by Krista Lakes
Outside the night air was humid but relaxing. It was warm, but not hot out. The stars twinkled over head and the cicadas hummed in the trees. I took a deep breath in of the sweet air and sighed.
We piled into the car and took the short drive back to the clinic. We left Dad's truck and Dr. Mathew's motorcycle in the parking lot. I hoped things were going well.
Mom pulled into the parking lot of the clinic just as Dr. Matthews texted me an update. Dr. Taggert was stable. He was in the Cardiac ICU and scheduled for a round of tests in the morning. They suspected he'd be having surgery sometime tomorrow.
I let out a long sigh of relief and let my parents know. My dad's shoulders relaxed with the news and he smiled.
“You did good tonight, Kiddo,” he told me. “I'm proud of you.”
“Me too,” my mom chimed in.
I nearly burst into tears.
Instead I just thanked them, gave them each hugs, reminded my dad to take his medicine and get some rest, and then sat in my car.
As soon as I was alone, I cried and laughed and then fell asleep in the parking lot.
Chapter 29
We had ten patients in the clinic the next day, as well as new future appointments to make up lost appointments. Mr. Abrams was coming in. So was the preacher and his wife. The next day we almost had a full schedule. By the end of the week, we were just a few appointments shy of a regular day.
Things were slowly getting back to normal.
Still, I secretly hoped that Abigail St. James would continue to see the doctor in the next town over, even if I was fired. The further that woman was from me, even in my head, the better. It was petty, but I didn't care.
Friday came with the news that Dr. Taggert was on his way home from the hospital. He was still weak and recovering from surgery, but healing faster than expected. He was banned from working at the clinic until he was one-hundred percent, but I had a feeling that he'd somehow sneak in to see patients by the end of next week.
As for me, I kept busy. With our schedule back to having patients, I found myself worrying less about losing my job. We were keeping the clinic up and running, which meant that Jacob's contract with Dr. Taggert was safe.
At least for now.
I liked being busy. It kept my mind from thinking about anything from work. I luckily hadn't had much morning sickness yet, but I kept a two liter of ginger ale out in my car just in case. I was still too early to use the office ultrasound or Doppler machine, but I walked wistfully past those rooms more than I needed to.
I still hadn't told anyone but Jacob about the pregnancy.
To be honest, I was too scared to. I had heard the rumors about Cassandra. My mother's version was so much kinder than the rumors I'd heard around town. Living in a small town, the only interesting thing that we could count on was gossip. And because humans love to gossip, things became a game of telephone that skewed all the information.
Last I heard at the supermarket, Cassandra was carrying twins from her secret lover in Kentucky and the grandparents were going to sue for adoption. Cassandra was apparently moving to Alaska and becoming a lesbian because of the stress.
None of that was true, but it was being repeated around town. Every whisper had it's own version of what the unwed mother was going to do.
Cassandra's mother had lost business to her store and Cassandra hadn't shown her face in town since the rumor broke. I didn't blame her. I knew exactly how that felt. I knew how it felt to enter the grocery store and suddenly have everyone watching exactly what you bought. I knew how it felt to have random people come up and ask inappropriate questions about my personal life.
I knew.
And I knew it was going to happen to me again.
I waved goodbye to a patient and went to clean and prep the room. I paused, putting a hand to my stomach. There was life there. There was someone amazing growing inside of me. I was going to shelter this baby from the worst of the world, even if it meant taking the rumors on myself.
I sighed. I could already hear the rumors that would spread about me. Despite the fact that it wasn't true, much of the town still blamed me for Jacob breaking up with Katie. I still heard the older women whisper “hussy” when I passed.
I could only imagine the gossip that would come about when they found out I was pregnant. Dr. Taggert had come close to firing Jacob and me. What would happen when he found out about the pregnancy?
Not only would I lose what little dignity in town I had left, but I lose my job too?
