Nursing in Northlake (At the Altar Book 9) (6 page)

Heidi smiled. “Not since Saturday.” She held up her hand with the wedding ring on it.

“This is my third baby he’ll deliver. He’s wonderful. I couldn’t ask for a better doctor.”

“He’s a pretty great husband, too.” Heidi loved to hear good things about him. Maybe he really was the exception to her rule that all doctors were egotistical maniacs.

“Do you want children?” the woman asked.

Heidi nodded. “I really do!”

“Will Dr. Henderson deliver them?”

Heidi wrinkled her nose and shook her head. “We’re going to be practicing separation of church and state. I won’t even see his partner.”

The woman laughed. “I can understand that. My husband is a lawyer, and I wouldn’t let him represent me in a divorce.” She winked at Heidi.

The door opened and a nurse called out, “Mrs. Wright?”

The woman beside her got up. “It was nice talking to you, Mrs. Henderson.”

“You too,” Heidi said with a smile, thinking about how strange the name sounded when applied to her.

The receptionist stood up then. “Come with me. I’m going to put you in his office.” She led Heidi into a small office and had her sit in a chair across from the desk. “I’m going to leave the door cracked and let him know you’re here.”

Heidi nodded, going back to her phone. She could hear Slade’s voice and listened with a smile on her face, until she realized what he was saying. “I don’t ever want you speaking like that to a patient again. If you worry something is wrong, you come to me, and
I
will deal with it.”

Heidi heard some mumbling in response. Slade’s voice had been harsh—very harsh. He said something else that she couldn’t quite make out and then she saw the door open and a nurse came into the room crying.

“Oh. Can I help you?” she asked, swiping a tear away.

“I’m here to see Dr. Henderson.”

“Does he know you’re waiting?”

Heidi shrugged. “I believe so. I’m not an emergency. Just his wife.” She knew she shouldn’t get involved. “Are you all right?”

The woman nodded. “I’m fine.” She left the room then, and Heidi felt badly, because she’d obviously just needed a place to calm down a little. She had no idea what had happened, but her first thought was that Slade must have overreacted. Doctors were always yelling at nurses for no particular reason, and it made her mad!

When Slade came into his office twenty minutes later, he was rubbing the back of his neck, obviously tired. “I brought lunch,” Heidi told him, holding up the takeout bag from a small Chinese restaurant down the street.

“Oh, good. I usually send my staff out for something, and we eat together, but I’m more than a little frustrated today. I don’t think I could eat with them.”

Heidi frowned. “What happened?” She didn’t mention she’d heard him getting onto someone, and she definitely didn’t mention that she’d assumed the worst of him.

He sighed. “We hired a new nurse who just started on Monday. She was using the Doppler with a very newly pregnant woman, and couldn’t find the heartbeat. She told her that miscarriages happen early all the time, and she’ll get pregnant again.” He shook his head. “When I got into the room five minutes later, the poor woman was hysterical. I tried the Doppler and found the baby’s heartbeat. She was still upset, so I did a sonogram and showed her the baby. She wasn’t convinced until she saw it moving around.”

Heidi’s eyes widened, and she was immediately ashamed of what she’d thought of him. “That’s awful! She can’t be talking to patients that way. What if she
had
lost the baby? That’s not the way to find out!”

“No, it’s not. The worst part is it’s the patient’s third pregnancy, and both of the others ended with first trimester miscarriages.” He took the food she offered him. “I wanted to slap that nurse.”

“I don’t blame you one little bit.” What she’d heard wasn’t nearly harsh enough for what she thought the nurse deserved. What was she thinking? “I’m sorry to intrude on a tough day.”

“You’re not intruding! I’m thrilled you’re here. Chinese and a beautiful woman to look at are just what the doctor ordered.” He leaned forward and lowered his voice. “Know how I know?”

Heidi grinned, shaking her head. “How?”

“Because I’m the doctor.”

She laughed. “You’re silly.”

“Probably.” He ate a forkful of orange chicken. “I love this place. Did you get fortune cookies?”

“Of course! What’s Chinese food without fortune cookies?” She grabbed them both from the bag and threw him one. “You have to wait ‘til we’re done to eat yours, though.”

“Why?”

She shrugged. “Rules are rules.”

“That’s not a rule.”

“Sure it is. I just made it. And it has to be obeyed. You know how I know?”

He shook his head, eyeing his fortune cookie, and thinking about unwrapping it despite her rule.

