Baby, Drive South Read online

  He lumbered to his feet and was on his way out of the dining hall when he saw an unfamiliar dark sedan pull to a stop on the road. Porter squinted. Michigan license plate, and the driver was male.

  The man rolled down the window and pushed up his glasses. “Excuse me, I’m looking for Dr. Salinger.”

  Porter’s confusion cleared. The doctor Marcus had emailed about replacing Nikki…what was his name? Dr. Jay Cross. Porter frowned, knowing the man’s arrival would only hasten her departure.

  Then he brightened. Maybe he should let Dr. Cross know what he was getting into. The man didn’t seem particularly robust. With the right “introduction” to the area, maybe the man would change his mind about sticking around.

  Porter extended a big grin. “Dr. Salinger’s been expecting you. Pull over and I’ll take you to her.”

  Dr. Cross looked dubious. “Who are you?”

  “Porter Armstrong. My brothers and I own this town.”

  The man did as he was told, apparently eager to please his potential employer. By the time he alighted from the car, Porter had settled on a four-wheeler.

  “Climb on!” he shouted. Dr. Cross, dressed in slacks, shirt, tie and sport coat, was hesitant. “It’s the easiest way to get around on this mountain,” Porter promised.

  The man was barely on the seat when Porter goosed the gas. “Hang on!”

  Dr. Cross found the handhold behind his seat just in time to keep from falling off. “Where are we going?”

  “Dr. Salinger is at the clinic, but I know a shortcut.” Porter steered the ATV off the paved road and tore down a rocky side path. It would eventually wind around to the back of the clinic, but not before rising and falling steeply. “We can see the whole town from up here.”

  “So there’s more to see?” Dr. Cross shouted, appearing to hang on for dear life.

  “Not really,” Porter said cheerfully. “You might want to duck.” He crouched to ride underneath lowlying tree branches, suddenly glad he hadn’t been up here lately to clear the trail. Behind him, Dr. Cross bent low, jerking to one side.

  They climbed higher and higher, and Porter made sure they hit every rock and rut along the way. When they reached high ground, he stopped the ATV at a precipice and shifted to idle. “Nice view, huh?”

  Dr. Cross righted his glasses and looked over the edge, then shrank back. “What exactly happened to this town?”

  “Tornado,” Porter said matter-of-factly. “An F-5 twister, to be precise. Mowed down everything in sight.”

  The man’s Adam’s apple bobbed. “Are tornadoes common up here?”

  “Oh, sure,” Porter lied. “At this altitude, tornadoes can spring up out of nowhere. You have to keep one eye on the sky.”

  Dr. Cross glanced up warily.

  Porter shifted into gear. “Ready?”

  Before the man could answer, he tore off, then headed downhill, gratified when he felt the man bouncing on the seat behind him. At the bottom of the hill, he slowed to cross a shallow tributary of Timber Creek, but plowed through with enough speed to give them both a good soaking. On the other side, he came to an abrupt halt.

  “Uh-oh.”

  “What?” Dr. Cross said, letting go long enough to whip off his glasses and wipe the water off the lenses with the end of his tie.

  Porter pointed to raccoon tracks in the soft mud next to the stream, distorted from the elements. “Bear tracks.”

  The man’s eyes widened. “Bear tracks? What kind?”

  “Grizzly.” Porter made a rueful noise as he looked around. “We’d better get out of here.”

  Dr. Cross paled, then gave up on the rear handgrip and threw his arms around Porter’s waist. Porter smothered a smile, then peeled off, driving as fast as he dared over the bumpy, muddy trail until the rear of the clinic came in sight.

  “Here we are,” he said, slowing to a halt next to where post holes were being dug to set the sign for the clinic that would be going up soon.

  Porter cut the engine just as Nikki was emerging from the main entrance of the modular building. She was dressed in jeans and a dusty T-shirt, holding a clipboard. At the sight of her lithe figure, his heart raced. She glanced up and saw the two men. Porter was disappointed that her gaze skipped over him and lasered in on the man climbing gingerly off the back of the four-wheeler. She stared, crossing her arms over her middle.

