Summer Kisses (163 page)

Cole crossed the room and retrieved the business card Melinda Collins had given him from the top drawer of his desk. “I’ll give Kelsie’s mother a call as soon as I grab a shower.”

“That’s where I’m heading now. Then I’m going to raid the kitchen. A man’s got to keep up his strength with a woman like Nanci in his life.” Joe turned and set off down the hall toward the showers, whistling as he went.

Joe never whistled. Was it possible the revolving door of his friend’s love life had finally stopped spinning? Between the two of them and the crazy females they were trying to win over, this was going to be a very interesting picnic.

~~~

Kelsie walked her patient to the reception area desk and handed Heather who ran the front office her patient’s chart. “We’ll see Mrs. Pierce in six months. Is my next patient here?”

Heather shook her head.

Kelsie glanced toward the clock on the wall. A no-show. Just what she didn’t need today. She needed to keep busy. Needed to forget about Cole and her phone call with him the night before. She vaguely remembered breaking up with him. Or had she only dreamt that? And some of the things she’d said...

Turning, she walked back to her room to be alone with her troubled thoughts. She could only imagine what Cole must think of her now.

She crossed the room to prepare it for her next patient, wishing she hadn’t let her stubbornness push her into out-drinking Nanci for a change. The throbbing in her head was a constant reminder of her stupidity.

“So did you do it?”

Kelsie jumped, startled from her thoughts. She turned to find Nanci standing in the open doorway, holding her ‘I HATE MONDAYS’ Garfield coffee mug. “Maybe I should be asking you that question. You’re the one who’s nearly an hour late for work this morning.”

“Hey, I called Dr. Andy to let him know I was running late. Since his first patient cancelled, he said he’d cover for me with Mrs. Wilhelm.”

Kelsie gathered up the cleaning instruments she’d used on her last patient and carried them out to the sink to clean them before placing them in the sterilizer. “Late night, huh?”

“Stop trying to change the subject,” Nanci scolded. “Did you call Cole last night, or not?”

“I said I would.”

“But did you?”

She flashed her friend an irritated frown. “I did.”

“Good,” she said as she sipped at her coffee.

“I think,” she added with a sigh as she washed her hands.

“You think?”

Grabbing a paper towel, she turned from the sink. “I’m hoping my call to Cole didn’t really happen. That it was some alcohol induced imagining.”

“Why?” her friend asked, her eyes alight with curiosity. “What happened?”

“I think I offered him my body.”

Nanci choked on the swallow of coffee she’d just taken. She lowered her cup, her eyes wide. “You what?”

“I only remember bits and pieces of the conversation I had with him, but I remember suggesting to Cole that we have a sex only relationship.”

“Oh my God,” her friend gasped as she moved further into the room, lowering her voice. “That is so not like you.”

“Tell me about it.”

“How did Cole respond?”

“He turned me down. At least I think he did.”

“There goes that word again! What do you mean you
think
?”

“Last night’s a bit vague to me.”

“Gee, I wonder why?” her friend murmured with an exaggerated roll of her eyes. “At least, you still made it to work today. That’s dedication.”

“That’s stupidity,” Kelsie said with a sigh as she sank down onto her chair. “I woke up this morning with the cordless wedged between my face and pillow.” She lifted her hair and turned to show Nanci the still fading imprint the phone had left on her cheek. “That should have been a sign to stay home.”

Nanci’s hand flew to her mouth as she fought to muffle her laughter. “That’s too funny.”

“Doctor Andy thought so, too.” Releasing the handful of hair she’d lifted away from her face, she worked to hide the fading mark. “A real ha ha moment.”

“I hate to say I told you so, but─”

“You warned me,” Kelsie finished for her.

“Tried to at least,” her friend said with a smile. “Something tells me you’ll be sticking to light beer or wine coolers from now on.”

Kelsie nodded. “You’ve got that right.”

Heather popped her head into the room. “Sorry to interrupt, but Kelsie’s mom is on line one.”

“Is something wrong?” Kelsie asked worriedly.

“No. She just said she needed to ask you something if you weren’t busy.”

“Oh, damn.” That meant her mother was up to her favorite past time - matchmaking. “Tell her I’m with a patient.”

“Too late,” the receptionist said with a frown. “She already asked and I told her your patient had just left and your next was a no-show.”

Kelsie looked to Nanci for help.

“Don’t look at me. She’s your mother. Thank goodness for that. If I were you I’d take the call in Andy’s office.”

With a groan, she headed back to his office to see what her mother wanted. Settling into the oversized leather desk chair, she reached for the phone.

“Hi, Mom. What’s up?”

“Hi, honey. I had to leave early this morning so I didn’t have a chance to call and see how your night out with Nanci went. Make any new friends?”

“We didn’t pick up any men if that’s what you’re asking. We had appetizers and a few drinks and then went home.” Make that a few too many drinks.

“I had hoped you might have met someone last night,” her mother said with a disappointed sigh. “You didn’t wear that high-neck blouse you always like to wear. The color doesn’t—”

“Mom, I have to get back to work,” Kelsie muttered, in no mood to hear about her clearly unsexy fashion choices.

