“What do you want me to tell him?”

“That I need him to assist in an emergency surgery. Tell him to hurry.”

“Could I help?”

“I appreciate the offer, but I need someone who won’t pass out cold on me when I’ve got poor Buddy’s guts in my hands.”

Joe winced. “When you put it that way, let me find Cal for you.”

Janey went up on tiptoes to kiss her fiancé. “Thank you—for all the support. It helps.”

He returned her kiss and gave her a tight hug. “I have no doubt you can do this, Janey. No doubt at all.”

“Let’s hope you’re right.” While Joe went to get a hold of Cal, Janey called Doc Potter to let him know what she was about to do in his clinic.

Chapter 13

Luke watched Sydney pace from one end of the small waiting room to the other—at least a hundred times. She vibrated with tension and had bitten several of her nails to the quick, a habit he remembered her trying hard to break as a teenager.

“Syd, why don’t you sit for a bit? You’ll wear yourself out pacing like that.”

She shook her head and kept moving.

Luke stood to block her path. He rested his hands on her shoulders, and was surprised when she shook him off.

“Don’t.” She stepped around him and continued to pace.

“Syd—”

“You don’t have to wait. I’d understand if you wanted to get home.”

If she’d punched him in the face, she couldn’t have hurt him any more than she had with that cold, detached statement, as if he was nothing more than the guy who’d driven her there. Big Mac’s warning about handwriting on the wall chose that moment to run through his mind.

Part of him wanted to walk out the door and leave her to deal with whatever might come. The other part of him couldn’t bear to leave her alone if the news was bad. He returned to his seat to watch her pace.

Back and forth she went another hundred times before Janey finally emerged.

Sydney ran to her. “Tell me he’s okay.”

“He did very well. We removed the blockage, which was a hunk of garbage bag, by the way.”

“Oh, he found that on the beach! Remember, Luke?”

Suddenly, she was euphoric again. “I remember,” he said.

“Why would he eat something like that?” Sydney asked Janey.

“You’d be surprised at the stuff they eat. Anything that tastes good is fair game.”

“So he’ll be all right?” Sydney asked.

“He’ll be sore and slow for a while, but he should be just fine.”

Sydney hugged Janey. “Thank you so much. I don’t know what I’d ever do without him.”