Always & Forever: A Sweet Romantic Comedy (ABCs of Love Collection, Books 1 - 4)

by Brenna Jacobs

  “Order an x-ray just so we can be sure,” David told the nurse. He entered the exam area and paused. It was the same guy. And the look on Tucker’s face told David he wasn’t thrilled to discover who his doctor was. The fiancée was nowhere to be found.

  Tucker’s displeasure quickly morphed into what came across as practiced charm. “David, right?” Tucker said, his smile wide. “What are the odds?”

  David glanced up from the chart and offered Tucker a tight smile. “Let’s stick to Dr. Daniels while we’re at the hospital.”

  “Of course. Sorry about that.” Tucker looked at the door, his expression cagey. He was likely hoping the fiancée he didn’t know David knew about wasn’t going to show up and blow his cover.

  David’s jaw clenched. The conversation he’d just had with Lucy about Avery and Tucker filled his mind. He’d told Lucy he wasn’t up for trying to woo Avery away from Tucker, but he took it all back. He’d do anything to get her away from the creep.

  He dropped the chart onto the foot of the bed where Tucker lay, his arm propped up on a pile of pillows. “How’d you hurt yourself?”

  “Golfing,” Tucker said. “It’s a stupid story, but I stepped backward into a hole and fell backwards, catching myself with this arm.” He held up the injured arm. “I heard a pop, and it started to swell, so here I am.”

  David sighed. He didn’t have to like the guy. He didn’t even have to be nice to him. But he did have to be a good doctor. He moved to the side of the bed and silently examined Tucker’s wrist. It was swollen and slightly purple, but David didn’t think it was broken. He tested the mobility of the wrist, noting when Tucker flinched.

  “It hurts like hell, man. Can I get something for the pain?”

  David nodded. “You haven’t taken anything yet?”

  Tucker shook his head.

  “I’ll send the nurse in with something that will help. The good news is I don’t think it’s broken. We’re going to send you up for an x-ray just to make sure.”

  “That’s good news,” Tucker said. “I thought I’d be leaving here in a cast.”

  “I could be wrong,” David said. “Let’s wait for the x-ray before we make any plans.”

  Before David could make it out of the exam room, a woman with long brown hair pushed into the room, heading straight for Tucker. “How are you, baby? Still in pain?” She looked over her shoulder at David. “Have you given him anything for the pain?”

  “We’re working on it,” David said, his tone flat.

  “Sorry,” she said. “Where are my manners?” Her Southern accent was almost as thick as the scent of her perfume. “I’m Jessica, Tucker’s fiancée.”

  “Dr. Daniels.” David shook Jessica’s hand, then looked at Tucker, his eyebrows raised.

  Tucker’s eyes were strained, and he shook his head just slightly. David folded his arms across his chest, not breaking eye contact. He wasn’t about to give the guy a free pass.

  “Hey, Jessica, sweetie?” Tucker said. “Can you give me a minute alone with the doctor?”

  Jessica’s brow furrowed in concern. “Are you okay?”

  “Sure. I just need to ask him a few questions. Will you go call my mom for me? Tell her they’re going to do an x-ray and then we’ll know more.”

  She nodded, hesitant, but clearly willing to do as he asked. “Okay. I’ll be back in a few.”

  Tucker watched her leave, then looked back at David. “I know how this must look.”

  David didn’t answer.

  Tucker shifted and ran his good hand across his closely cropped hair. “Look, man to man, all right? Avery and I, we were good together. Really good. But she isn’t quite marriage material. I’ve got to think about my future and Jessica is the kind of wife that—” His words cut off, like he suddenly thought better about finishing his sentence. “Avery and I are just having some fun. Messing around while I still can. It doesn’t mean anything.”

  David scoffed. “Does she know it doesn’t mean anything?”

  Tucker’s jaw tensed. He studied David for several long seconds before narrowing his gaze. “Dr. Daniels, I need you to not make this a problem for me,” he said, his tone firm.

