THE NEARNESS OF YOU (The Thorntons #1)

Chapter 2-2

After receiving James Flannigan’s results back, Harrison had taken the first opportunity to call Sara himself. Normally one of his nurses would do this, but he wanted to do it himself. He told himself it wasn’t because he wanted to hear her voice again.

“Hello?” Sara answered on the first ring.

“Ms. Flannigan, hello. Is this a good time?”

“Not to be rude, but is there ever a good time to hear results like this from a doctor?” He could hear the wryness in her tone.

“Good point. Well, I won’t waste time. The cancer has not returned. James is in the clear.”

He heard her inhale a deep breath. After he’d gotten the blood test results back, he’d been beyond relieved that the cancer had stayed away. He couldn’t imagine how stressed Sara would be if she’d heard the opposite. Harrison had had too many phone calls of a different sort with parents to know that they were difficult for all parties involved.

“Oh thank God. Oh God, thank you. Thank you so much.” She took another deep breath. “I needed something good to happen today. You’re my hero. I feel like I should send you a gift basket.”

He chuckled. “I didn’t do anything. Send a gift basket to James’s good health and your dedication to keeping him healthy.”

“Maybe I will. Thank you again.”

“I do want to check in on him in about a month. The enlarged lymph nodes do concern me. It’s more of a precaution at this point, however.”

“Okay, yes, of course. I’ll schedule that right away.”

Harrison hung up the phone after saying goodbye. It was the end of the day, and he didn’t have any more patients to see. Normally he’d text his younger brother Caleb—a local police officer—and their mutual friend Heath DiMarco, but Harrison didn’t feel like bar-hopping tonight. If he were honest, he’d only dated a handful of women since finishing his residency a few years ago and beginning his own practice.

But going home to his empty house sounded even worse. Texting Caleb and Heath, they agreed to meet up at the local bar, The Fainting Goat, which had the best beer in town. Fair Haven was known for two things: its gorgeous scenery and its local breweries. The latter was what kept most people around.

When Harrison entered the bar, both Caleb and Heath were already there. Caleb gave him the usual shoulder-slapping hug. With his dark hair and good looks, Caleb was popular with the ladies and had probably dated more of them than any other guy in town. It helped that he wore a police uniform most days. As a local cop, Caleb knew just about everyone’s business. He was a bit taller than Harrison, which he’d rubbed in his older brother’s face when they’d been teenagers, although Harrison was stockier compared to Caleb’s almost lanky frame.

Heath DiMarco was the opposite of Caleb in every way: a fifth grade teacher, he wore glasses and didn’t date around, although Harrison knew that his friend wasn’t as awkward with the ladies as he seemed to want people to think. Heath was a handsome guy, underneath the suit jackets and messy, auburn-colored hair.

“How’s it going?” Caleb asked as Harrison sat down next to him. Caleb motioned to the bartender. She gave him a heated look before sashaying over to them.

Harrison almost opened his mouth about Sara Flannigan, but he bit his tongue just in time. He couldn’t breach patient confidentiality like that, and besides, if he let on at all that he was interested in her, Caleb would start grilling him.

Then again, Caleb would also know any details about her if Harrison so much as hinted an interest. So, he kept his mouth shut.

“All work, no play,” Harrison said as he took his beer from the bartender. The woman gave him a look that also said she’d be willing to take on more than one Thornton man that night. Harrison ignored her. “Anything new with you, Heath?”

Heath sipped his beer. “You mean besides some of my kids deciding to set a trash can on fire and being surprised when they got detention? Not particularly.” He smiled wryly. “Remind me why I went into teaching?”

“No idea. Sounds horrible.” Caleb drummed his fingers against the worn countertop, like he could never stop moving. It was a tick of his brother’s that Harrison had always found rather amusing, although when they’d been younger, he’d wished his brother could just sit still for more than five seconds.

“I actually didn’t see the fire,” Heath added, “but Ms. Flannigan did.”

Harrison’s attention was instantly on alert. How could he have forgotten? Sara Flannigan worked at the elementary school with Heath.

“I’m still surprised that Sara Flannigan came back here,” Caleb said with a shrug. “She always seemed like she’d never come back. Can't say that I blame her.”

“Why do you think she came back?” Harrison ventured.

“I think with her sister in town and her mother needing help, she wanted to come back.” Heath took another sip of his beer. “Or at least that’s what she hinted to me when she mentioned it.”

For the stupidest reason, Harrison’s gut clenched with jealousy at Heath talking to Sara about this. Was Heath interested in her? He’d be blind and stupid not to be. With her pretty face and intelligence and dedication to her son, any man would be lucky to have her.

“Her ex was a piece of work. You guys remember Kyle Daniels? He was a piece of shit.” Caleb shook his head. “I pulled him over for a DUI when they were visiting a few years back, but he managed to get out of serving any time. I’ll never forget how he whined about how his family would hear of this, and then he puked on my boots.”

“Actually, I’m surprised you don’t know Sara. Her son had cancer when he was little,” Heath said. “She obviously doesn’t talk about it much, but it’s kind of one of those things everybody knows about, I guess.”

