Page 2 of The Texas Cowboy's Rescue

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“This isn’t theway to our house,” Brooke spoke up a few minutes later, noting the scenery as they drove past the familiar town square with its ornate courthouse. The sun was sliding behind the hills in the west and the streetlights were coming on along the almost empty sidewalks in front of the storefronts that were in various stages of closing for the evening.

“I know, but I got a text from one of the nurses who needs me to sign off on some special orders that just came through for a night duty nurse for a patient on our floor. I promised the physician that I’d make certain it all went okay. I won’t be long. And how about we grab a bite in the cafeteria, since we don’t want to have to cook so late when we get home?”

“Oh boy! Do you think they’ll have my favorite chocolate cake with the sprinkles?”

“I think they just might, but that’s only if your plate doesn’t have any vegetables or meat left on it. Especially since you had those gooey cookies earlier.” Kenzie had to shake her head. Their hospital cafeteria happened to be one of those anomalies... a cafeteria that actually had peoplewantingto eat in it. That was thanks to Jackson Monroe, who could cook Southern food like someone’s grandmother and yet make it healthy in the process. And he had a special soft spot for Brooke and knew that the sprinkles on a cake would get her every time.

They went straight up to the third floor, where Brooke waited in her mom’s office while she spoke to the nurse pulling the private duty post and took care of the paperwork the hospital was waiting on. There was a sigh of relief from Brooke when Kenzie finally motioned they could leave. She skipped ahead to punch the button for the first floor on the elevator panel.

It was relatively quiet in the cafeteria when they arrived. Brooke checked out the dessert cart first of all. “Okay, concentrate on the entrée first. And you know how to earn a trip to the desserts.” Kenzie was being her usual mom self and inserting parental reality.

Brooke gave a slow nod. “I remember. And I’m going to get the chicken strips, mashed potatoes and broccoli. Then I’ll get the strawberry cake. I just wish the other cake was in its place.”

“Well, a clean plate will earn you a trip to that table. Let’s get our trays.”

The cafeteria had been remodeled recently and it was a pleasant area for the visitors and staff. The ceilings were high, and in the center was an atrium filled with green plants and a small water feature. On one side of the dining room, there was a wall of floor-to-ceiling windows that looked over an expanse of lawn, and in the distance, down the hill, there was a nice view of the town. Kenzie enjoyed a ritual of morning coffee at a table next to the window so she could have a few moments of quiet before she began her day, usually with a view of the sunrise waking up the valley below.

Brooke chose a table at the far side of the room that had a nice view of the fading sunset. She wasted little time working on the food on her plate. Kenzie took a little slower approach with her chef’s salad and mixed fruit side dish.

“That man keeps looking at us,” Brooke whispered across the table. “Is he a doctor here? Do you know him?”

Kenzie ignored the first reaction to simply turn around and see who she might be talking about. She hadn’t paid much attention to the identities of the other patrons... maybe four other occupied tables spread across a good-sized room. “First of all, don’t stare back. You need to finish your food so we can get home at some point today.”

Very slowly, Kenzie rose with her tea glass in hand and moved to the drink cart where she refreshed her drink and then turned back toward the table. Her glance was meant to be just that. But her gaze met and stumbled across a too familiar one. She was about to place a social smile on her face when the man simply turned his attention back to his food. She was dismissed. It rankled her, but why had she expected anything more from him? Kenzie took her seat and found her appetite might have been left somewhere between their table and the tea cart.

“Yes, I do know him. He is the pilot I work with.” She didn’t plan on any more explanation.

Brooke came alive. “Pilot? He flies the helicopter? Really!? Do you think he’d let me ride in it sometime? Could you take me to see it? I think it would be so cool.”

Kenzie was surprised at her reaction. “I had no idea you were even listening when I was telling Ms. Jackie about my new assignment. What brought about this interest in flying?”

“I think it would be awesome to take off and fly wherever you want to go.”

“Well, we don’t take off and fly wherever we would like. We are sent to places where there are seriously hurt patients who need to get to the hospital very fast.” She didn’t get to elaborate as her pager sounded. Kenzie sighed and pushed the rest of her dinner away. “I’m going to have to run back up to the floor for a moment. I know you have worked on your dinner and are almost done, with the dessert cart calling soon. So I will run upstairs while you sit here and finish, and then we’ll see about that cake. Okay?”

“I’m okay. I’ll finish my dinner and sit right here until you get back.”

“And if you need anything,” Kenzie nodded toward the slender older man checking on the food line. He looked up and nodded in their direction. “Mr. Monroe is right here, and he always has an eye out for you. I’ll hurry.”

“Mom, I’ve got this. I’m not a baby.”

Kenzie limited her grin at the words. She had news for her little girl that, even when she reached her twenties, she would still be her little baby and that would reach well past her twenties even. But she’d let her think what she would. She couldn’t resist dropping a quick kiss on her child’s forehead as she left the table. As she passed the salad bar, Jackson nodded. “Don’t worry about little missy. We’ve got our eye on her.”

“I know,” Kenzie smiled in return. “You all are so sweet. I’ll be right back.”

Right back ended up stretching to fifteen minutes instead of the five or less she had thought. The elevator was taking its sweet time, to her irritation. Especially after she made a quick call downstairs when she saw she might be running longer and heard from Jackson that Brooke was enjoying her cake with Kenzie’s partner.Partner?And then Jackson described him, and she knew. She ended up taking the stairs down. Whatever had transpired while she was gone?

It was true. Her daughter was still at their table, but she was in the midst of a laughing fit. And while she couldn’t see the man’s face, only his back, it was clear that he was also amused by the slight movement of his broad shoulders. Kenzie was mystified. Brooke saw her first.

“Mama, there was only strawberry cake for dessert, but Mr. Deke asked Mr. Jackson for some sprinkles and he got some for my cake, so now this one is my favorite.”

“Since that slice is almost gone, I think I can see how much you enjoyed it. Did you remember your manners and thank him for the sprinkles?”

Deacon Hayes had pushed back his chair and stood at her arrival. Was that the remnant of a smile on his face? It was odd, but she didn’t remember seeing one of those in the couple of weeks they had been working together. Granted, they had been on a half-dozen flights only, but she had been surprised when Dr. Damian had asked her to consider joining the air evac team after she had been drafted to help in an emergency involving her cousins during a flood situation. He had explained they could use someone with her level of skill to get the program off the ground... no pun intended.

She had also realized that an added plus would be that she would be able to return home, to Burkitt, and have Brooke get to know her family—the Burkitts and the Hawkes—and strangely enough, it had come to light not long before that Deacon Hayes was actually a half-brother to the Hawkes brothers, Jaxson and Beaudry, who had married her cousins, Sammi Jo and Laurel Burkitt.

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