Page 104 of Doc Hollywood

She had rolled her eyes at the antics of some of her friends during that first meeting, especially Sadie, who needed to look at the picture of her husband multiple times to stop herself from giggling inanely whenever Taylor spoke. Eventually, they had all settled down, and whenever Taylor was in town, he joined the team, with the ferret stuck to his face as a disguise.

While she hadn’t explicitly told the registrars that they might run into Taylor at her house, they had obviously spoken among themselves, as for a little while she had been inundated with starstruck house guests, but now everything was settling down, and they were used to the possibility that they may finish a long shift, then hang out on the sofa with a Hollywood star.

Clara initially found the interest in her life intrusive, and she noticed a few photographers lurking around and trying to follow her. She also didn’t answer her front door in her pyjamas anymore after one of the paparazzi with a camera had rung her doorbell, and she had answered it wearing her now internationally famous red plaid pyjamas.

Luckily, Taylor’s lawyers were swift and decisive and soon put a stop to the harassment of her.

“I’ve got a surprise for you,” Taylor finally said from his horizontal position on the new sofa that had been Clara’s first splurge after Jack had paid her back.

“Chocolate?” Clara immediately guessed.

“Nope. Better than chocolate,” he promised.

“Ice cream?” She tried again.

“Nope.” Taylor shook his head.

“Wine?” Was her next guess.

“It’s not food,” he sighed with exasperation.

“Oh. Bugger, well, do we have any ice cream? Or did you eat it while I was at work?” Clara went to walk to the freezer to check.

It had initially been a shock to see how much food he ate. She would arrive home from work to find he had polished off the last of the ice cream or eaten something for lunch that she had been meaning to have for dinner. Taylor though, had quickly solved the problem, and he had groceries and pre-made meals delivered to her house every week. And however many times she objected, the food kept arriving, and she had never had such a full fridge or freezer.

“I didn’t eat the ice cream. You know I’m dieting again,” Taylor grumbled.

He had initially binged when he was around her, indulging himself in carbs and sweet treats, but had quickly settled back into his normal routine to keep himself in shape for his work.

“Oh yeah. Sorry.” She called back and grabbed an apple for each of them instead. Walking back in, she took a bite out of one and tossed the other to him. “What’s the surprise?” Flopping down next to him, she wriggled a bit until she was tucked under his arm.

“Now, don’t get cross with me,” Taylor drawled.

Clara drew back. “Why would I get cross?”

“I know I should have talked to you first. But my business manager said it was a good investment and I should snap it up. And then I decided to keep it as a surprise.” He held his phone out to her.

Taking it slowly, Clara looked at the screen, which was open to a real estate website. Silently, she flicked through the photos of the house of her dreams. It was a simple A-frame, with four bedrooms and an open-plan living area with a beautiful fireplace in the centre of the room. There was a swimming pool and three separate cabins on the grounds, each with two bedrooms. And it was all set on one hundred acres of land. It was stunning.

“That’s lovely. It’ll make a great investment for you.” She tried to sound excited, but her voice was a little flat. If he had that to go home to, he wouldn’t be coming to see her so often.

Taylor nudged her shoulder. “Did you check the map?”

He grabbed the phone and scrolled to the bottom of the page, opening up the map and putting it back into her hands.

Frowning, she stared at it, then zoomed out a little, her eyes widening in surprise. “It’s here?”

“Yup!” Taylor crowed, bouncing with glee.

“You bought yourself a house in my town?” Clara whispered, turning to face him, hope bubbling in her chest.

“No,” Taylor said, shaking his head.

She deflated at his words; he must just be planning on renting it out.

“I bought us a house in your town.” A broad grin split his face.

“What?” The words filtered through her brain, which was working slower than normal.

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