Page 71 of Unexpected Love
His shoulders are up near his ears, hands stuffed in his pockets. He’s quiet and reserved and not at all the happy-go-lucky guy that I know.
“I think I’m going to go find a cup of coffee,” Jules says, glancing from the doorway back to me. “Need anything?”
I decline with a shake of my head. “Just to get out of here.”
I watch her ass as she stops and gives my partner a hug on her way out the door. Standing on her tiptoe with her arms awkwardly around his shoulders, she murmurs something in his ear. His eyes close as he returns the hug, dipping his chin to whatever she said. She pulls back with a pat on his arm and slides out the door.
The room grows quiet, only the beeping of monitors to break the silence.
“What? No jokes about me laying down on the job?” I tease to break this weird tension he’s brought in.
He grimaces as he takes the chair Jules vacated. “Nah, man. I’m not going to kick a guy while he’s down.”
An image of his stricken face hovering near mine, him frantically trying to free me from being pinned, flashes in my mind. I reach my free hand out to him. He grabs my palm and squeezes.
“Glad you’re okay,” he says, voice thick with emotion.
“Thanks for looking out for me and getting me untangled from that mess so quickly.”
“That’s what partners do.” His curt reply doesn’t fool me for a minute. He was visibly shaken when he walked in. “Besides, I’ve just barely gotten you trained on how to be a good partner. I don’t have time to train someone new. Figured I’d better rescue your ass.”
“Whatever. You just like that I do the cooking.”
“I wouldn’t call it cooking, but you do follow a box recipe pretty good.”
“Are Kate and Leo still here?”
The door opens again, and they saunter through. “Jesus, did you just conjure them?” Jackson quips, finally falling back into some semblance of normal.
“We’ve got to get back in service. Just wanted to check on you before we head out,” Leo says. Kate comes to the head of the bed and places a hand on my shoulder. For as tough as she appears, she’s got the most comforting presence in a crisis.
I place a hand over hers and meet her gaze. “Thanks for everything.”
“Yeah, sure. You can buy a round of drinks after next shift. Because after this morning, I’m gonna need a drink.”
I think back to all the times that I’d go out with the crew from NFD and skirt out early. Somehow, I just didn’t fit in with them. But these three? In the few short weeks that we’ve been together, we’ve clicked.
“Sounds like a plan. Maybe we’ll be able to have a grand opening party at the coffee shop soon.”
As they leave, with Jackson in tow, because the calls don’t wait on a banged-up partner, a sense of rightness settles over me. Even being laid up in an ER exam room, I’m feeling the warm fuzzies for this crew, who obviously cares about me.
My thoughts drift to Jules, who came running the moment she’d heard I was injured. She’s probably still mad as hell about the whole permit CO thing, but she showed up anyway.
I don’t know what I’m going to have to do to make it right and get her business open. But I will not fail her again.
Chapter 29
Jules
The halls in the emergency department are full of nurses and patients as I head down to the cafeteria to get some coffee. It’s too early in the morning, and I left my cup sitting on the counter when Nancy arrived.
All I could think was that Cal had been injured, and I had to get to him.
I wait in line with a half dozen other sleepy patrons and wish for the day that my shop is open, while silently wishing I could’ve at least stopped by Lissette’s on my way.
I didn’t have Cal getting squashed by a tree on my bingo card for the day, but here we are.
The adrenaline has finally worn off, and my hands shake from being so keyed up since that dreadful phone call as I fill my paper cup with the darkest, nastiest-looking dregs. The attendant standing nearby takes pity on me and throws out my gross cup, refilling it from a freshly brewed pot before replenishing the larger carafe.
