Page 25 of The Fall Before the Heat

“Heartville?” Rex asked, his eyes not sparkling as much as before.

“It doesn’t have to be forever,” Lee said, stepping fully inside the apartment and shutting the door behind him. “It’s just a place to finish your education at. You’re ready for it. You’re more than ready for it. It’s the next logical step. If you say no, there are hundreds of other medical students from Moonscale Academy ready to jump on the offer. They won’t come with a teacher, but they’ll still fill the spot. Before you say no, take time to think about it.”

“We need time to talk about this,” I said before Rex could speak.

“I’ll come back this afternoon? We’ll talk about it and do the ultrasound then?” Lee asked, hopefully.

“Sounds like a plan,” I smiled.

Rex’s thoughts were abstract over our mating link, but the sensations told me enough. He wasn’t thrilled about living in a village in the middle of nowhere.

“Rex?” I said his name.

It took a long second before he looked up from the floor and met my gaze.

“We have to go, don’t we?” he asked.

“No, not exactly. We can go to Spain with our families. I’ll tutor online and you can wait until you find something else. I’m sure we can get you on medical transcription or something. We’ll figure it out. We’ve been cleared to stay here at the apartment until after the baby’s born. We have time to figure it out if you really don’t want to go.”

“I at least have to find out about the salary,” Rex said, leaning back against the sofa.

“I don’t want you to do anything you might regret later, Alpha. I saw your heart drop into your belly when he said Heartville. I get it, but on the other side of things they’re small. That means a better cost of living. It means fresh air for the baby. It means knowing who our neighbors are. I’ll go to Spain if you want to. I’ll go to Heartville. I’ll go anywhere with you, Rex, but we have to figure out where we’re going soon. In a few weeks the baby’s going to be here, and we need to know where we’re going to call home.”

Rex opened his arms and I stepped into them. He hugged me tight, but still didn’t smell too excited about moving to Heartville.

“It’s a small town. Maybe they’ll offer perks since they know they’re in the middle of nowhere,” I said hopefully.

“I’m being ungrateful, aren’t I?” He asked, leaning back to meet my gaze.

“No, you’re being cautious and as parents, we have to be.”

Chapter Eighteen

Rex

Despite what Del said, I knew we were moving to Heartville. It could take years for another internship spot to open up. Most of them were filled years ahead of time. Before the war mine had been arranged as soon as I left for Hemlock Academy. That was gone now, but somehow Doctor Lee Knight-Hemlock had found me an in and I had to take it. I had to. Too much was riding on me settling into a new job as quickly as possible – my future career, but more so my mate and child’s wellbeing.

After asking me if I was okay a hundred times Del went to take a nap. He napped almost every day now that he was so close to giving birth. When I told him I’d do whatever it took to make this work, I meant it. I wished I had better control over my expressions and then I might’ve spared his and Lee’s feelings. I wasn’t ungrateful. A little village where less than a hundred people lived wasn’t my ideal place to build a life, but it was better than nowhere, and it was the one wide open in front of us.

Usually, to communicate with a hospital that made an offer a student would go through their university contact. In my case that would’ve been Lee, but I didn’t want to disappoint him again if I didn’t like what the person on the other end of the line had to say.

It was easy enough to find the Heartville Clinic’s phone number online. I called and Dara answered the phone himself. No wonder he wanted an apprentice so badly.

“Good morning, Doctor. It’s Rex Rosebright calling. You were in contact with my mentor---”

“I hope you’re calling to accept the offer. I understand we’ll be waiting until after the birth of your first child.Congratulations on that. It’s a magical time. While we look forward to meeting you, don’t rush on our account. We’ll hold out strong until you get here. I’ll give you the number for you or your mate to coordinate with Liam on the house. He’s the first-mate of Heartville and is in charge of most of the decorating.”

“What house?” I blinked.

“Oh, I forgot. You know, I almost forget how it was in London. If you moved to a city for a job, you had to worry about finding housing too. That won’t be a problem here. As soon as I told Liam and Bobby my idea, Liam had a house in mind. It’ll be yours free and clear. None of that Moonscale Mortgage crap.”

It was an hour before Dara let me off the phone. I had plenty to tell Del when he woke up from his nap. The salary wasn’t as much as I would’ve made at the Moonscale Hospital, but it would be more than enough to get us by since the job included housing.

A furnished house – which Dara took me on a video tour of and promised they’d change out anything Del didn’t like and a promised salary in my chosen field of study was too good to pass up. When the school was opened Del would be one of the first to be offered the position of educator. If I wasn’t sold on Heartville, I was sold on Dara’s vision of Heartville down to the fay-paved streets and the spa one of his mates owned.

“You’re in a good mood,” Del smiled, leaning against the bedroom doorway. “How’d the call go?”

I told him everything Dara had told me about and showed me before my excitement had a chance to wear off.

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