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“Jaysus. You’re kidding, right?”
“No! I’m not. I wish I were.” I hang my head.
“Well damn girl, there’s no need to be down about it. Be happy you found your one! Not many people can say that.”
“I know, but it seems like forever until I graduate.”
She thumps me on the side of the head. “Get a hold of yourself, you fucknut. It’s not like you’re in school in China, for Pete’s sake. You’re an hour away from him. Of all people I know, you’re the last one I thought I’d be having this talk with. You, Cate Forbes, pining away for your guy.” She shakes her head. “Remind me never to fall in love. You look like a damn fool.” Then she makes a fu
“It is ridiculous. I can’t argue with you there. But one day, you’ll see what I’m talking about. It’s like something takes a hold of you and won’t let you go.”
Je
“Do you believe there’s only one person on this earth for you?”
“What? Hell no!”
“Drew doesn’t either, but he does think it’s difficult to find one that can make you happy.”
“Yeah, I’ll go with that. But I think the sea is loaded with tons of fish. You just have to use the right bait.”
Je
“So, Key West with me then?”
“Yeah.”
“No surly Cate?”
“Yeah.”
“Okay, but if you do, I swear I’ll kick your ass.”
And she almost ends up doing exactly that. The first couple of days I’m fine, loving the warm temps and the beach, but after day four, I’m over this place. Every day and night we do the same thing and Je
Saturday morning, I practically have to beat Je
“Don’t ask,” she says as she walks straight past him and takes the first seat she finds.
“Is she okay?” he asks.
“Hung over. I had to beat her up to get her out of bed. I’m so glad to be home. I’m never leaving you again.”
“I like the sound of that,” he says.
“No, I’m serious. It was awful. I never should’ve gone. It was not my scene at all.”
He turns to me and runs his finger down my cheek. “I’m so sorry. I was hoping you’d have a great break.” Then his arms are around me and I bury myself in his embrace.
The luggage starts dropping and I reluctantly pull myself away. Drew collects our bags and Je
“I think we need to stay here tonight. Je
“That can be arranged.”
When we get to Drew’s, he takes Je
“Why is it so fu
“Selfishly, because you weren’t looking for other guys.”
“So, you are happy I was miserable?”
“Uh, yeah.” And his smile speaks a million words. Drew McKnight may have been a little jealous before I went to Key West. But now, he’s a happy guy, knowing I was miserable there. And it’s my turn to smile. I lean over and kiss him. Then he adds, “By the way, I wanted to wait until you got back to share this news with you.” He’s almost rubbing his hands together.
“What news?”
“I’ve been named chief resident for next year.”
“What? That’s awesome! Congratulations!” Now I really lay a kiss on him. “I can’t believe you’ve been holding this in!”
“Yeah, I know. It’s been kind of hard.” He’s so excited; he grabs me and squeezes all the air out of me.
“Drew,” I squeak, “Can’t breathe!”
“Oh,” he instantly releases me. “Sorry ’bout that.” Then we both laugh.
“Oh my god, I can’t believe this. This is so huge for you. This means you’ll be able to practically name your fellowship then, right? I mean, don’t chiefs carry a lot of clout?”
Never being one to boast, he says in an understated way, “A fair amount. I think I want Charleston, though. Is that okay with you?”
He’s asking me as though I’m a part of his future. We’ve kind of hinted at this sort of thing, but this is no hint this time.
“Are you asking because you want my opinion or because you want to know if I want to go with you?”
His hand cups my cheek and all the cheer turns serious. “Cate, I’m asking because I want you by my side, wherever I go. I want you to be happy with that decision. I’m not going to choose just for me anymore.”
Wow. My head drops down as I stare at my lap. This is an unexpected discussion. Not that I don’t want to have it. I love Drew and at some point I figured we would have this chat, but I didn’t think it would be today.
“I take it from your reaction we’re traveling different roads.”
I quickly say, “No, not at all! I was only thinking I didn’t expect to be talking about this today. I want to be with you, too, Drew. And to answer you, I would love to return to Charleston, as long as I don’t have to live with my parents.”
His eyes grow dark and hooded as he says, “You won’t be living with anyone but me. And at some point our kids.”
I’m sure my brows shoot up to the heavens when he makes this a
“I want kids. No more than three, though. That’s my limit.”
“Fine with me. But we won’t work on that until a few more years. We can practice for the time being.”
“I like that idea.” We get a little practice in that night, and the next morning, Je
My birthday weekend arrives in April, and Drew says he has something special pla
“Fuck, are you spoiled.” That’s all she says.
“Yes, I am. He hasn’t mentioned anything to you about this weekend, has he?”
“Not a word. Want me to ask Ben?”
“Yeah, would you?”
She picks up her phone and makes the call. I can hear them chatting, but when she hangs up, she has a sly look on her face. “Don’t ask me a thing. I promised Ben I wouldn’t tell you.”
“That is not fair. You’re my best friend.”
“Yeah, but I’m Ben’s sister and he’s Drew’s best friend. And that puts me awkwardly between a rock and a hard place. So I’m screwed either way.”