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On the way down the hall, Evie grabbed a cute nurse with sandy shoulder-length hair. “Lucy, show this one the ropes.”
This one? I wanted to say, Hello, I have a name, but figured there was no need to tick her off right out of the gate. I’m sure that would happen later.
Lucy rolled her eyes at Evie for addressing me in such a manner.
I instantly liked her.
“I would be happy to show Dr. Monroe around,” Lucy emphasized.
“Thank you,” I said gratefully.
Evie walked off without another word, muttering to herself.
Lucy smiled. “Don’t mind her. She doesn’t like anyone.”
“Oh good. I thought it was just me.”
Lucy bit her lip. “Well … she might like you even less. You are kind of a legend in this town.”
“Legend?” I had never heard that one before. Public nuisance, rebel, good-for-nothing, gold digger, tramp, etc. But never legend.
Lucy’s heart-shaped face lit up. “You are the one who sabotaged the boys’ locker room showers and made a slip and slide down the gym hallway, right?”
I grinned. Those were good times. They almost didn’t allow me to graduate because of the slip and slide incident, but it was totally worth it. “Um, yeah, that was me.”
“My friends and I were so jealous you graduated before we made it to high school.”
“You went to Aspen Lake High?”
She threw her fist in the air like a cheerleader. “Yep. Go Bobcats!” She wagged her brows. “Maybe you can liven things up here a little.”
Oh, no. That was the last thing I was going to do. For Deidra, Quinn, and Stella, I had to play by the rules for once. I could do that, right? Maybe?
TRISTAN
“HEY QUINNSTER, YOU’RE BEING QUIET today,” Tristan remarked as they rode horses up one of the mountain trails at his ranch. He, too, was finding himself lost in his thoughts as they wended their way up. Each thought seemed to land on Calista. Something about her wouldn’t let him be. He knew there could be nothing between them again, yet his mind replayed their story repeatedly. Everything from late-night dips in the lake to staying up for hours talking just to watch the sunrise. Every replay had him wishing he could change the ending somehow. But he knew it was impossible. He’d screwed up in a major way, and there was no coming back from it.
“What are you thinking about?” he asked Quinn, hoping she could help distract his mind from her aunt. He would even be happy to talk about his prick of a brother if that’s what his niece needed.
She took her time answering.
Meanwhile, Tristan took a moment to look at what he considered his little slice of heaven. It was a chilly, but clear, day. Snow covered the ground and trees, insulating the sound of the horses’ hooves. Perfect riding weather in his mind. Really, any day was perfect for riding, as long as it wasn’t raining or a blizzard. Riding his trusty horse, Scout, brought him solace. It was even better when Quinn joined him. When he’d bought this property a few years ago, he’d had Quinn and his future children in mind. Maybe even a certain new doctor in town, even though it was a ludicrous thought. The dream they’d once had to own such a place together was just that—a dream.
“Do you think you’ll ever get married again?” Quinn asked out of the blue.
Tristan twisted his head to look at her, surprised by her question.
She flashed him an innocent smile atop Buttercup, the chestnut mare he had given her on her tenth birthday.
“You cried when I married Rachel,” he reminded her. He should have taken that as his sign to not go through with it. But Rachel checked all the boxes. She was intelligent and gorgeous, driven and stable, or so he’d thought. Plus, his parents approved of her. That should have been a red flag too. But he hadn’t wanted to rehash the same arguments dating Calista had caused. She was still causing them. His parents were still seething about the elf costume she wore to the funeral. Yesterday, he told them just to let it go. That hadn’t gone over well. They accused him of wanting her. They weren’t wrong, but he wasn’t going to admit it to them. The usual warnings ensued after that—she was bad for business, and even worse for him. They didn’t care that the happiest he’d ever been in his life was when he’d been with her. He wasn’t even sure if his parents knew what happiness was.
Quinn scrunched her button nose, red from the cold. “She only pretended to like me when you were around. When you weren’t there, she wanted nothing to do with me.”
Tristan cringed. Rachel had fooled him. He’d thought he was marrying a kind woman who wanted to raise a family with him. Come to find out, she was more interested in his money and social status. She never intended to have children or even settle down. It killed him to know he’d been so blindsided.
He faced forward and apologized again. “I’m sorry about that.”
“You didn’t answer my question. Do you want to get married?”
