take a child into a construction zone. Caleb grew even more thankful he’d received military leave. His sister and her cabins needed him.
Caleb felt heartsick at her disappointment over not being able to cook for her fiancé and not getting to enjoy the meal, much less the evening, with Ian. Caleb rose from the rug to meet her in the kitchen but she bravely waved him back down and approached the carpet, instead.
“What did you decide to name her, Tia?” Bri asked in a light tone and brushed a hand down the doll’s long, flaxen hair.
“Calebina, of course.” Tia’s bright smile sent unfamiliar feelings through Caleb. “After my awesome, amazing uncle, who rescued her from the clutches and brought her to me from a land far, far away.”
Actually, it had been the discount store down the street at the local airport, but he wasn’t about to wipe the adoration off the kid’s endearingly cute face, framed in a riot of brown curls and bedazzled with freckles. Though he knelt on the rug beside her, he felt easily three feet taller. Especially since she really looked convinced he’d rescued the doll from “the clutches.” Clutches of what, he had no idea. The twinkle in Tia’s eyes and the joy in Bri’s as she peered lovingly at Tia made the worst clutch he could imagine not seem to matter.
“Calebina.” Bri smiled and winked at Caleb. “Of course. I should have guessed.” The love between Bri and Tia was tangible. Caleb could see how much happiness the two brought each other. They’d both been through hard times, but those experiences had brought them together. Thankfulness shifted something small but vital inside him. Maybe it was a bit of the grudge he’d been holding against God?
“What clutches did Caleb rescue her from, Tia?” Bri asked.
“The clutches of death! Death by broccoli,” Tia announced dramatically. Commotion across at EPTC’s lot cut their laughter short. Whipping rotor blades beckoned Caleb to the window where he watched two helicopters land outside the trauma center. Twin ambulances also pulled up. Staff scurried to them. Caleb grew concerned when stress mounted on the faces rushing around. He thrummed