With a hand on his young nephew’s shoulder, he stepped back from the receptionist’s window. “Go ahead. We’re just here for Johnny’s annual physical.”
“Thanks.”
Cord rapped his knuckles on the glass partition.
Mrs. Willard ambled over. A smile pulled at her bright red-painted lips. “Goodness gracious, Cord. You never come here. What—”
The words trailed off as her gaze took in Lexi resting against his chest. The woman wheeled around and rushed to open the door leading to the exam rooms.
“What happened to her?”
“A scorpion stung her. Think the doc better have a look at her right away.”
“Poor thing.” Mrs. Willard held the door for him. “Bring her this way.”
She guided him down the hallway past a couple of closed doors. She pointed to the room at the end of the corridor. “Let her rest in there. I’ll get Doc.”
She hustled off in the opposite direction, while he carried Lexi inside and set her down on the paper-lined exam table.
Seconds later, footsteps echoed in the hallway, and then Doc Willard stepped into the room. “I hear you’ve brought me a new patient.”
Cord turned to the gray-haired man in his usual white coat—the same man who’d delivered him and patched up all of his childhood scrapes. He was one of the few people in town who’d never judged him or his short-lived marriage.
“Doc, this is Lexi Greer. We were out visiting Haggerty, and she had a run-in with a scorpion.”
The doctor’s gaze moved from him to her and back again. “Okay. I can take it from here. Why don’t you go wait in the waiting room? We’ll be a few minutes.”
Leave? An unfamiliar sensation came over him—protectiveness. Cord turned to Lexi for direction. He wasn’t anxious to clear out, but he’d do whatever would make her the most comfortable.
“Go ahead,” she said.
He slipped out of the room, closing the door behind him. The weight of responsibility hung round his neck, pulling down on him. He never should have given in to her plea to traipse around Haggerty. He’d known nothing good would come of it. And he’d been right.
Once in the waiting room, he started to pace. He didn’t know why he’d let himself get so worried. He’d seen a lot worse after spending his whole life on a ranch. So why did Lexi’s incident strike him so profoundly? It wasn’t like she meant anything to him.
A little boy, not much more than a toddler, waved a toy airplane above his head. He spun around and bumped into Cord. With lightning-fast reflexes, Cord bent over to steady the child.
“Hey there, buddy, be careful.” Cord’s vision moved to the toy. “That’s a really cool plane.”
The boy shot him a wide-eyed stare before running to his mother and clinging to her jean-clad leg. Cord smiled, hoping the boy would do the same—he didn’t. Cord hated the thought of a little kid fearing him. He didn’t think of himself as being big and scary. He sure hoped it wasn’t the impression he gave other people—especially not Lexi.
Was she scared of him?
He hadn’t exactly gone out of his way to show her his nice side. He expelled a frustrated sigh and ran a hand over the back of his neck. He’d have to work on being nicer to her. Just because he didn’t want her building a resort on his land didn’t mean he had to come across as an ogre.
He glanced around, finding all of the chairs in the small waiting room filled. When his gaze landed on Tony, his friend slid over on the bench, making room for him.
“Thanks.” Cord sat down, even though he’d prefer to be pacing. His knee bobbed up and down.
“So that’s the lady the whole town is buzzing about?” Tony nodded toward the exam rooms. “The one who wants to buy your ranch?”
“Just part of it. And yeah, that’s her. She had a run-in with a scorpion and lost.”
“Cool.” A school-age boy’s eyes opened up. “Is she gonna be okay?”
“Sure, she is.” Tony spoke up before Cord could think of an appropriate answer. “Johnny, why don’t you go check out the books over there? I thought I saw one about horses.”
Johnny’s uncertain gaze moved between the two men. “Okay.”