by Carly Marie
Editing Services: Jennifer Smith
Cover By: Designs by Morningstar
Copyright © 2020 by Carly Marie
All rights reserved.
This book or any portion thereof may not be reproduced or used in any manner whatsoever without the express written permission of the author except for the use of brief quotations in a book review.
This is a work of fiction. Names, characters, businesses, places, events, locales, and incidents are either the products of the author’s imagination or used in a fictitious manner. Any resemblance to actual persons, living or dead, or actual events is purely coincidental.
TABLE OF CONTENTS
Prologue
Chapter 1
Chapter 2
Chapter 3
Chapter 4
Chapter 5
Chapter 6
Chapter 7
Chapter 8
Chapter 9
Chapter 10
Chapter 11
Chapter 12
Chapter 13
Chapter 14
Chapter 15
Chapter 16
Chapter 17
Chapter 18
Chapter 19
Chapter 20
Chapter 21
Chapter 22
Chapter 23
Chapter 24
Chapter 25
Chapter 26
Chapter 27
Chapter 28
Chapter 29
Epilogue
Also By Carly Marie
Prologue
Thank You
About the Author
PROLOGUE
Mark
“Daddy!” Thomas’s voice rang out across the park. “Daddy, watch!”
My body sagged into the park bench. I was exhausted. Beyond exhausted. I’d put in my eighteen hours at the hospital, then rushed home to get Thomas and Eli off the bus. I hadn’t slept during my shift thanks to the insanity that was the emergency room, so I was going on twenty-four hours without sleep. I’d thought that going to the park would give the kids a chance to run off some energy and give me a little bit of time to decompress after my shift.
I was wrong.
Eli called out next. “Daddy, push me on the swing. Please?”
I forced my eyes open and tried to plaster a smile on my face. “Give me a second.” I yawned and reached high over my head, trying to stretch exhausted joints. My back popped, my neck cracked, and a headache sat just behind my eyes, reminding me with each passing minute that I hadn’t slept in over twenty-four hours.
I glanced over to where I heard Thomas’s voice, and I found him high above the playground’s jungle gym, climbing over the plastic tubes. “Thomas, please get down from there.” I’d seen enough injuries from kids falling off playground equipment that it should have sent terror through my heart, except my brain had reached the point where it refused to process it.
Single parenting was hard. No, that was an understatement. Single parenting was something I wouldn’t wish on my worst enemy. Living three hours from my nearest family made my job that much harder. When my wife unexpectedly left me six years earlier with a two-year-old and a four-year-old, I’d been dumbstruck. I’d left for work, kissed her and the boys goodbye, and come home the next day to a small moving truck in our driveway and a packet of divorce papers that contained custody documents. She was done. She didn’t want to be a wife, or a mother—all she wanted was freedom. She had kissed the boys goodbye, given me a cold hug, and walked out of our lives. Nicole hadn’t even returned for the divorce proceedings.
I’d dealt with every stage of grief as though she’d died. Sometimes I still found it easier to believe she’d died than to think that she’d left us and never even sent a card to tell us where she was. Over the span of a few years, the boys stopped asking about her, and by that point they had few, if any, memories of her.
Days where I got to work and my feet hit the ground running, only stopping when I clocked out eighteen hours later were, thankfully, rare. Very rare. However, each time I had to come home to parent my boys alone after a full day of no sleep, I found myself angry at my ex-wife all over again.
I made my way to the swings and spent ten minutes pushing Eli before my phone rang. It was on the second ring before my brain processed it was my phone, and it took another two rings for me to step away from the swing and get it out of my back pocket. I was at risk of it going to voicemail before I answered, so I didn’t bother to look at the screen as I swiped up to accept.
“Hello?” I questioned through a yawn.
“Damn, you sound like shit.”
I pulled the phone from my ear and looked at the screen. “Carl?” My brother sounded identical to my dad, which caused me pause every time they called.
“Yup. You okay?”
Even through my exhausted haze I could hear the concern in his voice and was touched by it. He was usually so busy with his job as a government contractor that we didn’t get much time to talk. When he was home, he spent the time with his own family and our parents. Last I’d heard he was supposed to be home in a few weeks. Thinking about the date, I guessed he’d managed to get leave as expected. “Long night at work. At the park with the boys in hopes they wear themselves out so we can all get sleep tonight.”
Carl hummed into the line. “You work yourself to the bone up there in Louisville.”
Between the mortgage, car payment, private school tuition, and the nanny who watched the boys while I worked, I didn’t have a choice. “It can be difficult. Did you get leave just to call and give me a hard time?”
Carl laughed so hard I had to pull the phone from my ear. “Sometimes. Actually, I was calling because I overheard something interesting while I was waiting on Dad’s oil change today.”
I stifled a yawn. “Oh? What’s that?” I didn’t know if I cared much about small town gossip, but Carl sounded excited.
“The doctor here in town is retiring and he’s looking to sell the clinic.”
“Your point?”
Carl blew out a breath like I was an idiot. “Mark, you’re qualified. From what Jeff says, there’s no one in town who wants the job. Apparently, there aren’t many doctors here.”
