On Bended Knee

Chapter 3

The morning of Lucy's follow-up appointment with Frederick was a disaster.

She went through three pairs of socks that morning because she spilled coffee all over the kitchen floor and stepped in it not once, but twice, before getting it cleaned up. She narrowly avoided locking herself out of her apartment and remembered that the keys were still on the coffee table only when she slammed the door on her—thankfully sneakered—foot.

At work, Lucy called her ten o'clock by her two o'clock's name. She dropped a free-weight and managed to crack the industrial linoleum that must have withstood at least thirty years of wear before she came along. She also pulled out the wrong chart, but managed to catch herself before asking Mr. Herbert how bad his back pain was during his previous pregnancy. The only thing that kept it from being truly awful was that her headache hadn't turned into a migraine.

By the time her lunch break rolled around, she was kicking herself for giving Frederick the after lunch appointment. Now she was stuck with most of an hour to kill and was far too nervous to eat. Lucy sipped at a bottle of water and considered eating the crackers she had packed to go with her thermos of soup, but her stomach trembled and turned at the thought of food. In desperation, she pulled on her rain jacket, pocketed her keys, and dashed down the hall. A good walk would clear her head.

As soon as she left the outer door of the medical building, she knew she had made the right choice. It had rained earlier, but now the sun was beaming its heart out, making the wet ground glitter and shine. The smells of pine and freshly cut wood drifted on the breeze as they always did in Squirrel Falls. Her feet slid a little on the sidewalk in her haste, but she felt better with every step.

Moving always made her feel better. As a lifelong runner, she'd learned that 'running from her problems' wasn't just an expression. It really did help her to calm down, and then maybe she'd be ready to look at those problems with fresh eyes.

Lucy traveled away from the office past the few local business and houses that made up the downtown of Squirrel Falls, letting her thoughts wander as she walked. She wasn't looking for a relationship right now.She wasn't sure she ever wanted a relationship again. And even if that wasn't true, Lucy had to regulate her behavior and stay within the boundaries of a proper patient-therapist relationship. She couldn't even indulge in some harmless flirting.

If she was honest with herself, she wanted to do more than just flirt. Avoiding a relationship didn't mean that she couldn't have any fun at all, right? She wondered how much fun Frederick could be if she wasn't constricted by their current situation.

When she'd gone as far as she safely could in half of her lunch hour, walking along the shoulder of the highway after she'd passed through town, she turned and headed back again. The return trip was harder. She was still feeling both excited and scared at the prospect of seeing Frederick again.

As the smell of bread and deli meat drifted out from the red brick storefront of The Restaurant, she realized that her problem was that she had no idea what her problem was. Frederick was an unknown quantity in her quiet, carefully regulated life. As attractive as he was, Lucy chided herself for making such a big deal out of this afternoon. It was just another appointment, nothing strange or exotic, just something she'd done hundreds of times before.

He was just a man, a collection of bones and tendons that needed attention. And muscles, covered in warm skin that smelled of wood smoke and Earl Grey tea. And a kind spirit, a world-class talent, and a wickedly sexy grin.

See? Nothing to be worried about.

* * * * *

Lucy had just hung up her jacket when there was a knock at the door. Her nervous system zinged. Anticipation shot through her from the roots of her hair down to her toes.