Chapter 5

CHAPTER 5

Tex darted from the door and reached Chelsea before she toppled off the exam table. Her head fell against his chest.

But he’d caught her. That could have been ugly.

“Hey,” he murmured. “I’ve got you. It’s okay.”

Patrick sprang into action. “Lay her down and give her some breathing room.”

Something about his words sounded territorial. Tex had a feeling that the doctor didn’t like seeing Chelsea’s head against Tex’s chest.

But he did as Patrick instructed. He carefully grabbed her shoulders and lowered her onto the table. He stayed close to ensure she didn’t fall off.

“Chelsea, can you hear me?” Patrick leaned toward her.

She didn’t stir.

“I don’t understand what happened,” Patrick muttered, a knot of confusion forming between his eyebrows. He reached to the counter behind him to grab something.

“It was the needle,” Tex explained. “Chelsea always passes out at the sight of needles.”

Patrick glanced at him with surprise in his gaze. “Really?”

Tex nodded. “As you might remember, the two of us were pretty close back in high school. Needles have always been one of her fears.”

Patrick pushed his wire-framed glasses up higher. “I do remember that.”

What was the relationship between these two? Were they dating?

If Tex had to guess, Patrick was more interested in Chelsea than Chelsea was in him.

Why did the thought of the two of them dating make Tex feel a touch of jealousy? It wasn’t as if he was interested in dating anybody. Not even Chelsea—although she’d always remained the gold standard in his mind whenever he met somebody. No one else quite ever measured up to her.

Patrick ran a container of something under her nose. Smelling salts, probably.

A moment later, Chelsea’s eyes fluttered. A few seconds later, she sat up and moaned. “I passed out, didn’t I?”

“It’s okay,” Tex muttered. “I caught you.”

Her eyes widened as she looked at him, then her cheeks turned red. He hadn’t met to embarrass her.

“Thank you,” she finally murmured before glancing at Patrick. “Any chance you stitched me up while I was out of it?”

The doctor frowned. “Unfortunately, no.”

“Here.” Tex held out his hand. “Squeeze my hand and close your eyes. You can know I’ll be there to catch you again if you fall.”

Something unreadable fluttered through her gaze until finally she closed her eyes as he’d suggested. She took his hand in hers and squeezed—quite hard, considering her petite frame.

Then Patrick got busy.

Patrick . . . the man Tex was supposed to find out information on. To help. To protect.

Maybe this would be a good time to get started.

“So you stayed in town?” Tex asked, watching as the doctor sewed up Chelsea’s wound.

“I did. Dr. Murphy said I could buy his practice from him, and I figured where else was I going to get an offer like that only four years out of med school?”

“True. I’m still impressed you made it through med school. Good job.”

“It wasn’t easy. I won’t talk about the loans I’ll be paying on for two decades. But I did graduate.”

“Congratulations.” Tex pointed at his hand. “I don’t see a ring on your finger. You’re telling me the town doctor hasn’t snagged someone yet?”

“I’m working on it,” he murmured.

Tex stole at glance at Chelsea, but her eyes remained closed.

It was probably better that way.

“Maybe we could get together sometime while I’m in town,” Tex said. “And catch up. Maybe tomorrow? Do you have a lunch break?”

Patrick continued to put the stitches in. “I could probably do coffee. It would be nice to catch up and see what you’ve been up to. I didn’t expect to see you in Holly Ridge again.”

“I didn’t expect to be here again. You ever hear from any of the other guys?”

Patrick fumbled the needle, and Chelsea muttered, “Ouch!”

That was a feat, considering she was numbed up.

“Sorry,” Patrick said. “Not sure what happened just there. But, to answer your question, yes, I do talk to some of them on occasion. You?”

“No, I’ve pretty much stayed out of touch with people.”

It had been better that way. But Tex didn’t say those words aloud. Not everyone needed to know his business. Needed to know what a dangerous position he often put himself in.

With that danger, it also meant that other people around him had to be careful. He never wanted to put someone he truly cared about in the line of fire.

So he’d stayed away. Hadn’t offered any explanations. It had been easier that way.

But that didn’t mean Tex wasn’t full of regrets—and longing, for that matter.

Leaving everything behind hadn’t been hard.

