Free Apache Heart by Amy J Miller Page B

caught Randi off guard.  “Yeah, he showed me a good trout hole.”
                  Lynette’s brother yelled and waved for her to come as a couple of other kids were piling into his little car.  “The natives are restless,” she joked, “I better go.” 
                  “Lynette—you are always welcome to talk to me about anything, but talk to your mom and your aunt, and your Uncle Russell too.  From what I can tell in the short time I’ve been around, your family really cares about each other.”
                  “Yeah,” she nodded in agreement, “They do.”  She turned to leave, then suddenly added, “Don’t listen to what some people say about Lee.  It’s not true.”
                  “What do you mean?” Randi asked, but Lynette had already taken off to join her brother.
     
    ###
     
                  Back at the hospital, Randi stood in the parking lot, staring at her car.  She wondered if Harold’s garage could do anything to help her with that.  She heard footsteps on gravel behind her, and whipped around to see Elan.
                  “Didn’t mean to startle you.”  He held up his hands in a pacifying gesture, “You have every right to be a little jumpy.”
                  “Yeah, I guess I am a little on edge,” Randi admitted.
                  “How’d it go with the kids?”
                  “Oh great, like you said, they are a really good bunch.  They worked their tails off.”
                  Elan laughed, “Dr. Bitch might have been tougher than I am.”
                  Randi had to laugh, “Somehow I have a feeling that I am always going to be Dr. Bitch.  I’m thinking maybe I should spray paint Dr. Wonderful on the other side.”
                  “You are Dr. Wonderful.  Anyone that can persuade Mrs. Miles to take her blood pressure medicine properly is okay in my book.”
                  “How do you know that she is?” 
                  “Her daughter called to give you a thumbs up.  Apparently her mom told her you were a lot nicer than the last Yankee doctor we had.”
                  “That’s a compliment, right?”  Randi laughed.
                  Elan slipped an arm around Randi’s waist, “How about some enchiladas in town without too much commentary about the tortillas and the green chili?  Or we could go to the diner.  They make a good burger.”
                  Randi hesitated, but she was starving.  “Do you think Harold is still at his garage?  I want to see if he can do anything about my truck?”
                  “Let’s call him and see.”
                  A moment later, Elan clicked his phone off.  “He’s staying late tonight anyway, doing bookkeeping.  Said if we’d drop it off, they could start it tomorrow, have it ready for you to pick up some time on Saturday.  Have you even called your insurance company?”
              “Crap, no, how stupid am I?  But how am I going to manage without a car for the next couple of days?”  Randi started digging in her purse to find her insurance card.  “I’m supposed to have dinner with Lozen and her family tomorrow, and I’m on duty here Friday night.  Is there any place to rent a car in Rio Blanco?”
                  Elan put a hand on Randi’s arm, “I told you, you can come stay with me.”
                  Competing emotions welled up in Randi.  On one hand, being with Elan sounded safe and comforting…and on the other, it sounded like a recipe for ‘full steam ahead’ on the relationship front.  “Elan…I don’t know, I thought we were going to spend some time getting to know each other, take things slow.”
                  “Man, I can’t do anything right when it comes to women.  I’m