“Hi, Dad.”
Retired Captain Campbell looked up and drew her into a bear hug. “Hi, sweetheart. How are you?” Though not as fit as he had once been, he was still strong and warm, and he made her feel secure in his arms.
“Doing great.”
“Isn't this wonderful?”
“It's amazing.” Catherine kneeled beside the shiny new chair and rubbed her mother's hand. “Hi, Mama. Are you happy?”
Joy Campbell gave a gentle smile.
“You look good in it. Can you believe this? We'll have to get you all dolled up and take you out. I bet you'd like that, huh?”
Her mom's eyes glowed.
“Plus, I've got a surprise of my own for you, and we'll need you looking your best so you can make a good impression.”
Eyebrows pushed together in curiosity.
“Don't worry, Mama. I guarantee you're gonna love it.”
Her mom scrawled a quick note on her portable chalkboard: A CAT?
Catherine shook her head.
NEW BATHROBE?
“Not quite. Here, I'll give you a clue.” She turned the board around and held it up, hidden while she created a fill-in-the-blank message.“There. Figure out the puzzle, and that'll give you an idea.”
“What've you got up your sleeve?” Mr. Campbell said.
“I'm gonna need your help, Dad. But the hardest part'll be up to Mama.”
Her mother was already pondering the board on her lap. It read: R_ _DY TO GO F_R A SP_N?
DR. GAVIN KELLER stood at the counter, marking a check sheet after doing his rounds. “Tasha, do you think you could file this for me?”
“Sure, Doctor. Just leave it on the desk.”
“If you can wait a few seconds, I'm just about done.”
“Sorry, gotta run. I'm already late for the nurses' staff meeting.” Tasha was petite, but with permed hair combed back from her face, she had the look of a lioness as she hurried off in her dark blue smock.
Gavin kept his eyes down. He'd made a flirtatious remark to the young black nurse one timeâand that was the last time. Her eyes showed strength and a no-nonsense attitude that were sure to blow up in his face.
As for Catherine? She was more vulnerable.
She confused him, now that he'd met her husband, the local hero. What was wrong between themâtwo successful, attractive people? He'd have to tiptoe carefully. If things continued to fall apart, though, he'd be more than willing to pick up the pieces.
Still standing at the counter, he caught a whiff of her perfume. It sent a tingle through his limbs, but he didn't look up. He'd let her initiate the contact.
Sure enough, Catherine moved closer from his right and propped an elbow on the counter beside him.
She said, “Has anyone ever told you that you're wonderful?”
“Maybe.” He gave her a bashful grin. “But not today.”
“Gavin, you didn't have to do that.”
“Do what?”
“Giving money to help my parents.” She fiddled with a button of her blouse and locked soft brown eyes on his. “That was
so
thoughtful. Thank you.”
He felt a burst of satisfaction. He hadn't meant it as any grand gesture, but after Catherine's account of her parents'medical and financial woes, he'd felt compelled to act. She'd mentioned RMS Homecare, and so he'd gone in and discussed setting up a fund in the name of Catherine's mother. He'd drawn from his own savings to get things rolling in the right direction.
“You're welcome,” he said. “Catherine, you had a need that I could help with. It was the least I could do.”
“You didn't even tell me.”
“I wish there was more I could do, but it's a start.”
“A start? It's more than a
start
, Gavin.” She slipped her hand into his and squeezed. “Do you have lunch plans?”
“I do now.”
When she smiled in response, it worked like sunlight, warming him from head to toe.
CALEB TOOK A solitary stroll through the woods behind the house. He felt drawn to the rugged simplicity of that cross in the clearing, to the grace and strength and hope it represented.
He needed all three of those right now. He felt so weak.
Sure, he'd criticized others in the past for needing the crutch of religion, yet now he saw it differently. He wasn't turning to a set of rules and moral codes. It was more than that, much more. His dad had helped him understand the deeper possibilities of a restored relationship with God.
A crutch? Some might think so.
But Caleb now realized he was choosing to lean on the Lord.
