by Rachel Hanna
“I have family here,” Faith said without thinking.
“Oh really? Who? I’ve lived here my whole life, so I probably know them!” Addy said excitedly.
Faith froze. “Um, I…”
“Good morning, ladies,” a voice said from the doorway. It was Brandon. He was holding a brown paper bag again.
“Good morning,” Faith said smiling, grateful that he’d interrupted their conversation.
“Hey, Brandon,” Addy said. “French toast?” She held up the plate and Brandon laughed.
“You didn’t know she was vegan, did you?”
Addy looked at Faith and chuckled. “No, but I do now, so I’m going to do a little digging around on the Internet for some recipes.”
“Oh, Addy, really… Please don’t inconvenience yourself. I’ll just go to the grocery store.”
“Not an inconvenience, Faith,” Addy said as she made her way to the door. “It’s just part of what I do as an inn owner. It’s my responsibility to make January Cove feel like home.”
For some reason, that tugged on Faith’s heartstrings. No one had cared about her feelings in a long time, and in less than twenty four hours, she felt like January Cove was a possible home. At least temporarily.
After Addy left the room, Brandon stood there quietly for a few moments, a thick air of awkwardness between them.
“Here,” he said, handing her the bag.
Faith took it, unsure of what it could be. She looked inside and saw a couple of large muffins, one blueberry and one chocolate.
“But these can’t be…”
“Vegan? Yes they are. I promise.”
“You bought these for me? In January Cove?”
“Yes, I bought them for you. In January Cove? No. There’s a great place near Savannah.”
“Savannah? But that’s more than an hour away, isn’t it?”
“Depends on how fast you drive,” Brandon said. “I just knew you’d need breakfast, and we got back too late last night to warn Addy, so…”
Before Faith could stop it, her eyes teared up. “Thank you.”
Brandon looked at her quizzically. “Faith, it’s just muffins. Are you okay?”
She laughed and wiped away a stray tear that rolled down her cheek. “I’m fine. I guess I’m just worn out from traveling and everything that’s happened in the last twenty four hours.”
He paused and looked at her for a moment. “Okay. If you need to talk…”
Faith held up her hand. “No. I definitely don’t need to talk. But thanks for the offer.”
Brandon nodded. “Well, I’ve got a shift at the hospital, so I’d better get going. Enjoy the muffins.”
He turned to leave. “Hey, Brandon?”
“Yeah?”
“Where would I find the library around here?”
“Wow, that sounds like a fun place to hang out. You know we have a beach and a movie theater, right?”
Faith rolled her eyes. “I like to read. What can I say?”
“The library is down the road to the East, just past the high school. Not more than a mile from here, I’d say. If you need a ride, I’m heading that way.”
“No thanks. I still have some things to do around here first. You know, unpack and all that.” She was totally lying, but she didn’t want to be in the car with him again right now. Too many questions that she didn’t feel like answering.
“Okay. Well, enjoy your reading,” Brandon said with a chuckle before walking out. She shut her door and walked to the window, the paper bag still dangling from her hand. She peeked through the wooden plantation shutters and watched him drive off in his SUV before taking one of the muffins from the warmth of brown paper and smiling.
Chapter 4
Brandon couldn’t get her out of his head, and he had no idea why. This woman wasn’t his type at all. She was uptight and secretive and flew off the handle at a moment’s notice.
And yet he wanted to get to know her better.
He’d driven almost to Savannah for muffins. The thought astonished even him.
“Did you release Mrs. Smith in room three?” the nurse asked him as he stared at his tablet in a haze.
“What?”
“Mrs. Smith? The woman who had the reaction to the shampoo?”
“Oh. Right. Yes, I released her. She was stable and will be following up with her doctor about getting allergy testing.”
“Are you okay? You seem a little distracted today,” the nurse said. There was nothing good about being labeled as distracted in the emergency room.
“I’m fine,” Brandon said with a smile. “Just didn’t get much sleep last night.”
The nurse eyed him carefully. “Okay. Who is she?”
“Excuse me?”
“Dr. Jones, I’ve known you, what, like six years now? I’ve never seen you look so lovelorn.”
“Lovelorn? Impossible since I’m not in love with anyone at the moment,” he said, although she wasn’t far off the mark. He definitely felt something… although he wasn’t sure what to call it.
Brandon didn’t want to fall in love. It hadn’t worked out well for him in the past. In fact, he seemed attracted to women who needed “saving”, and once the saving part was done, they moved on to greener pastures. At least that was how he saw it.
“Who’s my next patient?” Brandon asked without moving the conversation further.
The nurse smiled and looked down at her tablet. “Room two. Possible broken wrist.”
Brandon pulled the sheet back to enter the room and was surprised to see his friend, Clay sitting there.
“Hey, man! What happened?”
Clay was sitting on the table, his wrist pulled tight to his chest and a look of pain obvious on his face.
“The ferry was tied up, or so I thought. Got my hand caught between the boat and the dock.”
“Ouch,” Brandon said as he started to press lightly on different areas of his wrist. Clay immediately jumped in pain.
