One Summerhill Day (The Summerhill Series Book 1) (7 page)

Caitlyn smiled. She might have ended up in Summerhill by some fluke of fate, but everything was falling into place.

***

After Ryan pulled into Erin’s apartment complex, he stayed in his parked car for a moment before summoning the will to go inside. Visiting was hard, though he came every few weeks.

Erin was his best friend’s widow.

Chad Armstrong had been Ryan’s best friend all through high school. They had enlisted together at the age of twenty, along with Jake, who had just turned nineteen. The three of them had pledged to come home together.

Unusual though it was, they had been stationed together in Baghdad. But they hadn’t come home together like they’d planned. Ryan had come home first, disgraced. Jake had stayed on another year and come home as a hero.

But Chad? Chad never made it back. Well, in a way, he had, but it was in a body bag. Chad was dead. He could no longer breathe or laugh or kiss his wife. He would never see his son, never spend a fun-filled day with his family or his friends.

As Ryan climbed the stairs to her door and rang the doorbell, his stomach clenched again. When he had first returned from the service, he had visited Erin often, believing that he was obligated to take care of her. After all, Chad had been his best friend and had died in his arms. It was only right that he take care of Erin and their son, especially since Chad had said something to that effect before he had died.

But Ryan and Erin just didn’t mesh together. He had asked her about dating, but she had turned him down. However, he couldn’t just walk away, so he came back to visit at least once a month. They were both comfortable about it now, and their son had accepted him.

Erin answered. “Hi, Ryan. Come on in.” Her long brown hair sat piled on top of her head, and her brown eyes warmed to his smile.

Ryan stepped over a couple of toys, then leaned over to kiss her cheek. “Hey, Erin. Everything okay? How’s Sammy?”

A young boy came charging out of his room and ran into his arms. “Uncle Ryan!” A grin danced across his face. “I got the highest score on that new game you brought me. Come on, let me show you.” Sammy grabbed both of Ryan’s hands and tugged him toward the living room.

Ryan gave Erin a sheepish grin. “Sorry, I guess I’m wanted.”

She waved her hand at him and returned the smile. “Go ahead, Ryan. He’s just excited to see you.”

Ryan followed him over to their big-screen television and grabbed a controller. “Fine. Show me how to play so I can kick your butt.”

Chapter Seven

Three days later, Ryan had to admit he couldn’t get his mind off of Caitlyn. He wondered how the day had gone with his dad. He pulled his phone out as soon as he arrived back at his apartment after work, searching for Cait’s number.

Ryan
:
Everything go ok?

A minute later, she answered.

Cait
:
Yes. Your dad is so sweet and your aunt is nice.

Ryan:
New job?

Cait:
Yes, emergency.

Ryan:
Mallory will be happy to hear that.

Cait:
I’m excited. Want to stop and see my new furniture?

Ryan thought for a minute, then typed in:
Now?

Cait:
Sure, come on over.

Ryan smiled and backed his car out.
Gladly
. He had to admit he was very happy to spend time with Cait. He couldn’t get his mind off the woman.

***

Caitlyn stood in the middle of her great room, looking around at the new furniture she had ordered and the new carpet. Everything was settling into place. She sighed and walked over to the sliding glass doors in front of the house, doing what she loved to do several times a day—stare out at the lake. She was glad Ryan had contacted her and was on his way over.

Nothing was more peaceful to her than the calm waters of a lake. Though she’d been to the ocean and loved the beach, there was something about this lake that spoke to her more than any other place. She couldn’t wait to swim in the water once it was warm enough. Of course, she’d have to go out in the early morning, before the boats were out in the water. In the winter, it was quiet, but a part of her would welcome the sound of motorboats and jet skis, the laughter of families on the water.

She walked into the laundry room just off the bathroom and finished folding her clothes. Her first day of work was coming up, which both excited and scared her. Helping people was her passion, and she especially liked working in the emergency room, where she could help calm and reassure frightened people. She liked to help where help was needed most. Of course, there was a dark side to the work—many people died in the ER. But the good outweighed the bad.

Ellen had said she could wait to report to work until a week from Monday, but she hadn’t pulled a full shift for a while, so she’d volunteered to come in on Friday to shadow her preceptor and gain some familiarity with the department. Orientation started on Monday, and it was the general hospital orientation, so she wouldn’t get back to her department until Wednesday or Thursday.

The doorbell rang, and it was Ryan. She wiped her hands on her jeans just to make sure her palms weren’t sweating.

She opened the door and smiled. “Hi, Ryan. Come on in.”

