Second First Kiss

Jasher, however, reached across the table and took her hand. “He was lucky to have had you for that long.” His touch was so warm. It took the edge off the chill.

He squeezed her hand, and finally she turned to meet his eyes.

“It was too fast. Emotional whiplash. You’re healing.”

No one had ever diagnosed her so accurately. The diagnosis alone was a major step toward that fabled healing.

His warm touch didn’t hurt, either.

“Jasher—”

The server came and refilled their water glasses. “Can I getcha dessert?” A splash of ice water on both their forearms made Jasher release his grip. “We gots apple pie.”

A raise of Jasher’s eyebrows warned Sage not to accept the pie.

“Have you got a dish of ice cream?”

“I’ll see if I can dig some out of the back of the freezer for ya.” Server girl’s ponytail swished as she left.

“If it doesn’t have ice crystals and freezer burn flavor, I’m simply not going to eat it,” Sage declared.

“Same.”

The Leo-discussion moment had passed. Instead, they went through lighter topics for a while. Patients they’d seen in the ER. Medical school anecdotes. Babbage’s hand surgery’s recovery. A wistful discussion of Mrs. Constantini’s cooking—while not comparing it to the fare at the Moose Creek too loudly. A different discussion about good restaurants in Reedsville, since Sage had done her anesthesia training there.

“Anything or anyone else you miss about the city?” Sage asked. After she said it, she realized how it must sound.

“Like a girlfriend? Is that what you’re asking?”

Yup. That was exactly how it had sounded. But sincerely, it had been unintentional. “Not really, but sure. Are you dating anyone there?”

She might as well pry, since, after all, a hundred percent of her hormones were demanding that she kiss this guy—and soon, whether or not it was a good idea. However, a girlfriend in the city would stop that freight train like a ten-foot-thick steel wall. No way would Sage be “the other woman.”

“So, here’s the deal with me and dating.”

“Lay it on me.” Her knee trembled. Please say you’re single.

“I guess I haven’t figured out how to attract the right women.”

“Oh?” She flexed her muscle to stop the knee bouncing. It didn’t work. “How so?”

“Well, you have to know that med school isn’t a great time to start a relationship.”

“For sure.” Doctors-in-training sometimes had no time to sleep or eat, let alone nurture a romance.

“Finally, last year, I told myself it was time to get moving on dating someone. Going home alone every night is just—well, it’s not great.”

Sage had done it both ways. Going home alone was much better than going home to the wrong person in a bad marriage, but no sense returning to that topic now. “And?”

“It was one of those dating app things. The algorithm paired us, and in theory it should have worked.”

“But?”

“While she said she wanted a doctor …”

Oh, say no more. “What she really wanted was the lifestyle a doctor could provide. And not the realities of a doctor’s schedule and demands.”

Jasher’s eyebrows pushed together and he shrugged. “Precisely.” For a second he opened his mouth and then shut it. Eventually, he followed up with, “Yeah. Exactly,” like he was shocked that someone could understand that.