Healing Her Heart (Crystal Lake Series Book 1) (3 page)

“Your home looks very rustic,” she said as they finally approached the driveway. Only ninety more feet to go. “Somehow I expected something more...flashy.”

“Flashy?” He grasped his chest as if wounded. “Do I really look like the type that goes for flashy?”

She chuckled. “No, but doctors generally live a much higher lifestyle than the rest of us.”

He hid a stab of disappointment regarding her observation. Was she like so many of the other nurses? The ones who set their sights on marrying a doctor? And when they didn’t get what they wanted, stooped so low as to tell lies, not caring that they destroyed a man’s reputation?

“It’s so beautiful,” she murmured. “You must love the peace and quiet.”

“I do,” he agreed, refusing to waste any time thinking about Rebecca. She was out of his life, for good. Three more feet and they were up to his front stoop. “Can you navigate the step all right? Or should I carry you?”

“I can do it,” she responded quickly.

He held the door open for her, and she limped inside, heading for the closest chair. “Thanks,” she said with a sigh. “Feels good to sit down for a moment. I hate to ask for any more favors, but I’d appreciate a ride home.”

“I’ll drive you home as soon as we clean up those wounds.” Didn’t she realize there was blood oozing out from the dirt filled abrasions? “Sit tight, I’ll be right back.”

“Wait, you don’t have to—” she began, but he ignored her. He went to rummage through his bathroom cabinet, finding everything he needed: dressings, tape, antibiotic ointment. When he returned, he discovered she’d made her way into the kitchen.

“I don’t want to bleed on your carpet,” she said with a hint of defensiveness. “And I washed the scrapes on my hands with soap and water.”

He set the supplies on the table and then went over to fill up a bowl with soapy water. He brought it over and knelt beside her. “This might hurt,” he warned as he took a soft washcloth and began cleaning her knees.

The abrasions weren’t too bad, and she didn’t say a word as he cleaned them up. “What’s the matter?” he asked when he finished putting fresh dressings in place. “Did you think a measly doctor wouldn’t know how to dress a wound?”

“No, you did a fine job,” she said in a low voice. She avoided his gaze. “Thanks so much. It’s a good thing I’m off work for the next two days. A bit of rest and I’ll be as good as new.”

“You might want to see your doctor. He’ll write you an excuse to stay off work longer if needed.”

“I’ll be fine,” she repeated. “I’m sure you want to get back to your run, so if you could just drive me home, I’ll get out of your hair.”

She was acting a bit strange, and he thought she might be having more pain than she’d let on. He loosened her running shoe. “First, let’s wrap up this ankle.” The swelling hadn’t gotten too much worse, which was a good sign since she’d been walking on it for the past twenty minutes. Maybe there wasn’t any ligament damage. “Better?” he asked when he’d finished wrapping it snuggly.

“Much.” Her voice sounded strained. “Thanks. Again.”

He stared at her for a moment, trying to gauge her mood. He rose to his feet and crossed over to the fridge. He pulled out a bottle of water and handed it to her. After taking a swig of his own water, he took a bag of frozen peas out of the freezer. “Here, use this as an ice pack,” he said, draping the bag over her ankle.

She let out an unexpected chuckle. “Too funny. I have a bag of frozen peas that I use as an ice pack, too.”

He couldn’t help but return her smile. “I bet every runner has a bag of peas in their freezer.”

“Maybe,” she agreed. She took a long drink of water before recapping the bottle. “So, is there anything else you think you need to fix, Dr. Allen? Or should we get going?”

He had the insane urge to offer to make her dinner but stopped himself just in time. “I’ll drive you home. Here, lean on me. My car is in the garage.”

“No problem.” She held on to the peas and the water bottle with one hand and held him around the waist with the other. It was a short distance, but he found he missed her touch once she was safely tucked into the passenger seat.

Larissa kept glancing out her window on the ride home, and he got the sense she was avoiding him for some reason. After about ten minutes, he pulled up to her apartment complex.

He insisted on helping her up to her apartment despite her protests that she’d be fine. “Do you need anything else?” he asked after she unlocked the door.

“Nope, but thanks again. See you later,” she barely got out before she shut the door firmly between them.

He stared at the closed door for several long seconds before turning to make his way back outside to his car. The thought that she’d been so anxious to get rid of him didn’t sit well.

And much like the way she’d interrupted his run—granted, through no fault of her own—she annoyingly infiltrated his thoughts for the remainder of the day.

Chapter Three

Larissa slid behind the wheel of her car, intending to attend Sunday morning church services. However using her right foot to drive proved nearly impossible. After several jerky attempts at driving with her left foot, she let out a frustrated groan, turned off the car, and awkwardly climbed back out from behind the wheel. No way was that going to work. She was more likely to hit something than not.

She stared up at the cloudless sky, fighting a wave of helplessness. This stupid ankle was going to ruin her few days off work if she couldn’t manage to drive a car. She propped herself against the vehicle, enjoying the cool breeze as she tried to figure out what to do next.

Less than one day and she was already heartily sick of being stuck in her apartment. Maybe she could manage to hobble down to Rose’s Café? Josie would keep her company at least for a while. There was nothing the café owner liked more than gossip.

“Larissa!”

She turned when she heard her name, surprise widening her eyes when she caught sight of Gabe Allen walking toward her. He’d parked his car a few spaces down from hers.

“Hi, Gabe.” She was glad that this time she didn’t smell like sweat and was dressed in a flowery skirt and a matching pink, short-sleeved top. She tried not to fidget with her clothing. “What are you doing here?”

“I brought over a pair of crutches in case you needed some help getting around.” He gazed at her attire and lifted his brow. “Are you headed somewhere special?”

