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“I’m not sure, but I doubt it.”
“Then we need to go talk to him about his daughter. Maybe he can—”
“Sweetheart, just stop.” Dad Leo put his arm around his mom. “Mick has to do what he feels is right. This is his life, not ours.”
His mother’s lips trembled. “But this
isn’t how it was supposed to be.”
“Not how any of us imagined how it would be, but that’s just how it is.” Dad Leo turned to him with his unblinking eyes. “Son, I hope you plan on talking to your brother before you ask Paris to marry you.”
“Yes, Dad. I’m going to the clinic to talk to him now. I’m sure that’s where he is.”
“That’s where he always is,” Pop Larry said softly.
“I hate this, but it’s what I must do. I love her.”
“We know you do,” Dad Leo said. “And believe it or not, so does your brother.”
Mick stood, seeing how upset he’d made his parents. “I’m sorry. I really am.”
Chapter Six
Dustin sat in his office, reviewing some of the charts of his patients.
His parents had been right. He’d been an ass to Mick and to Paris, but even if he’d been too hard on them, he was right, too. They were two of the smartest people he knew, but were wasting their genius on whims.
I wish I could be more like Mick and Paris, unlike me, a sorry excuse of a doctor.
He shook his head, knowing that self-pity didn’t serve anyone.
Throwing himself into his work was the only thing that seemed to shake off doubt, his ever-present companion since the event ten years ago.
He opened Ethel O’Leary’s records. Ethel was his first patient he would be seeing tomorrow. The wonderful woman, in her eighties, had more energy than people half her age. Being the judge in Swanson County, married to Patrick and Sam O’Leary, and shot last fall by a Russian mobster in the sheriff’s office hadn’t slowed Ethel down one bit. But her blood pressure had remained low, too low. He’d prescribed some medication after her last appointment. If her pressure didn’t normalize, he was going to put her on some additional medication and run a battery of tests.
He closed Ethel’s file, thinking about her two husbands. Dustin felt the weight of his responsibility every day. He had to keep his patients well, for them and their families and even the town.
He was going to have to ask Ethel about her diet. Something was causing the drop in her blood pressure, and he wanted to get to the bottom of it. Patrick and Sam would come with her for the appointment tomorrow like they did for all her checkups. The three eldest citizens of Destiny were amazing examples of the power of love.
His door opened and Mick stepped forward. “We need to talk.”
His brother’s tone was unusually firm. “Have a seat.”
Mick shook his head. “I’d rather not.”
“If this is about what I said earlier, Mick, I stand by every word. And more. Your grasp of the law and articulation talents are proof positive you should be practicing law. And Paris is afraid of pursuing medicine, but I know she would make a great doctor, maybe even greater than her father. Maybe I should soften my approach, but it is what I believe is right for both of you.”
“She and I are very aware of how you think we should live our lives, but that’s not what I’m here to talk about.” Mick, who was always a straight shooter just like Dad Leo, seemed to be struggling to get out what he had come to say.
“Spill it. I’m a big boy.”
“I’m going to ask Paris to marry me, Dustin.” His brother’s words sliced him to the core. “She and I have waited long enough on you. She wants children. I want children. I love her. And I’ve wasted too many years on you deciding how we should live our lives. I’m done. She and I are going to get married. I would much rather you wanted to marry her, too, but obviously that’s not going to happen.”
Dustin’s jaw tightened. He’d never imagined it would come to this. “Now is not the right time, Mick. Neither of you are ready. Can’t you see that?”
“We are ready. There is never a right time for you, bro. Never. But it is for us.” Mick stepped to the door, but turned back before he walked out. “She got an offer for a job in Nevada, Dustin. Did you know that? Of course you didn’t. You’re too busy preaching to her about how she’s wasting her talents instead of listening to her about how she’s been feeling. I’m to blame, too. I should’ve stopped hoping you would change a long time ago. You’ll never change. I know that now. I love you, but I can’t lose her, Dustin. She’s the love of my life and I’m going to make her my wife.” Mick stood still, as if waiting for him to respond.
But what can I say? He’s right. I can’t change.
