Clean Lines (Cedar Tree #4) (36 page)

"How's Clint doing?" I ask Jed when Naomi shuts the front door. The man shrugs his shoulders, a painful expression replacing the amused one that was there a moment before, making me feel like an ass.

"Awake for a couple of days. At least as I understand it, ‘cause the first time he spotted me in the room, he barked at me to get out before passing out again. Haven't been back since."

"Ouch. Guess it's gonna take a while to fix what went wrong with you two," I observe.

"Probably, but I'm gonna stick it out. I deserve everything he'll be dishing out. I won't run from it." Both dejection and determination are clear on his face. I don't get a chance to say anything, which is good, ‘cause frankly, I don't know what to say, when Jed announces he'd better get to work and leaves me standing on the porch.

This morning after offering to drive Fox to school, I stopped in at Naomi's realtor's office to arrange for my house to be listed. Best way to go is to strike the iron while it's hot; at least that's the way I see it. Naomi asked me to stay and I don't want to leave. With my resignation handed it and a new job waiting for me, I'm not sad to move closer to the people who have become as close as family over the past few years. I don't have a whole lot in terms of furniture; at least nothing particularly special, but I'll let Naomi go through it with me and she can decide what has to go and what she wants to incorporate. The house is plenty big and even with both our households combined we probably would take a while before we run out of space. There's the clinic too. I'm not sure how she wants to have it furnished, but I'm sure we can make use of some of the shelving and furnishings I have. Even just to start out.

I walk to the back of the porch and sit down on the steps there, looking at the mountains in the distance. Feels right to finally set down some true roots in the same soil I came from. I hear the sliding door open behind me and find Naomi handing me a coffee before sitting down beside me.

"Deep thoughts?" She leans her shoulder against mine.

"Just feeling lucky I guess. I was wondering whether it's this particular house or the fact that it comes with you in it, that makes it feel like home. First time in my adult life I've felt that."

"Mmmm. Funny, I was just thinking this morning that I couldn't stand going back to my place in Cortez after the break-in, yet here we've had three major incidents that were technically far more traumatic, and still the house wins." She smiles at me and I tuck her to my side, my arm around her shoulder.

"It's a good house," I observe casually. "Strong foundation. Good clean lines."

Naomi chuckles. "Clean lines, huh? You're big on those these days."

"You bet. Seems like since we first discussed those, we've been able to come a long way."

"True. I've become a big fan of clean lines myself," she says turning her face to me, which I respond to by slanting my mouth over hers in a kiss that leaves no doubt who I'm a big fan of.

"Must you?" Neil comes walking around the side of the house, shaking his head.

"Yes." Is my short and simple answer. "Seems like you have some kind of perverted built-in radar, my friend. How many times does this happen to you?" Naomi starts giggling at Neil's facial expression. Disgust would be too mild a word.

"I don't want to discuss it," he manages, "Let's just say I could probably recognize a large percentage of the Cedar Tree population by the shape of their ass, and I don't even live here. I swear I'm gonna wear a cowbell next."

I throw my head back laughing.

After getting Neil a coffee, Naomi settles back beside me and turns to him.

"What brings you here this morning? Fox is at school."

"Yeah. I know. I want to see if I can upgrade his old laptop and maybe upload that game he likes playing on my computer on there. I'm leaving at the end of the week, heading back to Grand Junction. A few cases have come into the office there and I'm gonna start laying some groundwork on them. I wanted to leave Fox with something and this way we can play online from time to time. I've enjoyed spending time with him. He's a great kid."

"Awww, that's so sweet," Naomi coos, moving away from me and wrapping her arms around Neil in a full on hug. The damn pain in my ass is sporting a big satisfied smirk on his face when he looks at me. Right.

"Okay. That's enough," I say, pulling her off and throwing him a
'back-off —MINE'
look. Unfortunately, he looks anything but impressed.
Bastard.

"Fox'll be pumped you're doing that for him. Thanks," I say through clenched teeth.

"My pleasure. It’s the least I could do for the kid. He's been through a lot." Now he's pulling a damn puppy face, and it looks like Naomi is lapping it up; she's moving in for another damn hug. Over my dead body. I growl and tighten my arm around her waist so she cannot move making Neil laugh at my expense.

"Anyway, I'll get to it then. Thanks for the coffee, Doc," he smiles at Naomi, who practically melts under the flash of his pearly whites.

"Buzz off, Neil," is my contribution.

When he is out of earshot she turns to face me. "What. Was. That?"

"He was eye-fucking you, beautiful. You can't do that with someone else's woman."

Naomi drops her head in her hands, mumbling, "And here I thought I had a normal boyfriend."

"But you still love me right?" I give her shoulder a nudge and she nudges right back.

"May God have mercy on my soul, but I do."

"Well, that's good. But Doc? I'm not liking the boyfriend bit. I'd much prefer you refer to me as your
man
, or better yet, your husband."

"Husband? Is this a proposal or something?" she says with confusion all over her face. "’Cause if it is, you sure move fast—and—you could use a little work."

I just smile and pull her on my lap facing me. "Let's just say that I want you to know where my mind is going. Once we have our stuff somewhat sorted, and I've had a chance to put some of your suggested practice in, I'll make sure you know I'm dead serious about that proposal."

