“Like Mrs. McClintock said back at the church,” Josh reminded him, “the food is already paid for.”
By the bride’s brother. But Josh had tried to pay—Nick had heard him offer more than once. That was the kind of guy Josh was, generous and selfless. Nick shook his head, bemused as always, that they were friends when they were so different.
“The whole town was looking forward to a party, and like I reminded you in the limo,” Josh continued, “we’re opening an office here. We need to meet our potential patients.”
Nick didn’t need the reminder about the office. Even before the bride had vanished, he’d been against opening a practice in Cloverville. While he couldn’t argue that the town was growing, it still wasn’t big city enough for him or close enough to the hospital where they had surgical privileges. But Josh’s dream had always been to open a small-town practice, a partnership. Nick had made Josh’s dream his—except for the small-town part. “All two patients?” he scoffed.
Josh snorted. “We’re going to have more than that. The only other doctor in town retired last year.”
“Retired or went bankrupt,” Nick muttered. “And he was a G.P. We’re not general practitioners. Does this town really need an orthopedic surgeon and a plastic surgeon?”
“Plastic surgery may be my specialty, but I intend to handle more,” Josh reminded him. “Cloverville’s just in the burbs of Grand Rapids. We still have surgical privileges at the hospital. We’ll have plenty of patients. They just have to get to know us.”
Nick wasn’t comfortable with anyone getting to know him.
“That’s why we’re here,” Josh continued.
“You didn’t have to come,” Nick pointed out. They hadn’t had to use the limo, either, even though it had already been paid for, too. But the entire wedding party had ridden together to the reception—well, everyone but the bride. “I could have represented us here.”
“And ushered us into the poorhouse,” Josh teased. “You’d scare away more patients than you’d attract. You’re not exactly known for your bedside manner.”
Who had time for small talk? He’d never had. He’d rather repair people’s broken bones or replace their hips and knees than discuss the weather. “I’m a surgeon.”
“I am, too.”
Dr. Joshua Towers had a bedside manner other doctors envied. Everyone loved Josh. Well, everyone but the women he loved. How did someone so smart keep falling for unsuitable women? Not that Molly McClintock had seemed unsuitable. As well as being beautiful, she was smart. Nick personally knew how tough medical school was. And the few times Nick had met her, she’d seemed sweet—far sweeter than Josh’s money-grubbing ex. In fact, she’d seemed the exact opposite of Amy. No wonder Josh had proposed so quickly.
“You’re also a man who just got left at the altar,” Nick said, knowing Josh was used to, and even relied on, his brutal honesty. When he needed it, Josh had always been there for him. “No one expected you to show up for the reception after what just happened. Come on, what’s really going on with you?”
Josh offered a halfhearted smile. “The boys wanted to party.”
Nick narrowed his eyes as his suspicions grew. “You think she’ll show up here? Is that what you’re doing? Waiting for her?”
Although he hadn’t really gotten to know Molly McClintock, he doubted she’d have the guts to show her face to the whole town after the stunt she’d just pulled. “She’s not coming.”
“Probably not,” Josh agreed.
Probably. So he held out some hope. Just how optimistic could the guy be? Too damned optimistic, Nick answered his own question.
Josh sighed. “I’m staying in Cloverville, and I know I should have told you this already. I don’t have possession of it yet, but I’ve bought a house here—for me and the boys.”
And the woman he’d intended to marry. Nick’s guts twisted with his friend’s pain.
“Why’d you do that?” He scrubbed a hand through his hair, trying to hold both his temper and his tongue. “The office isn’t going to be done for a while.”
“But it will be done, Nick.”
“Maybe it shouldn’t be.”
“We have a lot of money invested.”
Nick massaged the tense cords that stood out on the back of his neck. “This is a bad idea.”
Josh lifted his head, and Nick met his gaze in the mirror. “You can’t back out on me.”
“Never. You know that, man. I got your back.” He sighed.
“The practice isn’t the bad idea. It’s this town that is.”
“You never wanted the office here,” Josh conceded.
Nick resurrected his old argument. “It’s too far from the hospital. We can’t do surgeries out of the office…” If they got any business at all.
“But you agreed.”
“Because you’re my best friend.” Agitated, Nick blew out a ragged sigh. “And you thought there was something here for you.”
“There’s still something here for me.”
“She left you at the altar,” Nick said even though he was sure the jilted groom didn’t need the reminder. “Why would you still want her?”
Josh’s blue eyes hardened with determination. “I want to talk to her.”
“You’re…”
“Crazy?”
He certainly hoped not. He didn’t want his best friend doing anything stupid. Nick had already lost someone he loved to a broken heart—his older brother, Bruce, had fallen apart when his pregnant wife left him. Devastated to find out that the baby she was carrying wasn’t his, he’d started to drink. And he hadn’t stopped until he drove into a tree. Nick hadn’t been able to save his big brother, from his pain or from himself.
But he wouldn’t fail Josh as he had Bruce. He hadn’t stepped in with sympathy or support; he hadn’t been there, when his brother had needed him most. He wouldn’t make that mistake with Josh. He couldn’t lose his best friend as he had his brother. “No, you’re not crazy.”
Maybe he’d just gotten into the punch. Although the little brass plate on the crystal bowl described it as nonalcoholic, Nick definitely had tasted vodka in the fruity concoction. The alcohol still burned in his stomach but it didn’t take the edge off his anger. Right now, he hated Molly McClintock for putting Josh through more pain.
Josh sighed again. “Hell, maybe I am crazy.”
“Let’s get out of here,” Nick suggested.
“Yeah, I better find the boys. I thought they might be in here.”
“Think they’re flushing something down the toilet?”
Josh shook his head, but Nick doubted he was denying their capacity for naughtiness. Josh knew what hellions his sons were. He got regular reports from the boys’ nannies right before they quit working for him. Maybe that was why he’d wanted to get married. But hell, from the way Josh’s first wife had walked out on them, he had to know that a second wife could quit, too.
“I’m not talking about leaving just the reception,” Nick continued. “I’m talking about this town. Once the office is done we can sell the building and build or lease one closer to the hospital in Grand Rapids.”
“The house…”
“You said you