The little guy was followed in short order by his brother, who was pushing Dr. Walsh’s wheelchair.
Jake cleared his throat. “Hey, would anyone like to stroll down to the lake? This town has a tradition of folks making wishes by throwing flowers into the lake.”
“Yes! Can we, Mom?”
Erin flashed him a sad smile. “That would be great. Thanks, Jake.” She turned to Nora, who gave a small nod. “I’ll come with you.”
Maya was working at A Rose by Any Other Name. Of course she was. Maya went out of her way to avoid working at the store. He wasn’t really sure what was going on there, but he got the sense, from overhearing her at the bar, that there was some conflict between her and her father over her role in the family business.
But naturally, the one day he appeared with Nora’s family in tow was a day she was behind the counter.
“Jake!” she said with surprise.
“Hey, Maya.” She looked pointedly at Erin and the kids. He stifled a sigh. “This is Erin Walsh, Nora Walsh’s sister, and her kids, Aiden and Brady.”
“Well!” Maya stuck out her hand to shake Erin’s, but she turned her head and shot him an exaggeratedly inquisitive look.
“We’re here for some wishing flowers,” he said, keeping his tone as neutral as possible.
“Of course!” She went to the refrigerated case and returned with a basket of them. Carefully she laid the flowers out on the counter one by one.
“We only need three,” he said, after she’d laid the third and was reaching for a fourth.
“Nonsense,” Maya said. “There are four of you. Or maybe you actually need five. Is Nora meeting you?” She raised her eyebrows. She was fishing for information, wanted to know what he was doing here with Nora’s family but not Nora.
“Nope.” She wasn’t getting anything from him, though he suspected he would pay for this stonewalling later.
After a minor stare-down, she rang up the flowers—four of them, he noted with annoyance. Erin started to try to pay for them, but he pulled his wallet from his pocket. “No, no. I’ve got them.”
“Hmm,” Maya said as Erin murmured her thanks.
And so Jake found himself, for the second time in recent months, standing on the pier thinking about what the hell to wish for.
He was holding everyone up, too. After he’d explained the tradition to the Walshes, they’d all chucked their flowers in pretty quickly, Brady proclaiming his wish—a Nintendo Switch of his own—out loud and Aiden informing him it now wouldn’t come true.
They were all waiting for him.
Why did he keep doing this? It wasn’t like anyone would know if he threw the flower in without making a wish. He would just do that.
But then it came to him. Even though it was a stupid wish, one that, from the sounds of things, didn’t meet his specific and likely-to-come-true criteria. But he made it all the same.
I wish Nora’s grandma doesn’t die.
Jake, God bless him, had come to Nora’s rescue again, hustling her sister and nephews off so she could talk to her grandma. By the time they reappeared, she and the family matriarch had had it out.
She hadn’t won. There was no out-arguing Penelope Walsh when she had her mind set on something. But at least Nora had found out what was going on and had said her piece.
“Thanks for being a good sport about the surprise, Sis.” Erin hugged her harder than she normally would.
“Thanks for coming.” Nora hugged Erin harder than she normally would. Erin hadn’t shown her any real estate listings the whole day, which suggested how serious the situation was.
“Jake!” Grandma called.
“Yes, ma’am.” He had been hovering in the kitchen doorway, but he stood at attention when she hailed him.
“I need some help getting into the car.” She winked at Nora and Erin.
“You got it, Dr. Walsh.”
They all went out to the street where Grandma, who had somehow managed to get out of the car and into her chair with only Erin and the boys, suddenly needed Jake to lift her out of the chair and install her in the passenger seat.
“Well, she’s not dead yet,” Erin whispered to Nora. As a family of mostly doctors, they’d always been comfortable with gallows humor.
“She’s not going to die,” Nora whispered back automatically, as if she weren’t a doctor. As if she were a person who believed in the power of magical thinking.
Erin didn’t correct her, though. She just squeezed Nora’s hand, sniffed, and got into the car.
Which left Nora standing next to Jake on the sidewalk and blinking back tears.
“Jake!”
She turned quickly so Karl, who was crossing the street after locking up the hardware store, wouldn’t see her. Jake puffed up his chest and stepped in front of her.
“I think I got you and Sawyer a canoe customer.”
“Great, thanks.” Jake shifted to better conceal her. It wasn’t like he was actually hiding her, but he was giving her a chance to either flee or pull herself together, and did she ever appreciate it.
“You know Sadie from the diner? Her sister married some hotshot banker in Toronto. They live on the beach over there. You know where they have those three-million-dollar houses not even directly on the water?”
Jake made a vague noise of agreement.
“Oh, hi, Nora. Didn’t see you there. I’m all out of your vaccine flyers, if you want to drop off some more. I heard you’re actually going to get that van on the road?”
“Hi, Karl.” Nora’s voice came out sounding normal, which was a relief. “Yep. Pearl got Jordan to get the van fixed up enough so it’s working.”
“Really?” Jake said.
“Yeah. Obviously, I can’t drive it with all your additions, but I reached out to the high school principal, and I’m going to do a flu-shot clinic there just before the holiday break.”
“You are?” Jake said.
“Yeah, assuming the van actually makes it that far.”
“What about the office here?”
“No appointments that day. Amber and I will do the flu clinic, and Wynd will hold down the fort for phone calls.”
She wasn’t sure why he was so interested, but she appreciated the distracting effect of the small talk. She felt better. Well, not better, but more in control. “Anyway, Karl, I’ll definitely get you some more flyers, thanks.”
Karl headed back across the street. Jake followed her back to the inn. Damn. “Jake. I’m really sorry, but…ugh. I can’t believe I’m going to say this, but I’m not in the mood.”
“That’s okay, Doc.”
“Sorry.” Nothing like impending mortality as a libido killer. “I know it’s only seven, but I’m full and tired, and I’m just going to go to bed and watch a zombie movie.”
“A zombie movie?” He laughed out loud.
“Yeah.” She shrugged. “I find them soothing. Anyway, sorry to uh…not deliver.”
“Don’t worry about it.” He started doing the backward-walking thing. After a few steps like that, he started to turn away from her. But then he stopped. “Hey, Doc? You want some company with the zombies?”