Page 19

NINETEEN

Meredith woke the next morning and, for the first time since she’d moved home to Gossamer Falls, considered calling in sick. She could have her office manager reschedule her patients. She could stay in her pajamas. She could read or watch TV. She could sleep. Sleep would be good.

She didn’t hurt in her sleep.

In sleep, she didn’t have to slow her heart rate and breathing rate when she remembered the way Gray said she’d torn down his walls and that her laughter had the power to destroy the stones he wanted to rebuild with.

In sleep, she didn’t flush with remembered embarrassment every time she thought about what she’d said to Gray.

She’d been cruel. She’d taken the loving things he’d said to her and used them as weapons against him.

She’d hurt him, and then she’d walked away.

She piled on the self-recrimination until her snooze went off. Then she threw back the covers and went downstairs. The phone—his phone—sat on her counter. Taunting her. It was his private phone, not his work phone, so she hadn’t stressed about returning it last night. But she would have to return it to him this morning.

The best plan would be to take it to the police station. She could leave it with the front desk and make sure they told him.

But taking it to the police station meant running the risk of seeing him. It wasn’t a large building. He could hear her talking, or see her park, and come out. She couldn’t handle seeing him today.

Or, maybe, ever.

But definitely not today.

She left for work, still undecided about what to do with the phone that now rested in her purse. Her new phone rang five minutes after she pulled onto the main road.

Mo had been in Asheville and had stopped by their cell provider and had everything transferred from her backups on the cloud and onto a new phone before she even went to sleep. She still had her old number and everything. It was good to have a tech geek in the family.

Mo had known she was upset last night, but he hadn’t pressed her to spill her guts. Instead he’d handed her the phone, hugged her tight, and then when the dam broke on her emotions, he held her while she cried.

She was so tired of crying. But she was also tired of being afraid. Of looking at every friend with suspicion. Of asking Mo to scan her home, her car, and her clothing for bugs. Of being relieved when they weren’t there, but also afraid that they might have missed something.

She missed singing in her car and talking to herself as she got ready for the day. But how could she do any of that when there was a chance someone was listening?

And mostly she was tired of being alone with all of it. She couldn’t talk to Gray. And she didn’t want to keep burdening Mo or Cal with her drama.

Poor Mo. He’d been the one to bear the brunt of her emotions lately, and last night was no exception.

When her tears had finally dried up, he rested his chin on her head and asked, “Are you sure you don’t want me to kill him?”

“I’m sure.”

“I have some new ideas—”

“No.”

“Offer stands.”

She knew he was joking. She also knew he was so angry with Gray that he could hardly see straight, which made the fact that he’d sent Gray after her even more telling. Mo had been truly afraid for her last night.

Gray had been afraid too.

Maybe all those sweet nothings had been a reaction to fear and today he’d be back to normal. He’d remember that he didn’t want to have a relationship with her or anyone.

Or maybe he’d gone home after she’d viciously fired back at him and decided that he’d dodged a bullet when he’d broken her heart.

The phone rang again, and she tried to answer with her Bluetooth, then realized that it wasn’t going to work until she connected the new phone to her 4Runner’s sound system. She accepted the call on her watch. “Hello.”

The voice on the other end was frantic. “Oh, Dr. Quinn. Are you on your way in?”

“Yes, Lucy. What’s wrong?” Lucy had run her front office for the last two years. The young woman was a managerial whiz, but she could be a bit dramatic.

“It’s Lottie Green.” Lucy was nearly hyperventilating. “Her mom has her in the lobby. I think she has an abscess. Poor baby is crying. I think she’s in so much pain that she’s panicking.”

The poor baby in question was eight, and while she probably was crying, Meredith suspected that Lucy was embellishing the details.

But on the bright side, she now had an excuse to delay the phone return.

She winced at her own thoughts. Grayson Ward had truly driven her over the edge.

“I’ll be there in five minutes, Lucy. Tell Lottie to hang on.”

“Oh, thank goodness. Should I call Sheila?” Sheila was Meredith’s hygienist. An excellent one. But she had kids to take to school in the morning. “No. We’ll manage.”

“Okay. See you in a few.”

An hour later, Lottie was no longer crying, and her mom was taking her to school. Meredith was two patients behind, and she’d only had one cup of coffee. She dashed into the kitchen to grab a second cup and caught a glimpse of someone—a male someone, a male someone in uniform—leaving through the front door.

“Meredith!” Her aunt Minnie came into the kitchen with a huge smile on her face.

“Oh, Dr. Quinn!” Lucy followed Aunt Minnie, holding a vase filled with gorgeous paperbush blossoms. “These are for you!”

“What?” Meredith looked from her aunt to Lucy.

“Your policeman brought them.” Aunt Minnie grinned at her. “Mama says he’s your man, and last night she prayed that you would see that.”

“Please tell me she didn’t.” Meredith tried to hide her shock with laughter.

“Oh, she did.” Minnie’s earnestness couldn’t be doubted.

Lucy doubled over with laughter but kept her hold on the flowers. “Dr. Quinn, if your granny is praying about you and Gray, you should probably go ahead and marry the man.”

Meredith ignored her and stared at the flowers. Her mind refused to process what she was seeing.

“Don’t you like them, Merry?” Aunt Minnie reached out and touched one blossom. “They’re pretty.”

Lucy looked from Aunt Minnie to Meredith to the flowers and then put on a huge smile. “Come on, Aunt Minnie.” She pointed back to the reception area. “Let’s go put these on the front desk where everyone can enjoy them today.”

“Lucy, wait.” Meredith practically chased her down and grabbed at the vase with trembling hands. “Thank you. I’ll put them on my desk.”

“Are you sure?”

“Yes.”

Meredith tucked the vase in the crook of her left arm and pulled Aunt Minnie in for a hug with her right. “You’re right, Minnie Moo. They are beautiful. You won’t mind if I keep them on my desk, will you?”

Aunt Minnie’s face lit, and she spoke with innocent sincerity. “You should keep them in your office. He brought them for you.”

“Excellent. Thank you both.”

Lucy chatted with Aunt Minnie as they returned to the front, and once they were back at the desk, Meredith forced herself to take measured steps as she returned to her office. Once inside, she closed the door, then set the vase on her desk and plucked the tiny white card from the blooms. The scrawl on the note was firm and bold, much like the man who had written it.

I kept a few of these for myself, and I put them in a vase in my office. They are yet another something that reminds me of you.

She stared at the words. The paperbushes grew on the side of the bank. They weren’t convenient to reach. He would have had to climb down to pick them.

Meredith studied the arrangement, then picked up the vase. Sure enough, on the bottom there was a tiny anchor. Landry’s mark.

He’d picked the flowers, then he’d gone to Cal and Landry’s for a vase. Then he’d hand delivered the arrangement to her.

“Dr. Quinn?”

Lucy’s voice came through the speaker on her office phone. “Yes, Lucy.”

“You have patients ready in rooms 1 and 3.”

“I’m coming.”

Meredith took three long breaths. Each one drew the scent of the paperbushes toward her, but she set down the note on her desk and forced all thoughts of flowers and cryptic notes and men who made her want to scream from her mind.

She had patients to see.

And at lunch, she had a phone to return.