“Because I’m the nurse.”

He grinned at her. “Did you get everything done this morning?”

She nodded. “Lights are set to be shut off. Movers will be there first thing tomorrow to get everything packed up and moved to your house. I’ve also rented a storage unit for some of my stuff that’s not going to fit in your house.”

“You don’t need to keep it. I have enough furniture.”

She shrugged. “I’m keeping it. Someone will need it.”

“Just so you’re not planning to leave me as soon as our year is up, because I’ve decided to keep you, no matter what the contract says.”

Heidi frowned at him. “And what happens if I refuse to be kept?”

“I have duct tape.”

She couldn’t help but laugh. “Duct tape, huh?”

Slade nodded. “Did you know it’s possible to tape a grown man to a wall with duct tape? Imagine what I could do with a small nurse!”

“You, Dr. Henderson, have lost your mind.”

He sighed. “I know. Isn’t it great?”

When they finished eating, she walked around his desk to kiss him. “I’ll see you in a few hours, I hope.”

He grabbed her, pulling her down onto his lap. “No babies have ever been made in this office, but a few have been delivered here. We could make the first!”

She shook her head. “Not so appealing. You look at other women here, not me. Separation of church and state!”

He laughed. “My patient you met in the waiting room told me you said that to her. I approve wholeheartedly.”

“I don’t even want to see a doctor you know! It would be too—squicky.”

“Well, we don’t want anything squicky.”

“Be ready to go out tonight when I get home. I think we can make it without being called.”

Heidi smiled. “Country dancing?”

He nodded. “I’m going to prove to you that I’m an expert on a mechanical bull.”

She kissed him one last time. “You’d better be. It’s the only reason I married you!” She headed for the door.

“Heidi!”

She turned to look at him. “What?”

“Thanks for lunch.”

“Anytime.”

She had a smile on her face as she left. She didn’t know what the future would bring, or what she would find out about him later, but right now, she thought her husband was pretty darn awesome.

Chapter Six

Heidi was waiting for Slade when he got home from work. She was wearing her favorite pair of old jeans, a button down shirt, a cowboy hat, and a pair of cowboy boots. She’d added some curl to her long hair, and it was streaming down her back.

Slade walked in and caught sight of her, grinning. “Let me shower and dress. I’ll be ready in twenty.”

“No rush,” she told him.

“I’d suggest you join me, but you look like you’re ready to go out for the night, and I probably shouldn’t smudge you.”

“Probably not.”

He sighed heavily, walking into the bathroom and throwing his scrubs off. He started the water in the tub to heat it up. “Next time wait and get ready when I do. You’re taking half the fun out of the night!”

“Half the fun was showering together? Well, that seems rather high. I mean, shouldn’t half the fun be going to dance and riding the bull and the other half be making love when we get home?”

He seemed to consider it for a moment. “You’re probably right. But the shower would have been fun.”

“I’m sure we’ll get sweaty while we’re dancing,” she reminded him, shutting the bathroom door from the outside.

True to his word, he was ready twenty minutes later, dressed very similarly to her. He was even wearing a green checkered shirt like hers. “We match.”

Heidi nodded. “We do. I’m not sure if one of us should change, or if we should just go ahead and go.”

He shrugged. “I don’t know, but I’m taking you out for the best steak you’ve ever had, and then we’re going to dance.”

“Sounds good to me!”

He was right about the steak. She had never had one quite so tender. “This really is amazing.” She looked at him across the table as she bit into the meat.

He smiled. “Yeah, I went through a long series of first dates, and no one was willing to go on a second one with me. I found this when I was looking for a new place to try with one of them.”

She grinned. “Because you look at naked women all day!”

He sighed. “I’m glad it doesn’t bother you. Of course, why would it? You’re the most beautiful woman I’ve ever seen. Next to them, you’re Aphrodite.”

“Oh, you really are trying to butter me up for something. What exactly do you want?”

He shook his head, grinning. “Not a thing. I just think you’re really special and want you to know it.”

She couldn’t help but smile at him. “I feel like you want something, but I’ll leave it at that!”

He shrugged. “Not this time!” He nodded to the phone beside her plate. “Are you on call this weekend?”

She nodded. “My on call is different than yours, though. I need to arrange for someone to cover a shift if anyone calls in, but I rarely have to go in myself unless we have several people out. We had a stomach bug a month ago, and it was awful. Vicki and I were both covering extra shifts every time we turned around.”

