Built To Last (Sweet Contemporary Romance)

by Allie Kincaid

  She didn’t want to be this person, venting her frustrations on her employees. “I’m sorry, Emily. I’m just tired today, I guess.”

  Emily smiled. “I’m sure it’ll be better when the new doctor arrives.”

  Callie could only hope. After searching for eighteen months, they had finally hired a new doctor. Callie hadn’t been able to interview him in person, but Grannie, in her role as the mayor, had assured Callie that he’d be a perfect fit in her practice. He’d better be. They couldn’t afford to bring a doctor in only to have him hightail it out when he realized the nature of a small-town practice, or how far they were from the big city. Working closely with someone who wanted to be anywhere but here made for a tense relationship.

  Grannie had shared very few details about the doctor, which was unlike her. All Callie knew was that he was due to arrive in the next few days.

  At least with another doctor in town, Callie should be able to have dinner with her son once in a while.

  She and Stuart had always dreamed of running the medical practice together and raising their kids in Sanders Corner. She had made the dream come true... alone. “Let’s hope he can help. In the meantime, we have a waiting room to clear.”

  The rest of the afternoon proceeded much like the appointment with Gilly Davis—aches and pains, mild illnesses. Callie treated very few emergent patients, which she was thankful for. She had had enough of suffering and death during the year she interned in the emergency room at Atlanta General.

  As she finished up with another patient, she glanced into the waiting room. It was finally empty. Thank Goodness. She trudged down the hall to her office and caught a glimpse out the window at the dark sky. Shoot. She’d missed dinner again.

  She grabbed the stack of files off the desk that still needed to be charted and shoved them in her briefcase. She may have missed dinner, but she could at least salvage part of her evening with Ash before digging back into work for a few hours.

  She drove the short distance to the house—the same one where she’d grown up, where Grannie had raised her and her three sisters after their parents’ untimely death. Her home was close enough to walk, but she’d overslept this morning and had to rush to get Ash off to school. When the new doctor arrived, she’d have the time to walk to work again. She always loved the few minutes of solitude to appreciate the crisp, clean air, no matter the season. But by far, the fresh spring right now was her favorite.

  She strolled through the back garden that had been her mother’s pride and joy and couldn’t help but wish her parents were here. She sure could use their advice right about now.

  “You’re a strong person, Callalily Scott, and you can do anything you set your mind to.”

  Callie hadn’t really heard the words, but they had filled her heart with warmth and love just the same.

  She opened the back door and stepped into the kitchen. “I’m home.”

  “Long day?” Grannie dropped a scoop of ice cream in a dish and dug into the carton for another.

  “Mommy! I lost a tooth. Look!” Callie’s sweet boy’s voice immediately calmed her. He bounced out of his chair at the table, the gap where his front tooth had been when she’d left for work this morning proudly on display. That explained the ice cream, not that Grannie needed an excuse to sneak Ash a treat from time to time. That was what grandmothers, or great grandmothers did, after all.

  Ash’s hair was damp and his Lego Batman pajamas were misbuttoned, as if he’d had thrown them on quickly after his bath. He probably did if he knew ice cream was at the other end of the task.

  Callie sat at the table and Grannie placed bowls of ice cream in front of her and Ash. At least she had made it home to join in their family “tooth fairy” ice cream tradition.

  Grannie sat beside Callie. “You look tired, honey.”

  “Long day today. I didn’t think the patients would ever stop. I planned to be home for dinner, but Mr. Monroe burned his arm on that tractor he’s constantly repairing.”

  “Oh, poor Horace. I’ll have to check in with Gladys tomorrow. I’m worried about you, though. You work too hard. At least that new doctor is coming in a couple of days.” Grannie said the words with a twinkle in her eye.

  “I wanna be a doctor when I grow up, just like Mommy.”

  Callie ruffled Ash’s hair. She hated that Ash would never know his father. Know what a wonderful man, and a wonderful doctor, he was. But why was she sitting here, thinking about Stuart instead of telling Ash about him? Ash should know these things about his father.

