Brown Eyed Girl (26 page)

Once again, she wondered how her parents could have been so inconsiderate of her own wishes.
Well, to hell with them.
She’d discovered her own options and made her own choices. She chose college, a career in medicine, and now she would choose Red, no matter what.

Her heart ached for him like her body ached for him. The look on his face when he’d heard the latest horrific news told her how devastated he was. If only she could have gone with him. She tried to relax, feeling for the first time ever, like her career was a lead weight around her neck. She loved performing surgeries, and knew that when she walked into that hospital tomorrow morning she’d be able to leave everything behind her and be at her best, but right now, all she wanted was to be with Red.

Imagining him making the hour or so drive to where his club used to be, alone and disheartened, had her brushing at tears. If she could just do something to make it easier for him maybe this gnawing ache inside her would disappear. She closed her eyes and tried to rest but finally realized that sleep would not be her companion tonight. She looked at the clock on her nightstand and discovered that Red had only been gone from her for ten minutes. This was only the beginning of a long, unbearable night.

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Red passed yet another glance at the clock on his truck and discovered he’d only been gone from Tiffany’s for five minutes. He wondered if time would always drag when he wasn’t with her. Suddenly the thought of rebuilding the club in Lafayette didn’t sound so appealing to him. Maybe he’d just keep the one in Lake Coburn so he wouldn’t have to be away from her as much. If it wasn’t for the death in his club, he may have found some humor in his change of attitude since falling in love with Tiffany.

He had a sudden epiphany as to why his parents hadn’t been as excited over his various business ventures as he thought they should be. Any time he’d tell them of his proposals or plans, they’d always come back with the standard “That’ll be nice,” but his mother would always give him her sad little look. The few times he’d asked her what was wrong, she’d only said,
“I’m glad you’re doing what makes you happy now, Son, but I can’t help but want more than that for you.”
Suddenly, he couldn’t wait another minute to tell her.

He’d been in contact with his folks several times since he’d heard about the club. It wasn’t quite midnight but somehow he knew his mom would be awake. He opened his phone and called her cell phone number, hoping she had it near her.

Vivienne picked up in the middle of the first ring.
“Scott, are you alright?”

He smiled. “How do you do that, Mom?”

“
Caller I.D.,”
she said.

“
No, I mean know that I would call. You must have had your phone in your hand.”

“
I did, I admit. I know you’re upset. Your father and I are praying for you.”

“
I know you are, and thank you. Listen, I called you for two reasons. The first is not good news—they found the body of a woman in the club, no ID on her yet. I have no clue what’s going on, and it’s really bothering me.”

“
Oh, I’m so sorry. I’ll pray for her when I pray for you.”

“
I didn’t want you and dad to have to hear about it on the news. But, there’s another reason I called. I wanted to let you know that I finally understand what you meant all those times you said you wanted more for me. I finally want more too.” He heard his mother’s quiet chuckle.

“
Falling in love has a way of changing things, doesn’t it?”

“
I guess it does.” He laughed nervously.

“
Does she feel the same way?”

“
She wants me with her, Mom. I don’t know what I did to get so damn lucky.”

“
I’m ecstatic for you, Son. Tiffany is a beautiful girl.”

“
Wait until you see her again. She’s got this head full of gorgeous golden brown curls. Her ex made her keep it straight and blonde, can you believe that? What a fool!”

“
Tell her I’m proud of her when you talk to her again.”

“
I will. I’m seriously thinking of not rebuilding the club in Lafayette.”

“
Oh? Why not?”

“
It would take too much time away from her.”

She laughed.
“Love and babies, Scott…two things that always have a way of rearranging your priorities.”

Red’s phone beeped and he looked at the caller I.D. “Hey mom, that’s Doc calling me. I’ll call you and dad tomorrow morning, okay? I love you guys a lot.”

He hit the answer call button. “Doc? What’s wrong?”

“
I’ve got a serious problem, Red.”

“
What is it?” he asked, immediately searching for the nearest exit.

“
My bed is entirely too big without you in it.”

He smiled, feeling the tension ease from his body. “Oh, I see.”

“
It feels like you’ve been gone forever,”
she groaned.

“
I feel the same way. It’ll be a long day without you.”

“
Nights won’t be any easier. Now that I know how I sleep with you in my bed, I don’t know if I can sleep without you.”

He laughed. “How is it that you can make me go from miserable to laughing in under a minute, Doc?”

“
It’d be funnier if it wasn’t so close to the truth.”

His smile faded. “I know it is, and I feel the same way.”

“
That, and remind me not to take any more five hour naps.”

Red sucked in air through his teeth. “That depends on you, and whether or not you plan on swilling Crown like a freaking Marine anytime soon.”

“
Call me naïve, but I never imagined you’d have evil women scheming to get rid of your future prospects.”

“
Fair enough, Doc, fair enough. Regardless, I hate that you can’t sleep but I sure love that you called me.”

“
I got to thinking how you must be feeling on that long drive all by yourself and I couldn’t stand it. I needed you to know how I feel before you went to face all of that.”

“
So…How do you feel?” His heart pumped wildly in his chest.

