by J. L. Berg
Old man Joyner let out a sort of chuckle at those words, earning him a deadly glance from his wife before they both grinned from ear to ear. It was endearing, to say the least.
Looking up at the front desk, I couldn’t help but notice how disorganized it appeared. Jake didn’t have the cash to hire a full-time person to man the desk, so his nurse had always done both jobs.
“He still hasn’t found a replacement for Betty?”
Mrs. Joyner’s eyes lit up as they met mine. “Oh, my dear, didn’t you hear? She arrived yesterday.”
“Who did?” I asked, completely confused.
“The new nurse.”
“There’s a new nurse?” I found myself saying more out of shock than anything else. Wasn’t I the best friend to the island’s only doctor? If he’d hired someone, shouldn’t I have known about it?
“Yes. Pretty young thing. Dingbatter, too.”
Dingbatter was an old-school term used when referring to anyone who wasn’t native to the island. How did you define who was native to the island and who wasn’t? Well, that was an entirely separate topic. Some islanders believed you weren’t truly native unless you could trace your family back generations. Others believed you had to be born here.
Like I said, it was a hot button issue.
“Jake hired a nurse? From the mainland? Do you know her name? Why didn’t he tell me?”
I thought Mrs. Joyner must have taken pity on me in my bewildered state. Her face turned round and warm, like that of a parent comforting a young child. But, before she had time to answer all my questions, the door to the exam room opened, and my questions were answered with a single, glance.
“Cora?”
I’d like to say the woman who had nursed me back to health after my accident looked up at me and fireworks exploded as our eyes met, like they did in the sappy rom-coms Molly always made me watch. But, instead, the second recognition passed across her face, I saw something closer to horror.
Or maybe it was awkwardness because that was exactly the emotion that was coursing through my veins. That, and extreme confusion. Cora Ashcroft had been there for me in a time of my life when I needed someone most.
She was the stranger I’d clung to when my family was hours away. She was the bright light I’d turned to when all I saw was darkness. And she was the woman I’d thought could be so much more…
That awkwardness in her eyes only doubled when she glanced down at the schedule she was holding and called out my name.
“Um, Dean?” she said, her voice lacking the confidence and bounce I remembered. “I guess you’re next.”
I placed a finger to my chest, pointing to myself like a goddamn idiot. “Me?”
She nodded, her eyebrows lifting in amusement. There was a total of three people in the small waiting room. Of course she meant me. Less than sixty seconds since this woman had crash-landed back in my life, and I was already acting like a moron.
Again.
No wonder she looked less than pleased to see me.
Rising to my feet, I walked the short distance to the door that led to the back of the clinic. With only two exam rooms and a small lab, there wasn’t much to it, but I slowed to a halt and let her lead me in. She grabbed my chart from a stack on the nurses’ counter, which Jake had no doubt pulled that morning, and placed it underneath her arm. As I averted my gaze, we started down the hall for the farthest room in the back of the building. As I followed her, I took a moment to reacquaint myself with the nurse who’d nearly stolen my heart.
To an unfamiliar eye, she looked the same. Her hair, although a bit shorter, was still the same deep shade of auburn. Under the harsh fluorescent lights of the clinic, the long, flowing locks appeared to be an ordinary shade of brown, but every time we passed a window and the light hit, a few strands would glisten a gorgeous mahogany red. Try as I might not to look, her body hadn’t changed a bit either. Even dressed in plain-colored scrubs, I could see the curve of her hips and the swell of her breasts as she turned the corner into the exam room.
But, looking past all that, the beautiful hair and the gorgeous body, something was missing.
And I couldn’t quite put my finger on it yet.
As she set my chart down on the counter, I took a seat, forgoing the exam table for one of the chairs instead.
Cora’s dark brown eyes met mine before settling back on my chart. Her posture was rigid, nothing like the laid-back nurse who used to come in and visit with me on her lunch break just because she knew I might be lonely.
