by Drea Stein
“Just a moment, Mr. Petersen. I need to talk to you. It’s about the Sailors’ Clinic. I heard you’re kicking us out of our space at the end of the month.”
She jumped to her feet and spoke before Jackson was even fully standing. It was rude to interrupt, but she was on a mission.
Petersen, who looked as if he had just finished up a two-martini lunch, and if Lynn’s nose was working right, smelled like it too, held up a hand.
“Well now, little lady, that’s not my problem anymore. This here is the man you want to talk to, your new landlord. He told me it was a condition of the sale.” He said it affably but there was a gleam in his eye that had Lynn thinking the joke was on her.
Lynn turned on her heel. Jackson looked at her and gave a thin smile which showed off his perfectly straight teeth.
“What?”
“Yup, I am just about to sell that property to Jax Sanders over here. Told me he’d only take it if it were an empty building.” Next to her, she all but felt Jackson flinch at being called his nickname. Duane Petersen gave a sly little smile and Lynn suspected that he knew exactly which of Jackson’s buttons to push.
Lynn swallowed, feeling her heart sink. “You’re the new owner,” she said turning to Jackson.
Jackson Sanders looked at his watch again. “If Mr. Petersen will be so good as to sign those papers, then yes, I guess I will be.”
Lynn’s heart sank. She remembered what Chase had said about his brother, that he was all business. Why, Jackson hadn’t even come home for Phoebe’s engagement party, or if Lynn remembered correctly, been seen in Queensbay in years—too busy chasing his career all across the world.
Compassion and doing the right thing would be a hard sell with him, Lynn realized as she looked him over, in his tailored business suit, his face carefully neutral as if not one bit of what Lynn had told him about the importance of the clinic to the community had made it through that wall of armor. Well, she had always enjoyed a challenge.
Mr. Petersen gave a laugh, one that wasn’t all that hearty. “Who would have believed it? Chase’s baby brother, all grown up and trying to wheel and deal with the big boys? Can’t believe you’re back in town, but I guess time heals all wounds.”
Lynn heard the edge in Petersen’s voice and she saw Jackson bristle as Petersen gave him a slap on the back. It was designed to look like a friendly gesture, but the sound of it was too loud, as if Petersen had intended for it to hurt.
“Mr. Petersen, I have other business to attend to, so if we’re done,” Jackson turned back to Lynn and gave another of his tight smiles, clearly telling her to get out of the way.
“Oh, we’re hardly done here, Jax,” she said, making sure she put all of the emphasis on his name. She saw his mouth twist in a grimace, and strangely satisfied, she turned to go. With as much grace as she could muster, she walked herself out of the office. Unfortunately, she missed the fact that the wall was not all door. She just about smacked her face into the gold-colored ‘N’ in Petersen before she caught herself, stopped, and found the door.
There was the sound of heavy silence behind her and then she was almost certain that she heard the beginning of Duane Petersen’s slightly tipsy giggle.
Chapter 6
She had decided to work off her anger and humiliation of how the meeting with Petersen and Jackson had ended by doing a hill run. Getting hot and sweaty had a way of taking her mind off things, and if this was the only kind of release available to her, then so be it. Wearing a fleece, running pants and a reflective vest, since dusk was already falling, she set off from the boardwalk in front of the harbor and headed up the streets to the hilly bluffs that encircled the water.
She jogged past the byways of the village proper, a mix of stores and houses close into the center of town that gradually gave way to single-family residences as she got further out. She passed by Darby Callahan’s house, the owner of her favorite deli, The Golden Pear, and then she was pushing herself up higher and higher, taking a zig-zagging way up to the Heights, the neighborhood that sat on the east side of Queensbay.
