Page 122 of Flirting with 40

“A completed To-Do list.”

I throw my head back and laugh. “Is that all you needed?” I tease. “Is that all it takes to turn you on?”

“No. You’re all I need, Blakely. You’re who I’d pick every time. Hands down.” Our lips meet again. “Just you.”

EPILOGUE

Blakely

Eighteen Months Later . . .

“Uneventful is good, right?”

“Uneventful is great, but while I admit that I’ll welcome the extra sleep next month when my residency ends, I’ll definitely miss that thrill of it all.”

“I’m sure you will,” I say as I look at the trees towering above us as we drive down the stretch of country road.

He asked if I wanted to go for a Saturday drive—somewhere out of the city, off the beaten path. Maybe grab a bite to eat at some unknown hole-in-the-wall or sit and watch the sunset at one of the many lakes not too far from the city.

Country-nature-y stuff I used to roll my eyes at but now realize is one of the ways Slade decompressed after a long week of saving and losing patients.

He squeezes my knee. “Everything going good with the party planning?”

“So far so good.”

“I’d tell you again that my mom is willing to fly in early to help, but that means she’d want to stay at my house, and my house means her being nosy, and her being nosy means no sex when you stay over so—”

“So no inviting her to help then.” I laugh and tilt my face up and close my eyes, enjoying the cool wind and warm sun coming in the open window. I love his mom. She’s everything I never had in a mother and more than anyone wants. God love her, her twenty questions, and her endless meddling.

I had considered trying to involve her in the planning stages of Slade and his friends’ graduation-type party for completing their residency and passing their boards, but the no sex thing made that a nonstarter. “Can you believe you’re almost an official attending? Long coat here you come.”

“It’s surreal,” he murmurs as he pulls off the main road, causing me to turn and stare at him.

“What are you doing?”

“Don’t worry, bunny boiler. I’m still not a Bundy.”

“Funny.” I look around at our surroundings on the narrow one lane road weaving itself through the trees. “But seriously. The sun is setting soon, I don’t want to get lost out here in the dark.”

“I wanted to check out this place that Ed told me about.”

“Ed?” I laugh his name out with affection woven into it, while shaking my head at the odd friendship the two of them fostered the past eighteen months. It’s definitely a strange pairing, but they text every once in a while, and Slade’s even gone fishing with him a time or two.

“Yeah. He has a friend who is selling a cabin up here. He told me to come check it out for him because it’s supposed to have a lake loaded with fish.”

“Is he planning on buying it?”

“Who knows,” he murmurs as the trees open to a clearing.

“How cute is that?” I say more to myself than to him. The small house has light gray clapboard siding with white shutters on its windows. A covered patio bends around the front with a raised deck to match. The steps leading up to the front door are worn in their centers and make me think of how many people have probably enjoyed this house over the years. There is a large patch of vibrant green grass next to where we park, but it’s the lake at the house’s back that catches my attention.

Peaceful.

That’s the first word that comes to mind.

“What are you—”

“It’s for sale,” Slade says without letting me ask the question as he slides out of the car. “Ed’s ankle is still tender from his fall, so he asked if I’d check it out for him.”