“You’re angry,” she said.

He shook his head. “I want you to know something. I want you to think about this. There is nothing you have that I can’t live without, except you.”

“Scott...”

Her cell phone rang.

“Go ahead and take it,” he said. “Ted showing up rattled me, too. I’m going to walk around outside for a few minutes. We need to get a grip before we say things we can’t take back.”

And with that, he turned and left the office.

She stared after him for a second, then looked at her phone, saw that it was Adele calling, and she picked up. “Hey, girl.”

“Peyton, I know this isn’t on your schedule. I’m sorry. But my water broke.”

“You’re early!”

“But not too early. It’s okay. I know you might not be able to come.”

“No! I’ll come! Are you in labor?”

“Nothing yet. But I’m going to be spending the night at the hospital.”

“Okay, darling, okay. I’m going to throw some things in a suitcase and start driving. We don’t exactly have hourly flights out of North Bend. I’ll be there in eight hours or so and will call you for updates when I’m on the road.”

“I’ll try to hold her back,” Adele said with a laugh. “Are you sure your doctor can spare you on such short notice?”

He’ll probably be glad to see me go, she thought. “It’ll work out fine. Love you, kiddo.”

Although there was a part of her that wanted to break into a run, to rush to Adele, another part hated to leave Scott like this. She went to find him. As she walked out of the office, she noticed the back door to the alley behind the small strip mall stood open. He was out there. He probably didn’t go out the front door for fear he’d run into Ted. And if he needed some time alone, he wouldn’t want to bump into his friends and neighbors.

She peeked out. He was pacing, head down. It made her smile. He didn’t have an easy time with being angry. And no matter what he said, she knew he was mad. “Scott?”

He stopped pacing and looked up. She wanted to smooth out those lines across his forehead.

“I’m sorry about what I said, what I asked, about your wife.”

“Forget it. I know you didn’t mean anything. Listen, I’m not trying to replace Serena. In fact, I didn’t think I could fall in love again. And I hoped if I did I wouldn’t fall for another woman who tripped over her own damn feet.”

Peyton smiled in spite of herself. She hoped Serena heard all that, knew that she had been loved even for her flaws. “I’ve been called a perfectionist, which I never took as an insult until my mother told me that perfectionists are very hard on the people around them.”

“And did she mention that perfectionists are rarely perfect?” he asked.

“Something else came up, Scott. It’s Adele. Her water broke. She’s going to be having that baby within twenty-four hours. She’s a little early, but not too early. If she doesn’t go into labor, they’ll induce, and if that doesn’t prove productive, they’ll do a C-section.”

“When do you have to leave?”

“I’m afraid I have to leave right away. Babies don’t watch our schedules. I promised I’d be with her. If it was anyone else...”

“Don’t worry. We’ll manage.”

“Devon made several appointments for me today.”

“The clinic has been operating on a best case schedule for the past year. I can’t be everywhere, every day. There have been times we’ve had to close up the shop and send our people to an urgent care or ER in the nearest town, just like before I got here. That’s how it is when you’re the only doctor in town. Go.” He reached out and touched her cheek. “Do you want me to come with you?”

“You can’t, Scott,” she said, shaking her head. “You have patients and kids and lots going on. You took four days last week and—”

“If you need me, I’ll find a way.”

She tilted her head and smiled. “You’re a dear, sweet man.”

He looked away from her, and she could see he was grinding his teeth. If he wasn’t angry, this was a very good imitation. “Scott?”

“I don’t want to be a goddamn dear man! I want to be the one you can’t break away from, the one you can’t resist, can’t leave behind. I want to be so far under your skin you can’t escape. I want to drive you crazy with want, with lust. I want you for a lot more than your PA training, and I want you to be completely unable to say no to me.” He pulled her up in his arms and held her tight, kissing her hard, invading her mouth, groaning against her lips. Her arms wrapped around him, her mouth yielding and even deepening the kiss. He bruised her lips with the fury in his kiss. They stood like that for at least a minute. His hand rose slowly until he captured a fistful of that soft black hair and held on. Then he eased his grip. He let go reluctantly. “I’m sorry. I shouldn’t lash out at you.”

“I think I understand,” she said.

“Tell me something, and tell me the truth—were you tempted, for even a second, to follow him home and get him back on his feet?”

She looked at him pleadingly. “I invested a lot in him, in his family. All I wanted was to be appreciated. And now he does appreciate me. Too late, but...”

“Ouch,” Scott said.

“But I wouldn’t,” she said. “I wouldn’t.”

“Listen. Take some time,” he whispered. “Hold the baby, help your sister, think about what you really want. Make your next move the right one. For both our sakes.”

“I will. I’ll call you,” she said. “I’m not running away. This is pure coincidence.”

“I just want you to be safe. And happy. Take as much time as you need. Come back if you’re....” He swallowed. “Take your time. Be sure,” he said.

Fifteen

Gina watched her husband walk across the street toward the diner from his office. She admired the fine figure he cut in his deputy’s uniform. The young girls in town called him Deputy Yummy Pants.

Ever since he’d moved to town over four years ago, he had occupied that office, and from the beginning, before they’d become a couple, he’d been having his morning coffee break with Gina unless there was other pressing police business. Mac had four deputies working for him, and between them, the town was always covered. Mac had taken good care of the town.

And now this was going to change. He was moving on. Moving up.

He walked in, took his usual seat at the counter and collected his kiss. It was the public kiss—just a little matrimonial smack.

“I got the call¸” he said. “Would you like to sleep with Lieutenant McCain tonight?”

“Is he as lovely as Sergeant McCain? Or should I just put a call in to Mac, who always steps up? When is it happening?”

“Soon. A couple of weeks. My replacement is coming in about a week. He’s held a satellite office like this before, though in a smaller town, so it shouldn’t be a big transition for him. And then I start working in Coquille.”

Gina and Mac had been talking about the possibility for months. This promotion gave Mac more responsibility, worse hours and a small raise. “It feels like the end of an era to me,” Gina said. “We did our whole courtship right here at this lunch counter.”