But leaving Chelsea behind had been brutal.

“There you go,” Patrick announced as he placed a bandage over the stitches. “All done.”

Chelsea’s eyes popped opened, and she glanced at her hand, flexing her fingers.

“Thank you.”

“Keep it clean, and if you see any signs of infection, come back to me.”

“Will do.” As Chelsea hopped down from the exam table, Tex took her elbow to keep her steady, just in case. She had just passed out.

But he had to admit another part of him craved being closer to her. Smelling the peppermint and cinnamon that seemed to waft from her.

Was that a lotion or shampoo? Or had she been baking cookies earlier?

He didn’t know, and he didn’t care. He was intrigued.

Before he led Chelsea out of the room, Patrick called to her again.

“Don’t forget dinner on Friday.”

She looked back at him, and her lips parted as if she wanted to refute his words. Then she looked at the stitches on her hand and let out an almost imperceivable sigh. Tex knew her well enough to know what he’d heard.

She wasn’t thrilled with the idea, was she?

“Text me,” she said.

To Tex, it sounded like Chelsea didn’t want to commit to anything.

But he was curious about what was going on between the two of them—and that curiosity had nothing to do with the fact he might feel a touch of jealousy and protectiveness.

He had no right to feel that emotion. No right at all.

Chelsea wished she could rewind today and do it all over again.

If so, she wouldn’t have sneaked into Gilbert’s house. Wouldn’t have been caught by Tex looking in the man’s office. And she wouldn’t have gone to the urgent care place with Tex where Patrick would treat her and she’d pass out.

But here she was, and now there was nothing she could do about it except grin and bear it.

Tension stretched between her and Tex as they started down the road back to her house.

“So you and Patrick, huh?” he said after a moment.

She’d known the comment was coming. She’d seen the curiosity in his gaze. “It’s not what you think. We’re just friends.”

“Does he know that?” He raised an eyebrow as he glanced at her.

“I’ve told him, but he doesn’t seem to get the message.”

“He was always hardheaded about certain things. Once he set his mind to something, he didn’t change it.”

“I can see that. I’ve known him since high school, but he never really showed any interest in me until recently.”

“He always had a crush on you,” Tex said.

Her eyebrows flew up. “He did?”

Tex nodded. “He did. Then again, a lot of guys at school did.”

Her cheeks heated. “I don’t know about that.”

“I do.”

She cleared her throat, suddenly wanting to change the subject. “Anyway, I . . . I don’t want to hurt him. He’s a good man. But . . .” She couldn’t bring herself to finish the statement. She didn’t want to share too much.

A moment of silence passed before Tex asked, “How’s Patrick been doing lately? He made it sound like his loans were a bit overwhelming.”

Chelsea thought it was strange that Tex was talking about Patrick’s loans of all things. Especially when they had so much to catch up on—things that had nothing to do with Patrick.

“I’m not really sure how he’s doing,” Chelsea said.

Though she had thought Patrick had acted a little strange the past few times she’d seen him. He’d been jumpy and more on edge. She’d wondered about it but had figured it was just because of his job.

More silence passed, and then she asked, “So how long are you here?”

“I’ll probably leave the day after Christmas, if not sooner.”

“Sooner? I thought you came here for Christmas?”

A frown tugged at his lips. “Gilbert and I . . . we’re not close. I hope coming here wasn’t a mistake.”

Chelsea hoped that Tex coming here wasn’t a mistake either, but she didn’t say that out loud. It would be rude. And sharing that would make it seem personal.

She needed for him to think she’d gone on without him and done just fine.

She stuffed her emotions down.

Though Tex could have parked at Gilbert’s, and she could have easily walked over, he pulled into her driveway instead.

He turned toward her as he put his truck in Park. “Now, are you ready to tell me why you were in Gilbert’s office? I know you weren’t looking for some landscaper’s phone number. You’re not the type to break into someone’s house to find that information, and you’re too much of a control freak to let somebody else do that kind of work for you.”

Ouch. But he knew her well.

She licked her lips as she considered what to say. How much to share. As she wondered if she could trust Tex with the information.

Before she could answer, a shadow moved in her backyard.

Then a figure clad in black darted from the back of her house through the yard and into the woods beyond.