Page 20 of A Very Grumpy Doctor

“Yeah.They told me they didn’t want to see me until this ‘little tantrum’ was over and I had come to my senses.”

“Geez,” I whisper.

“So that’s Mom and Dad,” he says lightly, trying to ease the tension.

“Think you’ll ever go back?”

He stares right at me.“No.Not unless you wanted to.”

I swallow hard at the implication.Luckily, I’m saved from having to answer by the arrival of our server.

We place our orders, each getting the filet mignon.

Hugh leans across the table once the server has gone and takes my hand in his.“How was work today?”

“Sad,” I admit.“You can feel the energy and excitement fading every single day.”

“What made you want to be a journalist?”

I grin.“My mom used to say it was because I was so nosy.I always had to know what was going on, always had to get the scoop.I think that’s part of it.I want to investigate things, want to tell people’s stories, share things.The job was perfect for me… until print media started dying.”

“You could try to write something else.A book, maybe, or a blog?I bet people would read it.I would.”

“Maybe.I’ve toyed with those ideas a lot in the last six months.Nothing feels right, though.”

“You have time,” he assures me.

The conversation turns to college and stories from our childhoods.Everything about us seems to be different.He went to an Ivy League college, I went to a state school.He grew up vacationing in exotic places, and I never left Wolf Valley.I got to be a carefree kid, but Hugh seems to have had a lot of pressure put on him to be the best at everything.The two of us shouldn’t work, but somehow, sitting across from him, being with him, feels like the most natural thing in the world.

We eat and talk about town, about his day at work, and the upcoming festival.

“We should go,” he says as he pays the bill and takes my hand.

“To the festival?”

“Yeah.Or do you go every year with Daisy or something?”

“Usually.Her boyfriend is supposed to be back in town soon, so maybe we can all go together.”

“Sure.What does her boyfriend do?”

“He’s a Navy SEAL.He comes back to Wolf Valley whenever he can to visit her.”

“That has to be hard,” he comments as we reach his car.

“They make it work.She flies to see him, and he takes his vacations here with her.”

“I can barely go a few hours without seeing you.I don’t know how her boyfriend can stand weeks or months without seeing Daisy.”

“A few hours, huh?”I ask, wrapping my arms around his neck.

“It’s bad, Alexi.Why do you think I text you so much?I’m always thinking about you.You’re all I can focus on,” he says softly.

“I’ve been having a hard time focusing on things that aren’t you too,” I admit quietly.

He groans.“Thank fuck for that, baby.”

“What?”