Doctor Next Door

by Rush, Olivia

  “Strange.” Not what I’d expected, given that he’d messaged me earlier and told me he’d be contacting colleagues online to drum up some opportunities nearby then going to bed right after.

  A silent alarm went off in my head, but I forced myself not to read too much into it. I didn’t want to be that woman, even if I was a little nervous right now.

  I squared my shoulders and made my way down the stepping-stone path and out the front gate, shutting it behind me. My skin crawled, but I kept the reaction under control—it’d been happening on and off whenever I got home late from work since the incident with Kieran and the fire.

  It was just a feeling I had to get over. That or just deal with it.

  I strode down the sidewalk toward Mason’s house, my frown deepening with each step. His Dodge shone by the light spilling from his living room window, as did the Audi parked next to it. Silver, and with a cute Barbie doll hanging from the rearview mirror.

  “The hell?” I stepped up to the gate and placed my hand on the latch, nerves about my pregnancy reveal sinking into background noise. Whose car was this? And why were they over at Mason’s place at this time of the—

  A shout rang out inside— female—and I jerked forward, opened the gate, and stepped inside. The front door was open, and the boxes were finally gone, leaving an empty path leading toward the staircase.

  The rumble of an engine distracted me, and I turned just as a car squealed around the corner and roared up to the front of Mason’s house. The driver’s door sprang open, and Perry emerged, his hair standing on end, wearing nothing but a pair of jeans.

  “What the hell?”

  He ran up to the gate and kicked it open then hurried onto the path. He stalled briefly at the sight of me. “It’s mine,” he said, “and don’t you fucking forget it, you bitch. It’s mine.”

  “What are you talking about?” I asked.

  “The baby,” Perry snapped, then turned and ran up the drive and into the house.

  My eyes widened so much they hurt in my skull. How the hell does he know about it? No one but Peggy knows. What the fuck?

  He couldn’t mean my baby. Could he? Screw this. I had to find out what was going on, and waiting out here wouldn’t help me.

  I hurried inside after him, following the sound of voices from the living room—not upstairs. Not the bedroom, then. Thank god for that.

  “You’ve got to listen to me, Mace. This is important, OK?” It was Tabitha’s voice.

  What the hell was she doing here? And why was Mason even entertaining her in the first place?

  “Leave,” Mason said, smooth and calm. In control. God, I loved that about him—he held back when he could easily lose his mind. I probably would have. “I’m going to call the cops if you don’t, Tabitha.”

  “Call the cops?” Perry had entered the room. “And tell them what, huh? I want to know what the fuck is going on. Why did you run out on me, Tab? Why are you here?”

  My curiosity got the better of me. I crept forward, peeking around the edge of the doorjamb.

  Mason stood in front of his flat screen in the living room, his arms at his sides, massive hands balled into fists. He was perfect, as usual, tall and overwhelming, emanating power in a manner only he could. Thick shoulders, thicker neck, and sharp green eyes scanning from Tabitha to Perry and back again. “Both of you had better get the fuck out of my house.”

  Tabitha stepped forward, closer to the sofa than to Mason, but away from Perry, who’d positioned himself behind the coffee table, directly across from the other man.

  “I can’t,” Tabitha said and looked over at Perry. “I’m so sorry, honey, but I’m pregnant. And Mason’s the father.”

  My stomach dropped. It was as if the earth had been pulled out from under me. I clung to the doorjamb, watching, barely breathing.

  Chapter 32

  Mason

  I stared at Tabitha as if she’d grown another head. Fuck’s sake, was she insane? What kind of weird ploy was this?

  She had to know I’d call her on her bullshit. That there wasn’t a chance in hell I’d ever touch her again, not even with a twenty-foot fucking pole. So what was her game? Her plan?

  “Have you lost your mind?” I asked her, shifting my gaze up as I caught a flicker of movement in my peripheral vision.

  My insides turned to ice.

  Becca stood in the doorway, staring, shaking her head. Fuck, she wouldn’t believe this was true, would she? She had to know I wouldn’t touch Tabitha.

