Chapter 3

Chapter Three

Echo

D r. Crane eyes me from the bottom of the bed. “You’re a lucky guy.”

I grimace. Right this second I don’t feel lucky. I’m in pain and nauseated and feeling more than a little sorry for myself. And I’m still sitting in the remains of the Santa suit because I don’t have anything else to wear. Can you imagine the number of jokes aimed at me about falling down the chimney? More than one, less than a hundred. It’s been a long afternoon.

The doc gives me a sympathetic smile. “The good news is it’s a sprained ankle, not a break. You don’t need surgery or a cast. You need to rest your ankle for forty-eight hours. Elevate it and put an ice pack on it. After that you can try mild exercise. We’ll give you a boot.”

“Then I can go back to work?” I ask hopefully.

A sprain is good news, isn’t it? It’s the run up to Christmas and the busiest time of year. Tomorrow is Tree Lighting Day, and we’re fully booked. Randy will kill me if I take time off now.

But Dr. Crane shakes his head. “You’re on your feet all day, aren’t you?”

“I am.”

“You need to rest your ankle this week, not spend twelve hours standing on it. You’re a young man. It shouldn’t take long to heal if you stay off it.”

I sigh. I’ll be lucky if I have a job once my boss gets this news.

“We’ll be able to spring you soon,” Sue, the nurse, says cheerfully. “Who can we call to pick you up?”

I hadn’t thought about how I was going to get home. I arrived in an ambulance. “Gloria, I guess. She’s the one who got me into this mess.” I wave at my foot.

Sue hums and taps her chin. “She’s on dispatch now. I just spoke to her. Anyone else.”

I’d forgotten that. Who else can I call? “I’ll get a ride home.”

“We need someone to collect you, hun. It’s the rules.”

Hebe is working. Randy is out of town. My co-workers are at the bar. I’m either sleeping or at work. I don’t know many other people in Collier’s Creek.

Except one and he’s got my keys. But I don’t have his number.

“Do you have Dean Hobart’s number?” I ask, resigned to my fate.

Her face lights up. “I do. He volunteers at my Julie’s school.”

The guy has to be a freakin’ saint. Kids. Old people. Is there anywhere he doesn’t volunteer?

“I’ll call him,” Sue says. “He’ll be right over.”

“He might be busy,” I protest. “But he’s got my keys.”

The second the words come out of my mouth, her eyes light up, and I know it’s a mistake. I groan inwardly.

“I met him at the assisted living facility. He offered to feed my cat.”

“He’s a good boy,” she says fondly, as if Dean is an over-friendly golden retriever.

It occurs to me that the man the town knows, and the man the gay guys know might be two different people. Interesting.

She pats my arm. “I’ll call him now. You sit tight.”

“I promise not to run away,” I say solemnly, and she giggles.

I close my eyes as she leaves me alone. Deep breath in. Breathe out. Deep breath in. Breathe out. The nausea subsides a little and I start to feel better. I’ll stay like this for a moment.

“Echo?”

“Huh.” I open my eyes. “Sorry, what drink do you want?” I must have dropped off behind the bar. How embarrassing. Then I focus on Dean’s amused expression. “Could you repeat the order?”

“I’m here to take you home,” he says.

Home? I stare at him, confused. Then it all floods back. Dean. Hospital. Santa.

“Why are you here?”

“I’m here to take you home,” he repeats.

“Oh. Okay, I’m sorry to bother you.”

“No problem. I forgot I had your keys.” He hands them over.

I shove them in my pocket as Sue bustles up. “Oh, you’re here already. Dean. That was quick. Echo just needs to sign the forms, and he’s ready to go.”

I grimace as I sign my life away. I might have to find another job to pay back just the ambulance ride. I’m going to have to work this week. Maybe I can hop behind the bar.

Then I look at Dean. “I’m all yours.” I hide my smile at his blush.

He plucks the forms out of my hand and tucks them in his pocket, then he hands me the crutches, and we take a slow walk out of the clinic as I work out how to use them. Dean stops me after a moment.

“Crutches and boot, then leg.”

I practice until I’m smoother, and he beams at me.

“That’s it.”

I glow under his smile, feeling like a kid who’s just been praised by his dad. “You’re a pro.”

“Broken leg as a kid. I was in a cast for six weeks, then a boot.”

“What did you do?”

“My brother pushed me off a swing.”

I stared at him. “The mayor pushed you off a swing?”

“He wasn’t the mayor then,” Dean points out with a twitch of his lips. “But yeah, Danny pushed so hard I went flying.”

It’s my turn to blush. I have this thing about authority figures. I can’t imagine them as anything except who they are now. I could never be friends with my doctor or dentist, or even my boss. It’s a thing people laugh at, but I’ve always been the same.

