“No, but it should be.” Nathan smiled. “It just didn’t meet the qualifications.”
“What qualifications?”
“You know… historical value… beautiful… um…” Nathan trailed off then laughed. “Okay, I’m making this up as I go along, but I promise, it’ll be worth it.”
Zoe believed him.
They drove back into town, where Nathan parked in the clinic lot and they both got out.
“I thought the clinic wasn’t one of the wonders,” Zoe reminded him.
“It isn’t, but Antique-Town is.” He pointed to the store across the street, which had a sign made of the same wrought iron Zoe had been seeing all around town.
“Is there someone who makes those signs?” she asked as they crossed the street towards the shop.
“Yeah, we have a local artist named Ben who does those, plus some really cool sculptures and metal-based art,” Nathan explained. “And he’s my cousin.” He opened the door of the antique shop and gestured for Zoe to enter. Inside, the whole place smelled like mothballs, lemon, and old wood — a smell reminiscent of Zoe’s grandmother’s attic.
“What are we doing here?” she asked in a low voice as she looked around at a grandfather clock, a collection of pressed flowers, and some old black-and-white photographs in ornate frames.
“There are always some treasures here,” Nathan replied, equally quietly. “Once I found a stethoscope from the 1950s. Oh, and I got my medical bag here, too.”
Zoe silently noted thatthiswas why the medical bag he’d taken to the home visit had looked so old. She smiled as she followed Nathan deeper into the store. They looked at china vases painted with flowers, jewelry that was definitely older than Zoe’s grandmother, and a functional typewriter that Zoe quite liked. Eventually, they left after Nathan purchased a small hand mirror he said his mother might like.
“What do you think of Wonder Number Four?” Nathan asked.
“It was excellent. Might I suggest that Wonder Number Five involves food? I think it’s past lunchtime.”
“Of course, milady.” Nathan gave an exaggerated bow, which made Zoe laugh. The more she got to know him, the more she realized that, beneath his dedication to his clinic and occasional stick-in-the-mud-ness, he was a goofy, thoughtful, sweet guy who liked to make people smile. She liked that about him. Shealso liked that he was still drop-dead gorgeous, but she was trying to ignore that.
Zoe expected that they’d go back to the diner for lunch, but instead they visited the grocery store. Nathan bought bread, cheese, fruit, and chocolate, and they drove out of town again, this time to a picnic table in a forest clearing.
“You know the area around here really well,” Zoe said, impressed, when they emerged from the short trail into the clearing.
“Well, I know this one because my high school shop class built the picnic table,” Nathan said. At Zoe’s surprise, he grinned. “I’m good at more than just ‘doctoring.’”
“I believe that.” They sat at the table and ate lunch surrounded by ancient trees and tiny birds. Zoe had never eaten out in nature like this, it felt very different to her childhood picnics in Central Park, surrounded by other people, and she was surprised to note that she liked it.
“Now that you’ve seen the first five wonders,” Nathan said, “Can I ask how you feel about Islingburn?”
“It’s a great town,” Zoe said. “But honestly, I feel kind of like a fish out of water here.”
“Since you come from the city,” Nathan filled in.
“Exactly, but it’s more than that. Everyone is just so… friendly. It’s all so green. The air smells fresh, which feels weird to me. And I’ve honestly never even seen a cow up close before.” Zoe laughed.
“A cow?” Nathan started to laugh too. “What?”
“Yeah!” Zoe’s laughter overcame her. “On the drive here from Burlington Airport, I saw a field with cows in it, and I was kind of freaked out.”
Nathan’s laughter grew, too, and he had to set down the bottle of soda he’d been sipping. “Do you feel like cows are an important part of life here?”
“I don’t know.” Zoe was still laughing, and it was hard to get the words out. “Maybe?”
“Oh, wow. Okay.” He slapped his thigh. “That’s it, I know what Wonder Number Seven will be.”
“Is it…” Zoe could barely speak through her laughter. “A cow?”
“Yes.” Nathan grinned at her. “We’ll make a small-town girl out of you yet.”
