Vortex (SAI Book 1) (24 page)

“Thank you, young man.” Settling himself, he studied Vivi and Joel with their arms around one another. “So are you going to make an honest man out of him, Viv?”

Eyes twinkling, she laughed. “No. I have no interest in that. I’m just going to take advantage of him for as long as I can.”

“Let me know how that works out for you. I don’t think he’s going to put up with your shenanigans for long. He looks like a man with some serious intentions. I can’t imagine that he’s ever let anything get in the way of his plans.”

“Oh, poo. I’m not listening to this nonsense anymore. I have work to do.” Twirling on her heel, she stomped down the hall.

“Next time you want to help me out, don’t!” Joel remarked.

Waving a hand in dismissal, he snorted. “The girl has to become used to the idea. The more we bring it up, the less shocking it will be when it finally happens. She’s going to resist this for as long as she can, so dig into that well of patience you have. Because you’re going to need it.”

“Don’t I know it.” The sound of the back door opening captured Joel’s attention. When he whirled around, he saw Ruby and Ben ambling in, hand in hand. “Hey, guys.”

“Hey, Joel.” Ruby let go of Ben’s hand and walked over to her desk. “I guess it’s time to face this. I’m not going to enjoy closing this place down.”

“I may have something for you, Ruby. Can I talk to you and tell you what I have in mind?”

Ruby’s eyes flew up, and she smiled. “I hope it’s something good.”

“It is. Let’s go into the kitchen, and I can tell you what I’m thinking about.”

Ben was about to follow them, and Joel stopped him. “Let me talk to her alone, and then you two can discuss it.”

Ben glared at him and then stepped back. “All right.” A frown remained on his face until Ruby waved to him and blew him a kiss. “I’m right here, sweetie.” He called after her.

“I know, Ben.” Shaking her head, she moved down the hall. When Joel entered the small kitchen, she poured them both a cup of coffee. “He is the sweetest man in the world. He is also the most overprotective and paranoid person in the world. I’m going to have to invest some time and train him about what is acceptable and what isn’t.”

“I hope you’re successful. It’s not going to be easy.” Joel lifted the coffee cup and took a gulp.

“I have a reward system that seems to really motivate him. So I expect it won’t take long.”

Joel almost choked when he heard her. Glancing up, he saw the glint of mischief in Ruby’s eyes and knew that his friend had found his match. “Come sit down, and let me tell you what I’m thinking about.”

***

Dane walked back into the clinic with Mr. Stewart and his grandson, Taylor. Spotting Ben pacing back and forth, he wondered what was going on. “What’s wrong with you, man?”

Ben stared at Dane and shrugged. “Joel is talking to Ruby, and I don’t know what it’s about.”

Dane snorted. “He’s offering her a job. Carly put in her two weeks’ notice, so he wants Ruby to come down and run the office. Jeez, man, relax. What the hell do you think he’s talking about?”

“Maybe he’s warning her about me and telling her not to get involved.”

“You’ve gone crazy,” Dane replied.

“You’re right. It’s just that I don’t want anything to go wrong.”

Uncle Buck piped up. “That girl is head over heels in love with you. I’ve known Ruby since she was born. Once she sets her mind to something, nothing will change it. And you, young man, are what she has set her mind on. So relax and be good to her. She’s known too much heartache in her short life. Her parents passed when she was twenty, then her husband died when she was thirty, and she lost the baby as well. The only family she has are a couple of old aunts that live out in River Pearl. You are going to be her family now. I expect you to do right by her and give her what she wants most…a family to love.”

“Yes, sir. I’ll do my best.”

Buck nodded. “See that you do. Now quit worrying and help us set up a table for our game. I’m going to win today.”

Wilson snorted and sat in a chair facing his best friend. “You have not won in ten years.”

“All that means is that my time is coming,” Buck replied.

Ben moved one of the tables from the other side of the room and set it between the men. “There you go. Let me know if you need anything else.”

Buck took his pack of cards out of one pocket and a flask out of the other. “We’re all set.”

Dane and Taylor were talking on the other side of the room, and Ben went to join them. “What’s going on? This convo looks serious.”

