Total pages in book: 69
Estimated words: 67492 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 337(@200wpm)___ 270(@250wpm)___ 225(@300wpm)
Estimated words: 67492 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 337(@200wpm)___ 270(@250wpm)___ 225(@300wpm)
“What else is on that list of yours, Blakely Kincaid?” he asks, taking his last bite before closing his box and pushing it to the side.
“Seating chart, ticket sales, the silent auction, speeches, and an update of what last year’s gala money helped do for the organization and the community.”
“Sounds like you’ve got a handle on everything.”
“Any thoughts or suggestions? Anything that you can think of that I might be missing?” I know there’s not. I’ve already met with Hilary this morning, in fact, and she assured me I am well on track to picking up the pieces where she left off.
“Oh, and the venue, the Willow Manor, they’re going to already be decorated for the holiday, so that helps.”
“Also your family, right?” he asks with a furrow in his brow, as if he’s trying to work out how I’m related in his mind.
“My mom.” I smile. “Her grandma owned it and passed it on to her. That’s actually how she met my dad and me.” His eyes widen. “She adopted me. My mother passed away when I was really young.”
“I’m sorry about your mother.” His voice is soft.
I smile and lift a shoulder in a “what do you do” gesture. “I don’t remember her. I was really small, and my mom, Kennedy, she’s never treated me any differently than my brother and sister. She’s my mom. I love her, and I know how incredibly blessed I am that she came into our lives. My dad, he was just going through the motions, doing his best to raise me, but when my mom came along, his life changed for the better.”
“And you remember that, do you?” he asks, a hint of a smile on his lips.
“No, but I have eight uncles, my cousin Ramsey, all their spouses, and my grandparents. Trust me, I’ve heard the story over and over again. Each of them has a unique story that I could tell you by heart.”
“Oh, you’re one of those.”
“What do you mean, ‘one of those’?” I ask him.
“You love love.”
“I do. I love family. It means everything. Our family motto is to work hard and love harder. I plan to live by that, just as every other member of my family does.”
He mumbles something that sounds like, “It’s not what it’s cracked up to be,” before clearing his throat. “Right. Well, I need to get back to my patients.”
“When is a good time for you to meet me at the venue?” I blurt the question, and I’ve shocked myself, because why in the hell does he need to meet me at the manor?
“Why do I need to do that?”
“We need to work on table placement for the guests and for the silent auction.”
“I trust your judgment.” He stands and grabs his empty lunch container, tossing it into the trash.
“We’re supposed to be doing this together, Dr. Thompson.”
“Oliver.”
I nod. “Oliver, this is a big deal for me. Hilary is going to retire soon, and I need to prove that I can handle this gala, and that includes getting you involved.”
“Did she say that?” he asks, shock forming in his features.
“No, but please? I’ll work around your schedule. Anytime you want, I’ll make it happen.”
He opens his mouth, then quickly shuts it. He does this three times before, finally, he gives me a firm nod. “I’ll let you know.” He looks down at my lunch container. “You should finish that. You barely ate.” With that, he turns on his heel and walks out of his office, leaving me to stare after him.
Slowly, I stand and gather my leftover lunch. I had planned to just pitch it, but now I feel guilty wasting it, so I’ll put it in the break room refrigerator to take it home for dinner. Isla is going to be gone tonight. She has to work late and said she’d pick up dinner on the way home.
As I move to walk out of his office, an idea hits me. Walking back to his desk, I grab a pen from the holder and pull a Post-it off the stack next to it and write him a note.
Have a great day!
-B
I hope it puts a smile on his face. If anything, it will keep me in his head, and for some reason, that pleases me. I tell myself it’s because I want him to love Christmas as much as I do, but the swirling in my gut tells me that might not be the only reason. I’m going to ignore that for now. I have a goal—make Dr. Grumpy fall in love with the holidays. I’m not trying to make him fall in love with me.
CHAPTER
SIX
Oliver
The building is quiet as I make my way down the hall to my office. I’m two hours early, but I couldn’t sleep. I spent some time in my home gym and had breakfast, but I was too antsy to sit. I decided to come into the office and start going over my schedule and reviewing patient charts for the day. There are a few nonemergency messages that came in from the call center over the weekend that I need to take care of as well.