I closed my eyes and leaned against the exam table, suddenly very tired. I'd found that being pregnant took a lot of energy. I didn't know how something the size of a small bean could sap the energy from my body so quickly.
“Hey, beautiful,” Jacob said, stepping inside the exam room. The door shut quietly behind him. I looked at it, almost wanting to tell him to open it. I didn't need more rumors.
“Hi,” I greeted him. He kissed me gently and then opened the door back up. He was aware of what was being said and was looking out for me. “What's up?”
“I was hoping you'd come to lunch with me,” he said. His smile was slightly nervous, but it was probably because the two of us going to lunch in public was socially dangerous.
“You sure?” I asked, feeling my eyebrows come together. “I don't know if the town is ready yet.”
“This will help stop the rumors,” he replied. I wasn't sure how that was going to happen, but he put on the puppy-dog eyes. “Please?”
“Those eyes don't work on me,” I told him, turning away and crossing my arms.
“They work on everyone,” he assured me, chasing me so he could stand in front of me. He made sure I could see him and he made his eyes somehow bigger.
“Nope.” But my nerve was weakening. Those eyes. I could see how he managed to stay out of trouble when he was younger. Those eyes were potent.
He glanced out the door to make sure no one was in the hall before bringing his lips to my ear. His breath tickled the small hairs on my neck and made my stomach do twitterpated somersaults.
“Come to lunch,” he whispered. “I'll make it worth your while.”
My knees quivered as he nibbled on my ear. I was toast. There was no way I could say no now.
“Fine,” I said, trying to sound strong but instead sounding breathless.
He gave me one more kiss on the cheek before pulling away. He grinned and gave me a wink before sauntering out of the exam room with cocky confidence.
I checked my watch. I'd managed to resist him for a thirty seconds. I was getting better at it. Maybe in ten years I'd make it a whole five minutes.
I kept working until lunch time. We had a nice steady stream of patients, and for the first time in weeks, everyone managed to stay polite. No one mentioned Katie.
I almost had to think that something else was going on, but I didn't know what. Maybe saving Dr. Taggert from a heart attack was enough to turn the tide a little bit. Maybe, just maybe, the town was starting to see me as something other than a man-stealing trollop. Maybe, they now saw me as a man-stealing trollop who knows CPR.
CPR knowing people are good people to have around.
“Lunch time,” Donna called from the front desk. She sounded unusually chipper. She poked her head into my office where I was charting and smiled at me. “You ready for lunch?”
I shrugged. Instead of morning sickness, I just wasn't hungry. It took effort to convince me to eat anything, and even when I did eat, I had to really focus on finishing my food. I supposed no appetite was better than nausea, though.
Donna fluttered around my doorway as I turned off my computer screen and grabbed my purse.
“Are you coming to lunch with us?” I asked her, unsure of her behavior. Ever since Dr. Taggert's heart attack, she'd been nicer, but not this nice. It was making me nervous.
“Oh, I'm eating in town, but not with you,” she quickly replied. She looked me over, sighed with a soft smile, and then left.
I
stood there, unsure of what to do with that. Whatever it was, I was just glad she wasn't pulling my lunches from the freezer anymore. I liked happy Donna much better than angry Donna.
I shook my head and headed out to the lobby. Jacob stood by the front desk, playing with a pen. He wore dark gray dress slacks with a cream button-up shirt. It was a little dressy for work, but if he had a meeting at the hospital later it would make sense.
“You ready?” he asked, a smile crossing his face as he saw me.
“Yeah,” I replied. From across the lobby, I heard Donna sigh happily. “Where are we going?”
“It's a surprise,” he told me. He reached for my hand. He was sweating even though the air conditioning was running like crazy.
We took the short walk from the clinic to the center of town. The humidity was high, but the day was cool and slightly cloudy. It was a wonderful day to be outside, and it seemed like everyone was out today. I waved to Karina and Leigh Ann as we walked past them in a shop. I even thought I saw my mom and dad in town.