Ryan stamped his feet and took off his coat. Glancing around the great room, he said, “Wow, Cait. This place looks great. You have an eye for decorating.”

“You think so?” She crossed her arms as his gaze moved around her room.

“Yeah, nice job.”

“You want a beer?”

“Sure.”

Cait got one for him, and when she returned to the room he was standing in front of the sliding glass doors, staring out over the lake with a look of awe. It moved her to see that the lake affected him just as it did her. She handed him the beer and he opened it, taking a couple of swigs before he walked over to the coffee table and set it down.

“I was going to turn basketball on. Any special game you’re interested in?” She grabbed the remote to turn on the television, noticing that her hand shook a little around it.

His voice turned husky. “Yeah, there
is
something I’m interested in.”

The way he said it puzzled her, so she set the remote down and stared at him. His gaze caught hers and he reached for her hand, pulling her toward him. “You. I’m interested in you.”

His lips descended onto hers and he gave her a ravenous kiss, grasping her head in his hands, running his fingers through her hair as he ravaged her lips. Their tongues twined until they were both panting. When he ended the kiss, he said, “Sorry, but that’s all I could think of doing when I saw you.”

Cait was stunned, unable to speak. Forcing a quick recovery, she said, “Me, too.” She settled onto the couch with a flop, unable to look away from Ryan.

“Would you like to turn on a game?” he asked as he sat next to her. “There’s a big one between Michigan and Michigan State today.”

“No.” She could tell from the way he devoured her with his gaze, floating from her lips to her breasts, that he understood her simple answer. The desire flooding through him was practically visible, like waves of heat off a blistering road. No one had ever looked at her like that before, like she was beautiful and sexy and hot, but that’s exactly how she felt. Ryan wanted her. Bad. And she wanted him just as much.

His hand settled on her leg. If the house had caught on fire right that moment, Caitlyn would have melted into the floor. Her legs would not have held her up. The heat from his hand spread straight up her leg to her sex, and she squirmed. Needing no further invitation, Ryan grabbed her shoulders and pressed his mouth on hers with a deep groan. They fell back onto the couch together, his tongue stroking hers, causing her breath to hitch and her heart to pound, sending blood roaring through her veins in anticipation of his next touch. He cradled her jaw so tenderly she wanted to cry, and she wove her hands through his hair to bring him even closer. When he pulled back, she could only gasp for her next breath. He was about to say something when his phone went off.

“Fuck.” He sat up and grabbed his phone from his pocket, checking to see who it was before he shoved it back inside. He ran his hand down his face before he turned to her and helped her sit up. “Sorry. It’s work.”

“No, it’s okay,” she mumbled.

He grabbed the beer, took a swig, and brought it over to the kitchen counter. “I probably better go.” He leaned over and gave her a quick kiss, then disappeared before Caitlyn could say a word. She ran her tongue over her lips after he left, savoring the taste of peppermint.

***

She woke up bright and early on her first day of work. Though she arrived at the hospital a few minutes early, the charge nurse, Mary DeCamp, was already there, and she brought her back into her office.

“Here’s your badge, though you aren’t set up for the med system until you go through orientation, so you can’t administer any meds today. You remember your HIPAA laws, right? I have to ask because you don’t sign all that paperwork until orientation.”

“Yes, I will be discreet, I promise. I just wanted to get a head’s start, so I’ll be ready to dig in right after orientation. Where can I put my coat?”

Mary took her in back and assigned her a locker in the break room. As she put her things away, the door opened and another nurse entered.

“Oh, perfect timing,” Mary said. “Caitlyn, this is Mallory Ramsay. She’ll be your preceptor for the next three weeks until you’re on your own.”

Caitlyn tried to contain her excitement, so she just smiled at Mallory and said, “Nice to see you again. I’m excited that we’ll be working together.”

“Wow,” Mallory said, glancing from Mary to Caitlyn. “I heard you took the job, but I had no clue you’d be starting this soon!”

Mary looked from nurse to nurse, a puzzled expression on her face. “You two have met?”

Caitlyn said, “Yes. I was in the ER last week and Mallory talked me into coming to work here. That’s why I still have a bit of a limp, though I have no problem getting around anymore.”

“Oh. I didn’t know. Nice job, Mallory.” Mary patted her on the back. “Well, I’ll leave you both to it. If you have any questions, just let me know.”

Right after Mary left, an older nurse came in, grumbling to herself. She stopped in front of Caitlyn. “Who are you?”

“I’m Caitlyn McCabe, a new hire.” She held her hand out to the woman, but her gesture was ignored. The woman pushed past her without another comment.

