“SO, I’LL ADMIT, WALKING AROUND the inn in my boxers probably wasn’t the brightest idea I’ve had,” I said to Molly as I carefully carried her into the sitting room.
That had been a feat in its own right, considering how much effort it had taken to talk her into letting me pick her up.
“No,” she’d said firmly.
“Well, I guess I’ll just leave you on the steps.”
“Fine.” She’d pouted.
Until I’d begun to walk away, and she’d realized her predicament.
It wasn’t exactly a cakewalk for me either. Feeling her smooth skin beneath my fingers as her arm wrapped around my neck—a feeling I’d never forgotten.
Every molecule in my body was on fire.
But she wasn’t mine.
The slim gold engagement ring on her left hand made that crystal clear.
I set her down on the sofa that I had occupied only a night before, drunk off my ass, as I begged her to take me in.
Not my finest hour.
“Put your foot up on these,” I instructed, grabbing several throw pillows and neatly stacking them on the coffee table.
She did as instructed, her eyes never wavering from me.
“Your mama always said you’d suffer the consequences of those stairs for all the years you flew down them.”
Her arms wrapped around her middle. “Shut up.”
“I could always call her,” I suggested. “Maybe she’ll be able to help you with this ankle. I mean, what do I know? It’s a wonder I even made it through medical school.”
“Don’t you dare, Jake Morgan Jameson. God, I hate you,” she muttered.
“Don’t call me by my middle name,” I fired back. “And, no, you don’t. Otherwise, you would have slammed that door in my face rather than letting me stay.”
Her eyes rolled—something I’d nearly memorized after the number of times I’d seen it. “Not like you gave me much of a choice.”
My eyes met hers. “There’s always a choice, Molly. Always.”
“Look, could you just focus on my foot, so I can get going? Some of us actually have things to do.”
I grinned, loving the sass she was sending my way.
“Yes, ma’am,” I replied, trying to keep from chuckling.
Kneeling next to the coffee table, I took a closer look, spotting some swelling already beginning to form around her anklebone. Slight bruising could be seen as well.
“Can you move it?” I asked as my fingers inspected the structure, checking for any possible breaks.
“No, not well,” she admitted.
“I don’t think it’s broken,” I said, “but I can’t be sure without an X-ray. I know someone who might be able to arrange that for you.”
“Are you serious?” she said. “Is this some kind of joke to you, Jake? This is my business. I have a list a mile long for today, people who depend on me.”
Anger boiled to the surface. “What do you think I’ve been doing for the last twelve years, Mols? Sitting around? No! I’ve been working my fucking ass off. Every day. For twelve years. So, don’t think I don’t understand hard work and commitment. You need a goddamn X-ray.”
My firm tone obviously struck a chord as her once-rigid posture faded, and she leaned back into the seat cushions.
“Fine,” she relented, her arms still firmly across her chest.
I could see she wanted to say more, as if the words were hanging on the tip of her tongue. But she obviously reconsidered, turning her head from my heated stare.
“I’ll go get the car,” I mumbled, hating this situation more and more.
Why had I decided this was a good idea?
Oh, right. The bourbon.
But even I knew that was a lie. I’d made the choice to come here long before I spent the night with a bottle of whiskey. If faced with the same decision, I’d make it again.
Because this was home as much as the faded blue house.
The only difference?
One wasn’t filled with the haunting memories of a life long gone.
Or was it?
I hadn’t planned on walking through the familiar doors of the clinic until Monday. Taking advantage of the Closed sign on the front door, I’d hoped to slowly ease into this brief chapter of my life.
With care.
And a whole bunch of brooding during the days leading up to it.
Instead, I had a hobbling woman clinging to my shoulder while simultaneously grumbling under her breath about how this was all my fault, and if I’d just stayed away, she could be pruning her rose bushes at this very moment.
“I thought you hated gardening,” I said as I rummaged for the key that had been sent to me by my father’s lawyer. Although there hadn’t been an official reading of the will, I understood the gist of it.
