Page 13 of Just For Her

Tove curled her lips inward, lest she gave away how much this annoyed her already. “That’s a rational request. I’m guessing this is a result of your insurance situation and lack of established care?”

“That’s right. Who knows how long it will take me to find a doctor under my insurance? In Portland, I had a lot more choices. It’s safe to say I didn’t expect to be hit by a car on my first full day in town, so I don’t have anyone lined up yet. It could take months for me to find someone. What if my hip is worse by then?”

“There are emergency clinics that are income based in the area.”

“I implore you to think of my position here.”

If this is a grift, she’s not doing too badly.Uncle Gustav II would be impressed, surely. “I am. I also have to think about my family.” Tove sighed. “I’m sure I can contact one of our on-call doctors in a nearby clinic. He’s not the one my family usually sees if that’s what you’re worried about. I can’t guarantee how soon he can see you, but I’m sure whatever he thinks is best can be covered on your behalf. No need to involve your insurance. Or ours, for that matter.”

Was that Kayla finally getting comfortable?Don’t count your chickens before they hatch, honey.Tove wasn’t signing a blank check. If she could do that, she’d have more money than her cousin Thomas, who often imported foreign liquors for his defunct wet bar.

“Of course, there will be stipulations for this treatment,” Tove said. “If we take care of any of your medical conditions, you will, in exchange, not tell anyone about this. That includes the police or your insurance. Wait, have you told anyone?”

Kayla shrank into the couch. “Just my friend, whom I’m living with – but she’s the only one, I swear. I had to tell her something, and I believe in telling the truth.”

“I see. Who is this friend of yours?”

“Her name is Chrissy – er, Christine – Pine, married to Huey Pine. He’s the CFO of a local startup. Oh, and a member of your family’s country club out in Frederik, I do believe.”

Pine, huh? That explains the tab.Kayla must have been out with her friend the other night. If they were members of the club, perhaps that meant they could be trusted. After all, few outsiders were willing to risk getting kicked out of the club once they managed to get in.

“Do me a favor and don’t mention this to anyone else. I’d request that you tell your friends the same thing. I can assure you that I will facilitate the best care for you, Kayla. As you’ve surmised, my cousin Thomas does not need more drama in his life. He’s a good man who made very foolish decisions in his youth, but there isn’t much more the family can do to keep him out of legal trouble. He’s done a lot to turn over a new leaf these past few years. None of us want him to suffer for a legitimate accident that wouldn’t hurt other people too badly.”

“Of course not.” Kayla almost sounded too understanding. “I also want you to know that I do appreciate your willingness to help.” Her hand remained on her hip as if Kayla were pained to deal with it.We’ll see about that.“Do you have any idea when I may be able to see this doctor in his practice? What part of town is he in?”

“He’s close to downtown. As for when you can get in, a personal phone call from me goes a long way, but it could be a couple of weeks. He’s an incredibly busy man.”

“Better than a few months, I suppose.”

“Take good care of your hip in the meantime.” Tove pointed to the kitten heels left in her foyer. “Some flats might be in order.”

Kayla suppressed a frown. Yet whether she smiled or scowled, Tove recognized an inherent beauty that would leave men – and women – wasted in her wake. If this newcomer set her sights on a man like Thomas, he might be a goner. Especially when he was in such a vulnerable and emotional state during his divorce.

Hell, she’d be a goner on me.Tove liked to pretend that. Too bad she knew she was too logical and too reliable to ever fall for such tempting charms – and not only because she was fifty. Life had ensured she turned out that way by the time she was in college.

“Oh, my.” Kayla’s bemusement snapped Tove out of her thoughts as she was about to ask for more of her guest’s contact information. “Was it supposed to snow tonight?”

It was a quarter to seven, and already big, fat flakes fell from the sky. Tove leaped up from her couch in time to discover her garden shed in the backyard had already been covered in two inches of snow, with more to come. While that was not unusual at that time of year, she had seen Kayla’s car – and heard she came from Portland.

“The snow wasn’t supposed to start this early.” Tove motioned for Kayla to get up. “You better leave now. My road can be impassable after a big snowstorm, and it’s supposed to be a doozy tonight. If they say Bend is getting five to ten inches, I’m getting at least a foot out here.”

“Oh. Oh!” Kayla was already in the foyer, grabbing her sweater and shoving her feet into her heels. “You’re right! I should get going before I’m snowed in!”

Tove didn’t want to admit it, but Kayla might already be in trouble. The woman hustling out onto the porch squealed to have snow whip against her bare legs and experience her kitten heels slipping on the stone walkway leading up to Tove’s house. Yet she persevered to her older car, which was easily dwarfed by Tove’s SUV with all-wheel drive.

“Are you all right?” Tove called.

“I’m fine!” The headlights came on. However, the snow had already accumulated behind Kayla’s rear tires. When she attempted to back up, the left rear tire spun out. Tove almost couldn’t see through the thickly falling snow. Only the headlights told her where Kayla still was.

“Don’t be an idiot!” This was almost too painful to watch.I could get out in my Subaru if I had to, but her? No way.“Get back in here before you’re in big trouble!”

She sounded like a panicked mother calling in her troublesome child, and to be fair, she rather felt that way. At least there must have been some reason for her heart to pound and for her to override the survival instincts that begged her to get out of the cold and back in the house. Instead, she hopped into her snowy yard wearing nothing but leggings and a sweater. Kayla had already turned off the car when Tove arrived at the driver's side door and offered to help her back into the house before things got too slippery to navigate. Tove had lived in this house for nearly twenty years – she knew the best path to take over freshly fallen snow.

“Man…” Once they were back in the foyer, Kayla looked through the glass in the door. “What am I going to do? Even if it stops snowing right now, it’s already below freezing outside.”

“I don’t suppose your car has four-wheel drive?” Tove knew the answer.

“No. It sucks.” Kayla scoffed. “It’s old and it sucks!”

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