  “Daddy was a wonderful doctor, too. He couldn’t wait to move to Sanders Corner and take care of people. I wish he’d had a chance to do that, to see you grow up, but I know that he’ll be very proud of whatever you decide to do.”

  “Then I’m going to be a doctor like my Mommy and my Daddy.”

  Ash dug his spoon into his ice cream bowl as though he hadn’t just rocked Callie’s world. In his six-year-old mind, he probably didn’t realize how impactful his statement was. This child was her heart and a daily reminder of her love for Stuart.

  A minute later, Ash hopped down from his chair, rushed around the table, and threw his arms around her. “I’m going to write a note for the tooth fairy and leave it on my nightstand where she can’t miss it. Last time, it was three days last time before she came for my tooth.” He rolled his eyes as he emphasized how many nights the tooth fairy had forgotten to visit.

  Heat crept up Callie’s cheeks. Thankfully Ash had already darted out of the room and didn’t notice. Tonight, she wouldn’t forget.

  If only Stuart were here to share this wonderful moment with their son. To see their Ash grow up.

  Callie rested her hand over her heart. There were days that Ash reminded her so much of Stuart with his happy, easy-going personality. He never got upset when Callie worked late and missed dinner, or his soccer game, or school performance.

  This wasn’t the life Callie envisioned for her son when he was born six years ago. But fate, and cancer, had other plans.

  Grannie fussed with washing the dishes. “That boy certainly is exhausting. Much like his mama was growing up.”

  If only Callie had that kind of energy now. Instead, most days found her falling into bed exhausted, only to drag her tired body up the next morning to do it all again. She was about at her breaking point.

  Grannie pulled a plate out of the microwave and slid it onto Callie’s spot at the table. “It won’t be much longer. Dr. Jameson is exactly who you need at the clinic.” Grannie responded as though Callie had said the words out loud. Had she?

  The furtive smile on Grannie’s face woke Callie’s suspicions. Despite the workload at the clinic, Callie had been wary of bringing in another doctor. Someone who didn’t know the town and its residents. But in the end, putting more balance in her life was more important than her own discomfort. “What aren’t you telling me?”

  Grannie wouldn’t meet Callie’s gaze, which in and of itself was suspicious. “Nothing, dear. He’s a wonderful man. Comes highly recommended. He was very excited to be offered the position. I expect you to welcome him into the practice.”

  “Why wouldn’t I?”

  “I know you need to keep a tight hold of everything around you. That you like order and structure. He’s likely to do things a bit differently and that’ll ruffle your feathers.”

  “I don’t…” Callie swallowed the rest of her protest. She couldn’t argue with Grannie. Callie had procedures and methods that worked, and she didn’t want someone coming in and changing things up. She had been here for more than four years. This was her hometown. He could adapt to her processes.

  Sanders Corner wasn’t like other medical practices. Callie’s methods, some of them a bit unorthodox, worked for the rural residents of her hometown. Outsiders often didn’t understand and seldom appreciated small towns like her hometown. Stuart was the rare outsider who’d fallen in love with Sanders Corner when he first visited. Had planned to build his life wit
h her here while many of her friends left town for the city as soon as they could.

  That was her primary concern with bringing in a doctor from a major hospital. Would this new doctor last? She shook her head. Of course, he would. He’d made a commitment. She had no reason to doubt his word… yet.

  Callie shoved the last bites of meatloaf and mashed potatoes in her mouth and hopped to her feet. Not the first meal she’d rushed through. Wouldn’t be the last. “Thanks, Grannie. I need to go tuck Ash in.”

  “That boy misses his Mama.”

  Callie blanched at the rebuke. Grannie rarely pulled her punches even though she knew this was out of Callie’s control. She headed out of the room before Grannie could rehash the tired conversation about Callie not having enough time for her son. It wasn’t that Callie didn’t agree with Grannie—she just didn’t have a choice.

  Only a few more days.

  Callie tucked Ash in, turned off his light, and then crossed the hall to her own room. The room she’d grown up in, hung posters of her favorite movie stars on the walls, and cried with her sisters when she had her heart broken over a teenage boy. And the room she moved back into after Stuart died, bringing her son home to grow up surrounded by the love of her family.

