He must have really done something wrong.”
Molly had no idea. She’d moved to town the next summer. About Chad and how she’d felt about J-man were the only secrets she’d ever kept from Kelsey. “Okay, okay. What do you want? That he’s the best-looking man I’ve seen. Dark hair, hazel eyes, shoulders from here to eternity and a butt to die for!”
Molly giggled. “That’s more like it but I detect a note of cynicism. Problem?”
“No. He just reminds me of someone I used to know.”
“Someone you didn’t like.”
She’d liked him too well. “I liked the person just fine but it was during a bad time in my life.”
“Hello, beautiful ladies. Mind if I join you.”
Kelsey looked up to see Adam standing there. He worked in X-ray and had gone to school with her and Molly.
“Sure,” Molly said. She nodded toward the other bench.
Jordon followed Mark to the only outside table available. He took a spot opposite him, gave the food on his tray a dubious look and made a mental note to remember to bring his lunch as often as he could.
A loud burst of laughter came from the table to their left. Jordon knew without looking that Kelsey Davis was there. He’d noticed her along with another blonde with long hair, and he wasn’t surprised to see a man sitting with them. Was every man drawn to her?
His mother had the same personality. People gravitated toward her, especially men. His father had proudly said more than once that “his Margaret was the life of any party.” Jordon had loved to hear her laugh. It had always made him smile. Until that night when the sound had woken him. Her tinkling lilt had drawn him to her until he’d realized she’d been talking suggestively on the phone to a man other than his father.
He glared in the direction of the other table.
“Kelsey and Molly seem to be having a good time. They must be up to something.”
“Up to something?” Jordon took a bite of his oven-baked chicken.
“Yeah, they’re always planning a party or some outing or something.”
Jordon grunted acknowledgement.
“You’ll like working with Kelsey. She’s a lot of fun.”
“What’s her story?”
Mark shrugged. “I don’t know. The usual, I guess. Grew up here, lives here and will die here.”
“You knew her before you started working here?”
“Yeah. We went to high school together. She has a bit of a reputation as a party girl. She enjoys having a good time but I never hear anyone saying anything but good things about her now.”
“Does her family still live around here?”
“I don’t know. Why?”
“She looks so familiar. I used to know some Davises, I just thought she might be kin to them.”
“Why don’t you ask her?”
“Maybe I will.” He glanced at Kelsey’s table again. But this woman couldn’t be the young girl he’d once known. She giggled at something that had been said then turned, meeting his gaze. Time ground to a halt as they stared at each other before he forced his attention back to his unimpressive meal.
Either way, she wasn’t someone he needed to get involved with.
That evening he was walking toward his car when he saw Kelsey getting into an aging small compact that didn’t fit the persona he’d seen so far. It was nothing flashy, as he would’ve expected. She pulled out of her spot and passed him with little more than a glance. How could he be so aware of her when she didn’t seem to even notice him?
MIDMORNING THE NEXT day Jordon’s cell phone rang while he was familiarizing himself with some paperwork. Tapping the icon, he said, “Dr. King here.”
“This is the E.R. clerk. You’re needed here.”
“On my way.”
Rushing down the stairs, he made one turn and headed along a short hallway. He grinned as he walked. The last hospital he’d been affiliated with had been so large it had taken him five minutes to go from his office to the E.R.
He stepped up to the circular desk and said to the person sitting there, “I’m Dr. King. You paged me.”
“You’re needed in exam room three.”
He look around.
The clerk pointed and said, “Down that way.”
“Thanks.”
Voices came from behind the closed curtain that hung across a metal rod. This was another reminder that he’d left a more modern facility behind. There the patient examination rooms would have had been enclosed. Golden Shores might not be up to date on their buildings but by all accounts the hospital provided excellent medical care and had a clean report as far as any medical malfeasance was concerned. He had no intention of letting what had happened in Washington occur again. He’d been embarrassed and publicly humiliated on too many levels for one lifetime. He’d make sure this time not to get involved with anyone or anything looking remotely illegal.
One of the voices coming from the other side of the curtain sounded familiar. Pulling the striped material back, he saw a woman who looked to be in her late seventies lying on the gurney. Kelsey sat next to the bed and held the older woman’s hand.
Was she destined to turn up everywhere he went?
He raised a brow in her direction and made an effort to concentrate on the patient. Before he could ask a question a nurse rushed in.
“Dr. King, here’s the chart.”
He looked at the front page and said, “So what seems to be the problem Mrs.?” He glanced at the chart again. “Ritch.”
“Young man, you may call me Martha.”
He raised a brow. “Okay, Martha, what brought you in today?”
“I was playing bridge, as I always do over at Edith Hutchinson’s house, and I just blacked out.”
“Did you fall out of the chair?” he asked, concerned the she might have a concussion.
“More like slipped, Myrtice said as I was being put into the ambulance. Which is going to cost me my entire war pension.”
Kelsey patted the woman’s arm. “Now, Martha, that isn’t the important thing. We’ll take care of it.”
Jordon cringed.
