“Right? Everyone assumed she’d land a top-tier surgical residency. She wanted one.”
“So what happened?”
“She didn’t get a match.”
“No way! Just like Charlie?”
“Not exactly. Charlie didn’t match because ... well, he probably just didn’t stand out enough. Wren, on the other hand,aimed too high. She went for the most competitive programs and didn’t get a match. But she never told anyone—Charlie’s the one who spilled. Apparently, they both figured, why not apply to Dok Stoltzfus’s program? No one else did, so ... that’s where they’ll be.” Evie groaned, rubbing her cheeks. “How am I supposed to compete with Wren Baker?”
Darcy set down the bubble wrap to give Evie a look. “You’re not,” she said simply. “Evie, you’re an amazing person. You have a huge heart, and you genuinely care about people. If Charlie doesn’t see that, then he’s the one missing out.” She picked up the remote to start wrapping again. “You could always tell him how you feel about him.”
No, she couldn’t. Whenever Charlie was around, Evie became the most awkward version of herself, and that was saying a lot. The mix of longing, desire, and excitement she experienced when he was near left her completely flustered. She couldn’t even say hi to him in an elevator. She’d freeze up, go silent, and end up staring at him, unblinking, like an oddball.
And yet ... despite how socially awkward she acted around him, she kept getting some kind of undercurrent of attraction between them, like a spark of electricity. She was sure of it.
Or maybe she just imagined it.
And then there was Wren Baker. Ever present, highly territorial. Whenever Evie tried to work up the courage to ask Charlie if he wanted to get a coffee during his break—boom!—Wren would appear out of nowhere and whisk him off.
Evie sighed, wrapping her arms around a pillow. “I don’t stand a chance. Wren is Velcroed to Charlie.”
“But you don’t absolutely, positively know they’re a couple. No PDA, right?”
“I hardly think two medical students would show public affection in a hospital setting. But everybody talks like they’re a couple. Like Wren-and-Charlie is one word.”
“Watercooler gossip,” Darcy said, rolling her eyes. “Personally, I never have understood what you’ve seen in Charlie King.”
Where to start? Charlie was basically the most kindhearted human on this earth. He had remarkable tenderness and patience with patients, even the worst ones. He had this almost superpower to lighten up a serious moment. Then there was his goofiness, like wearing an enormous stick-on mustache when he was on the pediatric ward. Or his crazy patchwork pants. And his humility—so rare among physicians. Unlike most, Charlie never hesitated to ask for assistance when he was in over his head. That’s how Evie had been officially introduced to Charlie—he asked for her help putting an IV into the arm of an elderly woman with nearly invisible veins. What med student ever asked a nurse for help? None!
But Darcy wouldn’t know that side of Charlie—she only knew the Charlie-and-Wren-joined-at-the-hip side.
“He does have a good jawline.”
Evie sighed. “Doesn’t he?”
“Did he really passallhis classes?”
“Yes, of course.” Just by a whisker. Evie knew that because Charlie was working on her floor at the hospital when the email came in that he had barely squeaked by with a pass in Human Anatomy and Physiology, the class that had him worried. (In his defense, that class was the most repeated one in medical school, because of the crazy amount of detail to be memorized.) He had let out a whoop, picked up Evie (whohappenedto be standing nearby), and twirled her around.
It was the most wonderful moment of her life. So far.
“Well, here’s one positive,” Darcy said. “If you discover that Wren and Charlie are truly a couple, maybe that will convince you to finally drop your obsession with him.”
“Obsession is a bit much. I’m not obsessed.”
Darcy squinted at her. “Yeah, pretty obsessed.”
“It’s not an obsession. Just a regular, all-American crush.”
“Call it whatever you want. I think this experience will finally help wash that man out of your hair. He’s notthatcute,” Darcy said. “And he’s definitely not that smart.” Darcy placed a high value on book smarts. The highest.
Evie had a different take on intelligence. She believed in all kinds of smarts, each valuable in its own way. Book smarts opened doors, sure, but fixer smarts—the ability to fix anything—were just as important. And then there were people smarts, which might be the best one of all. That’s where she placed Charlie. He just had a way with people. Charming Charlie.
“Look, I get it,” Darcy said, returning to her task. “Just don’t let Wren Baker get in your head. Focus on why you’re a traveling nurse in the first place. The experience, the adventure, the chance to make a difference. And your contract is only for three months in Stoney Ridge, right? When things don’t pan out with Charlie, you can pack up and move in with me in Alaska. That’s the beauty of our jobs.”
Evie gave her a thanks-for-trying smile.
A sly look came over Darcy. “But who knows what’s waiting for you there in your old-timey village? Maybe you’ll fall madly in love with an Amish farmer.”
