Epilogue Emily
FIRST MEETING OF brIDGEPORT FAMILY MEDICINE
Six months earlier
“I’m glad you decided to join us,” Delia said, sliding the papers across the table to me and pouring us both a glass of wine. “Dupree and Cole are great, but when you get them together it’s a lot of testosterone in one room. It’s nice to have another female perspective in the group.”
“I get that,” I said mildly, picking up the pen and clicking it on. “It’s been strange waiting and not really knowing the fourth doctor, but I know Grant wouldn’t recommend someone who wasn’t good.”
“He wouldn’t, but, rest assured, I vetted Cole. I’m sorry you weren’t able to do the same, but he was tied up with his existing contract and we wanted to make sure things were squared away for him.”
“I know. Grant explained.” I took a sip of the wine and slid the papers closer. This was it. I’d waited for this moment—the moment I got away from the hectic schedules and overwhelming demands of the hospital and moved into private practice. It tasted delicious.
“I sent a copy to your lawyer to look over?—”
“She got it. We talked it through and she said I could safely go ahead without any changes.”
“Perfect,” Delia said. “Our lawyer put arrows next to all the spots you have to sign, but feel free to take your time with it.”
I nodded. I knew the gist. I’d be entering into practice with Grant, his dad, Delia, and a fourth doctor named Cole. It discussed the financials of that and specified our rights and limitations within the practice. Basic stuff, as my lawyer, Christi, had said.
But something caught my eye on the first page. It was our names, written out.
In every conversation I’d had with Delia and Grant they’d referenced the fourth doctor as Cole. I’d taken for granted that Cole was his first name, but this list of names made my error clear.
Dr. Greyson S. Cole, Pediatrics
Dr. Emily R. Davis, Obstetrics & Gynecology
Dr. Grant E. Dupree, Internal Medicine
Dr. Richard J. Dupree, General Practice
Dr. Delia K. Gwynn, General Practice
I set the pen down.
“Is everything okay?” Delia asked as I took another drink of wine.It was a big gulp—too big—and I struggled to take it down in a single swallow.
There was no way I could let Delia know my feelings about Greyson Cole. I couldn't be that raw—that honest—and still work with the woman. Although how was I supposed to work with her at all if Greyson was going to be the final partner? Apart from Grant’s dad, who was semi-retired and likely to be around only a day or so a week, there were only four of us. I’d spent the past year deftly avoiding Greyson, but in a partnership, there would be no avoiding him. “So much to read,” I said with a chuckle, as if I were excited instead of horrified. “But I should run to the bathroom quick. Not sure why I waited. Wine goes right through me.” I desperately wished I’d stop talking.
Delia laughed in reply. “Go ahead,” she said. “It'll be more fun with all four of us here anyway, and Grant just texted, saying he’d be here any second.”
I set down the pen and stood, excusing myself from the table and heading back toward the entrance. Was I going to try to escape? To run out the front door and deal with the consequences later?
I wasn’t ruling it out.
“Em.”
I would’ve known his voice anywhere, and I shook my head, veering toward the bathroom, where he couldn’t follow me.
“Em,” he repeated, his fingers catching my hand just before I reached the ladies room. “Wait. Talk to me.”
There was no shock in his voice, only quiet resignation. “You knew,” I whispered. I shouldn’t be surprised, not where Greyson was concerned, but somehow I still was.
“I found out a few days ago,” he admitted. “Too late to change anything. I’d already resigned from the hospital.”
“And now—what? Do you expect me to quit—to give up on the idea of private practice?” I hissed.
“No,” he replied hurriedly. “Don’t quit. Neither of us has to quit, Emily. We’ll barely see each other.”
We both knew it was a lie, that there was no way to work in a small group of partners and never see each other. “This is supposed to be a fresh start—the next chapter of my life—I can’t do that with you around.”
He let his grasp fall from my fingers, frowning, and I knew my words had landed. “You can’t quit, Em. This is all I’ve got.”
“I’m supposed to think about what’s best for you ?” I scoffed.
He inhaled deeply. “I’m asking you to, yes. You and I both know that if you pull out because of me, it’s going to be me to go.”
“I don’t know that,” I snapped. “If I knew for sure I’d pull the trigger and quit.”
His shoulders sagged. “Grant is marrying your sister. He’s not going to fuck that up choosing a friend he’s barely seen in years over his future sister-in-law. I already resigned from my job at the hospital. I’m asking you to go with it. Please.”
The whole way back to the table I imagined outing Greyson. If I were a different woman, I might tell them about the way Greyson had won my heart and then ghosted me.
But I wouldn’t.
As much as I wanted to embarrass and shame him, as much as I didn’t want to work with him or even see him ever again, when Grant asked if we’d met, all I could bring myself to say was, “Maybe the once, yes.”
I fought not to look at him as I signed the papers, feeling too raw to meet his dark gaze, knowing he was the only man who’d ever really known me, and he would read my emotions as easily as if they were written across my face.
And then it was done. Papers signed. We were officially Bridgeport Family Medicine, and I was officially partners with Greyson Cole, the man who broke my heart.
read Doctor’s Orders , Emily & Greyson’s story, coming in August, 2025!