Off the Ice: A Breakaway Novel

by Dover, L. P.

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  Chapter Two—Ashley

  “You should start feeling better tomorrow.” I ruffled Jacob’s chestnut-colored hair and he smiled up at me through his tears. His dimples made my heart melt. The poor thing had strep throat, and I’d just given him a penicillin shot. They hurt like hell, but it was the fastest ticket to feeling better.

  Jacob’s mother lifted him in her arms. “Thank you, Dr. Locke. I know it’s after hours.”

  I waved her off. “It’s quite all right. Give us a call if he gets worse.”

  She nodded. “I will. We’re just going to go home, eat some Popsicles, and watch movies.”

  Jacob’s face lit up and he hugged her tight. “Yay, no homework!”

  My nurse, Britney, escorted them down the hall with her angelic smile and bright pink scrubs. She had an effortless way with kids, which was the reason I’d hired her to be my assistant.

  As I headed toward my office, I unbuttoned my lab coat. Normally, I’d be eager to get home by this point in the day, but today I didn’t mind working late, since I had the next ten days off.

  “Dr. Locke?”

  I turned around and Karen at the front desk held up the phone. She was a close friend of my mothers, and a great receptionist. “Dr. Locke’s on the phone.”

  “Which one?” I asked, chuckling. There were three of us, but technically only two now. My father had retired, leaving me and my older brother to run the practice.

  Karen grinned. “It’s your brother.”

  “I’ll take it in my office.” It was the phone call I’d been waiting on all day.

  Soon, he’d be marrying a former NFL star’s daughter who was a couple years younger than me and never worked a day in her life. She loved my brother more than anything—which was why I liked her—but the woman didn’t know what it was like to live in the real world. And when she asked if I’d be her maid of honor, I couldn’t say no. Unfortunately, being a bridesmaid meant I had to endure the bachelorette week. It couldn’t be just a weekend for her; it had to be an entire week. Worse, I had no clue what she had planned.

  Once in my office, I draped my lab coat over my chair and sat down. Line two flashed on my phone and I took a deep breath before picking it up. “Hey, Cam.”

  “Hey, sis. How was the office today?”

  “Busy. If you weren’t such a lazy ass, you could’ve helped me,” I teased.

  He burst out laughing. “It would have been a little difficult, considering I was out in the middle of the ocean all day.”

  “All right, rub it in. But in all honesty, it wasn’t bad. You know I can handle this place on my own.”

  For his bachelor week, he decided to go deep sea fishing with his buddies before they all joined us the following week for the wedding. I could hear his friends laughing and carrying on in the background. “I know you can, Ash. Thanks for working late tonight.” Cameron cleared his throat. “I guess you know why I’m calling. I figured you’d want to hear it from me first, before you speak to Olivia.”

  I bit back my groan and rested my head on the desk. “What am I in for this week?” Usually, my weekends consisted of healthy food and wine, not partying or going to strip clubs. However, I did have a feeling we were going to be visiting a club owned by Olivia’s cousin, the guy who also happened to be one of my patients, and extremely good-looking. He’d been trying to get me to visit there for months.

  Cameron cleared his throat. “Well, it’s something that might interest you. I know you haven’t done it in a couple of years.”

  There was only one thing that Olivia and I had in common . . .

  “She wants to go golfing?” I asked, not really believing it. I used to be pretty good at it, but golfing was the last thing I expected her to want to do before her wedding. I figured she’d want to go away to a tropical island somewhere.

  A laugh escaped his lips. “Yep. You’re all staying at the Emerald Dunes Golf Resort. That way she can be there to handle any wedding stuff that might come up. She thought a few days of golf would help her relax. Not to mention, they have the best spa around. Play a round of golf each day, and then soak up in the spa. How does that sound?”

  Not too bad, actually. Luckily, one of Olivia’s three bridesmaids was a friend of mine, Harper Welch. The other two were her sorority sisters. Harper had been our neighbor and childhood friend growing up. We were inseparable, even when we’d all went away to college. “I’m sure I’ll manage,” I assured him. “I know Harper and I will have fun.”

  “I’m counting on it.” I could hear the smile in his voice. “Tell Harper I said hello.”

  “Will do. We’ll have to all get together for dinner once the wedding chaos subsides.”

  He chuckled again. “Definitely.” A group of guys shouted in the background and he sighed. “I gotta go. Have fun.”

  “You too.”

  The line went silent, and my cell phone beeped inside my purse. There were two missed text messages. One from Harper, and the other from Olivia.

  Harper: Looks like we’re playing golf the whole week. I suck at it!

  I texted her back. She didn’t suck at it. Actually, she was pretty good, or at least, she had been when we last played a couple of years ago.

  Me: You’ll do fine. It’s been just as long since I played, so we can be bad together.