“Will do!”
Dahlia watched in shock as Grumpy gave the doctor a cheerful wave on his way out the door.
There was something she never thought she’d see—Grumpy smiling and waving in the same day.
“Hi there.” Dr. Jolly turned her attention to Ollie, who was still holding the spaceship in his hand. “Isn’t that the coolest rocket you’ve ever seen?”
“Yes!” Her son showed the doctor how all of the doors opened, while the woman oohed and aahed.
“Watch how fast he can fly.” Ollie raced around the room again.
“That is the fastest rocket I’ve ever seen.” The doctor winked at Dahlia. “I’m Dr. Jolly, by the way. I don’t think we’ve met.”
“No. We haven’t.” She shook the woman’s hand. “I’m Dahlia. And you just met my son Ollie. Maya is sitting over there.” She pointed to where her daughter had curled up on a small sofa in the jungle area with a book.
“It’s wonderful to meet you all.” Dr. Jolly offered her a sincere smile. “Are you here for an appointment?”
“They were supposed to see Ike,” Mrs. Miller offered. “But I told them you’d be happy to take the appointments since he’s running late.”
“I would love to, but it’s totally up to you.” The doctor walked behind the counter and jotted something on the chart that was sitting there. “I completely understand if the children are more comfortable seeing Ike.”
“You can be my doctor.” Ollie zoomed back to the woman. “Especially if I can bring this spaceship into the room with me.”
Ha. Her son had always been the great negotiator.
“Fine by me.” Dr. Jolly looked at Dahlia as though she wanted to make sure it was fine by her too.
It should be, but she’d prepared herself to see Ike. “I’m not—”
The door across the room flew open and Ike breezed through, his white lab coat fluttering behind him. “Sorry I’m so late.”
“Ike! Ike!” Ollie ran to meet the man, waving the spaceship in the air. “I found this over on the shelf. It’s amazing.”
“It’s pretty cool, isn’t it?” Ike took a knee in front of Ollie and started to tell her son about how he’d gotten the spaceship from the NASA center in Atlanta, but Dahlia couldn’t hear much past the gentle swooshing in her ears.
The sight of the man made her blood run faster and warmer. It didn’t matter what he was wearing, Ike always had that handsome mountain man vibe going on. The summer sun had turned his hair into a brownish blondish color that made him look both outdoorsy and carefree. Maybe that was why she’d been so drawn to him.
When she was with Ike she felt carefree too.
“Since the doc is back in the house, I’ll let him take your appointment.” Dr. Jolly gathered up a file folder and held it against her chest.
Did Dahlia imagine the way that she looked at Ike? The woman’s eyes seem to linger on him a bit too long.
The man finished his conversation with Ollie and hurried to the counter. “If you guys would rather see Dr. Jolly, I’m okay with it.” His eyes were friendly, but Dahlia could feel a yawning distance between the two of them. That was her fault. Her silence and avoidance had carved out a chasm between them. “No, no. That’s okay. We…um…were planning to see you anyway.”
“Sure. Yeah. We’ll get you back in a few minutes.” Ike slipped behind the desk and pulled a wrapped muffin out of his bag and handed it to Dr. Jolly. “I stopped by that coffee shop you love.”
“You always seem to know just what I need.” The woman peered up at him from underneath her long, lush eyelashes, her smile softening into something more than appreciation.
Dahlia had to look away.
“This is my absolute favorite flavor.” Dr. Jolly unwrapped the muffin and offered it to Dahlia. “Do you want to try a bite before I dig in?”
“No, thanks.” Normally she didn’t turn down chocolate, no matter what the circumstances, but right now confusion clouded her judgment. Maybe she’d misunderstood his regular phone calls as interest. Maybe he’d already given up on her.
She wouldn’t know until she asked. Dahlia held on to her fragile smile. “Can I talk to you for a minute?”
“Of course.” He waved her to the door. “Mrs. Miller can get the kids situated in the exam room. We can talk in my office.”
