Page 49 of Storm's Embrace

“You called him a ba—“

“No need to dwell on the past,” Sallie told Renee with a shake of her head. “So, are you going to kiss her or what?”

Eli pulled his attention back to Miriam when her grip tightened on his hand and she did that little snorting chuckle he loved so much.

Her eyes narrowed before a slow grin appeared and she tugged him close. “You’re lucky I love you.” Her words went straight to his heart as he pulled her into this arms.

“I’ll show you how sorry I really am when we’re alone,” he whispered.

Red flooded her cheeks. “I’ll look forward to it,” she said just as low before he took her mouth in a kiss—one he pushed every promise he intended to keep into.

“Aww…”

He wasn’t sure which one said it, only that LaDonna broke in with, “Let’s give them some privacy,” before leading the other women out the door.

Her lips left his. “But next time you—“

“There’ll never be a next time,” he said, pulling her in again. She was it for him.

Forever.

* * *

Eli pushed his chair away from his desk and stretched his arms up over his head and then tilted his head to the left. He frowned. The crick in his neck had gotten worse as the day had worn on and with how busy the rest of his day looked to be, he had a feeling it wasn’t going to get any better. He wadded up the wrapping papers from his lunch and threw them away in the bin under his desk.

It had been a busier than usual Wednesday morning and the afternoon looked to be about the same, so his couch and thirty minutes of closing his eyes might just be in order. He glanced at his computer screen and the mostly full schedule he had laid out for the next two weeks.

The last month since Deidre’s final ousting from his life had been filled with work, trying to find moments alone with Miriam, and spending time letting Zoë get to know him better—not to mention working on getting on George Perry’s good side—and, of course, his yearly visit to Franklin, Tennessee, which had been easier this time.

So, all in all, it had been a busy month, but one where he thought he was well on his way to havingallof Miriam’s family accepting him as a permanent fixture in hers and Zoë’s lives.

Miriam had alsofinallybeen able to push him into meeting with some candidates interested in joining his practice. Thankfully, Dr. Hargett was coming on board in two weeks, along with another nurse practitioner to take over some of the load. With the influx of new patients he’d already seen and more on the schedule to come, the help was going to be appreciated.

He checked the time on his watch. He now had twenty minutes before he had to see his next patient.

“Eli?”

Eli glanced up into his open office doorway with a ready smile for Miriam, but immediately bounded out of his seat and rounded his desk at her tense features. He met her halfway across the room to find her eyes swimming with tears.

“What’s wrong?” he asked, taking her in his arms.

She laid her forehead against his chest and took deep, shuddering breaths before clearing her throat and peering up at him, her eyes still wet but now narrowing—their depths turning angry.

“Brittany and Jesse Garrison are in exam room seven,” she said, clutching onto the lapels of his white coat and twisting the fabric in her tight grasp.

Eli frowned. “They are?” He’d honestly not expected to ever see them again.

“Eli. She… She’s…” Miriam closed her eyes and shook her head, a knowing dread of what she wasn’t able to tell him.

“How bad?”

“We have to help her.” Miriam’s pleading tone said it all.

“We will,” he said, against the top of her head—kissing it before loosening his hold on her and leaning back to gaze into her sweet, sincere face full of concern. God, he loved this woman. She grounded him, and had now for years—something he’d just recently come to realize. He’d been a blind fool for longer than he’d like to admit.

And it was something he was going to remedy when he took Miriam and Zoë out for dinner Saturday night. The ring had been sitting in his locked desk drawer for the last week and it was past time it should have been on her finger.

But he didn’t have time to dwell on his future happiness, because right now he had a woman waiting for him whose future probably looked pretty bleak at the moment.

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