Chapter Thirty-Nine
Ashley
Moving from my little apartment to the beautiful house on the Pacific was an easy transition. The guys were laidback, and they divvied up the chores without complaint. They were also incredibly supportive when it came to me taking care of Millie, to the point where if they heard her start to fuss through the monitor even a little, they’d insist we stop what we were doing so I could tend to her.
On Thursday afternoon, Jeff came for his second visit that week, which seemed to surprise the three men.
“Twice in one week, Doc?” Crash exclaimed when Jeff appeared in the living room where he and Scotty were playing video games. “That’s a first.”
I thought Jeff had told me he came to the house a few times a week. Maybe I’d been mistaken.
“Since Scotty is leaving Sunday, I wanted to get one more visit in.”
Scotty paused the game and looked at Jeff with furrowed brows.
“Won’t I see you at the VA?”
That seemed to fluster the doctor. “Well, yeah, but… this is a more comfortable setting.”
Just then Millie’s soft cries let us know she was awake, so I said, “If you guys don’t need me…”
“Go!” Stu said. “We’re fine. Dr. Connolly can babysit us while you take care of Millie.”
I rolled my eyes.
“He’s not babysitting.”
“You know what I mean.”
As I sat feeding Millie, I thought about the guys being surprised that Jeff had come twice in one week and wondered if Jeff had made a special trip because of me.
It seemed like I wasn’t the only one wondering that because the three military men seemed more vested than usual in the doctor’s and my conversation when I reappeared. And the three pretended not to perk up when Jeff motioned to the door and said to me, “Walk me out?”
He opened the rear passenger door of his Porsche Panamera and put his brown leather doctor bag in the backseat, then closed it and asked, “Are we still on for dinner tomorrow?”
“I’m looking forward to it.”
“Should I pick you up at six?”
“Why don’t I meet you there? I have to drop Millie off at my mom’s, and besides”—I motioned toward the house with my head—“I think it’s better if we kept our plans to ourselves.”
That made him grin. “You’re probably right. But I’d feel better making sure you got home okay at the end of the night.”
“I can send you a text.”
“Okay. I’ll meet you at Evangeline’s then. Our reservation is for six thirty.”
“I’ll see you then.”
He opened the driver’s door and slid behind the wheel, giving me a flirty wink when he said, “I can’t wait.”
His car’s engine roared to life, and I gave a final wave before walking back to the front door.
Jeff really was a catch. I wish I felt the littlest spark of attraction.
~~~~
Tammy came over on Sunday afternoon just as the last box of Scotty’s was loaded into his new landlord, Theo Rowan’s small SUV.
Scotty waved at my friend as she got out of her car, then opened his arms wide as I walked toward him. Wrapping me in a warm embrace, he kissed my cheek and murmured, “Don’t forget, we have an appointment at the VA on Tuesday afternoon.”
“I’ll be there! And I can’t wait to hear all about your new place.”
The corner of his mouth turned up. “Who knows. Maybe Dr. Connolly will even show up.”
“Well, you are supposed to see him at the VA, too.”
“Yeah, but something tells me the chances of him making an appearance will be better if you’re there.”
“I’m sure that’s not true.”
“Mmm hmm. At least the new guy will get the benefit of seeing the doctor twice a week.”
I chose not to take the bait and said, “We haven’t heard anything about if someone is taking your room.”
“When Crash and Stu came, we were only given a day’s notice, so don’t be surprised when they call you tonight and tell you to expect someone tomorrow.”
“That’s okay. The more the merrier, right?”
“Yeah. But I’ll be honest, I’m looking forward to living alone for a while.”
“Well, I’m going to miss having you here.”
“I’ll miss seeing Millie and the guys, for sure. Maybe you could bring Millie every now and then?”
“I’ll see what my boss says.”
With another hug, he got in the SUV as I wiped away a tear. I was such a softie, but I really had enjoyed living with him this last week.
Tammy wrapped an arm around my waist and waved when the car drove off.
“Come on. I brought brownie mix.”
“You’re speaking my love language,” I sniffed.