“So, uh…what is the nature of your visit today?” she asked, swallowing deeply before looking up at me once more.
I heard Jake’s deep voice in the hallway as he said his good-byes to a patient. Laughter broke out between them as the silence grew between Cora and me.
“Checkup,” I finally answered, distracted by the commotion in the hallway. “Just my annual checkup.”
“Right, okay. Then, I guess I should have gotten your weight,” she said, clearly flustered. She frantically tapped her pen against the paper chart as the ruckus outside finally dissipated. “The scale is back at the nurses’ station. I can just—”
“Why are you here?” I asked rather bluntly, causing her mouth to nearly fall to the floor. “I’m a solid two twenty, by the way. No need for the scale.”
No longer hunched over my chart, she stood upright, staring at me with shock written on her face. “I just moved here.”
“But why?” I pressed.
“Why not? You always said you loved growing up here—when you were…I mean, I think I remember something about you saying you liked it. So, when I was looking at different places in the South, I thought I’d give it a try.” She shrugged, firmly crossing her arms over her chest.
At least she remembered me.
I snorted, “Your husband agreed to that? People down here don’t have much need for high-priced lawyers.”
Her eyes shifted to the side, focusing on a photo on the wall—something a local photographer had taken of wild ponies at sunset. “He and I aren’t… we’re not together anymore.”
“You’re divorced?” I said, my eyes homing in on her left hand and then up to her neck. Sure enough, that gigantic ring that had always swung from a chain around her neck—probably to keep the planet sized diamond from cutting a hole through her sterile gloves, the one I somehow managed to miss every time she came into my room all those years ago, was indeed missing.
She nodded, confirming my question. “It was final just last month. We’d been separated for over a year though.”
Something akin to hope blossomed in my belly as I looked up at her, the tenderhearted woman who’d been there for me in a time of my life I’d rather forget. The bouncy ball of fire who read to patients when they were too weak to do so themselves and always brought a smile to my face.
But that girl wasn’t here.
And the guy she’d known in that hospital room? The one who’d still had hope of returning home like nothing had happened?
He was long gone as well.
Instead, I was sitting in a room with a perfect stranger, wondering what to say next and just how exactly I was going to kill my best friend for forgetting this bit of information in our weekly beer nights. Jake knew what a fool I’d made of myself in that hospital, convinced that I was in love with Cora when, in reality, I was just reaching out for someone.
Anyone.
Yet…
Yet she was here. Standing in front of me.
How was that for fate?
“So,” she finally said, “how have you been?”
“Good,” I immediately answered, almost like a knee-jerk reaction. Realizing she was probably expecting more than a one-worded response, I tried to dig deep and find something else inside my muddled brain. “Everything healed up nicely,” I replied, holding my arm up as proof. “The town hooked me up with this replacement, which keeps the stares down to a minimum. Except for the kids,” I added. “The kids always notice.
”
“They’re shorter,” she said, reaching her hand out in front of her, about waist-high. “They tend to notice things we don’t.”
My eyes narrowed, recalling that moment in the hospital when I’d finally gotten the courage to ask her out and she’d refused, explaining two very important reasons.
The husband and the—
“How is your daughter?” I asked, remembering her name but not wanting to seem overly attached to our brief acquaintance so long ago. Because I had been attached.
Maybe I still am…
“Good,” she replied, mirroring my answer moments earlier. Realizing she’d done so, she smiled and continued on, “She’s starting kindergarten next month.”
“Here? In Ocracoke?” I asked, still unconvinced she was in fact moving here permanently. It wasn’t exactly the top destination for relocations. We were small and remote, and did I mention that the only way in and out was by ferryboat?
“Yes. Is it bad?” she asked, her expression showing the concern of a mother. “The school, I mean. When Jake offered me the position, I took it without much thought. I remember you gushing about how peaceful and quiet Ocracoke was, and I needed a new start for Lizzie and me. I didn’t really think about the school system at all.” She paused for a moment before glancing up at me. “God, you must think I’m a terrible mother.”
