funeral had really thrown him. He hated funerals. They always reminded him of Vicki.
They ate the rest of their meal in silence. Once they’d finished, he waited while Pat cleared their plates then tried his best to get back to normal, even though normal seemed a thousand miles away at present. “We get started in the morning, then?”
“Yes. Pending my boss’s approval.” She stood and slipped her coat on then belted it up. “I’ll meet you in front of the clinic in the morning at nine. If something changes, I’ll call you. I have your number.”
Nick swiped the check before she could, flashing what he hoped was a polite smile. “My treat, Belle. We’re partners now. You need a ride to your aunt’s place?”
“No. I got a rental at the airport in Lansing.” Belle lifted her chin and walked toward the exit, saying over her shoulder, “Thank you for dinner. Bye, Connor.”
Nick lingered after she left. “You want pie, Con?”
His son grinned. “With ice cream?”
“Of course.” Nick hailed Pat and ordered dessert while Analia wandered over to take the seat vacated by Belle.
“She’s pretty,” the little girl said, lisping due to dental issues. “What’s her name?”
“Christabelle Watson. She was Marlene’s niece. And she’s a doctor like me.”
“Wow.” Analia stared at the front door while Pat delivered dessert. “Are you friends?”
“We used to be.” Nick exhaled and rubbed a hand over his face, fatigue and grief threatening to overwhelm him once more. “I’m not so sure now.”
“Okay. Bye.” Analia said, ending the conversation abruptly, as eight-year-olds were prone to do, and headed back to her family’s table.
Nick turned back to find half the pie and ice cream already gone. As a growing kid, Connor could put away the food. Still, his son was healthy and strong and smart, and Nick said a silent prayer every night that things would stay that way. Being a doctor had good and bad sides. People joked about self-diagnosing themselves on the internet with every disease under the sun. Nick wasn’t that bad, but he did like to err on the side of caution when it came to Connor. He was only being a good parent.
Belle’s words looped back through his tired brain before he could stop them.
How controlling of you…
He sighed and scrubbed a hand over his face. Yeah, maybe he had been a bit overbearing, but some days it was all he had. He just wanted to protect his child, since life could be so easily lost at any time.
After they’d finished their meal and he’d paid the bill, Nick stopped on their way out to check with Juan about working on the clinic. Luckily, the guy said he was between jobs and agreed to meet him in the morning. Then Nick and Connor walked back out into the cold night air, their breath frosting as they returned to his SUV parked behind the funeral home. He spotted Belle at the funeral home across the street, scraping the windshield of the compact car she’d rented while trying not to fall on her butt in those stilettos of hers, looking just as determined as he remembered.
He turned away and pulled out his phone to call his PA about taking over for the most part until after Christmas. Hopefully, it wouldn’t be a problem. Elise was always bugging him to give her a bigger role in the clinic anyway and she and her family were Jewish. Hanukkah had fallen early that year, so he felt optimistic she might help him out. The last thing he wanted to do was close during one of their busiest times of the year when the people of Bayside needed them most. The closest hospital was in Manistee, about an hour away, so anything he could treat here in town was faster and cheaper for everyone involved.
Regardless of what happened at his office, one thing was for sure.
The next two weeks would be mighty interesting.
BELLE PARKED IN the driveway of her aunt Marlene’s modest ranch-style home on Hancock Street and stumbled inside the foyer, her feet numb and her arm aching from toting her heavy wheeled suitcase behind her. At least the ride had given her some much-needed time to herself to recalibrate. Hard to believe after all this time that he still affected her like no other man.
It made no sense whatsoever.
She’d dated plenty of men in Beverly Hills—rich, gorgeous, successful, highly desirable men. Yet not one of them had seemed to hold a candle to Nick when it came to physical attraction. Maybe because he’d been her first.
First kiss, first boyfriend, first…everything.
And they said you never forgot your first…
No. She shook off those unwanted thoughts and slumped back against the closed door, listening to the lonesome sound of the wind howling as the snowstorm picked up outside and the reality of her situation crept into her bones. She was back in Bayside. She was unexpectedly partnered with Nick again. She was all alone because Aunt Marlene was gone.
Forever.
The tears she’d struggled to hold back since her arrival spilled forth as she toed off her pumps then walked into the living room, spotting all the reminders of the life she’d left behind. There was the lopsided ceramic mug she’d made for Aunt Marlene in sixth grade. And a picture of the two of them at Belle’s high-school graduation. On the wall in the hallway were photos of her aunt with her patients at various local events—the July Fourth band concert in the gazebo on the town green, the annual Christmas tree lighting ceremony.
There were pictures of Belle’s parents too on their wedding day. Aunt Marlene had been her mom’s maid of honor. Memories of her parents were blurry and soft in Belle’s mind, like watercolors. She remembered her mother making a birthday cake, her father teaching Belle how to fish for salmon in the Manistee River, their trip to Tahquamenon Falls State Park when Belle had thought the iron-rich falls were made of root beer.
Her heart ached and more tears fell. Her parents had both been doctors too. Family medicine. They’d always talked about Belle taking over their practice someday. Perhaps that was another reason she’d been so torn about choosing plastic surgery as her specialty in college. If she’d stayed with GP, it would have been another link to them, but fate had had other ideas—especially after her ill-fated trip to see Nick in college. Finding out about his engagement and his impending fatherhood had left her feeling untethered, powerless. She’d focused on the one area where she still felt like she had control—her career.
She gave a sad little ironic snort. Seemed Nick wasn’t the only one with control issues.
With the back of her hand, Belle swiped at her damp cheeks. God, she missed her family. Aunt Marlene had been so young, so vital, despite her age and heart condition. She’d always seemed immortal to Belle, even though rationally she’d known someday the end would come. She’d just never expected it to happen so fast.
If only I’d known…
She hadn’t, though, because Aunt Marlene had never told Belle how sick she was. That stubborn, independent streak ran in their family and had reared its ugly head again apparently. Aunt Marlene had always been the type to do for others, yet never let anyone help her in her time of need. She’d not wanted to be a bother to anyone, she’d always said.
Belle would’ve loved nothing more than to be bothered by her aunt just one more time.
Maybe it was being back home again after all this time, but Belle felt at a loose end and was reconsidering everything in her life. Her career, her relationships, her future. Funerals always seemed to bring out her introspective side and this one was worst of all.
When her parents had died, Belle had been a child and Aunt Marlene had made the choices for her. Now it all fell on Belle to pick up the pieces