One Summer In Santa Fe

“I’m sorry you feel that way, Alex, but I have no choice today.” Dr. Taylor Jenkins and a boy she assumed to be his nephew entered through the doors right behind her.

Turning, she took in the sight of the very tall man dressed in scrubs and the tousle-haired boy dragging his feet beside him. Once again, she noticed what an incredibly handsome man Taylor was. Part of being a nurse was paying attention to details, and she noticed every detail of him. Part of her wanted to allow her eyes to linger on his tall, lithe form, but another part of her shuddered. Finding a man attractive and being attracted to a man were two different things. She was too far into the being attracted to Taylor, and every red flag in her system was waving.

He was danger on a grand scale. Attraction was what had gotten her into trouble with her last failed relationship. Being attracted to Taylor was out of the question. She’d sworn to herself, never again. Unfortunately, it appeared that never had arrived.

Attraction needed to leave her alone, but she had a feeling that wasn’t going to happen. Especially as that little flutter in her stomach grew wings.

“It’s way early, Uncle T. I should be in bed, sleeping away my summer vacation, not hanging around a gross hospital all day.”

“Be that as it may, this is where I work, and where you are going to spend the day. The babysitter wasn’t available and, frankly, after yesterday’s fiasco, you can’t be trusted at home by yourself.”

“But it was an accident, I told you that. I said I was sorry.”

Clearing her throat, Piper caught their attention, watching as the two males who couldn’t have been much more different in physical appearance entered the lobby. “Hi, guys.”

As if just noticing he was about to plow her over, Taylor stopped a few feet from her. “Oh, hello, Piper. Back for more?” he asked, but his eyes were distracted.

“Wild horses couldn’t drag me away.”

“They could drag me away. Pu-lease.” Alex made a rude sound deep in his throat.

“Piper, this bundle of enthusiasm and joy is my nephew, Alex.”

“Nice to meet you, Alex.” The kid couldn’t be more miserable looking. He didn’t look at her and kicked at the floor. The backpack slung over one shoulder looked weighty. She supposed that he had every book for summer reading in there.

“Hi.”

Hearing the tension in his voice, she fished into her purse and extracted a large mixed package of bubble gum and candy. “I was going to put this in the staffroom, but I’ll bet you’d like some.” Piper tore the bag open and offered it to him.

“Whoa, yeah. Awesome.” Alex took two packs of gum and a few wrapped candies, and for the first time looked up into her face, his dark brown eyes intelligent and curious.

“What do you say?” Taylor prompted.

“Thanks.” Ducking his head, he flushed and looked away.

“See you inside, Piper,” Taylor said with a sigh.

“Okay.” Piper followed a few paces behind.

As they walked away, Alex leaned closer to Taylor, who bent over to hear what he had to say. “Wow. She’s hot.”

Taylor straightened with a look of amusement on his face and turned to Piper with an extremely male glance. “Yes, she is.”

At that moment, Piper heard her name paged overhead. “Oh, gotta go.” She dashed around the two and hoped that Taylor hadn’t seen her flush. She colored ridiculously, and it was something she had tried to overcome, but couldn’t.

Arriving at the nurses’ station, she found Emily.

“Oh, you are here. I was hoping that we didn’t scare you off yesterday with that wild start to your contract. Some nurses would have headed for the hills.” She shook her head and her straight black hair bobbed around her shoulders.

“Not me. I’m tougher than that.” She’d had to be. When her parents had been killed, she’d had little time to feel sorry for herself or grieve the loss. So she’d found strength that she hadn’t known she’d had. Anything else, compared to that, well, just didn’t compare.

“Well, good. I’d like to pair you up with one of the nurses for the orientation you were supposed to have yesterday, and then we’ll go from there. After yesterday, I’m certain you won’t have any problems.”

Emily introduced her to her preceptor, and she spent the rest of the morning familiarizing herself with the ER.

At lunch, she entered the staff lounge to find a sullenfaced Alex sitting with a book on his lap.

“Hey, kiddo. What’s wrong with you?” she asked, and took a seat beside him. He looked as if he was about to have a meltdown.

“I’m s-o-o-o bored.” He snapped the book shut and held it out to her to see. By the look of Alex, it certainly was going to be a long, hot summer. “Reading isn’t part of my summer plans. Uncle T. gave me this. Said it was a good book, but I just don’t get it.”

“I don’t think I got it when I was your age, either. Might have to be a little older to appreciate it. What grade are you going into?”

“Sixth.” He folded his arms over his chest.

“What do you want to do instead of reading? Anything?”

“Yeah, I want to skydive, and climb mountains and ride a motorcycle really fast, just like Uncle T.” For the first time today excitement shone in his eyes, and he came alive right in front of her.

“He does all that, does he?” She was beginning to see worship of Uncle Taylor, Super-Hero, in Alex’s eyes.

“Yeah, and a whole lot more really cool stuff, like base jumping in Norway. He took videos and it was so awesome.” Alex flopped back against the couch. “But I never get to do anything. I’m gonna be stuck inside all summer.”

Taylor opened the door to the lounge to check on Alex, but stopped when he heard Piper’s voice. It was soft and filled with compassion. Knowing he shouldn’t listen, he seemed powerless to stop himself.

“Maybe there’s a day camp you could go to. My younger sister used to go to one when I worked back in San Francisco,” Piper said.

“Did she like it?” Doubt was heavy in the boy’s voice.

“Sure did. Had to drag her out of there every day.”

There was a momentary pause. “What kind of stuff did she do?”

“Biking, hiking, crafts, and maybe some sewing, I think.”

“Those are girl things. I want to do guy stuff.” The sigh that followed said it all.

“Why don’t you talk to your uncle when he comes for lunch?”

Another pause. “I don’t think he’ll listen to me. He’s kinda like my dad that way. He doesn’t listen, either.”

Taylor closed his eyes and allowed the door to shut silently. Caroline’s parting words had been not to disappoint Alex as his father had done. What had he done so far with Alex? Total disappointment.

Determined to fix it right now, he coughed loudly and entered the staffroom.

“Hey, Alex. How’s it going?” Taylor asked, and glanced between them.

“I’m sick,” Alex said, and made a face, then clutched his abdomen.