Page 103 of The Doctor's Irreplaceable Love

“Is your friend coming to join you later?”Rocket asked.

“Not today,” said Shelley.

“That’s a shame.She’s sticking around, though, right?”

“She is.”

“I’m glad.She’s good people, and she’s a lot of fun.She told me that she didn’t know if people around here would accept her if she stayed, but she wanted to make a go of it.”

Rocket chuckled.“I told her me and Spider felt the same way in the beginning—but look at us now.”

Trip met his gaze and held it.“Folks around here might not be open to outsiders in general, but the two of you earned your place.There’s no question about that.”

He hated to think about what had happened to Janey—and the way Rocket had rescued her, along with the help of her brothers.

Rocket’s smile faded.“We did.But hopefully Harper won’t need to go through anything like that before people accept her.”

Trip chuckled, wanting to lighten things back up.“I hope so, too.And I think she’s already well on the way.”

When they reached the booth up in the back where his friends were sitting, he loved the way they greeted him and Shelley—like they were just another couple, and there was nothing out of the ordinary about them being there together.

Looking around at the guys and thinking about what each of them had gone through—and what their women had been through when they first got together, he tightened his arm around Shelley’s shoulders.

There’d been no big drama around her arrival.She’d just quietly slotted into life in the valley, into his group of friends, and most easily and importantly, into his own life.

As everyone shuffled around to make room for them, Candy turned to Shelley.“Where’s Harper?I thought she was coming with you.Well, I thought she might have come in with Jim, but he’s here already.”

Trip glanced over to where Jim was sitting by the window with a group of older ranchers.

Shelley didn’t get the chance to explain about Harper before Libby cut her off.

“Sorry, Shelley.I want to hear about whatever Harper’s up to as well—but before I forget, I wanted to ask you guys…” She looked around at Ace, Travis, and Deacon before meeting Trip’s gaze.“Did you hear that Jim’s nephew, Gavin’s back in town?”

Trip wasn’t surprised by the way his friends reacted, but he cocked an eyebrow at Shelley when she tensed.

“Where’s he staying?”Deacon asked.“I haven’t heard a damn thing, and I would have thought someone would tell me.”

“No idea,” said Libby.“I ran into Al Delaney at the grocery store this morning, and he told me just that Gavin’s been seen around.”

Travis scowled and glanced over at Jim.“Do you think the old guy knows?”he asked.

Ace shook his head.“We’ll make sure that he does before he leaves this afternoon.”

Trip nodded his agreement.Gavin Sheridan was bad news.He always had been—even back when they were all kids.

Shelley surprised the hell out of him when she leaned forward and addressed Candy.“Okay, so you were asking about Harper.She was supposed to come down here this afternoon, but she had something else come up.”

Trip was surprised that she’d interrupt the conversation like that and change the subject.He looked up over his shoulder when he heard Janey, who had just arrived, laughing behind him.

“Yeah, you’re not going to believe this, guys,” Janey said.“Harper’s gone up to town to collect Alana from her rehearsal—and she’s going to take her home and make sure that she and Tanya get dinner.”

Trip wished he had a camera to capture the stunned look on his friends’ faces.

“What the hell?”asked Deacon.“How did that happen?”

Travis chuckled.“I don’t know how it happened, but I like it.”

Ace shook his head.“Shit.I’ve kept telling Emmett that I want to help—that I could run up to town and pick Alana up whenever he needs.”

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