For the most part, homes were a mix of styles, mostly colonials and Victorians, harking back to the days when Queensbay had been a true maritime town, its main industries shipbuilding, fishing, and whaling, with a few more contemporary homes thrown in. The jumble of styles was strangely harmonious, rather than jarring. She’d grown up in Colorado, where everything was open, new, and big. Queensbay was quaint and charming with none of the ruggedness of the western landscape. Everything here was snug and cozy. Sure there were a few sorry-looking worn-down buildings, but those were the exception. Queensbay had the air, ha—with the exception of the clinic—of a lady of a certain age getting a subtle facelift and undergoing a makeover.
She made it up into the Heights, where her parents lived in a sturdy Craftsman style home that was all solid and snug, with fireplaces and solid wood details and a spectacular kitchen, since her mother prided herself on being a gourmet cook. She passed their house, saw most of the lights were off, and figured that they were still out, maybe working late at the hospital or lab; or perhaps they had stopped and had dinner out. Next to that was her friend Phoebe’s house, a beautiful, rambling white cottage, where she lived and ran her business.
Phoebe lived with Chase, her fiancé, who was Jackson’s brother. Lynn discretely kept her eye peeled as she jogged past it. Maybe Jackson was staying there while Phoebe and Chase were out of town. If she just happened to run into him, then she just might have the chance to talk to him again about the clinic. And this time she would be prepared: cool, calm, and collected.
She sucked in a deep breath of air. Too bad she wasn’t known for being calm and collected unless there was a medical emergency. Well, she would just have to channel her favorite movie star of all time, the late, great Savannah Ryan. The woman had known how to play every type, except for scattered and disheveled. That was just how Lynn must have appeared to Jackson in her dirty scrubs and passionate attitude this afternoon.
The Ivy House was dark as she ran by. Her second chance to talk with Jackson would have to wait, she thought, as she headed down the hill and home.
Lights were glowing in the houses and buildings as she passed them and the fall day was turning rapidly into a cool, crisp evening. Already she could smell the scent of wood smoke in the air, as the people of Queensbay lit their fireplaces, welcoming the change of seasons.
She came down finally to the relatively flat stretch of road in front of the harbor and slowed to a walk, allowing her body to cool down. She was breathing heavily, trying to fill her lungs with oxygen, and her thighs burned as she climbed the steps to her top-floor apartment.
Her back was slicked with sweat underneath her running shirt and she was thankful to enter the cool air of her home. She went into her bedroom, stripped off her sweaty workout clothes, dropped them in a pile with her dirty scrubs, and hopped into the shower.
The hot water came in a torrent over her as she scrubbed herself with the soap. She thought about shaving her legs, but decided against it, figuring that she had the next few days off and since she had nothing more planned than to crash on the couch with a glass of wine and some home decorating magazines, it probably wasn’t necessary.
She wrapped herself in a warm, plush towel and threw herself down on the bed. The duvet cover was a housewarming gift from Phoebe, a celebration of the fact that Lynn had finally gotten her own place. Of course, she’d lived on her own—in dorms, student apartments—but when she had accepted the residency in Queensbay, where her parents had moved to, it seemed smart to save some money by living with them.
But now that she had—or about to be did have, she corrected herself—a real job, she had decided it was time to move out on her own. Her parents had wanted her to stay, of course. Her mom was a great cook and doing laundry didn’t require hoarding quarters. Still, it was time for her to move on, to live like a grownup.
Here she was in her first real place, a neat lit
tle one bedroom on the third floor of the Osprey Arms annex. It was newly renovated and smelled of fresh wood and paint. So far, Lynn had the whole floor to herself. Chase had said he would be getting other tenants in eventually but he was happy to have her in here first.
Lynn suspected she’d gotten a friend and family discount on the rent, since it was fairly affordable for someone working at a non-profit, but when she had asked about it, Chase had laughed and told her just not to throw any crazy parties. And there, she thought, was the difference between the two brothers. Chase was thoughtful and generous and Jackson was a hard-ass, with his cold blue eyes, too blond hair and chiseled cheekbones. There was something about the way he stood; his fancy business suits that told her Jackson took himself way too seriously.