Jacob bounced with energy. I figured the meeting he was dressed for must be important if he was this keyed up. He walked faster than usual and then would slow down as he realized he was dragging me along. But, then he'd just end up walking fast again.
“Are you okay?” I asked him after he slowed down for the third time. “You seem a little anxious.”
He let out a nervous laugh. “Just hungry, I guess.”
“Okay...” I shook my head, but followed him to the town square.
In the very center of downtown Riversville is a small park. It has a cute little gazebo and a water feature that looks like a waterfall turning into a small stream. Some bronze statues of children and birds play endlessly in the looping water. There's a nice open space full of green grass with trees on the edges. The Fourth of July city picnic was always held here and in May and June the gazebo often held weddings.
Today it seemed like half the town was picnicking on the grass. I wondered if there was a community event today that I didn't know about. It would explain why Jacob wanted to come have lunch.
Jacob sped up as we approached the gazebo. Strangely, the space under the gazebo was empty. Usually, it was considered one of the prime spots since it was in the shade, but today everyone had chosen to be on the grass.
There were three small steps up to the gazebo and Jacob paused before the first one and took a deep breath. He looked over at me and smiled.
“You know I love you, right?” he asked me.
“Of course I do,” I replied. Something was up. I wasn't sure what, but something was going to happen. “What do you have planned?”
He flashed me a grin and then looked at my stomach before coming back up to my eyes. “Something good. I hope.”
I frowned in confusion, but he just started up the stairs. I followed.
Jacob stood in the center of the gazebo, his hands in his pockets with the thumbs hanging out. He looked confident other than the nervous smile and the fact that he was tapping his heel.
“Seriously, what's going on?” I asked, joining him in the gazebo.
“Hannah Louise O’Leary, I love you,” he announced. He spoke loud and clearly and the crowd around the gazebo went quiet. All eyes were on the two of us. Everyone in town was watching what happened next.
If this was Jacob's plan for the town to see us as a couple, he had certainly found a dramatic way to do so.
“I've loved you since that first lesson in biology class,” he continued. He reached forward and took my hands in his. His normally surgeon steady hands were shaking. “You've been my dream girl for as long as I can remember. To find you again, was luck. To have you love me back was something I had only imagined could be possible.”
He looked into my eyes. Suddenly, I didn't care about the crowd. I didn't care that the entire town was watching us. With him looking at me like that, we were the only two people in the world. The gazebo was our universe.
Slowly, he knelt before me and reached into his back pocket. My breath caught and my brain went fuzzy for a moment. Suddenly, everything from the way he was dressed to the entire town being at the park, made sense.
“Hannah Louise O’Leary, I love you more than anything.” His voice cracked slightly as he opened a small black velvet box. “Would you make me the happiest man in the world and be my wife?”
A diamond ring glittered in the box, but I didn't care about the ring. It could have been a piece of string for all I cared. It wasn't the ring that was important, it was the question.
“Yes,” I whispered, emotion catching in my throat. “Yes, please!”
The most beautiful smile lit up his face as he rose and kissed me. I kissed him back with a joy so intense I could barely breathe. He wanted to spend forever with me. I wanted to spend eternity with him.
A cheer rose up behind us and I remembered that we weren't alone. Jacob held onto me as we broke the kiss and glanced around.
My parents were there, cheering. Karina and Leigh Ann cheered and Leigh Ann even had a noise maker to help her. I found Jacob's parents and saw that his father was cheering and his mother at least looked moderately pleased.
“Congratulations, you two!” Katie said, coming up the steps of the gazebo. She had a huge smile on her face as she hugged me.
“Thanks,” I said, feeling a blush hit my face.
She grinned and then faced the crowd. “There's engagement cake on the north end of the lawn,” she announced. “Make sure to congratulate the new couple!”
