Page 14 of Heartbeat Harmony (Hearts in Hawthorne #2)

Chapter

Seven

A utumn checked her appearance in the mirror and muttered under her breath, “This is not a date. It’s not even close to a date.”

Then why did she have that butterfly feeling in her belly? The one where excitement was mixed with nervousness and you couldn’t wait to see a person. The idea of spending time with them caused everything else to fall by the wayside.

Looking herself squarely in the eye, she said, “This is not happening. Eli Carson is your boss. This is the best job you’ve ever had. Don’t blow it.”

She still couldn’t believe she had been hired to supervise the entire nursing program at Triple H.

Hogan Health had spared no expense in putting together this hospital.

She’d learned they had a standard floor plan, which they used throughout most of their healthcare facilities, simply tweaking it if needed to fit the community they built in.

Triple H sat on fifty acres just outside Hawthorne, and the landscaping was top-notch.

Inside, it had a clean, modern feel, from the lobby and cafeteria to the hospital rooms and operating suites.

Autumn had to almost pinch herself to realize she worked there.

Her former hospital in Houston had been ten times as large, but it was older. While the technology was updated regularly, the place had a tired feeling about it. Every time she entered Triple H, she felt energized.

Or was that because of Eli?

She admitted to herself that she was attracted to the handsome medical director.

They had become close during her time at the facility.

Of course, he had known from the start, before she even knew who he was, that her rotten husband had cheated on her.

That she was broken and an emotional wreck because of it.

Thank goodness Eli had been able to see past all that and focus on her good qualities.

Her knowledge and skills. Her compassion and empathy.

The experience she brought. Autumn had always had a strong work ethic, and that had not changed with her coming to a new job.

If anything, she worked harder, wanting to prove that she was qualified for the lofty position Eli had placed her in.

His faith in her ability to oversee the entire nursing operation gave her great confidence.

Still, he was so sexy. Nothing like Flint, but everything that seemed to appeal to her, from his lean, hard runner’s body to his dark brown hair which he constantly ran his fingers through.

It was sometimes hard to stay focused in a meeting because she wondered what it would be like to kiss him.

Autumn liked that he was a little offbeat, occasionally even klutzy.

Somehow, it made him all the more attractive to her.

She couldn’t imagine experiencing the childhood he had.

Eli was forced to grow up fast, being thrust into the foster care system as a small boy.

He had poured all his energy into school.

Being so intelligent and skipping grades must have baffled his foster parents.

They would have had no idea how to help him thrive when they couldn’t even manage their own expectations about the boy whom they had taken in.

Autumn was glad Eli had shared his past with her.

She appreciated their growing friendship.

She felt the trust flow between them. It was a long time since she had trusted someone, and it felt good.

Now, if she could only keep everything between them as just friendship in her head and not act impulsively.

That was more Summer, who was outgoing and sometimes leaped before she bothered to look.

Of the twins, Autumn had always been the more cautious and discerning.

And look where that had gotten her, married to a man who used her to pay his way through medical school and beyond.

A man who had thought her a simple fool and had broken his vow to be faithful time and again.

She picked up a tube of lipstick and applied a coat, rubbing her lips together and blotting them lightly with a tissue.

Spritzing on a tad of perfume, she viewed her image one more time.

She’d kept everything very casual today, wearing jeans and a striped blue and white T-shirt with slip-on sneakers.

In no way was this a date. Eli was merely asking a friend to help him out in an area in which he had no experience.

Going downstairs, she saw a note on the kitchen table.

Picking it up, she saw her parents had already left for a winery today.

They wouldn’t be home until after dinner tonight.

Autumn smiled, feeling good that her parents were still very much in love and tried to do dates together, away from Hawthorne.

Mom and Dad loved this town, but they always had eyes of its citizens on them when they were in public because of the positions they held within the community.

Sometimes, they just needed to get away and be themselves without prying eyes on them.

She went to the laundry room and found a small cooler, placing a few bottled waters and soft drink cans in it and covering them in ice. Although they wouldn’t be going far, she always liked to be prepared. She slipped a couple of protein bars in her purse, as well.