  David wasn’t the slightest bit intimidated. If anything gave him fortitude, it was his sense of truth and justice and Tucker’s actions dropped him firmly on the wrong side of truth. David wouldn’t stand for it. “I’m pretty sure this is a problem you made all on your own.”

  Tucker shifted and leaned forward. “I know you’re new around here. You haven’t lived in Charleston long enough to know just how important my family is, so you’ll have to take my word for it. You don’t want to mess with me. You tell Avery about Jessica, it won’t take me five minutes to get you fired from the hospital and stripped of your license to practice in South Carolina.”

  David’s jaw twitched. Tucker couldn’t really do that. Could he?

  “When was the last time you took a look at the list of donors for the hospital?” Tucker asked. “You know the new wing they just added to the children’s hospital? Look it up and see how much money Francis King donated. I’m pretty sure there’s a plaque in the main lobby honoring him for the millions he contributed to the cause. Francis King is my grandfather. You know Gerald Stevenson?” Tucker moved his leg and winced but didn’t take his eyes off of David.

  David hated to give Tucker an inch in the argument, but he did know Gerald Stevenson. He was one of the hospital board members who had interviewed and hired David.

  “He plays golf with my father and me every Sunday afternoon. He’s known me since I was a kid. You think he’d take your word over mine?”

  As if on cue, a voice spoke on the other side of the curtain. “Knock, knock,” the deep voice said. The curtain slid to the side and Dr. Stevenson himself entered the small exam area.

  “I was just leaving a board meeting when your father called and told me I might find you here.” He reached out to shake Tucker’s hand. “What did you do to yourself, son?”

  “I was on the golf course. Stepped into a hole.”

  “That’s too bad.” Dr. Stevenson finally looked at David. “I trust we’re taking good care of you?”

  “Oh, of course,” Tucker said, offering David a smug smile. “Dr. Daniels has been outstanding.”

  “Good. I’m glad to hear it,” Dr. Stevenson said. He reached out and shook David’s hand. “Dr. Daniels. You’ll make sure he gets the VIP treatment, won’t you?”

  David offered a tight smile. “Of course.”

  David excused himself to check on the x-ray and put an order in for Tucker’s pain medication.

  Frustration pulsed inside of him. Why? What was Tucker even trying to prove with Avery? David was trapped in a way that made rage pump through his veins. Tucker had already proven himself more than capable of lying, so he couldn’t be sure everything he’d spouted about getting David fired wasn’t just an empty threat. Though Gerald Stevenson showing up in the exam room had certainly strengthened Tucker’s argument.

  Patient privacy laws did protect Tucker. By law, David couldn’t tell Avery he’d seen him as a patient. Which meant it would be really hard to bring up the existence of the fiancée he’d also met at the hospital without weaving a lie to explain where and how they’d met. But how could he do nothing? How could he let Tucker continue to hurt Avery in such a terrible way?

  Lucy walked by and David reached out and stopped her. “Hey. You have a minute?”

  Lucy looked at her watch. “Sure. But only one.”

  “You ever heard of the King family?” David asked. “A Francis King, maybe? I guess they’re important around here or something?”

  Lucy wrinkled her forehead. “Francis King. I know that name. Hold on.” She pulled out her phone, typing something, then scrolling through a few screens before holding her phone out for David to see. “I was right. Francis King is big in real estate around here, I guess. He owns something like half of downtown. He owns the building John’s optometry practic
e is in.”

  David scrolled through the Wikipedia page detailing all of King’s real estate holdings. He kept scrolling, skimming over the historical significance of the King family. They were definitely key players in the establishment of downtown Charleston as the historical and cultural center that it was. He sighed in resignation then swore under his breath.

  “What’s wrong?” Lucy asked. “What does Francis King have to do with you?”

  “His grandson is my sprained wrist,” he said. “He’s also the guy dating Avery.”

  “I’m still not following,” Lucy said.

  David looked over Lucy’s shoulder and saw Jessica walking toward them. “See that woman right there? In the pink?”

  Lucy followed his gaze. “Yeah?”

  Their conversation paused while Jessica passed them, moving on toward Tucker’s exam room.

  “That’s his fiancée.”

