Sleigh Belles. Beth Albright

in the emergency room.

      Ironically, that’s exactly where she was when she began having the latest of these chronic flare-ups: in the waiting room of the hospital E.R.

      Not that anything was wrong with her. She was there to cover a story: Lewis Heart, the Alabama Crimson Tide star football announcer, was rushing to the hospital to see his brand-new baby girl make her way into the world. He had just finished announcing the big win over rival Auburn in the Iron Bowl Classic, and he was sliding into the E.R. just under the wire. Dallas was right there on the scene to cover the birth of the new baby, which was big news in the college town of Tuscaloosa. Lewis was considered Tuscaloosa royalty since he was the “Voice” of the Crimson Tide, the national champion football team, and that was reason enough to cover this big arrival.

      “The biggest rivalry in all of college football is going down today, and this is the day that redheaded Vivi chooses to have her baby,” Dallas muttered as she ran into the emergency room just barely ahead of Lewis.

      “Well, I think this is par for her. Remember, they got married on the day of the season kickoff,” Daniel, her cameraman, said as he raced in after her, nearly tripping over the camera cords.

      “I know it! Who the hell gets married during football season?”

      Lewis dashed into the emergency room, huffing and puffing right past Dallas. His best friend, Cal, was running in right after him, just like the days when they both played for the college football team themselves. In they ran, Cal swooshing right by Dallas without even noticing her. That’s when she felt the acute symptoms of this chronic condition coming on again.

      Great, she thought. How can I do my job with him here?

      This report had to be good, but Cal always had a way of making Dallas lose her train of thought. Already her heart was racing and her mouth was dry.

      How does he do this to me? This is ridiculous. She smoothed her hair and slid her lipstick over her lips one last time, trying to get ready for her live shot.

      Dallas had fought this allergy ever since high school when she’d first developed an infatuation with Cal, the super-smart quarterback of the Tuscaloosa High School Warriors. Dallas had such a crush on him back then, and that old crush was the source of all these symptoms now because, the truth was, her feelings never really went away.

      Dallas forced herself to focus. She smiled into the camera as Daniel counted her down to showtime.

      “Good evening, Tuscaloosa! I’m Dallas Dubois, reporting live from Druid City Hospital for WTAL News where we’re all eagerly awaiting the birth of the newest addition to our football lovin’ town! Our very own Voice of the Crimson Tide and his lovely wife, Vivi, are expecting their first child at any moment, and we’ll be right here to bring the news to you firsthand...” Dallas continued her speech into the camera, but she was having trouble concentrating. She stared at the handsome Cal, the “symptoms” taking over her completely.

      Thankfully, it was only minutes before Lewis rushed out to the eager crowd that had gathered in the waiting room. “It’s a girl! Baby Tallulah is finally here! Oh, my God, she is gorgeous!” Lewis was totally over-the-top excited. “I barely made it,” he admitted. “Now I got me two little redheads!”

      Everyone clapped and hugged each other, celebrating and high-fiving while Daniel captured the whole event on camera. Before Dallas even knew what happened, she found herself pushed into Cal’s arms.

      “Hey, Cal.” She swallowed hard and forced a smile.

      “Hey, Dallas...”

      They were face-to-face, inches apart.

      He looked at her awkwardly. She pulled away with an uncomfortable grin. Seeing Cal was dangerous. It threatened the thick emotional walls she’d built up over the years to protect her most intimate secrets.

      The worst part was, in her opinion, Cal could be such a jerk. He’d never really liked her, always telling his friends she was self-absorbed, the Original Ice Queen.

      How could he make her heart always feel as if it was fixin’ to jump right outta her chest if they really didn’t even like each other? That little question had always bothered her. But she figured it was pointless trying to make sense of how these things worked. The heart wants what the heart wants and all that. What she did know is that they were never going to be together.

      Whatever this was, this chronic allergy she had to Cal, she also knew she could never find herself in this position again—within inches of Cal’s gorgeous face. Being anywhere within five hundred yards of him and she could feel that emotional firewall grow weak and start to crumble. That wall had taken her years to build.

      Dallas was a model-like beauty, tall, with long legs and long, bouncy, blond hair. She loved her makeup, too, like any good pageant girl from the Deep South. The saying in the pageant world was More is better, and Dallas followed that to perfection. She justified it because she was on TV. But she would have worn that much makeup if she had been an employee at Taco Casa, her very favorite place to feed her biggest habit, sweet iced tea.

      Whenever Dallas was around, you knew it. She was just as generous with her perfume as she was with her makeup. Flowerbomb was her trademark scent, and, since she always wanted to leave her mark, a heavy cloud of it followed her wherever she went.

      Dallas glanced around the waiting room. It was literally bursting at the seams, not even room for a sneeze. Her archrival in all things from beauty pageants to men, Blake O’Hara Heart, was there, of course. She was Vivi’s best friend and the two were almost always together. Blake’s mother and grandmother were also there, along with Lewis’s older brother, newly elected Alabama Senator Harry Heart, who Blake was now divorcing. He was talking to everyone in the waiting room as if he was still on the campaign stump.

      And Cal, unfortunately, was part of that little clique, making Dallas even more uncomfortable. She spotted him chatting with Blake and Sonny Bartholomew, the chief homicide investigator and Blake’s lover. Cal and Sonny had just solved a huge murder investigation together a few months ago, and they had become fast friends.

      Dallas caught herself staring at Cal, and she noticed immediately that he still wasn’t wearing a wedding ring. He was tall—about six foot three—which had really helped him as a quarterback. He had dark golden sandy-brown hair that he wore a little long, swept over his forehead. His eyes were a light grayish green, and that body was still in perfect quarterback shape. People had always told him he was heartthrob handsome. He ran the computer sciences department out at the university now, which gave him a sexy-academic quality that made Dallas weak in the knees.

      Dallas stiffened herself and put the microphone to her mouth as the camera began to roll again.

      Just then, a child from another family in the waiting room zipped by her, slamming into her thigh and splashing her winter-white skirt with red punch.

      “Oh, my Lord,” Dallas screeched. “Can’t y’all keep these kids under control? Look at me!”

      Dallas was comin’ unglued, but she refused to ruin her broadcast. Her job was everything to her.

      “And you’re on in five, four, three...” Daniel gave the countdown, and then she was on the air, red stain and all.

      He pushed in tight, trying not to show the giant red blemish on her skirt. The kids were going wild, running around and around her in the excitement of getting on camera, their mother chasing them down on live TV.

      Dallas kept it together. She was a pro.

      She was always perfect when it came to her reporting, since there was nothing in the world she valued more than her flourishing career. She was used to shoving down her emotions and just doing her job. She had been doing that for years, working so hard to become the star reporter she was. Now she was pushing for that coveted anchor chair that would soon be vacant, so there was no room to be anything less than stunning.

      “Baby Tallulah Heart has finally arrived,” she began, her smile gleaming for the camera, “topping off this incredible