Grayslake: Furrever Yours(2)

After everyone had climbed out and was standing by the side of the road, he had walked up to the ambulance and his eyes had met Heather’s.

She’d never forget that weird moment. He’d given her the strangest look. And Heather could have sworn that he’d sniffed at the air when he thought she wasn’t looking – and then looked disappointed, which was baffling. She bathed. She used deodorant. She brushed her teeth. What the hell? She’d even asked the other E.M.T.s she’d been working with that day, and they’d sworn up and down that she smelled like a bed of roses.

Her reaction had been the opposite. The second she’d laid eyes on him, she’d thought – yummy. Broad shoulders, dark hair, eyes the color of whisky. He was the handsomest man she’d ever seen. He made her heart pound in her chest and her nether regions tingle in a way she’d never felt before. She’d walked up and introduced herself to him, which had been a bold move for her, but he’d just nodded politely and asked if they needed any more help.

She’d felt a sharp twist of disappointment when he’d left the scene without saying goodbye or making any effort to talk to her. But hey, she was used to it. When it came to social situations, especially involving guys, men’s eyes bounced right over her and lighted on the prettier, bubblier, more confident girls.

A couple of months later, when she’d moved to Grayslake to go to nursing school on a scholarship, she’d been surprised to find that he lived and worked in the next county over, and he frequently stopped by the hospital. But it didn’t help – he always acted weird and distant when he was around her.

“So are you going to go talk to him?” Amelia nudged her.

“You mean am I going to go get the brush-off from him again? I wish I could, but I have urgent business anywhere else in the universe,” Heather said, and power-walked off with one regretful glance back at Knox.

So, so hot.

So, so uninterested.

She hurried to the bathroom, even though she didn’t need to go. Why was the sheriff here? she wondered. He’d walked in alone, not bringing in a prisoner or accident victim who needed treatment.

When she came back out a few minutes later, he was gone.

Amelia handed her a cup of coffee and a pastry. “Courtesy of Sheriff Carlson.”

Heather glanced around; several other nurses, including Amelia, were drinking coffee from the Koffee Klatsch as well. They were also digging enthusiastically into a box of pastries. The Koffee Klatsch was like their second home. It was a twenty-four-hour coffee and donut shop located half a block from the hospital.

“Yeah, yeah, he brought coffee and pastry for everyone, but he specifically said to make sure that you got some. And then he said, and I quote, ‘She doing okay?’” Amelia paused for dramatic effect and looked at Heather. “He didn’t ask that about anyone else.”

“Amelia, I appreciate it, but let’s be real here,” Heather sighed, shaking her head. She took a big swig of coffee. Perfect. On the side of the cup it said “milk, 4 sugars”. How had Knox known how she took her coffee? “Either he’s married or dating, or he’s just not interested. I have tried to talk to him a few times, you know. He always acts like I have the bubonic plague and runs for the door.”

Amelia bit into her cherry Danish. “He’s not married; I Googled it.”

“You what?” Heather said, horrified.

Amelia set her pastry down and stared at Heather. “You mean you didn’t?”

“Good heavens, no. It never occurred to me.” She drained the rest of her coffee and tossed the empty cup in the trash. “Okay, if it had occurred to me, I would have Googled it,” she admitted.

“And I asked around with people who live in Sugar Creek. He’s not dating anyone, and he refuses to let anyone fix him up. He lives on a big property with his whole family, and I hear they’re really starting to pressure him to settle down, but he won’t.”

“Maybe he’s gay?”

Amelia shook her head reprovingly. “Heather. He likes you. Just ask him out and see what happens.”

“I can’t do that!” Heather said, scandalized. “If he said no, I’d have to change my name and enter the Federal Witness Protection Program to escape from my shame. Why was he even here tonight, anyway?”

“You know, he never said. He just came by and dropped the coffee and pastry off, walked to the back of the E.R., used the men’s room, came out again.”

“He left his own county to come by here? I’ve never seen him come here unless it was job-related,” Heather said. He would come by if he was transporting a prisoner who needed medical assistance, or investigating a drunk driver who’d been in his county, or interviewing a crime victim. But he didn’t leave Sugar Creek, especially while on duty, to swing by the hospital for social visits.