The doorbell rang, startling her. Taking the cooler and tossing her purse over her shoulder, she went to answer it and found Eli standing on the porch.

His brown hair was getting a little shaggy, and he would need a haircut soon.

She couldn’t see his warm, brown eyes because they were hidden behind a pair of dark sunglasses.

He wore a short-sleeved navy T-shirt and a faded pair of jeans.

The shirt wasn’t tight, but it sure wasn’t loose.

It nicely showed off his biceps and broad chest. He looked lean and mean and hot as hell.

“Hey,” she said, handing the cooler to him so she could dig in her purse for her keys.

“Did I do something wrong?” he asked. “I can hear it in your tone.”

She inserted the key in the lock and turned it. “Most people just text when they pull up. I would’ve come out and met you.”

“Oh.” He sounded puzzled. “I thought coming to the front door was the right thing to do.”

“Maybe in 1975,” she teased. “Don’t worry about it. Let’s go.”

As they walked to his car, he asked, “What’s in the cooler?”

“Just a few drinks. I never go on the road without drinks and snacks.”

“Are we driving to Dallas or Ft. Worth?” he asked.

“No. The variety would be better, but delivery all the way out to Hawthorne might be a problem. Remember, we want this furniture on hand before next Saturday. That’s a week away.”

He opened her door for her and then the one behind it, placing the cooler on the floorboard before going around and sliding behind the wheel. “Where to?”

“Two places in opposite directions. Since Hawthorne is halfway between Gainesville and Decatur, we’re going both places. Decatur has a little more choice, so let’s hit it first.”

Her words caused her to start laughing, and Eli looked at her as he pulled away from the curb. “Did I miss something?”

“I guess since you never watch TV, you also don’t go to the movies often.”

“Never. Why?”

“My dad is a movie buff. Growing up, he made us watch old black and white classics such as Casablanca and The Thin Man . But he also liked other classic movies, such as comedies. One he and West watched over and over was The Blues Brothers . There’s a line where Elwood says to his brother Jake, ‘It’s 106 miles to Chicago, we’ve got a full tank of gas, half a pack of cigarettes, it’s dark and we’re wearing sunglasses.

’ Jake replies, ‘Hit it,’ and off they go.

I guess I’m hoping you have a full tank, and we have good luck today. ”

Eli pulled his sunglasses down on his nose. “Got the full tank and the glasses, Jake. We can stop for cigarettes if you’d like.”

Autumn laughed again. “I like it when you loosen up, Eli.”

He pushed the sunglasses back into place. “I think you’re helping me do that very thing, Autumn.”

On the way to Decatur, he asked about the TV list she was drawing up for him.

“I’m going to limit it to ten shows,” she told him.

“The good thing is that they have multiple seasons. The bad thing is they have multiple seasons. It’ll be time consuming to watch, but you can watch one every day when you get home.

Unwind. Cook dinner. Have a glass a wine and watch some Breaking Bad or The Sopranos or Game of Thrones . ”

“I’ve heard of Game of Thrones . A few years back, that’s all the residents were talking about. And I think I saw about five minutes of Breaking Bad once. The teacher who sold drugs?”

“Oh, it was so much more than that. The three I mentioned can all be pretty dark. I’ll put a few lighter things on the list. A few quirky comedies like The Office or The Good Place .” She sighed. “You’ve missed out culturally, Eli. We’ll need to make up time.”

“I do like to read,” he said. “I don’t sleep much. I never did, even as a kid. I’d come home from sixteen, eighteen hours in the ER and instead of crashing, I’d pick up some Chinese takeout and read for an hour before going to bed.”

“What do you like to read?” she asked.

“Mostly thrillers. I like a ticking time bomb plot, where somebody has to save the world from something. David Baldacci. Lee Child. Michael Connelly. Brad Thor. Those are some of my favorite authors. Do you read?”

“Like you, I worked long hours in Houston. I pulled a lot of double shifts. I really didn’t have time to read.

I look forward to doing so again. While I think my new job will be challenging, the hours will be a lot more regular, especially once the hospital opens.

Yours should be, too, except when a crisis hits. ”

They looked at one another and said in unison, “And there’s always a crisis.”