“If you don’t stop bouncing your leg up and down, I’m going to reach over there and smack you,” Celeste said under her breath as they waited in Dusty’s chiropractic office. Er, Dr. Quinn’s chiropractic office, Lindy supposed, but he’d always be Dusty to her.
“Sorry. I’m just nervous.”
“You’re nervous? I’m the one about to be folded up like a pretzel and then pounced on. What do you have to be nervous about?”
“You’re right. I’m just being silly.” Lindy forced her knee to stop bouncing, but when Amy, the receptionist, called them back into the exam room, her stomach did a massive flip, and she had to swallow a few times.
When Dusty came into the room and greeted them, her stomach flipped again, but this time it was more like loop-de-loop. Sure enough, he was every bit as gorgeous as she remembered, but even better now because he was older, and she liked what those few years had done to him. He still had the same mischievous smile, but he had an additional air of confidence about him.
“Your doctor sent over all your x-rays, which is great because it gives me an idea where we’re starting,” Dusty said. “You’ve had quite a lot of inflammation.”
“That’s right. I’ve been on anti-inflammatories since I fell. My doctor said that would speed my healing.”
Dusty nodded. “Tissues and ligaments can’t heal properly if they’re inflamed. And now that the swelling is reducing, we can do some chiropractic and physical therapy to get everything moving the right direction again. I’d like to do a thorough exam today and test your range of motion. We’ll see how far you can reach and bend before you experience pain. Then we’ll set some goals.”
“Are you going to make me cry?” Celeste asked.
Dusty seemed surprised by the question, but then he grinned. “I’ll sure try not to.”
He asked Celeste to stand up, and then he turned to Lindy. “Hi there. Haven’t seen you for a long time.”
He remembered her? Lindy swallowed. “It’s been a while.”
“You were over at River’s End Ranch, weren’t you? Seems like I heard someone say that.”
“Yes, I worked in the diner for a while. I’m taking some classes, too—veterinary school.” He remembered her, and he’d been paying attention when her name came up. This couldn’t be real.
“That’s great. All right, Celeste, show me how far you can turn to the right. Slowly—and only go as far as you can before it becomes uncomfortable.”
With that, his focus was back on Celeste, where it should be, but Lindy couldn’t stop beaming. He’d spoken to her. He remembered her. And he thought it was great. Wait—what was great? That she worked in the diner, or that she was going to school? Why hadn’t he been more specific?
She pulled in a deep breath. She was acting like a thirteen-year-old again. She needed to stop that.
“Hmm. You’re pretty stiff still. I think some very gentle massage would go a long way toward helping with that,” Dusty was saying. “However, you’re bending better than I thought you’d be after looking at your x-rays. You say these were taken two weeks ago?”
Celeste nodded.
“Well, you might not think so, but you’re healing pretty quickly. I think you’re going to be feeling a lot better in just a few more weeks.”
“A few? Does that mean three? Because that means different things to different people.”
He chuckled. “It means three to me. Several is four or more.”
Celeste nodded again. “I can live with three. If we were talking, like, months, I’d likely just sit here and cry.”
“It’s true that there’s really nothing like back pain to ruin one’s quality of life. Now, I’m not guaranteeing that you’ll be mountain climbing in three weeks, but you should be significantly better. We’re not going to push anything, all right? I’d rather take our time and make sure we’re going at a pace that’s comfortable for your body.”
“Agreed. I don’t want to push too fast.”
He guided Celeste through some stretches, then had her sit down again. “I’m not doing any actual adjustments today,” he said. “I’d like you to do these stretches at home, and then we’ll adjust you on your next visit. The stretches will start to tone your muscles so you’ll hold an adjustment better.”
Celeste turned to Lindy. “Did you hear that? He says my muscles are squishy. I can’t decide if I should be offended.”
He held up both hands. “You’re the one who used the word squishy. I never said that.”
Lindy smirked. “It was implied.”