“Let’s wait until Joel is done, and then we can have Taylor share what he’s heard. It seems that the gangs are pissed about what went down last week, and they’re looking to make a statement about their feelings.”

“What kind of statement?” Ben asked.

“The kind that goes…boom,” Taylor replied.

“Shit.”

Exactly,” Dane replied.

***

Joel, Dane, and Ben lugged boxes of medical books out to the truck. They only had a few more and they’d be done. Vivi had decided to tackle her office while Ruby made arrangements for the equipment, furniture, and supplies to be donated. There were a couple of clinics in Metairie that were going to take what they had.

Vivi handed Joel a box filled with mementos and then tightened her ponytail. “It’s surprisingly easy to dismantle a dream.”

Leaning toward her, he grabbed a quick kiss. “All you’re doing is making room for some new ones.”

“I hope you’re right.” Looking around her office, she realized that she was done. All that was left was her desk and the chair that Uncle Buck had given her. “Is there room for my chair? I’m going to put it in my office at home. When Buck retired and closed his practice, he gave me the chair that had been in his office for forty years.” Rubbing her hand over the cracked leather, she sighed.

“Don’t worry, honey. We are going to find a great home for it. We’ll put it in Ben’s truck. Mine is almost full.”

“Okay. Thank you. I’m going to make dinner for everyone tonight. We can have tacos and margaritas and celebrate what we accomplished. It didn’t last long enough, but I suppose I should be grateful for what we had.”

“Maybe we can swim after dinner, and I can talk you into a couple of kisses over by the slide.”

Patting his shoulder, she snickered. “I imagine that you are going to get more than a couple of kisses tonight.”

“I hope so, honey.”

Joel watched her face turn red, and he wondered what she was thinking about. They had been a little wild and out of control last night, and he hoped that she might want to try it again. “I hope you’re thinking about last night.”

“You go and take that out to the truck. We don’t need to be talking about that now.” Straightening her T-shirt, she squared her shoulders. “You’re a bad influence, sir.”

“I hope to hell I am.” He winked and then ambled out of the office. He was going to do his best to make sure that she was as crazy about him as he was about her. It was the only hope he had.

CHAPTER EIGHTEEN

The sound of Joel’s phone buzzing woke Vivi up from a sound sleep. “Wake up, your phone is buzzing.” Nothing. No response. Lifting her head, she peered over at him and realized he was dead to the world. Pushing her hand into his side, she tried again. “Joel, wake up.” That worked, because he jackknifed up and searched the room. “Your phone is going crazy.”

Wiping his hand down his face, he gazed at her and grinned. “A phone can’t go crazy.” Sliding the phone on, he answered, “McDade.” He swung his legs over the side of the bed and searched for his boxers. “How bad is it?” Scooping them off the floor, he shoved them on and then picked up his jeans. “Okay, I’ll meet you down there.”

“What in the hell is going on?” Vivi almost shrieked.

He tugged his jeans on and threw a T-shirt over his head before answering. “Gideon was notified that there was a 911 call from Algiers this morning. Your clinic is on fire.”

Leaping out of the bed, she grabbed a pair of fresh panties and pulled them on. “Please tell me that no one was injured.”

“He doesn’t have any more details. He’s going to meet me down there.”

Pulling on a pair of sweats and throwing a T-shirt on, she faced him. “He’s going to meet
us
.”

“I don’t want you down there, Viv. I’ll call you and give you an update.”

“I’m going down there, and if you don’t want to drive me, then I’ll drive myself.” Striding into the bathroom, she quickly brushed her teeth and threw her hair up. When she came out, Joel was on his phone. Grabbing a sweatshirt, she was about to walk out when he grasped her arm.

“You are not going down there, and that is final,” he boomed.

Slipping her arm out of his grasp, she walked out of the room. Moving down the hall quickly, she responded to his ludicrous statement. “I have never taken orders, and I don’t plan on starting now. So calm yourself down and take a breath.”

He was hot on her heels, and she could feel his frustration. He was taking deep breaths, and his feet were stomping against the hardwood floors. “Do you want to take the truck, or should I drive?”

“Why are you being so unreasonable?” he growled.