  “What are you doing here?” she asked.

  Porter frowned, confused as the drenched man walked up to her and invaded her personal space.

  “Hi, Nikki.”

  She seemed flustered. “Darren…why are you here?”

  Porter’s stomach plummeted. Darren? Nikki’s ex?

  “I came to find you,” Darren said. “I had to see you.”

  Nikki couldn’t believe her eyes. If there was one sight she thought she’d never see, it was Darren Rocha and Porter Armstrong side by side.

  With Darren looking more than a little bedraggled.

  “What happened to you?” she asked, indicating his wet, mud-spattered appearance.

  He gestured to Porter. “Mr. Armstrong knew a shortcut.” Then his eyes bulged. “Nikki, you can’t stay here. There are grizzly bears everywhere. And tornadoes.”

  Nikki rolled her eyes and looked past him to Porter. “Really?”

  From the four-wheeler, Porter gave a little shrug.

  Darren was staring at her. “Your hair is different. You look…beautiful.”

  Nikki warmed under his gaze, pleased by the compliment even as conflicting emotions whipped through her. “Thank you.”

  “Is there somewhere we can talk?” he asked, his eyes beseeching.

  She considered the man before her, so familiar, yet at the same time, so alien. The last time she’d seen him, he’d casually dismissed her and their engagement, had proclaimed his love for a younger, more exciting woman without any regard to Nikki’s feelings. But gone was Darren’s cool confidence. He seemed humbled. And the fact that he’d come looking for her showed a determination that surprised her. It broke down her defenses.

  She gestured in the direction of the boardinghouse. “My office. You can get cleaned up there.”

  “Do you need a ride?” Porter piped up.

  She leveled a pointed glare on him. “We’ll walk, thanks.” She was tired of men’s behavior in general. Already this morning, two workers had come around asking if anyone had seen Doc Riley because they needed him to treat some ailment or wound. When she’d offered her services, they’d politely refused and left.

  She set off walking toward the boardinghouse, maintaining a rapid pace for the man next to her to keep up. “How did you know where to find me?”

  His shoes squished as he walked. “Dr. Hannah told me. Don’t be angry.”

  Nikki bristled. “You might’ve let me know you were coming.”

  “I left you a voice message.”

  “My phone doesn’t get good reception except on the water tower.”

  He laughed. “The water tower? What is this place— Petticoat Junction?”

  His laughter rankled her. “It’s a brand-new town, Darren. There isn’t much infrastructure at the moment.”

  “I understand you answered a newspaper ad? That doesn’t seem like something you would do.”

  Nikki set her jaw. “And yet, I did.”

  “Looks dangerous to me,” he said, peering all around at the rugged landscape. “Do you even have running water?”

  “Yes,” she said through gritted teeth. “The accommodations are more than adequate.”

  He gestured at a crew of workers they passed. “What about all these men running around? Who keeps the women safe?”

  “The women do.”

  “And you’re the town doctor?”

  Nikki wet her lips. “Yes.” He didn’t have to know that most of the town’s residents refused to be treated by her.

  “This is beneath you, Nikki.”

  Irritation spiked in her chest. “I’m a physician, Darren. No place i
s ‘beneath me.’”

  “You know what I mean,” he said. “The conditions are practically primitive.”

  “You saw the new clinic. It’s nicer than the facility where I worked in Broadway.”

  “And where is your support staff? What if, God forbid, something happens to you?”

  “If there’s an emergency I can’t handle, a Medevac would fly in.”

  “Because communication on this mountain is so good,” he said drily.

  “It’s improving,” she said, feeling inexplicably defensive of the town.

  They reached the front of the boardinghouse. Across the road sat Darren’s car. She shook her head at Porter’s “shortcut.” What was he trying to prove?

  Darren gestured. “I brought a change of clothes. Let me grab my bag.”

