Zane’s robust presence nearly failed him for a moment at that look. He wanted that with someone. The loneliness he felt without it could have crippled him right then.
“Well, I’m just so grateful. There doesn’t seem to be adequate words,” the woman said.
“I’m glad he’ll be okay.”
She offered her hand, and now with the fear gone from the situation, he could see a glimpse of what she was really like. “I’m Liza, by the way. Scott and I own a restaurant in Bartlett. Is being a paramedic full-time work for you?”
“Not exactly. Not around here. I’m also a firefighter. The two jobs combined pay the bills.”
Whitey grinned at the two of them as he was coming out of the little bathroom near the double door. “He’s not just a firefighter. He’s fire chief now.”
Liza beamed and clutched his elbow, leaning in close. “Wow. Isn’t that exciting!”
Zane didn’t know how to handle praise well; he never had. It usually made him uncomfortable, and if she hadn’t been holding on to him, he could have begun backing up to the door.
“It is exciting some days. But other days, I just find myself winding the hoses over and over again.”
She laughed, and Zane noticed she glanced at his ring finger. Oh no.
“Zane,” she said, straightening her back, “do you have a girlfriend?”
His mouth tasted like ashes as Mabel flashed through his mind. She was the only woman to come to mind when he was asked a question like that. “I’m not really looking for a relationship right now.”
Thankfully, Whitey had already started heading for the doors to go start the ambulance. Because if he’d heard the direction this conversation was heading, he would have doubled over with laughter.
“Sorry to ask such a personal question.” Liza gave an apologetic frown. “I know my daughter hates being asked questions like that. Carolina graduated cum laude from the University of Arizona Law two years ago.” Liza’s gaze took in Zane. “She works as an attorney in a firm in Rexburg. And she still gets asked when she’s gettingmarried.” She rolled her eyes. “So I try not to meddle like that. But for the record, she’s single too.”
“She sounds wonderful. You’re a lucky mom; I’m sure.”
“Yes, I am.” Liza hesitated, but Zane needed to get out of there.
He said goodbye, wished her and Scott well, and turned to head out of the emergency room.
When he saw California Surfer Dude himself, too-young-to-be-an-anesthesiologist Dallin Conforth, Zane stopped short. Conforth was getting out of a white Beamer in the staff parking lot across the way. The man was just so smug. Annoying. Zane had no idea what Mabel saw in him, or if she was seeing him at all. But he did know something passed between them, and it had made his stomach sick with regret.
A fire lit in Zane’s chest.
He was simply tired of feeling this way, like he could never be with the woman he loved. If Mabel wanted a guy like Dr. Conforth, then she could go for him. Fatigue hit him, bone-deep. Everything hurt, even blinking his eyes caused pain.
No more yearning for someone who would never want him back. Maybe she had before. But not now.
His mind fogged, clearing just in time to see the man at his shoulder, a frisson of anger seeping from him, his fists clenched.
Chapter 8
“It’s getting real, Hannah!” Tory squeaked as the bride-to-be met them all at their booth at the Clucky Spud, looking appropriately tanned and blown out, with glammed-up nails for her wedding in three days.
They’d decided to hold a special KNO, not on the first Saturday of the month, but on a regular old Wednesday night. It was the only time before the rehearsal dinner and before August’s parents’ famous friends descended on Silver Plum like seagulls near the picnic tables at the zoo.
And honestly? Those famous actors and directors probably thought this slice of small-town Americanawasthe zoo, what with the blue-collar work ethic, cousins upon cousins related in a complicated family tree no one exactly understood, and the one stoplight on Main.
Hannah fanned her face, the giddiness slipping slowly from her bright brown eyes brimming with tears. “Ugh! I cannot cry. I just got my lashes filled.” After a steadying breath and sympathetic sighs from her friends, she sat down. “I can’t believe it’s happening. Everything’s changing. It’s so…weird.”
Anjali sprang into action. This was her territory of expertise. She wedged in between Hannah and Ruby and flicked a tear off Hannah’sface. “Look. You’re stressed. Anyone in your position would be feeling a whole crap ton of feelings right now. Of course change is hard. Even good change, which is what this is.”
Hannah nodded and swallowed hard. “I…I also worry about August.”
Tory narrowed her eyes and rubbed her pregnant belly that was just starting to poke out. “What did he do?”
