When the Right One Comes Along

  Jessica watched, fascinated by the way this big, tough cop could be so gentle and sensitive to the little girl. There certainly seemed to be more to him than first met the eye. She quietly backed out of the room to give them time alone, and went to the nurses’ station to do some charting.

  Cal found her there nearly ten minutes later.

  “Is she okay?” Jessica asked.

  “Would you be okay if you’d lost your mother, your only living relative?” Shock must have registered on her face, since he rushed on. “Sorry. I didn’t mean to take that out on you. It’s just so sad.” He spun away, inadvertently putting weight on his right leg. He sucked in a breath and nearly tumbled to the ground, catching himself on the counter.

  He had his back to her, but she placed a hand on his arm. “Are you all right?”

  “I wish I could’ve saved her mother. You have no idea how much I wish that,” he said.

  It wasn’t what she’d meant; she was asking about his stumble. But it gave her insight as to what hurt him the most. “Kayla’s mother died almost instantly when the building collapsed. It was head trauma that killed her. She was gone before you arrived on the scene. There was nothing you could’ve done to save her.”

  He turned back, more cautiously, his troubled eyes meeting hers. “So she didn’t bleed out?”

  “I read the coroner’s report. She...she died when the earthquake hit. Nothing could’ve saved her after that.”

  A measure of respite seemed to come over him. “It’s hard enough that Kayla lost her mother. I... I couldn’t imagine how much pain her mother would’ve been in, injured as she was, if she died from bleeding out. And to know her little girl was there and trapped with her. Not knowing if she’d be rescued. How could a parent deal with that?”

  “Her mother didn’t suffer,” Jessica assured him. “And she didn’t have time to worry about her daughter.” Jessica was glad she’d looked into it, not only for herself, but because it now enabled her to offer some consolation to Cal. She thought of the comfort he’d given the little girl.

  “Do you mind if I ask what you said to Kayla that stopped her crying?”

  Jessica nearly laughed at the sheepish expression that came over his face.

  “I told her she might not be able to see her mother, but she should think of her as an angel in heaven, always watching over her.”

  Jessica thought it was a wonderful thing to say to Kayla. He definitely had a softer side. She found the bond between the cop and the little girl touching. She wondered if he’d come to the hospital just to see Kayla. “What brought you here?” she asked, wanting to change the subject to alleviate his unease.

  He tapped his left crutch against the floor. “One of these darn things broke. The handle came right off and the screw hole was stripped, so I couldn’t fix it. I had to trade it in for a new one. Since I was here, I thought I’d stop by to see Kayla.”

  She glanced at the bandage on his thigh. “How’s your wound?”

  “Other than nearly falling on my face when the crutch broke, it’s healing as well as can be expected. Like you said, it’ll be slow but steady. The doctor’s cautious about sepsis and wants to keep an eye on it, but all seems to be okay for now.” He tapped his crutch against the floor again and made a comical face. “You have no idea how much I hate these, and it’s only day two.”

  Jessica smiled. She wasn’t surprised by his comment. She didn’t think he’d be patient with his recovery “And Scout? How is he?”

  Cal put his weight on his left foot, braced the crutch under his armpit and scratched his hair with his right hand. “Health-wise, he’s fine. He got a clean bill from the vet yesterday.”

  “Then what’s wrong?”

  “It didn’t go well with my brother taking him. They had one night together and Drew got all banged up and brought him back this morning.”

  “Banged up? Scout hurt him?” That didn’t make any sense.

  “No, no.” He laughed. “Drew managed to do that all on his own.” He pointed to his once-broken nose, bringing to mind the story he’d told her at the earthquake site about how he’d broken it. “Remember I told you he’s a bit of a geek, and not too well coordinated.” His smile faded. “My concern is that I’ve run out of options with Scout. I’ll need to take him back to the division today, and he’ll have to stay in a cage we have there.”

  “A cage?” She could understand why he’d be upset about that.