Dahlia followed him down the short hall past the exam rooms, the sinking feeling in her stomach growing with each step. Dr. Jolly seemed to be exactly the type of woman Ike should be with—beautiful, vivacious, genuine. Not to mention she probably hadn’t kept him at arm’s length like Dahlia had.
“What’s up?” Ike left the door open and sat behind his desk, unpacking a laptop from his bag.
She hadn’t exactly planned what to say. The awkward silence blared in her ears. “I didn’t know you’d hired someone.” She meant to say the words casually, but a squeak slipped through at the end of the sentence.
“Business has nearly doubled since I opened the clinic.” Ike gestured for her to sit across from him. “Nikita is a friend of a friend. Top of her class in med school. And she’s great with people. I couldn’t pass up the chance to hire her.”
“No. Definitely not.” He didn’t make it sound like they were anything other than professional colleagues. Yet as Dahlia lowered into the chair, she found it difficult to look into his eyes. Every kiss they shared seemed to flash through her memory.
Their Christmas romance had reminded her there was more to life than PTA meetings and errands and kids’ sports and school functions. But, after she had gone back home to Minnesota, she’d forgotten. The details and responsibilities of everyday life had consumed her again, and now she’d brought all of those things back with her to Juniper Springs. “I’m sorry I haven’t been returning your calls.” The apology sounded feeble even to her.
Ike didn’t seem to find it difficult to look into her eyes. His steady gaze held hers. “Don’t worry about it. You have a lot going on right now. I know how overwhelming it is to move states.”
Dahlia nodded but couldn’t help but feel something had changed between them. “Well maybe—”
A nurse poked his head into the room. “I’ve got Ollie and Maya all checked in. They’re in exam room two when you’re ready.”
“Perfect.” Ike stood and wrapped his stethoscope around his neck.
It seemed they were done with their conversation.
“How are the kids doing anyway?” he asked leading her into the hall.
She couldn’t lie to him. “It’s been a transition, that’s for sure. They’ve had their moments.” There’d been some complaining and some crying. The changes seemed to have made both Maya and Ollie act out by bickering more than usual. “But they really seem to love it here. Especially when we visit the Juniper Inn.”
There was something magical about the place. Her aunt’s old resort seemed to have the power to change people and circumstances. Dahlia only hoped it could change her by helping her open her heart a little bit more.
Her stomach knotted the way it always did when she had to grasp for courage. Just outside of exam room two, she reached for Ike’s shoulder in a silent request for him to pause.
He turned, catching her in his captivating, clear-eyed gaze.
“I really would like to see you soon,” she murmured so the kids wouldn’t hear. “Once I get them more settled and into a routine, things will be a little easier.” Once Maya and Ollie were settled she would feel more settled too.
Ike was quiet a few seconds while he seemed to study her. “I’d like to see you too,” he finally said. “Just let me know when you’re ready.”
That was the problem. She didn’t know what ready was supposed to look like.
Chapter Three
Sassy
There was one magic hour in the mountains.
One hour in the early afternoon when the glow hit the landscape just right—lighting the trees from above, intensifying every color, from the greens of the foliage t
o the grays of the granite peaks to the unfathomable hues of the royal sky. Sassy’s eyes drank in the scene framed in the windshield in front of her, and all at once something inside—that restlessness she’d begun to feel on her extended vacation—started to settle.
She was home.
It was only fitting that Colt would drive her back to this place during the magic hour. The mountains had always been home, though she hadn’t known it until she’d moved to Juniper Springs, Colorado, when she was only eighteen. Sassy had arrived at her aunt and uncle’s Juniper Inn on a summer day much like this one, both her heart and her spirit broken.
Back then, the mountains had terrified her. They were massive and imposing—a barricade keeping her from what she wanted most in the world…to know love. True love. Deep love. The kind of love that both hurt and healed.
