True Love's Fire: A Red Hot Valentine Story (Hell Yeah!) (9 page)

CHAPTER FOUR

You walked away

I knew you had to go

I would never ever tell you

But I miss you so

He was on vacation. Susie knew the rules. So, when he received a message from her, Scott knew it was important. He had been in his bed, asleep, when the call came. But he hadn’t been alone. After the incredible day he’d spent with Lia, there had been no question that she’d sleep in his arms. And she was still there. He had one arm wrapped around her shoulders and her head lay on his chest. Her little body was draped over his like the sweetest blanket.

“What’s wrong?” He spoke lowly into the phone.

“I’m so sorry to bother you, but you’ve got to come home. Mr. Watkins is having seizures.”

“Has he been admitted?” Scott could have insisted another doctor cover for him in this case, but he knew John Watkins personally and the man had faith in him. Sometimes that faith went a long way in survival.

“Yes, but he’s asking for you and since your date canceled, I didn’t think you’d mind. You are alone, aren’t you?” 

“No, I’m not.”

Susie laughed. “Of course, you’re not.”

Scott ignored his secretary’s amused response. “I need to come home, though. But I don’t know if I can, the roads are covered with ice and snow.”

“How about a helicopter? You know Bell has been after you to go in on their sharing plan.”

He paused, thinking. “All right. If you can arrange it, let me know.”

“I already have, it will be landing about a quarter mile from your cabin in half an hour.”

“Good God, woman, how did you know I would agree?”

“Lucky guess. See you in a few hours.” He closed the phone and laid it back on the nightstand.

“You have to go.” Lia’s comment wasn’t a question. She had half-way sat up and the sight of her breasts resting on his chest was almost reason enough to stay in bed. But he didn’t have time.

“Yes, there’s an emergency. My secretary is sending a helicopter.”

She was up and off the bed before he could protest. “I’ll clean out the refrigerator, and close up the cabin for you.”

“My car is a rental, so I can have it picked up. Could I leave the key with you?”

“Of course.” She began dressing.

He knew he had to hurry, but some things needed to be said. “Lia, I am so glad we met.”

She didn’t give him time to finish. “Me, too. It was one chance meeting I’ll never regret.” Picking up her things, she found her phone. “I need to arrange someone to transport my truck to the garage now that the weather is clearing.”

“Will you be okay?” It didn’t sit well with Scott for him to leave her stranded.

She smiled and waved her hand. “Of course, I’ll get a ride from the tow truck driver back to my house. It will be fixed in no time, and if I have to go somewhere, I can get a loaner.” Bending to put on her shoes, she assured him. “I’ve been on my own for years. I know how to get by.”

He didn’t like the idea, not a little bit. But what he was feeling was strange and new and Scott didn’t really have time to analyze it. “I’m sorry to be rushing off like this.”

“Completely understandable.” Lia was trying not to look at him. Her heart was hurting and she refused to let her pain show on her face. When she finished gathering her things, she helped him fold his shirts as he packed. “You’re a surgeon. It’s expected.”

Thoughts of what he needed to do, the operation he would be performing collided with memories of her kiss and how it felt to be inside of her. “Stop.” He pulled her to him as she headed out of the room.

“I was about to go find your computer case.”

“I want to hold you a second.”  She came to him, allowing him to envelop her in his arms. “I’ll call you,” he whispered against her hair.

“You’ll be busy, I know that. And so will I.” Lia refused to read anything into his words.

“Houston, I said—”

“Remember what we said,” she reminded him. “No commitments. Sentimentality only belongs in love songs.”

The whirr of helicopter blades announced their time had run out. “Damn.”

“Let’s get the rest of your things.” She ran to the living room to make sure he didn’t leave anything.

At the front door, he stopped and faced her. “I hate leaving you like this, with everything up in the air.”

“It can’t be helped, besides we knew this was casual.” Her mouth was saying one thing, but her body had a mind of its own. She threw her arms around his neck and hugged him tight. “Be careful, please. Thank you for spending time with me.”

Scott knew he had to go. A man’s life was hanging in the balance. But he couldn’t leave her like this. “This isn’t over.” Taking her by the shoulders, he crashed his mouth to hers, nipping at her lips, sweet kisses, letting himself love on her for just a few seconds longer. A knock on the door broke them apart.

“You’d better go.” She couldn’t take her eyes off his face. Tears were very near the surface and she felt like she had a baseball stuck in her throat. Her fingers touched her lips where he had kissed her.

“Be good, Houston.” He patted Elvis and went out to meet the pilot. Lia stood on the porch and watched him go, her dog barking ferociously at the strange creature that had invaded his domain. Staring at the window where she could still see his face, she raised a hand to tell him goodbye.

