Page 26 of Doctor Charmer

This was not what I had expected when I asked Reggie to show me his most favorite local spot. We’re sitting in the back seat of his SUV, an Eddie Bauer blanket across our laps. Two cups of hot cocoa with marshmallows and candy cane stirrers sit in the cup holders in front of us. The only thing missing from this picture-perfect moment is if he’d wrap his arms around me and pledge undying love.

He lifts his hand, pointing to my right, and I squint to see through the darkness. “Up that way is a tiny trail. It goes up about half a mile. There is a rock that overlooks the entire valley. From there, you can see forever.”

I squint through the window, and all I see is snow and ice. “We’re not going out there. You can whisper all the sweetnothings in the world to me right now, but it ain’t gonna happen.”

His warm chuckle bounces off the cabin, and he lowers his hand back to his lap. My hands are underneath the blanket, and I wish he’d do the same. I want his hand in mine. His hands on my legs. His hands on the back of my head. His hands all over me.

“So, my sweet nothings won’t work on you? Duly noted.” He juts his chin back toward the invisible trail. “My first year of residency. We had lost patients before. Ones that arrive and their outcome a foregone conclusion. Others with long histories of illness who have won many battles, not realizing they’ve been losing the war the entire time.”

He lowers his head, hiding his eyes. “We had a regular that came into the ER, an elderly, sweet woman, Emily Cartwright. I’d hide out in her room between shifts studying. Her family lived on the other side of the country and couldn’t always make it back east every time she got admitted. I’d keep her company.”

He shrugs as if it’s no big deal, but it is. He must’ve been in his twenties. What twenty-year-old spends their free time with seniors? Special ones with big hearts—that’s who.

“One day while visiting with her, she slips into my hand a hand-drawn map to this trail. She said it was a special place that always helped her clear her head. Told me to go there that afternoon.”

Reggie fights back a tear, and I whip my hand from beneath the blanket to take his hand in mine. “It took some doing to find the trail, not like her shaky scribble was drawn to scale. But I found it, and she was right. The second I stepped to the clearing and sat on the boulder I felt an eerie calmness I had never experienced before. I sat there that day by myself for nearly two hours. All the pressure I felt on my shoulders seemed to melt away.

“I raced back to the hospital to tell her about it, and when I arrived, the charge nurse stopped me in the hall and told me she was gone. Her time of death was the exact moment I sat on that boulder.”

The tear that threatened to escape now rolls down his cheek. I reach for him and pull him into my chest. We remain like that for minutes, the sound of the heat blowing on high the only sound in the car.

“She knew she was about to die and wanted to pass along the secret trail. She didn’t want me to see her die.” He sniffs, and my heart breaks a little for him. “Now every time I come here I feel a connection with her. Like she’s looking over my shoulder.”

“Like an angel.” He nods, and I press a kiss to the top of his head.

He raises his head, his gaze locking on me. “I’m sorry if my most favorite place is so morbid. I’m sure when you asked, you thought I’d take you to a sex dungeon or a circus.”

I scoff. “We’ll circle back to that sex dungeon comment another time,” I snicker. “This is exactly what I was hoping to hear, Reggie. When you burst through that door and said I need you, I didn’t know what to think.”

He straightens up, putting some distance between us in order to see my reaction.

“I didn’t know if this was another horny guy who I’d riled up too much, and they were looking to score. Or… this.” I dangle the last word, knowing he’ll understand the weight behind it.

“It was always… this.” His hand slips to the back of the car seat behind me. I lean back and let my shoulder press against it, hoping he moves it to rest on my shoulder. He does.

The temperature in the car rises with this simple movement. A heat that makes me want to whip the blanket away, but I don’t.

“Thank you for sharing.” I let my gaze fall to his lips. “For being brave.” I prod him, hoping he remains brave.

His hand on my shoulder squeezes, and I twist to face him. His arm remains wrapped around my shoulder, and I lean forward.

“I haven’t forgotten our bet,” he whispers, and I freeze.

“What bet?” I hear the playful tone of my voice.

His gaze lowers to my lips, and I so want this man to kiss me right now, right here. The moment is perfect.

He removes his hand and leans back. He’s just opened up and shown me a part of himself I suspect he rarely shares with anyone. “Come spring, will you take me up the trail?”

His brows quirk, and I’m not sure if it’s from the ask or the timing. The implication that we’ll still be in contact past this week, after the kids are released from the hospital.

“If that’s okay. I’d understand if it’s a place you want to keep to yourself.” I give him an out to save him from saying no.

“That’s not it. It is a special place, and I’ve always planned on sharing it with someone special in my life.”

“And I understand you’ve reserved it for someone else. Angie?” I don’t know why I ask the last part. He’s hinted at a past relationship with her.

His headshake is sudden. “That’s not it. I was reacting to you saying next spring. I didn’t…”

---