Page 8 of Heal Me
Chapter Three
Throughout the rest of Kate’s day, thoughts of Ric distracted her from her work. It wasn’t like her to be so unfocused, but she couldn’t help it. Why had she agreed to meet him for lunch? She hadn’t had any interest in men since her fiancé, Phil, had passed away. A piece of her heart had shriveled and died with him.
His death had left her with a bleeding, gaping wound that would never be healed. Her job had been her salvation. She’d thrown herself into her business to keep from going insane from grief. If she’d allowed herself to wallow, Kate knew that she might’ve done something desperate.
She’d been approached by a few men, but she’d nicely rebuffed them. What made Ric different? As she went about stitching and bandaging wounds and giving advice on flea control, a part of her mind was on the incredibly handsome man with the intense blue eyes and a devastating smile.
Towards the end of the day, she grew frustrated with herself.It’s just lunch. There’s no need to panic over lunch! Stop being such a dumbass about this.It was nothing more than a casual meal. With that decided, Kate was able to stop obsessing and finish out her day with a clearer mind.
*****
As he rode in Emily’s car the next day, Ric berated himself for asking Kate to lunch. Not because he didn’t want to see her, but because he had to be driven to the Diner like a kid who wasn’t old enough to drive. Being laid up was seriously interfering with his independence and it made him short-tempered.
Looking over at Emily, he felt contrite. “Em, I’m sorry that I’ve been such an ass the last few days. I’m just not used to depending on people to take care of me.”
She gave him a wry smile. “Apology accepted and I’m sorry for acting like you’re a child. It’s just that you took such good care of me after Mom died that I wanted to return the favor.”
Now Ric felt like an even bigger dick. “That’s what big brothers are supposed to do.”
“But not all big brothers would,” Emily said.
“Yeah, well, that’s because they’re selfish assholes.”
Emily laughed as she turned at the square. “True. But you have one of the biggest hearts around and I’m very grateful. How about this? I won’t smother you and you let people help you when you need it. Deal?”
“I can live with that. Deal.”
Flurries started drifting down from the sky as Emily pulled up in front of the Diner.
“Are you going to be all right? Do you need help getting out?” she asked.
Ric leaned over and kissed her cheek. “Nope. I got this. I’ll call you when I’m done. Thanks for everything, sis.”
He carefully got out of the car, hopped up onto the sidewalk, and shut her car door. After waving to her, he made his way into the Diner.
“Well, here comes Hop-A-Long!”
Ric grinned as he recognized Tucker McGee’s gravelly voice and saw him wave to him from a back booth. “Tucker, you old grease monkey!” he shot back. He looked around, but Kate wasn’t there yet.
Tucker laughed and motioned him over to his booth. Ric greeted some other people he knew as he made his way through the place. Once a football hero in a small town, always a football hero.
As he slid into the booth, Ric leaned his crutches against the wall behind him and held out a hand to the fifty-something man. “Good to see you, Tucker.”
“Likewise, Ricky,” Tucker replied, giving his hand a hearty shake. “Stopped in for a bite to eat, huh?”
“Well, I’m meeting someone here.”
Ric looked around at the restaurant that had been simply named the Diner when it had been built in the 1970’s. It had been renovated a couple of times, but the retro design of the place had been kept intact. Pictures of important residents of Cooper’s Creek hung on many of the walls and the football team was included in that.
Ric knew that he was in a bunch of them and in some pictures of the local rodeo champions, which also included him. He’d earned quite a few roping trophies over the years. He’d actually been considering coming home for the rodeo that year, but he wasn’t sure that was going to happen since he’d gotten hurt.
“Meeting someone, huh? What little filly have you roped now?” Tucker’s brown eyes gleamed.
“I didn’t say it was a woman.”
Tucker chuckled as he took a sip of coffee. “No, but a man doesn’t say they’re meeting someone and then grin like an idiot unless it’s a woman. Unless they’re gay, but as far as I know, you don’t swing that way.”
“No, I don’t,” Ric said. “Speaking of that, how’s Sarah?”
