Winner Takes All

Stephanie pulled out the chair opposite him, but before she sat down, she wrapped her arms around his neck and squeezed so tight he almost turned blue. The hug surprised him, but it shouldn’t have. She’d always greeted him the same way. The bigger shock was that he wasn’t quite ready to let her go when she braced both hands against his chest. She smelled like lavender dryer sheets and about a million things he’d learned not to take for granted, things that made him think of home.

And immediately he was reminded of how sweet she’d been when she’d asked him out to dinner. Since he’d just burned every bridge at the hospital, he hadn’t been as careful with her as he should have been. Protecting Rebecca, Stephanie and Jen had been his job ever since the first night he’d been stuck babysitting.

Seeing her here brought his homesickness back—with a crash. He’d missed her. She was home and family and laughing and not taking himself so seriously in one beautiful, sweet package. He realized he was still holding on to her hands and forced himself to let go.

“What are you doing here?” He frowned as she settled in the chair with a tired sigh.

“The frown’s more like it. For half a second I thought you were happy to see me.” She rolled her eyes at him and waved the waitress over.

“Yes, ma’am, what would you like to order? May I bring you a menu?”

Stephanie waved her hands. “No, no need for that much trouble. How about eggs and toast? Orange juice?”

The waitress wrote down her order. “Certainly. I’ll have that right out.”

Stephanie clapped her hands. “Wonderful.” Before the waitress could walk off, she added, “Before you go, those are great shoes. Are they comfortable?”

Daniel did his best to keep the annoyance at a low simmer while the two women discussed comfortable shoes and where to find them in Lima. By the time the waitress walked off he was amazed she and Stephanie hadn’t exchanged phone numbers.

“So you’re surprised to see me. Didn’t Rebecca let you know I was coming?” Stephanie’s gaze darted away. “I’m happy to see you, too, by the way.”

The discomfort on her face reminded him that even if he’d almost forgotten their last awkward conversation, maybe she hadn’t. He hated that. He didn’t want anything to change between them. That had been the whole point of turning her down. Stephanie had always looked up to him. He’d watched over her. That was the arrangement he was comfortable with.

“No, she didn’t mention it. Obviously. You nearly missed me. I was about to go pick up medical supplies.” And now he had no idea what to do. Time to prepare would have been nice. “Did you buy one of everything at Camping Corral?”

She frowned at her outfit, studied his for a long minute and then grimaced. “Okay, I overdid it. A little. But this is what happens without enough time to study a place.”

As she surveyed the lobby, she pointed at the skylight. “Clouds. That’s something I didn’t expect. I had this picture of sunshine and green mountains, not oceans and heavy cloud cover.”

“You can get that here, too. Wait an hour and everything changes.” He watched her lean back and thank the waitress with a friendly smile.

“How wonderful. Scrambled eggs are my favorite. They’re the perfect start for a beautiful day. I bet you hear that all the time, don’t you?” She picked up a fork and waited patiently for the waitress’s answer.

The woman stopped and thought for a minute. “No, ma’am, I don’t. But I like a good breakfast, so it’s nice to meet another fan.” She pointed at the skylight. “And it’s nice to meet someone else who isn’t bothered by a few clouds.”

Of course she wasn’t bothered by clouds. Stephanie was like sunshine—wherever she went it was only a matter of time until the clouds passed.

The waitress made sure to pour Stephanie a nice cup of coffee. She happily dug into her breakfast and he shook his head as the waitress brought her a fresh bowl of jelly, a stack of clean napkins and a paper from the front desk.

He’d had to lay down a healthy tip to get service with the same friendly attitude.

“I’m sure you’re in a hurry to get on with whatever brings you to Peru.” He was always in a hurry. He sipped his lukewarm coffee and wondered if he could get her to ask for a refill. “How long are you here?” And could you just hand me the checks and let me get back to my day?

The homesickness had no cure, but getting back to work would help the symptoms.

She fiddled with the edge of the folded napkins for a minute and the niggling thought that everything wasn’t going to go according to his plan settled in his brain.

“Your sister, Jen and I have this sort of agreement. Maybe it’s a dare. I’m not really sure.” She picked up a slice of toast and carefully, thoughtfully chewed it all while he did his best to ignore the impatience he could feel building with the tick of the clock. He rested his elbows on the table, propped his chin on his hands and pretended he was patient.

“I threw a dart. It landed on Alto. I have to go there or listen to them clucking at me for the rest of my life.” She shrugged. “You get that, right?”

He leaned back in his chair and wondered who in the world could figure out what was happening from a nonsensical statement like that.

Only one who’d spent countless Friday nights listening to his sister and her friends giggle over badly thrown darts. He’d also learned to carefully consider every sentence that came out of Stephanie’s mouth. She’d always been the one to give him the most trouble. Rebecca he could threaten into compliance by mentioning their parents. He was pretty sure nothing threatened Jen but she’d never tried cajoling him, either. All that had come from Stephanie. At sixteen she’d been good at getting cooperation, even from a cocky high school senior.