“Alright. We’ll talk more tonight. Maybe over dinner.”

“Can’t.”
Thank goodness.
“I have patients scheduled until eight.”

“You work too hard. How are you ever going to find Mr. Right working some of the hours you do?”

“Bye, Mom.”

“Bye, honey.”

She hung up with a groan.

“What’s wrong?” Doctor Andy asked as he stepped into his office.

“What else?” she replied. “My mother. She’s pushing me past my mental limits.”

“It’s their job,” he told her with a grin. “My mother used to make unannounced visits to my apartment when I was in dental school to do my laundry, dishes, whatever needed cleaning. She’s a clean freak.”

Was he for real? “How can you compare that to what my mother does?”

“You seemed to be missing the key word in my story –
unannounced
. One day she walked in on me and a girl I was dating at the time.”

“And that’s a bad thing?”

“We were in bed.”

“No,” she gasped.

“Yes,” he said with a chuckle. He walked over to stand at the window. “I don’t know who was more shocked. Her or us.”

“Oh my God, how embarrassing,” she groaned. “What did your mother do?”

He turned, leaning back against the windowsill, arms crossed. “She grabbed my dirty clothes basket and announced she would be doing my laundry back at her house. She told me I could pick it up there whenever I had time. It was the last time she ever did one of her impromptu housecleaning runs to my place. You should try it.”

She snorted. “Are you serious? Have
my
mother find me in bed with a guy?”

“Okay, maybe not the best way to get her to back off.”

Kelsie shook her head. “Not at all. My mother would be ready to marry me off to the guy.” Sighing softly, she stood and rounded his desk, pausing at the door. “If you don’t mind my asking, whatever happened to the girl your mom walked in on you with?”

“I married her.”

“Your mom walked in on you and Lisa?” Okay, so maybe she wasn’t the only person in the world who had to deal with awkward situations brought on by a parent.

“Kelsie,” Nanci said, joining them in the doorway, “Mrs. Jenkins is here.”

She glanced down at her watch and then back at her friend. “She’s early.”

Nanci nodded.

“Well, back to work.” She turned to Andy who was settling in behind his desk. “Thanks for the talk.”

“Any time.”

“You okay?” Nanci asked as she walked with her down the hallway toward the waiting room door.

“I’ve had better days.” Take away her mother’s endless prodding to find a man, her Ultimate Colada hangover, and Cole’s ability to make her do something so foolish as to risk her heart again, and her life would be unbelievably perfect.

Cole tapped his fingers nervously on the menu in front of him, glancing at the clock on his cell phone for the fifth time. She should be there any minute.

The thought had barely formed in his mind when the bell over the diner door jingled, drawing his gaze that direction.

She’d come.

He stood up from the chair he’d been seated in and extended his hand. “I appreciate your taking the time to meet with me.”

Melinda Collins smiled, slipping her hand into his. “I’m so glad you called.”

“I wasn’t sure where else to turn,” he answered honestly, the frustration clear in his voice.

“Well, I’m glad you turned my way,” she said as he helped her into the chair across from his. “You said on the phone you wanted to talk to me about my daughter.”

When he’d first dialed Melinda’s number, he had to admit he’d had second thoughts. But his determination to win Kelsie over overrode any of the doubts plaguing him. “She doesn’t know I called you,” he admitted as he returned to his seat. “I think you should know that up front.”

“Honesty,” she murmured. “A good trait in a man. Now what was it you wanted to talk to me about?”

“I want to take your daughter out on a date again.”

“Shouldn’t you be asking her instead?”

“I would, but you and I both know how Kelsie feels about having a man in her life.”

Her smile sagged. “I keep hoping she’ll get past that.”

“You and me both.”

“I’m glad you’re not giving up on her,” she said, looking up at him with eyes the same shade of green as Kelsie’s. “She really likes you.”

“I like her, too. A lot. That’s why I need your help.”

“You want me to ask her for you?”

“Sort of,” he admitted. “But she can’t know it’s me who’s wanting to take her out.”

She arched a neatly plucked brow. “You want me to lie to her?”

“Absolutely not,” he said without hesitation. “You can tell her a guy called Max wants to take her out. That’s what some of the guys call me.”

She nodded in understanding. “Short for Maxwell.”

“As far as Kelsie will know it’ll be just another blind date.”

Melinda Collins’ smile widened. “I can do that. So what’s your plan?”

“The station’s annual summer picnic is coming up next weekend and I’d really like to take your daughter to it.”

“Is this going to be a masked picnic?”

He laughed. “No.”

“But she’ll know who you are the second she sees you there.”

“The plan has its flaws. As long as you can help me get her to the picnic, I’ll take it from there.”

She studied him for a long moment.

Had he made a mistake asking her to help him? “If you don’t want to do this, I’ll understand.”

“Not on your life,” she replied, waving the suggestion away with a slender, manicured hand. “I’d do anything to see my daughter truly happy again and I think you might be the man to make that happen.”

“I know I am,” he told her. He’d never meant anything more. “Now all I have to do is convince your daughter of that.”

