“Now, I’m not the only one glowing,” her grandmother said with a smile. “Are you going to see him again?”
“When he walked me out to my truck, he asked me if I wanted to go out sometime.”
“And? What did you say?”
“And ... I told him I was really busy.”
Lottie’s lips pursed. “Why? I thought you liked him.”
“I do like him, but you know spring is a busy time.”
Lottie pulled the kettle from the stove and poured them each a cup of tea. She waited until she sat down at the table before saying, “Nonsense. If something’s important to you, you make time for it.”
Tina added honey to her tea and stirred. “I know, but ...”
Seeing Doc beyond Sanctuary would create issues. What if those tingles she felt around him were just some knee-jerk reaction to a good-looking guy giving her some attention? It wasn’t as if men were breaking down the door to get her to go out with them. She said as much to her grandmother.
Lottie considered that for a moment and then replied, “I doubt it. Topical interest feels different than a real connection.”
That was what Tina thought, too. What she felt around Doc seemed like more than garden-variety attraction, but what did she know? She could count the number of potentially serious relationships she’d had on one hand, less a thumb and three fingers. There’d been that one guy in college, but they’d parted ways soon after graduation, and more importantly, she hadn’t minded at all.
But the thought of not seeing Doc again left her feeling strangely bereft.
“Kate said something about making Sunday afternoon coffee a regular thing, so I’ll probably see him again.”
“I was hoping you’d say that,” Lottie said. “Mr. O’Farrell has suggested we make our Sunday afternoon visits a regular thing, too.”
“Then, it sounds like our illicit rendezvous will continue.”
Lottie held her shot glass up in toast, prompting Tina to clink hers lightly against it. “Sounds like.”
* * *
As the week wore on, Tina found herself looking forward to her visit to Sanctuary more and more. To coffee and conversation with Kate, Sam, Sandy, and Bree. To sharing her thoughts on recycling kitchen refuse into organic compost with Chris. Mostly, she was looking forward to seeing Doc again.
Unfortunately, only two of those things actually happened. She did enjoy coffee with the women, and she did get to talk compost with Kate’s husband. However, she didn’t cross paths with Doc once.
The week after wasn’t much better. When she was helping Matt gather a soil sample in the old orchard, she caught a glimpse of Doc walking Duke. She waved, hoping he’d come by and talk to her, but he just waved back from afar and kept going.
By the third week, she was convinced she’d messed up big time. It bothered her enough that she felt compelled to bring it up to the others.
“Is Doc still around?”
“Yes,” Kate replied. “Why do you ask?”
“I haven’t seen him around lately. I think he might be avoiding me.”
“That doesn’t sound like Doc,” said Sam. “He’s very easygoing and friendly. I’ve never known him to avoid anyone.”
“Maybe he thinks you don’t want to see him. Did something happen we don’t know about?” asked Sandy.
After only a brief hesitation, Tina decided to forge ahead and tell them what had happened when Doc walked her to her truck. “We haven’t spoken since.”
“Ah, that makes sense,” Sam said, nodding.
“I screwed up, didn’t I?”
“I think that depends,” Kate said carefully.
“On what?”
“On what it is you want from him. As far as I know, Doc hasn’t shown interest in anyone since he came here. The fact that he asked you out speaks volumes.”
“As does the fact that he turns into a ghost whenever you’re around,” mused Bree.
Tina considered that.
“Let me ask you this,” Sam said. “Did you say no to Doc because you’re not interested in him in that way or because Doc is part of Sanctuary?”
She was interested, so by process of elimination, it was the latter. “It is a consideration,” she admitted.
“At least you’re honest,” Sam said with a quirk of her lips.
“Was it something any of you considered?” Tina asked them.
Sam was the first to answer. “I was already an outcast as far as the town was concerned, so it wasn’t really an issue for me.”
“Apples and oranges because I’m not a local,” Bree said, waving her hand dismissively. “But I will say that I’ve never really cared much what other people thought.”