Page 38 of Meet Me at the Christmas Cottage (Jonathon Island #6)

“I don’t believe in fate or destiny or meet-cutes or anything that you’re going to try to talk me into.” Bronte sealed her statement with a gulp of tea. It was scalding, but she bit her tongue to keep from showing the pain.

Lexi waved a hand. “I’m not talking about any of those things. Maybe God wanted you to meet Jonah.”

“Why would He want me to do that? Just to break my heart and laugh all over again?” Another sip of scalding hot tea. Maybe it’d burn the pain away.

“I don’t think God is laughing, and maybe this whole thing with Jonah isn’t over yet.”

Bronte sighed. “Maybe God brought me into Jonah’s life for a reason, but it was probably just to make him realize what had been right in front of him.”

“Mm. Maybe.” Lexi picked up her mug and slurped her tea.

“What’s that supposed to mean?” Bronte pushed away her laptop. “Why are you taking his side?”

“I’m on your side, Bronte. Always have been, always will be. But I just feel like there’s more here. Did he say anything to you before you left?”

Bronte bit her lip. “Not really. I left the ball and started working as soon as I got back to the house. Then by the time he showed up, we had two minutes before his family surprised him.”

She tried to think back to the two minutes before his family had arrived.

Had there been something there? She hadn’t really let him talk or explain or say anything, sure he was just going to tell her what they had was a mistake and that he and Bree really loved each other.

But it didn’t seem as if that was what he’d been going to say.

“And you didn’t say goodbye, did you? You just snuck out.”

“I said goodbye to Cody, and Jonah’s sister Amy.”

“And did neither of them say anything about this whole thing?”

“Cody took me to the docks. And told me…” Actually, she had been too upset and focused on keeping it all together when Cody told her bye. “I don’t remember what he told me.”

“I think you need to talk this over with Jonah.”

But Bronte’s head already shook back and forth. “I can’t, Lex.”

“What? Why not? You need to get your man. It’s your turn.”

“He’s not my man. He just happened to come home on the same night I arrived. We had an amazing week, and then it wasn’t. Maybe I just need to face the fact that I’ll always be the stand-in until the right thing comes along.”

“You can’t mean that.”

“Of course I mean it. It happened to me over and over in foster care. The Martins only wanted to adopt me until they got pregnant with their own child, and then Brad, and now Jonah…” Bronte shook her head.

“This is real life, Lexi. People don’t run after their long-lost loves.

Sometimes things just happen, and all they are meant to be is a blip in this thing called life. ”

“No, about always being the stand-in.”

“It’s happened all my life, Lexi. What else am I supposed to be?”

“We live in a very broken world, Bronte. Maybe you do feel like you’re just standing in for someone else until the ‘real prize’ arrives, but I happen to know that God thinks you’re the real prize, and you’ll never be a stand-in for Him. You’ll always belong, Bronte.”

Bronte shrugged, emotion thick in her throat.

Hadn’t Jonah said something similar? She pulled her laptop back onto her lap but didn’t open it yet.

She didn’t want to talk about this anymore, but she was feeling the tug of depressing thoughts.

If she gave in to them, she’d spiral again, and she’d never get this book done on time.

She opened her laptop. Time to get back to work.

* * *

Jonah listened as Reeves gave him the update about Sgt.

Collins, the soldier Jonah had operated on before his leave.

He’d asked to be kept in the loop on his care, and the sergeant had been doing so well he was being released early.

The operation had had a few minor complications, so Jonah was relieved that post-op had gone smoothly.

“Sounds good, Reeves.” Jonah pushed the button to end the call.

“Whoa, big bro, sounds like someone just sprinkled dirt on your waffles.” Holland, blonde hair piled on top of her head much like Bronte wore hers when she was working, came up beside him, holding a mug of coffee out in his direction.

He couldn’t help but think of the scent of the vanilla caramel Bronte preferred. She’d left a tin of it on the counter.

Jonah nodded his thanks before taking a sip of coffee. “Just work stuff. A patient I had been caring for was released.”

Holland studied him over the rim of her mug. “I think it’s about time to have that talk with Mom and Dad.”

“Mm.” Jonah set his coffee down on the counter and moved to the fridge.

“Jonah, I’m serious. You’ve been moping around since we all got back.” She paused. “Since Bronte left.”

Jonah was finished looking in the fridge, but he didn’t close the door.

He stayed hidden, letting his eyes slide closed at the mention of her.

