Page 6 of Heal Me
“Emily, I need to get out of the house for a while. I know it’s last minute, but I’m going to go along for the ride,” he said.
The image of Kate rose in his mind, just as it had several times a day ever since he’d met her. Not only would the ride be good for him, but he’d also have a chance to thank her for cleaning up after Coco that day.
“Oh, okay. I’ll get your coat.”
Ric stood up and grabbed his crutches. He swung out to the kitchen, ignoring the throbbing in his ankle as best he could and balanced on his good leg to put on his coat. Emily put Coco’s leash on her and they went out to Emily’s Subaru. Ric carefully got in and it wasn’t long before they were underway.
After being stuck in the house, it felt like heaven to have a change of scenery, even if the April sky was overcast and rain had been forecasted. Coco pressed her nose against the rear window on his side. Ric got a kick out of the way she barked at blowing leaves, people, or just about anything that moved. One of the neighbors on their road hadn’t taken down a giant Santa Claus and the sight of it sent Coco into hysterics.
“I don’t know why she hates that thing so much,” Emily said. “She does that every time we go past it.”
Ric pet Coco to soothe her. “What’s the matter, honey? Are you mad at Santa because he didn’t bring you what you wanted for Christmas?”
Coco gave an affirmative woof, which made them laugh.
“So how’s Mommy feeling today?” Ric asked.
Emily was four months along now, and just really beginning to show. She beamed with happiness. “Mommy is feeling just fine.”
“I’m really happy for you and Ty,” Ric said. “I’m glad he stopped being an asshole and that things worked out for you.”
Emily nodded. “Me, too. We worked through a lot of things. Nothing is completely one-sided. I made mistakes, too. I won’t pretend I didn’t. But that’s all in the past and we’re so excited about this baby and about having primary custody of Hayley.”
Ric quickly squashed a momentary flash of jealousy. He had to get over that. He’d been in love with Hayley’s mother, Lizzie, who’d died in a car accident. Hayley had been left parentless since her father, Simon, had run off. Ric might have been in love with Lizzie, a reckless, wild child, but she’d let him think there was more and then slipped away. She’d been too young and too wild to understand the depth of what he’d felt for her. He was slowly coming to grips with that and trying to forgive her.
Ric had still been crushed by her death because he’d never stopped loving her. He’d held out hope that she would’ve come to her senses and ditched Simon for him. He would’ve taken care of her and Hayley. It was those feelings that had fostered the deep attachment he felt to Hayley. Ric tried not to overstep his bounds where Hayley was concerned, but he couldn’t help spoiling her.
“I can’t believe how reasonable Simon has been about the whole situation,” Ric said. “It took a lot of balls to come back, I’ll give him that.”
Emily slowed down as they entered the town limits. “Yeah. He’s really turned his life around. I have to give him credit. Ty still hates him, but he’s trying to be civil for Hayley’s sake.”
Ric was also trying to forgive Simon. Jealousy and anger at what happened to Lizzie still made him want to smash Simon’s smug face every now and then. “Tyler can be hard-headed, and that’s an understatement,” Ric said. “But he’s got Hayley’s best interests at heart, so he’ll do the right thing.”Listen to yourself for a change. You need to be civil to Simon too.
She turned right at the town square. “Yeah. Under that sometimes tough exterior of his, he’s a big softie.”
They arrived at the vet’s office and Ric waited until Emily exited the car with Coco before he got out. He followed Emily inside and took a seat in the waiting area while Emily checked in.
A woman in scrubs came around the corner of a hallway that led to exam rooms and Ric’s blood pressure rose as he recognized Kate. Her mahogany hair was pulled up a ponytail, which showed off her high cheekbones and luminous dark eyes. She looked almost as fantastic in scrubs as she did in jeans.
Damn, she is one fine-looking woman. I wouldn’t mind if she examined me.He couldn’t keep his eyes off her and when her gaze met his, he didn’t look away. Ric was the kind of man that went after something when he wanted it, and he wanted Kate. He pushed all his doubts away.
She smiled and gave him a little wave. Ric raised an eyebrow and motioned her over.
“Hi, Doc. How are you?” he asked when she stood before him.
“I’m good, thanks. How’s the ankle?”
“I’ll live. Thanks for everything the other day. You didn’t have to do that,” Ric said.
Kate tucked an errant lock of hair behind her ear and he wanted to suck on her pretty earlobe. “I was happy to do it. You weren’t in any shape to clean up and I didn’t feel right leaving things that way.”
“I really appreciate it. In fact, I’d like to take you to dinner to repay you.”
Her eyebrows drew together as her expression turned uncertain. “I don’t know. My schedule is pretty hectic.”
Ric wasn’t going to give up. “Well, mine is pretty flexible since I can’t work a whole lot. So, whenever is good for you works for me.”
“I can’t.”
