That one word hammered in my head as I left the hospital, every step toward my car weighted and tense.
I knew Haley was a nurse, but I didn’t know where. I assumed she’d followed in her mom’s area of expertise, maybe working with babies and kids in a pediatrician’s office, or even L&D. When I mentioned getting hired in the ER at Bayport General to Wes, he hadn’t said a damn word about his sister working there. If hehad, I could have better prepared myself. Maybe I wouldn’t have been blindsided by seeing her at the nurses’ station, looking just as surprised to see me as I was her.
I sat in my car, exhaling with a shudder I couldn’t suppress. Shaking my head, I started the engine and crawled out of the lot, feeling the guilt about what happened with Haley clawing its way back. I had just started getting to a place where the guilt wasn’t as heavy, but any sense of peace I’d started to build was undone by that single, unexpected encounter that complicated everything even further.
There wasn’t anything I could do about it other than suck it up and hope it didn’t fuck with my head.
I turned down the main road from the hospital, heading toward the east side of town. After five minutes, I crossed over Gilded Hill Bridge, named for the wild sunflowers that covered the forested area under and around the span. When they were in bloom, like now, it was like driving over a sea of yellow.
I took a right onto Rock Shores Drive, drove to the very end of the quiet street, and turned into the driveway of my new house. Well, what wouldsoonbe mine.
It was house number seven, the one I looked at after the Cape Cod-style one that didn’t feel like home. But this one did. I knew the moment I walked in the front door. It had two bedrooms and a spacious, open-concept floor plan. There was a large deck on the back with stairs that led to a small, driftwood-scattered beach, which I was told was typically left empty. It was close to the hospital but notintown, offering privacy and seclusion.
I put in an offer that day. It was accepted that night.
The sellers were already out of the house; they had moved north for a job transfer, which worked in my favor because they wanted it done as quickly as possible, so they’d priced it to sell. Thanks to my preapproval and Morgan’s mom’s experience with quick closings, I was almost in after three weeks. The final inspection was that day, which is why I stopped by after leaving the hospital. If everything went well, my closing was next Friday. I’d also been given pre-possession, so I’d already started bringing in boxes and stacking them in the living area.
When I walked inside, I saw the inspector standing in the kitchen, and he glanced at me. I nodded in acknowledgment. “How’s it going?” I asked, extending my hand to shake his.
“Good,” he answered with a nod. “Everything looks good, and is good to go.”
“So, that’s it then?”
The man nodded. “I’ll send the report over to the insurance company, and a copy to the attorney, as you requested, so they’ll have it for your closing.”
“Great. Thank you. I appreciate it.”
I spent the next few days packing up what little I had in my parents’ house. Most of my stuff from when I moved back home was in storage. That weekend, I went through it with Gabe, Lucas, Wes, Morgan, and Callie. Morgan nearly had an interior designer’s heart attack when she saw what she called my “dumpy” furniture. She all but begged me to let her “help.” For some reason, I agreed. I gave her a small budget to work with—I wasn’t in the market to max out credit cards on new stuff—and she said she’d take care of it.
I started work that Monday, but not in the ER. The first week was just orientation and onboarding bullshit. I wasn’t complaining, though. I was out by five, which gave me time to sort and pack, and I had more time to prepare to work alongside Haley. But I’d be glad when the week was over and I could actually get back to patient care.
I was given permission to leave a couple of hours early on Friday to make it to my closing, and by four o’clock, I was officially a homeowner.
Saturday morning, I was at my house along with Gabe, Lucas, Callie, Wes, and Morgan, who all came to help me get settled. I felt a mix of gratitude and anxiety, still running through everything in my mind. My parents were out grabbing the last of my stuff from the storage unit to bring over for me,along with lunch for everyone, since I still needed to stock up on groceries.
Morgan was a damn machine. She had the new furniture set to be delivered that day, and when they arrived, she was barking orders, telling them exactly where to put things and how to angle themjustright.
“See what I have to put up with?” Wes quipped as we walked through the front door carrying some boxes.
When I looked at him, he was staring at her like a lovestruck idiot, a soft grin plastered on his face. Amused, I shook my head. “Yeah, you look like you’re really suffering there, buddy.”
Lucas barked out a laugh at my words from the kitchen, where he and Callie were unloading utensils and small appliances.
“I heard thatWesley.”
“Ugh, not the government name bullshit. You know I was only messing, Princess.” She gave him a playful smile over her shoulder, and Wes chuckled before turning to follow me down the hall to my room. I dropped a box onto the floor in front of my closet while Wes opened the one he’d carried up. “These are all what appear to be scrubs.”
“Just leave them there. I’m going to wash all of them tomorrow since they’ve been boxed up. They’re the same color, though, so I can use them at BG.”
Wes nodded, shoving the box off to the side. “You glad to be getting back into it?”
“Yeah,” I answered as I took the sneakers from the box I carried and put them into my closet. “I didn’t realize until I was introduced to some of the staff one day by the medical director, but I’ll, uh…I’ll be working with your sister.”
I wasn’t sure why I said it. As soon as the words left mymouth, there was an awkward tension that only I could feel. It was like an elephant in the room that I needed to address—even if it left me uneasy.
“That’s right! You know, I didn’t–” He cut himself off with a laugh. “When you told me you got the job there, my head wasso fuckedwith everything happening with Morgan, it didn’t even register.”
“Yeah, I saw her sitting at the nurses’ station. I knew she was a nurse, but I didn’t realize that’s where she was working.”
