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They followed me in their car all the way to the church. I wanted to roll my eyes, but worried that mom might see it in my rearview mirror. The woman had the eyesight of a hawk. Or maybe it was just her mom-adar because she always seemed to know whenever we were up to something. But for all that, she was the best mother and I loved her dearly. It was why I always spent at least a month at home. She may drive me crazy, but I wouldn’t want it any other way.
The church was full which meant that getting away after the service took more time than usual. Between old friends and townspeople welcoming me home to all those who stopped to give me their well wishes for my Nan and to find out how she was doing, the sun neared its zenith by the time I was able to catch my breath. Not that it was long lived when I spotted my mother coming towards me with a man about a decade younger than herself.
“Becca, I don’t think you’ve ever met Dr. Muir before, have you? He’s the reason that we have a stroke treatment centre in Voyageur Bay.”
The man, who was just this side of being called a silver fox but definitely still hot, stuck out his hand to shake hers. “Your mother exaggerates. It was my mother’s doing.”
The reference to his mother had me placing him in terms of the town lore. His mother had had a stroke that left her needing care and rehabilitation like Nan. But since her only family in the entire world was her doctor son, everyone expected him to swoop in and have her transferred to the big hospital that he worked at in the States. Instead, the son returned home and as luck would have it, he was a neurosurgeon who was nearing the top of the field. He set up shop in our local hospital, turning it from a small way-station on the way to Winnipeg into a well-respected regional hospital with a world class neurology/neurosurgical centre in it.
As I shook his hand, my gaze drifted to my mother. Noticing my attention, she mouthed, “He’s single.”
I frowned at her retreating figure as I said, “It’s nice to meet you.”
Dr. Muir took a small step into my personal bubble, but instead of being a step forward, he took one at an angle, blocking my view of my mother. He gave my hand a gentle squeeze as he released it. “Let me guess, your mother let you know of my single status.”
The wry look on his face made me chuckle. “You get that often?”
“All the time.” He smiled. “If it isn’t the mothers’ of single women, it’s my mother. She’s bound and determined that I need to be married off to have a fulfilled life.”
“Same with mine. She figures that since I’m not married or suitably attached, and already pregnant that she’ll never get grandchildren from me. And I’m only twenty-six.”
He laughed. “Don’t worry. You still have many good childbearing years ahead of you. Trust me, I’m a doctor.” And then he winked.
The chuckles that came from my mouth had people turning to stare at us. “How are you still single?”
His laughter joined mine. “Skill.”
We shared a smile. The one where two souls in similar circumstances meet in passing before his attention was drawn elsewhere. “It was nice meeting you, Becca. Maybe I’ll see you sometime at the hospital. And hopefully by then your unsuitable attachment will become suitable.”
And with a knowing smile at my shock, he gave a little wave before wandering off to talk to another group of people.
Seeing my mother walk towards me with a purposeful stride, I gave her a smile and wave before pointing to my watch. As much as I might have been hesitating to leave, worried about what was going to happen when I saw Brice, T.J., and Aaron, it seemed the lesser of two evils. Spending the next hour talking about Dr. Muir—who I hadn’t even been given his first name—with my mom was one of the last things I wanted to do.
She caught up to me before I could take my car out of park and rapped on my window with her knuckles.
I rolled down my window. “Sorry I can’t stay any longer. I figured I should probably head over to the party before it got too late.”
“That’s fine, dear. We’ll see you then. And maybe keep an eye out for Dr. Muir. I believe he said that he was taking his mom to it.” And with that, she stepped away from my car.
The moment I knew she could no longer see me, I filled the car with laughter. Only in my messed-up life would I be heading to a party where my three ex-lovers waited to talk about why I left them without a word after revealing to me six years later that they loved me while my mom was trying to set me up with a nice—and yes, sexy—older man at the same party.
“Why me?”
Chapter 7
Brice
I paced through the crowd, keeping an eye out for Becca. From the moment the churches let out, people began to arrive, but not once did I see her. It was why I left my spot by the fence at the entrance to the parking area and began to search for her on foot. She had to be here. I must have missed her. I wouldn’t contemplate anything else.
“Have you seen her?” Aaron asked as he stepped up to my side. While I’d been stationary for the first half hour, preferring to watch as the cars drove in, he’d been wandering around, unable to keep still.
“No.” When his eyes lost a little of their hope, I was quick to add, “But I’m sure she’ll be here. T.J. said that a lot of the people from her family’s church have been slower to arrive. With her Nan being so sick”—something Mrs. Mitchell informed us of last night which served to amplify the guilt we felt—“many of them were probably talking to them, wanting to know how her Nan was doing.”
“If you say so.”
I wrapped my arm around his shoulders and kissed his temple. It wasn’t often that I demonstrated my feelings for him in a physical way, knowing that people wouldn’t understand what was between us. Heck, we didn’t even understand it. It wasn’t like I ever had sex with him, but there were just times when we were more. “I say so because I know in here”—I pounded my chest over my heart with my fist—“that she’s ours.”
He hung his head. “I know, I feel the same way. Even when I was so angry and lashing out the other night, half my brain only concentrated on how soft her skin felt, how perfectly she fit against me. And when I had her up against the wall…”
