the last few months.
“Hey, Vi,” I said as I paused in the hallway at the hospital
“You’re looking good,” she said as she stopped in front of me with a bright smile. Her dark hair was pulled back, and she wore a neon pink scrubs top with a ponytail holder to match. “No cast.” She glanced down at my left foot before lifting her hand for a high five.
I smacked my palm against hers as I chuckled. “Finally.”
“I’m glad. I know it got frustrating with that setback,” she replied.
“I hope I never break my ankle again,” I said fervently.
“Right, ankle breaks are a pain in the a—” She paused, correcting herself with, “bum.”
I must’ve looked confused because she laughed. “Hazards of having a toddler. I try not to swear too much.”
“Is “ass” technically a swear?”
Violet shrugged. “I don’t actually know, but I don’t want Alec to say it, so I’m gonna stick with “bum”,” she explained.
I nodded. “Fair enough. How’s it going?”
“Busy. Work is busy, and things are picking up at the ski lodge, so Sawyer’s schedule has exploded.” She was married to Sawyer Hamilton who owned the local ski lodge with his siblings.
“With the snow melting, ski season should be winding down, right?”
“It hasn’t melted yet. Plus, they do all that hiking and biking stuff now, so they’re busy all the time. Sawyer says they send people your way all the time for flight trips.”
“They sure do, and we appreciate it.”
Violet’s name was paged over the hospital intercom. “Gotta run,” she said quickly. “Off to stab someone with a needle. You take care.” She hurried off, waving over her shoulder.
I resumed walking down toward the physical therapist’s office. He had recommended a massage for me to help loosen up the tension around my knee and hip from compensating due to the problems with my ankle. At this point, I just wanted to be back to full speed, although I was flying again, so I wasn’t going to complain.
A moment later, the receptionist smiled up at me. The physical therapy and massage therapy offices were housed in an old wing of the hospital.
“Hey there, Elias,” Claudia said with a soft smile.
“Hey, Claudia. Dan scheduled me with the massage therapist. I don’t have a name though.”
Claudia clicked on her keyboard, her eyes scanning the computer screen in front of her. “There you are. You’ve got an appointment with Cammi.”
I only knew one Cammi, but figured it couldn’t be the same one. “I hope this massage therapist is as good as the coffee at Cammi’s Red Truck Coffee,” I quipped.
“It’s the same Cammi,” Claudia said.
“It is?”
Claudia nodded just as the phone rang. Since I didn’t want to look like an idiot standing there with my mouth open, I stuffed my hands in my pockets and turned to sit in one of the chairs in the small waiting area. I presumed the space was intended to be soothing with soft blue walls and watercolors of flowers. Meanwhile, I was grappling with the knowledge that Cammi would be giving me a massage. The mere idea of it sent electricity zipping through my body. I hadn’t seen Cammi since that foolish kiss in the parking lot a few weeks ago.
I didn’t like admitting it, to anyone, much less myself, but I’d replayed that kiss in my mind hundreds of times since then.
“Elias?”
I glanced over to see Cammi standing in the doorway to the waiting area. I stood and quickly crossed the room to her. Pink crested on her cheeks as I got closer.
“Come on back.” She gestured for me to follow her.
A moment later, we were standing inside a small room. A massage table took up the entire center of the room, and it was otherwise almost empty, save for a chair in the corner and a small cabinet against the wall to the side of the table.
Cammi’s scent hit me, some kind of flower with a hint of sweetness to it. I instantly recalled the feel of her lips underneath mine.
She twisted her hands, her brows arching slightly with a twitch of worry appearing between them. “I didn’t realize I had an appointment with you. The physical therapy office handles my schedule.”
“I didn’t know you even did this.”
Cammi shrugged. “It’s a side gig. Helps me cover the bills during the winter when my coffee truck is closed down. I only do it part time, and then stop altogether in the summer,” she explained.
Part of me wanted to leave because I didn’t know if I could