Page 18 of Shared By the Mountain Men

I felt my heart swell with sympathy for this woman sitting across from me with a busted ankle. I had the overwhelming desire to dosomethingto comfort her, but all I said was, “That must have been a very hard phone call to take.”

She laughed bitterly. “Yes and no.”

“Oh?”

There was a moment where her walls, the ones she’d put up to keep people away, came down. Behind them was a glimmer of deep sorrow and pain. But just as quickly as that hint of emotion appeared, it was gone, and her eyes were once again as hard as steel.

“Yeah, it was tough. The phone call hit me like a sledgehammer to the chest. But a small part of me was relieved. After learning about the first affair, I spent so much time blaming myself. Wondering if I had been more loving, more caring, moresomething, maybe he wouldn’t have cheated.” She glanced at me for a moment, then looked down at the plate. “A second affair with a different woman? That was proof that it’shim. He’s not a good man who made a single mistake—he’s a selfish asshole who would have cheated no matter the circumstances. That made things easier to handle.”

“But not so easy that you didn’t make a big life change,” I said gently.

That got a big laugh out of Melissa. She was really beautiful when all the tension left her eyes. “Right. I still had to go do something crazy. I’ve been calling it my early mid-life crisis.”

“It had better be early!” I said. “You’re not even thirty.”

“Don’t remind me. I turn thirty soon.”

“Oh, thirty isn’t bad,” I teased. “I’m thirty-four, and so far my thirties have been the best decade of my life. It’s just like my twenties, except I’m wiser and less broke.”

“Also, you haven’t been blown up in your thirties. I assume.”

I pointed at her with a French fry. “An excellent observation.”

“Regardless of whatmythirties have in store, everything went to shit in the past month. So I ran away to the mountains to find myself.”

“And how’s the search going so far?”

“So far,” Melissa replied, “all I’ve learned is that I’m clumsy and hate hiking.” She stuck her ankle out of the booth into the aisle for me to see.

“You’re not clumsy. That injury isextremelycommon out here. Trust me: you’re not the first busted ankle I’ve examined. Heck, you’re not even thehundred-and-first. You’ll be hiking in the woods and trying to find yourself again in a week.”

She raised an eyebrow at me. “I’m holding you to that, doctor.”

I laughed and bit into my sandwich.

I was halfway through chewing when my phone rang. It was the on-call line from the clinic. I hurriedly swallowed and answered the phone.

“Sorry to bug you before your shift starts,” Theresa said, “but we’ve got an emergency. James Yellen’s boy broke his leg.”

“Floyd?” I asked.

“Yup. Crashed his mountain bike coming down Mt. Crested Butte. Compound fracture. They’re bringing him in now.”

I was already pulling a few bills out of my wallet. “I’m on my way.” I hung up and grimaced at Melissa. “I’ve got to go. Something much worse than a twisted ankle.”

“Oh no!”

“You need a ride back to your cabin?” I asked while sliding out of the booth. “I can drop you off real quick.”

She waved me away. “I’m fine. I want to walk around town a bit.”

“Nottoomuch walking,” I playfully warned. “Getting the blood flowing is good for recovery, but if you overdo it, you’ll need more than a week to get back to the trails.” I pulled out a clinic card and scribbled quickly. “This is the number of a friend who can give you a ride when you’re ready to go back to the cabin.”

“If it’s Jack,” she said acidly, “then the answer is no.”

I wonder what’s rubbing the two of them the wrong way?I chuckled and said, “It’s Theresa, the woman from the clinic. Either she’ll give you a ride, or find someone else. She knows everyone in town.”

Melissa gave me the kind of smile that filled me with warmth. “Okay, doc. I promise I’ll call her. Thanks for lunch.”

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