Page 11 of Wed By the Lumberjack

No matter how I try to keep the logical side of my brain working, my anxiety’s building all over again.

My eyes dart to the window, and suddenly that pit is back in my stomach. When the pain becomes too unbearable I throw on the hospital-provided bedroom slippers and clutch the back of my robe shut. It was slouchy around my shoulders, but sparse around my hips. The last thing I need is to show my ass to the entire floor, though I’m sure the staff’s seen it all.

It doesn’t take me long to spot Heath just a few doors up from my room. He’s the tallest in the corridor, and he’s talking to a doctor who’s grinning up at him so wide I can see all of her teeth.

Beautiful teeth.

Mine were a little yellow from too much coffee.

As she lightly swats his arm, I spy her gel manicure. Even with the constant hand washing, she still had time to keep her nails beautiful. I look down at mine that are bitten and broken. Does that have something to do with my anxiety?

But then another thought pings through my mind. There’s no ring on her finger. Or any finger that’s wrapped around my husband’s bicep.

Is she flirting with him?

Something I don’t think I’ve ever felt before, or at least not this intensely, stirs within me as I charge forward toward them.

“I was looking for you baby,” I say as I slink up to Heath’s side, and disguise a wince as a smile. My knee still throbbed from where it was shoved up under the steering wheel. From what the doctor said, I’m lucky nothing in my leg shattered.

Heath looks alarmed as he stares down at me, but he immediately wraps his arm around my waist, taking some of the weight off my bad leg. “Why are you up?” he asks gently. “You should be resting.”

“I want to rest in our bed,” I say, locking eyes with him. The dark look that crosses over his features and the way he squeezes my waist tighter extinguishes the green-eyed monster in me completely. “Are we going home soon? Did you get the release papers?”

“Yeah. We’ll leave in a second. Doctor West, this is Dixie. Dixie, Doctor West.”

I deflate as I shake the doctor’s hand who’s looking at me curiously, with a smirk.

Why didn’t he introduce me as his wife?

“Doctor West was just checking in on Uncle Buckee,” Heath points into the room behind the doctor and I peek inside to see an old man peering back at me with just as much curiosity.

He looks pale and frail and in a much worse condition than I am. Immediately I feel stupid for worrying about the wrong things. This doctor was here to treat his ailing uncle who I couldn’t even remember, and yet I’m worried about her possibly flirting.

“Your Uncle?” I ask. “Is he okay?”

“He’s coming along nicely,” Doctor West says, tapping a paper in Heath’s hands. It’s loaded with prescriptions a mile long. “But he needs to take his medications religiously. Is there someone at home to take care of him? Aunty Beth said Ash was thinking about raising some livestock at Forester Ranch. If he’s there daily, it’ll be a good idea to have him check in on Buckee during the day. We can figure out another shift at night.”

Aunty Beth?

Suddenly I felt even stupider.

Is this how I always acted around Heath? Jealous and insecure, and always jumping to conclusions?

There’s no need for that. He’s mine. My man.

I’ll make sure to work on that.

Heath nods. “We’ll work it all out.”

“See you later Bucks,” Doctor West says with a smile and a wave into the room before squeezing Heath’s arm again. “You too Heathcliff.”

“Don’t call me that Elly Belly, ” Heath grunts, but Elly Belly only grins wickedly before giving me a little wave.

“It was nice to meet you, Dixie.”

I smile but it quickly falters. Nice to meet you?

“Wait, if Doctor West is your cousin, why haven’t I met her yet?”

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