Spring River Valley: The Winter Collection (Boxed Set) (21 page)

“Be glad it’s your eyebrow and not your eye. I’m going to put a light dressing over it, and you can sit up a little bit, but don’t go wandering around.”

“Yes, ma’am.”

Someone knocked at the alcove door while Audrey was busy preparing a wound dressing. Tanner Croft, Quinn’s rig partner, stuck his head in. “This where the head case is?”

“Oh, good. Maybe you can keep him still.” Audrey handed Tanner the swab. “I’m going to look for the surgical resident so we can clear this bed. I can’t have employees taking up space where sick people belong.”

Tanner saluted her as she sidled by then tapped her shoulder. “Surprise for you outside. Someone’s looking for you.”

Audrey’s stomach did a little flip. Could it be Max? She’d been so distracted by her task she hadn’t thought about Max in almost ten minutes. That was a record for the day. She thanked Tanner and headed out past the reception desk.

“Lil, is someone here waiting for me?” she asked the receptionist.

“Over there. Hey, how’s Quinn?”

“He’ll be fine, and he’ll be cuter than ever when the plastic surgeon’s done with him.” Audrey hurried off through the double doors that separated the emergency department from the rest of the hospital.

Sure enough, Max stood in the waiting area, a camera hanging from one shoulder. “Hey, hot stuff, what are you doing here?” She crossed to him and went up on her toes to kiss his cheek. His skin was cold as granite, and his smile seemed a bit stiff. “I don’t get off for another four hours.”

“Actually, I’m not here to see you.”

His tone caught her off guard. “Oh. Are you visiting someone?”

“I’ve been filling in at the paper, and they asked me to come here and get some shots of Quinn Preston. He was injured responding to a call today, wasn’t he?”

“Yes…
but I can’t let photographers into the ER.”

“I know. Is there somewhere he could meet me, if he’s okay to move around?”

Audrey pursed her lips. “I’ll tell him you’re out here. He hasn’t been discharged yet, and my recommendation is he doesn’t go gallivanting around until a doctor gives him the okay, but I know Quinn. He’s a ham, and if you want a bloody picture for the front page, he’ll be more than happy to pose for you.”

“Thanks, I appreciate it.”

“What’s up? You seem…distant.” That was an understatement. For someone who’d spent an entire day skin to skin with her, he was light years away.

“I thought we had plans tomorrow night, but I hear you’re busy.”

She raised a brow. “I am?” She looked up trying to picture her work schedule. “I’m not working.”

“No, Cassie tells me you’re meeting your perfect guy tomorrow night. John the Appendix.”

Audrey gasped. She’d completely forgotten to call Cassie. When her supervisor had called early this morning asking for help on the morning shift, she’d left for work early without even going into her kitchen where the note to call Cassie hung on the fridge. “Oh, my god. It slipped my mind. I was going to call her today and cancel it. Did she already set something up with him?”

“I think she did. Don’t bother to cancel. If he’s your soul mate, don’t you want to meet him?”

Audrey stepped back and eyed Max carefully. His expression was neutral, but his stiff posture told her he was bothered by the whole thing. “Did she explain to you that I made that date the other day?”

“Yeah. After we kissed.”

“Yeah…” Oh. Was he jealous? How could she make him understand how much that kiss had thrown her off balance? “I…didn’t know what I wanted then.”

“You wanted to meet the perfect guy, and I’m not him.”

“That’s not true. I didn’t know what you were back then. You were so busy making jokes and smart remarks, I wasn’t sure if you liked me or if you were just stringing me along.”

“And are you sure now?”

“Am I…? Should I not be? We spent the day in bed together. Is that your idea of stringing someone along?”

“It’s not mine, but
I don’t want to be the cause of you missing out on meeting the perfect guy. So you keep that date with Appendix Guy. After you’ve gone out with the right guy, maybe you’ll realize I’m not the one for you after all.”