“Jesus, I need You,” he whispered. “You did not give up on me, so I'm not giving up on Catherine. Would You save my wife, Lord? If You need to take me out of the way to do that, then do it. I know I can't do this on my own. I'm giving You everything.”
There was no audible reply, no booming voice from the pale Georgia sky. Caleb did, however, feel a slow spread of calm through his chest and new clarity in his thoughts.
The next morning that all changed.
He was emptying trash cans around the house as part of his commitment to Catherine, when he happened upon a love note addressed to his wife in another man's handwriting.
H
e'd been avoiding the master bedroom, so he felt almost awkward as he entered. Aside from a pair of Catherine's heels next to the closet door, the space was tidy. The bed was made, the comforter pulled up over the pillows against the mahogany headboard. It was a reminder of her rejection of him, of the good times once shared and now left to rot in their past.
“Petition for Dissolution of Marriage . . .”
Those words were daggers, stabbing at any hope of reconciliation, yet Caleb had already decided to see this thing through to the end. He stepped into the room. He would have to leave shortly for his own shift, and he was in here only for the purpose of collecting the garbage in a plastic sack, for tomorrow's curbside service.
He spotted bottled water on the dresser. He shook the container. It was room temperature and half-full. Into the bag it went.
Then the Hallmark envelope caught his eye.
He lifted it from its place against a vase and saw Catherine's name on it. Well, this was his bedroom, too, wasn't it? He paused no more than a second before deciding to see what was inside. The card was pastel and pretty. He opened it and read the words aloud, feeling them burn into his mind and set off an alarm that had been silent for far too long.
Dear Catherine,
I can't tell you how much I've enjoyed getting to know you. I find myself thinking about you often, and I look forward to seeing you every day. Let me get you lunch any day this week.
Love, Gavin.
“Gavin?”
Caleb couldn't pretend this was casual. This was his marriage on the line, and there was
nothing
casual about another man getting cozy with his wife.
He dumped the garbage sack, then paced the dining room with the phone pressed to his ear. “Um, yeah,” he said. “I need to know if there's a Gavin that works there at the hospital. Uh, no . . . No, I just have a first name.”
Twenty-five minutes later, in his captain's uniform and coat, he brushed through the doors at Phoebe Putney Memorial. He took the elevator up, asked directions from a male surgical nurse in the hall, then marched on.
Yes, indeed . . .
He had an ailment, and he was going to find just the man for the cure.
GAVIN SAT BEHIND the desk in his office, a white jacket over his shirt and tie. It was a small space, and during his short tenure here in Albany he'd done no more than hang his diplomas and a few animal prints on the walls. He'd come on short notice, and he was still unknown to half the staffâthough he liked to think that he'd already made a favorable impression on the ladies in the building.
His door was open this morning, yet he was still surprised to hear an unannounced visitor enter the room.
“Dr. Keller?”
The voice was steady, but bordered on anger.
Gavin lifted his gaze from his paperwork, annoyed by this intrusion. He made no move to rise or shake a hand. He recognized this intruder as the firefighter he'd treated with the first-degree burns.
Catherine's husband.
Gavin turned up a palm and said, in a tone that indicated he was busy and wished to be left alone, “Yes?”
“Caleb Holt. I need a word with you, please.”
“Look, it's really not a good time. I'm just about to make my rounds andâ”
“I think you need to make time. This is concerning Catherine.” Caleb hovered over the desk.“My
wife
.”
“All right. What can I do for you?”
Caleb pointed a finger, his voice low and icy. “I know what you're doing. And I have no intention of stepping aside as you try to steal my wife's heart. I've made some mistakes, but I still love her. So just know, I am going after her, too.” He arched an eyebrow. “And since I'm married to her, I'd say I've got a head start.”
Gavin squirmed beneath the cold glare.
“By the way . . .” Caleb lifted his left hand.
The doctor leaned back, wondering what would come next.
“Thanks for helping me with my hand. My ring finger's feeling a
whole
lot better.” Caleb curled his fingers into a solid fist, showing his wedding band. He stared hard and long, then turned back the way he had come.
