Page 110 of Stuck with Doctor Grump

Ruby’s eyes softened, glistening. She leaned in slowly, and I met her halfway.

The kiss was warm, unhurried. Familiar, but never less thrilling. Sawdust danced in the beams of late afternoon light. Hammers clinked faintly outside. But all I could hear was her.

Her laugh broke the quiet as she pulled back. “We’re kissing next to a box of screws and an old paint can.”

I wrapped an arm around her waist and tugged her closer. “Romance, Ruby. We invent it wherever we are.”

She shook her head but rested her cheek against my chest. “You’re lucky you’re charming now.”

“‘Now’?” I teased. “You’re saying I wasn’t before?”

“Oh, you were plenty charming,” she said, stepping back. “In a brooding, emotionally constipated sort of way.”

I grinned. “Thanks. I think.”

Just then, the door creaked open again—and the mood evaporated like dew under sunlight.

A man in a dark suit stepped inside. Clean-shaven, clipboard in hand, face all business.

He didn’t match anything about Cedar Springs. He looked like someone from the world I’d left behind—gray, exact, clipped at the corners.

“Dr. Cole?” he asked.

I stood straighter. “Yes?”

He handed me a manila folder. “There’s a delay in the land title transfer process. Some legacy documentation was filed incorrectly by the previous owner. Until that’s resolved, construction must pause.”

Ruby’s brows knitted together. “Wait—what?”

He looked at her briefly, then back at me. “It’s not unusual. It could be weeks. Maybe months.”

“But we’ve already broken ground,” Ruby said, disbelief coloring her voice.

“I understand,” the man said, with the air of someone who definitely didn’t. “But anything beyond the ceremonial level could put the project at legal risk.”

I stared down at the papers, the words blurring slightly.

We’d just gotten here. Just found our footing. And now this?

Ruby didn’t say anything at first. Just stood beside me, eyes narrowed, fists clenched at her sides.

“I’m sorry,” the man added, though his tone didn’t exactly scream compassion. “I’ll be in touch with updates.”

With that, he nodded once and walked out, leaving silence and a swirl of dust in his wake.

I closed the barn door behind him, then turned to face Ruby. She was staring at the plans still on the table, lips pressed together.

“They can’t take this from us,” she said finally.

“No,” I agreed. “They can’t.”

“But?” she asked, clearly hearing the hesitation in my voice.

“But we might have to wait. Shift things. Find a way around it.”

She exhaled, crossing her arms.

“We’ve waited before,” I said gently. “And we’re not who we used to be. We’ll figure it out. Together.”

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