Chapter 2
Edison walked into the Heart Falls Medical Clinic, flipped the lights on, and gave the coffee pot a suspicious glare.
The contraption was set on a timer by the front-desk staff, supposedly to be ready when the clinic opened. Jenny tended to set the clock for far too early, so the finished coffee sat on the hot plate getting evil and nasty.
Secretly, Edison was grateful that the power occasionally went out on the Main Street block and messed with the electronics.
“Insult to caffeine,” he muttered. He sniffed at the full pot, considered the affront to his taste buds, then made an executive decision.
He happily set about remaking the batch. The admin staff wouldn’t arrive for another twenty minutes, and the doctor on call—Lexie today—habitually arrived one minute before the doors opened.
Once the new coffee was brewing, he did a walk-through.
Unlocked the medical safe. Checked each of the two examination rooms to make sure they were stocked, tidy, and ready for the day.
Edison liked having the building to himself for a little while, and the opening actions he followed were routine and familiar, the scent of antiseptic the perfect perfume.
He’d opened the clinic many times before, but this morning felt different.
As if something quietly electric hummed under his skin.
Maybe it was the way Kevin’s hand had lingered in his even as the fire burned low last night.
Maybe it was the kisses they’d shared—sweet, deliberate, yet charged like a promise he didn’t quite know how to read.
Maybe it was the way Kevin had looked at him.
Lordy, his brain was going to explode if he didn’t find a way to settle his racing thoughts.
When Lexie breezed in with her usual energetic hello, Edison poured her a cup of non-offensive coffee and forced himself into his groove.
Appointments were steady. Minor complaints and follow-ups, a flu shot or three, and one toddler who proudly told Edison he was going to be a race car when he grew up. Not drive one—be one.
Edison saluted him and said that he too hoped to be that fast one day.
By ten-thirty, he was in the break room on his scheduled pause, checking out the tabs he’d left open the night before with Christmas gift ideas.
None of them felt quite right. The leather wallet he’d found was gorgeous, but Kevin had a serviceable wallet, worn, yet still in good shape.
The ceramic mugs made Edison smile, and he could picture Kevin using them, but the man seemed happy with the set he already owned.
A ping interrupted his thoughts. Incoming video call. He glanced at the screen.
Mom & Dad.
He connected then propped his phone on a small box of exam gloves, adjusting the camera so his face was front and center. Lordy, his curls were far too dramatic today.
“Hi, baby!” His mom’s face appeared, cheerful as always, framed by a fuzzy sweater collar and her trademark hoop earrings. “You look cozy.”
“I’m at work,” Edison said, laughing.
“And yet, cozy,” his dad called from the background. “That scrub jacket is doing overtime. Are those rabbits and rainbows? Sweet.”
Edison glanced down then back up at his father in astonishment. “How is it possible that you spotted those details in under two seconds?”
“I can feel it through the screen. It’s got soul.”
Edison rolled his eyes affectionately. “You’re a menace. Where are you guys—at home or babysitting my niblings?”
“At home for now. Snowed a bit this morning. I had to knock three inches off the bird feeder,” Mom said. “How’s Heart Falls?”
“Cold, but no new snow. Busy. Good.”
Dad leaned in for a second. “I’m heading to the hardware store but have to dig us out before I can use the driveway. I’ll leave you two to gossip, but before I go—” He pointed straight at Edison. “That photo you sent. You and the guy at the waterfall?”
“Kevin,” Edison said.
“You look good together,” his dad said straight up. “Real good. Thinkin’ of bringing him home for Christmas?”
Edison blinked. “That’s a big question.”
His dad grinned. “It’s only a four-hour drive. Liam and Tisha will be over with the kids. With six adults and two munchkins, we can have a proper snowball fight.”
His mom elbowed him. “Go on, work your shovel. I want real gossip.”
“Love you, sweet pea!” Dad said before his grin slowly widened to epic proportions. “Know what snowmen eat for breakfast? Frosted Flakes.”
Edison groaned. “Love you, Pop, but you’re terrible.”
His mom waited until the door closed behind her then leaned in and inspected Edison more closely. “Now. Did you want to talk about Kevin?”
Edison flopped back into his chair with a sigh, his face heating even though it was just his mom on the other side of the screen. “Kev and I are…good.”
“That sounded like a question.”
“No.” He made a face. “Yes. Ugh.”
His mom didn’t push. She just waited, the corners of her lips curling into a half smile.
“He’s wonderful,” Edison said finally. “Steady. Thoughtful. Sexy as hell in a sweater. And he listens. Not in the way that makes me feel as if I’m being analyzed—even though that’s exactly what he does for a living—but in the way that makes me want to say more.”
“And this scares you?”
Edison nodded. “Yeah. Kinda does.”
“Because?”
“Because I let myself be hurt.” The words came out before he could catch them, and the echo of his high school sweetheart’s name whispered through his brain.
He’d tried his best to avoid thinking about Lenny since the fallout.
“I know it was almost fifteen years ago, but I still feel the pain at times. I swore I wouldn’t let it happen again.
That was part of the deal I made with myself.
No one gets to be as close as Lenny. No one gets to rewrite my script for me. ”
“And yet,” Mom said gently.
“And yet.” Edison looked away. “Kevin is kind. The real kind. The hard kind. Like, he doesn’t talk much, but he remembers everything. He’s not trying to fix me, or reshape me, or dim me down. He just sees me. I don’t know what to do with that.”
Her smile softened. “So you let it happen slowly. The same way you’ve done everything else. When you wanted to go to nursing school, you didn’t just jump. You asked questions. You tested the waters. You told your truth a little at a time, and you found out who could be trusted.”
“Yeah, well. I also dyed my hair fire-engine red and wore glitter eyeliner to my first lab practical.”
“I meant slowly for you.”
Edison laughed, his heart easing a little.
She leaned forward, propping her chin in her palm. “Sounds as if you’re already doing what needs to be done. You’re spending time together and you’re doing fun things.” She paused, gaze drifting to one corner of the screen. “I won’t ask about your sex life other than to remind you to be careful.”
Edison’s cheeks went hot, but she’d always been blunt and upfront, and he appreciated it as much now as when he was a confused teen. “Insert obligatory, Yes, Mom.”
“If it’s time for you to adjust your mandates, you’ll know, baby. Your heart’s too big to be tricked again. You just have to trust it.”
“And if I get hurt?”
“Then you’ll cry on the phone to your mom, and your father and I will come down and we’ll eat our way through a tub of peppermint fudge swirl together. But if you don’t get hurt—if this is the real thing, Edison—then it’ll be worth every scary second.”
The call ended with a flurry of I love yous and virtual hugs.
Edison sat alone in the quiet break room, hands around what was now a lukewarm cup of coffee, and let himself breathe.
Then he pulled out his phone, typed a quick text, and hit Send before he could overthink it.
Edison: Wanted to make it an official request. You good to hit the art gallery with me on Friday? I’ll make us dinner after.
His screen lit up with a reply less than a minute later.
Kevin: Love to.
Two words. That’s all it was—but somehow Edison read much, much more into the message. It turned his insides warm and a little jittery.
Yet, as his mom had said, maybe that was a good thing.