one of those talented people who can knot the stem with your tongue?” he teased.
Kami had very few silly talents, but tying a cherry stem into a knot was in her repertoire. Rather than admit as much to Gabe, she shrugged again.
“I’ll never tell.”
“Because you prefer to show me?” he joked, not looking tired at all despite the fact he had to be exhausted.
It really had been a long night.
“Okay.” He gave a dramatic sigh. “I’m game. There’s a pancake house a few blocks from here where you can get whipped cream and cherries.”
She frowned. “You know this how?”
“A man has to know where he can get whipped cream and cherries twenty-four hours a day.”
Kami scrunched her nose. “Ew. Spare me the details because I don’t want to know.”
Looking intrigued, he chuckled. “Your mind went to the gutter, Kam. I’m surprised, but I think I like it.”
“Nothing to like about you grossing me out.”
His brow arched. “My liking whipped cream and cherries on top of my pancakes grosses you out?”
She ran her gaze over his broad chest, down his flat abs that his scrubs failed to disguise. “Yeah, I can tell you regularly chow down on pancakes with whipped cream and cherries.”
“You might be surprised.”
Not really. She’d seen him put away a lot of food during their shift breaks. The man could eat. Not that it showed. Whether because of good genetics or his time spent in the gym, Gabe truly was the picture of good health.
“Doubtful,” she tossed as she clocked out and grabbed her lunch bag. “Not much about you surprises me.”
His brow rose. “Oh? You know me that well?”
“As well as I want to.” She gave him a look that said she was well aware he had fallen into step beside her as she exited the emergency department. “Bye, Gabe.”
“You have to eat, Kam. Let me take you to breakfast before I hit the gym.”
Her brows knitted together. “You’re going to the gym this morning after working over and having to be back here this evening?”
His eyebrows lifted. “Why wouldn’t I?”
Kami stared at him as if he were the oddest anomaly. “Do you not need sleep?”
He grinned. “Not when I’m properly motivated.”
“You that excited at the prospect of running into Baxter again?” She glanced at her watch. “You should hurry or you may miss him. Wouldn’t want that to happen.”
Gabe burst out laughing. “Okay, I’ll take a hint and a rain check on the pancakes with whipped cream and cherries.”
* * *
That evening, Kami glanced at her cell phone and winced. Her mother. Should she answer? Guilt hit her that she considered not doing so. Her mother knew it was time for her to be at work. If she was calling, something must be wrong, right?
“Hi, Mom. I’m about to clock in at work, so I can’t talk but a second. What’s up?”
“I’m headed out of town,” her mother answered. Then a male voice spoke in the background and, muffling the phone, her mother said something back. Then she said into the phone, “Can you feed my cat while I’m gone?”
Why her mother had gotten the scruffy cat, Kami had no clue. Most days she couldn’t take care of herself, much less a pet. But at least she’d not left without making arrangements for the stray she’d taken in. Then again, her mother should have been an expert at taking in strays.
Fortunately, her mother didn’t make a habit of asking Kami to feed them. At least, not since Kami had moved out the moment she’d graduated from high school and escaped the constant chaos of Eugenia’s life.
“I’ll swing by in the morning and feed her.” Then she couldn’t hold back asking, “What’s his name?”
“Bubbles. You know that.”
“Not the cat. The guy.”
“Oh.” Her mother giggled and the person in the background said something else, which elicited another giggle. “Sammy. He’s a drummer in a band and so good.”
Her mother tended to be drawn to artistic types. Especially unemployed ones who needed a place to crash while they waited on their big break. Not that any of them ever stuck around long. They stayed. They used. They moved on. Another arrived to fill the vacancy. It was the story of Kami’s childhood and was still ongoing. Would her mother never learn?
“Okay, Mom,” she sighed, putting her lunch in the break-room refrigerator. “I’ll feed Bubbles. Any idea when you’ll be back?”
“A couple of days. I’ll text to let you know for sure. Don’t forget to love on Bubbles.”
“Right.” Because she wanted to stick around at her mother’s apartment longer than she absolutely had to. Not. “Well, I’m at work, so I need to go. Bye, Mom. I’ll feed Bubbles.”
She’d probably love on the scrappy cat, too. Goodness knew that if her mother had a new man in her life, the cat would be ignored until his departure.
Kami had a lot of empathy for Bubbles.
* * *
“I was disappointed I didn’t see Baxter this morning,” Gabe teased as Kami came over to where he sat reviewing chart notes. Gabe loved his job, loved being a doctor, and loved knowing that, if the need arose, he could do everything humanly possible to save someone’s life. Knowing he’d see Kami made the prospect of going to work all the sweeter. He never knew what was going to come out of that sassy mouth of hers.
“Maybe he’s already given up his exercise kick,” Kami mused, not looking as if she cared one way or the other.
Actually, she looked distracted and he wondered who she’d been on the phone with earlier. He’d been coming back into the department from the NICU, where Beverly and her husband had been sitting with their baby. He couldn’t imagine the stress they were going through as each day was a struggle for their tiny baby girl to live. He’d been thinking on the fund-raiser, hoping it raised enough money to cover the couple’s out-of-pocket medical expenses, not to mention all their day-to-day expenses that still had to be paid despite their being at the hospital instead of their jobs. Whomever Kami had been on the phone with, it hadn’t been a pleasant conversation.
“Doubtful.” Gabe leaned back in his chair and eyed the petite blonde nurse standing a few feet away. Were there problems with the fund-raiser? Or had the call been personal? “My guess is he was already there and gone by the time I got there. He’s determined to buff up for you.”
“Yeah, yeah.” She didn’t sound impressed. “Someone