Leaning forward, my elbows on my knees, I looked up at her grinning. “I don’t, Cora. Really, I don’t. Although,” I said, leaning back, “I’m kind of iffy on your nursing skills at the moment, seeing as we’ve been in this exam room for nearly fifteen minutes and you haven’t even taken my blood pressure. But I’m pretty confident you’re a good mom.”
She gawked at me, her mouth slack, as she searched for words. Honestly, I was a little surprised, too, by my ability to string so many words together in her presence.
“And the school is good, by the way. It produced Jake and me, so it can’t be half bad. Well, I guess, Jake turned out pretty good at least.” I grinned.
“Good,” she replied, using our favorite word of the day. “That’s good. Thank you for that. My conscience is eased a bit, knowing she’s in at least capable hands.” Looking down at my chart again, she took a deep breath before speaking, “Now, if you’ll excuse me.”
Confused, I watched her walk toward the door. “Wait, where are you going?” I asked.
“To get your chart. I’ve been holding Mrs. Joyner’s for the last fifteen minutes, and I was too embarrassed to say anything.”
I bit my lip, trying not to chuckle, but the moment I saw a smile tug at the corner of her pretty pink lips, I couldn’t help myself. Deep laughter sprang free as she opened the door, leaving me behind in search of my actual file.
In that moment, I finally felt like I’d found the dark-haired nurse who’d turned me down in that lonely hospital room. And, if she was in fact in there somewhere, hidden behind the baggage life had thrown on her over the last three years, I might be well and rightfully screwed.
Because I could fall for her all over again.
And, this time, there would be no husband or injury to blame. My whole body was screaming to turn and run, to flee, before any other part of me was lost to pain and ruin.
But, instead, I sat, firmly planted in that rickety old seat, and waited for her to return.
“What is this I hear of you harassing my new nurse?” Jake said, charging into the exam room with no warning.
I’d been sitting in here for nearly ten minutes, wondering if I’d been forgotten or simply left for dead.
“What is this I hear of you hiring a new nurse without telling me? Especially when it happens to be someone I know? Someone I used to know…well?” The last part was said in a hushed tone with a look that said I meant business.
Taking a seat on the exam table, Jake placed my chart—the correct one, I assumed—next to him and faced me as a friend rather than a doctor. Being friends with him so long, I’d now learned the difference between the two sides of him, and this was definitely Jake the friend.
“I’m sorry, Dean,” he began. “I meant to; I really did. You know I’ve been desperate for someone for months since Betty left. And it’s not easy, finding a nurse who will willingly work down here. Part-time? Maybe. But full-time?” He made a disgruntled sound in the back of his throat. “I had a nurse on the mainland, offering to ferry in every day. But she would need to drive two hours each way and requested a substantial increase in pay to cover it. You know I don’t have that. The clinic barely stays afloat as it is.”
I nodded, knowing how much blood, sweat, and tears he’d put into this place since taking over after his father’s death.
“So, when I got a résumé for a competent nurse with a familiar name to boot, I jumped at the chance before she could change her mind. Cora was willing to start as soon as possible, and things just kind of happened after that. I’ve been in a whirlwind ever since, trying to make sure everything was in place for her arrival.”
I held up my hand, ignoring the automatic knee-jerk reaction of his eyes as they darted toward the other lying in my lap. It was the briefest of glances, but even he couldn’t help but look.
“I get it; I do. Just a little heads-up would have been nice. You know, so I could have avoided making a world-class idiot of myself again.”
He grinned, picking up my chart as he hopped off the table. “Wouldn’t have helped in the least. You, my friend, would have done that on your own regardless of my interference. Now, let’s play doctor, shall we? I have other patients today, you know.”
Shaking my head, I stood up and hoisted myself up on the exam table, “I hate you,” I said, making his grin widen.
