Page 34 of Hello Doctor

Fletcher stepped closer, looking at me over the island so intently my breath caught in my chest.

“Lilac.”

My lips parted.

He remembered.

And then Maya came running back through the door.

18

Fletcher

I walked to the front of the practice to tell Brenda I was going for lunch. She smiled and said, “I’ll walk out with you.” She always used her lunch break to walk around town. Even on hot summer days like today.

“How are things going with your cute new nanny?” she asked.

Heat instantly went to the tips of my ears. Could she see inside my head to know I’d been thinking about Liv in ways that I shouldn’t be?

No, I decided. She was just making conversation. “Maya loves her,” I said earnestly. “She’s been doing swim lessons and going out to the Griffens’ farm, riding horses. Hanging out with my dad. It’s been a great summer for her so far.”

Brenda nodded, pausing beside me on the sidewalk. “You seem a lot less distracted and worried. Maybe that frees up time for other things. Like dating?”

I nearly choked on my own spit. “Brenda, I’m sorry, but you’re a colleague. I just don’t see you like—”

She tossed her head back, laughing. “Not me, you silly goose! My daughter. She’s a year older than you and went through a divorce about the same time you did. I think you two would have a lot in common.”

“Oh.” I raised my eyebrows. I remembered Brenda’s daughter Morganne from school. She was cute enough. Quiet. And married her high school sweetheart. “She’s divorced? Everyone thought she and Charlie would be together forever.”

She lifted a corner of her lips in a sad half-smile. “Time changes things.”

“It sure does,” I agreed.

“Don’t decide now,” Brenda said. “But get back to me when you’re ready to say yes.” She winked and began walking off, waving over her shoulder.

I shook my head to myself as I walked toward the diner to meet my brothers Knox and Hayes for lunch. There were five of us kids, but Ford was away in Dallas, playing professional football, and Bryce was off at college.

When I got to the diner, Hayes and Knox were already at a booth toward the back, and on my way to join them, I said hi to Rhonda, the hairdresser; Bora, the florist; and Hazel, the woman who ran the local newspaper like a one-woman show.

When I got to the booth, Hayes winked at me. “Looks like you’re fighting off the ladies.”

I rolled my eyes at him, picking up a menu, even though it hadn’t changed since high school. “No, but half my clients are giving me their daughters’ or granddaughters’ numbers. And Brenda’s trying to get me to go out with her daughter too. How do you two handle being single in a small town?”

Hayes winked. “I don’t mind it so much.” Between him and Rhett, it was hard to tell who the bigger womanizer was.

Knox let out a sigh, stirring sugar into his coffee. “I’m not liking it so much. Actually... I was thinking about asking Liv on a date.”

It was like all the air had been sucked from the room. Knox wanted to go out with Liv?

“I mean, if it’s okay,” he continued. “I promise I won’t mess things up with her as your nanny.”

Every word felt like sandpaper on my tongue as I said, “You don’t need to get my permission.”

He smiled to himself. “Good.”

Hayes looked up at me and said, “You need to see Rhonda. Looking like a shaggy dog.”

I rolled my eyes at him. “How’s your business?”

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