  She waited while he jogged across the road to retrieve a suitcase from the trunk of his Mercedes. When he came back, she took in his piece of designer luggage and was struck by how out of place he was in this remote wilderness. Porter’s work vehicles and leather duffel bag came to mind, but she quickly dismissed the comparison. Contrasting the men was an exercise in futility. It wasn’t as if they were both vying for her attention.

  Porter had been aloof since their return from Atlanta yesterday. It was clear he’d gotten what he wanted from her, and she couldn’t be a hypocrite—she’d gotten what she wanted, too. She’d noticed him talking to Rachel quite a bit since their return. It looked as if he’d already moved on—

  “Dr. Hannah said you were only staying long enough to oversee the building of a clinic,” Darren said, breaking into her thoughts. “Looks like that’s done.”

  Nikki tamped down her annoyance. “Dr. Hannah misspoke. I…haven’t made a decision about my future yet.” She turned and walked up to the porch of the boardinghouse, nodding to women they passed who gave them quizzical looks. She led him inside and through the hallway, stopping to pet the deer, Cupid, who was getting around on its cast leg and had adapted amazingly well to human companionship. Around its neck was a glittery pink dog collar.

  “So wild animals just roam around indoors here?” Darren asked.

  “She’s a patient,” Nikki said, giving the cast a quick hand check.

  The deer gave him a sniff and he pulled back. “You’re the veterinarian, too?”

  “I do what I can,” she said, then led him down another hall to the room that had been turned into her office. She opened the door and walked in, then pointed to the bathroom. “You can clean up and change in there.”

  “Where will you be?”

  She nodded to the desk next to the window, but her gaze landed on the denim shirt Porter had given her, draped over the back of the chair. “I…I have some paperwork to do.” A contract she needed to decide whether to sign or give back to the Armstrong brothers.

  To Porter.

  He headed for the bathroom. “I’ll be right out.”

  She knew he was eager to shower—Darren didn’t like to be soiled. As opposed to Porter Armstrong, who seemed to wear the dust and dirt of this place like a proud second skin.

  She sat down and pulled out the two-year employment contract the Armstrong brothers had asked her to sign. She knew each clause by heart, but reread it, as if doing so would somehow present a clear-cut answer to what she should do next in her life. In the bathroom, the shower kicked on, a reminder of Darren’s presence. She was still reeling over the fact that he’d driven all the way from Broadway to find her.

  Nikki reached into her desk drawer to remove the remaining piece of homemade licorice candy that Doc Riley had given her and ate it slowly while her mind swirled. Hadn’t she already decided to leave Sweetness? The workers had made it clear they didn’t want her services. So why was she still holding on to this employment contract?

  Because deep down, she was holding on to the fantasy that Porter Armstrong would express feelings for her and ask her to stay. The jolt to her heart when she’d seen him earlier confirmed she wasn’t one-night stand material. Instead of scratching a curiosity itch, the night in the hotel had only intensified the feelings she’d developed for him.

  And the fact that he didn’t feel the same left her smarting.

  Nikki closed her eyes briefly. The fact that he didn’t feel the same… Wasn’t that the only answer she needed?

  She picked up the contract and dropped it in the trash can next to her desk. Then she busied herself boxing up the remaining supplies in her makeshift office to relocate to the clinic. Her pulse hummed higher when the shower shut off. She dreaded the impending conversation with Darren, yet she knew it needed to happen.

  The bathroom door opened and she glanced up, startled to see him standing there wearing only a towel wrapped around his waist. His build was slighter than Porter’s, but tennis kept him lean. He was an attractive man.

  An attractive man who’d cheated on her.

  “Everything okay?” she asked brightly.

  “Is there any hot water on this mountain?”

  “Very little. Sorry.”

  His gaze darkened. “After seeing you again, I needed a cold shower anyway.” Suddenly he was standing in front of her. “Nikki…I’ve missed you.”

  Her heart pounded. She’d missed him, too. So many lonely nights curled up, crying, sleeping in socks because he wasn’t there to warm her feet, agonizing over where things had gone wrong and why she hadn’t noticed his change of heart.

  “Why did you do what you did?” she demanded quietly. “How could you do what you did?”

