Chapter 16

CHAPTER SIXTEEN

Isaiah stood in the center of one of the classrooms at Little Clams, slowly turning around in a circle and gazing at the walls. It was one of the classrooms that Olivia wanted repainted and spruced up, and he was mentally going through a checklist of all the things he needed to do to the room.

Stacked around him on the floor were several cans of brightly colored paint—and that wasn’t even their whole stock. Ever since Gwen had put up her fliers around town, they’d had paint donations come flooding in. Olivia had been thrilled about all of the different colors they’d received—lots of yellows and blues and greens. She’d been organizing them into color schemes, choosing which cans would be used in each room.

“Clear everything to the side, wash the walls, do a primer,” he muttered, wishing he’d brought a notebook or something to write it all down in. It would have been nice to have a list of some kind, to help keep his head on straight.

At that moment, Gwen stepped through the doorway to the classroom, and his heart skipped a beat. For a split second, he just stared at her, and then he grinned.

“Hey! I wasn’t expecting you to be here.”

“I know I’m unannounced,” she said. “Look at me, being spontaneous.” They shared a grin. “I took an early lunch and I’d thought I’d come see if any of the paint donations had arrived yet.”

“Oh, they sure have,” he said, chuckling. He gestured to the several cans of paint that were stacked in the center of the room. “And that’s just this room. We’ve got like five more piles like this one.”

Her eyes widened. “Really? That’s amazing!” She looked down at the paint cans, clearly impressed. “I’m shocked.”

“You make a mean flier, Dr. Gwen.” He winked.

She seemed to blush a little under his praise, and she waved her hand through the air, dismissing his words. “That’s not my fliers, that’s the people here. That generosity was already waiting for an opportunity to help, I just happened to nudge it. But I’m still surprised by how quickly they sent the paint cans in.”

“I’m not surprised at all in a small, friendly town like this,” he said, grinning at her. “Just like you said, the generosity is already there. People here like to help each other out, and everyone here is invested in the school. Olivia said we even got a few brand-new gallons of paint donated.”

“That’s wonderful,” she said, looking sincerely impressed. “And from the looks of this stack and what you’ve told me, we don’t need any more paint? We’ve already got enough?”

“Oh, for sure,” he said. “We’re up to our ears in paint. We’ll be able to donate some of this ourselves once the renovations are done.”

“That’s amazing,” she said. “I would have expected this whole process to take so much longer.”

“You see?” he teased. “Some things just can’t be scheduled.”

“Yes, but if we had gotten behind—oh, fine.” She laughed.

“Wow, her mindset is changing already,” he said, leaning against the wall and grinning. “That boat ride really did wonders for you, huh?”

She shook her head, laughing. “What boat ride? I don’t know what you’re talking about.”

“You haven’t been thinking about it, huh? I bet it’s been sneaking into your dreams. I bet you even want to go out on a boat again sometime,” he teased.

He remembered what a good time she’d had. He’d loved the way she’d whooped and grinned in excitement over the boat ride.

“I don’t know. Was that an invitation?” she asked.

He lifted one shoulder, his lips curving upward. “It might be.”

“Huh. Interesting,” she said, tilting her head to one side coyly.

He realized that they were both flirting with each other, and his heart rate picked up. In that moment, it struck him that Olivia had been right—he was interested in Gwen romantically.

The revelation hit him like a sudden clap of thunder.

He wanted to show her how responsible he could be, so that she wouldn’t just see him as someone who was too laid-back for her. And even more than that, he wanted to help loosen her up, and show her how much fun life could be if she would let it. He felt like he’d been doing a good job of that already by taking her out on the boat and showing her that sometimes, things outside her comfort zone could be wonderful.

Maybe, he thought, his heart thumping, maybe although we’re different, maybe we really do complement each other. Maybe she and I could really be a thing together. A great thing .

He felt startled by the realization that he was starting to think about her in a truly romantic way. After all, he’d told his sister and his aunt Marsha that he wasn’t looking for romantic love, and he’d meant it sincerely when he’d said it.

But now, standing there with Gwen, everything that he thought he knew didn’t seem to apply anymore. She’d turned his emotions upside down, seemingly without even trying to. She was a surprise. A wonderful, thrilling surprise.

All of a sudden, he felt tongue-tied. He was spinning with the revelation that he liked her—he like liked her—and it made him feel awkward all of a sudden. He felt flushed and a little self-conscious.

“Yeah, absolutely, if you want to come out on the boat again, you’re very welcome to,” he said, feeling as though he had a sudden frog in his throat.

“Okay,” she said, a little hesitantly. It was clear that she could tell that something about his demeanor had changed, and she was probably wondering why. He stuffed his hands in his pockets, realizing all at once that they were starting to get sweaty. “Sounds good. Maybe we could schedule the next boat ride?” she teased gently.

He smiled. “Sounds great. Let me know when you’re free.”

“I will.” She smiled back. “Well, I’d better get going. Good luck with the painting. I’ll help out with it the next time I come by to volunteer.”

“You have to go?” he asked, unable to conceal his disappointment.

“Yeah, I do,” she said. “I have an appointment in a little while so I should get back to the clinic.”

For a moment she hesitated, her expression quizzical, as if she was about to ask him what was on his mind. But then she just smiled and turned around and left the room, waving goodbye as she went.

“See you later!” he called after her.

The moment she disappeared, he ran his hands through his hair. “Oh boy,” he said, his heart pounding a little. For a few heartbeats he just stared at the empty doorway, feeling a rush of unexpected emotions.

Finally, he chuckled, shaking the feeling off.

Time to get back to work, Dunlap , he told himself, squaring his shoulders and trying to force his mind back to the task at hand. There will be plenty of time to think about this new revelation that you have a raging crush on the pretty new doctor. Right now, you need to focus on what you have to do.

But he had a feeling that even while he continued to work, he was going to be thinking about her all day.