He had somehow made it through the past three days, and yes, maybe he had been a bit quieter than normal, but if he wasn’t thinking about Bronte, he was thinking about how to talk to his dad about not being a doctor anymore.

He was trading one torture for another. Amy, Mika Beth, and Halle had left the day after Christmas, headed back to the mainland where they shared a house.

“If you don’t tell them, I will.”

Jonah snapped the fridge door closed, eyes darting to where his parents sat on the couch watching a movie, and hissed, “You wouldn’t dare.”

Holland regarded him with her eyebrows raised. She snagged an apple from the fruit bowl on the counter and walked backward toward the living room, not taking her eyes off him. She wasn’t kidding.

“What are you two whispering about in there?” His dad stood up from the couch, coffee mug in hand, and walked into the kitchen.

George White wasn’t a small man, but he still stood a little shorter than Jonah.

Was he a bit shorter than the last time Jonah had been home?

His hair, once blond like Holland’s, was now gray.

His eyes, a mirror of Jonah’s own, looked rested, and his cheeks were tinged with pink from his Caribbean vacation.

“Nothing much. How’s retirement and the RV life treating you?”

Holland turned where she sat on the couch, pointed two fingers at her eyes and then to Jonah in the I’m watching you sign. Jonah rolled his eyes and turned his back to her.

“RV life is great.” Setting his mug on the counter, his dad poured himself another cup and sprinkled cinnamon on top. “Your mom and I are thinking about heading down to Florida. Escaping somewhere warm.”

Jonah nodded. “Somewhere warm would be nice.”

“Was that a work call I heard you on?”

Jonah shot a look over to Holland, who seemed very interested in the commercials on the TV while she bit into her apple.

“It wasn’t anything important. Just Reeves calling about a patient who recently got discharged.”

“Everything okay?” His eyes were sharp, as if he knew Jonah had something to tell him. Jonah never could keep anything from his dad for very long.

“Yeah, everything’s good.” Jonah picked an apple from the fruit bowl and twisted the stem off.

His dad hummed.

“So, Jonah, how long is your leave for?” his mom asked, joining them in the kitchen, her feet clad in a mismatched pair of Santa socks. She had her silver hair pulled back in a ponytail, her face glowing tan from the cruise.

“I have to report back on base by the seventh.” The blood rushed in Jonah’s ears.

“Oh, we were hoping you’d get to stay through January.” His mom refilled her coffee, adding in some of Holland’s homemade syrup. “It’s so long since you’ve been home.”

“Aren’t you up for reenlistment soon?” His dad took a drink of his coffee. “We should talk about plans. If you want to continue on in the Army, or if you’re interested in coming back here and taking over the clinic.”

Wait. If he was interested in coming back and taking over the clinic? That sounded like he had a choice. Had he always had a choice?

He put the apple back into the fruit bowl. “I don’t want to be a doctor anymore.”

That had been the worst confession in the history of all confessions. Jonah looked back and forth between his parents, waiting for the pain and disappointment to appear on their faces.

But instead of heart-wrenching sadness, his parents’ expressions were thoughtful. Tears shimmered in his mom’s eyes. Were they happy tears?

“Do you know what you want to do instead?” his mom asked, a hopeful tilt to her voice.

Jonah’s heart started to calm. His parents hadn’t freaked out over him not wanting to practice medicine any longer, but would they feel the same when they heard what he wanted to do instead? That he wanted to trade a secure livelihood for one that had more risks than guarantees?

“I want to move home and reopen the old bookstore.”

He glanced at his mom and dad.

His mom squealed, clapping her hands together.

“You’re not mad?” Jonah frowned. This reaction was unexpected. Better than he could have hoped for, but still unexpected.

“We’ve been waiting for this day for years!” his dad said, clapping him on his back.

Coffee sloshed over the side of Jonah’s mug, landing with a splash on the floor. He set it on the counter and washed his hands in the sink.

“Why would we be mad?” his mother asked, clutching his arm.

“Because I don’t want to take over the clinic from Dad.” He reached for a towel and dried his hands before tossing it next to the sink. “Because I spent so much time in med school and years in the Army, and I want to throw it all away. And if I don’t take over the clinic, it’ll break Dad’s heart.”

“First of all,” his dad said as he put an arm on Jonah’s shoulder, “you’ve taken a lot of this on yourself. I wish you would have come and talked to me sooner. It wasn’t the plan, but Nova Lake’s doing an exceptional job, and everyone loves her. I can see if she’d be interested in buying me out.”