The midnight glow of the full moon helped him as he assessed her injuries. “I think it’s a sprain. If we can stabilize it, you could wait until morning to be seen by a doctor.” He tried to ease the woman’s leg to be able to rest a little, causing her to yell out in agony. “On second thought,” Zane said, “I think we better get you to the hospital.”
After a couple of phone calls, Dr. Flynn, the only doctor in town, agreed to go open up his office to get her x-rayed and braced. Wasn’t the first time. Dr. Flynn didn’t have to work after-hours very often, but this was a remote farming community, and once in a while there was something that couldn’t wait the forty-minute drive to the nearest hospital.
A look of apology and what could have been regret crossed Zane’s dark eyes as he glanced at Mabel. He got the woman situated and then ran into the house for some towels, tape, and ice. Mabel assisted with the wrapping, stabilizing it until the x-ray. They helped her to a coworker’s car nearby, who opened the passenger door for her.
Once she was safely seated, Zane gestured with his thumb to his truck. “I’ve got my truck back there. I’ll meet you at the office so I can get you in and situated, okay? Just until we’re sure the doctor’s there and everything’s all good.”
The coworker thanked Zane. She made the woman comfortable then gave a slight chuckle and said to her, “Too bad he didn’t have the ambulance here with him. I’d ride in it just to get to look at him longer.”
They drove off, and Zane turned to Mabel.
“Well, that comment from her coworker got her to laugh,” she said as she wrapped a palm around the inside of his elbow.
Zane sighed. “I can’t believe the timing of that.” He squeezed his eyes shut for a moment and then blinked them open, shaking his head. “I’m sorry about all this.”
“It’s your moral obligation. I can’t say I mind working with you in emergencies.”
“At least this one didn’t threaten our own lives.” He tried to smile, but it was laced with sadness.
“You’d better go so you can get finished up and in bed,” Mabel said reluctantly. “It’s been a long day.”
The vast chasm they never seemed to be able to cross was suddenly filling in. Maybe Mabel could work with this. Maybe this meant they were closer to finding a bridge.
Nearly an hour later, Mabel stood in her bathroom, flossing her teeth and staring at the vastly transformed creature in the mirror.
At the wedding, she felt beautiful in that periwinkle bridesmaid’s dress. Some of the women had been given a terracotta orange dress, but Hannah had given Mabel, Cady, and Ruby the not-quite-blue-not-quite-purple lacy sheaths. Mabel had felt confident, probably more than she ever had before.
In her work as a lobbyist, she had worn business wear, and nursing school required shapeless scrubs. But tonight? She knew the dress draped her figure perfectly. She’d seen Zane’s reaction, felt the flush that had overtaken him as she stood in the wedding party in front of him.
Now? She was moments away from getting into bed and back to her old self. Sure, she was cute; she could give herself that. But in her brother’s old flannel pajama pants and an Idaho State University sweatshirt, still pining after Zane, she felt like she’d regressed ten years. Still yearning to be by his side.
She finished brushing her teeth and then heard a light knock at the door.
Thank goodness her dad had installed a video doorbell. Even in a town as small and wholesome as Silver Plum, Mabel wasn’t crazy enough to just throw her door open without a care in the world at one in the morning. She checked the app on her phone.
Zane.
He was standing on her porch, clutching what looked to be flowers, the porch light illuminating the strength of his features.
“Zane?” she said to him through the app on her phone.
He startled and then moved in closer to the doorbell. “Hi. I forgot you were probably watching me.”
“Is everything okay?”
“Well, yeah.” A frown crossed his features. “Except, it’s not. Not really. Because things ended so abruptly.” He glanced around at the front yard behind him and leaned in closer. He was so massive that not all of him would fit in the frame.
“This doesn’t seem fair that you can see me but I can’t see you. Can I come in?” His eyes gazed right through her, even though it was a black-and-white grainy video.
“No.”
His head reared back. “No?”
She had to bite her lip. She wanted to see him, put her arms around him, and sink into a kiss. “I have my retainer in.”
“So what? I’ve seen you in braces.”
She left the bathroom, her phone in hand, and walked down the stairs to the entry. “That was in junior high. It’s different now, Zane!” It felt a little odd to be talking to him through her phone when he was only a foot away through a flimsy old door.
