“Mac was married?” Scott said. “I thought he was divorced.”

“He’s been divorced for years, but the beautiful woman still thought of herself as his wife. I’m surprised I didn’t faint. She had walked out on Mac and the kids ten years before, and I knew that. That doesn’t exactly recommend her, right? But I still had visions of her moving that fabulous wardrobe into his closet. I was panicked for a while, until I remembered who Mac was. And until he had a chance to catch his breath and figure out how to deal with her. It was very hard to be patient, to trust him.”

“I know there’s a lesson in here somewhere,” Scott said.

“Well, you keep coming back here, and I know it’s not for the tuna!” Gina said.

“Lay it on me,” he said.

“You should trust Peyton,” she said. “You should believe in her if you love her. She’s a smart woman. She knows—some people are what they drive and some people are what drives them. She knows that.”

“Have you seen what she drives?” he asked, referring to the hundred-thousand-dollar car.

“Yup. We’ve had some laughs about it. She said it drives like a dream, but now that she’s had time to think things over, she probably wouldn’t have done it. Her father calls her moneybags, and she thinks she bought it to be less lonely. My money’s on Peyton’s good sense. I know she likes nice things, but she’s not motivated by them. At least, that’s my impression. She’s not superficial.”

“It’s not easy,” he said. He looked at her and smiled. “When you love someone you want to give them everything. You don’t want them to have to settle for less.”

“I guess you have to know what’s more and what’s less to them.”

“And I guess we’ll find out,” Scott said. He put down the sandwich and wiped his mouth with his napkin.

“You finished?” she asked. “Or can I get you dessert? Maybe a little self-pity to go with that?”

“Go easy on me, Gina. I love her. I never thought I’d find her, and now I have and I love her.”

“I understand completely. Just don’t be a fool. Don’t judge Peyton by the short measure you’re using on yourself right now. She knows what’s really valuable. If you resembled the guy in the fancy car, she would have been out of here weeks ago. I believe that.”

“Well, we both know I don’t resemble him.” He stood and threw a few bills on the counter. “Thanks for the tuna. And the advice.”

* * *

It was about nine Monday evening when Scott heard his cell phone singing. He opened his eyes, sat up and whacked his head on the dining-room table, then crawled out of the blanket fort. He was on all fours in search of his phone. He found it in the living room and answered before looking at the ID.

“Were you in the shower?” Peyton asked. “It took you so long to answer.”

“I was in the fort,” he said. “I fell asleep.”

She laughed. “Did you hit your head?”

“I did,” he said, rubbing it. “I think I’m going to get rid of the table and pitch the tent in the dining room. It’s probably safer.”

She laughed some more. “Why don’t you do something with the basement, now that Gabby’s gone? Turn it into a playroom and pitch the tent down there? Where they’re safe and out of your hair sometimes.”

“I’ve thought about that. Will wants to know if he can move down there.”

“Are you going to let him?”

“Eventually, I guess. I think it might lose some of its charm once he’s allowed down there all the time. How are you? How’s everyone?”

She sighed. “I’m exhausted, but not from Adele and the baby—they’re easy. My brother-in-law Lucas is around so much these days. He runs between home and the restaurant. He accepts his family’s offerings, but only he cooks for his wife and for me. And his family—typical big Basque family—are here every day. Some of them drive for hours to stay a little while because Lucas and Adele have a pretty small flat in the city, and I have the baby’s room right now. They’re looking for a house, but they want to stay near the restaurant because his hours are crazy. When they find a bigger place and his entire family can come and stay over, I will be sure not to be here. They’re lovely people, but seriously—how much extended family can one person take?”

“Will your parents come?” he asked.

“Ah, they can’t. The pears have been harvested, and the potatoes are coming in. It’s such a busy farm during the harvest. And this year they’re going to cut Christmas trees.”

“Christmas trees?” he asked.

“Part of the farm is a tree farm. Papa started them a long time ago, and they’re finally reaching the height needed to bring the best price. And get this—rather than selling them to a distributor or retailer, he’s going to hire flatbeds and send my brother Matt and some crew to sell them where they’ll have the best chance of succeeding, like Las Vegas or Phoenix.” She laughed. “I’m dying to see if Papa goes with them to manage them. He can’t keep his nose out of anything.”

“Christmas trees,” Scott said. “That farm does it all.”

“They try. Adele will take the baby to the farm before it gets too cold up there, but I don’t know if Lucas can stay sane through much more time off. He’s starting to twitch. How’s the clinic doing?”

“It’s limping along. The doctor misses you, but I miss you most when the clinic is closed.”

“Ah, you are so brave, going it alone,” she said.

“I wasn’t going to ask this,” he said. “Have you heard from Ted?”

“Not a word. But then, his number is blocked, remember? And he doesn’t know I’m in San Francisco unless you told him.”

“Me? Believe me, Ted isn’t going to check in with me!”

“I talk to you at least twice a day, and you never ask me when I’m coming back.”

“I have no backbone,” he said. “I’m afraid of the answer.”

“You have no backbone?” she asked with a laugh. “You, who took two preschoolers on a hunt for a perfect small town in which to be the only doctor? You, who hired a young woman who had just escaped from a cult to manage your office? You, who will go out to a bus accident when they’re not your patients and you’re not on call just to see if you can help?”

“Me, who wants you to be sure this is what you want before you come back,” he said.

“I owe you a month,” she said. “I made a commitment.”

“That’s off the table. I’d rather have you in the best possible place than here for another month out of obligation. It’s so important you have no regrets, Peyton. But I do miss you and want you, enough to crawl through the phone. Seriously, I’d give up my life savings for one hour with you.”

“Oh, Scott, that’s so lovely....”

“My life savings will probably buy you a slice of Stu’s pie. You should stay away from the meat loaf. No one is sure what’s in it.”

She laughed at him. “I miss you so much. And there’s no one I’d rather have a slice of pie with than you. Do you have a lot of patients tomorrow?”