* * *

It was about nine Monday evening when Scott heard his cell phone singing. He opened his eyes, sat up and whacked his head on the dining-room table, then crawled out of the blanket fort. He was on all fours in search of his phone. He found it in the living room and answered before looking at the ID.

“Were you in the shower?” Peyton asked. “It took you so long to answer.”

“I was in the fort,” he said. “I fell asleep.”

She laughed. “Did you hit your head?”

“I did,” he said, rubbing it. “I think I’m going to get rid of the table and pitch the tent in the dining room. It’s probably safer.”

She laughed some more. “Why don’t you do something with the basement, now that Gabby’s gone? Turn it into a playroom and pitch the tent down there? Where they’re safe and out of your hair sometimes.”

“I’ve thought about that. Will wants to know if he can move down there.”

“Are you going to let him?”

“Eventually, I guess. I think it might lose some of its charm once he’s allowed down there all the time. How are you? How’s everyone?”

She sighed. “I’m exhausted, but not from Adele and the baby—they’re easy. My brother-in-law Lucas is around so much these days. He runs between home and the restaurant. He accepts his family’s offerings, but only he cooks for his wife and for me. And his family—typical big Basque family—are here every day. Some of them drive for hours to stay a little while because Lucas and Adele have a pretty small flat in the city, and I have the baby’s room right now. They’re looking for a house, but they want to stay near the restaurant because his hours are crazy. When they find a bigger place and his entire family can come and stay over, I will be sure not to be here. They’re lovely people, but seriously—how much extended family can one person take?”

“Will your parents come?” he asked.

“Ah, they can’t. The pears have been harvested, and the potatoes are coming in. It’s such a busy farm during the harvest. And this year they’re going to cut Christmas trees.”

“Christmas trees?” he asked.

“Part of the farm is a tree farm. Papa started them a long time ago, and they’re finally reaching the height needed to bring the best price. And get this—rather than selling them to a distributor or retailer, he’s going to hire flatbeds and send my brother Matt and some crew to sell them where they’ll have the best chance of succeeding, like Las Vegas or Phoenix.” She laughed. “I’m dying to see if Papa goes with them to manage them. He can’t keep his nose out of anything.”

“Christmas trees,” Scott said. “That farm does it all.”

“They try. Adele will take the baby to the farm before it gets too cold up there, but I don’t know if Lucas can stay sane through much more time off. He’s starting to twitch. How’s the clinic doing?”

“It’s limping along. The doctor misses you, but I miss you most when the clinic is closed.”

“Ah, you are so brave, going it alone,” she said.

“I wasn’t going to ask this,” he said. “Have you heard from Ted?”

“Not a word. But then, his number is blocked, remember? And he doesn’t know I’m in San Francisco unless you told him.”

“Me? Believe me, Ted isn’t going to check in with me!”

“I talk to you at least twice a day, and you never ask me when I’m coming back.”

“I have no backbone,” he said. “I’m afraid of the answer.”

“You have no backbone?” she asked with a laugh. “You, who took two preschoolers on a hunt for a perfect small town in which to be the only doctor? You, who hired a young woman who had just escaped from a cult to manage your office? You, who will go out to a bus accident when they’re not your patients and you’re not on call just to see if you can help?”

“Me, who wants you to be sure this is what you want before you come back,” he said.

“I owe you a month,” she said. “I made a commitment.”

“That’s off the table. I’d rather have you in the best possible place than here for another month out of obligation. It’s so important you have no regrets, Peyton. But I do miss you and want you, enough to crawl through the phone. Seriously, I’d give up my life savings for one hour with you.”

“Oh, Scott, that’s so lovely....”

“My life savings will probably buy you a slice of Stu’s pie. You should stay away from the meat loaf. No one is sure what’s in it.”

She laughed at him. “I miss you so much. And there’s no one I’d rather have a slice of pie with than you. Do you have a lot of patients tomorrow?”

“A few in the morning, then I’m in Bandon in the afternoon, on call tomorrow night. The week looks busy. I’m glad of that—I want the time to pass quickly right now. When are you going to Seattle? To see that clinic?”

“I don’t know. I’m not sure I will.”

“You shouldn’t wonder if it was the right thing,” he said.

“Right now all I can handle is a sister and newborn. But you’re right—I should make a decision if I’m going to visit, talk to the surgeon there.... You know what, Scott? When I hold the baby, she curves right to me, and I have a hard time thinking about more practical things. I just pick up a book, and I can read for hours with her warm against me, and I don’t give her up until she wants food. I feel so guilty—I shouldn’t leave a spoiled baby when I go. I’ll never hear the end of it if I do. But Mama always said you can’t hold a new baby too much. She used to tie each new baby to her in a sling. So, it’s been hard to think about things like practices in Seattle—that’s so far away.”

“Don’t leave doubts about whether you’ve done the right thing, Peyton. Be sure. Maybe you want to check around San Francisco, close to Adele.”

“Yes, we agreed, didn’t we?” she said somewhat sadly. “My next move should be the right one for both our sakes....”

“I don’t know about you, but I don’t want to be in limbo forever.”

“Of course you don’t. I bet you need to get the kids in bed.”