I nearly dropped my ear of corn onto the plate when I saw the most handsome man I knew walking around the corner and into the back yard. Sure enough, the kids were right. The good doctor had shown up to the party. He strolled across the grass, waving at the kids as he moved. I didn't get to see him in regular clothes very often, but when I did, I was always reminded of how good he looked.

He was wearing a simple red polo shirt with dark jean shorts and flip flops. The outline of his muscular chest was easily visible and the sleeves of his shirt were short enough so that his biceps were exposed. The kids all got up from their picnic table and swarmed around him, hugging his legs and squealing with joy.

“Hey, kids,” he said, ruffling up their hair with his hands. “Are you guys having fun?”

“Yes!” they shouted in unison. It was almost as if they'd choreographed the whole thing. It was so damn cute.

“Good!” he said. “I'm so happy to see you guys.”

After saying a few more words to the kids, Jacob strolled over to our table. Our eyes met and he smiled.

“Hey, Hannah,” he said, his voice calm and soothing.

“Hi, Jacob,” I said. “I mean, uh, Dr. Matthews.”

He laughed softly. “Call me Jacob. You know that.”

My dad spun around and gave Jacob a firm handshake from his seat. “Dr. Matthews is at our party? Well, this is a fantastic first. Glad to see you, Doc.”

“Happy to see you, too, Frank,” Jacob said. “Hannah told me about the party yesterday and I figured it was too nice of a day not to spend outside with you all. Plus, I could smell this amazing food from all the way at my house.”

“Let me fix you a plate,” Dad said, hopping up from his chair. “Have a seat, Doc.”

Jacob took an open seat next to my dad, which put him directly across the table from me.

“Thanks for coming,” I said, shifting in my seat. “I wasn't sure if you'd make it, but I'm glad you did.”

“Thank you for inviting me, Hannah,” he said. “It's nice to see you outside of the office once in a while.”

I swear I thought he did an up and down of me with his eyes and then smile. But, there was no way that my boss would do such a thing. Still, it made me glad I'd worn the cute dress today, even if the once-over was all in my imagination.

It didn't take long before the rest of the table started talking to the doctor. I'm sure it was a common occurrence. Being one of the two doctors in town meant that he was bombarded with health questions constantly. I admired his patience, though, as he spoke with everyone there. His demeanor was so relaxed and happy, which was pretty much the opposite of how I had been feeling before he'd shown up.

I watched him dreamily as he spoke and only stopped when my mom nudged her elbow into my side.

“Hannah,” she said. “Earth to Hannah.”

Embarrassed for my staring, I turned away from Dr. Matthews and faced my mom.

“Hey, sorry, I was just listening to the Doctor,” I said.

She glanced across the table to Jacob and then back to me with a frown. “I can see that.”

“What's that supposed to mean?” I whispered.

“He's practically engaged to Katie,” my mother whispered. “At least according to his mother.”

“Practically isn't actually,” I reminded her, repeating back a phrase she used to say to me all the time. “And he and his mother don't exactly get along.”

“What makes you say that?” Mom asked, a frown creasing her brow.

I thought back to our high school days and just how much Jacob hated his mother. I wasn't going to tell my mom about that time though. She'd just say it was too long ago to count anyway.

“In the month I've worked at the office, I haven't seen Katie once. I haven't even seen things from her bakery, or even heard him mention her or the bakery,” I told her. “If they were practically engaged, don't you think she'd have stopped by at some point?”

“Dr. Matthews is a busy man, and love works in mysterious ways,” my mom replied, raising her chin. She looked over at Dr. Matthews talking to another guest and shook her head. “I love you, but he's not the man for you.”

I sighed and picked at my corn. “Thanks, Mom.”

My dad came back from the grill with a plate covered in food. He set it down in front of Jacob.

“Now this looks incredible,” Jacob said, eyes widening. “Thanks, Frank.”

“Of course,” Dad said. “Anything for the Doctor. We're just glad you made it to the party. Eat quick, though, because after this we're playing tag football. Aiden's on the other team, so we need a good quarterback, too. You in?

“Most definitely,” he said. “Under one condition.”

“What's that?” Dad asked.

“I want Hannah on my team,” he said casually.

My eyes lit up. “Really? I'm not that good at football.”

“It doesn't matter,” Jacob said. “We make the best team ever at the clinic. I think that would apply to a football game as well.”

“Alright, I'll play,” I said, excited to spend some more time with him that wasn't in the clinic. “Count me in.”

“Omaha, Omaha,” Jacob called out as he stood behind me. “Blue forty-two...”

I was bent over in front of him, holding the football to the ground. My legs were parted just slightly, enough for me to crane my neck and look between them. I saw Jacob's hands hovering between my knees, waiting to accept the football from me.

I'm enjoying being bent over in front of him right now way more than I should be, I thought. I'd borrowed a pair of my mother's shorts, so I wore the dress like an over-sized shirt. Even though I was bent over in front of him, there wasn't anything to see. It was too bad.

“Hike!” Jacob yelled out.

