Chapter 27

Supper couldn’t come fast enough. It was a winner dinner night, and he needed to talk to his friends. Doug was surprised he’d begun to consider the others as close friends over the last few weeks; Jackie had been right.

They were a small group: Cordelia was still trying to tie up loose ends in Japan before she returned to Canada, Jonathan Gilbert and his family and Kirby Campbell and hers were away for a summer vacation while their kids were out of school, and Cameron was at work in Los Angeles filming the new season of Santa Monica E.R.

Jackie had done something amazing with vegetables and a roasted chicken. She hadn’t set foot out of the kitchen, and Doug hadn’t entered it. It wasn’t hard to avoid someone in a small town if both parties worked at it. She was gone now, leaving the eight of them lounging around Evelyn’s living room, digging into bowls of apple pie and ice cream.

Andie clinked her spoon against her bowl. “Any new business?”

Doug coughed. “I have something. Or I will have something. It looks like I’ll be getting out of my contract with the hospital sooner rather than later.” He didn’t expect the room to go silent. “What?”

“You’re planning to leave? You’ve been planning to leave Hopewell?” Scarlett asked.

“Well, yeah.” How had she missed that? It’s not like they didn’t know about all his trips back to the city.

“I thought you were settling in, getting comfortable here again, getting serious about being here,” Tyler said.

Andie silently pointed at the kitchen. “Yeah. Very comfortable. Very serious.”

“There was a chance it wouldn’t happen. There were a lot of moving parts in the works, but everything looks pretty solid now. If it all goes according to plan, I’ll be out of here around Halloween.”

“What about…?” Andie pointed at the kitchen again.

He frowned. “She knows.”

“She knows?” Scarlett leaned across the coffee table and got right in his face. “Is that all you have to say? That is one of my best friends we’re talking about. When did she find out?”

“Once everything was in motion. I didn’t want to say anything in case it fell through. It would have been unnecessary stress for her to worry about it before we had to have that conversation.” He’d factored Jackie into almost every decision. It stung that they assumed he hadn’t.

“Is she okay with it? Are you going to try to do the long-distance thing? Because there’s no way she’s going to just up and move to Winnipeg, even for you. Date you, absolutely, but move away from her home and her friends? No way.”

They’d certainly nailed her reaction. He was still hoping he’d find a way to change her mind. “I don’t see why you are all so upset. It’s not like most of you haven’t left Hopewell.” Doug stared particularly hard at Freddy and Andie. They hadn’t looked back for a decade.

Maybe some of them had chosen to stay, but that was before they had options. He wouldn’t be surprised if Jason left soon to travel the world. Andie was in Hopewell while she mulled over her future. He wasn’t odd, or wrong to want to leave.

“Wanting to leave, and having to leave, are two different things, Dr. Doug,” Freddy said, entering the conversation. “After high school, most of us didn’t have a choice but to leave if we wanted an education or a career that wasn’t in the family business. But Jackie chose to come back. She chose to make it work here.”

“Look, this is between me and Jackie. I was just giving you all a heads-up because of the foundation.”

“Fine.” Andie rapped her knuckles on the coffee table. “Doug’s news is recognized. Moving on to other new business, specifically the foundation. Aurora says she got the paperwork in the mail from Cordelia and has everyone else’s. She’s been in touch with the lawyer, and the Hopewell Reunion Charitable Foundation will be up and running by the end of next month. We have unanimous consensus for the first two donations—The Hopewell Hospital Roof Fund and repairs to the community centre and the arena. We’ll get those out as soon as we can. Are you still okay with contributing to the hospital fund?” she asked him.

“Yeah. They need the money for repairs. Plus, the donation will help attract other doctors. They’ll be running lean until they get someone in to replace me.”

“I can’t believe you’re going to bail on the town like this,” Jason exclaimed.

Like he was in any position to judge. “I’m not bailing. It’s not like I’m leaving Hopewell without a doctor. I’m not a complete jerk.”

“Back to your corners, boys,” Andie ordered. “We all make our own choices and, frankly, I’m sick of other people telling me what to do with my winnings. I don’t need it in this room too.”

Her tone said there was more to that statement, but Doug didn’t have the energy to get into that tonight. He would, soon, because she was a friend, but right now all he wanted to do was get out of Evelyn’s place and talk to Jackie. Something she said had been haunting him.

She’d asked if they only had two years.

They had less, but did it have to be all or nothing?

Doug made his good-byes and arrived at Jackie’s apartment just as she was hauling a final load of catering supplies up the stairs. In Winnipeg, she could be in a building with an elevator, or have a completely separate workspace. She could do so much better there.

“Jackie, can we talk?”

She set the crate down in the doorway, leaving it open for him. “Sure.”

“I miss you.”

“I miss you too.”

She wasn’t going to make this easy. “I know you’re upset that I’m not planning to stay in Hopewell. But I’m not leaving tomorrow. Do we have to end things today? Can’t we enjoy what we have while we have it?” He wasn’t kidding when he said he missed her. In a very short time, she’d become the best part of his life in Hopewell. The best part of his life in general. He didn’t want to miss a second of it, especially over something that hadn’t happened yet.

“I thought you told me that because you wanted to cut things off.”

“That’s the last thing I wanted.” He had no idea how Jackie got that impression, but he was happy to disabuse her of it. “I want to keep seeing you. Go out with me again. What are you doing Friday? I’m off two weekends in a row.” Having the Labour Day weekend off meant he’d be working every weekend in September. “Weren’t you telling me about a new Indian restaurant that opened in Brandon? If you’re going to add a curry to your repertoire, we should go check out the competition.”

She smiled at him for the first time in a week. “That sounds like a good time.”

He was finally back on track.