Page 75 of Meet Me at the Christmas Cottage
“Jonah, I’m serious. You’ve been moping around since we all got back.” She paused. “Since Bronte left.”
Jonah was finished looking in the fridge, but he didn’t close the door. He stayed hidden, letting his eyes slide closed at the mention of her. He had somehow made it through the past three days, and yes, maybe he had been a bit quieter than normal, but if he wasn’t thinking about Bronte, he was thinking about how to talk to his dad about not being a doctor anymore. He was trading one torture for another. Amy, Mika Beth, and Halle had left the day after Christmas, headed back to the mainland where they shared a house.
“If you don’t tell them, I will.”
Jonah snapped the fridge door closed, eyes darting to where his parents sat on the couch watching a movie, and hissed, “You wouldn’t dare.”
Holland regarded him with her eyebrows raised. She snagged an apple from the fruit bowl on the counter and walked backward toward the living room, not taking her eyes off him. She wasn’t kidding.
“What are you two whispering about in there?” His dad stood up from the couch, coffee mug in hand, and walked into the kitchen. George White wasn’t a small man, but he still stood a little shorter than Jonah. Was he a bit shorter than the last time Jonah had been home? His hair, once blond like Holland’s, was now gray. His eyes, a mirror of Jonah’s own, looked rested, and his cheeks were tinged with pink from his Caribbean vacation.
“Nothing much. How’s retirement and the RV life treating you?”
Holland turned where she sat on the couch, pointed two fingers at her eyes and then to Jonah in theI’m watching yousign. Jonah rolled his eyes and turned his back to her.
“RV life is great.” Setting his mug on the counter, his dad poured himself another cup and sprinkled cinnamon on top. “Your mom and I are thinking about heading down to Florida. Escaping somewhere warm.”
Jonah nodded. “Somewhere warm would be nice.”
“Was that a work call I heard you on?”
Jonah shot a look over to Holland, who seemed very interested in the commercials on the TV while she bit into her apple.
“It wasn’t anything important. Just Reeves calling about a patient who recently got discharged.”
“Everything okay?” His eyes were sharp, as if he knew Jonah had something to tell him. Jonah never could keep anything from his dad for very long.
“Yeah, everything’s good.” Jonah picked an apple from the fruit bowl and twisted the stem off.
His dad hummed.
“So, Jonah, how long is your leave for?” his mom asked, joining them in the kitchen, her feet clad in a mismatched pair of Santa socks. She had her silver hair pulled back in a ponytail, her face glowing tan from the cruise.
“I have to report back on base by the seventh.” The blood rushed in Jonah’s ears.
“Oh, we were hoping you’d get to stay through January.” His mom refilled her coffee, adding in some of Holland’s homemade syrup. “It’s so long since you’ve been home.”
“Aren’t you up for reenlistment soon?” His dad took a drink of his coffee. “We should talk about plans. If you want to continue on in the Army, or if you’re interested in coming back here and taking over the clinic.”
Wait.Ifhe was interested in coming back and taking over the clinic? That sounded like he had a choice. Had he always had a choice?
He put the apple back into the fruit bowl. “I don’t want to be a doctor anymore.”
That had been the worst confession in the history of all confessions. Jonah looked back and forth between his parents, waiting for the pain and disappointment to appear on their faces.
But instead of heart-wrenching sadness, his parents’ expressions were thoughtful. Tears shimmered in his mom’s eyes. Were they happy tears?
“Do you know what you want to do instead?” his mom asked, a hopeful tilt to her voice.
Jonah’s heart started to calm. His parents hadn’t freaked out over him not wanting to practice medicine any longer, but would they feel the same when they heard what he wanted to do instead? That he wanted to trade a secure livelihood for one that had more risks than guarantees?
“I want to move home and reopen the old bookstore.”
He glanced at his mom and dad.
His mom squealed, clapping her hands together.
“You’re not mad?” Jonah frowned. This reaction was unexpected. Better than he could have hoped for, but still unexpected.
