Cal gave him a disappointed look. “If you’d walk away from a great woman like Laura because of a few little hurdles, then you’re not the man I think you are.”
“Then you’re encouraging me to date her?”
“Sure, but only if you’re serious,” Cal said. “At least I think that’s the message I was supposed to convey. I’m a mere man. I could have gotten it wrong.”
“Heaven help me!” J.C. declared.
“Yep, that’s pretty much what it’s going to take,” Cal agreed.
* * *
As soon as J.C. walked in the door at home, he dialed Laura’s number.
Once she’d picked up, he asked, “Have you noticed that people in this town are freaking nuts?”
She chuckled. “I think they’d prefer to be called ‘eccentric’ or ‘quirky.’ You’ve lived here for years. Is there any particular reason you’ve come to this conclusion now?”
“Cal Maddox lectured me tonight,” he reported, indignation creeping into his voice.
“About?”
“You.”
He heard her indrawn breath on the other end of the line.
“Me?” she repeated eventually. “Why would Cal be lecturing you about me?”
“Apparently there’s some sort of frenzy about the possibility that I’ll break your heart.”
“I see,” she said slowly, then chuckled again. “Sorry, but that is so typical. Nobody can spend five seconds with someone of the opposite sex in this community without everybody weighing in. I wouldn’t be surprised if they’re not taking bets at Wharton’s.”
“Bets? What sort of bets?”
“How soon we’ll get married, of course. And, just so you know, it’s no quieter over here this evening. My phone line has been buzzing. Apparently sitting in the park was no smarter than going to Wharton’s for coffee. There are spies everywhere.”
“Well, that’s just crazy.”
“Of course it is,” she said. “But it’s one of the things that gives this town its warmth and charm.”
She sounded more amused than threatened by all the talk.
“This really doesn’t bother you?” he asked, wishing he could get to whatever level of serenity she’d attained over such utter craziness.
“It’s embarrassing,” she admitted. “But why get worked up over it? You and I know the truth. Isn’t that what counts?”
J.C. felt the tension in his shoulders finally start to ease. If she could take the talk in stride, he should certainly be able to weather it.
“Exactly how many calls have you had?” he asked curiously.
“Four from friends at school. Three left messages I haven’t returned. One caught me as I walked in the door. She actually knew about the pie. I have to admit, even I was a little taken aback by that.”
“Doesn’t that rise to the level of stalking or something? It’s a little weird.”
“She says she’s just observant. I don’t think we have to worry about stalking till we spot people hiding out in the bushes outside of our homes to see if we’re together.”
Just thinking about that possibility made J.C. shudder. “Maybe we should get together and talk about this some more, figure out our strategy.”
“Strategy for what?” she asked.
“Nipping this gossip in the bud.”
“And you think getting together again for any reason is going to help?” she asked, laughing. “Hello! It’ll be another sighting. It’ll only add more fuel to the fire.”
“Then we avoid each other entirely,” he concluded, not especially happy with the alternative. Why was that? he wondered.
“That would be the smart way to go, if your goal is to put an end to all the talk,” she agreed, though she didn’t sound any more enthused about the plan than he was.
“That’s not going to work for me,” he surprised himself by saying.
“Oh?”
“We have this Misty situation,” he said, scrambling for an excuse to cover the fact that he simply didn’t want to cut this witty, intelligent, attractive woman right back out of his life. At least not until he figured out why she’d gotten under his skin so quickly.
“That’s true, but since it’s really a school matter, you don’t have to be involved,” she said.
“Misty came to me for help. I’m involved,” he said, correcting her.
“I could just call you, keep you in the loop,” she suggested.
Her willingness to let him off the hook annoyed him. “Until I’m sure this bullying has ended, I intend to stay on top of this. You’re not going to shake me loose that easily, Laura. I’m Misty’s physician. I have a responsibility here, one I take seriously.”
“Hey, you’re the one who was all worked up about a little gossip. I was just trying to figure out a way to put an end to it,” she said defensively.
And now she was clearly annoyed with him, he concluded. That’s what came from trying to have a simple, platonic relationship with a female. Things always got complicated.
Such as the fact that right this second he couldn’t imagine anything he wanted more than to finish this whole ridiculous conversation in bed, kissing her until her indignation gave way to murmurs of pleasure. The image was so clear in his head, he had to swallow hard and try to catch his breath before saying anything.
“J.C., are you still there?”
“I’m here,” he said tightly.
“So, what are we going to do?”
“We’re going to dinner at Sullivan’s tomorrow night,” he said decisively. “And this time it is a date.”
He thought he heard a faint gasp on her end of the line. Good. He’d thrown her for a change.
“I don’t believe I heard an invitation in there,” she said.
She suddenly sounded all prim and proper. He discovered that tone was a heck of a turn-on. Who knew he’d harbored a secret yearning for an old-fashioned schoolmarm, one who promised to be more complicated than that physics course that had almost cost him his entry to med school?
“Would you like to have dinner at Sullivan’s tomorrow?” he asked, trying not to grind his teeth, so it wouldn’t sound as if the words were being dragged out of him against his will.
“Dinner would be lovely,” she said. “Just one thing.”
“What’s that?”
“Do you have any idea what you’re stirring up?”
He gave the question a moment’s thought before answering. “In town? Pretty much. Between us? Not a clue.”
She laughed. “Okay, then. I guess we’re on the same page, after all. Dinner ought to be interesting.”
“Oh, it will be,” he promised. He just had to remember how this dating thing was supposed to work. These days most of his charm was reserved for getting kids not to bite him when he was giving