  “Are you serious, Tab?” Perry chimed in, and I shifted focus again.

  Each moment was isolated, characterized by layer of bullshit on top of bullshit. This was what it’d come down to. This was exactly what I’d wanted to avoid by leaving Stoneport, yet here I was, caught in the thick of things, made worse by the fact that the one person I’d stayed for was experiencing it as well.

  “I’m serious,” she said and nodded, swallowing. “It’s Mason’s child. I’ve been sleeping with him on the side for weeks.”

  Becca made a small noise in the back of her throat, and a red mist descended over me. “Get out of my house,” I growled at Tab. “You lying piece of—” I stopped myself from finishing the sentence. I wouldn’t sink to her level.

  “Baby, please. I know this isn’t how things were meant to be. I know that you wanted a baby all those years ago and I didn’t, and I know that I made my mistakes, but you can’t turn away from this. Away from us.” Tabitha took a halting step forward and I froze her to the spot with an icy glare.

  Perry scuffled forward like the scumbag he was and reached for his fiancée. “Baby, think about what you’re doing here. We have everything together. We’re meant to be. You left this piece of shit for me, and now you’re going back. Why?”

  “Shut up,” Tabitha hissed, out of the corner of her mouth.

  “No, I won’t. I’ll fight for you. For us,” Perry continued. “I want a paternity test. There, I said it. I want one, and once we figure out who the father is, we can have an honest conversation about what to do next.”

  “I don’t want to be with you anymore,” Tabitha shrieked, tearing at her blonde Barbie doll hair. “You’re a liar.”

  This was nuclear. An explosion of a relationship I wanted nothing to do with in my own home, while the woman I’d fallen for watched, silent. Christ, what was she doing here? Why the fuck was this even happening right now?

  “Mace, please.” Tabitha turned back to me, widening her eyes, pouting those fake lips. “Please.”

  This was bullshit. “I don’t care whether you’re pregnant or not, Tabitha,” I growled, injecting as much poison into my words as possible. “Get the fuck out of my house. Both of you. You come back again, and I’ll call the fucking cops, understand?”

  “But Mace, baby—”

  “Baby?!” Perry barked. “How can you call him that after everything we’ve been through? After…”

  “Get out.” It came out cold and hard, and it was all I could do not to follow it up by grabbing them by the scruffs of their necks and physically escorting them out of the house. I lifted my cell instead and flashed it at them. “You have two seconds.”

  Finally, Tabitha and Perry snapped the fuck out of their self-involved reveries. “I’ll call you about this, Mace,” Tabitha said as she retreated toward the exit, jostling Becca on her way. Another wave of anger crashed over me.

  The terrible duo finally disappeared through the entryway, their argument starting up the minute they were out of sight but not earshot.

  I stood exactly where I’d been throughout the encounter. Fuck, it was as if I’d been cut out of a block of steel.

  Becca stared at me, gripping the doorjamb and shaking her head. “Mason.”

  “What?” I asked, breathing in through my nose. I couldn’t make this anger fall away. Couldn’t click my fingers and make it fucking disappear, even with her in the room. “Do you have something to say? You wanna tell me you’re pregnant too?”

&nbs
p; Becca blanched and took a step away from me. “Don’t talk to me like that,” she said. “I haven’t done anything.”

  “No, you haven’t,” I replied, but the anger still hadn’t abated. “What are you doing here, huh? I thought you had work or some shit?”

  “Mason—I don’t believe this. I just walked in on you and your ex talking about having a fucking baby, and you’re the one that’s angry?” Becca spat the words out, her hackles fully up now.

  Christ, let her get angry. Let everyone get angry. I was over this. Over being in limbo in this fucking town. Over all the excitement and the shitstorms and— “Fuck,” I growled.

  “I came over here to talk to you about something important.”

  “I don’t want to talk about anything,” I replied. “I need to be alone, Rebecca. Do me a favor, and close the front door on your way out.” I turned my back on her and walked to the far window, ignoring the hot silence between us.

