Page 29 of Nicky

“That sucks,” Nicholas said, his voice softer now.

“Yeah,” I agreed, shrugging. “One day, I saw an opening here at the senior home—medical director. It’s a smaller role, fewer hours, and honestly? The idea of stepping off the hamster wheel for a while sounded good.”

Nicholas raised an eyebrow. “But doesn’t that mean less pay?”

“Sure. Less pay, but a lot more life,” I said. “Turns out, there’s more to it than big-city salaries and overbooked schedules. I wanted a job I didn’t resent by the end of the day. Something I could actually feel good about.”

He nodded, taking another bite of his scone. “That’s fair. The residents love you.”

“They do?” I asked, smiling. “I’m pretty sure they just like that I bring in trivia games and host ‘Fun Fact Fridays.’”

That earned a small laugh from him, and for a moment, we just sipped our drinks in companionable silence.

“What about you?” I asked eventually. “You’re not exactly a small-town recluse yourself. You could’ve done anything. Why not something like nursing? Doctor? You’ve got the brains for it.”

His expression shifted slightly, his hands wrapping tighter around his mug.

“I was going to,” he said quietly. “Nursing school was the plan. But life…” He trailed off, his eyes distant for a moment. “Life had other plans. My mom passed away when I was about to start college. Aiden was twelve at the time, and there was no one else to take care of him. She was a single mom, an only child, and our dad was… not in the picture.”

“You raised him,” I said, piecing it together.

He nodded. “Someone had to. Foster care wasn’t an option, not if I could help it. So, I stayed in the Hollow, got a job, and made it work.” He exhaled softly. “It wasn’t easy, but it was the right choice. Aiden deserved stability.”

“You both did,” I said, my chest tightening at the thought of an eighteen-year-old shouldering all of that. “But what about now? Aiden’s grown, right? Off at college?”

“Yeah,” he said, a faint smile tugging at his lips. “And I couldn’t be prouder of him. But I don’t know. Maybe now’s my time to figure things out again. Nursing school isn’t completely off the table.”

“It shouldn’t be,” I said, leaning forward. “You’d be good at it.”

“You don’t even know me that well,” he said, though there was a flicker of something—gratitude, maybe?—in his expression.

“I know enough,” I said simply.

He held my gaze for a beat before shaking his head, a quiet laugh escaping him. “You’re something else, Doc.”

“Is that a compliment?”

“Maybe.”

We talked more as we finished our drinks, easing into lighter topics. We discovered we both had one sibling and shared the struggles of being the older one.

“Virgo?” I asked, raising an eyebrow when the subject of astrology came up.

“Yeah. Why?”

“Figures,” I said. “Meticulous. Organized. Probably drives your brother nuts.”

“It does,” he admitted, smirking. “What’s your excuse?”

“Same sign,” I said, and he groaned.

“Of course. This explains so much.”

We traded stories about childhood holidays—his filled with modest but heartfelt traditions, mine with the chaos of a big extended family. He laughed at my tale of trying to build a gingerbread house with my nieces and nephews that had collapsed before we could finish decorating it.

By the time we stood and strolled toward the exit, I couldn’t stop smiling, and when I stole a look at Nicholas’s face, neither could he.

My breath clouded the air as I held the door open for Nicholas, who tightened his scarf around his neck. We stepped onto the sidewalk and it felt like the world had narrowed to just us.

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