Operation Date Escape

that’s beside the point. The issue I’m more concerned with now is what my patients are going to think when they see that picture of me in the paper?”
    Nanci raised her hand, waving off her concern. “Chances are they won’t even realize it’s you with Cole’s hunky face front and center. And you can pretty much guarantee that most of the women who read this are going to be wishing they had thought of your plan to catch a tall, dark and incredibly sexy firefighter first.”
    “You’re the one who called 9-1-1. Not me. And I certainly didn’t plan on having my strip club fiasco picture plastered all over Worthington.”
    Her mother laughed. “I should hope not. But at least something good came from it. You’ve got a date with a really handsome firefighter. I think you should be thanking Nanci.”
    She didn’t have to glance her way to know her friend was wearing an I’m-waiting-for-your gratitude smile.
    “No thanks needed,” Nanci chirped. “Just be sure to name yours and Cole’s firstborn daughter after me.”
    “Cole and I are not going to be having babies together,” Kelsie said determinedly.
    “But you to would make such pretty babies,” Nanci carried on.
    Kelsie groaned in frustration, her head starting to pound.
    “What in Heaven’s name were you doing up in that tree anyway?” her mother demanded. “And behind a strip club of all places. I didn’t even know there were any of those in Worthington.”
    “There aren’t. At least, there won’t be once the good citizens of our town get wind of it. And, to answer your question as to why I was in the tree in the first place, I was trying to get away from Jack the perverted jeweler.”
    Her mother’s eyes widened. “You mean that nice man I set you up with? The one who owns a jewelry store?”
    “I guess that depends on what you consider nice,” Nanci said, glancing back between the seats. “The guy had your daughter meet him at a strip club. Then the creep went on and on about how he was looking forward to doing the nasty with a real redhead. I think I would have skipped the tree and just jumped out of the window at that point.”
    “He what?” her mother shrieked. “Why that perverted little slime ball!”
    A week ago, that same slime ball was on her mother’s list of possible future son-in-laws. “It’s alright, Mom. I handled it.”
    “Even if you handled it by getting yourself stuck in a tree...” Nanci taunted.
    “One more word and you’re going to be riding the rest of the way to the mall in the truck of my car.”
    Her mother scooted forward to lean between the bucket seats. “You two can fight later. Right now I want to hear all about this hunky firefighter who asked my daughter out. After all, he might just end up being the father of my future grandchildren.”
    Oh, God, her mother’s mental wheels were turning. Kelsie made a mental note to keep her away from the engraving store at the mall or she’d be pre-ordering wedding invitations and engraved cake servers.
    “Mom, Cole asked me to go out to dinner with him, not to have his children.”
    “You never know what might come from dessert afterwards,” Nanci threw in with a smile.
    “I do and that would be nothing,” Kelsie said firmly, not that anyone was listening. They had already moved on to their own in-depth discussion about Cole Maxwell and his more-than-impressive physical attributes.
    * * *
    By the time they arrived at the Eastland Mall, Kelsie’s mother knew everything there was to know about her adventures with Cole Maxwell. That is, with the exception of the heated kiss she and Cole had shared the day he’d taken her home from the emergency room. That was about the only piece of information Nanci hadn’t let slip through those loose lips of hers. Even so, her dear, soon-to-be-ex best friend, had provided more than enough information as far as Cole Maxwell was concerned to start her mother’s matchmaking wheels turning.
    “Okay, enough about Cole. I want to relax and enjoy this shopping trip,” Kelsie told her mother and Nanci as she drove through the busy parking lot looking for an empty space to park in. Not that she really thought they’d listen to her request, but it was worth a try.
    “There’s one ,” Nanci said, pointing to a minivan that was backing out of a parking place about twenty feet ahead of them.
    “Put your turn signal on ,” her mother said excitedly.
    She did, waiting patiently while the van backed out. Only