Then He Kissed Me (Whispering Bay Romance 2)

“Oh, I’m sure he’s fine, it’s just the situation is a little…delicate, and you know Daddy doesn’t do so well with strangers lately.” There had been a time when Dan Handy could handle anything thrown at him, major crises included. Strangers were just someone who wasn’t your friend yet, he’d say. But now, strangers caused him anxiety. Not all the time, of course. But you never knew when something might set him off.

Janie made a sympathetic face. “I know, hon.” She glanced around the busy waiting room and lowered her voice, although anyone who wanted to hear, could have. “It’s Dr. Miller’s first day going solo, and you’re not the first person who’s been less than thrilled to find out Doc Morrison isn’t here.” Lauren tried to think of something to say in Nate’s defense, but Janie kept on going. “Poor guy. He got dumped this weekend. So whatever you do, just don’t mention YouTube to him.”

“YouTube? Why on earth would I mention that?” Lauren asked.

“Sorry, I can’t talk about it. That would be gossiping,” Janie said.

What? That made absolutely no sense at all. Janie said he’d been dumped, which meant Jessica had gone through with her little plan to try to manipulate Nate into moving to Miami. Lauren found herself hoping that her plan wouldn’t work. Not just because it would mean that Whispering Bay would be losing a doctor, but she’d hate to see Nate end up with a witch like Jessica.

Lauren took a seat. Momma filled out the paperwork, and after a short wait they were escorted back to an exam room. Bianca took Daddy’s vital signs and did a general assessment. Lauren and her parents knew everyone in Doc Morrison’s office, and everyone in the office knew them, too. As well as Daddy’s situation, as Momma called it.

Lauren squirmed in her seat. Hopefully, Nate would be up to speed on that. Doc Morrison had a warm way about him that made you love him instantly. Lauren had always thought of him as a great big teddy bear. No matter how sick you were, he always managed to make you laugh. If Doc brought Nate in to take over his practice, then it must mean that he trusted him to take care of his patients in the same manner he’d always done.

The heat in the office was a little stifling, so Lauren slipped off her poncho. Momma picked up a magazine to read, and Daddy sat on the exam table fidgeting with the towel, wrapping it and rewrapping it around his hand. The motion reminded Lauren of something Henry would have done just a few years ago.

After a couple of minutes, there was a knock on the door and Nate Miller walked in. He wore crisp dark dress pants and a light blue shirt with a paisley tie under his lab coat. Very GQ looking for Whispering Bay. Lauren wondered if he’d keep up the look without Jessica around to pick out his outfits.

Nate’s gaze stopped briefly on Lauren before settling on her parents. Wait, no nod today? “Mr. and Mrs. Handy? I’m Nate Miller.” He shook Momma’s hand.

“I’d shake your hand, young man, but as you can see I’ve had a little accident,” Daddy said.

“I see that, sir.” He glanced back at Lauren, cleared his throat, and…did the nod! But today he added, “Lauren,” by way of acknowledgement. Poor Nate. Lauren couldn’t help but feel sorry for him. As a witness to his proposal debacle, she was probably the last person on earth he wanted to see. Besides Jessica, that is.

“How can I help you today?” he asked Daddy.

Momma’s brow furrowed. “I don’t understand, we see Dr. Morrison.”

“Momma,” Lauren said, “Doc Morrison is out sick. Dr. Miller is his new partner.”

Nate sat down on a stool and opened his laptop, placed it on the desk, then made quick work of reading the screen. “You cut your hand trying to open a window?” he asked Daddy.

Daddy nodded. “Damn latch wouldn’t give way.”

Momma let out a huge sigh, like she was bursting to tell the real story. Lauren bit the inside of her cheek and tried not to squirm in her chair.

“Let me take a look at it,” Nate said. He put on a pair of gloves and unwrapped the towel from her father’s hand. His gaze quickly shot to Lauren’s, then back to Daddy again. Lauren felt an instant alarm. There was something in Nate’s gaze that implied the cut was worse than they’d originally thought. Should she have taken Daddy to the ER in Panama City, instead?

Nate began to gently probe the skin around the cut. Daddy winced, but he didn’t make a peep. Lauren began to relax a little. Nate might be…verbally challenged, but he seemed competent enough. “This is going to require some stitches. I’ll numb it first with Xylocaine. You’re not allergic to anything, are you?”

“Just windows,” Daddy said.

Lauren waited for Nate to chuckle. But he didn’t. So she filled in the awkward gap with an even more awkward sounding attempt at laughter. Doc Morrison would have appreciated the little one liner. He would have also engaged Daddy in conversation—nothing big, but they would have talked about the weather or how the Jacquards were doing in the NFL this season. Anything that would have put Daddy at ease. But Nate Miller appeared to be all business. Lauren knew she shouldn’t compare both men, but it was hard not to.

Bianca walked into the exam room and handed Nate a disposable suture kit. “Would you like me to stay to help?” she asked him.

“Not necessary,” he said, already opening up the kit.

“All right,” she said uncertainly. “But if you need me, I’ll just be down the hall.” She smiled at Daddy, then closed the door.

Nate injected a needle into the skin around the cut, causing Daddy to flinch. “Sorry, should have warned you it would sting,” he said. He waited another minute or two and then began to methodically sew up the cut with neat, tiny stitches.

“Dr. Miller,” Momma said, “I’m sorry if we seemed a bit…taken aback by you initially, it’s just that Doc Morrison is the only physician we’ve ever used. Unless we needed a specialist, of course.”

Nate nodded, like he’d heard this before. Now that Daddy seemed to be cooperating, Momma began being Momma again. “How are you enjoying your new career?” she asked pleasantly.

There was silence for a few seconds, then Nate looked up from his sewing. “Are you talking to me?”

“Well, of course I am! You know, when we heard that Doc Morrison had hired a new physician to come work with him we were all skeptical. There had been those other two who, for whatever reason, just didn’t stick. Poor Doc,” Momma said. Then she lowered her voice to a near whisper. “I heard one of them got a big job in Dallas. How’s Doc supposed to compete with that? But he got smart this time and got himself a local boy.” Momma stopped, as if something had just occurred to her. She glanced between Lauren and Nate, and her eyes widened. “The two of you went to high school together! I knew that, of course, but I’d totally forgotten.” She reached over and lightly slapped Lauren on her knee. “Lauren! Where are your manners? You forgot to remind me that you and Nate are old friends!”