Christmas Nights(9)

When Stella stepped back, her eyes were bright. “I know she’ll be lots of work and she’s kinda nuts, but I’ve never had a dog and I love her,” Stella said, so earnestly, Janie’s heart squeezed a little tighter.

She leaned forward and dropped a kiss on Stella’s cheek. “No thanks needed. She’s wild, but she’s a sweetie.”

Janie watched as Stella whirled away and ran through the snow to chase Pansy. A while later, Janie finished filling the dishwasher and closed it. It was Saturday morning, which was her typical morning for house chores. Stella usually helped, but Janie let her off the hook today to take Pansy over to the local dog park with a friend. As she wiped down the counter and stove, Travis meandered into her thoughts. He mostly waited in the shadows all the time now. She felt idiotic about the whole situation. It was one dinner. Nothing more. She didn’t even know if he planned to call her ever again. She supposed that would have been fine, but that damn kiss made her want all kinds of things.

Despite the reinforced walls she’d built up around herself, she couldn’t help the thrumming curiosity about Travis and, no matter how much she fought against it, she wanted to see him again. She wanted a chance to see if that kiss could go somewhere more. She flushed just thinking about it. With a sigh, she moved on from the kitchen to the bathroom. With her nervous energy and mental restlessness, she was cleaning like mad. At this rate, her house would be cleaner than it had been in years.

Early that afternoon, there was a loud knock at the front door. Janie stood up from the couch in the living room where she’d been idly flipping through channels and went to answer the door. Travis was standing on the other side. Her pulse lunged and her stomach tightened, but not out of desire. She didn’t know how she knew, but something was wrong.

“What?”

“Stella was in a sledding accident. She…”

“Oh my God!” Janie exclaimed, cutting into what he was saying, panic flashing through her. “Is she okay? Where is she?” Janie whirled away from the door and stuffed her feet into her boots.

She started to push past Travis in the doorway when he curled his hand around her arm. “Slow down. Stella’s on her way to the hospital right now. I was the last one on the scene, so when I realized it was her, I came straight here to get you. I’ve also got her dog in my truck. Get your coat and I’ll drive you to the hospital.”

With her gut clenching and fear knotting in her chest, she could hardly think. Travis’s calm manner steadied her. She glanced up at him. “How do you know she’s okay?”

“Because I saw her. Looks like she broke her ankle, but she should be okay. Get your coat, and I’ll take you to the hospital,” he said, repeating his earlier directions.

Janie’s throat was tight with worry, but she was already shivering in the icy cold. His hand on her arm was a spot of warmth. She turned and stepped back through the door. He followed her through and waited while she tugged her down jacket on and snagged her purse. Moments later, she climbed into his truck. Pansy greeted her by climbing into her lap and licking her face. “Pansy! Hi sweetie,” Janie said between dog kisses. “Hang on, you need to get in the back,” she said once Travis joined them in the truck. With a little push, Pansy wiggled her way into the backseat of the truck, her tail whacking them in the face on the way.

“Do you mind having her in here? We could leave her in the house.”

Travis had started to put his truck in gear. “I don’t mind having her in here, but once we’re at the hospital, it might be better if she’s home.”

Janie nodded quickly and glanced over her shoulder to Pansy. “Come on, Pansy. Let’s go!”

Pansy bounded behind her through the snow. Janie and Stella had already done their best to dog proof the house. Pansy promptly curled up on her dog bed in the living room. Once Janie was back in the truck beside Travis, he quickly backed out of the driveway and headed toward the hospital.

“Do you know what happened?” she asked.

“Got a call some kids were sledding at the park and two of the sleds collided. Three kids were injured. I was out on another call for a moose that was hanging out a little too close to a home and charged at the neighbors. When I got to the park, Stella’s ankle was stabilized, but it definitely sounds like she broke it. I didn’t wait around because I wanted to get you as soon as I could.”

Janie’s worry didn’t let up. She figured it wouldn’t until she knew for certain Stella was okay. She took a slow breath and looked out the window, watching the white landscape roll by. The hospital was only a few minutes from her house. Travis rolled into the circular entrance and glanced over at her. “Go on in. I’ll park and meet you inside in a few.”

