Page 99 of Coming Home Country
Bex
“Tuckertoldmehowyou ended up in Rust Canyon, but he didn’t mention where you hail from. I could tell right off the bat you’re not from Oklahoma.”
Felicity smiled at me from across the table in the kitchenette of their shared medical practice. When I showed up for lunch, Tucker had one more patient to see before he could take a break, so he told us to start without him. To be polite, I’d let her ask the first few questions—most of which revolved around my history with Tucker—but now, it was my turn to learn more about her.
“You caught me. I’m originally from Montana,” she confessed.
I couldn’t contain my shock. “You left the mountains to comehere? Why?”
She swallowed the bite of food in her mouth. “Needed a change of scenery. But more than anything, I wanted a chance to branch out on my own.”
“You couldn’t do that without leaving Montana? From what I hear, it’s a pretty bigstate.”
“Maybe.” Felicity shrugged. “But I’m the youngest of eight, and after a lifetime of being babied, I wanted to leave the nest and prove to myself that I had what it takes.”
“Eight?” My eyes bulged.
Her knowing laughter told me I wasn’t the first person shocked to learn of her large family. “Yeah, and it’s not like my parents just decided to go for it and bang out a bunch of kids close together, either. We’re all separated by three or four years. It was like they cleared the toddler stage and were like, okay, let’s do this again. My oldest brother, Nash, is twenty-four years older than me. Can’t imagine how crazy it was for him to be old enough to have kids of his own with our parents still procreating. Hell, as it is, I’m closer in age to his teenage sons than I am to his.”
“Not gonna lie, that’s hard to wrap my mind around being an only child.”
“Did Felicity tell you how she’s six degrees of separation away from royalty?” Tucker’s voice sounded from the doorway.
I turned my head in time for him to drop a kiss on my lips. “Hey, beautiful.”
He took a seat at the table, and I shifted my attention back to Felicity. “What’s this about being related to royalty?”
A hint of pink crept onto her cheeks. “Definitelynot related. And honestly, it’s not that big of a deal.” When I stared at her expectantly, she heaved a sigh. “Fine.” Using her fingers, she ticked off the connections. “So, there’s my brother, Nash. He’s married to my sister-in-law, Zoe, and they live on her family’s cattle ranch in Alberta with their two boys. Zoe’s brother is Cal Berg, who used to play hockey and lives in Connecticut. His wife, Hannah, is best friends with Natalie Slate, formerly Remington, whose brother-in-law, Liam, is in direct line for the throne in a small European country.”
Well, consider my mind blown.
“Whoa, that’s crazy.”
“Eh.” She lifted a shoulder. “Puts into perspective how truly small the world is. We’re all connected in one way or another, even if we don’t realize it.”
“Which reminds me . . .” I turned my attention to Tucker as he took a bite out of his sandwich.
His eyes grew wide, and he swallowed roughly, croaking out, “What did I do?”
“Nothing.” I set his mind at ease. “But Aspen mentioned Jenner’s teammate is married to our all-time favorite romance author.”
Relief washed over his features. “Oh, that.”
“Oh, that? How do you not understand how cool this is?”
“She’s just a person, the same as you and me,” he countered.
I scoffed. “Only a person whose brain created my top ten book boyfriends.”
Felicity snickered beside me. “What your girl’s trying to tell you, Tucker, is that she’s in love with Dakota because she’s the mastermind behind the perfect man.”
His annoyance was audible when he grumbled, “Fictionalmen.”
“Wait.” My head whipped toward Felicity. “Have you met her?”
A sly smile curved on her lips. “She popped down here for a bit last summer to do research for a small-town series she’s thinking about writing.”
My mouth dropped open a split second before I screeched, “WHAT?! Oh my God, how did I not know about this? And she’s using Rust Canyon for inspiration?” I leaned back in my chair, fanning my face, as my breathing grew shallow. “I think I’m going to pass out.”
