Oatmeal for dinner. Then some sleep. Then… He wasn’t looking forward to what was coming later that afternoon. Depending on how it went, he might need a drink. Or a game of darts. He could pin his list of bachelor life dreams on the board and aim for each of them one by one.
Chapter Two
Kerry Humphrey had been looking forwardto this afternoon for a solid week. She was on her way to Pine Harbour to see a new clinic space. She slowed down as her GPS warned her that the turn off the highway was coming up on the left. In the two years she’d been working in Bruce County as a midwife, she’d driven up and down the north-south highway along the Bruce Peninsula many times. She’d even turned right at the gas station ahead and gone into Lion’s Head a few times. But somehow she’d never needed to go to Pine Harbour.
But if all went well in the next hour, it would be her new place of employment.
Technically, the Pine Harbour clinic would be a satellite office of their practice in Walkerton, an hour south. That was where one of the two hospitals they delivered at was located, and years ago it had made sense as a base of operations.
In the winter, though, the distance made those drives unnecessarily precarious for clients. So when her midwifery partner Jenna Foster, who lived in Pine Harbour, saw what she described as “the perfect space” come available for rent, Kerry had thrown her support in for the idea.
Now it was a matter of seeing just how perfect it might be.
The first thing she saw as she drove into Pine Harbour was a diner nestled on the edge of the forest, a sprawling roadside restaurant surrounded by a giant gravel parking lot full of pickup trucks.
Mac’s Dinerread the faded sign.
The next block had a row of century-old homes, all in various stages of needing some upkeep. After the next stop sign—which was right next to a street sign that clearly indicated she was on Main Street, should there have been any doubt—the commercial centre of the town started. And also ended, because it was only two blocks long.
But they were two busy blocks, and she couldn’t find a parking spot at first. She kept going, to the end of the street where a hill ran down to what was obviously the namesake of the town—a glistening harbour. At the moment it was mighty chilly looking, with crashing white-capped waves and chunks of ice along the shore, but she could imagine it was quite beautiful in the summer.
Doubling back, she finally found a parking spot in front of the library. Across the street, Jenna waited on the sidewalk, bundled up in a parka that was bulky enough on the front that Kerry knew she had a sleeping baby on her chest under the coat. Jenna had recently returned to their midwifery practice after her own maternity leave. She was talking animatedly with two people, a woman holding a clipboard who she introduced as the town’s only realtor, Catie Berton, and an older man.
“I’m the landlord,” he said with a kind smile. “But Catie’s agreed to manage some of my rental agreements as I ease into retirement.”
At first glance, the storefront was unimpressive. Dark, dated, and very empty, probably for a long time. But Catie had a good pitch, and it started even before she unlocked the door and turned on the lights.
She handed over the card of a local contractor who had done other work for the landlord, and promised that everything could be changed. “Whatever you see when you squint, whatever you imagine as we walk through, Jake can make that possible.”
“We have pretty vivid imaginations,” Jenna said. “But we know Jake is up to it.”
Kerry’s vivid imagination was usually limited to filthy fantasies. But she was open, and once they were inside, Jenna’s enthusiasm was infectious. And Jake was Jenna’s brother-in-law. If she had faith he could transform the space, Kerry believed her.
“This is my favourite part—Oh, no, imaginethis—and over there!” Jenna led Kerry through, talking in half sentences about exam rooms, where a washroom could go with enough room for a scale and the sterile pee collection.
It turned out the squinting thing really did work.
“It’s perfect.” Kerry did a slow turn. “What are the parking options? I had to drive down the block to find a spot.”
“There are four dedicated spots out back, let me show you.” The landlord pointed the way. Kerry followed him, leaving Jenna—who now had a fussy awake baby to feed—with Catie.
The landlord opened the back door, and they stepped outside. The unexpectedly large parking lot behind the buildings had seen better days, but would meet their needs for sure. “One of these spots is for the apartment upstairs, but that tenant just gave me her notice, so it’ll be a while before I rent it out again.”
“There’s an apartment upstairs?” The wheels in Kerry’s head started turning. That would be insanely convenient. “How much is the rent for that?”
The amount he listed off was half the cost of her apartment in Walkerton.
“You’re kidding.”
“It’s a small space,” the landlord said. “Do you want to see it?”
Yes, yes she did. “Can you wait a few minutes? Let me go back and finish up talking about the clinic space with Jenna, because I think she wants to head out.”
“Take your time. I’ll go up and make sure now is an okay time to view it.”
Back inside, she found Jenna saying goodbye to Catie. “I have to head out,” her partner said. “I got paged. Dina Suarez is having contractions and on the way to the hospital. So I’m going to finish nursing James, then drop him at home with Sean.”
“I’ll follow you out to your car,” Kerry said.
