Page 4 of The Doctor

Bill sounded angry. “You never told me his inheritance was tied up in a trust.”

“Why does it matter? You won’t be taking care of him financially.” My Mom’s whisper was softer. She was more confused than angry. “Dorian left me enough money to take care of both me and Dominic for the rest of our lives.”

“So, his kid will be better off than my kid.” I couldn’t see his face but he was definitely angry. “You told me not to distinguish between my kid and Dom. And here you are, doing the same.”

“That is not fair.” My Mom did raise her voice at that point. “I pay for Dom’s school fees. I pay for all his activities from the money Dorian left me. There is no way I could afford what he needs on a teacher’s salary. But Dorian made sure I didn’t need a second job. And that Dom wouldn’t need student loans when it came time for college. He’s a smart kid and he wants to be a doctor. Dorian made sure he could make that dream come true.”

“And what about my kids? They’ll see the difference.”

“No, they won’t.” My Mom let out a little laugh. It didn’t sound like she was laughing at Bill. Not really. It was like she used to do when my dad did something silly. “By the time this little one is ready for high school, Dom will be nearly done with med school. They will have totally different lives. And we will be different people.”

“Yeah.” Bill didn't sound happy. “I suppose it will not be a problem.”

His words said one thing but Dom got the impression that it would be a very big problem.

3

BEX

PRESENT DAY

As I stepped into the bride’s dressing room, I watched Cassie help Brie into her wedding dress. The filmy white dress with the beaded bodice and cap sleeves fitted perfectly. Brie wanted a dress that wasn’t too clingy and still feminine and sexy.

Despite the wine estate venue and the exorbitant catering bill, she was the most laid-back bride of all my brothers’ wives. And two of those weddings were quickies; one at a courthouse and one in Vegas.

Even when it came to what her bridesmaids wore, she didn’t have any hard and fast rules for us. She wanted us in a neutral shade, but the style and exact color was up to each individual woman. Cassie wore a champagne empire style tea length dress with a butterfly hem that left enough room in case she had started showing, which she did not. I had seen the other two bridesmaid’s dresses and they were both above the knee, but still respectable. Mine was… well, let’s just say there was a reason I still wore the burnt orange trench coat, despite the heat.

Cassie gestured to me as she zipped up Brie’s dress. “Show us. You’ve been keeping this under wraps, that dress better be worth all the hype.”

“Where are the rest of the women?” I hadn’t shown anyone my dress. I had bought it just after I found my ex-fiancé cheating on me. I knew when I found it, that the dress would only serve one purpose. To get the attention of the one I drove away. “I want to get all the snappy and sarcastic comments out of the way before everyone else sees me.”

Brie waved her hands. “Just show us. How much trouble can a dress actually be?

With that, I untied the belt of my trench coat and pulled it off. Two pairs of eyes widened and stared at me.

“Oh my.” Brie blinked hard. “That dress is… a lot of trouble.”

Cassie stuttered and then found her voice. “That’s… that’s… well, it’s a naked dress.”

“Let’s not exaggerate.” Although she was more accurate than I would like to admit. The dress was as close to my skin color as it could get. Soft nude was what it was advertised as. It had silver shoe-string straps, but the V-neck didn’t show too much cleavage. The A-line skirt hit mid-thigh with silver trim around the hem. The fabric left no room for a bra, and I learned just how unforgiving body tape could be, even when your curves bordered on the side of slight. “It just makes you take a second glance.”

Brie nodded as she slipped into her silver heels. “I take it that is the exact effect you’re going for. To make a certain someone take a second look?”

“Oh, please.” Cassie rolled her eyes. “A certain someone has been looking at nothing but Bex for months, years even.”

That wasn’t entirely true. “We’ve both been dating and he’s only been back in town for just over a year. Logan went out with that nurse. And I was on a date last week.”

Brie shook her head. “Everly used to say, it’s not a date unless there is the possibility of sex sometime in the future. And let’s face it, that police officer was never going to get any from you. Asfor the nurse he had dinner with, well, I don’t know, but Mason said nothing happened between them.”

I raised a brow at my friend. “You speak to my brother about his best friend’s sex life?”

“We speak about how two idiots can circle each other for more than a decade and would rather do toxic relationships or non-starters than deal with each other.”

Brie and Cassie high-fived while I huffed and rolled my eyes. “It’s not that simple. We have a lot of baggage.”

Cassie sighed. “Look, whatever that baggage is, it’s old. It’s time to let it go and see that whatever happened hasn’t diminished how you feel about one another.”

“Did Jake —?” I half expected my brothers to tell their significant others.

---