“
I’ve never felt this way about anyone before. Every night since Thanksgiving I’ve been thinking that when I wake up tomorrow morning, I’ll feel normal again, and you won’t mean that much to me. But every morning when I wake up you’re the first thought in my mind. Yours is the first face that I want to see...and…there’s one other thing.”

“
What’s that?”

“
I can’t stand being away from you,”
she finished.

He was quiet on the other end of the phone. Finally he got the nerve to speak. “I’m considering not rebuilding the club in Lafayette.”

“
But, I don’t understand, Red. Why wouldn’t you rebuild?”

“
I can’t stand being away from you either, Tiffany.” He heard her quiet gasp and wished she were there in front of him.

“
Next time I say I want to go with you, you won’t be able to stop me.”

“
Next time I won’t try. If our situations were reversed and I was home, I wouldn’t be able to sleep either.”

“
Which home? Your home or my home?”
she asked.

“
I don’t care, but my bed is bigger.”

She laughed.
“What difference does it make when we’ll never use up all of that space anyway?”

“
Not sleeping, but it may come in handy for other things.”

She sucked in her breath sharply.
“Let’s not discuss other things unless you’re standing in front of me. I can’t take it.”

He chuckled lowly. “Okay then how about the fact that it’s a lot longer and my feet won’t hang off?”

“
You’ve definitely got a point there. I’m sorry, I hadn’t even thought about how awkward my bed might be for a man of your height. How tall are you, anyway?”

“
I’m a hair under six five. Too tall for you?”

“
Nope, you’re just right. But, um…”

“
What’s on your mind, Goldie Locks?”

“
Oh, it’s just that I find myself wondering if the rest of you is built in proportion…”

“
Really Doc? I’m shocked.” He smiled as she laughed openly.

“
I guess we need to change the subject again,”
she said.

Red laughed nervously. “I have a feeling no matter what we talk about we’ll end up right back where we started.”

“
Or where we ended…I really regret that you had to leave when you did, Red.”

“
No more than I do,” he groaned.

Tiffany emitted a half-sob
. “This is awful isn’t it?”

“
You’re not crying are you? I can’t take it when you cry.”

“
I’m not crying, Red but I feel like I’m on the verge of hysteria. I just wish you were here. I have all of these feelings and you’re not here.”

“
I know, Doc, but we’ll have time together, I promise. I bet you don’t know that I saw you cry the first day we met.”

“
You did not.”

“
After Jackson’s surgery, you went outside to call Tanner. You didn’t know it, but I was out there already.”

“
I remember that. He was at a club when he was supposed to be home. A woman answered his phone.”

“
I know, I could hear. Anyway, that’s when I discovered that you were with Tanner. I heard you sniff and I turned to watch you, I couldn’t help myself. Then you called him a cheating S.O.B. or something like that, shook it off like nothing had happened and walked back inside.”

“
Well, considering our first meeting, that must have made your day.”

“
Nothing about that pleased me. I wondered how someone as gorgeous and obviously successful as you could let someone like Tanner drag you down.”

“
I was so pissed at him. I’d probably been there since four o’clock that morning and had my usual four hours of sleep and he only had one surgery scheduled that day with no rounds to make, and he had to go home and rest.”

“
I bet Tanner never has trouble sleeping.” He heard her snort loudly.

“
No
,
he doesn’t,”
she said, sighing loudly.

Wishing he’d never brought up the subject of Tanner, he thought of a way to put a smile back on that beautiful face of hers. “Hey Doc?”

“
Yeah?”

“
I’m pretty damned proportional.”

By the time Red drove up to the site of his burned down club, they’d been on the phone nearly an hour. He turned off the ignition and sat there in the silence of his truck, surrounded by flashing lights and yellow tape in a parking lot full of fire trucks, police cars, ambulances, and other assorted vehicles.

“
I need to let you go now,” he told her. “I’m sure they’ll want to question me again.”

“
You’re probably right. You know, Red—” She paused, as though choosing her words carefully, “—It’s easier than I thought it would be.”

“
What’s that?”

“
Falling in love with you.”

He was quiet for a moment, letting her words sink in. “You don’t have to be afraid, Doc. I’ll never hurt you and I won’t step on your toes.”

“
I’m smiling,” she said.

“
I am too.” He ended the call and stepped out of his truck…into his own personal hell.

Chapter 13

It was noon before Tiffany pushed through the double doors leading back to the area designated for staff only. She’d just completed her second surgery of the morning, making her hospital rounds in between, and hadn’t had a chance to breathe, much less check her phone for messages until now. She turned on her cell phone, seeing that she had six missed calls—all from Red. She smiled when she saw that there were three messages from him also.

“
What are
you
grinning about?” Tanner asked, walking up alongside her. “Your new boyfriend’s club just burnt down and they found a body of a woman in it, didn’t they?”

“
Unfortunately, that’s true.”

“
Maybe there’s a chance he did it,” he added.

“
That’s funny. I was just thinking the same about you.”

“
Why would you think that?” he asked, seeming generally shocked at her accusation.

“
How about all those comments about how your father is a very powerful man and has his ways of making things happen to ruin people’s lives? I’m sure one phone call from his whiny, spoiled son about how I left you and took up with Red would have him plotting all kinds of things.”

“
Oh come on, Tiff, you know me better than that.”