Stick up his ass, she thought and was about to think of a few other apt descriptors when her phone vibrated. Sighing, she roused herself, hoping it wasn’t work calling her in for an emergency, and reached for it. With a groan, she pulled the phone towards her and saw it was a text from her mother.
Don’t forget about your date with Nate…it’s all arranged for you to meet him at Salsa Salsa.
Lynn groaned again. She had forgotten about being set up on a blind date by her mother. Why had she agreed to this? Oh right, so that it could be a disaster and she could prove her mother wrong and hopefully get her off her back about her love life. She just didn’t understand why it was so important to everyone else that she date. Her mother said she was too picky, but Lynn preferred to think of it as being patient. Besides, she’d never felt that urgent need to couple up just for the sake of it. Her life had been so filled, so full of pressure that inevitably anyone she did date either complained of how busy she was; or if he was a doctor too was just as consumed and distracted by his career as she was by hers.
Lynn texted back long shift today, feeling tired, may need to cancel…
It was about half a second before the phone ring. She didn’t need to look at the caller ID to know who it was.
“Oh no, you don’t,” Regina Masters said without preamble.
“Don’t what? I’m tired,” Lynn said. And she was. She was tired from her run, tired of thinking about the clinic closing, and worst of all, she was tired of seeing the smug look on Jackson Sanders’ face as she had almost smashed through a glass door pop into her mind. She’d had enough humiliation for one day and a blind date at a mediocre Mexican restaurant could only be the icing on the cake.
“So, you’re a doctor: you’re always tired. You said you had a few days off. Why not spend a few hours of it going out with a nice young man?” Her mother’s tone was reasonable, just like the dependable, methodical clinical researcher Regina was.
“Mom.” Lynn knew her voice contained the beginnings of a teenaged-like whine. Her mother was meddling, which she seldom did, which made it all the more worrisome.
“Don’t ‘Mom’ me. Look, you’ve barely had a date since college. And even those didn’t sound very romantic. Hand holding a boy while his high school sweetheart dumps him and takes him back is not my idea of a relationship. Or how about the one who had the mother issues? I mean you keep going out with all these guys with so much baggage. It’s no wonder they exhaust you.”
Lynn frowned. She had confessed the sorry state of her love life to her mom in a fit of self-pity.
“I know, Mom. That’s why I stopped dating. You know, so I could focus on finishing school, my residency, becoming a doctor. You’re the one who told me I had a ‘fixer up’ mentality.”
Her mother sighed. “You do tend to see the best in people, and that’s just one of the things that’s so wonderful about you. But you do keep picking boys that seem to need a lot of attention. But this one isn’t like that. He’s good looking, has a great job.”
“And why did his last relationship end?” Lynn shot back.
“His mother said that the girl had to move back home to take care of her sick father, reconnected with her ex-boyfriend, and got knocked up.”
“So he’s probably still into her,” Lynn pointed out.
“The point is not to get into a relationship, Lynn.”
“It’s not? Are you sure you’re a mother?”
Regina Masters laughed. “You need to practice going on a date. I do not think Nate is the one, but he can afford to pay for dinner.”
“At a taco place.”
“Accountants are frugal. It’s not a bad thing. Talk, have a drink, listen to what he says, pretend to be interested or don’t; and at the end of the night you can walk away, but at least you’ll have had some practice.”
“So you want me to intentionally lead him on?”
“You know, Lynn, your father and I are very happy, but it wasn’t like he swept me off my feet. Or that we looked across a crowded room and saw each other. I had to kiss a lot of frogs before I met your father, but that also meant I knew exactly what I was looking for.”
“Mom, that’s just it. I am finally settled, with a somewhat predictable schedule. For the past ten years I’ve been busting my ass to become a doctor, and now I am one. Why can’t I just enjoy it, instead of getting all carried away with finding a guy?”
“Practice, dear. Besides, you deserve to be treated special, and that’s what dates are. Everyone is nice and on their best behavior.”
Lynn sighed. She loved her mother, but they were two different people. Her mom’s idea of a good time was a four-course gourmet dinner and a game of Scrabble. Lynn’s not so much.
