Eggnog and Candy Canes: A Blueberry Springs Christmas Novella by Jean Oram Read Free Book Online Page B

food even if it dries out,” her husband said. “Ow!”
    “Hurts more when I touch there?” Nash said gently, as he probed the man’s abdomen.
    “Yes.” Harvey gasped again as he tried to curl away from the doctor’s touch.
    “Call Oz,” Katie told her mom. “He can walk over and check on the turkey. This will take some time.” She turned the thermometer’s reading so Nash could see it. They shared a look.
    “I have so much left to do.” Her mother buried her head in her hands. “Oh, this Christmas is cursed. First you having to work, then Devon getting cut by his tree decoration, and now your father.” She let out a plaintive cry, then straightened, her power-mom persona back in place. “Fix him up, Dr. Leham, Harvey has somewhere to be and work to do.”
    Her father let out a moan as Nash continued to tap and prod him. Katie knew from years of experience that her father’s pain levels indicated something bad. Quite bad.
    “Mom,” she said firmly, “go call Oz.”
    “Go home, Angelica,” Harvey said, sitting up. “Go home.” A sheen of sweat broke over his forehead and he appeared ready to vomit. Katie passed a kidney-shaped emesis basin to Nash, who had it under her father’s chin in the nick of time. Harvey coughed and wiped his mouth with the back of his hand. “The weather is worsening. Go. I’ll be home right after you.”
    “And how will you get home, mister?” Angelica asked, placing her hands on her hips in a way that made Katie realize things were going to break loose if she didn’t take control. Her mother was trembling, her worry and fear for her husband taking over her nervous system.
    “Mom, go call. Let Dr. Leham finish his examination, okay?”
    Angelica hovered near the door, biting her thumbnail. “The turkey will be fine for a few more minutes. I can wait.”
    “Go,” Katie said, her voice low.
    Her mother turned and left the room, the welcoming scent of cinnamon and cloves following her.
    “You’re calling me Dr. Leham again?” Nash whispered to her as he washed his hands in the sink. His shoulders were stiffer and higher than usual.
    “Respectfully, yes,” she said with an exasperated glance. “Nothing more.”
    “Don’t cross her when she gives that look,” her father warned, then groaned again in pain.
    “Dad, Nash isn’t…” Katie floundered for the right thing to say, since technically her dad hadn’t said anything, even though it was all laid out in his tone. And his tone warned Nash as though he was Katie’s man.
    “Whatever you say, Katie doll,” Harvey replied.
    “Don’t listen to him. The pain has gone to his head.” Katie struggled to busy herself so she’d have an excuse to not meet Nash’s bright, inquisitive, and oh-so-smart-and-delving eyes. She bent over the chart, double-checking the information the intake nurse had written down.
    “Whatever you two decide to do with each other, that’s fine by me,” her father continued. “If I die, you have my luck Dr. Leham, as well as my blessing.”
    “Thanks, Dad, but that won’t be necessary, we only work together.” She put the chart on the gurney beside him and noticed his red corduroy slacks. “Hey, I thought we threw these pants out last year.”
    “Your mother found them.”
    “My word. We’ll have to burn them so they can’t come back to haunt you.” They were baggy, worn at the knees, and generally a crime against fashion.
    “Please do.”
    “I’m going to have to agree, although that garment isn’t going to be the worst thing about your evening, Mr. Reiter,” Nash said. He sat on a stool beside her father and Katie felt her eyes tear up unexpectedly. He was being so kind, gentle, thoughtful, and caring with her dad... Well, heck. The lust had just turned into something else. Something mushier. Something she’d only read about in romance novels. The ones she vehemently denied reading. And if she was going to go full confessional, it was also something in scenes she