“I implied that as the muscles become toned, they’ll hold the adjustment better. That’s all I’m committing to.”
“I’ll do the stretches,” Celeste promised. “And I’ll become less squishy.”
Dusty shook his head. “All right, ladies. Reschedule with Amy for next week, and we’ll see how quickly we can get you feeling better. And Lindy, it was great to see you again.”
The smile he gave her made her knees feel a little like jelly, and she struggled not to give a nervous giggle as she helped Celeste walk back out to the lobby.
“I’m such a child,” she said as she buckled up her seatbelt a few minutes later.
Celeste laughed. “I don’t think you ever do get over your first really serious crush. When I was a teenager, I thought I was passionately in love with the son of my parents’ best friends. We’d go hang out at their house and play games or whatnot, and he and I would sit and talk and just hang out. He was a few years older than I was, so he never asked me out or anything, but I was positive it was going to happen.”
“And . . . did it?”
“No. He got married, and I went to his wedding reception and was perfectly miserable the whole time.”
“Oh, I’m sorry. That must have been awful.”
“It was. Especially since I knew deep down that he would have been happier with me.” She chuckled. “Funny how I thought I had everything figured out. He’d wait for me for those couple of years, right, like he didn’t have anything better to do, and then one day, he’d realize that I’d been there the whole time, the epitome of everything he’d ever wanted. Nope.”
Lindy patted her aunt’s shoulder. “That stinks.”
“And then the worst part? I ran into him again about five years ago, and my heart did that same old fluttery thing. He’s got twelve zillion kids now and our lives have gone in totally different directions, but I reacted to him just like I did when I was a teenager. So I get it—I really do.” She smiled. “You’ll always have a soft spot for Dusty—it’s just how it is.”
Lindy maneuvered the car onto the street before asking her question. “So, you and Uncle Heath . . . were you happy?”
“We were very happy until he decided he wasn’t anymore. I don’t know if you remember him very well—it was a long time ago—but he was a fun guy to have around. But then he decided that destiny was telling him it was time to move on.”
“I’ve never seen you date anyone since. Have you dated?”
“Just a little. I’ve never really clicked with anyone.” She turned and looked at Lindy. “Why all this investigation into my life, missy? Are you thinking about setting me up with someone?”
“No. I’m just wondering what’s going to happen once you’re up and around. I’ve still got school to finish—are you going to be all right?”
Celeste sighed. “That’s one of the reasons why I was thinking about selling.”
Lindy pulled the car into the small alley behind Scentiments and parked. It was close enough to the chiropractor’s office that they could have walked—if her aunt wasn’t hobbling around like an old woman. “So, you wouldn’t have the help you’d need, and that would mean you’d want to sell?”
“I was hoping you’d stay on,” Celeste said quietly. “But I know that’s not realistic. You’ve got your own life to live.”
Lindy closed her eyes. So many feelings were conflicting inside her. She had been studying online and hadn’t gone on campus yet, but that would be expected at some point. She could keep up with her online classes while staying with her aunt, but then what? It would only be forestalling the inevitable, wouldn’t it—she would be leaving at some point.
“Let’s not worry about it right now,” Celeste said. “We’ve still got some time, don’t we?”
“We do.” Lindy had taken a whole semester off, and they were still close to the start of it. They had twelve weeks or so to figure out what was going to happen next. They didn’t have to nail anything down right away.
They went inside the shop, and Lindy helped Celeste up the stairs and into bed. “I can’t believe how much that took out of me,” Celeste said as she eased back onto her pillows.
“We’ve done a lot, and this is the first time you’ve used the stairs since you fell. I’m proud of you.” Lindy smiled down at her aunt. “Get some rest, all right? And I’ll get started on the new batch of lotion.”
“Yes, please. Gertrude asked me if we’d let her know when we’re restocked in honeysuckle.”
“I’ll make sure we have plenty.”
Lindy stepped out of the room after making sure the baby monitor was still functioning, then went downstairs and opened the shop. She knew it was hard on their customers when their hours of operation were so unpredictable, but they were doing the best they could at the moment.
