Can my morning get any worse?
She wouldn’t let those old memories bother her. They were nothing but ancient history stuffed away in a corner of her mind. Hannah let out a long puff of breath in the cold air. She’d grab a cup of coffee before the physical therapy session with her current patient, a local boy who’d torn his Achilles playing basketball, then head to the hospital to get the inside scoop on Tripp from one of her friends on staff.
I’m not checking up on him because I care.
She gave a headshake, her hand a little unsteady as she dug the car keys out of her purse. She’d make sure he was okay only because she’d promised to report back to Eden. Glancing at her watch as she reached her car, she winced. Not even nine o’clock yet. The day promised to be a long one.
* * * *
When the door to his hospital room opened, Tripp didn’t bother to glance up from the text he was trying to send one-handed. He fumbled the phone and swore then tossed it down on the bed. “Damn it. This sucks. I feel like a freaking invalid.”
“Problem?”
His chin came up as his gaze shot toward the doorway. Not Jake, who’d left to get something to eat and promised to come back later to drive him home. Hannah Ryder. His little sister’s old college roommate. Once in a while, when he was actually at home and not traveling to the far corners of the world, he caught sight of Hannah around town, but they’d never been anything but casual acquaintances at best. From the way her golden eyes narrowed on him, Tripp got the feeling she could take him or leave him…and would prefer the latter.
“I guess I wasn’t imagining you were on the hill this morning when they hauled me out of the avalanche.”
“No, you weren’t.” She advanced into the room and stopped a yard short of his bed. Hands tucked into the pockets of her down jacket, she regarded him steadily. “How’re you feeling?”
. Those golden eyes reflected intelligence in their depths along with a mental toughness. Model tall but without the scrawny angles, this woman looked capable of taking down any man stupid enough to mess with her without permission. Not that he’d ever try.
Tripp let out a breath. “Uh, I’m feeling okay. A little loopy from the pain meds. I imagine my shoulder will hurt like hell when they wear off.”
“Probably, but they’ll give you more drugs to manage any discomfort. I ran into a friend on the nursing staff out in the hall and got the basic facts. No fractures. That’s great.”
He scowled. “The dislocated shoulder is bad enough.”
“And only a mild concussion. You were extremely lucky. You could easily have been killed.”
He rolled his eyes. “Aren’t you Miss Glass Half-full. Lucky would have been not getting caught in the avalanche. Really lucky would have been finishing my run before the cornice broke free.”
Her golden cat eyes darkened to the color of her tawny-brown hair as she tucked a stray lock behind one ear. “I’ll report back to Eden that you’re not going to drop dead anytime soon…unless one of the nurses gets fed up with your bad mood and kills you. Your parents were concerned you might be holding back because you didn’t want to worry them.” She pivoted on one heel and headed toward the door. “I’ll let them know you aren’t that considerate.”
He winced, temples throbbing. “I’m sorry. Hannah, don’t go.” When her steps slowed, he rushed on to plead his case before she reached the door. “I let frustration get the better of me. Please stay. I was going to call you, anyway.”
Pausing, she turned. “Oh?”
He blinked a couple of times and tried to focus. Between the meds and sheer exhaustion, putting coherent thoughts together was a struggle. “Uh, the doc told me I’ll need therapy on my shoulder. I’m looking at six to eight weeks before I can compete again, depending on how fast I heal. That’s pushing into March. I’ll miss most of the ski season unless I can cut into that timeframe.”
“I’m sure being sidelined won’t be easy for you.” Some of the frost thawed from her tone. “You want me to work on your shoulder?”
He nodded then leaned back against his pillows. “You’re the absolute best with sports injuries. Believe me, your reputation in elite circles precedes you. How’s your schedule?”
“Right now, I’m wrapping up some intensive therapy with a local high school kid who tore his Achilles. I was happy to take on a patient close to home for a change, but a hockey player with the San Jose Sharks left me a message—”
“Call him back and tell him you’re already booked.”
She frowned. “Honestly, I don’t know if I want you for a client. My guess is you’ll be a total pain in the ass.”
He couldn’t hold back a snort of humor. The woman was nothing if not direct. “I’ll be on my best behavior. Pretty please?” He gave her a wide-eyed look from beneath the long lashes his brothers teased him about. A look that generally turned women into putty he could bend to his will.
Hannah’s lips firmed. “I’ll do it…because your sister would want me to. But you’d better not make me regret going against my better judgment.”
Relief flowed through him. He’d promise her the moon if she could help him get back on the mountain sooner. “I won’t.”
She returned to his side. “How bad is the shoulder? Did you tear your rotator cuff?”
“The doc said I didn’t. They did an x-ray and an MRI then put me in this stupid sling. I guess I can start range of motion exercises in a few days, but right now I can’t use it at all.” He grimaced and shifted against the pillows, aching all over. “I suck at texting with my left hand.”
“Is that why you were swearing when I walked in?”
“Pretty much. I was trying to cancel my date for tonight. I don’t think going to the concert I had tickets for over in South Lake Tahoe is in the cards for this evening.”
Hannah rolled her eyes. “Maybe the lucky lady will offer to sit by your bedside instead.”
He snorted. “Doubtful. Poppy—or was it Pansy? I know her name was some type of flower…” He frowned. “Whatever. Anyway, the girl didn’t strike me as the nursemaid type.”
“If you tried dating women instead of girls, you might find them a little more compassionate. You have to be pushing thirty…”
“Next month.” He winced and glanced down at his sling. “My body’s too old to take this kind of abuse.”
Hannah crossed her arms over her chest. “Then jumping off cliffs might not be the wisest career choice.”
“I never claimed to be the smartest Wilde brother. Maybe the best looking…”
Her lips curved upward in a smile. “The avalanche didn’t smash your ego, at least.”
“Takes more than a mountain of snow to crush my spirits.” He sighed. “Not that I’m happy about missing the middle of the ski season.” An understatement, but there wasn’t much point in whining about something he couldn’t change. With an effort, he unclenched the hand fisted at his side. “My manager is scrambling to cancel everything I have on my schedule for the foreseeable future. I—” When his cell dinged, he reached for it with his good hand then read the text on the display. “Well, hell.”
Steady bright eyes regarded him. “Another problem?”
“Jake can’t pick me up.” He let out a long, slow breath. “This day just keeps getting better and better.”
Hannah unzipped her jacket then dropped onto the chair beside the bed. “When are they releasing you?”
“After the heavy meds wear off, which