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“Have you decided what you want to build?”
The girls looked at each other then spoke in tandem. “Mermaid twins.”
Cassie snapped her fingers. “I like that idea.”
“Jenny and her brothers are building a big castle, and a village around it,” Amanda said.
Marrianna added, “We want to do something different. Mom says we should practice some to make them perfect.”
Cassie nodded. “Makes sense. Sounds like we’ll be getting up early.”
“Will you bring donuts like last year?”
“Of course. Juice boxes and carrots, too.”
Marrianna wrinkled her nose. “Don’t need carrots.”
Amanda held up a hand. “Maybe sardines and crackers?”
Cassie laughed. These kids were true beach bums. Just like their Mom. Cassie and Ellen always brought sardines and crackers with their snacks and drinks on long beach days. A tin of sardines wouldn’t go bad in the heat, like a sandwich would, and offered great protein and needed salt after a good workout in the surf. Since they didn’t mind drinking warm water and brought cherries or apples, nuts and cookies or nature bars, their choices eliminated the need for a cooler. That the twins wanted sardines for a meal always had Ellen and Cassie grinning at each other for passing along a tradition.
Ellen set the lattes on the table. “Spoke with John earlier. I heard his new nurse arrived by ambulance with you in tow. Is that the hot topic we’re about to discuss?”
“What makes you think it’s hot?”
“You have a twinkle in your eye.”
“Mom, can we have an ice pop?” Amanda spoke for her sister as well, both showing anticipation in their sweet faces.
“Sure, honey. Help yourselves. Sit at the table to eat them.”
The girls peeled the wrappers off the pops. “Can we go on the swings?”
Ellen pointed to the pink baseball caps hanging on pegs next to the door. “Of course. Put on your hats to protect those gorgeous noses from the sun.”
Through the glass door, Cassie watched the girls run to the swings, hats on, pops in hand, their opened hoodies flying behind them. She shook her head. “Oh, to be so carefree.”
“What? You carrying the world on your shoulders?”
Cassie blew on her latte, then sipped. “Mmm. Yum.”
Ellen watched Cassie from over her cup. “Something bothering you?”
“No.”
“You thinking about this morning?”
Cassie put her mug down. “Yes, but it’s not what you think.”
“What am I thinking?”
“You’re thinking a new guy is in town so he becomes a prospect for me.”
“Do you like him?”
Cassie met her friend’s gaze. “I feel a bit guilty because he crashed his truck because of me.”
“Really?” From the look on her face Doc had told Ellen more than she was saying.
“I think Doc is concerned I’ll fool around with this one and he’ll quit like the intern from last year.”
Ellen grinned. “I heard there was something about deer involved in your meeting.”
“He’s a good-looking man. We were smiling at each other without knowing who each person was. He didn’t see the deer until too late.”
“I’m getting the picture here.”
Cassie held up both hands. “No. You’re not, Ellen. If you witnessed an accident where the patient was rendered unconscious you would have stayed involved, too.”
Ellen nodded. “You’re right.”
“I ended up spending most of the day with him because one thing led to another. I’d just left him at the Oceanside when you pulled up behind me. He’s a bit aggressive, and I don’t like that. We’ll probably get along fine working together, but I have no intention of dating him.”
“John says he seems like a nice enough guy to match his qualifications.”
Nice enough? He was charming as hell and so damned gorgeous he made her salivate. But none of that mattered because she was not getting involved. Cassie shrugged. “Saw his résumé. Now I’ve met him. He’s pleasant. Easygoing. Let’s see how he does under pressure. Paper qualified means nothing if you can’t perform under fire. Who knows why he left his first job? Only time will tell.”
* * *
PETER COULDN’T BELIEVE he’d slept away the rest of the day on Tuesday, and most of yesterday. When he woke up late yesterday afternoon, he’d felt more than rested. And the first person to cross his mind was Cassie Michaels. Wouldn’t it have been nice to wake up one more time with her watching him?