“But that shouldn’t happen this weekend?”

“It shouldn’t. I can’t promise anything, of course. You never know when everyone is going to get sick. And they all do it at the same time. Every single time. It makes me crazy.”

“Well, we’ll make the most of having time off together when we can. Do you want to make plans for tomorrow or just lounge around at home?”

She shrugged. “My parents are dying for us to come over for dinner, so they can get to know you better. I’m not sure that’s what I want, but they want it.”

“Are we ready for that?” he asked. “Should we put them off for another week or two? You won’t be on call next weekend.”

She grinned. “I like the way you think! Then we can have one more weekend alone together before other people start making demands on us.”

“What other people? Your parents and?”

“Several of my friends want us to get together with them, which will be a little weird. They all have kids or are currently pregnant. We’d be the only newlyweds, but it’s better than being the only single person with them, right?”

He laughed. “Right. We’ll wait ‘til later for that too. Like not next weekend, but the next weekend you’re not on call.”

Heidi grinned. “Sounds good to me. I do want you to get to know them, but my parents need to come first, because I swear my mom is about to wet herself she’s so anxious. I’ve talked to her four times this week, and she’s always sure I’ve been murdered.”

“She’s still not convinced I’m not going to kill you in your sleep?” He shook his head. “If I was going to murder you, I’d have done it that first night. I mean, why prolong it? I get too attached when I live with a woman for a week before I kill her. It makes no sense!”

“I’ll tell her you said so!”

Slade frowned. “Better not. I don’t think she’d appreciate my humor.”

Heidi shook her head. “Not even a little bit.”

He sighed. “More people in this world need to appreciate my humor. I’m a funny guy!”

“Sure. A laugh a minute. I don’t know how your patients have time to push when they’re so busy laughing.”

“I should have been a comedian. Less student debt and more recognition!”

“I could see it,” Heidi said with a straight face. “I would laugh and laugh at your humor.”

He made a face at her. “You’re supposed to be supportive of my every dream!”

“I don’t remember promising that when I married you.”

“You have no idea what you promised me. You were too busy staring off into space. You couldn’t even remember to say, ‘I do.’ Admit it.”

Heidi blushed, looking down at her plate. “I’ll admit nothing of the sort! I was paying attention to every word!”

“Then why did I have to remind you to say, ‘I do?’ Explain that one!”

“I was contemplating whether you were worthy of me saying it to. I mean, for all I knew you were a mass murderer.”

Slade sighed, rubbing his head. “Are we back to that?”

Heidi shrugged. “I was never there. It was my mother!”

“Uh huh.”

They finished eating, and he paid for their meal, glancing down at his phone. “We might actually have a whole date night.”

Heidi grinned. “Wouldn’t that be fun?”

“I hope so. I’m trying to make it fun.” He stood and they left the restaurant together.

“The bar is about a block from here. Do you want to walk or drive?”

Heidi looked up at the sky, which had darkened while they were eating. “It’s a gorgeous night. Let’s walk.”

He took her hand in his and they walked through the downtown area of Fort Worth together. “We need to go to the Water Gardens sometime.”

“Not this weekend. Too much is going on.”

“I know, but soon.” He looked over at the entrance, thinking they should have had wedding pictures done there. Oh well, it was too late now.

“So are you still maintaining that you can ride on a mechanical bull while standing up?” she asked. “Do I need to make sure I have a first aid kit ready?”

“Not at all. I promise, I’ve done it a million times.”

“A million?”

“Okay not a million. Probably a hundred, though.”

When they got to the bar, the guy at the door grinned. “Slade! Good to see you, man! Are you going to put on a show for us tonight?”

“Nope. Just for my bride here. She doesn’t think I can ride a mechanical bull standing up.”

The man shook his head. “You have no idea what this man can do. He’s pretty darn incredible!” Then he looked back at Slade. “I should have known you’d marry a pretty lady!”

Slade smiled. “The prettiest lady in all the land, you mean.”

“Sure, man, sure. The prettiest lady in all the land. Whatever.” He shook his head when Slade pulled out his wallet. “Never a charge for you.”

Slade led Heidi to a small table near the mechanical bull, which no one was using. He promptly took off his boots and walked toward the machine.  Another man who Slade tried to give his money to held up both hands, and refused it. “No way. You make this thing look like a toy. No money from you.”

