A Nurse to Tame the ER Doc

He nodded. “On more than one occasion.”

Her gaze dropped back to the tiny creature with empathy. “Let’s let this one go.”

“Guess it’s a good thing I brought lunch, then.”

“You brought lunch?”

He nodded and gestured toward his backpack. “Drinks are in the cooler in Jessica, though.”

“You’re like a scout. Always prepared.”

He chuckled. “Never a scout, but I’ve camped more than my share.”

She arched a brow at him.

“Most of my childhood was spent in campgrounds. There were a few times we lived in actual buildings, but they were far and few between.”

“You lived in tents?”

“Sometimes. Most of the time we had this pop-up camper we pulled behind a mini-van my mother referred to as Bertha.”

“That’s where you get naming your Jeep?”

He gave her an incredulous look. “Have you never named a vehicle?”

She shook her head.

“Guess that’s going to be another first for you, Taylor, because your car has to have a name.”

“Yeah, well, my little sedan doesn’t have Jessica’s character. She’d be rather dull, I think.”

“Your car is a female, then?”

She thought about it a minute, then nodded. “Definitely.”

* * *

“Look, that one’s a rabbit munching on a carrot.” Taylor pointed to a group of puffy white clouds that contrasted starkly with the intense blue of the sky.

“I see the rabbit, but are you sure that’s a carrot?”

She turned to look at Jack. “What else would it be?”

“A cigar. See the tiny puff of smoke coming off the end?”

“Okay, I’ll give you that one.” The clouds did look more like a rabbit smoking a cigar than one eating a carrot. “But, for the record, my rabbit was healthier than yours.”

“You won’t get any arguments from me on that one.”

Something in his voice struck her and she turned her head to look at him in question.

Without looking her way, he admitted, “Both my parents smoked, which is why I lost my dad at too early an age.”

“I’m sorry, Jack. What happened?”

“Heart attack in his late forties.”

“You were young when it happened, then?”