“Echo, are you okay?”

“Huh?” Then I realize I’ve stopped halfway through the door. “I’m fine. Just tired.”

“I’m not surprised,” Dean agrees. “Let’s get you home to bed.”

We both blush furiously. I don’t know about Dean, but my mind went straight to the gutter. Then I hear a snort and look up to see a nurse smirking at Dean. I scowl at him, and he backs away with his hands up.

“Just ignore him,” Dean says wearily. “I went to school with Lee. He was always the same.”

I glare after the nurse. “I don’t like bullies.”

“Hey.” Dean taps my arm, drawing my attention. “He was just walking past at the wrong time. He’s got a large mouth, but he’s not a bully.”

“In other words, I’m over-reacting?”

I am, I know it, another hangover from my childhood. I’ve met too many guys like Lee. The scar on my left cheek reminds me every time.

But of course, Dean gives me the out. “You’re tired and in pain and you need to relax at home.

I lean heavily on my crutches. “I’m hungry too.” I admit.

“It’s a good thing I picked up wings from Randy’s then,” he says cheerfully.

I moan in happiness as I crutch out of the doors of the hospital. “I would have your babies if it were possible.”

Dean looks around hurriedly. “If Lee hears that one, you’ll be knocked up by the end of the day.”

“Modern medicine is wonderful,” I assure him, “but I don’t think guys can do that yet.”

Not that I haven’t thought about the idea of being pregnant. It’s one of those three in the morning after too much coffee thoughts.

He leads me to a Ford F-150 pickup. I look at it in surprise. It’s new, but it’s more practical than I expected. I envisaged him driving a sleek sedan.

“Nice ride,” I say.

I’ve got an old Chevy, more rust than metal, but I love her. I’ve had her since high school, and she was old then.

“It’s okay.” He seems indifferent as he opens the passenger door.

Not a gearhead then.

I have to think about how I’m going to get into the car.

“Turn your butt to the seat and hang on to the frame of the door and the crutches as you ease yourself onto the seat,” Dean suggests. He grins at my sigh of relief as my ass hits the seat. “It’s okay, fella, you’re safe.”

“Could I sue the dog for the loss of my dignity?” I mumble as I swing my legs around so at least I’m facing the right way.

“Dogs lick their balls.” Dean takes the crutches from me. “I don’t think they care about your dignity.”

This is true. I’ve always been envious of a dog’s ability to lick their own balls. I’m not that flexible. Yes, I’ve tried, okay? Hasn’t every guy?

I look up to see Dean smirking at me. He knows exactly what I was thinking about. I sigh. My dignity is the least of my worries. He sticks the crutches in the back seat and shuts the door. I sit back in the seat, closing my eyes just for a moment.

“Echo?”

I wrinkle my nose against the interruption. Can’t I have five minutes peace?

“Echo, you’re home.”

It takes a moment to process. Then I open my eyes and blink as I realize I’m sitting in my drive behind the Chevy with Dean smiling at me.

I yawn so hard my jaw cracks. “I guess I fell asleep.”

“You were snoring before I drove out of the parking lot,” he assures me.

“I’d apologize but I’m too tired to care.”

“No need to apologize. Let’s get you inside. You’ve got to manage the stoop first.”

I huff out a breath. “Can’t I just close my eyes and sleep here?”

“You could, but you’ll just freeze in my car, and your cat will complain that her daddy doesn’t love her.”

“She’ll do that,” I agree. “Okay then, get me up the stoop, and then I’m gonna face-plant in bed and forget about today.”

Maybe it’s a good thing it isn’t Gloria helping me up the stoop because I’d have squashed her while she yelled at me. Dean patiently waits for me to crutch to the bottom step, then encourages me up each step.

“You should have been a nurse,” I say, halfway up.

“I pass out at the sight of blood.”

“You coped with me.”

“You kept the blood on the inside.”

I squinted at him. You know when you get that feeling someone is deflecting or lying to you? I had that feeling now. Dean’s tone is too light, fake, but it’s hard to gauge his expression in the dark, and I’m too tired to think about it.

We took it slowly for me. I’m used to running up the stoop. By the time I reach the top I’m sweating and Dean’s hand rests on my back. I kind of like that and mourn the loss when he takes it away.

“I need to get fit,” I say because that was hard work.

“You seem plenty fit to me.”

I turn to look at him, eyebrows raised, and he looks away.

“You know what I mean,” he mutters.

I do, but I’m doing the Snoopy dance inside. The cute guy thinks I’m fit.

It’s a relief to be inside, although Ariel takes one look at the crutches and hightails it out of the hall and into my bedroom.

“Stupid cat,” I say fondly. Then I sigh. “I’m gonna change into a hoodie and sweats.”