  “A kennel, really, but it’s all concrete and chain-link fence. We use them if we’re at the division and need to do something and we can’t take our dogs. That doesn’t happen often—department meetings and the like. Scout’s not used to it.” Cal’s lips formed a straight line. “The last time I left him in there, he’d bloodied his snout by incessantly rubbing it against the chain-link.”

  “Oh, that’s terrible! Don’t you have any other option? Have him stay with another police officer until you heal?”

  “It would be hard to put that responsibility on another cop, and Scout would still end up in the cage when the cop was on duty.”

  Even during the short period of time Jessica had spent with Scout, she’d developed a real affection for him. She couldn’t believe what she was about to suggest, but she felt for the dog and...if she was honest with herself, the cop. She was starting to see a very different side of him, and she saw how distressed he was at the thought of leaving Scout in a kennel.

  As much as Jessica loved dogs, she’d never been able to have one because of the demands of her occupation. If she followed through on what she was contemplating, she’d just have to find a way to deal with all of that for the next couple of weeks.

  “Jess, excuse me, but could you look at this for a minute?” a nurse asked, interrupting them. Jessica gave Cal an apologetic smile, took the clipboard from the nurse and perused the chart. “Increase the dosage to five hundred milligrams, please,” she said, scribbling the instruction on the chart before handing back the clipboard.

  “Sorry,” she said to Cal.

  He glanced around the busy area. “Can we go somewhere for a coffee?”

  Jessica thought about the rounds, the paperwork and the million other things she had to do, especially in the aftermath of the earthquake, and checked her watch. She looked back at Cal, his green eyes so appealing with the slight crinkles—smile lines—at the outer corners. The caring, compassionate person she was glimpsing under the hard shell she’d seen the night of the earthquake intrigued her. She wanted to get to know him better. “Okay,” she said. “But we have to make it quick, because I have rounds. The cafeteria’s on the main floor and quite a distance away. Why don’t we use the staff lounge on this floor? Admittedly, the coffee leaves much to be desired, but it’s close, and at this time of day it shouldn’t be busy.”

  “Works for me.”

  Just as they were about to leave, another nurse approached Jessica, and they had a quick conversation.

  “Does it ever slow down here?” Cal asked as they sat with their coffee at a small round table in the lounge.

  Jessica shook her head. “We’re still feeling the aftereffects of the earthquake, but it’s a relatively slow day, and this is a ward. Try being in the emergency room after a pileup on the San Diego Freeway.”

  “I assume it’s not unlike being on the San Diego Freeway during that pileup, trying to unsnarl it,” Cal said with a quick smile.

  Jessica returned the smile. “Sorry. I forgot. You’re a cop. That can’t be easy, either.”

  Cal shrugged. “We do what we can. Being an emergency room doc can’t be any easier.”

  “Trauma actually,” Jessica corrected.

  “I’m sorry to sound ignorant, but what’s the difference?”

  “I’m a trauma surgeon. The emergency department doctors’ specialty is emergency medicine. There??
?s a separate trauma unit, and I’m a surgeon on that team.” At the confused look on Cal’s face, she elaborated. “No matter what you go into the emergency room for, emergency medicine doctors treat it all. The doctors there are trained to handle everything. When there’s a major catastrophe, like the earthquake we just experienced, the primary responsibility is that of the trauma team.”

  He nodded. “What made you choose trauma as your specialty?” he asked. “I’d expect there were many choices you could’ve made, especially in the surgical field.”

  Jessica couldn’t help the involuntary cringe. “I... I didn’t specialize in trauma right away.” She had to shut this conversation down. She purposefully checked her watch again. “I’m sorry, I have to get back to work soon. Before I go, I wanted to talk about Scout.” She smiled again. “He’s a great dog.”

  She could see Cal was appraising her as he finished his coffee, but to her relief he didn’t pursue the topic of her medical specialty.