  It was fraught with whatever words she’d left unspoken. Ones I didn’t want to hear.

  “I don’t understand why you’re angry with me, Mason.”

  “Because I didn’t ask for this.”

  “For what?”

  “To fucking feel—fuck!” I grunted and struck the windowsill with a fist. “Just leave, Becca. I can’t think with you around. Go. Now. Please.”

  There was a beat of silence, followed by her footsteps retreating. The front door slammed shut, and I exhaled, letting out the pressure of my breath in a long, thin stream. It didn’t do much to change anything, especially when Becca appeared in front of the house.

  She charged down the sidewalk without a backward glance, beautiful even now, hair flowing behind her.

  Christ, she was probably furious with me, and I didn’t blame her. I couldn’t take this, though. I couldn’t sit around in Stoneport a second longer. I’d put off everything to spend more time with her, when all my instincts had screamed for me to get the fuck out while the going was good.

  And now I was trapped.

  “Fuck.” I scraped the drapes shut and lowered myself onto the sofa.

  There wasn’t a part of me that didn’t wish for a simple answer to all of this, but it wasn’t forthcoming.

  I had fallen for Becca, yet staying here had me solo, no prospects, with my asshole ex trying to throw a wrench in the works every five minutes. Would Becca pick up and leave after everything she had witnessed here?

  Probably not. She was strong, a fighter. She might not want to talk to me again after this, though.

  “Fuck.” It was my new mantra.

  I couldn’t think straight or see straight.

  I have to get out of here. Get out of town. Think about this. About what I fucking want here.

  My phone buzzed on the coffee table, and I snatched it up, near crushing it in my grip. The number flashing on the screen was unfamiliar. I frowned and swiped my thumb across the screen.

  “This is Doctor Dunn,” I said.

  “Good evening, Doctor. Apologies for catching you on your mobile.” Reggie’s put-on voice didn’t fool me for a damn second.

  “Reggie, my man. What’s up?” I managed a semblance of cheerfulness, though I was still ready to punch a hole through a wall.

  “I’m calling because I’ve got news,” he said, and his tone altered into professional mode. “The doctor who was supposed to replace your dead ass pulled out too. So effectively, I’m stuck up here in Vermont all on my fucking own, with a practice full of empty offices. You wanna help a brother out and come join me?”

  I clutched the phone tighter, pressing it into my ear.

  Reggie had offered me the position in Vermont, and I’d been set on taking it, going up to do an interview with him, even though it was a mere formality. But I’d put it off. I’d changed my plans because of Becca and the insane urge to protect her. To be with her.

  “You there, man?”

  “I’m thinking about it,” I said.

  “What’s there to think about? Thought you said you were done in Stoneport?”

  “I was,” I replied, forcing myself to consider this, even though I’d put it off before. Reggie wasn’t the kind of guy who made an offer twice. “I was.”

  “Then? What’s the hold up, man? Come on. Look, if you’re dubious about it, at least come for the weekend to check the practice out. We’ll hang out, talk it through, and I’ll tell you my plans for the future. Come on, Dunn, you’re the best doctor I know, man. I need you.”

  Again, I fell silent, staring off into space. I needed the time alone. I needed to clear my thoughts of the strange influence Becca had over me. I couldn’t think or see clearly with her around. Maybe this was my opportunity.

  “You know what, Reg? Yeah, OK. I’ll come up this weekend and hang out. Check the place out.”

  “Fuckin’ A!” Reg exclaimed. “I’ll see you soon, man. Fly safe.”

  “Thanks,” I replied then hung up.

  I stared at my phone for a solid two minutes, torn between calling him back and telling him I’d changed my mind and calling Becca and apologizing.

  “No,” I muttered. “This is the right thing to do.” What we had burned too hot and too fast. It made us both crazy, and space was what we needed, even if it was just to gain some perspective.

  I didn’t want to lose her. But I didn’t want to become a man I wasn’t in the process of being with her, and I was on the fast track to that right now. I’d never been this angry or fired up. I’d never lost control like I had over the past few weeks.

