Chapter 11

Beth found rest of the trip refreshing. She allowed herself to flirt with Kyle a little more, which the rest of the group appeared to encourage. Kyle fit right in with them, making it much easier to be open with him. Beth just hoped he realized what he was getting into with her.

They spent time on the lake as a group and did more hiking before it was time to leave Monday morning. Kyle and Beth talked the whole way home, getting a better feel of each other’s likes and dislikes. They agreed to meet up later in the week for a run and dinner.

Beth took a shower when she arrived, thankful to be home. She took care of putting her camping gear away and went to the office to check her emails. She already had one from Claire, wanting to get coffee together the next day. She would probably press Beth for information about Kyle. Beth smiled. It’d be a long week until she saw him again.

The next morning Beth awoke with puffy eyes. She had been crying in her sleep again. The nightmare was one of the worse ones she’d had in a long time. She got her running clothes on and went for a jog before hitting the shower and getting ready for work. The day after a holiday was always busy at the clinic.

Beth worked for Dr. Ryan Baker, an older physician at the Hutch Clinic. He greeted her warmly when she came in.

“Good morning, Beth. How was camping this year?”

“It was amazing. Just what I needed.” Beth’s blushing cheeks gave her away.

“Ah, good. You must have been able to relax by the look on your face. You’ll have to tell me more later. Sally said we have a full schedule today.”

Sally was the receptionist, a pleasant lady in her fifties. She reminded Beth a lot of one of her aunts. Beth looked at the schedule to see who all she was expecting for the day. Nothing major, mainly routine check-ups, and a few sick people.

Beth got through her morning with no major issues. A two-year-old threw a holy fit over getting his shots. An overly friendly elderly woman informed Beth she needed to put on a few pounds. By lunch time, she was ready to take a little mental break. She took out her phone, and had a message from Kyle.

Can’t stop thinking about the weekend. Looking forward to seeing you again.

Beth smiled. Even if they were just friends now, she didn’t know how long they could keep up with that. She had been worried about sharing the tent with Kyle, but it ended up being one of the best choices she had made in a while. If she hadn’t done that, she wouldn’t have told him about Josh or spend her nights curled up against Kyle’s toned body. Beth had to admit to herself, being that close to a man had awakened some urges she had tucked away.

She had to pry her brain away from those strong arms and back to her cold ham sandwich. Just then, the doctor came in with his lunch bag, and sat at the table with Beth.

Doctor Baker pulled out a similar lunch to Beth’s.

“So camping must have been a great time. The weather was perfect for it this weekend.”

“It sure was. I had a great time. It was hard going to that spot with our friends, but well worth it. I missed spending time with them.”

“That’s good. Just the five of you then?”

Beth felt her cheeks get warm. “No, there were six of us. The guys invited one of the newest members of the fire department to come with.”

Dr. Baker smiled at Beth. “Ah, that makes sense then. So who’s the new friend?”

“Kyle Olson. He moved here from Alexandria. I guess he was on the fire department up there for a while, but took a new job here.”

“Well, I’m sure if Kyle fit in with your group of friends, he must be a good person. “

“Yeah, I think he is,” Beth said, hoping the doctor couldn’t see the dreamy look in her eyes, but not counting on it.

The remainder of the day flew by, as Beth had expected it to. They stayed busy, and by the end of the day, Beth was ready to go home and relax. She stopped by the grocery store on her way home to restock her refrigerator and pantry. She decided to make dinner easy on herself and grabbed a salad from the deli.

Beth put the food away, and sat down at the kitchen counter to eat her salad. Her evenings at home were usually pretty quiet. She looked out the window at her lawn that needed a trim. She could do that after supper, and then maybe hit the trail for a quick jog.

She got her push mower out of the garage and took care of the lawn. Her yard wasn’t very large, being a city lot. Beth liked her house, but it was quite a bit to keep up alone. She normally hired out the summer lawn care to a high school kid, but with summer officially over, she was on her own if the grass needed cutting the last few weeks in the fall.

Beth finished up the yard, then pulled on her running shoes and grabbed her phone. She walked from her house a few blocks until she got on the trail, and then fell into a steady jog. She took the trail to the park where she had seen Kyle a few weeks back. Beth had hoped he would be out with Copper that evening as well. She missed Copper almost as much as Kyle.

Beth was not disappointed as she rounded the curve and saw Kyle on a bench, studying his phone.