The Doctor's Unexpected Family: (Inspirational Romance) (Port Provident: Hurricane Hope) (19 page)

“Yes, Pete. It’s there. It’s real. There’s a foundation to build on, and I’d like you to stay.”

 “I’m glad to hear that Angela. I hoped I’d gotten the diagnosis right.” He stood up from the chair and headed for the grill. “I also hope I get these burgers right. It’s sure nice to have a grocery store open again, even if it’s only half-stocked.”

“I agree. Just one more baby step on Port Provident’s road to recovery. There are so many pieces to the puzzle, but with each little one that fits into place, I become more confident that we’re going to build back better than before. I’ve decided I’m definitely going to run for mayor when the special election is called. I don’t want this to just be a temporary role I’m filling. This is what I want to do with my life.”

Pete slid the final burger patty on a bun and closed the lid to the grill. “You know what I want to do with my life?”

His grin quickly spread from ear to ear, giving Angela butterflies at the sight of his timeless good looks.

“Run a medical clinic that the Peoples Family Foundation is backing?”

“Good one. But that wasn’t what I was thinking of. I was thinking I’d like to kiss the mayor of Port Provident. Maybe more than once. Are there any laws against that, Madam Mayor?”

Never had government been so rewarding. She felt the corners of her mouth pull upwards in a smile just as playful as Pete’s. She hoped he planned to make good on his life goal soon.

Like before dinner.

And maybe again afterwards.

 “Not that I’m aware of, Dr. Shipley. Would you like for me to consult the city code?”

He left the plate on the shelf next to the grill and came back to the chairs, then reached out his hand. She laid her fingers on top of his and never broke eye contact or the grin as she stood.

Pete gathered her in his arms and leaned forward, making her breathless with anticipation.

“I don’t think that’s necessary. Our police officers have been very busy since the storm. They probably wouldn’t have time to arrest an amateur rule breaker like me.” He pulled his head down, so close their lips grazed as he spoke. “On the other hand, I have all the time in the world.”

She put her arms around Pete’s neck and her fingers brushed the lower edge of his hair.

Angela was used to always rushing, always running somewhere. It was part of being a single mom and an elected official who juggled duties at a family business as well.

But for right now, she felt time roll as slowly as ketchup making its way out of a bottle. There was no rush—only her and Pete and the growl of the ocean a few blocks away.

She wanted to look up at the stars, wanted to see if they were beginning to twinkle and shine. She wanted to know if any of them were streaking across the sky. If she did, though, she’d have to open her eyes. And she knew when she did that, time would cease standing still. The stars would have to wait.

After all, she’d waited more than six years for a moment like this.

Pete looked at the familiar faces as members of
La Iglesia
mingled on the lawn after the Sunday morning service. The congregation was still meeting outdoors, so service times had been moved earlier in order to give everyone the best chance to beat the heat that still lingered as the calendar had segued to early October. No one rushed off after Pastor Marco finished his message, though, and it gave Pete a chance to people watch.

He noted how life’s twists and turns could take you in places you never dreamed. A month ago, he didn’t know any of these people, except Gloria and her family. He didn’t know about the tight-knit sense of family that permeated both the
La Missión
neighborhood and the
La Iglesia
members. And now, he’d been welcomed with open arms by them, stood shoulder-to-shoulder with them at The Grace Space…and had fallen in love with one of them.

Well, make that two of them.

Angela stood a few feet away talking to two of her mother’s friends who had some questions about the rebuilding of the senior citizens’ center. Pete scanned and caught a glimpse of Celina, playing a game of tag with a number of other children.

Pete saw Jake Peoples tap his wife Gracie on the shoulder, then point in Pete’s direction. He gave Pete a wave as he got close.

“Hey, Pete. Have you made a decision on moving forward with The Grace Space?”

Pete had lost a little sleep the last few days over the way things turned out with Mercy Medical Mission and the death of a dream he’d held for a very long time. But he’d gained the love and trust of two very special people, and he knew that ought to more than make up for it.

Angela had said she wanted him here and that tipped the scales. He wasn’t going to call any more of his contacts at Mercy Medical Mission and ask for a string to be pulled or a good word to be said.

It was time to put away long-held dreams and make the most of reality.

“I think we’re going to be partners, Jake. Can I come by tomorrow and sign all the paperwork?”

Jake put out his hand and the two men shook on it. “Absolutely. I’ve got some things in the morning. How about late afternoon, say around four o’clock?”

“Sounds great. I’ll see you then.”

Jake headed back to join his little family, and Pete’s heart warmed a little bit when Angela and Celina walked hand-in-hand toward him. It felt like he wasn’t on the outside looking in anymore. There’d been a time when he’d dreamed of a family of his own, until cancer took it away.

Now, a hurricane had brought one to him. 

Pete spent the rest of Sunday at the small pier at the end of the street with Celina, perfecting her casting skills while Angela caught up on paperwork and reading she needed to have finished before a very busy week ahead.

“Pete?” Celina asked as she held her fishing pole tightly. “I built sandcastles with my dad the other day.”

“I heard about that.” Pete tried to keep his voice neutral until he figured out where she was going with the conversation. He didn’t want to guide the conversation or sway her thoughts on the meeting. “What did you think about it?”

“It was fun to get to go back to the beach after the hurricane. There was a lot of seaweed, though.” She spoke very matter-of-factly, as if the amount of dried sargassum that had washed up on the shore was one of the bigger issues on her plate right now. Although, Pete couldn’t disagree with her—it was everywhere, and as it began to dry out, the smell did permeate certain pockets of the air.

“It will be nice when everything gets cleaned up around the whole city. Your mom is working very hard to make that happen for everyone.” He didn’t want to influence the conversation, but he didn’t want to derail it off into seaweed and beach cleanup, either, so he tried to get back on track. “So what did you think about meeting your dad?”

