a weekend. Wish I could stay longer, but I’m flying out of Dallas tomorrow evening.”
“Now that you’re in a field office, are you enjoying your work?”
Belle hesitated for a moment, then said, “Sure.”
Cole cocked an eyebrow at her. He knew his little sister like a book. From the time she could toddle, she’d always come to him with her problems. And he’d been able to help her with most of them—everything from thumping Sam for burying her Barbie to wiping her tears over missing a word on a spelling test. “What’s wrong?”
She sighed. “Cole, have you wondered if you became a cop because law enforcement was a family tradition or if it was really what you wanted?”
“Nope. It’s always been what I wanted. I think that Kojac and Dirty Harry may have pushed me toward homicide, but I always wanted to be a cop. Are you having second thoughts, Ding?”
“Oh, I don’t know. Maybe sometimes. But I’ve worked so long and so hard to get where I am, I’m not ready to chuck it all yet.” She smiled, leaned over and kissed his cheek. “I’m so happy to see you doing well, Big Buzzer. The last time I saw you, I was worried. You looked pretty awful.”
“The last time you saw me, I was in ICU.”
“With about a hundred tubes coming out of you or going in. Pale is not your best color. I donated blood for you.”
“Is that why I’ve been growing boobs?”
Belle laughed and swatted his arm. “I wish you could come dance with me.”
“I do, too, darlin’. I do, too.”
KELLY HAD ALWAYS loved weddings and all the rituals involved, so she had a wonderful time, oohing when the newlyweds cut the cake and aahing when J.J. took Mary Beth onto the floor for their first dance. Kelly had done a fair amount of dancing herself—with every man in the Outlaw family, except Cole, and with several of her patients.
“Looks as if you found another eligible Outlaw,” her friend Carrie said when they met at the champagne fountain.
“Sam’s too young for me, so you must mean Cole,” Kelly said. “I don’t imagine a romance between us. He’s like a bird with a broken wing right now, but when he’s healed, he’ll fly away.”
“Maybe not. It would be nice having you as a sister-in-law. Free medical care and all that.”
Kelly laughed. “I think a good insurance policy would be a better bet. I don’t see Cole as the marrying kind—and certainly not to someone like me.”
“What do you mean ‘someone like’ you?”
“As my former fiancé put it—someone who smells like a hospital and can’t sit through an entire movie without an emergency. He said marrying me would be like committing bigamy, since I’m already married to my job.”
“What a turkey.”
“Luckily I realized that in time to cancel the wedding invitations. But I think he was right. Not many men can handle the demands of a doctor’s life—except maybe another doctor.”
“Or a cop,” Carrie said.
“I can’t believe we’re having this conversation,” Kelly said. “Trust me, there is absolutely no chance of a relationship between Cole and me. None. Zip. Nada.”
Carrie grinned. “But you will have to admit he’s a hunk.”
“Really? I hadn’t noticed.”
“Li-ar,” Carrie singsonged.
Kelly only smiled, and they parted company.
Oh, she’d noticed Cole Younger was a hunk. Every female hormone in her body was on red alert. She glanced toward him and found him watching her.
He winked.
Good Lord, could he read her mind?
She quickly turned back to the champagne fountain, grabbed a glass, and held it under a spigot. Her hand shook.
What was the matter with her? She chugalugged the wine and hurried to the ladies’ room.
WHEN SHE CAME OUT of the ladies’ room, Kelly saw that the party was still going strong, but Cole wasn’t. He looked tired. She slipped out to her car and got his wheelchair.
Once back at the table she tapped him on the shoulder. “How about I waltz you out of here, big guy?”
“Are you going to insist on leading?” Cole asked.
“Naturally. And get a move on. My coach is about to turn into a pumpkin.”
“Need any help?” Sam asked.
“Not a bit,” Cole replied, standing and slipping into the chair.
“You can bring the walker,” Kelly said.
“I’ll take it,” Belle said. “You go dance with Sally Easy again,” she told her youngest brother.
“Easly. Sally Easly.”
“Could have fooled me,” Belle said. “She’s been drooling all over you for an hour or more.”
“Get off his case, Ding,” Cole said. “Can the kid help it if he’s irresistible?”
Belle looked Sam up and down. “Irresistible? Him? I don’t get it.” She hooked the folded walker over her arm and led the way around the edge of the crowd.
Kelly helped Cole into her car, then she and Belle stowed the chair and walker in the back.
“Is he going to be okay, Dr. Kelly?” Belle asked quietly.
“Cole? He’s going to be fine. It’s just going to take some time and a lot of work.”
Before they left, Belle stuck her head in the window and gave Cole a peck on the cheek. “I want to spend some time with you before I leave, Big Buzzer.”
“Come by for breakfast in the morning,” he told her. “I’ll make the coffee. You bring the breakfast.”
“You’re on.”
As they drove away, Cole ripped off his tie, unbuttoned his shirt collar and leaned back against the headrest. “Thanks for rescuing me. I was ready to get out of there. I feel like I’ve been chewed up, spit out and stepped on.”
“I noticed you were looking a little tired. And my feet are killing me. I haven’t danced so much in years.”
“Are you bragging or complaining?”
“My feet are complaining. I don’t spend much time in high heels.”
“Me, either.”
Kelly chuckled. “I doubt if you could find
