Page 30 of Love for a Lifetime

Olivia bowed her head as he went straight into a prayer. She’d eaten dozens of meals with Dawson, and he always took the initiative to pray. She wasn’t sure if it was because he enjoyed leading prayer or because he was unable to resist food set in front of him for long.

“Lord, thank You for this food. Thanks for letting me keep my leg today. I’m kinda attached to this one. Thanks for all of the doctors and nurses who are taking care of me and the other patients here. And thanks for sending Olivia. She’s probably my favorite person You ever made. Amen.”

Olivia lifted her chin and tilted her head to one side. “What was that?”

Dawson lifted the burger to his mouth and took a big bite. “What?” he mumbled around the food he chewed.

“Favorite person?” Olivia asked. “Prayers are supposed to be reverent, not funny.”

“There’s nothing funny about that. I pray for you all the time. I never joke about talking to the Lord.”

Olivia kept her gaze locked on his bright-blue irises, and he didn’t back down. There weren’t even any laugh lines around his eyes as he chewed the burger.

Something tugged in her middle. Dawson always said sweet things. He always made people feel special. He always went above and beyond to show appreciation.

Anything kind he said to her should not be misconstrued for romantic interest. She wasn’t special. She was one of Dawson’s many friends. She just happened to be a woman who appreciated his kindness and found him ridiculously attractive.

Olivia turned her attention to her food and dipped a fry in the ketchup running out of the side of her messy burger. Dawson had already torn into his meal like a predator who had to kill to survive. “When was the last time you ate?”

Dawson scrunched one eye closed as he thought. “Yesterday?”

“Yesterday? It’s almost seven at night!” Olivia shouted.

Dawson turned back to what little was left of his burger. “I forgot.”

“How do you forget to eat? Seriously, no wonder your mom still worries about you.”

“I was planning to run by Sticky Sweets for a breakfast sandwich this morning, but Grady called and asked if I’d help him fix his tractor, since he needed it up and running to bale hay as soon as the dew dried. So I ended up running by his store on my way over for some parts, and then I left his place just in time to make it to work. We got a call right as I was going to get some lunch about a fire at The Rock–”

“A fire!” Olivia dropped her burger, sending the top bun going one way and the rest of the burger falling on the other side of her makeshift plate. “Is everyone okay? How is Barry?”

“He’s fine. It was a small fire, but the place will be shut down for a bit. I told him you’d probably put a fundraiser together to help with anything insurance didn’t cover.”

“Of course.” She wiped her hands on a napkin and pulled her phone out of her pocket. She needed to come up with a plan as soon as she finished eating.

Dawson rested back against the pillows and shifted to readjust his leg. His nose scrunched up, and his lips pressed into a thin line.

“Are you okay? Laurie said she’d be in soon with more pain meds.”

“I hope it’s really soon,” Dawson said. “It feels like my whole leg is on fire.”

Olivia reached for the call button on the remote beside his bed, but Dawson stopped her, wrapping his whole hand around hers. A buzz spread from her fingertips to her chest.

“It’s okay. She’ll get here when she can.”

“I’m a nurse. Trust me, she’d want to know if you were in this kind of pain.”

“It’s nothing I can’t handle. She might be helping someone more important.”

Olivia opened her mouth to say something, but the words were stuck–lodged in her larynx, while Dawson’s strong hand gripped hers.

Dawson was important. While she often had to choose how to divide her time between patients, they were all equally important. Some were just more time-sensitive than others. He was right. Someone else could be in need of immediate help.

There was a quick knock at the door, and Olivia jerked out of the trance of Dawson’s gaze. She pulled her hand from his, and he let her go without a fuss.

“So sorry about that,” Laurie said as she stormed into the room. “Things always get crazy around shift changes.”

“Are you leaving me?” Dawson asked.

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