Chapter Seven

The late Friday afternoon brought a flurry of activity when the nurse’s shift change occurred. Grace tuned out the buzzing dialogue that surrounded her, focusing on her patients’ charts. She reached for Chester Brown’s thick notebook and smiled. She prided herself on a positive bedside manner and a devotion to listening to all of her patients, but she had to admit that she had her favorites and he was one of them. Inevitably he had visitors—his children, friends or former co-workers who taught with him at Trevor Browne High School. She learned that he’d spent nearly thirty years teaching biology and anatomy, and her personal bias toward science contributed to her affinity for the old codger.

When she knocked on his door today, Logan stood by the nightstand propping up some photos.

“Come in, Doc, ” he said with a wave. “Let me show you something.”

He pointed to a five by seven photograph—a picture of him with Edna, leaning against a stone wall.

Grace looked closer and saw the extensive path. “Is that the Great Wall of China? ”

“Yep. The kids gave us a trip to China for our fortieth wedding anniversary. We had a blast. It was almost as much fun as skiing in Switzerland.”

“Wow, it sounds like you guys have really gotten around.”

He shrugged. “We’ve been lucky. Edna had a good job selling real estate, and we were careful.” He playfully grinned at Logan before he added, “And lucky for us, none of our kids gave us any real grief. We never had to bail one out of jail. None of ‘em was a drug addict who stole from us. Just great kids.”

“We were perfect, ” Logan summarized.

“Well, I wouldn’t go that far.” He pointed at her. “Especially you, missy. You gave your mother heart failure on more than a few occasions. You see, Dr. Owens, Logan takes after her old man. She’s always had a bit of the wanderlust, always pushed the limits. Wanted skydiving lessons at sixteen, trekked through Europe after high school graduation—”

“And before he says it, I’m the only one who never went to college.”

He sighed dramatically and placed his hand over his heart. “Yes, that nearly killed me. Imagine, Dr. Owens, a teacher’s daughter not pursuing higher education.”

“No, I pursued my passion instead, ” Logan said.

He reached over and squeezed her hand. “Yes, you did. You became a famous photographer and proved me wrong in the process. I was happy to let you tell me that you told me so.”

He turned back to Grace and pointed at a row of pictures that lined the window. The room had gradually filled with more framed photos, some of the family, but many of exotic places that looked majestic and beautiful.

“Logan took every single one of them. She’s been everywhere, met kings and queens, and she’s even photographed celebrities. Matter of fact, she’s shooting a wedding for Kazmar Edens and that model girlfriend of his this weekend in Vegas.”

“Really? ” Grace was impressed.

While she didn’t follow celebrity gossip, it was inescapable when she was standing in the grocery store checkout line. Kazmar’s handsome face stared at her from at least three different magazine covers each week. And now that he was getting married after only dating a Brazilian model for two months, the paparazzi and the tabloids were having a field day.

Logan shrugged. “It’s not a big deal, really. He’s a cool guy. We hit it off pretty well when I did his GQ shoot last year, and I already knew his bride, Lena.”

“I thought you worked for National Geographic? ”

“They just buy most of my stuff because it’s of nature or places. I don’t snap a lot of people.”

“I see. Well, I imagine it will be an incredible affair.”

She smiled at Logan, who offered a hard stare. She felt as though she was being studied, like one of her photography subjects. She looked away, momentarily flustered. When she absently touched her stethoscope, she remembered why she was there. “Okay, let’s take a listen.”

She checked his heart, examined his incision and took his vitals. She wasn’t aware that Logan was snapping pictures of her until she stepped to the other side of the bed. When she looked up, Logan lowered the camera from her face.

“Sorry. Force of habit. Are you okay with this or should I stop? ”

Never one to enjoy being photographed, Grace was slightly annoyed by the enormous lens focused on her, but she nodded anyway. She wore a striking plum blouse and perhaps Logan found it quite photogenic. She couldn’t imagine any other reason why a world famous photographer would want to take pictures of her.

Logan held the camera with strong, confident hands, and her casual body posture conveyed her ease with her art. She looked— sexy. That was it. Grace couldn’t imagine a stethoscope adding to her sex appeal in the same way, but Logan seemed mysterious and incredibly interesting. For a split second, a textbook image of the central nervous system flashed in her mind, the lavender potion traveling through her bloodstream.

“Don’t worry about it, Doc, ” Chester said. “She doesn’t mean anything by it. She just can’t help herself. She takes pictures of everything. It’s not like she’s going to plaster ‘em all over the Internet. I can’t tell you how many pictures she’s taken of me.”

“Too many, ” Logan murmured as she moved to the foot of the bed. “You’ve cost me thousands. Your ugly mug broke two of my lenses.”

He laughed heartily and Grace chuckled. “Well, you seem to be doing well, improving slowly. Are you having any pain I should know about? ”

He shook his head. “Nope, I’m feeling great. I’m hardly taking any pain meds now, too. Any chance I can get out of this joint pretty soon? The world’s passing me by.”

She smiled. Interesting choice of words. “I’m glad you’re feeling better, but I can’t let you go until I’m sure you’re stable. I’m hoping for Monday.” She patted his arm. “Dr. Van Buren will be by over the weekend to check on you, but if there’s a problem he’ll page me.”