~~~~
Millie woke up before I had a chance to make the brownies, so as I fed her Tammy asked, “Do you want me to make these?”
“No. Let me. She’s almost done.”
“So, tell me about your date with Dr. Handsome.”
“It was… nice. Jeff’s a nice guy.”
“But…?”
I shrugged my shoulders. “No buts. We had a nice time.”
“What did you do?”
“We went out to a nice dinner, then walked along the boardwalk. It was nice.”
“Ohmygod, that sounds awful,” Tammy said as she pulled one of Millie’s onesies from the clean laundry basket and folded it.
“Awful? Why do you say that?”
“The only adjective you’ve used to describe both him and your date is ‘nice’. You might as well say it was a snoozefest.”
“Okay, so there wasn’t a lot of chemistry. But, maybe chemistry is overrated.”
“It is not overrated. You’re still young. You need passion! Heat. Romance. Promise me you won’t settle for someone just because he’s nice .” Tammy used air quotes when she muttered the word nice like it was a swear word.
“There’s nothing wrong with dating a nice guy.”
“No, there’s not—as long as there’s a spark. I will not allow you to be with someone who doesn’t make you feel butterflies. He needs to make you feel like you could conquer the world with him by your side.”
The only guy to ever make me feel like I could conquer the world bailed when I needed him the most.
Jeff really was nice. And handsome. And successful.
And he did absolutely nothing for me.
I wasn’t lying when I’d told Tammy we’d had a nice time—we had. It had been a perfectly adequate evening. The doctor was a gentleman. He was polite to the server and had tipped well. We had a friendly conversation on the boardwalk, and he’d walked me to my car, where he kissed my cheek and offered an awkward hug goodbye.
Obviously, he didn’t feel any chemistry either, which maybe was just as well, considering we worked together.
So, I was shocked when I texted to let him know I’d made it home okay, and he replied by asking me to go the WWP fundraising carnival the following Friday. I didn’t hesitate to accept the invitation.
Maybe I’d never again feel the chemistry I had with Sloane. And maybe that was okay.
I needed it to be okay.
Look what passion had gotten me. Although, I was the first to admit I wouldn’t trade Millie for the world, so no regrets there. But it hurt that Sloane hadn’t even wanted to know her.
I shook my head as if to lose any more thoughts of the Marine.
“I’m a mom now. I have to think like one. I need someone I can rely on. Someone who will be a good husband and dad.”
“All great goals, but I’m still not letting you settle,” my friend warned again.
“Butterflies are overrated,” I shot back.
“You can have both, ya know. Butterflies and someone who would make a good partner and father.”
I laid a burp cloth over my shoulder, then adjusted Millie so I could pat her back to release any trapped air.
“I don’t know if that’s true—at least for me. The one time I thought I’d found him, he knocked me up and bailed.”
“At least he didn’t leave you with an ugly kid.”
I couldn’t help but laugh out loud. Leave it to Tam to find the silver lining.
“It’s water under the bridge. I’ve moved on to bigger and better things!”
Maybe if I said it with enough enthusiasm, I could will it to be true. What was the saying? Fake it ‘til you make it?
“Your soulmate is out there. Just be patient.”
“I have a daughter to think about. I don’t have the luxury of waiting to find the perfect guy who checks all the boxes off my list. Passion and butterflies might have to be sacrificed in favor of other, more practical things.”
“Don’t let that asshole sour you on true love.”
I shrugged. “It’s fine. I don’t need a soulmate. You know what? I don’t need anyone. My friends and family are enough.”
Tammy was gracious enough to not call me on my pity-party bullshit, and nodded, although she murmured under her breath, “I’m still not letting you settle, though.”
Changing the subject, I asked, “How’s everything going with Mr. Friends with Benefits?”
“Fine. The sex is great.”
I raised my eyebrows at her. “It sounds like maybe I should worry about you settling.”
“Nope. We have rules for a reason. It’s all good.”
Millie burped, and I felt my back instantly get wet while the smell of spit-up permeated my nose, effectively ending that conversation.