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Would she have seen him on TV today?
Everyone who’d stopped by the hospital to comfort or razz him had said he’d made for extremely good entertainment.
Yeah. Break out the frigging popcorn.
He eyed his phone where he knew Hilly’s phone number resided, and before he could talk himself out of it, he picked it up and hit the call button.
Shit, shit, shit. He had instant regrets…until it connected and Cisco heard her soft, tentative voice.
“Hello?” she inquired.
“Uh, hi. I hope I’m not calling too late,” he began by apologizing, then realized she wouldn’t have him on caller ID. “Oh. This is Cisco.”
“Cisco,” she said on a relieved sounding breath. “I saw what happened earlier tonight. Are you okay? Do you need anything?”
Damn. Just like that, he was right back to feeling that inexplicable warmth in his gut that he’d experienced in her presence before.
“I’m fine. A little sore. A little tired. It could have been much worse.”
“I… They didn’t report on your condition, so I, um, might have crossed a line and called Ellen Sothard to make sure you were okay.”
Cisco grinned and relaxed into his couch. For all Hilly’s posturing, it seemed that she, like him, felt the odd connection between them. At least enough to check up on him. But…Ellen Sothard?
“You know Ellen?” he asked curiously. Of course, he and everyone on the team were well acquainted with her. The woman was Mason’s mother, but she’d also become a matriarch to all the squads; feeding them during long standoffs and even holding a handful of teammates’ weddings at her house. The woman was awesome.
“I do. She’s the new cook at camp this year,” Hilly told him.
Cisco did a silent fist pump. This was stellar news. At least two days a week he was sure to be fed like a king.
“That’s awesome,” he replied. “You’re going to love her.” He had a thought. “Wait. How do you know her? Or did she just apply for the job out of the blue?”
There was a long silence, and Cisco wondered if the connection had been dropped before Hilly finally answered.
“I’ve actually known Ellen all my life.”
Wait. What? How was that possible. Cisco pretty much knew everyone in town, and Hilly looked to be about his age. How had he missed someone so…compelling? Why hadn’t she ever been on his radar?
“You grew up around here?” he asked, with a crack in his voice.
“Yup,” she answered, but didn’t continue.
“Then how come I don’t know you?” Cisco’s curiosity was now peaked, and he wasn’t going to let it go. “How old are you, anyway?”
“Thirty-two,” she mumbled.
“And I’m thirty-three,” he replied. “Which means we should have been in school together.”
“Not necessarily,” she clipped. “I went to private school.”
Her crisp, no-nonsense voice reared its ugly head again, and Cisco didn’t like it. It was clear she didn’t like talking about herself, so at least for now, Cisco backpedaled.
“So, you called her to check up on me, huh?” he teased, hoping to resurrect her warm tones.
He heard a sigh.
“Of course. I needed to know if you were injured so badly that you wouldn’t be able to come out on Tuesday.”
Was it the truth, or an excuse? Cisco couldn’t be sure. What he was certain of, was that nothing would stop him from making an appearance at the camp in three days. But since Hilly was back to being tentative with him, instead of voicing that, he took on a casual tone again. “I won’t say I’ll be at one-hundred percent by then, but I’m a person who fulfils my obligations. I’ll be there, even if I don’t feel quite up to putting on my RedMan suit.”