<<At one point in my writing career I focused on Romance. here is one of my short stories I dug out of the back of my closet in honor of this day of ROMANCE.>>
Maddie wasn’t sure she could take another step.
“Which
grocery store shall we hit tonight?” her sister Kara asked.
“Huh?” It
was all the response Maddie could muster as they finished the grueling
eight-mile run along the beach. She bent at the waist and rested her
elbows on her knees as she sucked in lungfuls of refreshing salt air.
“I’m
thinking the Green Grocer over on West Washington might be good.”
Kara, who was in far better shape than Maddie, sounded less like a steam
locomotive puffing up a mountain and more like someone who had just finished a
game of Wii bowling.
Maddie had
assumed, erroneously, that joining her sister on an after-work run would
replace their usual evening activity of late—man hunting. Kara had
read in a magazine that a good place to meet eligible bachelors was at the
grocery store, so the sisters had been cruising a different one every night for
the past three weeks. So far, they hadn’t met a single eligible
man.
Using the railing to support herself, Kara stretched
out her calves. “It’s right next to that new gym and lots of hungry,
freshly showered men will be stopping by to pick up something quick and easy
for dinner. I hear they have the best barbecue in
town. That’s sure to attract my kind of guy.”
The last
thing Maddie wanted tonight was go shopping for a potential life mate,
especially the more-brawn-than-brains type that Kara favored. Maddie
was more interested in an intellectual renaissance man. And no doubt
they were all already home preparing a gourmet meal whilesipping a glass of
chardonnay and listening to some cool jazz music.
“Kara,” Maddie said as her breathing slowed, “you realize it’s already seven p.m. By the time we shower and drive across town, most guys will be licking barbecue sauce from their fingers and settling back in their La-Z-Boys for the March Madness tip-off.
“We won’t know
until we try.” Kara set off at slow trot up the feeder street that
led to the main drag. Their apartment was three blocks
east. “Besides, I hear they have the best sushi in town.”
Maddie, a
sucker for sushi, fell into step next to her sister. Tomorrow night she would
absolutely stay in and curl up with a good book.
“Check out
that hot man in that hot car,” Kara said as they waited to cross Atlantic
Avenue.
Maddie
turned her head toward a sleek black Mercedes convertible purring through
the intersection. The next thing she knew, she was lying on the cold
pavement, blinking against the glaring light of a street lamp.
A deep,
smooth-as-honey voice was calling her name, bit it sounded as if she had cotton
stuck in her ears.
“Maddie,
are you okay? Say something.”
“What? What
happened?”
A face
slowly came into focus only inches from hers—so close she could smell his spicy
cologne and feel his breath whisper across her cheek when he spoke.
“I think
she’s coming around. Everyone stand back and give her some
room.”
As the
sound of sirens wailed in the distance, Maddie tried to sit up, but her muscles
weren’t cooperating. She relaxed back against something soft that had been
tucked behind her head.
She watched
in confusion as the man shrugged his shoulders out of his charcoal gray suit
coat and wrapped it around her body. Its silky lining still carried
his body heat, a welcome warmth to her clammy skin.
“Kara? Where’s
Kara?” Maddie managed, with great effort, to ask.
Kara’s’
concerned face popped into view.
“What
happened?” Maddie whispered through suddenly dry lips.
“You were
so busy gawking at that car, you didn’t watch where you were going and ran
right into the light post, bounced off, stumbled backwards and clunked your
head on an iron bench on your way down,” Kara answered. “Knocked
yourself clean out.”
Kara smiled
then leaned down and whispered in Maddie’s ear, “Don’t know how you did it,
little sis, but you managed to fall at the feet of the most delicious-looking
man. And he’s single! I already asked!”
Kara
squeezed Maddie’s hand before slipping out of her range of focus.
The man
reappeared—and Maddie concurred he was delicious-looking—and started to gently
probe Maddie’s neck and base of her scalp. His touch was gentle,
sending fissions of pleasure dancing along every nerve and his hands worked
their way along her hairline.
Pain
stabbed behind her eyes and she pulled away when he touched the spot just above
her right temple.
“It’s good
the swelling is on the outside,” the man said. “Hopefully not too
much on the inside. I still want to run you over to Beach General
for some X-rays.”
“Are you a
doctor or something?” Kara asked.
Maddie
studied the man’s face as his smile spread across his face, reaching all the
way to his dancing green eyes. “Not board certified,” he said, “but
I play one on TV. Dr. Drew Warrington, at your service.”
Drew
Warrington! Of course! Maddie thought the face looked
familiar. She’d been watching The Sands of Time since she
middle school, and still did, mostly to see Dr. Drew. But before she
could express her admiration, the EMT’s pushed Dr. Drew out of the
way. The last thing she saw of him was the back of his head as he
walked down the street.
* * *
When Maddie
awoke from a nap the next morning the first thing she saw was a huge teddy bear
with a big red bow dancing at the end of her bed.
“Feeling
any better?” the teddy bear asked in a falsetto voice.
Maddie laughed.
A face popped from
behind the bear and Maddie grinned at Todd Williamson, better known as Dr. Drew
Warrington to millions of soap opera fans across the country. Maddie
thought him even better looking in person that he was on TV.
“Little
headache,” Maddie said. “I should be released after the doctor makes
his rounds, though.”
“Then I’ll
let you rest,” he said, placing the stuffed animal in the chair next to
her. “I was hoping you might be free for dinner
tonight. Maybe I could come to your house and cook? My
specialty is Shrimp Scampi. And if you’re interested, I’ve
discovered a new Chilean white wine that pairs nicely with it.”
“That
sounds great,” Maddie said, thinking she’d need to rustle up a Jazz CD to play in
the background to make the evening perfect.
“Your
sister gave me your address last night, so I’ll be over around five.”
“Mmm,” Maddie
mumbled. The way that Todd gazed down at her, his eyes full of
concern, left Maddie at a loss for words.
Todd stood at Maddie’s
bedside in silence for a few moments, then reached out and brushed his fingers
lightly across the bandage over her temple. Then he leaned down and placed a
feathery kiss by her ear. “Feel better soon,” he said, and then disappeared.
“I already
do,” Maddie whispered to his retreating back. Todd may not be a
medical doctor, she thought, but he sure had the right prescription for what
ailed her.
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