Odd that a look from Chrissie could achieve that, could reach deep inside and bring forth a balm of peace and happiness.
“Well, as much as I enjoy watching the show, I’m going to leave you two alone for a bit and go grab a bottled water while we’re in a lull. You want anything?” Alexis asked, cutting into his thoughts as she stood.
His gaze shifted. “I’m good. I’ve still got half a bottle from the last time one of the volunteers came by with drinks.”
“Tsk. Tsk,” Alexis scolded. “Make sure you hydrate well. Can’t have you getting heatstroke on us.” She turned her attention to Chrissie. “Lovely talking with you. Have fun and we’ll catch up later.”
“Thanks. I will.” Chrissie smiled at the retreating woman. “I like her.”
“I noticed. What did she mean by have fun?”
Chrissie shrugged. “You’d have to ask her.”
“Despite the fact I’m convinced you know exactly what she meant?”
“Well, not exactly.”
“But close?”
“Possibly.”
Trace laughed. “Well, whatever she meant, I appreciate her giving us privacy. How’s your day so far?”
“Not as busy as I recall us being four years ago,” she admitted. “But steady for the most part.”
“Not being as busy is a good thing. Hopefully it means people are taking precautions to prevent heat issues and injuries.”
“I’m not complaining that we’re not swamped,” Chrissie assured him. “I want things to go well for the participants and volunteers. But I’m used to being busy. The gaps between patients can get tedious.”
“Bite your tongue before you jinx us,” he scolded.
“What? Afraid we’ll have more late-night interruptions?”
“Alexis is ‘manning the tent tonight,’” he reminded her. “George, one of the paramedics, volunteered to stay with her.”
“I bet he did. She’s a beautiful woman.”
“So are you.”
Her lashes lowered. “I wasn’t fishing for a compliment.”
“I didn’t think you were, but you are a beautiful woman.”
“Beauty is in the eye of the beholder.”
“My eyes behold your beauty quite proficiently. As a matter of fact, I’d say they were experts at beholding your beauty.”
She snorted. “I’d rather be appreciated for my brains.”
“Seriously?”
She nodded.
“What is it about your brain you would like me to appreciate most? Your medulla oblongata? Your cerebellum? Your sulcus? A little gray matter, maybe?” he teased, loving the light shining over the darkness that seemed perpetually to permeate his inner being.
She wrinkled her nose at him. “I was thinking more along the lines of my brilliant conversation skills, my amazingly humorous wit, my—”
“Propensity for the truth?”