Sheesh. He needed to get a grip. It had been way too long since he dated. Now he was full of energy, ready to roll and upset for wasting a day. He’d spent most of today walking around town, or grabbing taxis to check out apartments for rent. He hadn’t realized when he scoped out rentals during the winter that even though it was spring, the summer season prices had kicked in. Finding decent housing at a reasonable price was proving impossible. He mentally kicked himself for not securing a place before arriving. Today, he had way too much on his plate to be thinking about a beautiful woman.
The taxi dropped him off at the repair station. He’d slept through Mike’s call yesterday. Mike was sitting at the service counter, wolfing down a sub, when Peter walked in.
“Hey, Mike. Thought I’d stop in since I missed your call.”
Mike wiped his mouth with a paper napkin. “Hi, Pete. Got good news and bad news.”
The men shook hands. “Okay. Bad news first.”
“The radiator needs to be replaced. Waiting for the parts and repair will take you late into next week. I’m sorry, man.”
Peter held up a hand. “No worries. Expected as much. So what’s the good news?”
Mike slid a sheet toward him. “Insurance will pay for all of it, minus the deductible.”
“That is good news.” He pulled out his wallet. “Let me pay that now, so you can order the parts and we can get moving on this.”
Mike grinned. “Already ordered the parts. You might be new here, but you’re part of Doc’s team. Makes you family, hands down.”
Peter appreciated being accepted without having to prove himself. “I knew from the minute I drove into town that I would like this place.”
“Hey, nurses are like heroes, man.” Mike shuddered. “I can’t take looking at blood, let alone fixing someone up. That’s the good thing about cars. They don’t bleed.”
Peter laughed. “Well, you’ll have to let me buy you a beer sometime.”
“Sure! I know this hole in the wall where the beer is ice-cold and they serve lobster rolls the size of your hand.”
“Deal. I’ll check in with you in a day or two to see how things are going.”
He left Mike’s feeling like one problem would soon be solved. He’d have to take up Cassie on her offer of rides to work. Not that he’d have a problem with that arrangement. Now, he just had to find a place to live.
Working his way toward the hospital, Peter ducked into a pizza place to grab a slice. A few mothers and their kids sat around an outside table eating a large pie that was three quarters finished. The boys were fooling around shooting spitballs through straws at the girls across the table. Instead of complaining, the girls shrieked with laughter, ducking and shooting back with their own straws. No one, including the mothers deep in conversation, noticed the youngest girl busy chewing her pizza.
As Peter watched, he saw the girl try to swallow, then struggle. Her gag reflex kicked in. Peter rose to attention, ready to help, but didn’t want to interfere if the mothers were going to give her aid. The girl’s face reddened. Panic lit her eyes. Clearly, if she couldn’t speak she was choking and no one was noticing.
The server slid Peter’s slice on the counter. Without looking, Peter said, “Just a second...”
The mothers noticed him approaching then realized his focus was on the girl, who was silently gagging. The mother across the table said, “Oh, God! Jenny!”
Peter pulled the girl into his lap, opened her mouth, holding her jaw open, and reached thumb and forefinger to grab the wad of cheese he saw caught in her throat. As he pulled, the cheese came out first in a clump, then stretched like a long string. Peter reached in again, grasping as much of the cheese as he could. The girl continued to gag, stiffening with fear.
“Easy, honey. We’ll get this out. Shhh. Just relax...” He didn’t want the cheese string to break, leaving pieces lodged in the kid’s airway.
The girl seemed to realize Peter was her only hope. Tears running down her face, she stopped struggling. For five years old or so, she seemed pretty smart, and Peter was grateful as hell. He didn’t want to have to call an ambulance and administer the Heimlich while waiting. This kid was small. He might crack a rib. One last gentle pull and the final wad of cheese came out.
“Got it!” He said, triumphant, and tossed the cheese onto the girl’s plate. The girl started to cough from the gag reflex.
“Jenny!” The mother grabbed the girl from Peter’s lap. “Oh, honey. Are you okay?”
The table had fallen silent, the girl’s siblings watching with dropped jaws before breaking into bedlam.
“Did you see that? Jenny almost died!”
“Who are you, mister?”
“How’d you know she was choking?”
“Did you get it all? Is she okay?”
“Oh, man. That was disgusting!”
Jenny’s mother stared at Peter in disbelief. “I can’t believe you got her to stay so still. She usually panics and screams when she’s afraid.”
