now, all I can think about is chasing you around my office and having my way with you.” She pulled back enough to look up at him. “We’d never get anything accomplished, I’m afraid.”
“This is really strange for me.” He said it was for him as well. “I haven’t dated all that much. Rarely a second one if I do go out with someone. I’m probably the world’s oldest virgin at twenty-six.”
He laughed. It didn’t feel like he was making fun of her, nor did he tell her that her being a virgin was shocking to him. No, it felt like he was laughing because he was enjoying himself. Smiling at him, she asked him if he was as loony as he seemed.
“More than likely, I think. But I would love for you to come by my offices and see if you could perhaps work for me. I don’t have a great many patients as yet. Just enough to keep me on my toes. I seem to take care of the family injuries more than I do anyone coming into the offices.” She asked him about the filing. “I do have a sort of system in mind, but if you could figure out something, I’d be glad to have it. I just came from a large practice with about a dozen other doctors and nurses, and this part is all new for me.”
He picked up her bags when Mars asked him from the other room if they were ready. She took the smaller bag that was her grandda’s and took it out to the truck too. There, sitting in the driveway, was a brand new car. It even had a large bow on it. She dropped everything and wanted to get a closer look at it.
“North bought it for you and your grandda. He said he noticed that you didn’t have a very reliable vehicle, and he didn’t want to make you unable to go to class or take James to the doctor—us, I would guess—if your car didn’t start.” She told Mars that was just too much. “Not to him, it’s not. He feels terrible that you had to live in that other house. I do as well. Someone should have fixed it for you rather than just blowing you off when you needed at least a new furnace. Those are necessities, and the bank should have made sure they were in good working order.”
“I’ll be ever so careful with it. And I won’t put any more miles on it than necessary.” Wats asked her why she thought she had to not put miles on it. “I don’t know. To resell it, I suppose.”
“I’m sure he means for you to use it as much as you want. There isn’t any reason that he’d not want you to be doing that.” Wats kissed her on the mouth as he handed her the car keys. “You drive it over to the new house to see if it’s something you can get used to. It has a full tank of gas, and there is a standing order at the local gas stations for you to fill it up whenever you need to.” She started to complain that it was too much. “Before you say something like you’re not going to do that, it’s not just for you, Rayne, but for your grandda as well. We’ve all gone to college, so we know how tight things can be when you’re trying to get an education. Just think of this as we’re helping you graduate without any worries.”
It was too much. Not just the car and the house, but her feelings for Wats. Instead of saying something else about it all, she got into the car and waited for them to do the same. Rayne’s emotions were too new, too everything right now, and she didn’t want to do or say something that she might well regret later.
Grandda rode over to the house with her. He was playing around with the glove box, he called it, and the dials on the radio. When they were coming up on the pharmacy, he remembered he had a prescription to pick up. Wondering how she was going to afford that and pay for her late book fees, she went inside while Grandda told Mars what they were doing. Waiting in line, she thought of all the things she still needed to finish up before the end of term.
This was her last term in college. It was so