Chapter 5

5

JONAH

M y body is on autopilot as I drive to my clinic. Then it's my brain's turn as I check in with several patients, who are also neighbors.

Luckily there isn't anything complicated today. A farmer who needs half a dozen stitches. Reassuring a nervous first-time mother. Checking on a shoulder injury to make sure things are progressing well.

Everyone knows I'm not one for small talk. If I mention the weather, that's an official conversation for me, and frankly beyond the matter at hand. Most people appreciate that I get them in and out in the shortest amount of time.

But today I wish that Brooke was here so that we could chat in between visitors. What would she think of this place? Would she be interested in my work, or bored to tears?

I miss her already. What's wrong with me? It's not like a breathtaking girl like her would just drop everything to move in with a grouchy loner in the woods.

Everything feels sluggish as I scrub my hands and replace the paper on the examination table.

I can't hold Brooke back. She has her entire life ahead of her. Who knows – she might end up wanting a career that involves a lot of travel. Or being in a big city. Nobody knows what the hell they're doing at twenty-one, do they?

Although Brooke seems very steady for someone her age. Wise beyond her years, working for herself…and the way she managed to breathe and ignore her pain was admirable.

Crap, is she going to remember to ice her ribs?

I glance out the window and see my next appointment pulling into the lot. Grabbing my phone, I make a quick call before setting up my side table to remove some particularly vicious wood splinters for a local lumberjack.

By the time I'm driving home, my fingers are tense around the wheel and my foot is way too heavy on the gas. I need to find out if there's any hope for us. One way or the other, I need to know. That'll determine what steps to take next.

When I walk in the door of my house, my stress melts away as I see Brooke on the couch eating ice cream.

Her eyes narrow. "You sent someone to check up on me?" Brooke's expression is indignant annoyance, despite her soft laughter. The laughter stops abruptly as she puts down the spoon and clutches her ribs. "Crap."

"Yes, I did." I rush to her side. "Did you take another pain killer?"

"No." She points to the ice pack wrapped in a towel on the coffee table. "Your minion insisted that I put cold on it for ten minutes." Her eyes light up with a smile. "Clark was adamant that I didn't get any ice cream until I obeyed."

"Good." I hand her a pill and some water. "You're supposed to take these regularly. That way the pain won't get too bad."

She swallows, then rolls her lovely eyes. "I've always tried to take the bare minimum of pills."

"This really is the bare minimum for an injury like this." Taking her hands, I sit close. My heart pounds as she shifts to press her right side against me. "Unless you want to suffer?"

She pouts dramatically. "Of course not."

"Do you want to be well enough tomorrow to come to work with me?"

Damn. The way her eyes light up sends blood hammering through my veins and…elsewhere.

"Really?"

"Only if you're better." My head tips toward the window. "By the way, your car is parked out front."

"What? How did you manage that?"

"My younger brother Josh drove it here, then hitched a ride back to his place with Clark."

Brooke squeezes my fingers. "So there's a whole club of helpful mountain men around here?"

"More like an odd assortment of family, and people we've known so long that they might as well be family. Do you need anything from your car?"

Brooke runs through a list of items, and I bring them inside, taking most of them to the guest room. Then I set a bag on the coffee table. "To replace your sketchbook that fell in the river. There isn't a huge selection at the local bookstore, but Janice said these were good for pencil drawings."

She flinches as she tries to lean forward, so I take out the two sketchbooks for her plus a large tin of fancy pencils. Her perfect lips fall open. "You… You got me the full Staedtler set? I was saving up for that."

"I asked for her recommendation, and this is what she told me to get."

"Thank you, Jonah. This is amazing."

Brooke's expressive gray eyes stare up at me, and I feel something shift in my lower belly. This incredible woman has never had anyone be sweet with her. I can feel it. That's why the simplest gesture means so much to her.

It blows my mind, makes me sad and sends rage simmering through me all at once. The entire world should be sweet to this incredible girl.

Once she's mine, I'll make sure that happens.

The decision has been made.