When she saw the UPS truck pull up a few minutes later, she was glad their appointment hadn’t taken any longer than it had.
“Hey,” Alan said as he came inside, four large boxes stacked up on a hand truck. “How are you doing today? How’s Celeste?”
“She had her first visit with the chiropractor today, and he says she’s healing pretty quickly,” Lindy replied.
“I’m glad to hear that.” Alan set the boxes on the floor near the counter. “I’m in a rush today, but give Celeste my best, all right?”
“All right.” Lindy waved as he wheeled his hand truck back out of the shop and was on his way. That was such a brief delivery, he’d barely even made eye contact with her before leaving again, and she felt deflated. She hadn’t realized how much she’d looked forward to seeing him again.
Yep, she was acting like a child. Crushing over the chiropractor, crushing over the UPS man . . . no cute guy anywhere was safe from her. She shook her head and carried the boxes back to the storeroom. She needed a social life—badly. It was time to call Sammi for a girls’ night out.
***
Alan felt rotten about taking off the way he had, but he had six more deliveries to make that afternoon, and one of them was clear out in the middle of nowhere. He wasn’t supposed to stand around and chat with the people on his route. But he’d caught a flash of disappointment on Lindy’s face when he’d told her goodbye, and that meant she liked him—at least a little bit—and because he liked her, probably more than a little bit, that expression on her face kept haunting him.
After he finished the second-to-last delivery, he pulled out his cell and called the shop, hoping she was still there. She answered on the second ring.
“Lindy, hi. This is Alan. The UPS driver.” He grimaced. He probably didn’t need to introduce himself like that, but it had just slipped out.
“Hi, Alan. Is everything okay?”
“Everything’s fine. Listen, I’ll be off in about two hours, and I wondered . . .” Was it too late to change his mind? He wasn’t sure this was such a good idea after all. If things went badly, that would make things difficult on his route, and he hadn’t checked the handbook yet to see if there were rules against drivers dating customers. He should probably look into that. He should have looked into it before he dialed. This was a lot more awkward than he’d realized it would be.
“I’m glad you called, Alan. I’m going to be at Quinn’s Pub for a little while tonight with some friends. Do you want to come?”
Hmm? Oh. That simplified some things. He exhaled, realizing how nervous this had made him. He couldn’t remember the last time a girl had rattled him so much. Just another sign that she was special. “I’d like that.”
“Great! We’ll be there around eight.”
“So will I.”
He hung up, then stared at the phone for a few seconds before putting it away and heading out on the longest stretch of his route. He couldn’t believe he’d almost chickened out. He wasn’t the chickening kind. The fact was, though, he knew that if he got involved with Lindy, it was going to be deep and complex, and he’d better be prepared for it. This wouldn’t be a weekend romance—he’d want to put a ring on her finger before long. If he didn’t feel ready for that step, he wasn’t ready to date her.
He didn’t know how he knew that about her. They’d chatted for such a short amount of time, but there was a feeling that surrounded her, like . . . like an aura or something that told him she was a keeper. He chuckled as he thought about it. He sounded like one of the drippy hippies who lived in Quinn Valley. Okay, it wasn’t an aura exactly, but he definitely sensed that she was someone special.
That thought only scared him because he’d been looking for someone special for so long, now that he’d found her, he was worried about messing it up.
He thought back on his past relationships. Some, he hadn’t been ready for. At least a few times, the girls he was dating weren’t ready. In each case, he could see that maturity was an issue, and timing—it was hard to date a girl who’d just accepted a job in Chicago. In order to make this work with Lindy, he’d want to avoid every pitfall he’d landed in before. He figured there was a reason he’d gone through all those things—it was to help him be better prepared for the future. Well, he knew he was more mature now, and more ready to be committed. He just didn’t know about Lindy. He hoped he’d find out soon before his heart got too involved and refused to let him off the hook easily.