  “Yeah. Scout’s terrific as a dog and also at his job. He and I have only been working together for five months. It might not seem long, but he’s more than just my partner. He...” Cal hesitated, seeming to search for words. “He’s part of my life. That’s why I don’t want to take him to the division to stay in a cage.”

  Jessica softened a little more toward the gruff cop. To her way of thinking, how could anyone not care about kids and dogs? But Cal seemed to care more than the average person.

  He was a virtual stranger, and she was about to turn her life upside down for him by offering to take Scout. How could she manage to look after a dog—a high-maintenance dog, at that—and keep doing her job with its long hours, odd shifts and unpredictable demands? She reminded herself again why she didn’t have a pet, despite her love for animals.

  But then she looked at Cal, saw the despondency in his eyes. She wanted to help them. She really did. And yet she couldn’t deny that one contributing factor was the fact that she’d be able to see Cal...

  While Jessica continued to mull over the idea, Cal reached into his shirt pocket and pulled out something that resembled a baseball card. He smiled as he placed it on the table and slid it toward Jessica.

  She glanced down. It was a baseball card. Scout’s card! It had his picture on it, head slightly tilted, his eyes expressive and alert. His name was printed in large letters on the top right. The San Diego city seal in the top left corner, with the words America’s Finest above the seal and To Protect and Serve below. She smiled, picked up the card and turned it over. Scout’s name, a smaller version of his photo, the seal and police department motto were also on the back, but this side of the card listed Scout’s “statistics”—his breed, when he was born, his handler’s name. There was also a short paragraph on his history. Scout was born in Holland and brought to the United States to become a police service dog in March four years ago. It listed Scout’s specialized training in search and rescue, and handler protection.

  She flipped the card over again and stared at Scout’s picture before raising her eyes to meet Cal’s. The card had done it; it had tipped the scales. “You really have no other option? Not a friend or another police officer?”

  He shook his head. “No.” He sounded sincere.

  She exhaled. “Okay, I’ll do it.”

  “Do what?” He seemed confused.

  “Take Scout until you’re able to care for him again.”

  Cal gagged on the coffee he’d just sipped. His face red, he started coughing.

  She sprang up to help. “Are you okay?”

  He waved her away, but coughed a few more times. “I’m okay,” he choked out, his face still flushed.

  “You’d do that?” he asked when he could. His expression was comical, a mixture of incredulity and elation. “I thought with what you said about your work commitments and all, it would be a huge imposition.”

  Jessica took a deep breath and hoped she wouldn’t regret what she was about to do. She nodded. “It won’t be easy, but I’ll take Scout on two conditions,” she said. “First, you have to do everything your doctor tells you to do and you have to follow through with the physiotherapy that’ll be recommended.” She held up a hand when he was about to interrupt. “This is essential. I want you to heal as fast as possible, and I don’t want any setbacks that would prolong your convalescence because you did something...” She paused. She was about to say “stupid” but softened it to, “Ill advised. Okay?”

  Cal nodded with a grin. “What makes you think I’d do something like that?”

  Jessica simply raised a brow. “Second, you have to promise me that you’ll keep looking for another solution. I’ll take Scout, but I’ll have to reduce my hours and ask some of my colleagues to cover for me. So I need you to see if there’s anything else that would work.”

  “Okay.” He looked relieved. “You have no idea what this means to me. I really appreciate it. A couple of weeks at the most, right?”

  “That should do it. You might not be back at work by then, but you should be mobile enough to take care of Scout.”

  “I know this is a lot to ask, especially of a stranger.”

  Cal was so earnest and genuinely grateful. That, combined with the way he was with Kayla, made it hard for Jessica to remember how he’d acted during their first meeting. Watching him now, she found it hard to remember his harsh, hostile demeanor that night. She felt a flutter in her chest—and an “uh-oh” sounded in her brain.

