LITMIR.BIZ

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the thing. I don’t like little. It’s boring.”

      And Gabby didn’t like big any more, but she supposed she’d have thought a small town was the end of the world when she’d been younger. She and her dad had always lived in a big city—Chicago, New York, San Francisco—and that’s what she knew. All she knew. But those pregnancy hormones were changing her in ways she hadn’t expected, for now her ideal seemed just the opposite of Debbi’s and in some ways the opposite of the ones she’d become comfortable with in herself until she’d gotten pregnant. “Well, then, you’d like Chicago, because there’s nothing little about it.”

      “What do you do there?” Debbi asked, as she folded the first quilt into a box.

      “I’m an obstetrician. That means—”

      “I know what it means. My uncle’s a doctor here.”

      Was she related to Neil Ranard? “Dr Ranard?”

      Debbi shook her head. “Dr Ramsey. He works with Dr Ranard when the twins aren’t sick. Which they are right now, which is why I’m here and my mother isn’t. She’s helping Uncle Eric.”

      “Twins?”

      “My cousins. Both of them down with a sore throat and I told my uncle I wasn’t going anywhere near them, so my mother’s there helping take care of them and I’m here, doing this.”

      And not loving it, Gabby thought. Too bad. Life was too short not to love what you were doing.

      Debbi folded the second quilt into another box, then sat it in the stack with at least fifteen other boxes. “So, did you come to take over for Doc Graham?”

      “Who’s Doc Graham?”

      Debbi blew a bubble with her gum, then popped it. “The obstetrician. He retired so he could have more time to hike, and go skiing. If it were me, I’d retire and get out of here.”

      “No. I’m not here to replace Doc Graham. I’m just traveling through, and decided to stop and do some shopping.”

      Debbi nodded, but the expression on her face showed that she thought Gabby was crazy for intentionally staying in White Elk when she didn’t have to. “So, what do you want me to do with all this stuff?” she asked.

      Good question. Gabby hadn’t thought that far ahead, and her first response was to give Debbi the address to her Chicago condo and have every last thing shipped there. But for some reason she didn’t understand, she decided instead to have it sent back to her cabin at the lodge and figure out what to do with it later. Farewells with Debbi were brief, but she felt compelled to tell the girl to look her up if she ever made it to Chicago. Debbi’s response was to roll her eyes, plug the earpieces back into her ears and listen to some tune Gabby was sure she’d never heard of.

      Next, she visited the candy shop, then the maternity boutique, sending more packages back to her cabin from both shops, as well as stopping at the corner toy store and showing amazing restraint by buying only one stuffed teddy bear and a little wooden train set Bryce wouldn’t play with for years. Shopping done, she felt amazingly good. Refreshed. Full of energy. So she wandered down the street, in the direction of the hospital. Deliberately.

      What a cute hospital! Not at all institutional-looking, like where she’d worked back in Chicago. That was a real brick-and-mortar structure, nine stories tall, spanning several blocks, if you included the various clinics and asphalted parking lots. This hospital was quaint, made of logs, resembling a mountain lodge more than it did a hospital. If not for the sign out front indicating that it was, indeed, White Elk Hospital, she would have walked right on by, looking for a more regular-looking institution.

      So, she was there. Wondering what came next. “Maybe I’m crazy,” she whispered to herself. “But if they do need an obstetrician…” That’s what Debbi, the store clerk, had implied. But why had she deliberately come here? To apply for the job? No way. Quaint was nice for a visit, and while she wasn’t big-city obsessed like Debbi, she was reasonably sure that she agreed with the girl on the fact that White Elk was too small.

      But here she was anyway. It must have been the nesting thing again. Had to be. More rushing hormones telling her to settle down, make a real home for this baby, and White Elk Village was a nice candidate for all those things. Except the idea was ridiculous. Her opportunities here would be too limited. Besides, nobody needed a seven-months-pregnant obstetrician. And at seven months pregnant, the obstetrician didn’t really need a full-time job. Money wasn’t a problem, but time on her hands was. She did want to work. Loved working, and she already missed it.

      “But I’ve never lived in a city smaller than Chicago,” she said to Bryce, “and I’m not sure your mother is cut out for small-town living.” Even though this small town was tugging at her. “And don’t go telling me I can make a go of it anywhere I want because I’m not sure I can. There are so many things to consider, like my career, and your education.”

      “Excuse me? Can I help you with something?”

      The sexy, smooth voice startled Gabby out of her mental conundrum, caused her to gasp and grab her belly. She rounded to face him, and caught herself staring into the most gorgeous dark brown eyes she’d ever seen. Dark brown, like she’d thought they should be. Glad they were.

      “I thought I heard you say something.”

      She shook her head. “I was just…taking a walk, trying to get a little exercise, and I think I got myself turned around.” Well, that was a bit of a lie as she knew exactly where she was. “I stopped for a moment to get my bearings and you probably heard me muttering to myself. Bad habit. I do that when I’m nervous.” Better to admit that than to tell him she was engaged in a debate with her unborn child, and her unborn child seemed to be winning the argument at the moment. Muttering made her look eccentric, debating with an unborn baby made her look just plain odd.

      “You’re staying up at Laura’s lodge, aren’t you? I thought I saw you there last night.”

      Gabby nodded. “It’s up at the top of the hill, isn’t it?” she said, pointing in the direction she knew perfectly well. Was that really her, feigning the helpless woman? Good thing she had pregnancy hormones to blame it on, because there wasn’t anything helpless about her. Her father had raised her well in that aspect, and she took great pride in her independence.

      “It’s a pretty long walk, going uphill the whole way. Maybe I could call someone to come get you? A friend, a husband…”

      “It’s not so bad,” she said. “Besides, I’m here by myself.”

      He glanced at his watch, then at the hospital. “How about I get my car and drive you back? It’ll only take five minutes.”

      This would have been such a nice meeting had she not been pregnant, but she was, so this was only about chivalry. He was a pleasant man coming to the rescue of a damsel who didn’t need rescuing. End of story. “Thanks, but I’ll walk.”

      “Then maybe you should come inside and sit down for a few minutes before you attempt going back up.” He gestured to the hospital. “Ten minutes. Find a nice, comfortable chair, put your feet up…”

      “My doctor thinks I should be a little more active than that. She’s of the opinion that healthy, pregnant women should be active women. But like I said, thanks.”

      “Then I’ll walk with you.”

      “Because I’m pregnant? Are you one of those people who believes a pregnant woman isn’t capable of doing anything? Because if you are…”

      He thrust his palm out to stop her. “Whoa, I was only trying to be polite. Something my mother taught me.”

      “Maybe she should have also taught you that pregnant women can take care of themselves just fine.”

      He chuckled. Deep, sexy. “Actually, she did. And she’d send me to bed without supper for acting the way I have been.” He took a step backwards and

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