*  *  *

Scott thought about Lia all the way home. He checked his phone three times to make sure he had her number recorded in his contacts. The flight took about three and a half hours and during that time he relived every moment they’d spent together. Yes, he’d definitely be calling her.

As soon as he arrived back in Austin, Susie met him. She’d confirmed with the rental place to pick up the Lexus, so he gave her Lia’s number, since Lia had the key. “Mr. Watkins is waiting on you.”

“Well, of course he is, the man needs brain surgery. I didn’t expect him to be out shooting a few rounds of golf.”

Susie ignored Scott’s sarcasm, she was used to it. He always behaved in this manner when he was under the gun. The pressure had to be released in some manner. “You never know, wait till I tell you about your next case.” The mysterious way his secretary spoke piqued Scott’s attention, but he knew it had to wait. “Come with me to my office and fix me coffee. Let me think a few minutes and after I examine Watkins, we’ll talk.”

As always, Scott needed to get in the zone. They walked silently to the elevator and then to the third floor where his suite was contained. Anytime he opened up a person’s skull, he was aware he was playing God. One slip, one hiccup, one false move and he could change someone’s life forever—or end it. Going to his desk, he took out his computer, reviewing his notes and records on John.

A Vietnam veteran in his fifties, Watkins had collapsed during a board meeting with extreme pain in his head. When they’d gotten him to the hospital, he had been diagnosed with a subarachnoid hemorrhage. Surgery was inevitable, but he’d asked for a couple of weeks to get his affairs in order – just in case. Scott had given him time by treating the hemorrhage with beta blockers and antihypertensive agents. But now that time had run out, he was going to have to go in and either clip the ruptured berry aneurysm or do an endovascular coil treatment. He’d decide once he was inside the man’s head.

“Okay, I’m ready.” He put the laptop down, realizing he hadn’t touched his coffee. “Stay here, I want to hear about the other case.” Slipping on his white coat, he took off. Several nurses were more than glad to see him, greeting Scott with smiles, touches to his arm and even a hug or two. He’d slept with about half of them, but most he had to read their name tags to remember who they were.

But as bad as he was, he didn’t hold a candle to John Watkins when it came to being a ladies man. If Scot had to categorize the old rascal, he’d call him a Hugh Hefner wannabe. His current wife stayed by his side, yet that didn’t prevent him from flirting with every female who came through the door. He kept saying he was taking applications for wife number three. Scott thought Mrs. Watkins #2 ought to clobber him with a bedpan. On second thought, perhaps that was part of his problem. “Doc! You made it!”

Longish hair, sideburns and tattoos made the internet entrepreneur look like a hippie. “Yes, your timing is terrible. I was snowed in with a beautiful woman.”

“I’m jealous. That’s why I need you to fix me up so I can make love with Hotstuff here.” He slapped his wife on the ass and she just rolled her eyes at them both.

“Keep calm, Mr. Watkins, we’re about to get started.” He made note of his skin tone and blood pressure. “Now, I need you both to understand something.” He went on to explain the risks and what he could be facing if something went wrong. After-care was discussed also, but finally he was informed the operating room was ready and the patient would be wheeled into surgery in a matter of minutes. “I’ll go prepare and meet you there. Oh, and you’ll be awake and aware of the operation, so think up some good jokes to tell me.”

At the startled look on Watkins face, Scott laughed. He always told them that neat little fact last, so they wouldn’t have time to back out. “Don’t worry, you’ll be under a light anesthesia.” There were no pain receptors in the skull or the brain itself, so performing surgery while the patient remained conscious was common.

As he left, he met the OR team coming with the gurney. He nodded his head and returned to his office. He had about fifteen minutes or so before he’d report for surgery. “Okay, what case are you referring to?”

Susie was middle-aged, with wispy dark hair and overweight enough to be comforting to Scott. In other words, Susie reminded him of his mother. And she looked after him. “Dr. Walker, I don’t know. This might be a case you’ll want to step away from. I have a bad feeling about it.”

She had his attention. “What do you mean?” Scott had learned not to ignore his secretary’s opinion, she was usually spot on. As he poured a fresh cup of coffee, Scott listened to her.

“Her name is Angela Robbins. These images were sent over for you to look at.” She turned on the remote viewbox on the wall which allowed him to look at scans or x-rays enlarged from the computer screen. Scott stepped over. “There’s a dark stain on her left frontal lobe.” He leaned closer and ran his finger over the image. “This could be trouble. It looks like a glial tumor.”

“She collapsed at home and was taken to St David’s.”

Scott turned. “St. David’s?”

“She’s pregnant.”

Like Susie, Scott had a bad feeling wash over him also. “Schedule an appointment for her tomorrow.”