Halting suddenly in front of the hallway mirror, she made him stop. “Turn around and look in the mirror. Do you see those two faces? Mine is the one that’s reasonable.” Turning on her heel, she grabbed her purse off the chair and slipped on her running shoes that were sitting by the back door. She heard him sputter, and she figured he was as mad as a tiger. “Get in the car, and we can fight all the way to the clinic.”

Before she could open the door, his big hand slammed against it, stopping her. Her head flew around, and she glared.

“You forgot to disengage the security system. I don’t think your neighbors want to hear the alarm at five in the morning.”

He pushed in the code, and before he moved away, she kissed his cheek. “Thanks, sweetie. You are always looking out for me, and I appreciate it.”

“Which is exactly why you should not be anywhere near the clinic.” Unlocking the truck, he held the door open for her and made sure she was buckled in before he jogged around to the other side.

Once he got in, Vivi started in. “It’s my clinic. And I need to be there.”

Mumbling to himself, he pulled out of the driveway and drove down the street. “I can’t have anything happen to you. Whoever instigated this might very well not be done. I can’t have you out there like a sitting duck.”

“I’m not a sitting duck. I have a big, bad SEAL protecting me. What more could a girl want?” Smiling faintly, she took his hand and held it. “I’m not a piece of china that you can put on a shelf and protect. So, please don’t try.”

“Why are you making this so hard on me? This goes against every instinct that I have. I’ve got to be fully operational when we get there, and I’m not going to be, because you’re my first concern.” Scowling, he drove onto the highway.

“I think you need some new instincts, then. I can watch out for myself, and we’re not in a combat situation, so there are going to be plenty of people there.”

“This is who I am, Viv. It’s not really going to change.”

“I can say the exact same thing, Joel.” What else was there to talk about? While she appreciated all of his heroic qualities, she didn’t find them easy to deal with. Staring out the window, she remembered something her mama had always told her and knew it applied to Joel. Some men are men and some men are boys. It wasn’t about maturity, or degrees of masculinity, or even appearance. It was about the way they took on the world. And, the way…the world took ahold of them. Joel took ahold of the world with both hands and barely paid attention to anything else. Which made him the best sort of man there was. But certainly not easy.

“This is probably the end of it, Joel. You can go home tomorrow and resume your regularly scheduled life. I appreciate all that you’ve done, but I don’t want to keep you here.”

“If you’re trying to get rid of me, then I’m going to make it as difficult and as horrible as I can. I think we’re amazing together. I’m not fighting it, Viv, and neither should you.” He squeezed her hand and sped down the highway. “The clinic is the least of our concerns.”

Staring out the window, she twirled her ponytail. He was right, of course, there was the little matter of the person who might still be after her and the possibility of pregnancy. Lord, have mercy, this day needed some coffee and crumb cake. 

***

As they started to cross the bridge, Vivi’s heart began to beat faster. The idea that people wanted the clinic erased from the neighborhood was crushing. Maybe at some point it would all make sense, but right now it just felt incredibly sad. “Do you think there will be anything left of the building?”

“It’s hard to say, honey.”

“I hope there are no injuries. I didn’t even grab my bag. If the clinic is in ruins, then I’ll have nothing to treat the people with.”

“I have a fairly well-stocked medical kit in the back, but I want to you stay where I can see you.”

“I want to be a fairy princess with a purple horse. We don’t always get what we want. So don’t try and boss me.” Hearing him let out an exasperated breath told her that she was trying his last nerve. Well…that was too bad, because he’d already snapped hers with his dictatorial ways. “I feel the same way, Joel.”

“There is no such thing as a purple horse,” he retorted sharply.

“Which was the point of the story. I hope you dig deep and pull out your charm. Because I’m not enjoying the return of the growling bear. I understand that you’re worried about me, but I would like you to be a little nicer about it.” Slipping her hand out of his, she laid it on her lap.

“Please, don’t take your hand away.” Lifting her hand, he enveloped it in his and laid it on his lap. “We’re going to disagree a lot on how to approach things. That doesn’t mean that we should stop holding hands. In fact, that is exactly when we should hold on the tightest. We are two stubborn people with definite ideas about how to do things. It’s going to take some time for us to work it out.”