“Yeah, I knew that.” Harrison sipped his beer. I also know that she adores her son, has a beautiful smile, and is a woman I need to stay away from, because dating patients’ mothers is never a good idea.

“You think she’s over her divorce? Because I saw her at the grocery store yesterday, and damn, she’s beautiful. I never remembered her being that beautiful back in school.” Caleb considered. “You think she’d get a drink with me?”

Harrison gritted his teeth while Heath laughed. “Has any woman turned you down?” Heath asked.

Caleb smiled. “Not yet.”

“Leave her alone. She’s got a kid.” Harrison knew he sounded like an ass, but he didn’t care. The last thing he needed was his horn-dog brother to try to get into Sara Flannigan’s pants.

Caleb raised both eyebrows. “Whoa there. What’s with the grizzly bear act?” He narrowed his eyes before letting out a laugh. “Wait, is my older brother, famous bachelor, actually interested in a woman for once? Beyond taking her home for one night and then promptly forgetting about her?”

Harrison gave him the bird. “You’re confusing yourself with me, little brother.”

“Nah, I’m pretty sure that’s how you roll most days. Huh, this is interesting. I’d ask if her son was a patient of yours, but I won’t bother. I can see it’s true on your face. Well, what the hell are you waiting for? Ask her out, otherwise I will.”

Harrison rolled his eyes. “It’s not that simple. Besides, I don’t date women who may or may not be related to one of my patients.”

Heath nodded. “I don’t date any mothers, either. PTA meetings are painful enough, let alone when you’re with a mom who you just broke up with.”

“Good thing I rarely arrest any pretty women,” Caleb said.

“Except for one,” Harrison couldn’t help but say slyly, wanting to get himself out of the hot seat. “You see Megan Flannigan lately? You always seemed to like Sara’s sister.”

Caleb grunted. “Her sister. If only she’d stayed far, far away from Fair Haven. That woman is a menace.”

“What do you have against the sister?” Heath asked, amused.

“You remember Megan Flannigan? No? Wait, you wouldn’t. Well, I arrested her the first week I started as a cop, and she’s never forgiven me for it. Every time I go to her bakery I’m afraid she’s poisoned my donut.”

Heath laughed out loud. “Then why keep going back? But I guess if the woman is beautiful enough you’ll just about take any kind of abuse.”

“f**k off. I’d sooner date a cobra,” Caleb muttered. But his expression seemed to speak differently.

Harrison had a feeling his brother was more interested in Megan Flannigan than he’d care to admit, which he could understand all too well. His interest in Sara was only getting worse with each passing day.

And really, why didn’t he ask her out? It wasn’t the most ideal circumstance given their connection, but they certainly wouldn’t be breaking any rules. Besides, given James’s current bill of health, more than likely he wouldn’t remain a patient of Harrison’s for much longer. Then he really didn’t have any excuse not to ask out Sara Flannigan.

Harrison liked women, in a general sense. He liked how they smelled, how they laughed, how they felt underneath him. He’d dated a variety of women since he’d been a teenager, and he’d had a few long-term girlfriends. Medical school had distracted him enough that he hadn’t dated seriously in a long time, and then he’d done his residency in Indiana before returning to Fair Haven, which hadn’t helped. Did he just need to get laid? Was that why he was so interested in Sara?

“What the hell are you assholes doing in my bar?” Trent Younger, the owner of The Fainting Goat and a number of other restaurants in Fair Haven, came up to the trio with a grin on his face. Trent went way back with the Thorntons, as he and Lizzie Thornton had dated until they’d broken up unexpectedly when they’d barely graduated high school.

Trent was tall and muscular, with bright blue eyes that Harrison had heard his sister Lizzie admit were beyond beautiful. Lizzie had run off to be a musician and hadn’t been in Fair Haven for a while now, but Trent had stayed. And, Harrison had a feeling, had been waiting for his sister to return.

“Oh, are your best customers not allowed in here anymore?” Caleb said as he gave Trent another shoulder slap like he’d given Harrison.

“I guess you guys do keep me in business. Who else will drink my shittiest, overpriced beer?”

“You probably shouldn’t tell your customers they’re drinking shitty beer,” Heath pointed out as he sipped the beer in question.

“You guys don’t count. Now, tell me something interesting because if I have to listen to my CFO talk about financial projections anymore I’m going to kill myself.”

The four men moved to a table to shoot the s**t, ordering more beers. As a gesture of goodwill, Trent put the second round on the house.

“Oh hey, I got a call from Lizzie,” Caleb said. Harrison saw Trent visibly stiffen, but it was a tiny thing. No one else seemed to notice. “She said she might visit for Thanksgiving.”

“Hasn’t she been saying that for three years?” Harrison asked.

Caleb shrugged. “Yeah, but she sounded like she meant it.”

Trent finished off the rest of his beer in one swig before setting down the glass. “I need to get back to work. You guys take it easy.”

The trio watched the bar owner depart. Heath raised an eyebrow. “You think?”

“Yeah,” Caleb drawled.

Harrison just nodded. If they could agree on anything, they were all idiots when it came to women.