Can’t Hurry Love by Nadine Millard (primary phonics books .txt) 📕

The bell over the door went again, and they looked up to see Tara Reid, the waitress from Bella’s, come in.

“Hey, Tara,” Beth called, grateful for a minute’s reprieve from the upcoming inquisition.

It wasn’t that she didn’t want to share. Boast, really. She was just worried that she’d gush over her dreamy doctor only to have him go cold on her again. Her insides flipped uneasily, and she knew that she didn’t need Brooke, or Zoe, or anyone else to point out the need for a serious talk.

She already knew it needed to happen. She could only hope that it would end with her and Josh together.

“Hey…” Tara smiled. “…I come in search of your chocolate chip cookies.” She waved a friendly hello to the others. “Teddy had a doctor’s appointment today, and I promised him some for being so brave. The ones at work just don’t cut it, apparently, but let’s keep that between us.”

Jenna moved to fill a box with the cookies.

Tara and Teddy had only moved to Rocky Valley a couple of years back. Beth didn’t know that much about the pretty waitress. She kept herself to herself a lot, but she was always pleasant and friendly. And Teddy, her five-year-old, was adorable.

“Is Teddy alright?” Beth asked.

“Yeah, he came home with from school Friday with an earache, so I took him to get checked out. Dr. Larson is so good with him. Teddy thinks he looks like Thor, so he’s always happy to see a superhero doctor.”

Beth felt her heart skitter listening to Tara talk about Josh with Teddy. And she tended to agree with the kid with the whole Thor reference.

“Thor, huh?” Zoe grinned, eyeing Beth.

Her other friends were smiling at her too, while Tara frowned.

“Why do I feel like I’m missing something?” she asked, her brown eyes narrowed in confusion.

“You’re not missing anything,” Brooke said casually. “We were just about to find out all about Thor’s hammer from Beth.”

Beth’s shocked gasp was drowned out by the burst of giggles from her so-called friends.

Tara’s eyes widened before she laughed along with the others. “You know, Teddy is with Mrs. Beech and I know your grandma loves to spoil him, Zoe,” Tara said with a grin, “so I’ve got time to kill.”

Beth groaned and dropped her head into her hands, knowing that her cheeks would be on fire. So much for waiting to see where things stood with Josh before making a big deal of it. She looked up into the expectant faces of her friends.

Well, here goes nothing, she thought.

Chapter Nineteen

Josh checked his watch as he walked toward Beth’s place. He was hoping to snatch some time with her now that the lunchtime rush would be done.

He had it bad.

There was no denying it anymore. All morning, while he’d seen his patients and caught up on paperwork, he’d thought of her. The fear of commitment he’d carried around for the last few years seemed to be fading with every thought of her. On paper, it was way too soon to be thinking of anything long-term. He knew that. But he couldn’t seem to think of Beth without thinking of a forever with her.

But she knew nothing about his past. Nothing about what had driven him to Rocky Valley, and nothing about why he was starting to think that maybe he could make his forever right here. The constant calls from Ellen had been eating away at him, so he’d tried calling back this morning but had gotten her voicemail.

He’d have to rectify that, Josh knew. But for now, he just wanted to see her.

After crossing the street, he got to Beth’s, opened the door — and froze as six sets of eyes flew around to watch him. Feeling like he’d walked into something, Josh hesitated before smiling a little self-consciously.

“Um… hey, ladies,” he said.

Was he in trouble? It felt like it.

The collar of his light blue shirt was open, but it still felt like it was strangling him under the weight of the eyes fixed on him. Rather than worry about it, he focused on the face he was here to see. Beth looked happy to see him, but a little uneasy, and he found himself wondering what the hell they’d been talking about before his entrance had stopped all conversation.

“Is this a bad time?” he finally asked.

“No!” Beth jumped up from the stool then winced as her foot hit the floor.

Josh frowned and rushed forward.

“I told you to stay off that foot,” he said in doctor-mode, walking around to the back of the counter without invitation, but when he met her eyes and saw the flash of heat in them, he knew she was remembering last night… and this morning… yesterday afternoon, too, he thought with a smug smile, and he felt a lot less like her doctor and a lot more like the man who’d enjoyed keeping her off it.

“I have been staying off it,” she insisted as he lifted her and sat her back down. He knew he was being a bit of a caveman, but hell, he’d take any opportunity to touch her.

“I was hoping to catch you when you weren’t busy,” he said quietly, painfully aware of the eyes boring into his back.

“Let me guess. You want your brownie?” She smiled.

“No, I want you,” he whispered for her ears only “But I’ll take the brownie since we have an audience.”

He loved making her blush, loved the hitch he heard in her breathing. Straightening up before he did what he wanted to, audience be damned, Josh turned to smile politely at his avid onlookers.

“Tara, how’s Teddy doing?” he asked, coming back around the counter and sitting at a safe distance from the gang of women.

“Oh, he’s doing ok. Thanks, Dr. Larson. I was just picking him up some cookies. And I’d better get back to him.”

Tara’s exit seemed to move the others into action. They moved toward the exit, Zoe and Jenna backing away toward the bookstore.

“Hey Beth, let