Page 98 of Bachelor Remedy

* * *

TAG WAS EXHAUSTED, running on caffeine, adrenaline, the sheer force of his will and his newly declared love for Ally. The last made him feel like a superhero. He was ready to finish this. Boyd had to be stopped and he wanted to be the one to do it. He wanted Ally happy, and he wanted to start a life with her free of worry and stress. Just the thought of that possibility kept him focused on the task.

Flynn informed them Dr. Boyd was a creature of habit and usually spent about two hours doing paperwork in his office every day after lunch. So, less than two hours later, Tag and Abe entered Dr. Boyd’s office suite to find Cora perched on the edge of the sofa. Tag was surprised to see her away from her usual gargoyle-like post behind her desk in front of Boyd’s office.

“Hello, Cora. We’re here to see Dr. Boyd. Is he in?”

“I’m afraid not, Tag. Dr. Boyd is…gone.”

“What do you mean?”

“Well, I don’t know what harm it would do to talk about it now. No one told me not to… And I’m just…sitting here, wondering what to do.”

Tag sensed bad things brewing. “We would appreciate hearing whatever you feel comfortable telling us, Cora.”

“Okay. Well, Mr. Patton came in to see Dr. Boyd this afternoon. They were in the office for about a half hour with the door closed. Mr. Patton came out, told me goodbye, and I thought everything was fine and dandy. But then, a few minutes later, Dr. Boyd came out and asked me to write a resignation letter for him. I did. Then I emailed it to him, and a short time later he came out of his office with the letter in an envelope, a box and his briefcase. He asked me to personally deliver the letter to the board president, which is what I just returned from doing.”

“Do you know where he went?”

“No. He didn’t say.”

“Okay, well, thank you, Cora.”

Tag and Abe headed back into the hallway. Silently, they walked until they reached the lobby. They stopped, and Tag turned to Abe. They eyed each other speculatively for a moment before Tag said, “In all the scenarios that played out in my mind about what was going to transpire here today, this wasn’t one of them.”

Tag expected Abe to wax philosophical at this point about how life rarely went as planned or karma or something.

Instead, he quirked a brow at Tag and said, “Huh. Same goes for me, but I’ll take it. I’m getting too old for a dustup, but I’ll admit that’s where my mind was mostly. This guy is a piece of work.”

Tag laughed.

“The important thing here, as far as I’m concerned, is that you were willing to do this for Ally.”

“I would do anything for her, Dr. Mowak.”

“I can see that.” Abe grinned. “I’m beginning to think you’re not quite as dense as I once feared.”

“Thank you. I think. Now, let’s go deliver the news.”

When they returned to Tag’s house, everyone was still there, plus a few extras, Aidan, Janie and Gareth.

“What happened?” Iris demanded.

“Why are you back already?” Shay asked.

Tag held his arms out and let them fall to his sides. “Boyd resigned. Kip Patton beat us to the punch, and I think we have you to thank for that, Laurel.”

She shrugged. “Sounds like we have Kip to thank. And he didn’t say anything to me about it.” Phone in hand, she said, “I’m going to call him.”

Tag looked at Ally, and though he spoke to the whole room, the words were for her. “It’s over.”

His family had questions, which Abe did his best to answer while Tag crossed the room to Ally. Taking her into his arms, he hugged her close.

“Not over,” she whispered. “Finally beginning.”

The breath he released felt cleansing. “You got that right.”

Keeping her hand tucked securely in his, he faced the room in time to hear Laurel’s explanation.

“I just spoke to Kip. Before his company hires a consultant, they do an in-depth background check on the individual. The check revealed that Dr. Boyd and the clinic in Iowa he left before coming to Rankins have recently been named in an ongoing investigation of insurance fraud. Kip has passed this information on to the Alaska Medical Board.”

---