Now, more than fifty years later, the immensity of the peaks in front of her—the sheer impenetrability—was what she loved best about those mountains. They were bigger than her, bigger than almost anything in the whole world—rock solid and strong. And she was a part of them as much as they were a part of her.
“Still feel like you made the right decision cutting the trip short?” Colt glanced over at her, concern etching itself into his brow the same way it used to for his father.
Oh, she’d loved his father. And she could see so much of Robert in this boy she’d helped to raise. Even though she’d never married his father, she considered Colt her flesh and blood, her son. And they’d spent the better part of the last two months solidifying their bond when he’d accompanied her on the quest to see the sights she and his father had always dreamed of visiting together. Before her beloved Robert had passed away.
Sassy kept her gaze on those mountains, tears adding to the pressure building behind her eyes. “I made the right decision cutting the trip short.” Another headache was coming on, but she couldn’t seem to close her eyes—to shut out the view—to fend off the gnawing pain. She hadn’t told Colt about the headaches, which now seemed to come every day.
At first she hadn’t thought much of them, what with the travel fatigue and the flying and the constant changes in climate they’d experienced. But now that they’d become part of her daily routine, she couldn’t stop thinking about them. Maybe because she’d watched her uncle die of a brain tumor. He’d only been fifty-eight when he’d passed—nearly twelve years younger than she was now. So she couldn’t ignore the headaches. As much as she’d like to.
Slowly, steadily, they had moved past an inconvenient annoyance to a reminder she wasn’t invincible. She wouldn’t live forever.
“You want to head straight back to the inn?” Colt asked, slowing his truck on the hairpin curve as they came down the west side of the pass.
“No.” Sassy loved this part of the drive, where the road tilted and bent with the contours of the mountain until you were nestled safely into the Juniper Springs valley. “Let’s make a stop in town.” She knew Colt had worried about being away from his hardware store for so long. And it didn’t matter what impressive city she’d found herself in—Vancouver, Seattle, New York, Chicago, Washington, DC—none of them had given her the sense of awe she found so easily in her little town.
It had been wonderful to travel, to experience new places, all with their own unique cultures, but she missed her people. She missed her place. She hadn’t realized how much her community was a part of her identity until she’d left it behind.
“Town it is.” Colt made the right turn off the main highway to head that direction.
Sassy watched for each landmark as they neared Juniper Springs. The single cottonwood in the valley’s farm pasture. The tree had been only a sapling the year she’d moved here. Now the branches plumed high into the air, providing shade for the herd of Jersey cows munching on the green grass below.
Then there were the ruins from the old homesteading cabins perched atop a swell of cleared land at the base of Castle Peak. The structures had been built in the late 1800s, but time and weather had reduced them to simple shells that evoked a simpler past. “Time passes much too fast.” She hadn’t meant to say the thought out loud. It just sort of tumbled out, a melancholy observation.
“It sure does.” Colt seemed to take in the view. “It feels like we only left town yesterday.”
“Mm-hmm,” Sassy murmured, though time flying by on the trip wasn’t what she’d meant. She swore, the older she got, the closer her memories seemed. “It feels like only yesterday we were hiking up to Castle Falls with your father.” She and Robert would hold hands, and Colt would run up ahead, swinging his stick like a sword to fend off imaginary predators. Colt had been so much freer back then. After his father had gone to prison, he’d become gruff and distant, having few relationships with anyone besides her.
“Dad always loved Castle Falls.” Before this trip, the man rarely indulged her attempts to meander down memory lane, but something in Colt had changed over the last two months, and she’d seen glimpses of her boy again.
They rolled past the acreages on the outside of town—modest homes set on sprawling lots with goats and chickens roaming the land.
“Thank you for coming on this trip with me,” she murmured, trying to battle the headache with a soft tone. “I wouldn’t have enjoyed traveling nearly as much if you hadn’t been there.” She had said as much to him many times over the course of their adventure, every time he’d carried her luggage or made their reservations for various meals and sightseeing excursions.