  After she changed into her pajamas and climbed into bed, her gaze fell on the wedding photo on the nightstand. It was her favorite shot, unplanned but perfectly capturing the special intimacy that they shared. She ran her finger across Stuart’s gentle smile. She missed him the most at night, when they would take time away from the chaos of their busy lives and talk about their plans for the future. He always had a knack for calming her down. He balanced her need to control everything in her life with his ability to let things roll off his back. If only he were here with her now, working the practice beside her. If he were, she wouldn’t be laying here worried about how the new doctor would fit into her clinic.

  After one last glance at the wedding photo, she turned off the light, hoping that sleep wouldn’t be as elusive as it had been the past few nights.

  “Shoot.” She shot up to a sitting position and climbed out of bed. She’d almost forgotten about the tooth fairy… again!

  * * *

  Chapter Two

  “We’re almost there, Max.” Robert scrubbed his hand between his Border Collie’s ears and turned his attention back to the road. Not that he’d missed anything. The long ribbon of pavement stretched out in front of him as far as he could see. Where was this town he was headed to anyway? When he’d first seen the job listing, he had looked up Sanders Corner, North Carolina. It had taken zooming out on the electronic map several times before he spotted a town with a name he recognized. And that town was well over an hour away from Sanders Corner.

  Now that he was on the road to his new position, he questioned whether he’d made the right decision. Robert had gone on the interview based on Dr. O’Connor’s suggestion. His mentor had sympathized when Robert’s dream position fell through. After the previous, grueling six months that resulted in major burnout, he humored his mentor and sat for the interview even though family medicine was not where his heart was. And Sanders Corner was about as far away from the city as he could get.

  Despite that, three weeks after the final interview, he had packed up everything he owned and was moving his life to a small town. Although small town didn’t even do Sanders Corner justice. Miniscule might be a better description. Five thousand, six hundred and fifty-seven residents. Fifty-eight once he arrived. Although he was loathed to call himself a resident. He was more like a long-term visitor. He’d do his time in the clinic, make his mentor happy, and in the meantime, he’d keep his ear to the ground for other oncology attending positions.

  Robert spied a few houses, farms mostly, scattered along the road on the way into town. The only indication he was getting closer was that the buildings showed up more frequently… until he spotted a huge welcome sign on the right-hand shoulder.

  This was as good a time as any to let Max out of the car for a few minutes. Robert pulled up just in front of the sign. “Wait for me to put your leash on, buddy. I don’t want you running away.”

  Max dipped his head and looked up at Robert with those eyes that had him caving every time. Who knew he could be so easily manipulated by a canine? “Don’t even think about it.”.

  Robert hopped out and shut the door so his crafty dog didn’t decide to leap over the console. Max didn’t mean any harm—he just had a lot of energy. At least Robert’s new position included a small cottage at the back of the clinic. Robert could let Max out into the fenced back yard between patients or at the end of the day.

  Maybe there were some positive aspects of small-town life, after all—like room for a frisky Border Collie to run.

  While Max hopped and leaped around in the brushy grass on the side of the road, testing the limits of his restraint, Robert snapped a picture of the Sanders Corner welcome sign. Shoot, they even proudly declared their population, right where anyone coming into town could see.

  When he’d met with the elderly mayor, her pride for her hometown shone through when she talked about their clinic. There was something about the needs of this town that tugged at his heartstrings. One doctor serving the entire area, with no one for backup. Between two doctors, though, it should be easily manageable.

  The elderly mayor had practically begged him to take the position, and he’d relented. Perhaps it was because she reminded him of his own grandmother, one he hadn’t seen in far too long. And that was his own fault. It was easy to get bogged down in the day-to-day commitments and the forty-eight-hour shifts and not find time to visit. Or it could be because he couldn’t stand to see the disappointment on his parents’ faces that he hadn’t built a life in his own hometown of Little Creek.