All of this was mine now.
The building, the equipment…
The burden.
All mine. For the time being at least.
“I do,” she finally answered.
I shifted around, trying not to let go of her while I unlocked the small medical office. “Then, why do you do it? Couldn’t you just pawn it off on someone else? Like a landscaper?”
“Couldn’t you just pawn off your consultations? To a nurse? Or an underling doctor?”
I shrugged. “Touché.”
“Not all of us can be heart surgeons, but it doesn’t mean what I do isn’t important.”
I froze, turning toward her. “I never said it wasn’t,” I said. “I think what you do is very important. I always have.”
Her gaze shifted. “Oh,” she answered sheepishly. “Good.”
“How’d you know what I did?” I asked, feeling a smile tug at the corner of my mouth at the mere thought that she’d been keeping tabs on me all these years.
“Your dad,” she replied. “He never gave up hope that you’d return. He never stopped being proud.”
I twisted back around, forcing the door open, as I cleared my throat. “Well, it looks like he got his wish,” I said under my breath.
“No one forced you to come back here, Jake,” she said as we walked slowly back to the X-ray machine, my arm wrapped tightly around her waist.
Although I hadn’t been here in years, the place still looked the same. Sure, some upgrades had been made. New flooring and upgraded computers, but it still felt the same, smelled the same.
“You’d think that, but it’s funny how family guilt can get a man running back to his roots.”
“Because it’s such a horrible place to be,” she said snidely.
We reached the door leading to the X-ray machine, passing the few exam rooms that made up the clinic.
“I never said that.”
“You didn’t have to. It was clear how you felt by your actions.”
I let out a heavy sigh as I helped her onto the table.
“Less than twenty-four hours, and we’re back to the same argument we were stuck on twelve years ago.”
“Oh, I’m not stuck,” she insisted as those stubborn arms of hers folded in front of her. “I’ve moved on.”
Adjusting her foot, I felt my own eyes roll around my head. “Obviously.”
A palpable silence between us followed. I shifted her ankle around, trying not to hurt her any further, while she sat completely still, staring at the bland white wall in front of her.
Grabbing the heavy lead vest from the closet, I paused, realizing what I had to do next.
Clearing my throat, I tried my damnedest to get into the zone. The one where people became patients and nothing more.
But, seeing Molly’s face, the obvious annoyance splashed across it and how hard she was trying to ignore me, I knew any semblance of professionalism was out the door.
But I tried anyway.
“Any chance you’re pregnant?” I said as casually as possible, placing the vest across her chest and abdomen after she moved her arms.
Her eyes immediately darted toward mine. “Excuse me?”
My lips pursed together as I held my hands up in the air, defending my innocence. “I have to ask,” I explained, “before I can run the films.”
She shook her head. “Unbelievable.”
“Is that a no?”
“It’s a no, Jake. Do you have any more invasive questions?”
“Nope, just the one.”
“Okay.”
“Okay,” I said. “Don’t move.”
“Kind of impossible with this heavy thing lying on me.”
I wanted to add some snarky comment but chose the righteous path for once, vacating the room to capture the images of her ankle. It took only a few seconds, and I returned once more, finding Molly in the exact position I’d left her.
And pissed, as usual.
I, on the other hand, was considering which show tune to whistle. I didn’t know why, but hearing how sure she’d been about an impending pregnancy had me feeling lighter.
Happier.
Were there problems in paradise for Molly and my former best friend? Because the girl I had known way back when wouldn’t have been so sure. Even when we had been careful, which was ninety-nine percent of the time, she would still be paranoid.
The yellow walls came back into focus as my body fell limp against the sweat-stained sheets.
“Holy shit,” I managed to say as my lungs worked overtime, trying to catch up with the rest of my exhausted body.
“You can say that again.” Molly laughed, curling into my side.
“I thought you said we’d never do it in your parents’ house.”
Her nose nuzzled into my chest while I drew tiny circles along her bare back.
“I guess you have a way of changing my mind.”
“Doing it on a bed sure beats the back of my truck.”
