“Really?” I search his face, trying to read his expression. Remembering what he told me about his mother, and his reasons for coming back to Somerset. “But . . . would you really have moved?”
He shrugs. “If you’d been willing to move with me.”
He says it lightly, but I know what this really means. He was prepared to leave Somerset because Heather insulted me.
“Drew,” I begin, searching for the right words.
“It doesn’t matter now,” he interrupts. “They got rid of Heather.”
“Did they ask you to come back as chief?”
“They asked,” he says. “But I said no. I agreed to stay on for three months while they find a replacement, but then I’m done.”
“Really? But Peter Tate’s donations?—”
“Hopefully he’ll continue to donate,” Drew says with a shrug. “But if not, I can’t worry about it.” A smile plays on his lips. “Someone told me I was working too much.”
“Well, yeah.” Understatement of the decade.
He grins. “So it’s time to let someone else handle the parking complaints.”
“You’ll have so much free time.”
“I’m not sure about that. I have a girlfriend now.”
“Is that right?” I tease.
“Uh huh. And she deserves a lot of attention,” he says, slipping a hand between his legs.
And I lie back and enjoy it. Drew Malone isverygood with his hands.
EPILOGUE
DREW
Eighteen months later
“I’ve been trying to convince Ally to give up tennis,” I tell Dr. Gordon.
For the past year and a half, Ally’s been teaching tennis, both privately and at the Somerset Club. It’s the perfect job for her—except, of course, when she’s thirty-five weeks pregnant.
“We’ve talked about this, Drew,” Ally says, before Dr. Gordon can answer. “Exercise is recommended in pregnancy. And I’m not actually playing tennis,” she explains to the obstetrician. “I just give lessons.”
“Gentleexercise is recommended,” I argue. “But you’re doing more than that, and you’re practically at term now.”
Dr. Gordon’s eyes dart from me to Ally. She’s not our regular OB—Dr. Tang’s on vacation this week—and I’m pretty sure she’s a recent grad. “I’m just going to step out to grab the doppler,” she says. “We can talk about the tennis question when I get back.”
“She wants to agree with me, obviously,” Ally says after Dr. Gordon closes the door to the exam room. “But I think she finds you a little intimidating, so she’s stalling.”
“I’m not intimidating, Ally,” I scoff.
“Well, you are the former chief of surgery,” she points out.
“The key word there is former.” My biggest mistake was staying in that job as long as I did. Peter Tate hasn’t stopped donating to the hospital—apparently he didn’t really care if I was chief or not. And my life has improved immensely now that I no longer have to deal with so much administrative BS.
And it means I have time to come to prenatal appointments, like the one we’re at now. The OB clinic is just one floor up from my office, so it’s very convenient. I love being able to see my wife in the middle of the day.
That’s right—Ally and I got married. I proposed six months after we met, and we got married three months after that. There’s no point waiting when you know.