“You say the sweetest things. Now, shut up, and let me do my job.”
Friend time was over, and I surrendered to the chore of answering his questions and allowing his tests, knowing he was the best at what he did—keeping people alive.
Usually, at the end of a relationship, the people involved separated and went their own ways.
This was not the case for Molly and me. At the end of our engagement that had been going nowhere, we continued to see each other.
In a platonic sort of way.
Growing up, Molly, Jake, and I had been the best of friends. When Molly and Jake naturally gravitated toward one another and their relationship became something more, we always remained a team. The three amigos.
Until Jake left.
And then it was just Molly and me.
We made the mistake of pushing our relationship past its boundaries, but soon after we broke off our engagement, we were able to find that rhythm again, the one that had bonded us together as young children and still did as adults.
When I returned home from my rehabilitation, Molly made sure of this by inviting me over to the inn for weekly dinners. At first, I had been sure it was to keep an eye on me or a secret plot with my mother to make sure I was being fed properly at least twice a week between the two of them.
Whatever the reason, it continued to this day.
Except, now, our trio was complete.
Driving up to the inn that night after my rather unusual day, I felt nothing but relief at the normalcy of this dinner. There were times when Molly would be out traveling, and we’d skip for months on end, but we’d pick back up when she returned.
Same day of the week. Same time.
When Jake had moved back home for good a few months ago, it hadn’t changed. We just added more beer, and sometimes, if Molly was feeling crazy, she’d let her fiancé help with the cooking.
Parking the car in the driveway, I sincerely hoped tonight was not one of those nights. Jake had a way of destroying even the simplest of meals with a single glance. How a man who had been trained to be one of the best heart surgeons in Chicago could mangle a couple of stalks of celery was beyond me.
As I stepped out of my truck, I couldn’t help but notice the other cars around mine. I’d made it a habit to do so whenever I came
to the inn. I loved seeing how far Molly’s guests traveled—or, in some cases, how little.
Tonight, I saw a rental from North Carolina, which suggested either a foreigner or someone from the West Coast, and a nice-looking sports car from up north. But nothing held my attention like the dusty little SUV from Virginia.
With a car seat in the back and a Princess Anne county sticker on the dash, it suddenly dawned on me—what I’d failed to ask Cora and Jake when I was in the clinic earlier that day.
Where was she staying?
Walking up to the front door, I didn’t bother knocking or ringing the doorbell. The one time I’d tried, shortly after Molly and I broke up, she’d nearly hit me over the head with a wooden spoon, reminding me that family did not knock.
Stepping into the wide foyer, I took a peek in either direction, feeling like a damn spy, as I tried to pinpoint Cora’s location.
Of course she was staying here.
Why was I even surprised? Jake and Molly were two of the most giving people I knew. A single mom relocating to a town she knew nothing about? Those two had probably insisted on it as part of her employment.
“What are you doing, standing out here like a lurker?” Molly’s voice filled the empty space, pulling me out of my thoughts.
“What? Who? Me? Nothing. Just wondering where you were. That’s all.”
Her blue eyes studied me for a moment, obviously seeing my bluff. “I was in the kitchen. Where else would I be? Come make yourself useful before Jake tries to. I sent him on a fool’s errand to grab charcoal for the grill. We have gas.” She grinned mischievously.
Shaking my head at her deceit, I followed her back into the kitchen, briefly looking over my shoulder like I was searching for some sort of ghost. She must have picked up on my distracted behavior because, the second we entered her sacred space, her hands reaching for a wooden spoon to stir something savory simmering on the stove, she began her interrogation.
“So, Jake said you were at the clinic today. How’d that go?”
Oh, she was a sly one.
“Good. And Jake didn’t say that,” I answered with a smirk, refusing to give in so easily. If Molly was going to prod me for answers to something she clearly already knew, I wasn’t going to make it easy for her. “You and I both know, I mentioned it last week.”