“I don’t know,” she replied. “Making love under the stars is pretty epic.”
“Everything with you is epic.”
We enjoyed the few minutes of alone time, talking and cuddling, in the empty guest room we’d stolen for the afternoon. Molly’s parents would be home in a while, having caught the morning ferry to grab supplies for the inn.
“What would you do if I got pregnant?” she said after a moment of silence.
I froze, before rising up on my side. “What kind of question is that?” I asked, scanning her body like I expected some sort of telltale sign of motherhood.
“Calm down,” she said, placing a gentle hand on my shoulder. “I didn’t mean to freak you out. It was just a random thought.”
“You know we’re being careful,” I assured her.
I’d bought a lifetime supply of condoms from Hatteras last time we’d visited, for fear of buying them here since word got around fast.
“I know,” she replied as she continued to stroke my shoulder.
I tried not to fixate on her naked body.
“But you know what they say; nothing is one hundred percent, except—”
“Don’t you dare say abstinence.”
“Abstinence.” She laughed.
“That’s what adults say to keep us from going at it like rabbits in heat.” I smiled.
She playfully slapped my shoulder. “But, seriously, what would you do? I mean, it’s possible.”
I rolled my eyes, something that was usually reserved solely for her. “It’s not, but I’ll play along,” I said, caving like usual to her never-ending persistence. “I’d be right here,” I vowed. “Right where I always am…where I always will be.”
She smiled as I stretched back onto the mattress. She resumed her previous position, snug against me, wrapping a tan leg around my own.
“And I’d name the baby Mortimer,” I added, making her snort with laughter.
“You’re evil.”
“Oh, you have no idea,” I said, pulling her back on top of me, intent on proving again and again just how wicked I could be.
“We’re all done in here. I’ll help you to a chair in the waiting room and go grab the X-rays.”
“Okay,” she said as I pulled the lead vest off her body.
“How does a cardiothoracic surgeon know how to operate a simple X-ray machine?” she asked as I assisted her off the table. “Isn’t that below your pay grade?”
I chuckled, glad to see she was back in fight mode. We’d always had the best banter between us.
“You forget that, before I was the amazing man I am today, I was nothing but a little boy living in the shadow of his father.”
“So, he taught you?”
We took our time in walking down the hall, and I savored every moment of contact with her.
Even though I knew I shouldn’t.
“No.” I laughed. “I used to sneak in here and play around with the equipment.”
“With the X-ray machine? God, you could be radioactive by now!”
“I’m not, I assure you, but it wasn’t the smartest thing, I’ll admit.”
“You’ve been doing a lot of unsmart things today,” she chided.
“That happens a lot when I’m around you.”
“Just trying to keep that ego of yours in check.”
I helped her into a chair, propping her foot on another. The small room was littered with magazines and smelled like a mixture of bleach and mothballs.
“Well, rest assured, you’re doing a great job. Let me go grab those films. Be right back.”
The happy smile I had plastered on my face continued as I went through the motions of checking each film for any abnormalities.
It wasn’t until I saw her name on the computer screen that it wavered.
Jesus, what was I doing?
Bantering with my ex? The woman who was now engaged to my former best friend?
I knew what I was doing—flirting with danger.
And, if I continued, nothing good would come from my time here. Because there was one thing I was totally certain of.
I was not over Molly McIntyre. Not even a little.
“Good news,” I announced as I walked back into the waiting room, finding Molly exact where I’d left her.
She’d grabbed a magazine, probably decades old and was perusing it with little interest.
“No broken bones, as I expected, but I do think you have a pretty good sprain on your hands. You need to stay off it for at least today and keep it iced.”
“No,” she said, making my eyebrows rise.
“No?” I asked. “To which part?”
“I’ve said this before, but I don’t have time to sit around. I have things to do.”
I threw one foot over the other, leaning against the doorframe as I took her in. “Okay, so how do you plan on accomplishing these tasks exactly? Are you going to hop around town? Maybe rent one of those ridiculous scooters the tourists are using these days? Or are you planning on just wiggling your nose like Samantha on Bewitched?”