“Let me translate. You won the lottery. They dared you to throw a dart at the map and get on a plane. If you don’t do it, they’ll never let you forget it.” And just like when they were kids, he’d been dragged into their brilliant plan.

The urge to lecture her on the dangers of traveling alone to spots off the beaten path was strong.

“Sort of. You’ve got the basics anyway.” She spread grape jelly on her toast. “So, how soon can we leave for Alto? I need a picture of you, me and your clinic. Then I’ll be out of your hair and you’ll have some nice donations.”

She didn’t meet his gaze as she said it, so he was pretty sure that wasn’t the full story. “You want to come to Alto?” He shook his head. “Impossible.”

“There’s the reaction I was expecting,” she muttered and sipped her steaming hot coffee.

“Now the safari getup makes more sense, but—” he yanked off his ball cap and ruffled his hand through the hair that was long enough to drive him crazy, something he didn’t need with a woman bound to get him there in two seconds flat “—it’s a hard drive and once you get there the amenities are seriously lacking. The Andes can be dangerous, and if you fall or break something, it’s a long, painful ride back to Lima. It’s nothing like home. Better just leave the check. If you’re determined to see the sights, head to the tourist towns or even stay here for a few days. It’s a nice place. Lots of interesting history. The hot running water will be right up your alley.”

If he warned her about the traffic, protecting her valuables and being aware of her surroundings, Stephanie would mock him. He might deserve it. The dangers in Lima were much the same as in any big city and she’d been navigating Houston and Austin with two troublemakers at her side for years.

Stephanie pursed her lips and pushed away her empty plate. Instead of dragging in like a woman who’d spent most of the night on a plane, she seemed energetic. Full of life. She always had.

“Here’s the thing. We can do this the easy way or the hard way, but I’ve flown halfway around the world to satisfy the doubters back home, have a little adventure and, yes, leave you a big check.” Stephanie shook her head. “The question you have to ask yourself is how bad you want it. Bad enough to play tour guide for a couple of days?”

“I moved to Peru to avoid donor requests like this, Stephanie. You know I have important work to do. The drive up to Alto takes a full day, but there are stops to make along the way because there are people who need doctors, don’t have them and have no way to get to them. So I go to them. I’m too busy for a sightseeing trip.” He banged his hand against his bag. “By the time I make it to Alto, unload the medical supplies, hike out to all the villages that need attention and come back to Lima, you’re looking at two weeks. Nobody has time to load you up and bring you back to wash your hair.”

She blinked as though he’d slapped her, and Daniel noticed the guy with the paper had pursed his lips and was shaking his head in disapproval. Daniel sighed. The nosy guy was right. She didn’t know how hard the travel was and treating her like some shallow nuisance was unfair. Besides, he didn’t like the way disappointing her made him feel.

“Sorry. That was a little more forceful than I’d intended.” He spread his hand out over the cursed laptop. “I have a few things on my mind.”

“No ‘Hi, how’ve you been?’ or even ‘What’s new?’ or ‘What brings you to the neighborhood?’ Just full-on skipping the small talk and telling me how busy you are.” She nodded. “At least you haven’t changed much.”

“Did you hope I would? Change?” The question about whether she thought time in the mountains would make him think differently of her and their...romantic potential hovered on the tip of his tongue, but he wouldn’t ask it. He was afraid of her answer. Friends were a lot more valuable and harder to come by than dates. Or at least he thought that was still true.

“Not really, no, although you could stand to relax.” She raised her eyebrows at him and just like that he could picture her teasing him in front of the dartboard. Even in high school he’d been driven. His sister and her friends had sort of adopted him, included him and teased him for the arrogance that had raged nearly unchecked until he’d hit medical school and someone educated it out of him.

She patted his hand as though she was consoling an ailing relative, and he realized his own lofty opinion of his importance still didn’t mean much to her.

“Don’t you remember that time you ran out of gas down by Sarah Anderson’s house? We borrowed your dad’s car and rescued you. Who kept your secret? Who made sure no one knew the infallible Daniel Lincoln did something as everyday human as running out of gas while driving past a pretty girl’s house? I did. If you want to ease up on telling me how important you are, I’ll make sure I keep that secret, too.” She tugged his bag out from under his hand. “What’s so valuable in here? You’ve got a death grip on it.”

“You can’t go, Steph. There’s no room for you in my schedule.” He hated to say it so baldly, but the truth was always the best choice. “I need your donations. Money like this will accomplish so much, but I have work to do.”

She ignored him. Of course. After she flipped open the bag and saw a laptop, she shut it again and pouted a little. “I was hoping for something to use as blackmail. Of course you were working. You’re always working.”

“How do you know? We haven’t seen each other in years.” He didn’t like the idea that he couldn’t surprise her.

“You told me you hadn’t changed, D. You would never lie.” Her eyes weren’t quite as reserved this time when he managed to catch her attention.

The connection that stretched between them was sweet and made him uneasy at the same time. He needed her friendship. Anything else was dangerous. Besides, she was like a sister. They’d already survived acne, cafeteria pizza and countless fights over the remote. There was no way romance could outlast that.