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“You like working with Dr. Bloom that much?”
Gene chuckled. “I do. I surprise myself how much I like the way he does things. He got me thinking of new ways we can serve the community even better. It’s making my engine rev again.”
“Oh. Good for you.” She nodded, looking unsure. “I’m glad you figured out what you want.”
“Me, too. But the clinic is only half of my plan. It’s the foundation for the rest.” Gene scooped her hand in his. “See, I realized I want a life, not just a career.”
“What kind of life?”
She looked into his eyes, and finally let him see what she was feeling.
And he saw a glimpse of hope.
“The kind I build with you, share with you,” he hoped as well.
thirty
This has got to be too good to be true, right?
Amanda breathed in deeply. Her head warned her to tread cautiously, holding the hopefulness back. After Gene’s abrupt one-hundred-eighty before, it was hard for her to simply accept his declaration.
“This is life here, Gene,” Amanda said. “I go to work, make the best of my day, come home to Loki, have a simple dinner, rest. Then I do it all over again. Unlike the week we spent together, there isn’t always a mystery to solve. It’s a mundane, sometimes downright boring, life.”
Gene’s mouth formed an amused smile.
“Are you trying to scare me? Because that sounds pretty awesome to me.”
“It’s not glamorous like going abroad, teaching or working on some global health crisis in other parts of the world,” Amanda pointed out.
“You think that kind of work would be glamorous?”
He tilted his head as he frowned at her.
“Maybe glamorous isn’t the right word. Exciting, exhilarating, adventurous,” she amended. “I don’t want you to stay and then regret it down the line. I can’t bear it if you ever grow to resent me for it.”
“Being back here, living under my parents’ roof and working with the Blooms—watching them and their relationships—taught me a thing or two. You can say their lives are mundane, even boring, but I disagree. They live a life together full of all kinds of stories. Listening to them made me realize any excitement or adventure wouldn’t be worth it if I didn’t experience it with you.”
Amanda’s heart pounded in her chest, trying to beat down the doubt in her head.
Can I trust him?
“Why are you doing this now?” Amanda searched Gene’s eyes. “What changed? Two weeks ago, you shoved me toward the first available guy and skipped away as fast as possible.”
Gene’s face fell. “It was stupid and a cowardly move. I’m sorry I did that to you, Amanda. I thought I was protecting you.”
“From what?”
“From me. I was lost with no direction. I didn’t want to drag you into my uncertainty.” Gene pulled her closer and cupped her jaw. “I didn’t realize you were a light showing me a path.”
Amanda held her breath as she listened to the man standing before her.
“It’s a path full of possibilities, and everything I didn’t know I needed,” he continued. “I love you, Amanda. I know how crazy that may sound, but it hit me like a semi-truck I didn’t see coming.”
“That sounds painful.”
Amanda bit her lower lip, trying to still her trembling lips from smiling.
“Well…” A corner of Gene’s mouth rose in a boyish smile as he pulled her even closer. “I was hoping to appeal to your kind heart, and that you’ll feel sorry for me and tell me you’re a tad in love with me, too.”
