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Hope's heart shifted inside her chest. Almost as if things were falling into place.
* * *
At six-thirty the following morning, Hope found Drew at the kitchen table, finishing what she guessed was his first caffeine infusion. "Good morning," she greeted him as she opened a few cabinets in search of a mug.
"Mornin'. I tried to be quiet so I wouldn't wake you."
Hope shook her head. "Internal alarm clock." She popped a pod in the Keurig. As the coffee began its drip, Hope noticed Drew was dressed in his customary attire of faded jeans, work boots, and long-sleeved henley, which today was hunter green. "Have you eaten?"
"You don't have to cook for me."
"I know I don't, but if I'm gonna fix myself something, it's just as easy to make enough for both of us." Hope opened the fridge, pulled out a carton of eggs and a slab of bacon. "Have you heard from your grandfather?" She cracked several eggs into a bowl and whisked them together with a dash of salt, pepper, and milk.
"No. Which is surprising." Drew rose to brew himself another cup of coffee, and his clean manly scent enveloped Hope, knocking her for a loop.
Damn hormones.
"I thought he'd either be down here or have called by now." Drew turned toward her. "Need any help?"
Hope laid the strips of bacon side by side in the cast iron skillet and adjusted the flame to medium. "Um, bread for toast?"
While Hope grabbed another skillet, sprayed it with cooking oil, and poured the eggs into it, Drew pulled out a loaf of bread from a metal-lined drawer. For the next ten minutes, they worked in companionable silence. Drew dropped the bread into the toaster, buttered it when it popped back up, and Hope monitored the stove until the eggs were fluffy, the bacon crisp.
They'd just tucked into their meal when a loud pounding on the door at the top of the stairs startled them both. "Okay to come down?" Zeke bellowed.
"Yeah," Drew yelled back.
Pops descended the steps. "I smelled bacon frying, so I figured somebody was up."
"Good morning, Doc."
"And a fine morning it is." A twinkle danced in his Blackwood blues as he snatched a piece of bacon from Drew's plate. "Sure is good to have all my grandsons back on Lone Oaks soil. Just the way the good Lord intended."
With an arched brow, Drew looked at Hope over the rim of his coffee mug as if to say,See, I told you, regarding the old man's ploy to pull out every stop in his crusade to convince Drew that Virginia was where he belonged.
Though it didn't make anything easier in her world, Hope couldn't blame Zeke's tenacity. If she had family, she'd want them nearby as well.
"Can I get you some breakfast, Doc?"
"No, thanks. Miss Sarah sent me off with a full belly, as usual, this morning." He patted the stomach area of his bib overalls for emphasis.
"Are you on your way out on a call?" Drew asked as Hope took their dishes to the sink.
"You comin' along if I am?"
"That was the plan for me coming home, wasn't it?"
Zeke's massive shoulders lifted and fell in a shrug. "Didn't know if you were planning to start right away. Thought you might want a couple days to settle in, get your bearings, and show your girl around a bit first. I figured starting the Monday after Thanksgiving would be soon enough."
"You sure?"
"Yep. Besides, I'm only going to the clinic this morning," Zeke clarified.
According to Drew, in addition to the various farms in the area he serviced, Doc also owned and operated Lone Oaks Animal Care, where he treated smaller animals by appointment a few days a week. "But I'm sure your grandmother would be over the moon to have you both join her for lunch."
Drew nodded. "We'll plan on it."
"Hope, it certainly is a pleasure to have you here."
