Chapter 13
NATHAN
Nathan kept his eyes on the road. He’d seen enough car-crash victims to know that nothing was worth driving while distracted, even though every fiber of his instincts told him to look at Zoe.
The moment when he’d lifted the ladybug off her cheek replayed over and over in his mind.
She’d looked so lovely, with those big brown eyes and pink cheeks and slightly parted lips.
Her hair had been escaping from her bun, which made her look much softer and less distant.
He’d wanted to kiss her. He would have kissed her, in fact, if she hadn’t said that it was time to go back into town.
It was good that she’d brought him back down to earth before he could brush his lips against hers, though.
Even if she felt some of the growing attraction he felt, they were colleagues — and, most of the time, rivals.
He wasn’t planning to fire her anymore, though.
They drove back into town and came to a stop in front of the B&B. Nathan turned off the car, the song on the radio fading away, but neither of them moved.
“Here we are,” he said, rather inanely. He was smart and self-assured as a doctor, but sitting next to Zoe like this after the tender moments they’d shared at Elizabeth’s house and again on the hill made it difficult to think clearly.
“Thank you for driving me home,” Zoe said.
She turned in her seat to look at him. Sometime during the drive, she’d taken out the last pins holding her hair in its bun, and it had fallen in loose golden waves around her shoulders.
“And thank you for taking me to the viewpoint. It was really beautiful.”
“I’m glad you liked it.” Nathan smiled at her.
“I almost forgot.” She ran a hand through her hair as though self-conscious about how it looked now. “You had something you wanted to talk to me about, right?”
Right. Nathan had wanted to talk to her about ending their collaboration, but he didn’t want to anymore. Still, it would be good for them to talk.
“Yes, I do, but it’s getting late. How about we meet tomorrow for breakfast at the diner? It’ll be Saturday, so we don’t have to rush to the clinic. Maybe we can talk about the show and find some common ground.”
“That sounds great.” Zoe smiled at him. “Shall we meet around eight?”
“Sure.”
With that, she got out of the car. Nathan stayed parked in front of the house until she’d made it safely inside before he started the truck again and drove home.
His mind was racing. He’d been wrong about Zoe — she was so much more than a consummate professional.
He just hoped that the softening between them lasted through tomorrow’s breakfast.
At the very least, he was optimistic. After seeing Zoe’s vulnerability, and sharing his own, he was no longer annoyed with her. If she felt the same way, surely their professional relationship would improve.
The next day at eight o’clock sharp, Nathan pulled up in front of the diner.
For a moment, he thought that Zoe wasn’t there yet.
The woman standing in front of the diner looked completely different from the one he’d gotten to know all week.
Instead of her usual pencil skirt and neutral-colored blouse, she wore a blue sundress that hugged her curves and flared around her knees.
Her blond hair, instead of being wrangled into her usual tight bun, was loose around her shoulders, like the night before, and Nathan admired how the soft curls caught the sunlight. She looked relaxed and gorgeous.
Nathan took a breath before getting out of the truck and crossing to her. Still, the first thing that came out of his mouth was, “You look nice.”
“Thanks.” Zoe glanced down at her dress, bit her lip, and tucked a strand of her hair behind her ear. “I figured I’d go for something a little more casual today.”
“Well, it suits you.” Nathan opened the door of the diner and gestured for her to enter. “Shall we?”
The waiter, a young man Nathan had seen a few times in his office and around town, led them to a booth by the window and brought them a pair of menus. Nathan didn’t even glance at his — he just ordered his usual black coffee and Farmer’s Plate.
“Do you always get the same thing?” Zoe asked as she perused the menu.
“I do.” Nathan set his menu down.
“Okay, I hate to say it, but that’s real stick-in-the-mud behavior.” She lifted her eyes from the menu and winked. Nathan chuckled.
“That’s me, a real stick-in-the-mud. What are you getting?”
“Well, after carefully looking over the options, I have an idea…” She winked.
When the waiter returned, Zoe ordered chocolate-chip pancakes and a second black coffee. Then she set her menu down, too, and leaned forward to rest her elbows on the flat tabletop between them.
“Shall we talk about the show?”
“Right to business, I see,” Nathan said in what he hoped was a joking tone. In reality, he was a little disappointed. He’d hoped that they’d chat a little more, like they had the evening before.
“Once we finish up with the business, we can get to the pleasure.” Zoe looked away as she said that last part, her cheeks pinking ever so slightly, and Nathan got the feeling that she hadn’t meant the double entendre.
“Fair enough,” he said. “So, what are you thinking about the show?”
“I’m thinking that we can find some middle ground, like you said.
” Zoe tucked her hair behind her ear again.
She clearly wasn’t used to wearing it down, so she touched it a lot more now.
“At my old company, we used to play a game called No Bad Ideas. We both share any ideas we have for the show, whether they’re wild or grounded or somewhere in between.
Then, once we have a bunch of ideas up on the board, we can pick out which ones are acceptable to both of us. ”
“That sounds fair,” Nathan said. “The only problem is that I don’t see a board around here.” He looked around with his eyebrows raised as though Zoe might be hiding a whiteboard behind one of the booths or under the table. Zoe laughed.
“That’s what technology is for.” She took a tablet out of her purse and set it on the table. “So, tell me. What would you like to see in the show?”
“I’d like to show the strength, beauty, and resilience of small towns like Islingburn,” Nathan said. “I think little places like this often get a bad rap.”
“Okay.” Zoe wrote that down. “I’d like to see a great hook, something that will make potential viewers sit up and pay attention.”
“I want to balance the needs of my patients with the needs of the show. And, as I’ve said, the needs of my patients need to come first.”
