Monday morning had finally come, and I was a little slow getting back into my normal routine at the dental office. That’s what happens when you take a week off. By the time it came for our lunch break, I was ready for it. The front desk had put in three emergencies in the morning, which had me running around like crazy. I was already tired.
After grabbing my lunch bag, I headed outside and across the street to Magnolia Park. Clouds were in the sky which gave a little reprieve from the hot summer sun. My favorite spot underneath one of the large magnolia trees was vacant so I went and claimed it. With it being summer, there were a lotmore people out and about. The park was a popular place for picnics.
I sat down on the grass and opened my small bag of Nacho Cheese Doritos so I could put them inside my ham sandwich. I’d done this since I was a teenager. The combination always hits the right spot.
Once I finished my sandwich, I ate my container full of strawberries and finished off my bottle of water. I still had thirty minutes left of my lunch break to relax and enjoy the park.
My phone beeped with an incoming text.
Mom: I’m upset with you. You didn’t call me last night when you made it back home.
When I got home yesterday, I had a lot on my mind. Instead of texting her back, I called her.
“Hello, daughter,” she answered.
I leaned against the magnolia tree and laughed. “Oh, don’t be like that. I’m calling you now.”
“How was your trip? Did you have fun with Kat?”
“We had a blast,” I exclaimed. Although, I did keep what happened on our last night to myself. She didn’t need to know that Declan was an assassin and that one of his targets was hunting him. However, Idid tell her everything we did as far as hiking and then going out to a nice dinner in downtown Charlotte.
“Do you think you and Mr. Parker have a future together?” my mother asked.
After last night and him coming clean to me, I honestly think we were heading in the right direction. “I hope so,” I said in all honesty. “It feels right.”
I noticed movement out of the corner of my eye, and I turned to see someone I recognized. I said goodbye to my mom and set my phone down.
Walking down the path in the middle of the park was Robert Forbes, only this time he wasn’t in a multi-thousand-dollar suit. He was dressed in a pair of black and white gym shorts and a T-shirt drenched in sweat.
“Good afternoon, Mr. Forbes!” I shouted.
He circled around, squinting against the sunshine. But when he saw me, he smiled and headed over. “Well, good afternoon to you too, Dr. Carington!” he called out. He glanced down at my lunch bag and chuckled. “You must be on your lunch break.”
I wiped the Doritos and sandwich crumbs off my scrub pants and stood. “It’s not too sweltering hot so I thought it’d be nice to eat in peace.”
Robert grinned. “And you can’t eat in peace at your office?”
“No,” I laughed. “My hygienists love to gossip in the break room. I can hear them all the way in my office. Besides”—I flourished a hand around the park—“it’s beautiful out here.”
He looked around and nodded in agreement. “That it is.”
“So, I see you made it back to town. How was New Orleans?”
Robert shrugged noncommittally. “It was work. Not much excitement, but I did get done earlier than expected. That’s why I decided to stay out this way for a couple of days.”
“Nice. Are you staying at The Sweet Magnolia B&B?” I asked. It was the only place in town where people could stay. We were too small to have big chain hotels.
He shook his head. “No, I rented a house just outside of Magnolia Grove. It was all I could find.”
“Well,” I said, pointing toward the buildings on the opposite side of the park. “If you’re going to be here for a few days, you have to get coffee from Jitterbug Coffee. It blows all the coffee places in the bigcities out of the water.”
Robert chuckled. “Got it. What else should I try?”
I pointed to a building a little further down the street. “You have to go to Frozen Spoon. The ice cream is to die for.”
He turned back to me and smiled. “I’ll go there tonight. Thanks for the recommendations.”
“You’re welcome.”
