Page 48 of A Hidden Hope
Evie settled onto a picnic table bench over by the Bent N’ Dent, the warm sun filtering through the trees.
It was such a beautiful October day, with a lingering hint of summer’s warmth.
The nights were getting longer and colder, and while she usually dreaded the coming of winter—how on earth had she ever thought she could survive a winter in Alaska?
—this year felt different. Instead of dread, she felt excitement about the future.
It was a big change for her, and honestly, it felt good. Really, really good.
Just then, she heard a door slam and looked up to see Charlie coming out of Dok’s garden-level office, thick books and notes piled under both arms. Halfway across the driveway, one of the books slipped from his hold, and as he bent down to pick it up, the others tumbled to the ground.
His notebook opened wide, sending papers scattering everywhere.
As he scrambled to gather his things, Evie couldn’t help but smile. Oh , Charlie. She loved him so much; he had so many gifts, but organization definitely wasn’t one of them. It was like watching a golden retriever puppy try to catch its tail—adorably chaotic.
The silver lining? Dok’s confidence in Charlie was steadily increasing.
Evie could see it. The more he got his hands on real cases—learning treatments, understanding procedures, diagnosing injuries and diseases—the better doctor he became.
It was like a switch flipped when he familiarized himself with the task at hand; everything just clicked into place.
In the meantime, Evie accepted Dok’s offer to work at the practice as both nurse and office manager, taking over Annie’s job—at least until Dok could find a replacement.
That meant she didn’t have much time to spare, but when she did, she helped Charlie prep for round two of the boards.
But even she could see that traditional study methods weren’t cutting it.
One day, during a lunch study session, she put down the anatomical index cards she’d made for him. “Charlie, were you ever tested for a reading disorder? Like dyslexia?”
He looked at her like the thought had never dawned on him. “No.”
“No one ever suggested it?”
He shook his head. “I was always told I wasn’t that smart. My high school counselor even said I shouldn’t bother with college.”
“What a terrible thing to say to a teenager!”
Charlie shrugged. “She wasn’t trying to discourage me. She was just trying to guide me toward a vocation. Something I’d be good at.”
And yet, here he was—a doctor. A really good doctor. Sure, he credited Wren with getting him this far, but Evie knew it was his own sheer, white-knuckled determination that had really done it. “How did Wren help you?”
“Well, mostly, she would talk through the material with me.”
“And hearing it out loud made it stick?”
“Pretty much.”
Evie’s mind started racing. Brilliant. Wren was onto something. She wondered if she’d known, or if she just stumbled on it. She crossed her arms, decisively. “Audiobooks.”
“Audiobooks?”
“That’s how you’re going to pass these boards. I’m going to scour the internet for audio versions of the study material. And if I can’t find them, I’ll record them myself.”
Charlie blinked. “You would do that for me?”
“Of course!”
“Why?”
“Because I believe you can be a great doctor. As good as Dok.”
Charlie’s eyes grew shiny. “No one has ever believed in me the way you do.”
Evie raised an eyebrow, clearly curious. “What about Wren?”
“She wanted me alongside her, but I’m not sure she was ever really convinced that I could make it. Certainly not without her help.” He leaned forward to give Evie a kiss on the lips. “You’re something special, you know that?”
No, she wasn’t. But the more time she spent with Charlie, the more she was starting to believe him.
Evie blinked back to the present, the warmth of that kiss lingering in her memory as she watched Charlie shuffle through his scattered notes.
He glanced up, pushing his hair back, a little breathless but grinning.
She tapped her screen, and the steady drone of the medical textbook filled the space between them.
Slowly, Charlie’s pen stilled, his frantic energy settling as he listened, his thoughts finding direction.
When he looked at her then, gratitude softened his eyes—along with something deeper, something certain. Love.
Evie just smiled.
Six months later, Charlie took the boards again.
And six weeks after that—on the very morning of his and Evie’s wedding—just before picking up Wren at the train station so she could stand in as his best, um, person (next to Darcy, who was serving as Evie’s maid of honor), he got the news: He’d passed.
Just like Evie always knew he would.