on my way out of Sumneyville, and I didn’t really care what anyone thought,” Sandy said. “By the time I decided to stay, I’d already burned my bridges, so it wasn’t an issue for me either.”
Tina looked to Kate, anxious to hear what she had to say. Kate’s situation was the one most similar to hers.
“I didn’t take it seriously at first,” Kate said thoughtfully. “I knew there were concerns on both sides, but I was optimistic that I could have it all. Honestly, I never thought I’d be forced to choose. It came down to them or me, and in the end, I chose me.”
“Any regrets?”
“Only that I didn’t stand up for myself sooner,” Kate answered. “I do wish things were different with my family, but I’ve accepted that I can’t control what other people do, only what I can do.”
Wise words indeed. Whether or not they applied to Tina’s current dilemma remained to be seen.
“Want my opinion?” asked Sandy.
Tina nodded.
“Talk to Doc. Be honest with him. He’s a smart guy. He’ll understand.”
“We’ve already established there’s interest on both sides,” said Sam. “Now, you need the chance to get to know each other better and see if it’s worth pursuing.”
That sounded like a plan. “Do you know where I can find him?”
“He was out with the dogs earlier. If he’s not hanging around there, then he’s probably back in his trailer.”
Sandy’s eyes lit up. “What if, instead of having dinner with us, Tina took food out to him?”
“Since he asked her out, it might be nice if she was the one to make the next move,” Bree said, nodding thoughtfully.
Kate clasped her hands together. “I like it! What do you think?”
Four pairs of eyes looked at Tina expectantly.
“Why not?”
Chapter Fourteen
Doc
After rereading the same page for the third time, Doc set the book aside and sighed. It was a good story, a mystery/thriller that had received rave reviews, but he couldn’t stay focused. His thoughts were elsewhere.
He looked at the clock. Again. Sunday afternoons had officially become the longest couple of hours of the week—his own personal, in-depth study on the slowing of time.
Because Sunday afternoon was when Tina Obermacher visited Sanctuary.
Is she still around? he wondered. Had she chosen to stay for dinner this week, or had she opted to leave after coffee with the girls, as she had the week before?
It wasn’t as if he could ask. Heff had already given him shit, convinced that Doc’s recent scarcity on Sundays was one hundred percent the wrong thing to do. Heff’s unsolicited advice involved ensuring that Tina saw him often, thus keeping him in the forefront of her thoughts and thus a constant reminder of what she was missing.
Doc’s answer was to remind Heff how he had gone full hermit when Sandy decided to move to New York City. However, instead of getting Heff off his ass, as he’d intended, it had the opposite effect. Heff had argued that Doc’s analogy was only relevant if Doc’s feelings for Tina were similar to the ones Heff had for Sandy.
Which, of course, was a ridiculous comparison. By the time Sandy had gone to New York, she and Heff had already created a bond. They’d spent time together. Gotten to know each other. Slept together.
Doc had spoken to Tina three times. Three extremely limited, topical exchanges. Nothing on par with the level of sharing Heff and Sandy had engaged in. In fact, Doc had had longer, more revealing conversations with the checker at the grocery store in town than he’d had with Tina.
More importantly, when Doc had suggested something more, something as innocuous as coffee or dinner beyond the Sanctuary property line, she’d shut him down.
So ... yeah, he was steering clear of the dining room, the greenhouses, and the orchard on Sundays, hoping to avoid any further awkwardness.
Keeping Tina out of his sights was easy. Keeping her out of his mind? Not so much. Just knowing she was nearby was like a siren’s call, and that bothered him, not that he’d admit that to Heff or anyone else. How had she managed to get under his skin so quickly and with such minimal effort?
He stood and stretched, welcoming the tiny pops of pain as he attempted to get his spine and neck back into proper alignment. Perhaps he’d just go for a walk, see if her truck was still parked in front of the main building. He’d stick to the trees, nothing but a shadow among shadows. If anyone did happen