Janie unbuckled her seatbelt and jumped out, running quickly inside to the nurse’s desk at the ER. “Hey, is…”

“Stella’s already on her way into the examining room,” a voice said.

Janie swung her eyes away from the woman at the computer to find Helena Clark stepping through a doorway behind the circular desk. Helena was a nurse at the hospital and an old friend of her mother’s. “Can I go with her?” Janie asked, relieved to find Helena on duty today.

Helena’s bright blue eyes crinkled at the corners with her smile as she nodded. “Of course you can.” Helena set a clipboard on the desk and rounded its corner to hook her hand in Janie’s elbow. “Come on. I just saw her. She’s in some pain. We need to determine how bad the break is and set it.”

Within seconds, Helena was leading her into the examining room. Stella was stretched out on the table, her face pale and her dark eyes worried. She rolled her head to the side. “Mom!”

Janie reached the table and leaned over to brush Stella’s tangled hair away from her face. “Hey sweetie, how do you feel?”

Stella tried to roll her eyes, but she grimaced instead, her eyes filling with tears. “My ankle hurts. Really bad.”

Janie leaned her hip against the table and curled her hand into Stella’s where it was resting at her side. “I’m sorry. Helena says you’re gonna be okay. Right?” Janie asked, glancing to Helena who’d stepped to the other side of the table.

Helena nodded. “You’ll be fine. We’ll get it set and you’ll feel better soon.”

Stella bit her lip and sighed. “I can’t believe this. It’s gonna mess up my recital practice and…”

Janie’s anxiety eased now that she’d finally laid eyes on Stella and let up even more to hear Stella already starting to worry about something other than her ankle. She gave Stella’s hand a squeeze. “A broken ankle won’t interfere with your recital, so stop worrying about it.”

Helena’s pager buzzed. “I’ll be back, ladies. Hold tight and the x-ray tech will be here in a few.”

A while later, Janie found Travis sitting in the waiting room. Helena had shooed her out of the room when it came time to set the break. The x-ray had shown a clean break in Stella’s fibula in her lower calf, along with a fracture of her patella at the knee. Travis glanced up when Janie walked in. “How is she?” he asked.

Janie plopped down in the chair beside him with a sigh. “Like you said. She’s fine. I mean, she broke her ankle and fractured her knee, but she’ll be fine. She’s already worried about missing recital practice, so I take that as a good sign.”

Travis chuckled and arched a brow. “I suppose so. I checked in with Helena, and she said they should have her ready to discharge in another hour. Do you want me to wait and bring you both home, or would you rather me take you back to your car?”

Janie met his eyes, unable to stop the thump of her heart at his concern. “Um, if you need to be somewhere…”

He shook his head quickly. “Not at all. Just asking because I didn’t know what you wanted. Happy to wait and bring you both home.”

She swallowed and nodded, confused by her body’s almost instantaneous reaction to Travis. She’d been so focused on making sure Stella was okay earlier, she’d barely noticed him. Now that she knew Stella was going to be fine, her body swung its attention like a beam on him. His light brown hair was mussed. He was so undeniably masculine. Even sitting here in the waiting room at the hospital, a decidedly un-sexy environment, he oozed pure maleness. His chiseled features stood out in the stark fluorescent lighting. He was lounging in the chair, his muscled thighs evident under his worn denim jeans.

Her pulse skittered off and heat slid through her veins. She had to force herself to think. For crying out loud, you’re waiting for Stella at the hospital and you’re sitting here getting all hot and bothered. Get a grip and now. She gulped in air and fiddled with the zipper on her jacket before glanced back to Travis. “If you don’t mind, a ride would be nice.”

“Of course,” he replied calmly.

She could only think he wasn’t as rattled by her presence as she was by his because he managed to seem normal, while her body was going haywire all on its own.





Chapter 7





Travis stood on one side of Stella, his hand carefully holding her by the arm. Janie stood on Stella’s other side. “Stella, don’t rush this. You’ll need practice on your crutches, and it’s probably not the best idea to try when it’s icy on the path,” Janie said, gesturing with her free hand to the icy walkway leading to the front porch of their home.