Page 41 of New Hope

Chapter Fourteen

RIVER

Me: Are you sure you don’t mind?

Ford: Of course not. I only feel bad that you have to work late.

Me: It always happens this time of year. Lots of sick kids. How is it that these tiny humans, who typically refuse to share anything, are so eager to share their germs?

Ford: Ha! No clue. Do you think you’ll get here in time to go trick or treating?

Me: Yes! No way I’m missing out on seeing you in your costume. What did you say it was again???

Ford: Nice try! We agreed we’d surprise each other.

Me: Fine, I’ll be patient. Besides, I know whatever costume you chose will be sexy AF because you’re in it.

Ford: Keep talking sweet like that and you might get some sugar later.

Me: Damn! Don’t say things like that to me right before I have to see a patient. My lab coat only covers so much, and I don’t want to scare any of the kids or their parents. LOL

Ford: You better think of something gross then because NO ONE gets to see what’s under your lab coat but me!!!

Me: Oh! I love it when you get all growly and possessive.

Ford: Perv! Go do what you need to do and don’t worry about us. I’ve got everything under control.

Me: <3

“I don’t know who’s been making you so happy, but they’d better keep it up,” Carol said as she walked into my office.

“What are you talking about?” I stood from my desk, slipping my phone back into my pocket, immediately realizing my mistake when she dropped her signature mom look on me. It was a look that spoke volumes, saying that nothing ever got past her, and I was a fool for even trying.

“I’m talking about the extra spring in your step lately, the way you’ve been humming along whenever a love song comes on the radio, and the fact that your face looks like an emoji.”

I gave her a horrified look. “Which one? Please, don’t tell me it’s the puking face. Or the one with crazy eyes. Oh, God! Not the old man! I can’t take it if it’s that one.”

Carol swatted me on the arm with a laugh. “None of those. I meant the emoji that’s got a wide smile and hearts for eyes.” Her face suddenly softened, maybe due in part to the deer caught in the headlights expression I’d taken on. “Look, you don’t have to tell me anything. Whatever’s going on is your business and it should stay that way. All I’m saying is that I’ve never seen you this happy before and you deserve it. You’ve devoted your whole life to taking care of others in this town; your patients, your parents, Hannah. It’s nice to see someone taking care of you for a change.”

My shoulders sagged in relief. “Thank you, Carol.”

“No problem,” she said with a wink. “Molly McDermott is waiting in exam room three. Looks like another case of the chicken pox.”

The next couple of hours flew by in a mad rush of exams and diagnoses. It was nearly five o’clock by the time we finally said goodbye to the last patient. I tossed their file on my desk and grabbed my car keys out of the drawer. I’d jotted a few quick notes, but I’d wait and enter them into the system in the morning. Right then, I had a couple of princess-kitten-butterflies and a mystery man waiting for me.

I smiled as I drove through town. It was Trick or Treat Night in New Hope which meant all the kids were home, getting into their costumes and putting on face paint, so they could go door-to-door asking for candy. Every business in town and most of the homes had been decorated for the event, some cute and some scary.

One family had turned their home into a haunted mansion complete with homemade tombstones scattered around the front yard in graveyard fashion and a wooden coffin with a pair of hands trying to pry the lid open from the inside. A sign posted near the porch steps promised even more spooktacular excitement inside, if you dared to enter.

Hannah and Ellie had had a difficult time trying to decide what they wanted to dress up as. They agreed they wanted to dress alike but couldn’t pinpoint exactly what. They’d gone round and round over whether they should be princesses, butterflies, or kittens, their top three choices.

Of course, I knew where the kitten part stemmed from. It was the result of a surprise my dad had for them the last time they’d spent the night. One of my parents’ cats had given birth to a litter of kittens in the barn and the girls had immediately fallen in love. They’d both been begging to keep one ever since. Fortunately, the babies needed to stay with their mama for a while, so Ford and I were spared from having to answer right away.

With only a week to go before Halloween, we’d piled the girls into the truck, headed for the nearest costume store, and told them they had to choose right then. They’d searched the aisles and finally come back with a mishmash of several different costumes. When Ford asked them what it all meant, Hannah had shrugged. “Daddy always says girls can be anything they want.”

“Yeah,” added Ellie. “So, we don’t have to dress like just one of the things we wanted. We can be all three.” Ford and I had practically been bursting with pride as we’d paid for their costumes along with our own which we’d kept hidden from each other. I couldn’t wait to see his face when he finally saw what I’d chosen.

The lights were all on in Ellie and Ford’s cottage as I pulled into the driveway and grabbed the surprises I’d bought off of the passenger seat. The jack o’lanterns we’d carved earlier that week were lining the front steps, their silly faces illuminated by the candles inside. I grinned as I passed them, climbing the stairs, and letting myself into the house. I followed the animated, high-pitched chatter of two little girls until I got to the kitchen, but my footsteps faltered as I took in the scene, and I leaned against the doorway for support.

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