  He shook his head. “I don’t know. I wasn’t thinking clearly there for a while, but I am now. I love you…and I’m so sorry for what I did to you.”

  She studied his expression and saw genuine remorse. She softened, wondering if most engaged men panicked and did stupid things they later regretted. Wasn’t an engagement about trying each other on for size, a trial period? It wasn’t as if they were married and he’d broken a vow.

  “Let’s go home,” he said, his voice husky and pleading. “I’ll make everything right again. Better than before, I promise.”

  He reached for her, but Nikki stepped back, trying to gather her thoughts. “I need some time to think, Darren.”

  “Okay,” he said, nodding. “Why don’t you sleep on it? Can I at least stay with you tonight?”

  She shook her head. “There are no men in the boardinghouse overnight. You’ll have to stay in the men’s barracks.”

  He blanched. “O…kay.”

  But she wasn’t looking forward to rehashing things all evening if they were alone. Then she remembered the notice on the dry erase board in the kitchen. “We’re having a coed movie night downstairs this evening.”

  “That sounds fun,” he said. In that moment, she realized he truly was making an effort because a group movie night was the kind of thing the old Darren would’ve looked down his nose at.

  He picked up her hand. “Do you still love me, Nikki?”

  She swallowed hard. A short rap on the outside door saved her from answering. The door opened and Porter Armstrong stuck his head and shoulders inside. The man had the most uncanny sense of timing.

  “Little lady doc?” He swung his head around and took in Nikki, then Darren in his nearly naked state.

  A hot flush climbed Nikki’s neck.

  “Uh, sorry to interrupt,” Porter said. Yet he didn’t make a move toward leaving.

  “Did you need something?” Darren asked, obviously irritated at the interruption.

  Porter glared. “Yes. I need to talk to our town doctor. Which is why I came to her office.”

  Nikki pursed her mouth. Apparently, Porter had forgotten that the two of them had almost had sex in her office.

  “Darren,” she said evenly, “will you excuse us, please?”

  Darren retreated into the bathroom, but shot daggers at Porter as he closed the door.

  Tingling all over, Nikki turned to Porter and exhaled. “Is something wrong?”

  He opened the do
or wider and swung in on his crutches, then lowered himself into a chair next to her desk. He thumped his mud-spattered cast. “My leg is hurting.”

  Nikki crossed her arms. “Maybe you should stay off the four-wheeler.”

  He grinned, confirming her suspicion that his “pain” wasn’t serious. “But that was fun.”

  “Uh-huh. Did you have a reason for terrorizing Darren?”

  “No. I didn’t know he was your ex.” Porter’s attention was on the wastebasket next to her desk. He leaned forward, reached in and retrieved the employment contract. He was quiet as he eyed the unsigned bottom. “So you’re definitely leaving?”

  Nikki squirmed as emotions pummeled her. To give her strength, she replayed how coolly Porter had treated her the morning after their sex-studded night at the hotel. “That’s right. It should come as no surprise.”

  He nodded slowly, then tossed the contract back into the trash can. “You’re right.” He reached for his crutches and pushed to his feet. “I’m not surprised. I knew the minute I laid eyes on you that you don’t have what it takes to make it here.”

  Nikki blinked at the stinging remark, waiting for him to laugh, to say it was a joke and wish her the best. Instead he lumbered out the door and down the hall, his crutches thumping.

  Hurt and confused, Nikki stepped out into the hall. “I thought your leg was hurting!” she called out

  “I was mistaken,” he yelled over his shoulder.

  “Porter…wait.”

  He stopped and looked back, his expression unreadable. Nikki dashed back inside to grab the soft denim shirt he’d given her from the back of her desk chair. She raised it to her nose and mouth to inhale his earthy scent one more time, then she walked out of her office and down the hall to where he’d stopped. “Here’s your shirt back.”

  He stared at the shirt for a few seconds. She wondered if he even remembered giving it to her, and suddenly felt foolish.

  Then he reached out and took it, draped it over one shoulder, and without saying a word, hobbled away.