Page 2 of Rescuing Dr. Marian (Made Marian Legacy #1)

“Looks like you’re not getting into vacation mode, Sheriff,” he said, nodding at my jeans and the flannel button-down that still bore traces of my seatmate’s drink.

I laughed. “ I’m in paradise, but my luggage still has work to do.” I explained the delays that had led to my nearly missed connection and lost bags, and he winced sympathetically.

I snuck a glance at his finely tailored pants and still-semi-crisp button-down, rolled up to expose sexy forearms. “Meanwhile, you seem remarkably put together for someone who just got off a plane. Where were you flying from?”

Tommy spread hummus onto his pita and took a bite, groaning appreciatively. “It was only a short hopper flight for me today. I was at a medical conference on the Big Island this week.”

“What kind of doctor are you?”

He nodded. “Emergency medicine. I work in the ER at a busy trauma one hospital. Though…” He hesitated before adding, “I’m considering getting dual-boarded in anesthesia.”

“You don’t sound thrilled about it,” I observed.

Tommy spun his glass on the table, his expression growing distant.

“It’s complicated. I prefer emergency medicine, but anesthesia’s the smart career move if I want to settle down and have a family.

More predictable hours, better pay. It’s the path upward, and I’ve always worked hard to get to the next level. ”

“So you want to settle down and have a family?”

His eyes met mine, and I saw a vulnerable kind of yearning in them. “Yes,” he said simply. “Family’s everything to me.”

My heart rate kicked up. He seemed as devoted to his as I was to mine. “Same,” I murmured.

“So you know sometimes family means sacrifice,” he said with a little shrug.

While he was right, I felt like if I agreed with him, I’d be condoning a choice that would damn him to a life of compromise. Achievement and stability at the cost of his freedom and happiness.

“If your family loves you,” I hedged, “they’d want you to enjoy the journey, not just tick the boxes.”

Tommy sighed. “I don’t love living in the city,” he admitted softly.

“I couldn’t do it,” I said. “It wouldn’t be easy to have a dog, which is a dealbreaker.”

His expression brightened. “You have a dog?”

“Not currently, but I’m on the list for a Search and Rescue dog. Hopefully, I’ll get one by summer.”

“You could find a pup and train him up yourself.”

“It’s a lot of work,” I said. “I don’t have time for that. Better if I get one already trained from the program. Otherwise, they wouldn’t be ready for anything serious until summer after next.”

Tommy dredged another pita through the hummus. “Well, promise me if you get a dog, you’ll name him after this dip. It’s amazing.”

I laughed. “Hummus? Very professional name for a SAR dog.”

We continued talking as the evening progressed, ordering more drinks and appetizers.

I learned that Tommy had done a rotation in wilderness medicine in North Carolina, had a love for the outdoors that rivaled my own, and had a close-knit family who’d be arriving in the morning for a wedding.

He also told me about growing up in San Francisco and the mountain lodge his family owned, where he’d spent summers hiking and climbing.

I shared stories about my family, too, of course, and the experience of being sheriff in a small tourist town. When I told him about some of the more interesting rescues I’d been involved in, he’d leaned in like he was hanging on my every word.

Hours passed, and I realized I was having more fun talking to Tommy than I’d had in a long time.

His sense of humor, which had gotten me through the longest travel day ever, had me laughing out loud more than once, and there was something about his warm hazel eyes and genuine interest in what I had to say that made me feel seen in a way I hadn’t experienced before.

I started to think maybe I didn’t mind fate fucking with me after all. Not if it had led me here, with him.

As the night wore on, the bar began to fill with more people. A karaoke setup was wheeled out, and the first brave souls took to the makeshift stage .

“Oh no,” I groaned as an off-key rendition of “Don’t Stop Believin’” started up. “I should have known there’d be karaoke.”

Tommy grinned. “Not a fan?”

“My ex used to drag me to karaoke bars all the time. He was terrible, but he loved the attention.”

“Matthew-not-Matt, right? The high-maintenance one who was bad at monogamy?”

I was surprised he remembered. “That’s him. He?—”

I stopped mid-sentence as a familiar voice came over the speakers. “Don’t we all have that special someone, the one that got away? Foster, wherever you are out there in this big, beautiful world, this one’s for you!”

My blood ran cold as I slowly turned toward the stage. There, swaying slightly with the mic clutched in his hand, was Matthew. The opening notes of Katy Perry’s “The One That Got Away” began to play.

“Christ, no,” I muttered, turning back to Tommy with what must have been pure panic on my face.

“No way!” Tommy leaned forward, humor dancing in his eyes. “Is that?—?”

“In another life…” Matthew crooned off-key.