“He was nice. And I like the bucket that he brought me. I wonder how he knew that pink was my favorite color?”

“Probably a lucky guess. Pink is a pretty popular color. So, do you think you’d like to see him again?”

She looked down at the fishing rod in her hands. “Well, I like the idea of having a dad around and I’ve never had brothers or sisters before.”

The abrupt halt to Celina’s train of thought signaled to Pete that the little girl had more to say. He wanted to give her a hug, to let her know that no matter what she had to say, his ears were there to listen.  But since they were discussing her biological dad—and Pete wasn’t even a stepdad, in fact, he wasn’t even certain if Celina’s mother yet thought of him as her boyfriend—he just wasn’t sure what the protocol would be.

“I don’t have any siblings. So, I think that part will be nice for you.”

“Well yeah,” Celina said with a shrug. “But Pete, if I spend more time with my dad, does that mean you and I don’t get to spend as much time together? Can we still go fishing?”

Now Pete knew, without a doubt, that a hug was in order. He wrapped the little girl in his arms and gave her a squeeze.

“We will always go fishing.”

Chapter Nine

Pete organized his stack of folders and prepared to wrap up the day in The Grace Space clinic a little early. He needed to be out the door in about five minutes in order to make it to the Peoples Family Foundation offices on time.

“Dr. Shipley?” A man poked his head around the curtain that divided Pete’s office. Pete recognized him immediately.

“Jonas. It’s good to see you.” Pete put out his hand and the two men shook hands. “What brings you by? My aunt and uncle aren’t living on the island anymore. They moved to the mainland about a year ago.”

Dr. Jonas Sievers had been a medical school friend of Pete’s uncle Paul, and they’d remained close through the years.

He was also the medical director of the Mercy Medical Mission.

“I came looking for you, actually, Pete. I heard you called the office the other day.”

Pete stuck his hands in the pocket of his lab coat. “I did. Spoke with Donna in HR.”

“That’s what she said. It also seems she gave you some wrong information.”

Pete tried to keep a poker face on. He didn’t quite know where Jonas was going, and he didn’t want to let his mind wander down any rabbit trails.

“How so?”

The older man broke into a smile. “Well, your application had already been approved. By me. And my boss, Stanley McMahon, the CEO. We have a need for someone to run our Guatemala clinic. The doctor in charge of it right now has had to leave for personal reasons, and submitted a resignation straight to me. We are in a hiring freeze, but I also know how important our clinic is there. I’d gotten your application the day before I heard from Dr. Robertson. So I went down the hall to Stan’s office and we got everything worked out. I just hadn’t gone to Donna yet because Dr. Robertson had a few things to take care of before making everything official. I had a meeting earlier today at Mainland Medical Center, so I decided to cross the causeway and come talk to you myself.”

Pete was thankful he’d never played cards. This poker face thing was not going well.  “So you’re saying you’ve got a spot for me?”

Dr. Sievers nodded heartily. “In Guatemala. In three weeks. Are you ready to go?”

Pete noted all the signs of excitement: rapid breathing, quickening of pulse rate. Without looking in a mirror, he couldn’t be sure, but he wouldn’t be surprised to see his pupils had also dilated somewhat.

“Wow, running my own clinic?” Pete knew he sounded like a kindergartener, not someone with a medical degree, but he had not seen this coming. Not only was the door to Mercy Medical Mission open again, it was
wide open
. He hadn’t expected to run his own clinic—he’d fully planned on working his way up to that.

“Pete, you’ve run your uncle’s clinic here for years. You’ve got ER experience and your obstetrics experience. We see a lot of births at this clinic, and I think you’re the perfect candidate for the job, especially because your uncle speaks so highly of the job you’ve done here at the Provident Women’s Health and Birth Center since he basically retired.”

“I don’t know what to say, Jonas. I’d spent all weekend getting over this door closing.”

“Well, say you’ll be on a plane to Guatemala in three weeks. That would be the perfect answer.”

Pete’s cell phone buzzed in his pocket. He pulled it out. On the screen flashed a text from Jake Peoples.

Running a few minutes behind, but I’m on my way—see you about 4:15.

Pete knew his pupils contracted back to normal. His breathing slowed and his heart stopped pounding. He was supposed to be on his way to signing the paperwork with Jake.

But now that his lifelong dream was back in the picture—and better than he could have ever hoped for, Pete only had one diagnosis for his current situation:
torn-between-two-options-itis
.

“I expected to hear a yes out of you by now, Jake.” The older man chuckled in the space created by Pete’s silence.

Pete had known Jonas a long time, and his uncle had known Jonas even longer. Pete knew he could shoot straight with him.

“Well, I was actually on my way to sign some paperwork.” Pete explained The Grace Space and how he’d committed to Jake after talking with Donna at the end of the week.

“You said that you’ve got a staff of doctors and residents already in place.” The senior physician spoke plainly with his words.

“That’s correct, sir.” Pete wasn’t sure where Jonas was going with this. “With the hospital and medical school closed for likely at least the next year, things are in limbo for the medical community in Port Provident right now.”

“Exactly,” Jonas said, as if that explained it all. “One of them can step into your shoes here. I don’t think you’ll have a problem finding a doctor who can be the medical director for your grace place.”

“The Grace Space. And maybe you’re right. Phil Walden told me he’s actually looking to take some time off from a traditional practice. He might be interested in the opportunity.”

Jonas nodded. “Well, then, there’s your answer. This place will continue on and you’ll get your chance to work with us at Mercy Medical Mission. I’ll have Donna call you in the morning and set up a time for you to get all your paperwork done. You’ve got a passport, right?”