Peter stood. “Well, her survival instincts must be pretty good.” He frowned when he realized what the woman said. “Let me point out that she couldn’t have screamed. I saw her try, which is how I knew she was in trouble. That’s the problem when someone is choking. They can’t talk, so if you’re not aware, they can choke to death without making a sound.”
The woman went pale. “Oh, Lord. I had no idea.” She grabbed his hand. “Thank you so much. I don’t know what I would have done if you weren’t here. You knew just what to do.”
“I’m a nurse. But this is really important, ma’am. If you wouldn’t have known what to do, can I suggest you take a CPR course? You never know when something like this can happen. I’m sure Mercy Hospital or the kids’ pediatrician can point you in the right direction.”
The mothers nodded in agreement. “That’s a great idea. We’ll do that.”
One of the other girls pointed to Peter’s forehead. “What happened to your eye?”
He’d forgotten about his wound. He must look awful. “Car accident. It looks worse than it feels.”
The girl grimaced. “It looks bad.”
He smiled. Kids were so damned honest. “It’ll get better soon.” He gestured to the counter. “I’m going to grab my lunch. Have a good day.”
The woman reached for her purse. “Please, let me at least buy your pizza.”
He waved away the woman’s offer. “I already paid. Please, no thanks.”
He patted the girl’s shoulder, noting she still sat with her head against her mother’s chest. She’d had a brush with a little terror and would probably be staying away from pizza for a while. He stooped down to the girl’s level. “You’re fine now, honey. I know that was scary. Just chew your food really well next time. Okay?”
Jenny nodded, complete trust in her eyes. Her expression pulled at Peter’s heart. Yeah. He loved being a nurse, especially for kids. Someone had to help them feel safe.
Back on the sidewalk again, his direction led to Mercy Hospital. Four days until his first day at work, but he was curious to see how the E.R. operated. Doc had told him there was a staff of fifteen in emergency, including five nurses. He made six. He’d like to get familiar with the flow of the department before starting his first day. He didn’t want to admit a small part of him hoped to run into Cassie.
The glass doors swished apart as he walked into the hospital. The waiting room was a decent size, painted a soft hue of yellow with lots of natural light through the windows. Large potted plants framed the windows, giving the effect of the outdoors inside. He’d exited through the staff entrance on Tuesday with Cassie so he’d missed the reception area. The modern comfortable seating, a widescreen television, a play area to distract kids and a sign offering free Wi-Fi and laptop borrowing made the place seem more like a family room than a hospital waiting room. Nice.
He approached the reception desk, where a woman sat behind an open window. “I’m Peter Chapman. New nurse. I start next week. I was hoping I could come in and look around a bit.”
She returned his smile. “I remember you. Your eye looks better.” She held out a hand. “I’m Carmen.”
“A pleasure. So, is Dr. Bailey around?”
She hit the buzzer on a door. “Come in. He’s here somewhere.”
The charge nurse with the shiny black hair caught back in a bun and a fun smile was the first person he saw.
She waved from the nurse’s station. “How’s the eye?”
“Looks worse than it feels. You’re Rachel, right?”
“Yes, indeed. What brings you here?”
“My truck is in for repair.” He gestured to his feet. “Since I’m limited in range, I thought I’d see if I can get some orientation around the E.R. before I start work. Maybe fill out my papers and get all the red tape out of the way.”
As he spoke, Cassie emerged from a nearby examination room. His heart almost stopped in his chest. So much for thinking his initial reaction to her had been a fluke.
Her long locks were pulled back in an elastic band, her eyes bright and smiling. She wore a white long-sleeved crewneck shirt beneath a pair of charcoal V-neck scrubs. Gray sneakers with pink laces adorned her feet. A stethoscope around her neck, a chart in her hand, she looked at home and thriving in her profession. Everything about her screamed she was his version of the ideal woman. An angel and a caregiver wrapped in one. Amazing.
He blew out a breath just to make sure he was still breathing. He didn’t know if he liked her better in scrubs or biking clothes. He’d like the chance to see a few more choices to round out his decision.
A look of surprise crossed her face when she saw him.