Audrey gaped. What had gotten into him? Just because she’d forgotten to cancel a blind date? “Are you for real? You’re pissy because I made a date with someone else after you kissed me?”

“You knew how I felt. I was begging you for a second chance, and you didn’t want it. But John, you wanted. Maybe you still do because he’s the perfect guy Cassie thought you should be with, and she’s pretty smart when it comes to this stuff.”

“Max…I don’t get this at all. You showed me who you are…you’re the guy. You’re the one I want.”

“But you’re always going to wonder about him, so go out with him. Just to be sure. And if he turns out to be what you’re looking for, I’ll understand.”

She put her hands on her hips. “Oh, you will? You’ll just walk away?”

“Sure. You’re looking for perfect. I’m not perfect. I’m not going to stand in anybody’s way.”

She let out a exasperated sigh. “You’re right, Max. You’re absolutely right. You’re not perfect, far from it. You’re like a…spoiled…
kid
. I thought you were the kind of guy who would fight for what you wanted. You went out of your way to get me, and you got me, now you don’t want me?”

He shrugged. “Don’t settle for me, sweetheart. I don’t want to be the understudy or the consolation prize, so all I’m saying is go out with the real guy, the one you were meant to see, obviously the one you’re still thinking about, and if that doesn’t work out, call me.”

“No. I don’t think I will.”

“Go out with him?”

“Call you.”

Now anger flared in Max’s eyes, but what had he expected? Did he really think she wanted a guy she’d never met over him? “If that’s how you want it, that’s fine.”

“Is it?” Her blood was simmering again. He’d managed to put her back on that roller coaster with a single stupid remark. And worst of all, she’d allowed it. She’d let Max get under skin, under her covers, and into her soul. She’d decided the reason none of those other guys had worked out was because all along she’d been waiting to meet Max, but that was just bunk, wasn’t it? There was no such thing as destiny or fate. This, whatever it was between them, wasn’t meant to work out, and that was just fine.

“It’s whatever you want it to be. Tell Quinn I’ll be waiting in the lobby if he wants his picture on the front page.” Max turned and walked away from her.

Audrey stood completely still, afraid that if she moved or took a breath she’d either run after him, tackle him, and beg him to reconsider and to want her again; or that she’d run after him, tackle him, and hospital security would have to get involved.

He disappeared through the doors leading to the main lobby, and she let out her breath in a shuddering staccato. He’d gotten one thing right. She couldn’t have met the perfect guy yet, because the perfect guy would never make her feel this bad.

*

With each step he took away from Audrey, Max’s hatred of himself grew. He hadn’t even been in control of the words coming out of his mouth. Once he’d gotten started thinking about her still looking for Mr. Right when he was right under her nose, he couldn’t stop himself. That part of him that wasn’t ready to give everything he had to one woman reared up and took over. The truth was, Audrey terrified him. He’d felt so much when they were together—thoughts he’d never had before like how his job could support a family, where they would live. God, he’d even rehearsed the scene in which he told Jared he was moving out of their shared apartment.

Had he lost his mind? One night with this girl and he was planning the complete restructuring of his life down to abandoning his closest friend, putting his plans to write his photography book on hold, and thinking about how many kids they might have.

That wasn’t normal.

So the more he’d thought about her with Appendix Guy, the more it seemed like the right thing to do. Maybe
he
was the guy who wanted a house and kids and a steady income. Maybe he was the guy who’d already realized his dreams and wouldn’t feel like he was giving up everything to be with her.

Max asked himself if that’s how he felt.
Am I giving up my life to be with Audrey? Or am I giving up my life by walking away from her?

He didn’t know the answer, so he kept walking. He only turned back when he reached the far end of the lobby, and by then, she was gone.

Quinn’s bandaged face appeared on the front page of the
Herald
the next morning, complete with the headline
EMT Injured in Daring Rescue
with Max’s byline beneath the picture.