I snapped the ball to him and then jogged forward. We had eight players on each team and half of them were kids. Jacob lobbed the ball to Zachary, who juggled it as he ran. He nearly dropped it, but managed to hang on. The adults on the other team chased him down, but were unable to catch him. In the first throw of the game, our team scored.

“Yes!” I said, giving Jacob a high five.

“Good job, as always, Hannah,” he said.

It was of course just a football game meant for fun, but it was still nice to score some points, especially with Abigail's husband as the quarterback for the other team.

We played football all afternoon until the sun began to slide downward toward the horizon. By then, we were all exhausted. The adults were anyway. The kids had just as much energy as they did when I first got there.

After winning the last game 21 to 14, Jacob and I walked toward the picnic table. We sat down next to each other, facing outward toward the yard. We watched the kids run around for a bit. It seemed they were still hyped up from the football. The mass amount of fruit punch they'd drank probably didn't hurt their energy level either.

“That was fun,” I said.

I sat close to Jacob, but not too close so that it was weird.

“Yeah, it was.” He glanced over at me and smiled. “Thanks again for inviting me. It's nice to get out once in a while. Seems like most of my life is spent at the office and when I have any free time, I'm usually just trying to keep my house in order.”

“Do you live by yourself?” I asked casually.

“I do,” he said. He glanced over at me. “You seem surprised.”

My eyes had widened and it must have been clear how shocked I was.

“I guess I kind of am,” I admitted.

“I'm surprised that you didn't know that,” he said. “Yeah, I live by myself. Well, it's me and my dog, Wilfred.”

“I just didn't know,” I said. “I guess I never asked. It's really none of my business, though. I just thought you were probably seeing someone.”

“You mean like Katie?” he asked, raising his eyebrows.

“Yeah,” I replied, feeling a little silly. “I heard that you were practically engaged.”

He sighed and picked a discarded piece of corn from the table, tossing it to the ground for the ants. His face was dark and eyes somber.

“Practically engaged. My mom seems to think she needs to help out with my love life. Katie and I are friends. Not even friends, really. Acquaintances. We went on one date and neither of us wanted a second. But, that's not what my mother wants.” He shook his head. “So she's told the whole town we're 'practically engaged.'”

“So not much has changed there,” I said quietly. “Same as high school.”

“Nope. Some things change and some stay the same. I just wish we got to pick which things changed.” He leaned back and the warm night air ruffled his dark hair. I wanted to run my fingers through it, so I played with the fabric of my skirt instead.

“It's hard to believe we met in high school.” My curly hair had fallen across my forehead and I reached up, pushing it back over my ear.

“It feels like a different life, doesn't it?” he said, leaning his head back to look at the sky. He let out a slow, contemplative breath. “Time sure does slip by. I still remember when we graduated.”

“Me too,” I said, wondering if he was going to bring up the kiss. My heart sped up. “If I recall, you were late for the ceremony. They were just about to start when I saw you sprinting across the field to get in line.”

Jacob laughed. “Yep. I remember the principle saying something to me that day. Something along the lines of, “Son, you're going to be late to your own funeral.”

“Yeah, well, you obviously aren't like that any more,” I said. “I don't think you would have made it through medical school otherwise. I think you're one of the things that's changed.”

“I was a completely different person then.” He lowered his gaze and faced me. “We both were.”

I nodded, hanging onto his every word. There was a fleeting moment of silence. In that moment, Jacob and I just looked into each others eyes. They were dark blue like deep ocean water. It was like a magnet drawing me toward him, drowning me in them. The attraction in the air was palpable and electric.

I thought about that last kiss behind the bleachers and wondered if I should be the one to kiss him tonight. I wanted to. He had just a hint of scruff on his chin and his lips were right there. It would be easy if I could just build up the nerve.

Jacob finally looked away and my mother's words rang in my head. He's not the man for you.

“Well, it's getting late,” he said, standing from the table. “I don't know about you, but between the long week and those kids running me ragged during the football game, I'm bushed. I think I'll head home and get some sleep.”

Oh no, I thought. I hope I didn't make him uncomfortable somehow. I shouldn't have said anything about graduation. I shouldn't have even thought about the kiss.

“Yeah, I can understand that,” I said. “I'll probably hang out and visit my parents for a little while longer.”

“See you Monday?” he said, raising an eyebrow.

“Have I ever missed a day?” I asked with a smirk.

“Not one,” he said. “But it's only been a couple of weeks.”

“I don't plan on breaking my attendance streak just yet,” I said with a giggle. “See you next week.”

Jacob smiled and walked back toward my parent's house. I listened as he said goodbye to my mom and dad, thanking them for the amazing food and the good time. The humid summer air was still warm on my skin. Fireflies twinkled in the darkness beyond the light of the party.

Does he like me? I could have sworn I felt something there. I thought. It's all probably just in my imagination. It must be. It's probably just my girl crush flaring up. There's no way Jacob would ever see me as anything more than his nurse. He's probably forgotten all about that kiss.

As much as my heart hoped that there could be a flickering chance of something happening between Jacob and me, I refused to allow myself to think like that. I knew better. He and I weren't meant to be together. If we were, it would have happened years and years ago, during a simpler time.