  Lucy frowned in confusion. “Wait, what? I thought he was dating Avery.”

  “He is,” David said, his tone level.

  Lucy’s eyes lit with understanding. “Ohhh. What a jerk.”

  “He just told me if I make this a problem for him, he’ll definitely make it a problem for me.”

  “How’s he going to do that? He actually threatened you?”

  “Technically, patient privacy laws offer him some protection. You know I can’t go home and tell Avery I saw him in the ER today. Plus, Dr. Stevenson just stopped by to check on him and make sure he was getting the VIP treatment.”

  Lucy frowned. “Seriously?”

  “I guess they play golf together or something.” David pressed his hand to his forehead, massaging his temples with his thumb and forefinger. “What am I supposed to do? Nobody knows me in this town, Lu. I can’t afford to mess anything up.”

  “David, even if Dr. Stevenson wasn’t the guy’s best friend, this is a no-brainer. You can’t risk the HIPAA violation. Honestly, you can’t even risk the accusation, especially from someone like the Kings. Even if an investigation proved you didn’t do anything wrong. . .” She shrugged. “I’ve seen doctors ruined by false accusations before.”

  “But how can I not tell her? He’s using her. It’s wrong, Lucy. She’s going to get hurt from this.”

  Lucy looked at her watch and shook her head. “I need to go. But David, don’t do it. You know the rules. You have to let this go.”

  Rules or not, David still felt like a coward. He paced around the doctor’s lounge with fire in his bones. How could he not tell Avery the guy she thought she was dating was marrying someone else in a couple of months? How could he let her invest her time and her energy and her heart into something that was doomed to fail? It would humiliate her. He couldn’t just sit by and let that happen.

  But what choice did he have? He couldn’t tell Avery directly. That much was indisputable. But then, Avery was a grown woman, capable of making her own choices. She was choosing to believe whatever Tucker was telling her, whatever reasons he’d concocted for why he wanted them to get back together.

  He remembered Avery telling him she and Tucker ran in completely different circles. They didn’t share the same friends, hadn’t attended the same schools. He was yacht club parties, and she was county beach parks. She’d said something about how opposites attract. But all that meant was that with a little bit of effort, Tucker could probably keep both women in the dark about his philandering for months. Years, even.

  David dropped into a chair by an outside window and pulled out his phone. How had social media not already tipped Avery off? He ran a quick search for Tucker’s name, pulling up several profiles that belonged to him. The profiles were professional and polished, but not personal. Lots of posed photos at charity events and extended family group shots in front of perfectly decorated Christmas trees and holiday tables. It looked like the profile of someone who was planning to run for political office. Which, David realized, could absolutely be the case. There wasn’t anything on any of the profiles that mentioned the engagement. Was that intentional?

  David closed out the search and dropped his phone into his lap. If people checked out his social media profiles, they’d think he was still in med school. He hadn’t posted anything new in years so he couldn’t fault the guy for not living his entire life online. But a larger digital footprint sure would make it easier for Avery to catch Tucker in his lies.

  David tapped his foot, frustrated energy making him twitchy. When he had a patient that he couldn’t figure out how to treat, it was normally a lack of information that kept him from making an accurate diagnosis. When he wasn’t sure, there were labs or scans he could order, tools he could use to gather as much information as possible to aid him in solving the problem.

  Maybe that was the problem here. He just didn’t have enough information to form an accurate diagnosis. If he knew more, maybe he wouldn’t have to tell Avery about Tucker and Jessica, because he’d be able to show her, lead her somewhere he knew Tucker and Jessica would be so she could catch Tucker in the lie.

  But where? And how?

  David needed a plan. And quick.

  Chapter 9

  Avery sat on her front porch and watched the storm clouds rolling across the sky. She loved a good thunderstorm, partly because she loved the way the storms cooled the heavy, humid air, but mostly because she loved the power of them, the way they riled up the sea and whipped the palm trees into a frenzy. Her older brother had never loved storms growing up. To him, thunderstorms were younger siblings to hurricanes and deserved no love and no respect. When the storms hit, he would hide inside with the dog while Avery and her grandmother sat on the porch, watching the lightning fracture the sky.

