“You good over there?” Leah asked.
“Yeah, how are you?”
“Grateful for the chance to escape to the city.”
“Sounds like there’s a story there.” He’d be happy if she talked the entire drive so he didn’t have to.
“Jackson’s been in the flower shop every day this past week hoping to, I don’t know what, but I keep telling him to leave me alone. We broke up for a reason and nothing is going to change that.”
Jackson and Leah had dated for a few years before rumor had it he cheated on her.
“If only you’d liked me as much as I’d liked you back in high school, we could be married with kids right now,” she said, a joking tone to her voice.
He shifted uncomfortably. Leah had never hidden her crush on him, and she often talked openly about what-if, but it was all in friendly understanding now. He thought of Leah like a little sister and had told her as much.
No, what made him uneasy was where his thoughts immediately raced to. Or rather, to whom. Kennedy. Did she want to get married one day? Have children? He pictured a miniature Kennedy running around, long blond hair and pale brown eyes, freckles, challenging anyone who so much as looked at her wrong. He chuckled.
“Thanks for laughing,” Leah said lightly, bringing him out of his musings.
“Sorry. I was thinking of something else.”
“Just what a girl wants to hear when baring her soul.”
He gave her a headshake at hearing the humor in her voice. “You were always too good for that asshole.”
She slapped the steering wheel with her palm. “Thank you! My grandmother thinks he deserves another chance, and I told her when they build airplanes while flying them at the same time, I’ll consider it.”
“I like those odds.”
“Me too.”
They drove in silence for a few minutes before Leah glanced at him out of the corner of her eye. “It looked like there was something going on between you and Dr. Martin.”
“There was.” He didn’t plan to deny anything that concerned Kennedy. Besides, the whole town knew they were more than friendly. Apparently someone even took a picture of them kissing that night in the rain. Thankfully the grainy quality of the photo didn’t reveal too much, at least according to Hunter. Maverick hadn’t seen the evidence himself.
“Care to elaborate?”
“No.”
She shrugged. “For what it’s worth, I’ve never seen you look at anyone the way you looked at her. Not even Nicole.”
He turned his head to stare out the passenger-side window. “How did I look at her?”
“Like you’d go to the ends of the earth just to see her smile.”
“She has a nice smile.” It was more than that, but he didn’t need to share his deepest beliefs on the matter.
“Oh my God!”
“What?” He looked at her with raised eyebrows.
“I have never heard you sound so moony over a girl before.”
“I did not sound moony.” Whatever that even meant.
“You absolutely did. Are you going to see her again? I hear she’s headed to Boston.”
He sat taller. “She got the job?”
“Um, I have no idea. I know only what I heard before she left. But from your reaction, I’m guessing you have mixed feelings about her living on the other side of the country.”
“Not mixed,” he stated, hoping he sounded convincing. “It’s reality. And she’s a damn good doctor who deserves to land the job, so I’ll be happy for her wherever she is.”
“How polite of you.”
“My mom raised me to have good manners.”
“She also raised you to go after what you want. Let that sit for a while, Mr. Diplomatic.”
Right now, what he wanted was to fulfill his promise to Nicole. To land a partnership with Marco. To live away from his normal life so he could forget about a certain gorgeous doctor.
Life might be about going after what a person wanted, but life was also about knowing when to let go.
Chapter Twenty-Seven
Five days since they said goodbye
It wasn’t supposed to be this way.
When Kennedy got on the plane to Boston five days ago, she’d left Hugo in good spirits and smiling in his hospital bed. He’d laughed at her corny jokes and told her he had a new magic trick to show her after he was released. He’d sat up with ease and coordination, devoured the chocolate chip muffin she’d snuck in for him, and said he’d felt fine.
Kennedy closed her eyes. She needed a minute—or a million—before she exited the car.
She’d arrived in Boston late in the evening. The first thing to pop up on her new phone when she’d switched off airplane mode was a text from Maria saying Hugo had had a good day and was sleeping peacefully. The news heartening, she’d taken a taxi to her hotel and fallen asleep within minutes of her head hitting the pillow.
The next day she woke, made the in-room coffee (which tasted bleh compared to California coffee), ordered room service for breakfast, and pumped herself up for her interview. You’ve got this, she’d told herself. Good luck texts from Ava and Andrew bumped up her confidence.
Composed and dressed for success (with the glass ladybug from Mary Rose and heart-shaped rock from Maverick in her pocket), she’d arrived at the sleek, modern hospital early for a look around on her own. Five minutes before her appointment time, she sat down in a small conference room and greeted Dr. Weaver and the other higher-ups with a firm handshake as they entered. The conversation flowed effortlessly. Kennedy felt she aced all their questions and concerns. Moving across the country would be a big change, they said. She assured them the opportunity to work in their distinguished facility outweighed any personal downsides. She was single, eager, loved a challenge, and ironically when she tried to joke around with a New England accent, sorta pulled it off.
She’d tucked that little surprise away to share with Andrew later.
On a tour of the hospital and emergency room, she met lovely staff members. Something about their accent actually made her feel like they were already friends. And the aura of determined chaos in the ER reminded her of long days side-by-side with coworkers she could count on. Her body hummed with excitement, the prospect of working in Boston taking deeper root.
Lunch across the street at a favorite restaurant of Dr. Weaver’s proved to be another check in the pro column. The Asian food, heavy on ramen and garlic, had her taste buds doing a happy dance. (She’d smartly packed spearmint gum for post-meal.)