Page 135 of The Ampersand Effect

She and Haleigh had brainstormed a few scenarios. Haleigh had immediately committed to reviewing her own patient load and making appropriate referrals—starting that afternoon—but she was just one physician. It wasn’t enough to fill the roster for an entire department.

“It’s unfortunately going to take time to rebuild,” Grier admitted. “Haleigh’s on board. We’ll both spread the word that we are growing, that we can take on more patients.”

She sighed, uncertain if she was willing to commit to the idea that had come to her after lunch, when she was alone in her silent office, folding paper airplanes while ruminating.

“What is it?” Tobin asked, interpreting her sigh accurately and pulling the idea from her.

“It’s risky,” she said, hedging. If she voiced it, she couldn’t take it back; she knew she’d have to commit.

Tobin waited, unhurried.

When Grier didn’t speak, Tobin squeezed her shoulders—a gentle nudge of encouragement.

“I could… distort our reality a bit,” Grier said finally. She knew she was mincing her words, which was extremely uncharacteristic for her. But desperate times called for desperate measures—and Grier hated feeling desperate. “I could make it seem like we’re as overwhelmed as Vanders has beendescribing. But twist the narrative into something beneficial for the department—particularly, for me.” “My interest is piqued,” Tobin said, encouraging her by pressing her fingers in broadening circles over Grier’s scalp, tangling her hair in ways Grier was used to only in the aftermath of sex. She liked it.

“I could formally request to hire a second chiropractor,” Grier said, warming to her own idea. “The request would give the impression that the department is growing—despite Vanders’s scheming. And when numbers increase again—which they will, theyhaveto—it would remove some of the burden from me as the sole provider.”

She conveniently left out the concept that this scenario would also inherently give her access to her own treatments. With another chiropractor in the building, she could get adjusted regularly and maybe this tension in her neck and shoulders would finally subside.

Tobin’s fingers stilled.

Then she gently tilted her head back, so that Grier’s eyes were now looking into Tobin’s comforting green ones. She noted the look of serious contemplation on Tobin’s face—evident even from this inverted angle.

“Whatever you choose to do, I know you’ll figure it out. Because what you do matters, and you’re not going to let someone like Vanders destroy everything you’ve built,” Tobin confided, then leaned forward and rested her lips in a prolonged, supportive kiss on Grier’s forehead. The pressure of her lips added just enough force to elicit a satisfying cavitation from Grier’s neck, and she sighed in relief as her joints settled.

“You’re no chiropractor,” Grier murmured, her tone teasing, “but my body definitely appreciates your attention.”

“Thank you for coming over,” she said, her voice soft. “I didn’t know how much I needed this—you.”

That was another truth she had been circling recently. Things with Tobin were good. They were better than good—they were incredible.

But that was the startling thing. Tobinhadlet her in. Grier knew it—felt it. Not in a flashbulb moment or a grand declaration, but in the accumulation of countless small instances that blurred into something monumental.

But it wasn’t loud—or even obvious. It just…was. And there was a certain beauty in that—that this arguably pivotal concept in their relationship somehow slipped through, evading their radar, settling between them inconspicuously, like it had been there all along. Like it belonged between them. Like it was inevitable.

Grier was certain she’d fallen for Tobin weeks ago. Somewhere between that first stolen kiss and the sun-drenched day at the orchard—so clearly in love that everyone around them was aware of it even before it had registered in her own mind.

The idea—the word—love—rushed through her with both a calming warmth and an electric current that charged her: nervous, excited, and utterly feral. It swam through her brain during her morning swims and surfaced when she scrolled through their various adventures on her camera roll during breaks at work. It flooded her senses when she’d settle into Tobin’s body, exhausted and sated from their love making—the last word sparking in her brain before sleep overwhelmed her.

She was in love with Tobin. And she was pretty certain Tobin was in denial—about Grier’s feelings, yes—but more concerning, about her own.

Grier had avoided saying it aloud. She didn’t want to say it until she knew Tobin was in a state of mind to accept it. She didn’t need to hear it back right away—in fact, she didn’t want to. She hated when couples claimed to fall in love simultaneously. It was cliche and predictable and complete bull shit.

She wanted Tobin to say it—undoubtedly. And she was pretty certain Tobin was falling in love with her—if she wasn’t already. But she wanted Tobin to say it when she was ready. When she meant it.

Because once she said it, Grier wanted her to keep saying it.

Forever.

Twenty-Five

Tobin sipped her coffee from the deck, watching mist roll over the water from the coastal forest. It was just before five a.m., and she hadn’t slept—her shift had ended an hour ago, but she was still too wired to sleep.

They’d rescued a hiker who’d fallen into a crevice and fractured his leg. Thankfully, he hadn’t been hiking alone. One friend had stayed behind to keep him conscious and hydrated, while the other had hiked back to find cell service and call for help. All told, the whole mission took less than two hours from the time he fell to the moment Jada secured him onto the stretcher inside the chopper.

Tobin never could sleep very well after a mission.

But, she had been sleeping better, despite last night’s mission. And she knew that was because of Grier. Both because of the absolutely genius magnesium lotion Grier had given her after her anxiety attack, and because of the presence of Grier herself. Tobin slept like the dead when Grier was in her bed. Which was another reason she didn’t feel like crawling into her bed this morning—it was empty.