The clinic was only a few minutes away from the hotel, but Kimmie was shaking by the time Meg pulled up in front of the building. She didn’t know if it was her body reliving last night’s trauma or the adrenaline in her system from fighting with her sister. Maybe both.
“You coming in?” she asked Meg, who was still buckled in the driver’s seat.
“Go on ahead. I’ve got some phone calls to make.” Meg adjusted the rearview mirror so she could look at herself as she reapplied her lipstick. Ignoring her, Kimmie helped Pip out of his car seat. “Come on, Buster,” she whispered in his ear. “Let’s see if the nurses here can do anything to help you feel better.”
After checking her brother in, Kimmie sat down with Pip on her lap and started reading a magazine. In the corner, two kids around Pip’s age were playing in the children’s area, stacking blocks and coloring while their mom scrolled on her cell phone.
Kimmie was exhausted. One nice thing about driving all the way to Anchorage with Meg was her sister was a coffee snob and probably knew the best place in the area to get a hot drink.
“Well, fancy seeing you two here.”
Kimmie turned around at the familiar voice as a smile worked its way to her lips. “Look, Pip. It’s Trooper Tanner.”
“Call me Taylor, okay?” He stood above them, staring down in a way that reminded Kimmie just how tall he was. He grinned and sat down next to her, and she wondered if she smelled as gross and looked as tired as she suspected.
Taylor reached over and offered a playful pout to Pip, who was frowning and leaning against Kimmie’s chest. “Everything all right?”
“He woke up with a little bit of a fever,” she explained.
Taylor tousled Pip’s hair. “Poor little thing.”
Kimmie wondered what else she was supposed to say. It wasn’t like she had any practice running into handsome troopers in doctor’s offices, but she figured it wasn’t polite to ask something like, “So, what are you doing here?” She stared at her hands resting on Pip’s legs.
“Did you both sleep okay at the hotel?” Taylor asked.
She nodded, pressing her lips together, trying to figure out why her brain had suddenly grown incapable of carrying on a simple conversation. Behind them, the two kids argued over a broken crayon until their mom barked at them.
Taylor stretched out his legs, looking perfectly at ease. “So, we still on for dinner tonight?”
Kimmie flushed. “Oh, I’m sorry about that. My sister can be kind of a handful.”
“Well, that doesn’t seem like something you need to apologize for, does it?” Taylor asked with a grin.
“No.” She tried to smile. “I just didn’t want you to feel like you were forced into anything you didn’t want to do.”
Taylor chuckled. “I hate driving to Anchorage. I rarely go in. I’m only doing it because I owe my buddy a pretty big favor. He doesn’t have anyone else to take him in time to catch his flight.”
“Does he need a ride?” Kimmie asked. “We’ve got room in the back seat.”
Taylor shook his head. “That’s not what I meant. I wasn’t asking you to drive him in. I’m just saying that knowing I’ll be ending the day with you and your brother and some great Chinese food is going to keep me from getting grumpy on the road.”
Kimmie smiled and forced herself to look away before her flush deepened.
“Pippin Jenkins?” The nurse called out. “Ready for you now.”
Kimmie set her brother down and stood up, facing Taylor. “Well, I guess I’ll see you tonight.” She felt silly stretching out her hand as if she were an applicant who’d just finished a job interview, but Taylor pressed it warmly.
“I’ll be looking forward to this evening.” His smile made her warmer than she’d been all fall.
As she walked with Pip toward the nurse, she felt Taylor’s kind gaze following them, somewhat surprised to realize that she was looking forward to their dinner tonight just as much as he was.