Page 11 of Christmas Home

“Here, let me help you up. See if you can put weight on it.”

Too many years caring for my big-ass family caused me to lean toward nurturing rather than concern for myself, so I didn’t hesitate to kneel next to the man and help him up.

When he put weight on the ankle, he sucked in air. “It hurts, but I don’t think it’s broken.”

“How can you tell?” I asked.

He chuckled. “Let’s just call it hopeful thinking.”

I smiled. “Well, best we get you to the doctor. Can you lean on me while I lead you out?” I asked.

He nodded, and we slowly made our way out of the woods and into the light of day.

Fortunately, we emerged on the backside of the town, where two of the café’s regulars, Dr. Gib and Dr. Ash, ran a medical clinic. We weren’t more than a block from there.

My injured silver fox didn’t complain when he saw where I was taking him, thank goodness, because I didn’t have any more minutes left on my phone to call anyone, and he hadn’t pulled his out. That was a bit weird since I’d have thought he’d call someone right away.

Before I could think about that, I had him sitting in the waiting room, filled to the brim with crazy kids running around and a couple of old folks coughing up a lung.

I grabbed one of the face masks they had set out for patients, determined not to get sick when I’d just started working, then explained to the lady behind the desk that I’d found the guy, who was currently bent over in pain, after he fell in the woods.

“Dr. Ash,” the woman hollered toward the back, “we’ve got an emergency.”

I’d seen Dr. Ash quite a few times while working at the café, and he’d introduced himself once when he and Dr. Gib had come for lunch. So, I felt comfortable enough to explain what’d happened.

I looked around self-consciously as the folks in the lobby fell silent when I relayed everything to the doctor. I hated that I’d shared the man’s private business in public, but hell, with the pain he was clearly in, he needed medical attention.

“Okay, thank you,” Dr. Ash said, and with my help, we took the man to an exam room.

“I don’t got no more minutes on my phone,” I said as I was leaving, “but if anyone needs me, I’m over at the Daylight Motel.”

“No, wait, you’re leaving?” the man asked.

I stood in the doorway, not sure what to say. “Um, yeah, do you need me to stay?”

He nodded and then sucked in a breath as Dr. Ash lifted his foot onto the exam table.

“Oh, okay,” I said and went to his side. “Don’t you have someone you can call? That man—”

I stopped. Maybe he was up to something in the woods that he didn’t want his man to know about. It was none of my business anyway. He looked like he was about to respond when Dr. Ash pulled off the guy’s shoe, and I saw his face contort with pain.

“Easy does it,” I said and reached over to pat the guy’s shoulder.

When the sock came off, I noticed scars and wondered what had caused them, but quickly pushed that out of my head, knowing that was none of my business either. I stood next to him as the doctor examined his foot and said he needed X-rays, which was no surprise. I’d broken a lot of bones growing up, playing hard and running wild across the fields behind my granny’s place.

I still doubted such a short fall would break his ankle. Hell, I’d had worse falls at work this week and had a couple of bruises to show for it. But I figured he might’ve managed to twist the ankle.

Once the doctor left to get someone to take the X-rays, I took that as my cue to leave. “I-I’ll leave my number at the desk, but I should probably go.”

The man didn’t try to stop me this time. “Thank you for your assistance today,” he said. “I’m Ruther. You’re Clyde, right?”

I smiled and nodded. I didn’t like giving my name to strangers. I’d spent enough years on the road to know how easy it was to be vulnerable. It was too late, though. I’d already told him when I’d run into him the day before. At least now I could put a name to his face as well.

I hesitated and almost went back to shake his hand or something, and felt a magnetic pull toward him when the look of longing swept through his handsome features again. I knew if I let myself, I’d buckle under my own attraction. “If the doctor needs me for anything,” I said, intentionally making sure I didn’t say ifheneeded me, “he can find me at the motel.”

I left without looking back. I couldn’t get caught up with this guy. I just couldn’t. No matter how much I wanted to ignore the warning bells in my head.

eleven

---