Normally, being with the animals calms me, but all I feel today standing in the barn is anxiety. Anxious that I'm away from Kayla. That she might need me, and I won't be there.
This is going to be a long few days.
I head back to the house but force myself to walk slowly and not hurry. A bit of space and some fresh air should do me some good. I'd love to clear my head, but every time I try, Kayla's face fills it.
Once back at the house, I start the coffee and wonder what Kayla might like for breakfast. It's barely after seven thirty in the morning, so I don't want to wake her up. Though I’m not even sure she eats breakfast, I finally decide that she seems like a simple breakfast person.
Because I want them, I start some biscuits. I’ll snack on any extras with some of my mom's apple jam she made and stored in my pantry. After I decide on omelets, I go to the bedroom to wake Kayla before starting them.
I find her looking like she just woke up. Seeing her lying in bed squinting at her phone, with her long blond hair slightly messy, she looks, well, fuckable.
Dammit, she's a patient. I’ve got to stop thinking of her like that.
"Good morning. Do you remember your name?" I start down the same list of questions as last night.
"Yes, Kayla. I also remember you waking me up at two a.m. I'm here at your house because I supposedly have a small concussion. Anything else?"
"Nope, just get dressed in the clothes Maggie’s brought you while I make breakfast. Are omelets okay?”
Her eyes get big, and I hesitate.
"Do you not like omelets?”
"I love them. Do you, by chance, have bacon to put in them? It’s my favorite food and it's been forever since I had some."
"I'm a cowboy. Of course, I have bacon. Take your time getting dressed. I’ll get breakfast going. Coffee is ready, too."
Smiling, I leave her to it. Bacon omelets are her favorite. I tuck that bit of info away for later and get going on frying up some bacon. Then I make extra to have on the side and I’m just serving up her plate when she makes her way to the table.
"Whew, if nothing else, those crutches are a good ab workout.” Looking around, she says, “Thank you for this."
I pull out the biscuits and set them on the table.
"This is my mom's homemade apple jam. You won't eat store bought again. "
"A cowboy doctor and he can cook? How are you still single?"
"Small town. Hard to date when you know everything about each other, grew up together, and know all their flaws. I don't get out much other than the clinic, so it’s hard to meet someone," I shrug.
I’ll leave out the parts about picking women up at WJ's for a good time. It's how I met my last girlfriend, if you can even call her that. It was more about sex for a good four months than anything. Then she said she was going to give her husband another chance, and that was the end of that.
But that was over a year ago now. Was that really the last time I got laid?
Kayla interrupts my thoughts. "What are you thinking about so hard over there?"
"Where I plan to take you today. What did you see yesterday?"
"The diner and WJ's."
"Well, there’s a lot more to Rock Springs. We have a beautiful church, some shops, even a place where the town holds carnivals. We even have a small grocery store and a Dairy Queen."
She laughs then. It's a full on carefree laugh that’s contagious.
"What’s so funny?"
"Of course, you have a Dairy Queen! There is no such thing as a ranch town in Texas without one. But it sounds like a short tour."
"The landscape is the best part. No tall skyscrapers, no smog or congestion. Just the natural beauty of Texas. It’s what keeps us coming back here even when we try to escape it."
"Speaking from experience, I take it?"
If she only knew.