Sea Glass Island (Ocean Breeze) - By Sherryl Woods Page 0,33
Ethan regarded her with amusement, then sprinted ahead of her easily, his long-legged strides eating up the distance at a pace she couldn’t have matched on her best day.
By the time she reached the driveway where they’d started, he was leaning against the hood of his car, looking as relaxed as if he’d just returned from a casual stroll. His body, slick with sweat, gleamed in the morning sunlight.
“Not bad,” he commented.
She panted for breath and scowled up at him. “Next time I’ll remember that you’re sneaky.”
“How am I sneaky? You’re the one who picked up the pace and turned it into a race. I just accepted the challenge.” He held out a bottle of water. “You look as if you could use this.”
She accepted it without comment and took a careful sip. “Ethan, were you a runner before? I mean, before your injury?”
“If you mean did I enter marathons and that sort of thing, no, but I had to train for football, and there were plenty of long runs in the military.”
“Did you enjoy it?”
“Hated it,” he said succinctly. “Still do. During rehab, there was a time when I could barely stay on my feet, much less walk. Running seemed like an elusive dream.”
“Which made it an irresistible challenge,” she guessed. “You made up your mind to conquer it.”
“Something like that.”
“And if you’re going to do it, you have to do it well,” she concluded.
“Is there any other way?”
“That’s how I feel about my career,” she confessed. “If I can no longer do it well, maybe it’s time to walk away.”
He gave her a startled look. “Is that what you want to do?”
“No,” she said. “But it might be the only choice. Living in New York is crazy expensive. Emily’s suggested I come to Los Angeles and stay with them. She has great contacts in the movie and TV business.”
“Sounds like something worth trying,” he said, his tone neutral.
“I don’t know. Maybe a few years ago, I’d have been up for it, but now? I’m not sure I have the drive left to start over. Acting is not something you can do halfheartedly. It takes a huge amount of determination and drive. I had that when I first went to New York. I’m not sure I do anymore.”
“What are the alternatives?” he asked, sounding genuinely interested.
Since this was the first time she’d honestly confronted the situation, unfortunately she didn’t have good answers for him. “I don’t know,” she admitted. “That’s the scary part.” She met his gaze. “You were a surgeon, right? That’s incredibly demanding. You had to be a hundred percent dedicated to the job at some point. How did you know that opening an emergency clinic in Sand Castle Bay would work for you, that you wouldn’t be bored?”
He smiled, though his expression was tinged by a surprising weariness. “Iraq and Afghanistan,” he said simply. “I’d had about as much excitement as I could handle. So had Greg. When I was in rehab, we started talking it over. He didn’t want to go back into trauma medicine. It seemed as if we were in the same place. And his family was anxious to have him back home. I loved growing up here, so even though my folks had moved away, this felt like home to me, too. It just felt right.”
“Any regrets?”
He shook his head. “I don’t believe in regrets. If it hadn’t worked out, I’d have made a change by now, but it has worked. This is a great place with terrific people. Summers with all the tourists are a little frantic. I like it best when the pace slows down.”
He studied her. “Are you thinking it would be dull as dirt after living in New York?”
Samantha grinned. “Something like that.”
“Hey, life is what you make it, wherever you are. You can be alone and bored in a big city or invigorated and busy in a small town. It’s up to you.”
“I actually think Gabi’s come to realize that,” she said. “My sister was the ultimate workaholic in Raleigh, but she had no personal life. Here she’s not only found the balance her life was missing, she’s started a whole new demanding career that suits her need to be challenged professionally.”
“There you go,” Ethan said. “Proof positive that it can be done.”
But while the examples set by Ethan and even her sister were inspirational, Samantha couldn’t quite envision what sort of satisfying niche she could carve out for herself.