She blushed and wished she could stop this ridiculous reaction to him. “I planned on attending church services, but driving is apparently not an option.” Had he mentioned crutches? She brightened with the possibility. “I bet I could walk to church, though, if you’re serious about allowing me to borrow those crutches.” Church and then Rose’s café. Much better than sitting around and staring at the four walls of her apartment.

“I think it would be better if I drove you to church,” Gabe said slowly. “Crutch walking isn’t easy for long distances.”

“Oh.” She was flabbergasted by his willingness to take her to church because she’d never seen him attend services in the past. “That’s very kind, but I don’t want to take you out of your way.”

“It’s no problem. Here, lean on me, and we’ll get you over to my car.”

She found it unsettling to realize she was standing close to Gabe with his arm anchored around her waist for the second time in less than twenty-four hours. She had no idea why God kept sending this man into her path, but for right now, she couldn’t think of an excuse not to go along with his offer. Other than the obvious one, that spending time with Gabe wasn’t smart.

But she breathed a little easier when she was safely seated in the passenger seat of his car. She waited until he slid into the driver’s seat before glancing at him. “You know, I wouldn’t mind if you dropped me off at church and came back in an hour if you don’t want to go in with me.”

Gabe looked past her, over his shoulder as he backed out of the parking space. “Is that a polite way of saying I’m not welcome?” he asked.

“No! Of course not.” She was horrified that he would think that. “I guess I just never noticed you attending church services before.”

A smile bloomed across his features. “Isn’t it the job of a good Christian to convince us non-goers to attend church and to rediscover our faith?” he asked in a teasing tone. “At least that’s what my sister always tries to do.”

She relaxed after hearing his sister was a Christian. “Yes, you’re right about that. I would love for you to come to church, but I can’t force you to believe in God. You have to come to that realization on your own.”

Gabe was silent for a moment. “I have to be honest with you. I haven’t been to church in well over a year.”

She wondered what had happened to cause his lapse in faith. And given what he’d just told her, she had no idea why he’d even offered to come with her in the first place. But she didn’t want to pry into his personal life by asking. She, better than anyone, understood the need for privacy. “Well, I have to tell you that out of all the church services I’ve attended in my lifetime, Pastor John gives one of the best,” she said lightly. “He’s down to earth and yet always helps remind us what God would want us to do. Maybe I’m being presumptuous, but I think you’ll like him.”

Gabe made a noncommittal noise but didn’t say anything more as he pulled up to the parking lot of the church. She struggled to get out of the car, which wasn’t easy, but within moments, Gabe was there, helping her.

“Thanks,” she murmured, hoping he wouldn’t notice the breathlessness in her tone.

“Stay there,” he told her. “I’ll get the crutches.”

He pulled the aluminum crutches out of the backseat and set them next to her. “Try these. I set them up for your height based on memory, but I might have the measurements wrong.”

She took the crutches and propped them beneath her armpits, not surprised to discover they were perfect. “They’re great. Thanks so much.”

“I broke my foot once, so trust me, I know what you’re going through,” he confided. “It’s not as easy to crutch walk as it looks.”

She flashed him a smile and made her way over toward the sidewalk leading up to the front door of the church. Gabe stayed right beside her, his hand hovering on the small of her back, as if he was worried she might fall.

There weren’t many parishioners in attendance as it was the holiday, but those who were there greeted her by name. She didn’t know if she should introduce Gabe, and if so, as what? Her friend? A colleague? One of the doctors she worked with? She couldn’t bring herself to use any of those options, so she decided not to say anything at all.

Gabe was likely regretting his offer to bring her, based on the knowing looks being flashed their way. Did Gabe realize the power of small-town gossip? She could feel her cheeks turning red and ducked her head, hoping no one would notice.

She told herself not to worry what anyone else thought. If this was what Gabe needed to bring him back to the church, then the minor discomfort was well worth it.

Closing her eyes, she sent up a small prayer.
Please, Lord, show Gabe the way home.

____________

Gabe stood beside Larissa in church, wondering why on earth he’d agreed to this. She’d given him an out, had offered to be dropped off and picked up in an hour when the service was over. Honestly, that was exactly what he’d considered before she mentioned it.

But he hadn’t taken the chance to skip out. Instead, here he was, attending church in the first time in over a year. His sister had dragged him to services whenever possible back in Madison, but after moving to Crystal Lake, he hadn’t bothered.

When Larissa had mentioned that she couldn’t force him to believe in God, he’d relaxed his guard. He loved his sister, Kimberly, but she was constantly preaching at him, trying to get him to buy into every one of her beliefs. Instinctively, the more she pushed, the more he’d backed off.

He picked up the hymnal and found the opening hymn. One thing he’d rather liked about the church services was the music. It occurred to him now just how much he’d missed it.

As the organist began to play, they rose to their feet and began to sing along. His baritone was a bit rusty, but he soon got into the rhythm.

He caught Larissa’s pleased smile as she joined him in singing along. Her arm lightly brushed his, and he kept his eyes centered on the hymnal, pretending not to notice.

Even though he did.

The pastor was younger than he’d anticipated. Gabe hadn’t expected to enjoy the service, despite Larissa’s glowing praise of Pastor John Gorman, but since the theme of the sermon today was forgiveness, he found his attention riveted on the pastor’s words.

Pastor John paused for a moment and then read, “
And whenever you stand praying, if you have anything against anyone, forgive him, that your Father in heaven may also forgive you your trespasses (Mark 11:25).”

The passage struck a chord deep within. He’d remained so angry with Rebecca after the way she’d destroyed his reputation at the University Hospital in Madison. Telling his boss and the hospital leadership that he’d sexually harassed her when, in fact, she was simply upset because he’d broken off their relationship. She’d cost him his job. No matter how much he’d tried to deny her allegations, he knew there was no way to recover from the stigma.