Audrey had seen at least twenty copies of the shot. It was plastered all over the ER, and Quinn was handing out signed copies in the ambulance bay. Normally she’d have taken one, just to play into his vanity, but she didn’t even want to see Max’s name.

She hadn’t called him, and he hadn’t called her, and moment by moment her misery grew. This whole thing was ridiculous. She should have just chalked it up to experience and gotten over it, but how could she when the pillows of her bed still smelled like him?

Harper and Cassandra met her for lunch in the hospital café. Both women wore serious expressions.

“Are you okay?” Harper asked the moment Audrey sat down with her lunch tray. “You look exhausted.”

“Thanks.”

“I’m sorry, Audrey. I really screwed everything up this time. You have no idea how bad I feel about all this,” Cassie said. She put her hand on Audrey’s. “Max was so—”

“Don’t mention him,” Audrey said, her voice rising in pitch. “I know he’s your cousin, so it’s probably best if we don’t talk about him. I don’t want to say anything that will insult you.”

“Then let me say it. He’s a jerk. His male pride is hurt, that’s all. I guess he figures you’d always be wondering what might have happened if the original date had gone as planned.”

“Well, I guess maybe I am.” She wasn’t. In fact she no longer cared at all, but she couldn’t let Max’s change of heart derail her. She was stronger than that. “So, I hope things are still on with John tonight. He’s feeling better since his appendectomy, right?”

“Um…” Cassie gulped her ice water. “Yes, he’s fine. But are you really sure you want to go out with him? Just because Max said…”

“Max, whom we’re not supposed to be discussing, is right. You thought John and I would make a good couple, and you’ve got this matchmaking mojo thing, so who knows? Maybe he and I belong together. We shouldn’t let that opportunity slip by.”

“Audrey, don’t do this to get back at Max,” Harper said.

Audrey stiffened a bit. She was mad at everyone right now and trying to pretend she wasn’t. It wasn’t working out very well. She took a deep breath before responding to Harper, who didn’t really deserve any of her wrath. “I’m not trying to get back at Max. I’m taking his advice. I’d like to meet the man Cassie set me up with. Maybe it’ll go really well, and if it doesn’t,
c’est la vie
.”

“Max is going to regret this. I know he is. He’s always been impulsive like this. He’s been this way ever since his mom left…”

Audrey stared at Cassie. She’d spent almost twenty-four hours talking with Max, making love to him, and he’d never mentioned any of his family other than Cassie and their grandmother. “What about his mother?”

“She left the family when he was young, and she married someone else. She has a couple of kids with her second husband, and Max always felt like he was second best to them.”

Audrey nodded. “So that explains why the understudy remarks bothered him so much. He doesn’t want to be a stand-in for anyone.” She hated that she’d made him feel that way, but it didn’t change the fact that he was still overreacting to her impetuous decision to go out with John. A decision she’d changed her mind about almost immediately. Now she felt bad because it was too late to cancel with him, and yet she knew in her heart there was no way this poor guy was going to be able to compete with Max. She wanted Max. She’d thought of nothing else but him since the moment she’d met him.

“Let me talk to him,” Cassie said. “I shot my mouth off, I should figure out a way to fix this.”

“You’re not to blame, Cassie. Max wants to be sure I’m not settling for him, so I’ll go out with John, and then I’ll call Max and tell him how the date went. If he’s still interested in being with me, he can take it from there.”

Harper looked impressed. “That’s very mature of you. I thought your way of dealing with men behaving badly was to buy a machete.”

“I have one on back order.”

“So you’re going to give Max another chance?” Cassie asked.

Audrey sighed and tried to steady her breathing so she didn’t break down and cry in front of her friends. Somehow this mess was her doing, not Cassie’s. She’d been so determined to find the perfect guy that she’d almost let him get away. She wouldn’t make that mistake again. “I have to give him another chance, Cass. He’s the one I’ve been looking for all this time.”