“You’re an ass.”
“Well, you’re being unreasonable. And I’m serious, Molly. No work today. You’ll just end up making it worse, and then you really will have a problem on your hands.”
“Like you care,” she sneered. “And don’t you have something better to do than harp on me all day?”
“Actually, yes, but since I don’t believe you’ll actually do anything I just told you to, I guess I’m going to have to reschedule to babysit you.”
Her eyes widened. “Oh, no. That’s not an option.”
“Then, can I count on you to do what I said and keep a low profile today?”
“Yes,” she replied softly.
“You never were a good liar. I’ll go grab the car. Start thinking of that precious list of things you need done. Looks like I’ll be your wingman today.”
“What?”
“If you’re not going to sit on the damn couch and rest, then I guess I’ll have to help you.” She opened her mouth to argue, and I immediately cut her off, “Whether you like it or not.”
Her infamous eye roll went into full effect as I walked past her, not caring in the least that she was pissed off.
Because, frankly, so was I.
“So, what’s on this super important list of yours?” I asked as the car revved to life.
I’d managed to help her to the car, lock up the office, and start the engine without a single word from her.
I had a feeling that was about to change.
“You’re not running my errands.”
“Well, neither are you.”
She let out something between a growl and a huff. “You are not in charge here, Jake. I didn’t ask you for help.”
“No,” I agreed. “You never ask anyone for help. God forbid you admit defeat and call in reinforcements when you happen to be the first one to come to the aid of anyone else.”
“Don’t pretend like you know me, Jake.”
“Oh, but I do,” I jeered.
We were at an impasse. One where she wouldn’t give in, and I wouldn’t give up. Realizing how far down the rabbit hole I’d fallen wouldn’t deter me from making sure she was okay.
I was still utterly aware of her every move, still completely transfixed by the woman who had once owned my heart.
But that wouldn’t stop me from keeping her ass firmly planted in place.
Because, no matter how much I tried to deny it, I did care.
“Fine,” she finally replied. “But you’re not leaving me home. I don’t trust you that much.”
I shook my head, taking the final road toward the inn. “Well, that makes two of us. But it doesn’t change the fact that you will rest today even if I have to strap you to that damn couch.”
“I’ll rest but not on the couch. You can ice my foot and care for me right here.”
“In the car?” I exclaimed.
“Sure. Why not? You can grab the ice and a cooler. Maybe a pillow and, presto, a mobile sofa.”
“You’re impossible.”
“Ditto.”
Against my better judgment, I agreed to her foolhardy plan. I knew her well enough to know that she wouldn’t give up.
Running into the inn, I nodded a hello to Mr. Lovell, who was helping himself to lunch in the kitchen, and then I raced around, grabbing ice packs and pillows. After a few minutes, I had what I needed and headed back toward the car.
“Pretty sure Mr. Lovell thinks we’re going on a romantic date.”
“Pretty sure he doesn’t.”
I chuckled, handing her the paper bag filled with everything she’d requested plus a few things I’d added myself. “Here you go, Your Highness.”
“Thanks,” she replied flatly, immediately digging into the bag. “What is all this crap?”
“Pain reliever, a pillow, some snacks and drinks.”
“Good Lord, are we going on a vacation? Or running errands?”
“Just say thank you,” I replied, pulling out of the driveway, realizing I had no idea where I was headed.
“Thank you.”
“So, where are we going?” I asked.
She rummaged through the bag, getting herself situated with a granola bar and some water. A pillow I’d stolen from the sitting room went under her foot as she propped it on the dash.
“Terri’s,” she said simply. “I need produce.”
“Great,” I said under my breath, realizing the questions I’d have to answer after showing up at Terri’s with my ex.
“You’re the one who demanded you accompany me.”
“You’re the stubborn one who demanded to get all this shit done today.”
She huffed once more, turning her head toward the window.
Yeah, this was going to be all sorts of fun.