She gave us both a quick hug before hurrying off to the north end. I now noticed a table with something on it. Katie's assistant lifted a box and revealed a beautiful cake. On the top were two figures, one wearing a white doctor's coat and the other nursing scrubs.
All around us, the town clapped and cheered as he slid the ring onto my finger. It was simple, but I thought it was the most beautiful ring in the entire world.
“Kiss her again!” someone called out.
So he did.
I was laughing and crying. My mother ran over and gave me a big hug, followed by my father.
“Did you two know about this?” I asked them.
“Well, he did come over and ask permission earlier this week,” my dad replied. “Brought me a nice bottle of scotch and a breathing treatment.”
My jaw dropped open just a little.
“Don't worry, I'm saving the scotch for something important,” Dad said, giving me another hug. He was much stronger today, and I was so grateful.
“He brought me flowers and chocolate,” my mom informed me. She grinned. “I think I'm warming up to the idea of him being around all the time.”
Jacob laughed, keeping his arm wrapped around my waist. He wasn't letting me go.
“Congratulations,” his mother said coming up behind my parents.
I swallowed hard, not quite sure of how this was going to go.
“Thank you, Mrs. Matthews.” My hand tightened on Jacob's.
“Jacob won't stop singing your praises,” Mrs. Matthews continued. “To be honest, I've never seen him so happy.” She smiled at her son. “And if he's happy, then I'm happy.”
I let out a breath I didn't realize I was holding in. I had been afraid she'd still be gunning for him to marry Katie, despite the fact that she'd made us a beautiful cake celebrating our engagement.
“Congratulations,” Officer Matthews said, giving me a gentle hug. “Welcome to the family. At least you know the crazy you're getting in to.
I chuckled and he laughed. Karina waved from across the lawn. Leigh Ann already had a massive piece of cake and frosting all over her face. I waved back.
“Is this real?” I asked Jacob, glancing around.
He kissed my head and held me to him. “I sure hope so. This actually took a surprising amount of work.”
I looked up at him. “It was wonderful.”
He grinned. “Worth it, then.”
“Any idea when the wedding will be?” Mrs
. Matthews asked. Somehow she had a piece of cake in her hands. Probably one of her aides had gotten it for her.
“Soon,” Jacob replied. “I don't want to wait. I've waited since high school.”
“I don't want anything big,” I said. “Just family. Friends.”
“I already claim making the cake,” Katie announced bringing Jacob and I a slice of cake each. “Just so you know.”
I took a bite and moaned softly. It was vanilla, but rich and creamy and somehow more vibrant than regular cake. Maybe it was the occasion, or maybe it was Katie's abilities. Either way, it was amazing.
“Done,” I told her, quickly taking another.
“The courthouse is open for a few more hours,” Mrs. Matthews observed, licking the last of her frosting from her fork.
My eyes widened in surprise. I was glad she was on-board with the wedding, but offering it up for today?
“What? I want grand babies,” she said with a shrug. My mother laughed.
“What about it?” Jacob asked, turning to me. “Want to head to the courthouse?”
“Seriously?”
Jacob nodded. “If you want some time...”
“No. Let's do. I just want to wear a dress.” I pointed down to my work scrubs. “I'm not exactly dressed at the moment.”
“I have something you can wear,” my mother said, stepping forward. “It's at home, but it will fit you.”
“Okay. I'll meet you at the courthouse in thirty minutes then?”
Jacob grinned and kissed me.
“Does it count that you've now seen me on the day of our wedding?” I asked when he released me.
Our parents both laughed. “I think it'll be okay,” my father assured me.
Jacob met my gaze one last time before my mother pulled me away. My fingers slid out from his, easily, but not willingly. I didn't want to leave him, even though I knew we'd be together in just a little bit.
Chapter 30
I had dreamed of marrying Jacob Matthews since the first day he said two words to me. I'd always imagined a dress and a church, but to be honest, I didn't care how I married him. Just that I married him.