  Besides, his resume was going to be that much stronger with ‘small town family practice’ on it. At least that was what he told himself when the disappointment threatened to bubble over. He’d trained for the oncology position for four years and had been considered the front-runner to assume the role. But he’d been passed over—and his mentor had been suspiciously silent about why.

  It didn’t matter. Robert knew. One mistake was all it had taken to jeopardize his future.

  Robert tugged on Max’s leash to call him back to the car. The leash was probably not necessary—Max was trained and followed instructions well—but Robert couldn’t bear if something happened to him.

  After he tucked Max into the passenger seat, Robert pulled onto the road for the last few miles into town.

  Sanders Corner was the epitome of a typical small town—rows of shops lining either side of the road, ornate lampposts placed evenly down the street, benches in front of many stores where people sat and chatted, a bookstore with racks of books positioned on the sidewalk, and a flower shop, its window overflowing with color. The bustling main street was more than he expected to find in this small, middle-of-nowhere town.

  Residents milled about, walking down the sidewalks, chatting as though they had nowhere better to be. Kids were laughing and skipping beside their parents, and people were socializing without their phones being plastered to their hands. It was a nice change from a typical Atlanta street. He’d forgotten how much slower the pace was outside of the city.

  As Robert eased his way through town, a red-haired boy who couldn’t be more than five or six stepped off the curb. Robert eased his foot off the gas. In Atlanta, he would have been concerned that the boy would dart out in front of his car. But not in Sanders Corner. The boy hesitated, raising his hand in greeting as Robert passed.

  He shook his head. Sanders Corner was definitely going to be an adjustment.

  He spied the bright red and white striped awning of a café, several tables covered in wide white umbrellas occupying the sidewalk in front of the restaurant. He could use a cup of coffee and a chance to catch his breath before he headed to his cottage. His new home probably didn’t have coffee—or food, for that matter.

&
nbsp; He pulled his car up to the curb and Max leapt up and begged to be let out. “Sorry, boy, you can’t go in with me. I’ll try to get a table outside and we can both enjoy the fresh air.”

  Max barked as if he understood Robert’s words. His smart pooch probably did. Robert scanned the sidewalk. If anyone saw him sitting in his car, talking to his dog like he was a person, they’d question the sanity of their new doctor.

  He spotted a waitress clearing one of the outside tables and sprung into action, clicking the leash onto Max’s collar and hopping out of the car. He stopped himself on the curb. Why in the heck was he hurrying? This wasn’t Atlanta, where there would be a line of people waiting for a prime table on the patio.

  As Robert slid into one of the chairs, Max tight on his leash, the waitress handed a glass of water to a man sitting nearby. The water started to topple, and the man reached to grab it, but not soon enough. The glass crashed to the wrought-iron table and shattered into several pieces, just as the man grasped for it.

  “Ow, oh, shoot.” The man grabbed his one hand with the other.

  Customers at the surrounding tables leapt up while the waitress grabbed a white cloth. “Here, Ben, press this on your hand. I think we should call Callie.”

  “No need to get Doc Parker involved. I’ll be fine.” The man’s voice cracked.

  That was Robert’s cue. He may not officially be part of the practice yet, but he was a doctor… and he was here. He stepped up to the man. “Maybe I can help. My name’s Dr. Jameson. Can I take a look at your hand?”

  “Name’s Ben. I cut it on the glass. It’s not bad. I’ll just stop the bleedin’ and it’ll be as good as new.” As Ben spoke, he extended his hand and Robert carefully removed the white cloth. Blood flowed freely from the slice. The incision wasn’t severe—a couple of butterfly bandages and a sterile dressing should be enough. But maybe he should take the man to the clinic for a few stitches just to be safe. Stop second guessing yourself, Jameson. It’s a simple cut. Dress it and move on.

  Robert shook his head. When would the doubts stop creeping in? Soon, he hoped. In the meantime, Max squeezed in between the two of them and rested his head on the man’s lap. Ben looked at Robert in surprise, but he just shrugged. Before long, Ben’s uninjured hand sneaked onto Max’s back and rubbed at the soft fur.