Dean nods. “I’ll get the wings. I forgot to bring them in. Meet you at the couch?”

“Sounds perfect.”

I dump the remains of the Santa suit in the trash can. Then I hobble over to the chest and dig out sweats and a T-shirt. I’m exhausted and a sweaty mess, and if Dean wasn’t here, I’d curl up in bed and sleep. But I’m hungry too. I haven’t eaten since lunch, and it’s gone nine now. I’m ready to eat a horse. I sit on the bed and unstrap the boot, grimacing at the swelling around my ankle. There’s no way I’ll be able to work at least for a couple of days. I need to call Randy and the bar, but I’ll do that after I’ve eaten.

Dean is loving on Ariel when I reach the couch. The tart ignores me as I ease myself down. Okay, it’s more of a flop than easing down gracefully, but I’m sitting, and I don’t have to move.

He pats the footstool. “Take your boot off and put your foot up here, and I didn’t know if you had any icepacks, so I brought two with me.” He produces an icepack wrapped in a cloth.

“You are an angel.”

“I’ll polish my halo,” he says solemnly.

Once I settle with the icepack against the swelling, Dean dislodges the cat who tries to settle on my lap. “Your daddy needs his dinner,” he scolds.

She jumps off my lap with a disgruntled meow and stalks over to her climbing tree, scrambling up to settle on her favorite shelf.

Dean hands me a box of wings and a soda and I inhale the citrus scent with pleasure. “You bought my favorite.”

“I asked which to get you. They told me you like the lemon and pepper best.”

“I do. They laugh at me for picking the tame sauce.”

He quirks a smile. “Randy’s customers tend to go for the hot wings.”

I sniff cautiously. His box smells like hotness and death. I know which sauce he picked.

“I’ve got a cast-iron stomach,” he says at the wrinkle of my nose.

“You ain’t kissing me with that mouth,” I quip.

Dean pinks, but he just says, “Noted.”

We eat in silence for a moment before he turns to me. “Listen, I hope you’re not offended, Echo, but I told the guys at the bar about your ankle. They swapped their shifts, and you’re covered for the next three days, including the long shift tomorrow.”

I stare at him, not sure if I’m offended or not. I am offended at his interference, but I know he did it for the right reasons.

“And I called Randy.”

I press my lips together. Dean is trying to be helpful. I know he is. “Do I still have a job?” I try to sound light but by the way he’s looking at me, I miss by a country mile.

“You still have a job. I may have threatened him a little before he told me to back the hell down.”

“He did? You did?”

Dean shrugs. “It’s not your fault you were hurt. Randy said he’s not going to fire you when you did him a favor, and you’ll still get paid.”

I breathe a sigh of relief.

“He’s annoyed about the Santa suit though.” Dean smirks at me.

I grunt, and Dean laughs.

“I told him not to be so cheap.”

“What did he say?”

“I’m not repeating it. But then I mentioned the moth holes, and he shut up.”

That sounds more like my boss. I’m relieved that I’m going to be paid. I don’t qualify for sick days yet. I’ll be back as soon as I can stand. I intended to spend next year saving money toward a deposit for a house of my own. Instead, I’ll be paying off the medical bills and an ambulance ride. It’s okay; it’s just a blip in my life. I’ll manage. I always do.

“Thanks,” I say around a mouthful of cheesy fries, “for taking care of me today. I appreciate it.”

He shrugged. “It was you or another night in watching reruns of S.W.A.T.”

“I’d have picked S.W.A.T.”

“Me too.” Dean smirks at me. “But Sue called me. Then Gloria did. She’s pulling a double shift and couldn’t get away.”

“She knows about me?”

It is kind of odd that she hasn’t called me once. Gloria knows everything.

“Yeah, but it’s been busy. A pile-up on the highway. She begged me to help you.”

I squint at him. “Are you sure that’s not just Gloria being Gloria?”

“She’s kind of terrifying,” Dean confesses.

“You know she’ll run for mayor soon.”

“And she’ll win. Even Danny knows that.”

Danny? Oh, the actual mayor, Daniel Hobart. It must be strange thinking of the most important person in town as ‘Danny’.

“He’s already planning his next move,” Dean says.

“The mayor has plans?”

“My brother was born with a phone to his ear and a spreadsheet in front of him.”

“And you?”

“What about me?”

“You don’t have any political ambitions?”

Dean makes a noise in the back of his throat. It sounds bitter. “Heck no. My life took a different road.”

I regard him for a long while, not sure what to make of that cryptic comment. “What do you want to do, Dean?”

He gives a shrug. “If I knew that, Echo, I wouldn’t be nearly forty and still in Collier’s Creek.”