the guts to show her face to the whole town after the stunt she’d just pulled. “She’s not coming.”
“Probably not,” Josh agreed.
Probably. So he held out some hope. Just how optimistic could the guy be? Too damned optimistic, Nick answered his own question.
Josh sighed. “I’m staying in Cloverville, and I know I should have told you this already. I don’t have possession of it yet, but I’ve bought a house here—for me and the boys.”
And the woman he’d intended to marry. Nick’s guts twisted with his friend’s pain.
“Why’d you do that?” He scrubbed a hand through his hair, trying to hold both his temper and his tongue. “The office isn’t going to be done for a while.”
“But it will be done, Nick.”
“Maybe it shouldn’t be.”
“We have a lot of money invested.”
Nick massaged the tense cords that stood out on the back of his neck. “This is a bad idea.”
Josh lifted his head, and Nick met his gaze in the mirror. “You can’t back out on me.”
“Never. You know that, man. I got your back.” He sighed.
“The practice isn’t the bad idea. It’s this town that is.”
“You never wanted the office here,” Josh conceded.
Nick resurrected his old argument. “It’s too far from the hospital. We can’t do surgeries out of the office…” If they got any business at all.
“But you agreed.”
“Because you’re my best friend.” Agitated, Nick blew out a ragged sigh. “And you thought there was something here for you.”
“There’s still something here for me.”
“She left you at the altar,” Nick said even though he was sure the jilted groom didn’t need the reminder. “Why would you still want her?”
Josh’s blue eyes hardened with determination. “I want to talk to her.”
“You’re…”
“Crazy?”
He certainly hoped not. He didn’t want his best friend doing anything stupid. Nick had already lost someone he loved to a broken heart—his older brother, Bruce, had fallen apart when his pregnant wife left him. Devastated to find out that the baby she was carrying wasn’t his, he’d started to drink. And he hadn’t stopped until he drove into a tree. Nick hadn’t been able to save his big brother, from his pain or from himself.
But he wouldn’t fail Josh as he had Bruce. He hadn’t stepped in with sympathy or support; he hadn’t been there, when his brother had needed him most. He wouldn’t make that mistake with Josh. He couldn’t lose his best friend as he had his brother. “No, you’re not crazy.”
Maybe he’d just gotten into the punch. Although the little brass plate on the crystal bowl described it as nonalcoholic, Nick definitely had tasted vodka in the fruity concoction. The alcohol still burned in his stomach but it didn’t take the edge off his anger. Right now, he hated Molly McClintock for putting Josh through more pain.
Josh sighed again. “Hell, maybe I am crazy.”
“Let’s get out of here,” Nick suggested.
“Yeah, I better find the boys. I thought they might be in here.”
“Think they’re flushing something down the toilet?”
Josh shook his head, but Nick doubted he was denying their capacity for naughtiness. Josh knew what hellions his sons were. He got regular reports from the boys’ nannies right before they quit working for him. Maybe that was why he’d wanted to get married. But hell, from the way Josh’s first wife had walked out on them, he had to know that a second wife could quit, too.
“I’m not talking about leaving just the reception,” Nick continued. “I’m talking about this town. Once the office is done we can sell the building and build or lease one closer to the hospital in Grand Rapids.”
“The house…”
“You said you don’t have possession yet. The seller was probably in church today.” Hadn’t the whole damn town been there? “He’d understand that you changed your mind. I’m sure you could back out.”
“We closed escrow already,” Josh said. “And I gave my word.”
Once Josh gave his word, he didn’t go back on it. Unlike his runaway bride. “Then you can sell it—”
“It needs some work.”
Nick shook his head. “Come on, let’s get out of Cloverville. There’s nothing for you here.”
“I think there is,” Josh insisted, his blue eyes bright with hope. He paused beside Nick and clasped his shoulder. “Maybe there would be for you, too, if you’d give it a chance.”
What? The town—or a certain brown-haired bridesmaid? He didn’t ask and Josh didn’t offer an explanation before his hand slid away and he left.
Nick let the door close behind his friend and walked to the sink to splash water on his own face. He should be relieved that Josh was still so optimistic. Optimism was way better than despair.
Nick acknowledged the fact that he probably didn’t have to worry about Josh, but his heart didn’t lift with relief. Maybe he wasn’t worried about Josh. Maybe he was worried about himself. Because the minute he stepped out of the restroom, he searched the crowded reception hall for her. Colleen, he’d heard her friends call her. She stood with the other bridesmaids huddled near the head table where they’d just eaten the most awkward dinner Nick had ever been a part of.
The bride’s mom had turned the reception into a welcome-home party for the blond bridesmaid and her young daughter, and while the guests had enthusiastically greeted the young woman and her child, they’d still had time to stare at Josh. And Nick.
Probably wondering when he was going to blow. How could Josh be so understanding and forgiving? Nick wanted to hurt someone.
Chapter Three
Colleen shivered as Nick Jameson approached, passing Abby as she headed away from him, toward the dance floor.
“Do you know Dr. Jameson from the hospital?” Brenna asked. She was one of the few people in Cloverville who knew Colleen volunteered at the hospital in Grand Rapids, but even she didn’t know why.
Colleen hadn’t actually ever met Dr. Jameson. He never acknowledged any of the volunteers, no matter how desperately some of them fought for his attention. “I only know him by reputation.”
As a no-nonsense orthopedic surgeon. Not only the volunteers but several of the female staff obsessed over him, longing to experience his “elusive” bedside manner, but
