Series Starter Firsts in Series Collection - Kaylee Ryan Page 0,32

will never know his mother. The exam door opens and my eyes dart to them.

“Thanks, Kendall,” Reagan says with a smile and a wave.

“See you soon,” I reply.

“Thank you again,” Ridge says in his deep voice.

“Hey, my knight in shining armor,” Dawn pipes up.

This causes Ridge and Reagan to stop in their tracks. I whip my head around to my co-worker and best friend. Has she lost her damn mind?

She points at herself. “The flat-tire girl. You stopped to help me last week.” She grins. “Thank you again.”

Ridge visibly stiffens for a second; if my eyes weren’t glued to him, I would’ve missed it. I watch as he quickly paints on a grin. “Anytime. Glad I could help.” He doesn’t stick around for idle chit-chat; he turns and makes his way down the hall, disappearing behind the waiting room door. Reagan drops the clipboard off at the reception desk with the promise that they’ll call to schedule the next appointment.

“What the hell was that?” I hiss at Dawn. I’m mindful of the level of my voice, little ears being everywhere.

“What? He’s the guy I was telling you about. The night I had a flat tire on my way home from work, he stopped in the pouring rain to help me. You know him?”

“Yes. I graduated with his sister. He was two years ahead of me in school.”

“Damn, they didn’t have guys who looked like that at my high school. Please tell me he was a pimply-faced geek back then.”

I think back to Ridge and his band of buddies. None of them would even come close to pimply-faced or geeky then—or now, I’m sure. “Sorry, no can do.”

“You have all the luck,” she whines.

“Listen, he’s going through a lot. Their whole family is, so he doesn’t need you hitting on him right now. Besides, that’s unprofessional,” I scold her.

“I wasn’t flirting. I was simply showing my appreciation for him stopping to help me.”

“Uh-huh.” I laugh then mock-glare at her. “Get back to work.”

She mumbles something under her breath about being friends with the boss, and I just smile wider.

Dawn and I met in nursing school, and after graduation we got an apartment together in Mason, a few towns over.

That’s where I met Cal. He was a third-year resident at the hospital Dawn and I worked at. He was charming, educated, and good-looking. On the outside, we had a ton of things in common. On paper, we were the perfect match. On the inside . . . not so much. I fell fast and hard, thought we were in love, until it was obvious that we weren’t. It took me a year to see it, to admit to the signs. By then, it was too late. He was spiraling out of control. He lived across the hall, so no matter how many times I tried to break things off with him, he was always there, lurking in the background. When my mom called and said Dr. Harris was looking for a new nursing coordinator, I jumped at the chance to interview. I missed living so close to my parents.’

Dawn began looking too, and I happened to mention that in my interview. To my surprise, Dr. Harris needed a floor nurse as well. The practice has been here since I was a little girl, but the original staff was retiring, including the physicians. It couldn’t have happened at a better time. I needed to get away from Cal, and Dawn was more than willing to tag along for the adventure.

After we were both offered positions, we packed slowly, making weekend trips to my parents’ to move our things. We both had to give two weeks’ notice, and I didn’t want to have to deal with the drama that Cal was sure to cause by us moving. Lucky for us, he went away for the weekend with friends and we were gone by the time he came home. No forwarding address. He knows I’m from Jackson, but we’re not alone here. Dawn and I have my parents’ and grandparents, and that alone helps me sleep at night.

I shake away the memories and try to focus on the task at hand. We’ve got a full day of patients who need my full attention.

Chapter 11

He’s growing, gaining weight like he should be, and all looks good according to Dr. Harris. He’s only been home a few days, but it’s a relief to know I’m doing something right. I’m totally flying by the seat of my pants