“He’s supposed to be in New York,” I hissed, slumping down in my chair, wishing I could disappear.

Tommy’s expression shifted from amusement to concern. “What do you need?”

“A hole to crawl into? A time machine?” I ran a hand through my hair. “I can’t deal with him right now. Not after the day I’ve had. ”

“Omigod, Foster? Is that you?” Matthew called from the stage, squinting into the crowd. “He’s here! It’s kismet!”

“People need to stop throwing that word around,” I groaned.

Tommy reached across the table and took my hand. “Do you trust me?” he asked, his voice low and intense.

I looked into his eyes, feeling inexplicably drawn to this man I’d just met. If anything felt like kismet tonight, it was the feeling of his hand in mine.

“Yes,” I said instantly.

“You good with a little PDA?” he asked, eyes crinkling with laughter and scheming.

I gave him a once-over. I already knew I was attracted to the man, but I wanted to make sure he knew. “With you? Absolutely. With Matthew? I’d rather be coated in syrup and lobbed into the Everglades.”

The warmth of Tommy’s chuckle relaxed me. He moved his chair closer to mine and put his arm around my shoulders just as Matthew finished his song and hopped off the stage, making a beeline for our table.

“Foster? Is that really you? What are the chances?” Matthew’s eyes were wide with excitement but quickly narrowed when he noticed Tommy’s arm around me.

“Slim, but not as slim as I’d hoped,” I muttered.

Tommy chuckled under his breath.

I shifted closer to him, grateful for his solid presence beside me. In a normal tone, I said, “Matthew. This is a surprise. Thought you claimed there was nothing better than New York at New Year’s. ”

He shrugged. “Got into a bit of a disagreement with my brother, so I decided to come to Hawaii this year. And now that I’ve seen you here, I’m thinking I made the right?—”

“Babe?” Tommy’s fingers began playing with the hair at the nape of my neck, sending shivers down my spine. “Aren’t you going to introduce me?”

Babe? I knew he was pretending, but my heart thumped wildly anyway.

“Uh. Yeah,” I said quickly. “Tommy, this is Matthew. He and I dated for a little while a few years back. Matthew, this is Tommy. He’s…”

“Foster’s boyfriend.” Tommy extended a hand to Matthew.

“Boyfriend?” Matthew’s smile faltered.

Tommy’s eyes melted into mine. “It’s only a matter of time until we make it official.”

Matthew gave Tommy an assessing up-down. “Really. Because you don’t seem like Foster’s type. He’s all Carhartt and woodsy, and you look…” He tilted his head. “Actually, you look really familiar.”

“Like Wade Brown, from the commercial with the dog?” Tommy asked innocently. “’Cause I get that a lot.”

I rolled my lips to hide my smile.

“No,” Matthew said seriously, reminding me that he’d never had much of a sense of humor. “Like a guy at my gym on West Fifty-Fourth.”

“Oh.” Tommy hesitated. “That… might actually be me.”

“Tommy’s a doctor in New York,” I explained. “He came out to Majestic for a vacation last summer, and we hit it off on the trail. ”

“Foster used a cheesy pickup line on me,” Tommy said, squeezing my hand. “Said he was going to have to arrest me for public indecency if I insisted on flexing my biceps.”

I stifled a snort as Tommy held out his free arm and flexed, causing his muscles to tighten his shirt around his upper arm and show off impressive forearms.

“That sounds like me,” I agreed, biting back a grin. “Always joking about false arrest.”

“Hold up. So you live in New York?” Matthew folded his arms over his chest. “And you’re okay with that, Foster? Because when I left Majestic, you said you had no interest in moving away from that backwoods town and no interest in a long-distance relationship.”

“I don’t,” I blurted without considering that I might be torpedoing our story. My cheeks heated.

“Foster means we didn’t set out for this to happen.” Tommy shrugged easily. “But of course, he’s not giving up his career. His work is vital. Do you know how many lives he’s saved? The sheriff’s department in Majestic handles some of the most challenging wilderness rescues in the region.”

Matthew looked taken aback, probably as surprised as I was by Tommy’s passionate defense.

“That doesn’t mean we’re not serious about our relationship, though.” Tommy’s thumb traced circles on the back of my hand. “When you find The One, you hold on to him and find a way to make it work.”

Matthew narrowed his eyes, pointing and waggling a finger between us. “And Foster is… The One?”

“Oh yeah. I knew right away that this was real. Like daisies in sunshine. Like poetry. Right, babe?” Tommy’s hazel eyes twinkled at me as he quoted my former seatmate, reminding me that even the worst situation was better when you had someone to share it with.

“Foster’s the real deal. And I find authenticity incredibly sexy. ”