“I want people to see what a good person and doctor you are — and that you’re not just a robot.” Zoe made a robot gesture with her arms.
Nathan chuckled. “Point taken.”
They bounced ideas back and forth until their food came, at which point Zoe set the tablet aside and pulled her plate over with enthusiasm. Nathan watched her douse her pancakes with syrup and take a big bite, her eyes closing with happiness.
“This is really good.”
“I’m glad.” Nathan couldn’t tear his eyes away from her for a long moment.
Seeing her smile like that made his heart flutter in a very unscientific way.
Then he quickly turned his attention to his own plate of potato hash, fried eggs, sausages, and toast. They ate for a few moments in silence before Zoe pointed at him with her fork.
“What if our hook is you?”
“What?” Nathan took a sip of his coffee. “How?”
“Well, originally, I wanted the hook to be about some kind of big drama — a secret relationship or a hidden rivalry or a dark secret or something like that. But you don’t have any of those, and maybe that is our hook.
You’re the ‘Hottest Doctor Alive,’ a small-town doctor with a big heart, a strong community, and no dark secrets. ”
“I don’t love that,” Nathan admitted.
“Which part?”
“The ‘Hottest Doctor Alive’ part. And the part that makes me sound like some kind of dreamy character instead of a real person.”
“I know.” Zoe smiled. “But the ‘Hottest Doctor Alive’ part will be there anyway, and this way, we don’t have to create drama. If I understand correctly, you don’t love it because you don’t want to be the star of anything, right? But you don’t think it would hurt your patients?”
“Right…”
“So, maybe it’s something we can both live with.
” Zoe’s eyes glowed with enthusiasm. She seemed to have forgotten all about the pancakes she’d been relishing just moments ago.
“We can showcase who you are, how hard you work, how much you love your community, all that. It can be the kind of heartwarming show that makes people feel better about the world.”
“Instead of being a dramatic and scandalous show that makes them feel worse about it,” Nathan filled in.
“I still think that would have worked, and not necessarily made anyone feel worse about anything, but yes.” Zoe raised her eyebrows. “What do you think?”
“I think…” Nathan slipped off his glasses to give himself a moment.
Once they were spotless (which they already had been), he put them back on and met Zoe’s eyes.
“I think it can work. It’s a good way to show the beauty of Islingburn and the importance of my work without introducing too much scandal or sacrificing patient care.
I’ll be the main character, and we won’t create any drama. ”
“Exactly.” Zoe beamed. “Or not much drama, at least. But if we’re doing it this way, I need you to really work with me. No more weird expressions and stiff postures and sending me away when you get frustrated.”
“I’ll try. And if I tell you not to film something, you have to listen.”
“I will. But if I really need a good shot and the patient is okay with it, I might ask you to do something more than once, and you can’t be a stick-in-the-mud about it.”
“Deal.” Nathan held out his hand across the table, and Zoe took it. Her hand was small and soft in his, the complete opposite of her larger-than-life, often tough personality.
“Deal,” Zoe agreed. “Plus, we can work in a lot of the things we brainstormed, like interviewing people and documenting the difficulties of a small-town practice like this…”
She looked like she was on the verge of drawing out the entire show arc on a paper napkin, so Nathan caught her eye.
“I like the idea. I really do. But I also think we should take a little time away from work.”
Zoe’s eyes narrowed, but she sat back with a sigh. “Maybe you’re right. How about we talk about the show for one more hour, then I promise I’ll back off until Monday?”
“Sounds good to me.”
They traded more ideas back and forth, and soon the shape of the pitch started to come together.
Zoe made a list of possible episodes and of shots she wanted to get, and Nathan laid out a few guidelines about what he wasn’t willing to film, like very upset or sick patients.
Between ideas, they finished their food and a second coffee each.
By the time the hour was up, Nathan felt much better about their collaboration.
It no longer felt like he’d been backed into a corner or like he’d be forced to sacrifice his principles for fame.
Instead, it felt like a true collaboration between him and Zoe.
Everything could fall apart on Monday, of course, but for now, he was happy with their progress.
“Time’s up,” he said.
“All right.” Zoe closed the cover on her tablet and put it back in her bag. “I feel good about this.”
“Me too.”
“And I won’t bother you anymore.” Zoe reached for the check, which the waiter had left on their table a few minutes ago, and made a move to get up and go to the counter. “I’m sure you have lots of weekend plans.”
“What are your plans?” Nathan asked, and Zoe paused halfway out of the booth.
“I’ll just hole up at the B&B and get to work on all this,” she said.
“No way.” Nathan shook his head. “I can’t let you do that. Let’s do something fun this weekend.”
“Fun?” Zoe’s brows furrowed as though she were unfamiliar with the word.
“Fun,” Nathan repeated. “Let me show you around Islingburn. Come on. Next week, you can bury yourself in work.”
Zoe hesitated. Then she shrugged, her pink lips curving into a smile.
“Okay, okay. Why not? Show me what Islingburn has to offer.”
“Excellent.” Nathan grinned. “And I’m paying for breakfast, by the way.”
“No way.”
“Yes. It’s the least I can do after making your life difficult all week.” He made a stiff robot facial expression and added, in a robot voice, “Cannot smile for pictures. Protocol not available.”
Zoe laughed. “You have some good impressions. And fine, you can get the check this time. But when you come to New York for the pitch, it’s on me.”
Nathan hadn’t realized he’d have to travel to New York, though he should have. Instead of feeling apprehensive, though, he found that he was looking forward to spending more time with Zoe and seeing what she loved so much about the city.
For now, though, he was focused on convincing her that Islingburn was also a pretty great city (okay, town). It was important to him that she liked Islingburn. And it was important to him that she liked him, too.