Page 54 of Gage

Nica jumped up and started pacing back and forth in front of Jill, mumbling to herself all the reasons anybody finding out was a really bad thing.

“I promise, but Nica this is huge. For one thing, he’s older than you. Personally, I don’t care about that, but some people will frown on the age difference. Then again, he’s a friend of the family. Add in the fact he’s your dad doctor, and it’s a recipe for disaster.”

“Don’t you think I know that? It doesn’t matter anyway because we’re never going to see each other again.”

Jill snickered and Nica shot her a dirty look. “It’s going to be kind of hard to avoid seeing him when he’s the town physician. Unless you plan to live under a rock, you’re going to run into him eventually.”

“Oh, it’ll be easy enough to avoid him since he’s leaving Shiloh Springs.”

“What? I hadn’t heard anything about that. This isn’t good. Too many people depend on him now that Doc Jennings has retired. Are you sure he’s moving?”

Am I sure? Since that was the straw that broke the camel’s back, his decision to leave Shiloh Springs, yeah, I’m sure.

“Positive.”

“Nica, honey, is that what you two are fighting about? Maybe you can convince him to stay. If you care about him, you can make it work.”

Nica looked at Jill, her eyes burning with unshed tears. “Remember when I said it was complicated? The leaving Shiloh Springs part is hard enough, but how do I explain to my parents Gabe and I eloped, and he wants me to move away with him?”