Clay had run the ferry service for a long time now, so getting hurt wasn’t a typical thing for him.
“I think we’d better get this x-rayed.”
Clay nodded. “Addy is going to kill me. I wasn’t supposed to work the ferry today, but my guy called in sick.”
“I’m sure she’ll forgive you when she sees you’re in pain.”
“Maybe, but I have to help with the redecorating. We just bought some stuff to redo a few of the rooms we didn’t get to when the place opened. I guess I’ll have to help her one-handed.”
“First things first,” Brandon said. “I’ll call for x-ray and then we’ll see what we need to do from here, okay?”
Faith sat at the table in the small coffee shop she’d found near the beach. Jolt seemed to be a popular place, so it had taken her a few minutes to get a table, but now that she had one she wasn’t moving for awhile.
Although the January Cove library had been smaller than anticipated, she had been able to print off some potentially useful information including newspaper birth announcements from around the time she was born.
The thing was, she had no idea where she was really born. Her birth certificate could’ve been faked, or so she assumed. Since Jim wasn’t answering her calls and refusing to see her, she had little information to go on other than the name of January Cove.
As she drank her latte, she scoured each item she had copied, but nothing was turning up. She sighed and crumpled up the last piece of useless paper.
“Dang it,” she said to herself.
“Everything okay?” the red-haired woman behind the counter asked. The customers had finally thinned out once the lunch rush passed, and now Faith found herself alone with the woman aside from another table with an elderly gentleman.
“I’m fine,” Faith said. “Sorry if I said that a little too loudly.”
“No, problem at all. I’m Rebecca. You must be new in town?”
Faith chuckled. “It’s hard to be incognito here, isn’t it?”
&n
bsp; Rebecca smiled. “Small towns are that way, I guess.”
“I’m Faith. And yes, I’m visiting from Virginia. Staying at Addy’s.”
“That’s wonderful. Addy’s basically my sister-in-law. I date her brother, Jackson.”
“Everyone really does know everyone in this town,” Faith said. “It’s kind of… nice.”
She was surprised to hear herself say those words. Faith had never thought about living in a small town. Big city life had always been her dream. Parties, art gallery openings, wine tastings. But January Cove was different, and nothing seemed to be “missing” about it.
“So are you here for business?” Rebecca asked. Why did everyone here need to know why she was here? It was like they were protective of their town.
Faith was already getting tired of keeping up the facade. “No. I’m actually here doing a little genealogical research on my family.”
Rebecca cocked her head in confusion. “You came all the way from Virginia for that? Seems the computer might have been faster… and cheaper?”
“Maybe so. But I needed a little mini vacation, so I decided to pack them into one big trip.”
Rebecca smiled. “Well, be careful because January Cove has a way of reeling you in and never letting you go.”
She walked away to speak to her other customer, and Faith wondered if that was true. Already, the little town was growing on her. Not that she had any plans to move there, but she could see the attraction. It was the perfect place to start over and build a totally different life.
“We have to stop meeting like this.”
She looked up to see Brandon standing there. He was wearing green scrubs, and for some reason that made her feel a little giddy inside.
“Do you ever work?” she asked with a laugh.
“I’ll have you know I’ve been at work for four whole hours now.” He put his hands on the back of the chair across from her and leaned in. “Don’t tell anyone, but there’s a lull in the ER right now so I came out to get coffee. Shhh….”
Faith smiled. He was cute in an irritating sort of way. “Well, don’t let me interrupt you.”
“I have a few minutes,” he said, pulling out the chair and sitting down.
“Feel free to sit down.”
Brandon grinned. “Hey, Rebecca, can I get a couple of mocha lattes for Sarah and Paul, and a black coffee for me?”
Rebecca waved and nodded as she turned around to start working on the caffeine boosts.
“So how was the library?”
“Not overly helpful.”
“You know, I went to college. Maybe I can help?”
“Do you ever say anything that’s not sarcastic?” she asked.
“Occasionally.”
“Anyway, no there’s nothing you can help with. I’m not even sure why I’m in January Cove, to be honest.”
“Faith, as far as I can tell, we’re friends.”
“I wouldn’t go that far.”
“I brought you muffins!”
She giggled. “And they were amazing. But friendship takes time to build. But we’re acquaintances for sure.”
“Wow, that’s great. I’ve always wanted more acquaintances.”
“Sarcasm again?”
“Look, I don’t know what happened to you recently, but you’ve got this enormous wall up. I don’t know if you could make a friend if you tried right now.”
Faith’s mouth dropped open. “That was harsh.”
“But true, right?”
She sat there with her lips pursed for a moment. “Probably.”
“And I know you have some reason why you don’t trust people. But what do you really have to lose here? I mean, you could leave here and go back to Virginia anytime, right?”
“Right.”
“So why not try to trust someone and see if they can help you?”
“I never said I needed any help.”
“Hey, Brandon, doesn’t Sarah like a shot of vanilla in hers?” Rebecca called from behind the counter. Brandon nodded.