“Who’s Jeff?”
“The owner of the garage. He’s also a pretty good friend, and he knows Doc well.”
“Carl, I’m settled here.”
Carl blew what sounded like a raspberry into the phone. “You’re alone up there. I talked with Doc, asked him when he’s looking to retire. He says he’d like to be out by Christmas. But if he doesn’t find someone, he’s going to close the clinic.”
I walked to the bench closest to the swings. “I’m not just going to take a job in Fairview because you call me out of the blue.” Work was hard, the hours were long, and of course he’d called me after one of the most difficult shifts I’d had in months, but none of that meant I was looking to make a change.
My job paid the bills and then some. The kids were settled here; everything they knew was here. School, friends, sports, doctors—they were all in Louisville. Did I want to go from a big city to a small town? I thought I remembered my mom mentioning that there were only about ten thousand people who lived there. There were over 600,000 in Louisville. Ten thousand was almost small enough that everyone would know everyone.
Then again, my parents were there. Carl and his family lived there. I could actually see them all without needing to take a day off work or a weekend off activities.
Doctor of a small town clinic sounded a bit too Hallmark Channel movie to me. On the other hand, it would be nice to have people nearby. There was a park in the middle of town, and kids were always there when we went in the summer. The boys would make friends. I yawned and my jaw popped. I was go
ing to fall asleep on the bench if I sat there much longer. “Give me his number. I can at least look into it.” Had I said that out loud?
I could hear the triumph in Carl’s voice. “I’ll send you his number as soon as we get off the phone.” He paused for a moment before he continued. “Hey, Mark?”
“Yeah, Carl?”
“It would be nice to have you and the boys nearby. I miss seeing you. Being gone so often is hard, but coming home and knowing that one of us will have to travel three hours if we want to see each other sucks.”
Twist that knife a little deeper, Carl. “I miss you too. And I miss Mom and Dad. But I don’t know that I’m cut out to be the head of a small town clinic.”
“Just think it over and talk with Doc. He’s a great guy.”
I promised to think it over. First, I needed to get the boys home, fed, help them with homework, and tucked in bed, and hopefully have the energy to make it across the hall to my room before I passed out. I managed to check off every item on my to-do list in short succession, but through it all Doc’s number seemed to be burning a hole in my pocket.
I got the kids in bed at eight. Eli had seemed to be as exhausted as I was, and while it was still early for Thomas, he had picked up on how tired I was and promised to read in his bed until nine. I said goodnight and headed to my room.
I should have fallen asleep quickly. My head should have hit the pillow and I should have been out like a light. At twenty after eight, I was still staring at my ceiling, my thoughts swirling about the job in Tennessee. It wasn’t like it was mine for the taking, and I hadn’t made up my mind, but I needed more information or I’d drive myself nuts. Maybe I’d talk to the guy Carl called Doc and realize I wasn’t a good fit for the position. Maybe the terms would be impossible or the income wouldn’t be there to support a family.
Huffing, I rolled over, grabbed my phone from the charger, and tapped Doc’s number into my phone. I didn’t know why I hadn’t expected him to answer at eight twenty-five at night, but I hadn’t, so hearing a voice surprised me.
“This is Doc.”
CHAPTER 1
Three Months Later
Jeff
“Jeff!” My sister’s voice from inside the office startled me. The wrench I’d been using slipped from my hands and clanged onto the garage floor, missing my head by mere inches and making my ears ring. I had stayed late to work on Louie, the antique car my grandfather had left me when he died. Louie was almost sixty years old, and I’d spent most of my life tinkering with him. My earliest memories were of helping my grandfather change Louie’s oil. In high school, I’d helped him rebuild the engine. I had as much pride in Louie as my grandfather had, so it wasn’t a surprise that Gramps had handed me the keys to Louie when he was no longer able to shift the gears. Louie had become my favorite hobby car. A hobby in that it was a hobby to keep him running. I usually spent more time tinkering with him than driving him. That’s why I also had a truck that never hesitated to start on me.
I rolled from under Louie. “Jesus Christ, Annie, what the hell are you still doing here?”
“You’re a mess,” she said instead of giving me an answer.
“Thanks, asshole.”
She waved my cell phone in the air. I must have left it in the office again. “Your daughter has been texting you for ten minutes.”
I couldn’t be upset with Annie for interrupting me. I had a tendency to lose track of time when I was working on Louie. It took a minute to wipe enough of the grease off my hands so that I could handle my phone. My daughter, Jenna, had been texting for nearly ten minutes. A glance at the clock in the upper right corner told me I’d been working on Louie for over an hour and should have been home.
Seth and I are going to the diner in town for dinner.
Want me to pick you up anything?
Hey, someone’s moving into the old colonial on the corner. Who do you think bought it?
Oh, can you stop at the store and buy toilet paper on your way home?
