Taylor hadn’t done much more than cry.
Tears for lost dreams and tears of happiness that she’d escaped Neil’s controlling, abusive hands.
“Amy has a picture of the two of you on her fireplace mantel,” the medical staffer continued. “I recognized you immediately.”
Taylor knew the photo he spoke of. She had the same one displayed at the tiny apartment she’d leased following moving out of Neil’s sprawling showplace. The photo was a close-up following her and Amy’s nurse pinning ceremony. Their smiles had been huge, as had their dreams for the future.
Her university roommate had tried for years to get Taylor to work the infamous annual festival that took place in her hometown. Taylor finally had and now Amy wasn’t even in town.
Agreeing to work the music festival had been more about spending time with her friend than the generous sum she’d be paid for her three twelve-hour shifts. But the extra pay wasn’t a bad thing.
Still, if her job interview that morning had gone as well as she thought, they’d soon have lots of catch-up time.
If all went according to plan, she’d be living with her former roomie yet again. Amy had tried to get Taylor to relocate last summer, but Taylor had needed to put her life back together on her own. She’d needed to stand on her own two feet. It would have been too easy to let Amy take over and just have gone through the motions.
Which was what Taylor had done her whole life.
Gone with the flow. Done what had been expected. First with her parents and then with Neil. She’d never stepped outside the boundaries they’d set. Not until she’d left Neil and filed for divorce.
She was a work in progress but was happy with the woman emerging from the wreck she’d been. She was still peeling back the layers of years of toeing the line, but most mornings she liked the person staring back at her in the mirror.
“Amy was excited you’re working the festival.”
Taylor’s attention zoned back in on the man who was studying her. The man who’d been inside her friend’s apartment.
Was Amy dating him? She hadn’t said so, but her friend had been enthusiastic when talking about him. She’d gotten the impression Amy had been hinting at a possible romance between Taylor and the doctor during the music festival, hints Taylor had ignored because she’d not been interested in a man since long before her divorce. She had no plans for a relationship and, even if she had, she’d just as soon have her fingernails ripped out as to get involved with another doctor.
He held out his hand. “Jackson Morgan.”
He’d introduced himself without using his medical title, something her ex would never have done. Kudos for that.
“Nice to meet you, Jackson.” Taylor returned his smile, shook his hand, and marveled at the tingles of awareness that shot up her arm at the warmth of his hand.
Men sworn off or not, the guy was electric.
“My friends call me Jack,” he commented as she pulled her hand free from his.
“Jack.” Taylor let the name roll off her tongue. “You’re the hotshot traveling emergency medicine doctor Amy works with at Rockin’ Tyme each year.”
“My reputation has preceded me yet again.” His eyes danced with mischief.
Taylor tried to recall what her friend had said but couldn’t pull up much. She’d thought Amy matchmaking when she’d gone on and on about the doctor they’d be working with at the festival. Taylor had been excited about seeing her best friend, not about meeting a man. What had Amy said?
“Good looking, funny—can’t wait for you to meet him. Think you’ll really like him. He’s the best.”
“Nothing bad,” she admitted, smiling at Jack. If he and Amy were an item, then good for her friend and even better for this guy. Any man would be lucky to call Amy his own. If he was good to her friend then, doctor or not, Taylor would hug him for a totally different reason than the one that had hit her upon first seeing him.
“Good to know she’s not talking smack about me.” He glanced around the medical tent, his gaze skimming over the cots along a far side where a group of workers was chatting. “I’ll miss her being here. Hated to hear about her grandmother.”
“That makes two of us. She convinced me to sign on and now she’s not here.” Following his gaze out the open flaps of the tent, she took a deep breath. “I can’t help but wonder what she’s gotten me into.”
“No worries. She made me promise to take good care of you.”
Taylor’s gaze cut to his. “Oh?”
He grinned, and his eyes crinkled. Wow, such a great smile. “At least a dozen times—and that was just this morning.”
Taylor smiled. Her friend always had looked out for her.
If only Taylor had listened better.
Jack working as a traveling doctor must create relationship problems. “Do you get to see her often?”
“I see Amy several times a week,” he answered, looking a little surprised at her question. “I liked Warrenville so much I temporarily relocated here a couple of months ago to fill in for a doctor on an extended medical leave.”
“Oh.” Had her perky friend influenced that decision? Good for Amy. Taylor was happy for her but why hadn’t Amy told her? Maybe her friend had been afraid of jinxing whatever was happening. Still, that Amy hadn’t mentioned their relationship made Taylor sad as once upon a time they’d shared everything.
Then again, hadn’t she put on a face for her friend for years? Not wanting Amy to know the truth behind her miserable marriage?
“Have you met the rest of the crew?” Jack asked, drawing her focus back.
Taylor shook her head. “Do you already know each other?”
“Mostly,” he admitted. “There are always a few new people, but most of us come back each year. It’s a tradition. A lot of the staff are locals, but some do travel. It’s a good bunch who work the medical tent. You’ll enjoy hanging with us.”
Either way, it was just for a few days so she’d survive. She’d survived worse. Besides, wasn’t she all about new life experiences and stepping outside the box she’d lived in for so long?
“How did you get involved with the festival?” she asked, glancing out the front of the medical tent to the “oasis” that was located about a hundred yards away. Fake palm trees planted in a huge sand pit with splash pools for play and cooling down during the hot July heat.
This was definitely a new life experience.
“Music festivals are in my blood. My grandparents were hippies and actually met at Woodstock.” Grinning, he made a peace sign with his fingers. “I’ve been going to festivals since before I could walk. My parents thought I’d grow up to be a musician—or a gypsy,” he added, chuckling. “But medicine called me. Since I left med school, I’ve worked numerous festivals