Slade carefully mounted the bull. He hadn’t tried this in a few years, but he knew it would all come back. He’d done it so often that he couldn’t imagine not being able to.

The band’s song ended, and Slade heard the owner of the bar’s voice, and he couldn’t help but grin. “Ladies and cowboys, you are in for a real treat tonight. My friend, Slade Henderson, is taking a break from being a bigwig doctor and returning to his roots. Please gather round the bull because I can promise you, you have never seen anything like what you’re about to see from this man.”

He pulled on the cord from the microphone ‘til it barely reached into the padded area where the bull was. “I have to know what brought you back here, Slade.”

Slade smiled, his face dimpling. “I got married last weekend, and when I talked to my bride about my bull riding skills, she told me that not only could I not ride a bull on my feet, but that no one could. Now, I don’t like to prove the pretty lady wrong, but I think I sure might move up a notch in her beautiful green eyes if I show her what I can do. So, I’m going to show her how a real man rides a bull!”

The owner took the microphone back, a huge grin on his face. “Fair enough. Get your phones out, people. You’re going to want video of this!”

Heidi stood at the edge of the small arena with her heart in her throat. She didn’t want him to get hurt, and she knew he was doing it just for her. She opened her mouth to shout to him that she believed him just as they started the bull.

To her amazement, he went from sitting on the bull’s saddle correctly to standing in a second flat. And then the owner nodded to the band and they played
Boot Scootin' Boogie
. While the song played, he did a dance to it, his thumbs mostly tucked in his belt, but occasionally, he’d raise a hand to wave his hat in the air. Heidi was thankful the bull never went faster than the slow speed they started it out at, because she was certain she’d have had a heart attack!

At the final words of the song, the bull drifted to a stop, and Slade did a no-handed flip right off the end of the bull to land at Heidi’s feet. He took both her hands in his, a bit out of breath from his dance. “Well, sweetheart? Do you believe me now?”

Heidi wasn’t sure if she wanted to beat him with her hat for being so stupid or if she wanted to cheer that he’d done so well! So she did neither. She flew at him, wrapping her arms around his neck and kissing him for all she was worth. “I was sure you were going to fall and break your fool neck!”

“Nah. I fell a couple of times practicing, but never since I learned what I was doing.”

She shook her head at him. “You don’t do that often, do you?”

“It’s been a few years.”

“Please don’t ever do it again!”

He laughed. “But there’s another song I do! I can’t just do one and not the other!”

“Yes, you can.” She grabbed his hand and pulled him far from the bull. “I thought you were going to dance with me!”

“All right. Let me get my boots back on.” He walked to the table and pulled his boots back on before taking her hand and leading her to the dance floor.

It was an old, slow Garth Brooks song and a favorite of hers,
If Tomorrow Never Comes
. While they danced, he sang it to her softly, and she stared at him. “You can
sing
?”

He threw back his head and laughed. “There’s so much you don’t know about me yet, Heidi. We’ll get there.”

After the dance, the owner came to him, hat in hand. “Thanks for the show. You always get so much business for the bull. How ‘bout a song? Just one while the singer gets a drink. His throat’s been bugging him today.”

Slade thought about it for a moment. “Would you mind?” he asked Heidi.

She shook her head. “I would love it. Not nearly as dangerous as the bull!”

“I’ll do Austin by Blake Shelton.” Slade winked at Heidi before he got to his feet and walked over to join the band. The singer patted him on the back and wandered off while he told the others what song he’d sing.

As Heidi watched, he climbed on the stage and took the microphone. He waited a moment as the band started the song, and then he sang. His voice—his pure baritone voice—had Heidi’s knees turning to mush. How many doctors sang to their wives in bars on Friday nights?

When he finished the final words of the song, the applause was thunderous. Heidi was on her feet with everyone else, clapping wildly. When Slade returned to the table, her eyes were wide. “You’re not just any doctor. You’re super doctor!”

He laughed. “I’m more than you think I am. I’m just going to leave it at that. Don’t paint me with the same brush you use on all the other doctors you’ve known, Heidi. Buy me my own.”

“I’m starting to really believe that.”

“All I ask is you keep an open mind as you watch me, and not some freak who did a friend wrong or treated nurses like idiots. I’m not them.”

“I’m doing my best.” Heidi couldn’t completely shake her preconceived notions about doctors, but she was trying. For him. She was starting to think she’d do anything for him. He already held her heart in the palm of his hand—she only wished she could trust him with it.