Mallory said, “Caitlyn, this is Lucille. She’s been here for many, many years.”

Caitlyn smiled, though she could already sense that the other woman wasn’t the type to respond to good cheer. “Hi, Lucille. Nice to meet you.”

Lucille grunted. “How long you been a nurse? You aren’t a newbie, are you?”

Caitlyn glanced at Mallory, catching her eye roll. “No, I’m not.”

Grunting in response, Lucille hung her coat up and turned to look at her, hands on her hips. “Good, because I don’t want to have to pick up your slack.” With that, she left the room.

“Just ignore her, Caitlyn,” Mallory said in an undertone. “Every department has their bitch, and she’s ours. She’s been here forever, and all she does is complain. Makes you wonder why she stays. Be careful with her, though, she can be very sneaky.”

They walked back onto the floor and Mallory gave her a quick tour of the med room, the supplies, and the kitchen, providing her with the codes to get into all the rooms. Then she took her into the nurse’s station so they could sit and go over the computer system. “You’ll have your own computer, but I’m guessing you can’t do much today besides shadow me to get a feel for the place.”

Mallory had four patients to start and the ER was consistently busy. Caitlyn was glad to get back into the familiar routine, and she enjoyed talking to the patients and listening to their stories.

Before Caitlyn knew it, it was already mid-afternoon. But while all the other nurses were busy, Lucille was sitting at the desk, reading the paper and checking her phone. She didn’t seem to notice or care that the others were overwhelmed. At one point Caitlyn passed her and Lucille stopped her, holding out her hand to give her something.

On reflex, Caitlyn reached out to take it. “Here,” Lucille said, “go give this to my patient in #10. Thanks.” She dropped two Vicodin into her palm and turned around to her paper again.

“Sorry, but I can’t. I’m not cleared to give meds yet.”

Lucille glared at her. “Yeah. Who’s gonna know? Just give them to him.”

Caitlyn set the wrapped pills back in front of Lucille. “Sorry, but I’m not willing to risk it.”

As Caitlyn walked away, she heard Lucille’s groan. “So that’s how it’s going to be with you. Nice way to help a teammate. Thanks.”

When Caitlyn caught up with Mallory and told her what had happened, Mallory sighed and shook her head. “Like I said, be very careful with her. As soon as you took those meds down the hallway, she would have reported you.”

“You mean she was setting me up?” Caitlyn had worked with some difficult people over the years, but she couldn’t believe anyone would do something so conniving.

“Don’t deal with her at all unless you have no choice. She’s very sneaky. And she loves to go after newbies.”

Caitlyn glanced back at Lucille. The older woman looked up from her paper long enough to give her a sneaky grin.

The rest of the day proved very busy. It must have been a full moon because patient after patient walked in or was dropped off by ambulance, some with some unusual injuries. At one point, Caitlyn went from cubicle to cubicle to see if she could do anything for any of the patients because the physicians were so behind. It gave her something to do while Mallory doled out medications.

She ran to get some ice chips for one patient and she heard someone call out her name. She swung around to see who it was and had to repress a groan when she saw it was Lucille.

“I hope that isn’t for my patient.”

Caitlyn said, “I don’t know. I just answered the call light, and the woman asked for some ice chips. I’m only trying to help.”

“Well don’t. Stay away from my patients.”

“Lucille, I can’t refuse a direct request for help. I think it will help lighten your load a little.”

Lucille glared at her. “Don’t worry about my load. I don’t give this warning lightly, newbie. Stay away from my patients.”

That cemented what she already knew—working with Lucille was going to be a challenge. Too bad nurses couldn’t interview the rest of the floor before they accepted their position in a unit.

At the end of their shift, she and Mallory walked out to the parking lot together. Caitlyn was just about to get into her car when a police cruiser pulled up next to them and stopped. Her gut clenched. What had they done?

The window rolled down and Ryan smiled at them. “Ladies.”

Caitlyn couldn’t help but smile back. She had fond memories of last night.

“Cait,” Ryan said. “I have some information for you, and I have an hour for dinner. Do you want to go to the diner with me?”

Caitlyn glanced at Mallory. “Um, sure. Right now?”

“Well, this is my break. Can I meet you there?”

Mallory gave her a push. “Go ahead. Good job today. I’ll see you next week.” She headed in the opposite direction.

“Okay. I’ll meet you there in five minutes.” Caitlyn waved and headed to her car, just noticing that her heartbeat sped up at the sight of Ryan Ramsay.

She hadn’t realized it, but she’d missed him, and it had only been one day.