“Sounds boring. How do you know this guy is so great?”
It was her mother’s turn to sigh. “Look, you’re right. I don’t know if Nate is great or not, but he sounds normal. And for you, I think that’s a step in the right direction. Besides, you haven’t met anyone else here, have you?”
The hopeful question hung in the air. Lynn didn’t answer immediately, wondering why her mind suddenly flitted to Jackson Sanders and the way he had looked in a suit that must have cost as much as a minor surgical operation. Lynn ran a hand over her face. What was she thinking? And she had barged in there in dirty scrubs. He probably hadn’t given her a second thought, unless it was as part of a story he told over a glass of expensive wine to his cronies in the boardroom.
She took a deep breath. Maybe her mother was right. Perhaps she should go out and have some fun. Not that she needed someone to pay for her dinner, but the thought was sort of charming in an old-fashioned way. No one had bought her dinner since Joe, the one with the mother issues, and that had been on his meal plan in the campus dining hall. A nice dinner, a glass of wine, and maybe some conversation that wouldn’t resolve around medical specialties all of a sudden didn’t sound like such a bad idea. And how bad could this Nate be?
“He’s not a doctor?” she asked, checking.
“No, he does something with computers,” her mother assured her.
“Fine, I’ll go on my date with Nate.”
There was as audible sigh of relief from her mother. “Oh thank goodness. I think you’ll have fun. And I promise you won’t be embarrassed to be seen with him.”
“That’s the best you can promise?” Lynn asked, wondering if she really needed to go back into the shower and shave her legs.
“Just, don’t wear your scrubs, ok? Something besides running shoes? And no fleece. One hundred percent natural fibers, ok?” her mother said before she hung up.
Lynn flopped back on the bed, staring up at her perfectly white ceiling, giving herself a moment to breathe through the panic that was coursing through her. A date. She hadn’t been on one of those for years. Sure, guys had tried, but she’d always been able to say that she was too busy. The few times she had decided to give it a whirl, they had been predictable. Dinner at some budget-friendly place, the inevitable talk about work, a tangle over the bill, ultimately deciding to split it, then an awkward kiss with the predictable expectation of “we’re students, we don’t have much time, why not just get on with it?”
She hadn’t succumbed�
�ok, maybe once, to a particularly charming and buff surgical intern, but he had an ego the size of the Rockies and she hadn’t been too disappointed when their relationship lost its fizzle.
But Nate was not a doctor. He was a full-fledged grownup with a job. According to her mother. And Nate’s mother. Mothers who had met while getting their hair done and decided that their children just had to meet. Too bad mothers were such lousy judges of characters.
She sighed. At least her mom’s heart was in the right place. Her parents were madly in love and thought everyone around them should be as well. And if that was taking too damn long, well then, her mother wasn’t above stepping in and helping out. If her older brother, Kyle, had been around, instead of halfway across the country, Lynn knew her mother would be giving him the same treatment. But it was a lot harder to fix someone up on a blind date remotely. So Lynn was the de facto winner of the maternal dating game.
Back to the shower, Lynn decided, knowing it was hopeless. If she actually shaved her legs it would practically guarantee no one besides herself would get anywhere near them tonight. But she was a doctor—being prepared was second nature.
Chapter 7
Jackson sat down at the polished oak bar of the Osprey Arms and had the bartender pour him a celebratory Scotch.
“Cheers,” Jackson said as he raised his glass, toasting himself in the long mirror that ran the length of the wall behind the bar. Paulie, the bartender, was placidly wiping down glasses and only nodded. He was a much better listener than talker, which was why he as good at his job.
“Good day?” A questioning voice came from behind him.
“Jake!” Jackson swiveled in the barstool and took in his old friend. Jake Owen had been a star athlete at Queensbay Harbor High and now owned a thriving construction business. He had close-cropped brown hair, a summer tan, and a slightly wary expression on his face as if he couldn’t quite believe what he was saying.