She nodded at Logan and headed out of the room, grateful to be away from her and her camera. She was getting an entirely different feeling about her today, one that was completely unprofessional. She found an open carrel outside the nurse’s station and updated her notes in Chester’s file.

“Dr. Owens? ”

She glanced up at Logan, leaning against the wall, her arm draped over the carrel. Logan wore several bracelets made of leather and woven cloth, and Grace imagined they were trinkets collected during her many travels. A clenched fist dangled from her arm, and she pointed at it.

“What’s that? ”

“A figa. It originally was a symbol of oppression during the eighteenth century but it evolved into a good luck charm—but only if it’s a gift from one person to another.”

Just like the Root of Passion.

“I assume someone special gave you that? ”

Logan rested her chin in her palm and grinned mysteriously. “There’s a story there. A very beautiful woman, a week stuck in the sweltering desert and some incredible nights.”

“Ah.” An image of Logan naked flashed through her mind, and she cleared her throat to erase it. She set her pen down and folded her hands together, determined to keep a professional distance. “Is there another question I can answer for you? ”

“Actually there are several. First, may I call you Grace? ”

“I suppose.”

“Now, Grace, I got this feeling when we were in my dad’s room that there was some chemistry between us. Did you feel it? ”

Her forthright nature smacked Grace in the face. “What? ”

“I’m not getting this wrong, am I? ” she whispered. “We’ve been checking each other out like crazy, so I assumed…” She didn’t finish the thought, but when Grace said nothing, she stood up straight and shook her head. “I’m sorry.”

She sauntered away, and Grace focused on her tanned, muscular calves. Suddenly Logan whirled around and faced her. “Gotcha.”

Two nurses standing nearby glanced in her direction momentarily. There was no hiding her embarrassment. She touched her burning cheeks, certain they were crimson.

“Okay, ” Logan said, returning to the carrel. “You’ve indirectly answered both of those questions, so now I’ve got one more.”

“What? ” Grace asked, staring at her pen.

“I was told specifically by Kazmar that I could bring someone to his wedding. Would you like to come with me? ”

Grace stiffened. “What? ”

“Is that all you can say? You seemed far more erudite with my dad.”

Grace clenched her pen tightly and carefully chose her words. “It’s just that I make it a rule to separate my personal and professional life. This is not an appropriate conversation to have in the hospital.”

“So, if I wait until you walk to your car and call you on your cell, then can we talk? ”

There was no mistaking the suggestiveness of Logan’s voice. And Grace couldn’t decide if she liked it.

“Do you always invite complete strangers on trips? ”

Logan laughed. “It’s only for two days. Basically fly in and fly out. It’s not like I’m kidnapping you for weeks.”

Before temptation took control of her mouth, she said, “Um, well, thank you. It’s just, this is such short notice, and frankly, your request is rather unorthodox. We hardly know each other, Logan.”

“But you’re feeling that connection between us, aren’t you? ”

She knew it was pointless to lie. She was a terrible liar, and Margo insisted it was the main reason she was still alone.

“I’ll admit that I think you’re very attractive. But why me? ”

Logan leaned closer and whispered, “Because I’m guessing that underneath that starched white coat are an incredible body and a wild personality.”

How wrong you are. She shook her head. “Thanks, but the answer’s no.”

Logan pulled out a slip of paper from one of the pockets in her vest, plucked Grace’s pen from her hand and wrote down her phone number.

“In case you change your mind. I’m leaving tonight at nine. Now, I’m going to walk out of here for real this time and you have my permission to stare at my legs or my ass—whatever it was you were looking at before. I promise not to embarrass you again.”

Grace couldn’t resist watching Logan’s confident swagger and sumptuous legs as she headed down the hallway. She was incredibly flattered by the invitation, but of course she’d never accept it.

She finished the notes and headed downstairs to change. She was meeting Margo for drinks, and she vowed not to mention the proposition or Margo would never stop talking about it, insisting she call.

She was so focused on her thoughts that she practically ran into Eva as she turned a corner. “God, I’m sorry.”

“It’s okay, ” Eva said. A moment of awkwardness passed as it always did when they weren’t surrounded by twenty other people, and she added, “Are you leaving? ”

“Yeah, I’m ready for the weekend.”

Eva seemed to process this information like a difficult math equation. She bit her lip and leaned against the wall. “Got any big plans? ”

“Oh, nothing much, really.”

Eva chuckled. “Of course not. I forgot who I was talking to.”

“Excuse me? ”

“Nothing, ” Eva said quickly. “I just know that your weekends usually have a very strict blueprint.”

“A blueprint? ”

“Well, it’s just that you’re a planner and you don’t like a lot of surprises. You want everything to be crossed off your to-do list. That’s all I meant.”

She started to fume. She was tired of Eva’s mocking tone. “Well, not that it’s your business, but I was invited to Kazmar Edens’ wedding and I’m still deciding whether or not I should attend. What’s your opinion, Eva? Should I forego my sacred to-do list for this once-in-a-lifetime opportunity? ”

Instead of answering, Eva’s jaw dropped, and Grace savored the moment of total surprise as she walked away.