Stormy Surrender - By Nicole Andrews Moore Page 0,40
them to get her records. Then he heard it start to get personal. He could tell because she switched ears, held the phone on her right side far from him. And it was obvious she was trying to get off the phone as quickly as she could. She sighed and spoke in a low voice. “Thank you. Your condolences are much appreciated.” And then she hung up. He could see that she was trying to avoid making eye contact. She was skillfully managing to stare out the window no matter what tactic he used to try to gain her attention.
Joe made a decision. If cute and coy weren’t going to work for him in that moment, then he was simply going to have to take the direct approach. “So, did I hear that you lost someone?” He asked.
She looked at him, her face carefully devoid of expression. “Two someones, actually.” And with that, she turned her attention back to the passing landscape. He didn’t even try. Joe knew there was no way to reach her.
As he pulled into his physician’s office, he finally commented. “Listen, since you don’t have a doctor here yet, I thought I’d bring you to mine. Dr. Snow has a liberal walk-in policy. And with me here, you’ll probably be seen sooner.
He didn’t lie. They were in and out in half an hour. It was closing in on 2:30pm. Marti had been given a shot and a lecture. And finally they walked out the door with a course of treatment and a script for antibiotics just in case the leg started to look ugly. As soon as they hopped back in the cab of his truck, he turned to her and asked something that had been plaguing him for hours.
“Do you have dinner plans?” It was a lot more difficult to spit that out than he had imagined. And he waited quietly for an answer. He had taken sales training classes for his insurance position back in Charlotte. Though he may have forgotten the bulk of the teachings and tactics, one lesson had stuck through the years. At the moment he was repeating it over and over again in his head. The concept was simple really. He who speaks first loses. And because he had everything to gain and nothing to lose, he waited for her response.
Finally, she answered. “I have no plans, but I’m guessing you had already figured that out.” Her jaw was tightening almost as though she was trying to hold back words. She shrugged. “Thank you for taking me to the doctor. I feel ridiculous, but the shot was necessary and apparently…so were the stitches.” She slowly seemed to be snapping out of it even if only by degrees. “I may be horribly disfigured now, but I doubt that anyone will notice.” With that she chuckled and leaned back in the seat.
He could see her struggling not to nod off. “You can take a power nap, if you want.” He realized that she was genuinely considering it. That’s why at the next light, he unhooked his seatbelt for a moment to reach over her and lean her seat back. Ever so slightly, she stirred. “You can rest,” Joe said quietly.
When it was clear that she was truly falling asleep, he punched an address into the GPS. It appeared he had a good two and a half hours of driving time before he reached his destination. This would be good for her, the nap and spending some time at the ocean. It always did wonders for his soul. In two and a half hours they would know if it had the same effect on her.
The sun was significantly lower in the sky when she woke up. That was the first thing Marti noticed. The second…was that there were palm trees when she looked out the window. Where were there palm trees in New Hope? It was a small town. She was certain she had seen pretty much all of it. And now it was obvious, as she gave Joe a sideways glance that they were most definitely not in New Hope any more.
“Are you selling me to a donkey show?” She asked wearily.
He chuckled. “No.”
She was visibly relieved, not because she was truly worried about a donkey show, but because she figured if his intentions were less than above board, he would already be acting nervous. Instead, this was more…guilty than nervous. This time, she would try the direct approach. “So, where are