“You’d better get going. It’s time for you to perform another miracle.” He shook his head, knowing miracles were few and far between.

“I’ll do my best.”

As he walked out the door, Susie called after him. “Who’s Lia Houston?”

Scott stopped, turned to Susie and raised an eyebrow. “A fox.”

“You hound.”

“No, his name was Elvis.” 

Her laughter followed him all the way down the hall.

*  *  *

Lia was lost after Scott left. She felt bereft. It had taken three hours before Simon’s Towing service had shown up to take her truck to a garage. During that time she had cleaned the cabin for Mary, erasing all evidence Scott had ever been there. Everywhere she looked, she saw him. Her body trembled, remembering how he’d made love to her. Never had she expected to meet someone who would want her with such hunger. And she’d wanted him just as much. Sitting on her front porch steps, she hugged herself long and hard, wishing he were there to hold her.

Almost from the time he left, she’d started listening for her cell phone to ring. He’d said he would call. Part of her wanted him to—the biggest part. But there was also a portion of her heart that feared getting hurt more than she already had been. Maybe a clean break might be best. “No!” She moaned out loud. At the sound of her voice, Elvis ran toward her, thinking he had done something to displease his mistress.

“You’re okay.” She scratched him behind his ears.

Since returning home, nothing seemed right. It was too quite. There was no one to talk to, laugh with. The rooms were too empty without Scott’s big form making all the furniture seem small. Meal times were uneventful and her bed looked big and lonely. She gazed off into the woods, watching birds flit around, flying from the snow covered ground, then up into the trees. There was no other movement. Not even a hint of a breeze.

Lia had never felt more alone.  

So when she heard the faint noise of an engine and saw a truck easing up the driveway, she was momentarily taken aback. Who in the world? Could it be Scott? He said he had a truck. It was a man. Her breath caught in her throat. She stood up, trying to see. But it wasn’t Scott. She let out a sigh. It was just Reggie Latham.

“Lia, are you all right?”

“Sure, Reggie. Come on in. Can I offer you coffee?”

The former quarterback of Adah High climbed out of his Ford 150. They’d never been close, but their mother’s had once been friends. At best, Reggie always tolerated her presence. When they’d been in high school, an incident had cemented their differences. A rumor had started that she had a crush on him. It wasn’t true, but piranhas have nothing on teenagers when they catch a whiff of wounded prey.

“Coffee would be nice. I heard down in town you were up here without transportation. Mama would never forgive me if I didn’t come up here and check on you.”

“How nice.” His claim could have some truth in it. Rosamund Latham had always been fairly kind to Lia. But she doubted it. Lia couldn’t help being suspicious. She held the door for him so he could enter her house.

“I heard a tree fell on your pick-up.” He walked in and looked around, taking in the rag rugs, the upholstered furniture and the lace curtains.

“It did. I’m afraid it might be totaled.” She put a K-cup in the maker and filled a mug, setting the cream and sugar where he could reach it. “Sit down at the kitchen table, Reggie. Here are some homemade teacakes if you’d like one.”

He took his cap off and accepted a cookie. “Are these your mom’s recipe?”

“Yes, my favorite.” Lia racked her brain trying to figure out what had prompted this social call. At twenty-five, Reggie was a catch in the small Arkansas town. He raised poultry in massive grow-out houses, four-hundred foot long, full of young chickens called broilers. Lia had gone in one of them with Rosamund one day and she would never forget the smell as long as she lived. It was probably her imagination, but she could almost detect the same scent on Reggie. Suffice it to say, a crush would not be developing.

“Miss Mary told Mom you got yourself into a jam with some doctor from Texas?”

Oh, my God. Lia shook her head. Telling Mary about the accident and her getting snowed in at Windswept had been a mistake. She should have known the little old lady couldn’t keep something so juicy a secret. Why the most exciting thing that had happened in Adah since 2000 was the day they found out the church secretary was a closet erotic romance author. “I didn’t get myself in a jam, I was trying to hook my truck up to his luxury car and tow him down the hill, when a tree limb fell and crushed my engine.”

“I heard you spent the weekend with him.”

The leering look on his face told her all she needed to know. “That’s nobody’s business but mine, Reggie.” One of the curses of living in a small town was judgmental, meddlesome neighbors. Her heart was beating hard in her chest.

“Well, all my life I’ve heard tales about the hospitality of the Houston women.”

She knew exactly what he meant. She’d heard the talk, too. Just because her mother and grandmother were unfortunate enough to be wronged by a man, and had chosen to have their child instead of aborting it, they had been called loose. Lia could still remember her mother crying when she and Lia would be referred to as white trash. That was one reason she’d latched on to Dylan. He wasn’t local and hadn’t known anything about her past.