~~~

Kelsie turned into Nanci’s drive, waving to her friend who stood waiting on the front porch.

Nanci practically flew to the car. An amazing feat considering the height of the heels her friend was wearing. Then again, she was used to wearing ‘hooker’ pumps. The higher the heel the better.

“A little hungry?” Kelsie asked with a grin as her friend settled into the passenger seat beside her.

“Starving. Especially for your mom’s cooking. I’m so glad she still invites me over.”

“Why wouldn’t she? It’s a family dinner and you’re family.”

“Don’t go getting me all teary-eyed.” She made like she was joking, but there was no missing the emotion in her voice. It meant a lot to Nanci to be included.

“It’s true,” Kelsie told her. “You’re the sister I never had.”

Nanci laughed softly. “This reminds me of that beer commercial. You know the one where everyone’s saying - I love you, man.”

“Well, we do. So get used to it.” She backed out onto the street and headed for her mother’s.

“When your mom called to invite me to dinner, she said we were going to be celebrating. You run off and get married and not tell me about it?”

“Only in my mother’s dreams.”

“So what’s going on? She was beyond her normal happy state when she called.”

“She closed on the Danver place today.”

“House hell. That place is a mansion,” Nanci said excitedly. “No wonder she was in such a good mood. That place has been up for sale forever.”

“I know. There aren’t that many people around with that kind of money to shell out.”

Nanci whistled. “Your mom must have made a killing on that deal.”

“No doubt.”

“Pull over,” her friend said as they drove through town.

“What for?”

“I want to pick up a bottle of wine for tonight’s celebration.”

Kelsie pulled up in front of the liquor store and waited while Nanci ran inside to make her purchase. Five minutes later, her friend was jumping back into the car, smiling and clutching a brown paper bag.

“Mission accomplished,” Nanci announced.

“You look like a wino, holding onto that bag like that,” Kelsie noted with a grin as she pulled back out onto the main street.

Nanci set her purchase on the floor by her feet. “I’ll have you know I went for the good stuff this time around. Not the usual chug-it-down-in-a-back-alley kind of wine.”

“Meaning the bottle has a cork instead of a screw off lid?”