Page 7 of Can't Fight the Moonlight

Justin pulled out his wallet and handed her his card. As Monica made a copy of the card, Hannah came through the clinic doors and gave Lizzie a surprised look.

"Lizzie, are you all right? Are you hurt?"

"No, he is." She tipped her head toward Justin. "He was in a car accident."

"It wasn't an accident; I just hit a fence," Justin said.

"With his car," she added. "The windshield shattered, and the airbag deployed."

"Got it. Were you in the car as well, Lizzie?"

"No, she was driving the truck that slammed on its brakes," Justin interjected.

"It's a long story," she told her friend. "Can you check him out?"

"Of course," Hannah said, with a curious gleam in her brown eyes. "And Dr. Melnick should be free shortly. Come with me, Mr.…"

"Blackwood. Justin Blackwood."

"Well, you're in good hands, Mr. Blackwood."

"I really don't need to be here," he said.

"Good, then this won't take long," Hannah replied.

As they disappeared through the double doors, Monica handed her Justin's insurance card. "Do you want to hang on to this for him?"

"Sure."

"So, he's pretty cute," Monica said with a pointed smile.

"Really? I hadn't noticed."

"Then maybe you're the one who should be getting her head checked."

Fortunately, she didn't have to come up with a reply as the ringing phone drew Monica's attention away from her. She walked into the waiting room and sat down, wishing she had her phone, but it was now in Justin's pocket. Hopefully, this wouldn't take too long. He wasn't the only one who had work to do. But she'd made the right decision in bringing him here.

She couldn't take the chance that some serious medical problem might show up down the road. She liked his grandparents a lot, and he was one of her guests, so she wanted him to be all right. Then she could put this entire incident behind her.

She had to admit that Justin was nothing like his grandparents. Benjamin and Marie were lovely, warm, charming people, who were kind, friendly and very easygoing. Justin didn't appear to be anything like them. He was attractive, though. Monica was right about that. But he was just a stranger passing through town on his way to somewhere else, so she wasn't going to think about how his compelling blue eyes made little shivers run down her spine. Instead, she reminded herself that her life, her inn, everything she wanted, was in this town. And once the doctor said Justin was all right, she could let go of her concern for him and go back to just being his friendly innkeeper.

* * *

Justin didn't know how he'd ended up in a hospital exam room, but he was beginning to realize that when Lizzie Cole wanted something, she got it. Fortunately, she hadn't lied about the examination being quick and painless. The pretty, redheaded nurse had barely gotten him onto the table when the doctor arrived. After asking several questions and putting him through a series of simple tests, Dr. Arthur Melnick, a middle-aged man with friendly light-blue eyes, determined that Justin was concussion-free and left Hannah to tend to the cuts on his face.

"This might sting a little," she warned.

"Do your worst."

"You should never say that to a nurse," she teased. "You have no idea what kind of pain I can inflict on you."

He liked her sharp smile. "Fair point. Don't hurt me too much."

"That's better. How do you know, Lizzie?"

"I don't know her. We met when she slammed on her brakes, and I swerved to avoid hitting her truck and ended up against a fence. Lizzie told me she was giving me a ride to the inn but made a sudden decision to come here instead. Apparently, my bruises started to make her nervous. The next thing I knew, we were on our way to the hospital despite my assurances that I was fine."

"Lizzie can be a force of nature," Hannah said with a grin. "I sometimes end up places I never expected to be when she's involved. But in this situation, she made the right call. Sometimes people don't think clearly after an accident. It's always good to get checked out."

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