ALISON"Dr. Wakely, I didn't know you'd be back today! How was your trip?" Gina, my office's assistant manager, appeared in my doorway holding a steaming cup of coffee and a pile of paperwork. "It was fine." I pasted on a smile that I hoped didn't look as phony as it felt. "Bet it was nice to be in California," Gina went on. "I've never been further west than Tennessee. Did you see any movie stars?" I shook my head. "Wrong part of the state. I mean, there might be a couple up in the Bay Area, but none who I saw. Besides, I spent most of the time either in the hotel or at the nursing home where my . . . relative lives.""Oh." Her face fell into sympathetic lines. "Yeah, that's right, I think someone told me that you were flying out there to see your family. I didn't realize that's where you were from. I thought you lived in the northeast somewhere before you came to Florida.""I did. Philadelphia." I accepted the papers she handed to me. "But I grew up in California. And yes, i
NOAH"Was that the doorbell I heard?" I stepped out of the bathroom, using a towel to dry off my hair. It was longer than I'd ever worn it, I observed absently to myself. I should probably think about getting a haircut."What?" Juliet was perched on the bed, her pink robe wrapped around her, her face still flushed from the hot water. Or maybe it was more than just the water . . . as a reward for getting through a painful, challenging session at physical therapy, she'd joined me in the shower and given me an incredible blow job. "I thought I heard the doorbell ring right after you got out of the shower. Who was it?" "Oh." She frowned, and I saw a shadow of something I didn't recognize pass over her eyes. "No, it wasn't the doorbell. It must've been on TV.""Really?" I glanced at the huge blank screen that hung on the wall. Juliet's face flushed even redder. "I turned it off, okay? I was checking something on ESPN, and when I saw what I wanted to see, I clicked it off. Why are y
NOAHNoah"Hey! Good to see you again, Noah!" Two of the rookies I'd only met a few times before I'd been injured greeted me as they came into the living room. Both were big guys, built like brick walls, and both looked so young I wanted to cry. When had rookies started looking like such babies? Or was it just now, that my time in the sun was over, that I realized this truth? I stifled a sigh and struggled to get to my feet. If I swayed a little, I hoped they'd think it was the injury and not the booze. I'd already consumed a copious amount today just to get through this fucking party. Lucky for me, Juliet was making sure I didn't take anything that I shouldn't when I was going to be drinking."Welcome." I stuck out my hand to shake theirs one at a time. "Glad you could make it.""You look good, man." One of the rookies plucked at the sleeve of the black leather jacket I was wearing. "I read an article about you online the other day, being with Juliet and everything. Nice work th
NOAHI shook off that vague worry now, though, as Deacon and Emma climbed the porch steps. Emma's expression was guarded as she approached me, and I noticed that Deacon kept his hand on her back. They both stopped a few feet short of me. Emma cleared her throat. "Hello, Noah. You look-good." Her eyes roved down me, and one of her brows rose. "I didn't realize this was the kind of party where people could go shirtless."I tossed back my last swallow of whiskey. "Em. You look good, too." I smirked. "You should know that in my mind, topless is always an option when it comes to you." Ignoring her small gasp of outrage, I shifted my gaze upwards a little. "Deacon. Glad you could both be here today. Gotta wonder who's saving the world at St. Agnes while you're gone, though." I'd meant the words to be a light jest, just a little tease, the way we always joked around. But I could see from the way Emma's eyes flared that she wasn't taking it that way. "I'm happy you're feeling better, N
NOAHEmma and Deacon didn't stay very long after that-big surprise. Emma wore this pinched, uptight expression, and as soon as Deacon wandered back to the porch, glancing at both of us cautiously, she grabbed his hand and told him that she was ready to leave. But she got in one more parting shot before she took off. "Noah, I love you." She laid her slim, cool hands on either side of my face, staring into my eyes. "You really are my best friend, and I don't want that to change. But look at what you're doing. Look at the choices you're making, the life you're leading. It's a mess. It's not you. If Angela could see-" She broke off, either because of her own emotion or because she saw the pain in my eyes. "Noah, she wouldn't recognize you. I barely do. So please, please, sweetie, do me a favor and slow down. Think about all of this." She'd tiptoed up to kiss my cheek. "And don't forget to call me, because I miss you." I patted her back, mumbled something that I hoped sounded convinc
NOAHI awoke the morning after the party to a cotton mouth, throbbing head, and a wrecked house. Well, it wasn't destroyed in the sense of what a home might look like after a high school all-night kegger, but there was trash in the kitchen and living room and on the front porch . . . dishes left all over, glasses and bottles everywhere, and a general sense of . . . mess.Yeah, it was a mess. Everything was a mess, including me. As I dropped down to sit at my kitchen table, reality crashed down over me, and it wasn't pretty. I'd spent the last months doing exactly what Coach Briars had said last night. I'd been throwing a temper tantrum, kicking and screaming against life because things hadn't gone my way. Now that I forced myself to really look at everything, I realized it wasn't just about losing football, either. It was . . . all of it. Angela being sick, Angela dying, being alone for so long . . . thinking that I could find my way back to normal with Emma and having those hopes
ALISON Alison"Well, Alison, no surprises here." Maggie Corning, the nurse-practitioner midwife who'd been handling my gynecological care since I'd moved to Florida, tapped the tablet in her hand. The results of my recent blood test were displayed on the screen. "As you suspected-or knew-you're pregnant, and my exam, along with the date of your last period, puts you at about eleven weeks along." She regarded me for a moment before adding, "We can do an ultrasound to narrow that down and confirm timing if you like, or we can wait a little while longer. That's up to you." I was still wearing the cotton examination gown and sitting on Maggie's table. Her midwifery practice was as holistic and sustainable as she could make it while still maintaining standards of cleanliness, and I always appreciated that I didn't have to sit around in a crinkly, uncomfortable paper gown when I visited her for my annual appointment. I also liked the fact that she saw herself as a partner in my health c
ALISON Anna and Jimmy Girard, Deacon's grandparents, lived on a large family farm a few miles outside of Harper Springs. Their property jutted against the land that Emma had bought when she moved down here, and now that Emma and Deacon were living in her cabin, I knew that they loved being closer to the older couple. I'd been to the farm often when I lived in Harper Springs because while we were building Emma's cabin, Anna and Jimmy had helped us and frequently fed us at their kitchen table, too. The old farmhouse was the most comfortable, most welcoming home I'd ever known. So I didn't feel the least bit uncomfortable to park on the side of the house and push open the kitchen door, calling as I did. "Hello! I'm here to volunteer as a taste-tester." "And just in time!" Drying her hands on her apron, Anna hustled over to me, drawing me into a tight hug. "Look at you. You're beautiful." She held my chin in her hand, smiling into my eyes. "You're practically glowing." My cheek