Kathy Douglass - Winning Charlotte Back

Charlotte blew out a breath. “My father accused me of doing something to drive you away.”

“What? That’s insane. You didn’t do anything wrong. We shouldn’t have been forced to marry just to suit them. They didn’t need us to be married in order to merge their businesses.”

“And yet the merger didn’t happen.”

“Not our fault.”

She shrugged. “Are we done?”

“Do you accept my apology?”

“What difference could it possibly make now?”

He looked into her beautiful eyes, hoping he could see some emotion there. He didn’t. If she felt anything, she wasn’t willing to share it with him. “Haven’t you ever done something you regretted? Hurt someone you cared about? Wouldn’t you want their forgiveness, no matter how late your apology was in coming?”

She closed her eyes. “Fine. I forgive you. Now if there’s nothing else...”

He wished he believed her, but he knew she was saying whatever it took to get rid of him. Gaining her forgiveness would take time.

“Just one more thing. I want you to know that I contacted my Realtor and tried to get out of my lease. I can’t. So as much as I hate to do it to you, we’re stuck as neighbors.”

She blew out an exasperated breath. “That it? Or do you have some other bad news to drop on me?”

“No. That’s it.” He’d pressed her as far as he dared. He needed to give her space. Besides, he needed to get back to Bobby. “Good night.”

She didn’t answer, but then, he didn’t expect her to. After the way he’d hurt her, he didn’t deserve forgiveness that easily. But it was a start. At this point, he would take it.

“How long is this going to take?” Bobby asked as Rick parked in front of the medical building the next morning. Bobby had been grumbling since Rick told him he couldn’t stay home alone. The town was small and safe, but Rick wasn’t comfortable leaving his son on his own for more than a few minutes. Once he and Bobby got settled, he was going to find someone to watch Bobby until school started.

“Not long. I told you I want to get a look around and see what I need to do.” Agreeing to set up the practice sight unseen had been risky, but Rick saw this as both a professional and personal opportunity. He’d relied on information provided by the mayor in conversations over the past several months and photos provided by the real-estate agent. This was the first time he would see his building in person. Hopefully those pictures were accurate.

“What am I supposed to do?”

“I told you to plan on occupying yourself. You could have brought a book. If you don’t plan—”

“Yeah, I know. I’ll get waylaid and end up where I don’t want to be. Like here.”

“Bobby.”

“Never mind. I’ll just sit in the car and listen to the radio.”

“Not a chance.” Rick removed the key from the ignition and stepped out. After fixing Rick with a glare and heaving a sigh so heavy he must have pulled oxygen from his toes, Bobby got out of the car and slammed the door just in case Rick hadn’t picked up on his annoyance.

A man of about Rick’s height was walking in their direction. He smiled. “Are you Dr. Tyler?”

“Yes.”

The man offered his hand. “I’m Lex Devlin.”

“Mr. Mayor. It’s nice to meet you.”

“Call me Lex.” He turned his attention to Bobby. “Hi. You must be Bobby.”

To his credit, despite how annoyed he was with Rick, his son was polite. “Yes. It’s nice to meet you, sir.”

Lex nodded. “I’m here to answer any questions you might have.”

“Thanks. We were just about to have a look around. You’re welcome to join us.”

The inside of the building was as tidily kept as the outside. Although it hadn’t been used in some time, there wasn’t the grime he expected. He ran a finger across the counter separating the empty waiting area from the examination rooms. Not a speck of dust.

“Sweet Briar is a great place to live, but lately we’ve had a hard time keeping a doctor. Our last doctor got married and moved to Boston after six months because his wife wanted to live near her family. The one before only lasted three months before deciding that although she wanted to live in a small town, she didn’t mean one this small. Everyone was so excited about having a doctor make a two-year commitment that several people got together and cleaned the offices last week.”

“Wow. Thanks.”

“Don’t thank me. I didn’t do anything. But I will pass your appreciation along to those who actually did the work.”

Rick walked past the counter. There was enough space for two workstations as well as file cabinets. He continued down the hall and opened the first of six doors. The room was large and the sun streamed through the big window on the far wall. He could envision two examination tables as well as a desk, scale, guest chair and other equipment fitting in the space. Three other rooms were the same size, and there were two smaller ones that could be used as offices.

A second hallway led to a bathroom and a room that could be used as a break room. Although the walls could use a fresh coat of paint, he was pleased by what he saw.

“When do you think you’ll be ready to start seeing patients?”

“I hope within the next three weeks. I need to hire a nurse and a receptionist, but I can muddle along without them at first if need be. The truck bringing my office furniture should arrive in a few days.”

“I’ll put out the word about the employees you need. It shouldn’t be hard for you to find someone qualified around here.”

“Thanks. I appreciate that.”

Rick let the mayor out then walked through the offices once more. Excitement swept through him along with the desire to share the experience with someone. His ex-wife was long gone. Not that he and Sherry had shared much toward the end of their marriage. Bobby was here, but he was too angry to share Rick’s happiness. Charlotte had been his closest friend in Sweet Briar, and once upon a time she would have been beside him, sharing his joy. They weren’t friends now. He’d ruined that years ago with his selfish behavior.

He blew out a breath, his excitement diminished by regret.

“Can we leave now?” Bobby asked. “All you’re doing is staring into space. You can do that at home.”

Rick threw his arm over his son’s shoulder. There was no sense looking back at a past he couldn’t change. He needed to concentrate on the present. “Yes. We can leave.”

Rick locked the door, glad for the moment that Bobby hadn’t shrugged off his arm. Things were looking up.

Chapter Three

Charlotte’s stomach growled as she closed the cabinet door on her newly organized dishes. Over the past couple of days she’d cleaned her house from top to bottom, removing every speck of dust from every crack and crevice. She swiped a hand over her forehead, wiping away perspiration. Maybe she would paint. One of her secret pleasures was watching home renovations shows. She didn’t kid herself that she had what it took to gut her kitchen and rebuild it, but surely she could put in a new tile backsplash. And maybe while she was changing her house, she could find a way to change her life.

After her stomach rumbled again, she decided it was time to quit for the day and get something to eat. Her appetite had waned over the past few days and she’d skipped meals. She knew part of the reason for her loss of appetite was the death of her lifelong dream of one day running Shields Manufacturing. The job represented more than professional achievement. It would have been proof that her father really did love her and that everything she’d sacrificed to gain that love had been worth it. Watching him give that job to someone else smashed that delusion. Her father didn’t love her. She’d only been kidding herself.