“It’s obvious you need help. You’re here in a strange town all alone. You’re being very tight lipped about why you’re here. People all over town are talking…”
“Seriously?” Faith asked, her mouth gaping open yet again.
“Well, no. Not yet. But they will be. That’s a small town for you.”
Faith took a deep breath of relief. “Look, I don’t think I can get the answers I need here anyway. This trip was a rash decision I made in a moment of grief and frustration. I’ve been thinking about heading back to Virginia.”
“Don’t,” he said, reaching across the table and putting his hand over hers. Faith let it sit for a beat, but then slid her hand from underneath his.
“Why?”
“I believe in gut feelings, Faith. And your gut brought you to January Cove. Now, I don’t know why you’re hiding so much, but I’d like to be that friend… er, acquaintance… to help you get what you need to move forward in your life.”
“Why do you care so much, Brandon? You hardly know me.”
He sighed. “I’m a doctor, Faith. I care about people. It’s just who I am.”
She stared at him for a moment. He really did seem to be one of the most genuine people she’d ever met.
“Here you go! I put it on your tab,” Rebecca said with a wink as she put the drink carrier on the table. Sensing she was interrupting a conversation, she quickly made herself scarce.
“Okay, fine.”
“Fine? So you’ll let me help?”
“Since you seem to have a superhero complex, I’ll tell you some of my story,” Faith said.
Brandon smiled broadly. “Great. I get off at six tonight. What do you say to a nice dinner?”
“Somewhere fancy?”
“At my house.”
“I don’t know…”
“Faith, I assumed you wanted privacy since you don’t want the whole town knowing your business?”
He was right. “Okay. I’ll be there at seven.”
“I can pick you up.”
“No. I’ll drive myself.”
Brandon looked like he wanted to argue, but knew he was on shaky ground as it was.
“Looking forward to it,” he said with a wink before picking up the carrier and walking out. He waved one more time through the large plate glass window.
“That Brandon is something else, huh?” Rebecca said as she brought Faith a refill.
“Yeah, he seems to be. Are all small town doctors like him?”
Rebecca cocked her head. “Oh, sweetie, Brandon hadn’t lived here in years until recently. He spent the last five years doing missionary work as a doctor in the Middle East. The man spent that time in war zones serving some of the most forgotten people on the planet. He’s a true hero, that one.”
Rebecca walked back to the counter, and Faith was left to wonder if she’d been misjudging Brandon all along.
Brandon looked at his watch. His shift was ending soon, but he still had one more patient to discharge.
“Sarah, Mrs. Lechter can go home. She needs to fill the prescription for the antibiotic and follow up with her doctor later this week.” He signed off on the paperwork and handed it to his nurse before heading to the lounge.
Brandon loved being a doctor, but it had been a big adjustment coming home to January Cove after so many years away. Still, it was home, and his mother and father didn’t live far away. He felt like he needed to be close now that they were getting older.
“Headed out, Brandon?” Dr. Becker asked.
“Yes. In fact, I’m cooking dinner for Faith McLemore tonight.”
Dr. Becker’s eyes popped open. “Really? How on Earth did you get her to agree?”
“We’ve actually spent a little time together. She’s not all that bad. Just a little…”
“Uptight? Pretentious?”
Brandon chuckled. “Surface stuff, Don. You have to dig down to get to the good stuff, kind of like a Tootsie Pop.”
“Okay, well, I can’t think of another example right now. She’s been through some stuff.”
“Like what?”
“Well, I don’t know yet. That’s what I intend to find out tonight.”
Dr. Becker slapped Brandon on the shoulder. “You missed your calling, young man. I think psychology would’ve been a great fit for you.”
“Says the man who wants me to take another shift next week…” Brandon said with a smile as he headed for the door.
“But you’re a dang fine ER doctor too, Brandon James…” he called out loudly.
Faith pulled up in front of Brandon’s house. She’d regretted agreeing to this dinner all afternoon, but she had no way to back out since Brandon had been on duty at the hospital.
“Just step out of your comfort zone, Faith,” she said to herself as she pulled into his driveway.
“Hey there!” Brandon said from the porch, a big dimply smile on his face.
Dang, he really was handsome. Even more so in the light of the emerging sunset. He was wearing a cable knit tan sweater and jeans, and Faith felt a flutter move through her chest.
“Hey,” she said as she walked up to the porch. She loved his beach house. It was quaint, but very nice for a single man. It felt like a real home, and she sort of appreciated that since her home had been a bit sanitized feeling.
“Come on in,” Brandon said, opening the door for her.
The inside was a lot nicer than she’d imagined. The walls were a light gray, perfectly accenting the beach that was visible from just about every angle.
There was a large wall of floor to ceiling windows facing the ocean which cast a beautiful glow into the living room and kitchen. The off white furniture, overstuffed and looking brand new, fit the beach theme perfectly without being kitschy or tacky.
It was the way she would have decorated it herself if she’d had the chance.
“Your home is lovely, Brandon. Did you hire a decorator?”
Brandon laughed. “Nope. Actually I did it myself. It’s a hobby of mine.”
