Melinda Curtis - Kissed By The Country Doc

Sophie was standing near the collection of items hanging on the inn’s wall—an old ice pick, a washboard, a bed warmer.

“Odette’s not much for strangers,” Mitch cautioned. “Took her months to warm up to Noah.”

Noah didn’t look like a doctor. He looked like he’d been in the mountains for too long and had just come down for a cup of coffee for the first time in months.

“Is Noah new to town?” Ella asked casually, pouring a little water into a small plastic cup in the kitchenette.

“Noah came to us months ago when we needed a new doctor.” Mitch answered Ella’s question, but he was still having a who-will-blink-first face-off with Shane. “Second Chance is the county seat. We have the only doctor and homeschooling coordinator for a hundred miles.”

“What happened to the old doctor?” Shane asked.

“Doc Carter?” Mitch’s expression turned grim. “She died.”

“This bed warmer is from Europe.” Sophie adjusted her glasses and peered at the back of the piece hanging from the wall. “Antique and highly valuable.”

“It was here when I bought the place eleven years ago,” Mitch said, not sounding impressed. “And before you question me about what your grandfather bought, he paid for the land and the structures in town, not anything inside where people were still living. So, if the bed warmer is worth anything and you want it, you can make me an offer.”

“That answers the question about why you sold this place to my grandfather.” Shane pulled the keys to the SUV from his pocket. “Money.”

“Shane,” Sophie chastised.

Ella wanted to second Sophie’s reprimand, but she wasn’t sure it would be well-received now that her place in the family seemed to be in doubt.

“What about properties where people weren’t living?” Laurel looked thoughtful. “And where businesses had gone under? There are a couple of vacant-looking buildings around here.”

There were more than a couple.

“If it’s vacant or the business went under, everything in it is yours.” Mitch didn’t seem happy to admit that. “Next.” He waved Sophie to the desk.

His daughter glanced from her father to Shane, but said nothing.

After everyone was checked in, Laurel watched the kids while Shane, Sophie and Ella unloaded the luggage from the Hummer. It wasn’t yet dinnertime, but the sky was darkening and the temperature was dropping noticeably.

“Be careful what you say to Mitch,” Shane cautioned when they were outside. “I don’t trust him.”

“Is that your testosterone talking, brother dear?” Sophie slung cartoon-decorated backpacks over each shoulder.

“That’s my business-sense talking, sister dear.” Shane scowled, an expression that might have been amplified by the sudden gust of biting wind.

“He’s defending his territory.” Ella wrestled Laurel’s huge, heavy suitcase to the ground, narrowly missing her toes. Laurel had also brought a large garment bag full to the seams. Wow. Did all costume designers pack for every contingency? “People get uncomfortable when there’s uncertainty about their home.”

It was the wrong thing to say. Shane’s scowl deepened. “Remember you’re a Monroe, Ella.”

Sure, she thought, for now. But these past few days, she hadn’t been proud of it.

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