She knew he’d been worried about her traveling alone. That’s the only reason he’d agreed to find someone to mind his hardware store—so he could keep an eye on her. And she appreciated it.
“I had a great time too.” Colt rolled to a stop at the only light in town, waiting to turn left on Main Street. “In fact, after this, I’d like to hit the road more. Maybe even live somewhere else for a while.”
Sassy had to let that statement sit. Colt had nothing tying him down—other than the store, which could easily be managed. No matter that she would miss him, that she would miss still having a part of Robert with her. No matter that with two of her nieces moving to town to take over the inn, she’d finally felt like she had the family she’d always dreamed of surrounding her.
She waited to speak until she was sure her voice wouldn’t wobble. “That would be exciting. You deserve to have an adventure.” He’d been working hard almost his whole life. “I think you should do it.” The pressure behind her eyes turned into a dull throbbing. The headache was starting to gain ground. Sassy took a long drink from her water bottle, willing it simply to be dehydration and the elevation gain.
“You all right?” Colt had been asking her that more often over the last several weeks, as though he could tell something wasn’t quite right. And just like she did every time, Sassy put him at ease. “I have a small headache. I haven’t been drinking enough water, but a walk around town will do me good.”
The man quirked his lips into a skeptical expression, but he turned into the heart of Juniper Springs anyway.
This. This is what she’d been missing. Sassy inhaled deeply as if she could pull the peace and friendliness of this place right into her lungs. In contrast to the rest of the world, the town hadn’t changed all that much since she’d first walked these cobblestone sidewalks. The square brick buildings held all kinds of different stores—there was Grumpy’s coffee shop and Patty’s antique store, and Leon’s handmade jewelry gallery, and Nora’s quilting and fabric boutique.
Striped awnings stretched over the large storefront windows, providing shade for people to linger and chat as they window-shopped their way down the street. In true Juniper Springs fashion, summer seemed to make the town shine brighter. A good portion of the annual budget went to beautifying the whole downtown area with wildflower gardens and flower pots bursting with colorful annuals. Hand-carved benches were placed strategically where people could sit and rest and visit.
The sidewalks were always busier
near the end of the summer season, as though people wanted to get one last look at paradise before they went back to their busy lives.
Colt pulled the truck into a parking spot in front of his hardware store and cut the engine. “Well, at least it’s still standing.”
“Of course it’s still standing.” The man Colt had hired to manage the store was a retired carpenter who’d worked on half the buildings in this town. “Adam is perfectly capable,” she reminded him, climbing out of the truck with her bag and a wince. The sudden movement accentuated the headache and brought on a dizzy spell.
“Adam is perfectly capable,” Colt repeated as if trying to convince himself. He walked around the front of the truck to stand by her. “You want to meet back here in an hour so we can head to the inn?”
“Sounds perfect,” she said with a bright smile and did her best to stand straight without leaning against the truck. If Colt noticed anything amiss, he’d likely take her straight to Dr. Ike’s office, and she wasn’t ready for all that mess. She wasn’t ready for tests and speculation and more tests. She most definitely wasn’t ready to hear a diagnosis. She took another long drink of water and waved him away. “Good luck at the store. See you in a bit.”
Colt seemed to watch her walk as she passed him by, but Sassy lived up to her name and kept her shoulders proudly straight and a smirk on her lips. Even if she did have something terribly wrong with her, she wasn’t going to let people make a fuss.
Shoving the strap of her travel purse higher up on her shoulder, she marched down the sidewalk, working out the kinks in her lower back and legs. It did help to be outside, to feel the warm sun on her face, to breathe in the clean mountain air. As soon as she was out of Colt’s line of vision, she paused and dug around in her purse until she found the over-the-counter headache medicine, quickly popping the pills and washing them down with another long drink of water before anyone could see.
Most times, the medicine didn’t take away the headache, but it made it more bearable.
The Summer Sisters (Juniper Springs Book 2) Page 3