I don’t argue. I’m a little too stunned for words.
Lucas reaches for my hand to reassure me.
“I called the two of you in here because two weeks from now, I will no longer be working here at McCormick Family Practice.”
“You’re shutting down?!” I gasp.
I spiral into a panic. He must have heard about MediQuik.
He frowns. “No. I’m retiring.”
“But why early? Do you think we can’t compete against MediQuik?”
Lucas squeezes my hand. “Daisy, let’s just hear the man out.”
“As you know, my original plan was to stay on a little longer,” Dr. McCormick continues, “to help you two get settled, but I’ve found the love of my life and I don’t want to spend another minute in this office. I have plans. Big plans.”
“To be clear, you’re talking about my mother, right?”
His eyes widen. “She told you?”
“You’re not the only one that can spot love from afar,” I reply, sidestepping the make-out session I witnessed altogether. “I’m happy for you guys.”
Now, he beams. He is floating on a cloud and I get it. Why would he want to spend another minute cooped up in here? He’s been alone nearly half his life and now he’s happy. With my mom. Ha, who would have thought?
“We want to buy an RV and travel all over the U.S. Your mom is dying to see Alaska!”
“And the practice?” Lucas asks.
“I’m leaving it to you both.”
He says it just like that. No fanfare.
“You can’t just give it to us!” I insist.
He rubs his mustache as if only now considering that fact. “Right. Yes. While I don’t really find it necessary, if you two insist on a buyout, I’ll insist on giving y’all the family discount.”
We discuss the nitty gritty details of transitioning the company. I can tell he’s been thinking about this for a while, because he already has all the papers in a file from his lawyer.
There will be disgruntled patients, none too pleased to see their beloved doctor retire, but they’ll understand when we explain that Dr. McCormick is jetting off into the sunset, behind the wheel of an RV, enjoying a much-deserved vacation…with my hot mom.
He hands off a few packets of paperwork for us to review, but when we walk out of his office a few minutes later, one thing is absolutely clear: Lucas and I have been offered our own practice. We will be co-owners. The thing I’m focused on the most is that prefix: co, meaning joint or joined. That prefix would have sucked the joy out of the moment only a few short weeks ago, but now it makes me smile.
I moved back to Hamilton, Texas, to take over McCormick Family Practice, to beat Lucas as his own game, and to become the better doctor—the better person, once and for all. I assumed that by achieving that goal, I would be cured of my obsession with him. I thought I would finally stop caring about Lucas.
But like so much else, I was wrong about that.
“Does it scare you? To take over the practice with me?” Lucas asks.
He’s standing right beside me in the kitchen, waiting for me to step away from the coffee pot so he can pour his own cup.
“It should.”
He nods, understanding.
“I mean, the desire to compete with you is like a phantom limb. I’ll probably always feel it, even if it’s no longer needed. It does kind of feel like an anticlimactic ending to our little war.”
“Do you want it to keep going?”
I step back and make room for him, in the kitchen and in my life.
I smile. “No. Do you?”
He shakes his head adamantly. “Of course not.”
I nod.
“Do you want to know why?” he asks.
“I’m sure you’ll tell me even if I don’t.”
He looks at me over his shoulder. His dark frames in place. His hair too brown, his smile too tempting. He is a walking dream, and he is mine.
He shrugs. “Yeah. You’re right. It goes without saying.”
He makes it three steps out into the hallway before I catch up to him, grab his wrist, tug gently.
“Sure, but if you were going to say it…”
He grins and takes his time turning around to face me. I try to bite my lip, to conceal my reaction. It doesn’t work.
“Because, Daisy, I won. I have everything I’ve always wanted.”
Epilogue
Lucas and I are in a church. He’s wearing a tuxedo and I’m wearing a dress that is so poufy, I can hardly stand. We are facing each other on opposite sides of the altar, listening to a preacher drone on and on. I should be paying attention, but I’m watching Lucas. And he’s watching me. It’s our own private conversation in the middle of the ceremony.
The arch of my brow asks him if he wants to get out of here.
His smirk tells me we have to stay a while.
We’re kind of important.
No, not the bride and groom.
We’re here for my mom and Dr. McCormick. The two lovebirds are getting hitched. I’m the maid of honor, Lucas is the best man.