Page 71 of The Doctor's Irreplaceable Love

“That’s a great idea.And from what I’ve read about Paradise Valley, you shouldn’t have too much difficulty finding your kind of clients.”

“It would seem that way.What about you, though?Will you work remotely?”

“I’m thinking I could do the same as you—hang out my shingle and choose my own clients.”

Shelley grinned.Harper worked for one of the big publishing houses in New York.She’d started straight out of college and worked her way up.

Harper nodded.“I spend far too much time in meetings and not enough time editing these days.I like the idea of going back to the basics.Working directly with a few hand-selected authors.I always preferred doing the real work—editing the books, helping the authors develop their careers.Yeah, that’s what I’ll do.I’ll start putting out feelers tomorrow, and call Thomas to talk about giving him my notice.”

“How do you think he’ll take that?”

Harper chuckled.“I think he’ll be glad to see the back of me—and less happy about it when he sees which authors I’m about to poach.It’s his own fault; he bought into all the corporate garbage.I’ve been a thorn in his side for a while now, and I know some of the authors have started to self-publish so they can control their own fates.A few of them have already asked if I’d consider editing for them on a freelance basis.It’ll be a fun new adventure.”

She met Shelley’s gaze and held up her glass.“Here’s to our next chapter.”

Chapter Sixteen

On Thursday evening, Trip wandered around the house checking that everywhere was … he didn’t know what he was checking.The place was always immaculate—Maisie’s niece, Anita, had taken over when Maisie retired, and the only difference that Trip had ever noticed was the lack of familiarity that came from him having known Maisie all his life.

He stopped in the den and stared at the TV, fondly remembering all the evenings he and Shelley had spent in here.Harper had only arrived a couple of days ago, but he was already missing having Shelley around.He missed the way she teased him, the way she wandered around in his pajamas, and he missed the way she fell asleep on the sofa at night with her head on his lap.

He picked up the TV remote and placed it on the coffee table in front of the spot where she usually sat.He doubted they’d be watching TV tonight since she was bringing Harper over to dinner, but … He stared at the remote, wondering why he’d wanted to put it there.He didn’t know if it was a way of letting her know that he missed her, or if he was trying to quietly signal that if she came back to stay with him—or even if she just stayed here in town—he wasn’t going to try to control her.

He laughed at himself and headed back to the kitchen to check in with Anita.

She’d outdone herself with dinner.When he’d explained that Shelley’s friend was something of a foodie and she was from New York, Anita’s Montana pride had come out full force.She’d even stuck around to make sure everything made it to the table as she intended it to—she usually left dinner ready for him to make the finishing touches himself.

She’d made mushroom tartlets with chanterelles that she’d had one of the hands go out and pick fresh from some secret spot she knew.Trip had always thought that they weren’t in season till the fall—late summer at the earliest.She’d just smiled and told him that a true Montana cook could find them whenever they needed to.Same with the huckleberries that she’d used to make the pie for dessert and the chokecherries for the sauce to go with the bison tenderloin she planned to serve with a wild rice pilaf.

When he reached the kitchen, he breathed in all the wonderful aromas.Spotting fresh bread cooling on a rack, he approached but stepped back with a laugh when Anita turned and swatted at him.

“Don’t you dare!”

“Sorry!”

“You will be if you mess this up.I’m trying to impress Shelley’s friend here—we need her to see that Shelley’s going to be all right if she stays.”

Trip smiled.He hadn’t discussed the situation with Anita, but as with most things, she’d picked up on what was going on.

She shrugged.“Just because you don’t tell me, it doesn’t mean I can’t work it out for myself, does it?”

“No, and sorry …”

Her expression gentled.“You don’t need to apologize.That was just my heavy-handed way of saying that I hope this works out—I hope Shelley stays.I mean, I hope the two of you …”

Trip couldn’t help smiling, and she slapped his arm.

“You know what I mean, and you know I’m not good at the emotional stuff.I’ll do my part to help you out, that’s all I’m saying.”

“Thanks, Anita.You’re the best.”

“And don’t you forget it.Now, get out of my kitchen and let me focus.I haven’t had the chance to make a decent dinner in years.”She grinned at him.“You and your friends are a bunch of heathens.I’m doing this for myself as much as I am for you.If Shelley stays, maybe she’ll want to start having dinner parties, and I can have some fun.”

“You’d consider that fun?”

“I would.I went to culinary school, you know—while I was waiting for Auntie Mae to retire and let me step up.”

He smiled.“If you’d enjoy the cooking, we should start having regular dinner parties—it’d be fun to invite the guys over now that they’re all coupled up.I bet the women would love it.”