  She glanced at her watch. Hopefully Tucker would arrive before the rain started and they could watch the storm together. They’d originally had plans to go out, but he’d texted an hour earlier asking if they could stay in and watch a movie instead. Avery didn’t mind, but it seemed like they’d been spending a lot of time at her house lately. She had to wonder why.

  Tucker’s truck pulled to a stop in her driveway just as the first raindrops fell. He held a pizza box over his head as he darted up the walkway, ducking under the cover of her porch. “Hey,” he said with a grin. He leaned down and kissed her forehead. “What are you doing out here?”

  “Watching the storm,” she said. “Looks like it’s going to be a good one.”

  Tucker turned and looked at the sky. “Yeah?”

  Low thunder rumbled and the wind picked up. Avery caught a whiff of salt and sea and smiled. “What happened to your arm?” she asked, noticing the brace he wore on his wrist.

  “It’s just a sprain,” Tucker said, glancing down. “I fell playing golf the other day. Come on.” He opened her front door. “Let’s get inside. It’s miserable out here.”

  Avery frowned, but Tucker was already halfway inside and didn’t notice. “I’ll be in in a minute,” she said. The storm door swung closed behind him with a thwap and Avery stood up, moving right to the edge of the porch, close enough that rain dropped onto her arms and splashed onto the end of her nose. She turned to go inside but then paused when she saw David standing on his front porch much the same way she had been. He looked in her direction and she waved, happy that thunderstorms didn’t seem to freak him out the same way hurricanes did.

  Tucker was already sitting in the living room, his ankles propped up on her coffee table. She stopped beside him and he reached up, pulling her onto his lap just like he used to. She snuggled into his arms, pressing her nose against his neck, just below his earlobe. He smelled good. Familiar.

  “Are you hungry?” he said into her hair. “I had them put pineapple on the pizza just like you like it.”

  She sat up and looked at him, her smile wide. “You did that for me? You hate pineapple on your pizza.”

  “But I don’t hate you,” he said. He pulled her back down and kissed her, his hands cradling her face. Memories washed over Avery, everything good about her relatio
nship with Tucker swelling inside her. They’d never lacked chemistry, and the familiarity of his touch ignited an aching in her that surprised and nearly overwhelmed her. But somewhere in the back of her brain, a warning bell sounded. She couldn’t forget the reasons they’d broken up, the ways they had hurt each other in the end. She broke their kiss and shifted until she dropped onto the sofa beside him. She would take it slow. Ask the right questions. Make sure that this time, Tucker was in for the right reasons.

  She reached for the pizza, opening the box and pulling out a slice. There was only pineapple on a fourth of the pizza, not the entire thing. Good thing Avery wasn’t actually that hungry.

  After dinner and a romantic comedy Tucker had been surprisingly willing to watch, Avery pulled him off the couch and hauled him toward the back door. “Come on,” she said. “The rain stopped. Let’s go see what shells the storm washed up on the beach.”

  Tucker groaned. “Only tourists go hunting for seashells.”

  “What? That’s not true at all. Plus there might be some sand dollars that need saving.” She’d tossed more than a few back into the water after a storm. “You love walking on the beach. Please?”

  Tucker finally relented and they made their way down to the ocean. The clouds had blown away revealing a bright full moon in a deep navy sky. The moon reflected over the water and Avery marveled, as she always did, at her luck. No one, not anywhere, loved her island like she did.

  Tucker held her hand as they walked, listening as she detailed the new interactive education program she’d been working on at work. He smiled as she talked, waiting when she stopped long enough to toss a sand dollar or starfish back into the water. When he pulled her into his arms just shy of the path back up to her house, she let him.

  He kissed her long and deep, then moved his mouth to her ear. “Let’s go inside,” he whispered.

  She bit her lip. It was too soon. Every inch of her knew she needed more time to get to know Tucker again. Find her footing without just falling back into the same relationship they’d had before. “Not yet, okay?” Avery said, her voice soft. “I just want to spend a little more time getting to know you again.”