Page 30 of The Doctor's Simple Life

“Come on.” She frowns, and I get kind of concerned that she’s about to kick me. “Two more minutes and we’ll hit the best spot, I promise.”

“Fine.” I say with a groan. I drag myself back up to my feet and pout. “This had better be worth it.”

Sienna drags me over to the beachy shore of the lake, about another five minutes away. Well, beachy is overstating it. There’s more of a shore here, but it’s hardly the golden sands of the real ocean.

I sink to the ground, and she sits beside me. The trees rustle around us, and in the lake, a couple of fish breach the surface and dive back down with a splash.

Damn. It really is beautiful here.

I sigh, and so quietly it barely carries, I say, “I’m sorry.”

“You’re what?” Sienna splutters.

“Don’t make me say it again. You heard me the first time.”

“Yes,” she says, softening. “I did.” She hesitates, then lets her curiosity win. “What for?”

I stare at her into bright green eyes and force myself not to let my gaze drift down to her lips. “There are probably about a million things I should be sorry for.”

“Which one prompted this confession?” she probes, not ready to give this up.

“For being grumpy today.”

“That’s not that different from usual,” she says with a snort.

I smile gently. “Being here, seeing all this… it just reminds me of things I’d rather not think about.”

“Like what?” she asks. She’s being brave today, or maybe just nosy. It’s probably about time she stopped biting her tongue. This is the stuff she’s wanted to know since we met.

Am I really brave enough to tell her?

A lump forms in my throat. “You know I told you I grew up in Atlanta?”

She nods, and I take a deep breath, steeling myself for what I’m about to say next. “That’s not true.”

“It’s not?” she says, her eyes widening in surprise.

I shake my head slowly. “No. That’s what I tell everyone because I… oh, I don’t really remember why. I guess I just don’t want them to know the truth.”

She doesn’t say anything to that. It’s like she’s giving me a moment to decide if I really want to tell her my secrets, and I think I kind of do.

“I grew up in a small town just like this one. It was in Georgia, not so far from Atlanta. You could get there pretty easily, and it was a treat. My friends and I would go into the city after school. Sometimes it was nice. I mean, I hated the country. Hated that life. I knew I needed to get away as soon as I could.”

“Why?” she asks gently, but it’s like she’s driving a probe into my brain. I know she’s curious, but this is cutting a little too close to home.

But I’ve started now. The words keep pouring out. “My parents, I guess. We never saw eye to eye on anything. They were delighted that I became a doctor, but I don’t know. I guess they wanted a heart surgeon. What they got was me.”

“You still love your work though, don’t you? You’re still good at it. That’s enough, right?”

“Yeah…” I trail off, not knowing how to answer that in a way that’ll make sense to her. Comparatively, telling her about my parents is easy. At least that’s a bridge long burned.

I haven’t spoken to them in years.

“I guess I usually try not to think of it too much so I don’t make myself sad.”

Sienna hums like she pities me, and the lump in my throat grows. This is why I don’t talk about this crap. People always get so weird about it.

“It’s not too late,” she says.

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