  She was falling for the cop. She smiled as she took stock with a fresh perspective. The tall athletic build, the thick short-cropped hair, the touch of five-o’clock shadow, the crooked nose, strong mouth and chin and those expressive eyes. Physically, he was a near-perfect specimen and that was not a clinical assessment. Contrary to what she’d initially thought, he seemed to have a kind, generous disposition, too.

  “Everything okay?” Cal asked.

  Jessica felt her cheeks flame. “Oh, sure. Is Scout at your house now?”

  “Yes, he is.”

  “Why don’t I pick him up on my way home after work?”

  “That would be great. What time will you be done?”

  “My shift is scheduled to end at four, but I hardly ever get out on time. I’ll give you a call when I’m ready to leave.”

  “No need to call. Just come by when you’re done.”

  She finished her coffee, rose and took both their mugs to the dishwasher. “I have to get back to work now, but we’ll need to talk about logistics. Scout’s schedule. What I should do while I’m at work, and so forth.”

  Cal got up awkwardly and she opened the door for him.

  “I still have your address,” she said. “I’ll see you after work.”

  “We’ll be there,” Cal assured her. “I don’t have anywhere else to go.” He held out his hand to shake hers and, in a serious tone, added, “Like I said, I really appreciate this. We both do.” As they walked toward the nurses’ station, he said, “If it’s not too much trouble, would you mind keeping me informed of how Kayla’s doing?”

  “I can do that. We’re watching for pneumonia, but I expect she’ll be fine. I’ll do everything I can for her.”

  Just as she said it, another doctor walked by them and must have overheard. “Well, whatever the kid’s ailment, she’s got the best darn pediatric surgeon in the city and likely the state.”

  Jessica was embarrassed and shook off the statement, but Cal was curious.

  “What did he mean by pediatric surgeon? You’re a trauma doc.”

  “Yes. Yes, I am,” she said curtly, and hurried off to do her rounds.

  CHAPTER TEN

  THE DOC WAS LATE. It was nearing six and Jessica still hadn’t shown up. Cal fed Scout and let him out in the back, watching him from the deck. Hardly the exercise he needed, but at least he was able to perform his
basic bodily functions. Cal was confident she would show—reasonably confident, anyway. He trusted the doc, even if she hadn’t called. But he was the one who’d told her not to bother.

  What was it about her that seemed to reduce his IQ to that of a Neanderthal?

  Scout might’ve had dinner already, but Cal hadn’t and the grumbling of his stomach reminded him. He thought about calling Jessica at the hospital, just to make sure she hadn’t changed her mind or forgotten, but lack of trust wasn’t a good way to begin whatever kind of relationship they were going to have over the next couple of weeks. He might as well eat, he decided, since he had no idea when she’d show up.

  Cal had just marinated a steak and already had potatoes on his barbecue when he heard a car pull into his driveway. Looking out the window, he saw Jessica’s yellow Miata. He glanced at his watch. Almost seven.

  He opened the door before she could knock.

  “Smells wonderful,” she said as she bent down to greet Scout. “I’m sorry I’m late. We had an emergency surgery. Occupational hazard.”

  “Not a problem. I lost track of time, too. So much to occupy me,” he joked, making her smile. He motioned for her to follow him into the kitchen. “I was just starting dinner. If you don’t have plans, why don’t you stay and we can discuss Scout while we eat. Hopefully it’ll taste as good as it smells.”

  Jessica’s cheeks turned pink. “I really shouldn’t. I’m sure you have things to do and I should get home. Get Scout settled. I don’t want to put you to any trouble.”

  “It’s no trouble.” Cal couldn’t remember the last time he’d seen a grown woman blush. Anna certainly never had. He found it unreasonably sweet. There was something vulnerable and shy about her right then that appealed to him. “I’d like you to stay,” he added to his own amazement. He wondered if he’d hoped for it all along, since the steak he was marinating was large enough for two healthy appetites. “All I have on my agenda is cooking dinner. We do need to discuss Scout. And in the meantime, you might as well experience my world-famous Jack Daniels–marinated steak.”