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“Well, good thing you’re not a patient,” Gene said. “I’m only doing an old friend a favor, that’s all. I just happen to be a doctor.”
Amanda narrowed her eyes at him. “Old friend? You barely knew me in high school.”
“You were on the soccer team, weren’t you?” Gene said, ignoring her protest.
“I was.” Amanda couldn’t help the little burst of happiness that he finally remembered.
“You’re the Amanda who was running the ball for a winning goal at the semifinal, but—”
“Butchered it and sprained my ankle in the process?”
Amanda’s happiness turned into self-deprecation.
“If I recall correctly, their defense was overly aggressive, and you were trying to avoid a full on collision.”
“Yeah, and she intercepted the ball and took their team to the state championship,” Amanda finished.
“But you saved both your and the other girl’s legs. You ended up with a sprained ankle, but you both could’ve broken a tibia or worse if you hadn’t done what you did. To me, going to the championship isn’t worth a possible life-long issue. You did the smart thing.”
Amanda never thought of it that way. She just remembered her team’s disappointment. Though it’d been years, it was nice to hear a different perspective.
“Thanks for saying that,” she said. “And for taking care of me then, too.”
“It’s becoming a habit.” He flashed a grin. “Me, taking care of you.”
Those words would’ve melted Amanda’s resolve, and she’d let him do exactly that. But she needed to get rid of Gene Rowland.
“Exactly, and it’s not right,” Amanda said. “You did me a solid last night. But today, I’m all good. I don’t even have a headache anymore. And the wrist isn’t a big deal. I can drive one handed.”
Gene glanced at Amanda. She was quite persistent about being dropped off at the car rental. Too persistent.
Is she that upset about being the subject of the town’s gossip?
He noted the fingers of her uninjured hand played nervous nellie on her thigh over her cargo pants.
“Take the next right. There’s a car rental place up that road,” she said. “Then I’ll be out of your hair. No more gossip.”
“You can’t possibly be this worried about my reputation,” Gene said. “Once gossip starts, it takes a life on its own. It won’t matter whether I stay with you.”
“But we can still spin it to our advantage. That you were a good Samaritan, helping a damsel in distress,” Amanda said. “Which really is what happened. Everyone loves a hero story.”
Gene chuckled at her attempt to rewrite the gossip.
She was rather distressed last night. But not for herself…
He took a quick look at her footwear. Hiking boots.
He’d helped her put them on earlier. At the time, he’d fleetingly thought of all the shoes she could’ve put on easily, but she had to choose those. He’d just guessed it was a fashion choice. Something to match her outfit.
“I don’t want to cause a blemish on your reputation, Gene,” Amanda continued to argue.
It wasn’t as if Gene could impose himself on her if she didn’t want him around anymore. But he got a feeling Amanda was about to do something reckless.
“Cut the bullshit. Why are you trying to get rid of me?” he asked pointedly.
“Ah… no,” she stammered.
“You’re planning to go back to Browns Bridge Road and look for that girl you saw, aren’t you?” Gene asked.