Ah, the life of a single father. I’d come to adopt Jenna and Seth almost by accident. I’d always wanted to be a dad, and at one point I’d been in a relationship serious enough that we decided to go through the process of becoming foster parents. As fate would have it, we broke up before the classes were completed. He left town after he decided he wanted more in life than a mechanic and a small town, but I finished the process. After the classes and the visits were done, I’d all but forgotten about it, thinking that I’d pursue it if I ever settled down. Six months later, I received a phone call from a friend who worked for child services in Nashville. She had an emergency case and begged me to come pick up a newborn and his two-year-old sister.
I had nothing at the house but agreed to help her out for a short time. While I’d gone to pick up Seth and Jenna at the children’s hospital, Annie had made a makeshift nursery in my spare room. The temporary arrangement had been a perfect fit for the three of us, and fifteen years later, there was nothing I’d change about that night. I had two beautiful kids but still hadn’t found the man to spend the rest of my life with.
Most men found out I had teenagers and left a cloud of dust in their wake, so I’d given up on dating.
I smiled at the texts as I started to respond.
Grab me a pot pie. Marie makes the best ones.
Rumor has it, the new doctor at the clinic bought the house. I don’t know much else. I heard he starts work on Monday.
And yes, I’ll stop at the store. I’ll clean up and head home. Don’t rush. And be careful driving home!
Five minutes later, I was still cleaning up my work space when my phone buzzed on my toolbox.
Just placed an order for you to go. I’ll be careful on my way home. Love you.
There were days I still couldn’t believe that I was old enough to have a kid who could drive. I still felt like it was yesterday that I’d picked the blond-haired cutie up at the hospital.
“Annie!” I called into the office as I scrubbed my hands with the citrus cleaner we kept at the sink.
Her head popped out of the office, a pencil between her teeth. Payroll was due tomorrow but not until the end of the business day, so she had plenty of time. “What’s up?”
“Go home. I’m getting out of here in just a minute.”
She rolled her chair back into the office but I saw the lights click off a few seconds later. “Did you see the new doctor?” she asked as she joined me by the exit door as we put on our coats.
“Nope.”
She waggled her eyebrows. “He’s gorgeous.”
I shrugged. “Good for him. Carl says he’s been single for six years now and has never even hinted at being interested in dating anyone. So don’t get your hopes up. Oh, and he’s got two boys.”
Annie harrumphed, narrowing her gray eyes at me. “Spoilsport.”
I laughed at my sister as I locked up the shop. After the convenience store, I could finally head home for a shower. I climbed into my truck and turned the ignition—at least it always started without complaint. I waited for Annie to leave the parking lot before I put the truck into drive, heading toward the shopping center to buy toilet paper while making a list of all the things we might be out of at home.
Thirty minutes and fifty dollars later, I pulled into the driveway of our home. We lived in an old farmhouse at the very edge of town. Ours was the last house at the end of the township limits and it sat back from the street. The Christmas tree in the front window could be seen from the driveway as I pulled to a stop in front of the garage. The brightly colored lights on the outside of the house gave it a gingerbread-home feel. Christmas was in just over a week, and the first really cold spell had settled on us a few days earlier. The weatherman predicted it wouldn’t last long, and I hoped he was right.
I pulled my old work coat tighter across my body and hurried with the bags of groceries into the house. All I wanted was a warm shower where I could scrub the last of the day’s grime off me before my dinner arrive
d with the kids. I dumped the bags on the kitchen island and headed toward the steps.
CHAPTER 2
Mark
I locked up the clinic at noon Friday, officially ending my first week at my new job. The boys and I had been in town for two weeks, and our house still looked like the moving truck had arrived earlier in the day. I’d focused on setting up the boys’ rooms but hadn’t done much else. My mom had offered to help, but it was something I knew I needed to do myself. It wasn’t that I was too proud to ask for help, but it would make it more real if I could unpack everything on my own. Besides, I had no idea where to tell my mom to put things.
The old six-bedroom colonial I’d purchased was far bigger than the three of us needed, but it was right in the middle of town and in walking distance of the clinic. The fancy electric car I’d insisted on buying when we lived in Kentucky hadn’t even been charged since we moved in. The boys would be in walking distance of the school when it started back up after winter break, the grocery store was only a block from the clinic, and even the one and only diner in town was next door to the grocery store. Though given I hadn’t unpacked my kitchen yet, there hadn’t been a reason to go to the store.
My parents had been over the moon to have us in town and had been watching the boys for me while I settled in at the clinic. They’d even volunteered to keep them that weekend. Carl’s kids were going to be over, and they thought it would be a good chance for the boys to hang out with their cousins and for me to settle into the house more. It was great in theory but overwhelming in practice. At least I could say I had slept more in the past two weeks than I had in the last almost twenty years.
“Afternoon, Doctor,” a brown-haired woman greeted me as I headed home. She looked vaguely familiar but I couldn’t place from where. She was holding a number of to-go bags with the word Marie’s plastered across them as she hurried down the road toward the car repair shop.
“Good afternoon,” I responded politely as I made my way toward the grocery store. I needed to get food in my house so the boys and I could start eating homemade meals again. Even I was getting tired of frozen dinners every night. We also needed a routine back, and I would love to make the house look at least a little festive for Christmas. It wouldn’t be a ton, though, since Christmas was in just a few days.