Gavin's heart was in his throat. He remained frozen for a moment, and he noticed Deidra just outside his door, her mouth gaping.
Wonderful. Now the whole staff would hear about this.
As the short black nurse took off on stubby legs, armed with her juicy gossip, Gavin pulled out his top desk drawer. He sifted through Post-it Notes and paper clips.
There it was. His own wedding band.
Okay, so he hadn't exactly made his marital status public. He liked to keep his options open, and his wife was a saleswoman who spent a lot of time on the road. Surely she had her little dalliances, and he had his. No one got hurt.
Really, Doctor? Are you so sure about that?
He imagined the look that would cross Catherine's face if she were to see him sporting this ring. Not only would she erupt in tears or shouts, she would sever any connection they had made to this point. He was only fooling himself if he thought otherwise.
Still, he decided, it was best to keep his options open.
He shook his head and pushed the ring back down beneath the jumble of office supplies.
“Y'ALL, I JUST saw Caleb and Dr. Keller goin'
at
each other.”With breathless whispers, Deidra gathered the others at the nurses' stationâTasha, Ashley, and Robin. “He had his fist all up in Dr. Keller's face.”
“Uh-uhhh.”
“Are you serious?”
“Mmm, I ain't lyin'. He said if heâ”
“Shhh, shhh, shhh,” Robin said. “Here she comes.”
Catherine's heels announced her approach. She slid a hand onto the counter, parting their huddled heads. “What're you all talking about?”
Ashley made a quick exit.
“Hey, Cat,” Deidra said. “How ya doin', girl?”
“Fine. But it sure got quiet really fast.”
“Well, that's just because we decided to stop talkin'.”
Tasha and Robin exchanged a brief glance. Avoiding Catherine's probing glances, they left Deidra to cover the awkwardness. Which was just fine with Deidra. She was an old pro at this sort of thing.
“Wassup?” she said in a singsong voice.
Catherine looked at her watch. “Well, I'm setting up an interview in about ten minutes. I was wondering if you guys have seen Dr. Keller this morning.”
“Umm. I think he was doin' rounds. He may be on the eighth floor.”
“Okay.” Catherine patted the counter. “Guess I'll see you all later.”
Tugging at the stethoscope around her neck, Deidra watched Catherine prance off on those long, tapered legs till she was out of earshot. In a flash, Ashley reappeared from her busywork, and the others closed in to hear the lowdown.
“Why didn't you tell her?” Robin asked Deidra.
“'Cause it ain't none of our business.”
“You told all of
us
.”
“But,” Deidra said, waving her hand, “I don't want her to know that
her
business is
our
business, if it ain't none of our business.”
“Ohhh,” the ladies said in unison.
They scattered back to their individual tasks.
C
atherine was flying high with the recent blessings that had come her parents' way, and with the unexpected generosity of a certain single doctor. She found him in the hallway, coming toward her in his white jacket and fine clothes, and she admired once again his clean-cut appearance. She'd smelled enough smoke on men's clothing to give her a pair of blackened lungs.
No more of that, thank you.
Beaming, she said, “Hey, how are you?”
Gavin's eyes swept the hallway in both directions, his demeanor distracted and detached. “Uh, hey, Catherine.”
“How's the good doctor today?” She placed a finger on the edge of his clipboard.
“Uhh. Pretty busy, actually.”
“Are we still on for lunch?”
“Well . . .”
“You did make the offer in your card, remember?”
“You know, I feel like there's a few things I need to catch up on. I've gotten a little behind lately.”
“Okay.” She tried not to read too much into his cool response. “Well, um, maybe we could talk later.”
“That'd be good.”
“All right. I'll see you around.”
“See you.”
She watched him lower his head and continue down the hall. That made two strange interactions in a row, with different sets of coworkers. Somewhere, it seemed, she had been left out of the loop. Baffled, yet trying not to let it get her down, she headed for the cafeteria alone.