Naomi slings her arms around my neck and leans her face close.

"And when you do, I'm pretty convinced my response will be very receptive in nature," she replies, smiling against my lips.

Two months later...

"W
hat do you think?"

I'm just showing Kendra the final touches in the form of a few prints for the wall and some new towels for the PT room.

"Love it. Looks like a fucking spa in here instead of a clinic. Such a relaxed vibe. You did good." She turns to me with a pleased smile.

Kendra will start with three afternoons a week and as business builds up here, she plans to build down her clients in Cortez; and move those who want to stick with her over to the new clinic.

Both of us have been eager to open the doors ever since Jed and his crew finished with the structural work two weeks ago. It looks amazing. Nice and bright with an eclectic mix of comfy furniture in the front waiting room, making it different from your standard doctor's office. There is a front desk that was built against the side-wall, not just for a receptionist, but also for Kendra and I to do some work from. We were set on having a treatment room each and a small eat-in kitchen and bathroom. With space at a premium, the choice was made to have a full-sized PT room built and drop a separate office for each of us. As an alternative, we each have a small desk in our treatment rooms when we need the privacy for phone calls and meetings, but for office work and file storage, we share the huge front desk with whoever will be a nurse/assistant. I'm actually working on getting Stacy, one of the nurses from Cortez Memorial, to join us here.

I love my treatment room which is the bigger of the two, since I'll also be doing minor procedures in there. Jed wanted to start on the old upstairs storage loft right away, moving perhaps offices up there, but I didn't want to spend my last penny without leaving a buffer to live off for a while if necessary.

When Joe's house sold after a month and he offered to invest his money in the clinic, I told him to hang on to it for now. He's already paying most of the household bills and insisted on taking over mortgage payments, claiming it was only fair since I'd paid a decent chunk down on the house. It was his
condition
on moving in; as if he needed much convincing.

In twenty minutes, most of our combined friends and Kendra's family will be here for an open house and we're a little behind schedule.

Fox and Joe decided there wasn't near enough beer, so they went to get some more and Kendra and I are supposed to be setting out some appetizers. We've been kinda distracted admiring all the new gizmos and gadgets as well as the occasional decorative touches, and forgot about the clock for a bit. Time to focus on the food, ‘cause pretty soon this place will be packed.

I'm furious. People have started arriving and Joe and Fox aren't back yet. I've tried calling each of them a few times already but neither is answering. Either they left their phones in Joe's truck or they're ignoring me; I don't even want to think about the possibility something might have happened ‘cause I've had enough of bad luck for a lifetime.

Every time the door opens, my head whips around to scan who enters. Beth and Clint showing up is a great surprise and I wish I had more time to sit and chat with them, but new people seem to be coming in all the time.

When the last ones to get here are Gus and Emma, I'm near tears. Gus wraps me in his arms, congratulates me and then whispers, "A bit of faith, Doc." It's enough to allow me to mingle and smile.

I catch up with Mal, who came in with Caleb, Katie and my little guy who seems to be stealing the show. Mal's also a fairly new import in Cedar Tree and we're laughing about a few of the drawbacks of small town living, namely that everyone knows everything and often before you do, when Kendra walks up.

"Introduce me?" she almost purrs and I'm doing a double-take. Kendra, who is one of the crassest women I know, save perhaps Arlene. Oh, or Beth. But anyway, Kendra is batting her eyelashes at Mal. Not making this shit up, and I'm almost immediately reminded that Joe's not here, because this would be something I'd love to point out to him. But before I have a chance to make the introductions, the murmur of conversations around me stills. I follow the various heads turned to the back of the clinic, to see Fox and Joe coming in from the mudroom—both dressed in tuxedos.  I'm sure my mouth has hit the ground at the sight of my handsome men dressed to the nines, but for the life of me, I'm at a loss as to what is going on. Both of them walk right up to me and appear to ignore everyone else, big smiles on their faces when Joe starts talking.

"I thought it only fair that the person who was crucial in bringing us together again after I fucked up something in a way I thought was beyond repair, would be standing beside me when I ask you a question."

"Language," I mumble on automatic response, hearing the muffled laughter around me, but having eyes only for the man in front of me who winks in response.

"I wanted to make sure all our friends, who are also our family, were present. I needed the support of the man who will always be the most important man in your life by my side too. Naomi, I knew over four years ago when I first met you that you were someone special. That you were someone I needed to get close to. I had no idea at the time that my feelings for you would run quite this deep. And not just for you; I've grown to love your son as well. There is no better future I can imagine than one with both of you as a permanent part of my life."

When Joe sinks down on one knee in front of me, the tears that already started rolling down my face unchecked, are now nearly blinding me. I'm wiping furiously so I won't miss a thing.

Fox steps up behind Joe and puts a hand on his shoulder as Joe grabs hold of one of mine.

"Beautiful? With Fox's okay, I'd like to ask you to be my wife."

That fucking smile. Those bright blue eyes only focused on me. Have mercy.

"Yes!" I think I must've yelled as I throw myself in Joe's arms, who falls backward with me on top giggling through my tears. The tapping on my shoulder is Fox, who stands there holding up a box with a ring.