  Fuck, I was supposed to be a military man, for god’s sake. I nodded to myself slowly and switched off my phone. I needed this time. I owed it to myself.

  I rose from the sofa and headed for the entrance hall, switching off lights as I went. Upstairs, I booked a plane ticket on my laptop then packed my bags and prepared everything for an early takeoff. I set my alarm, showered, and got into bed, all with thoughts of Becca swimming around my mind.

  What had she wanted to talk to me about?

  I fell asleep to the question, barely managing to ignore it and the urge to call her, to make things right. Before it was too late.

  Chapter 33

  Rebecca

  Sunlight streamed down between the trees at the back of my house, and the river that guarded the back of my property ran slowly. It was a peaceful Saturday morning, perfect to throw ball with Ty, but I hadn’t slept a damn wink.

  I’d called Peggy last night and told her what’d happened, and even she’d been shocked. It took a helluva lot to shock my sister.

  “Shit,” I muttered and threw the soggy tennis ball for Ty. He barked and ran to fetch it. “Double shit.”

  I’d hovered on the brink of calling him today, but the way he’d looked at me last night… It’d been like meeting him for the first time in the worst way possible. I’d never expected that from him. The anger.

  And he’d been mad at me.

  I touched a palm to my abdomen and stroked it lightly. Regardless of what’d happened, I had to go through with telling him about it. He might be mad as hell, but he’d hear what I had to say. If I don’t do it now, I’ll lose my nerve again.

  I took the ball from Ty then led him into the house and to the living room. It took me a couple minutes to fill up his food and water bowls and cordon him off there, and then I headed upstairs to check my reflection in the mirror.

  I looked the same as I always had, apart from the puffy eyes—all thanks to last night’s crying session. Ridiculous in itself. I’d been determined to stay angry rather than get upset, but I’d failed entirely. Everything that had happened over the past couple months had completely come to the forefront and overwhelmed me last night, and I’d been unable to hold back the tears.

  “Screw it,” I muttered. “This is dumb.” I couldn’t hold in this information a second longer.

  I grabbed my purse off the entrance hall table, blew Ty a quick kiss, then headed out the front door and down the path. I hit the sidewalk, menta
lly psyching myself up for what I had to do next.

  Will he even believe me after what Tabitha said last night? Or rather, what she’d claimed.

  The cynical part of me, the one still injured from having been cheated on in the past, demanded that I dismiss any rational thought about Mason. That he was just another cheater. I blasted that down with my more logical side.

  Tabitha had been nothing but a fucking troublemaker since the day I’d entered Stoneport, so I wouldn’t put it past her to lie about being pregnant.

  I approached Mason’s house, my palms sweating. His Dodge wasn’t out front, but another car was—an old Honda.

  What now?

  I hurried up the front path and onto the porch, then pressed the button beside the door. The bell rang inside, and footsteps approached. I held my breath.

  A beat passed, and the door swung inward to reveal…

  “Betsy? What are you doing here?”

  “Oh, hello, dear. How are you?” Betsy asked, tilting her head to one side, her gaze sweeping from my feet to my head. “Still feeling ill?”

  “I’m—wait, Betsy, what are you doing here? Where’s Mason?”

  “Oh, sorry,” she laughed, and patted me on the arm. “How rude of me. Mason asked me to check the thermostat . He’s gone for the weekend and he didn’t want to waste electricity. That man has always been—”

  “He’s gone?” I asked and took hold of the doorjamb. Gray speckles floated in front of my vision—it had nothing to do with him not being home. It didn’t. It couldn’t have anything to do with that. “Where—I don—”

  Betsy’s smile disappeared, and she rushed forward, catching me under the arms. “Oh dear, oh. Come on, come in. Right here.” She guided me back into that damned living room and sat me down in an armchair. “You rest. Wait right here. I’ll get you a bottle of water.” She rushed from the room, and I sat back, shut my eyes, and breathed.