Sweet Home Colorado (The O'Malley Men) (11 page)

He sliced the multigrain loaf, then piled the slices to the
side of the cutting board.

“I can help,” Grace said, brushing against him and picking up a
knife. “Mayo, mustard or both?”

“Both,” he said, not thinking. They needed to leave the
confines of the cabin. Maybe this wasn’t such a good idea, bringing Grace here.
It was too isolated, too intimate.

Jack wasn’t convinced that Grace simply wanted to avoid another
relationship. There was more to it than that, he was sure.

If he was going to get her to marry him, he needed to take it
slow, let her fall in love with him again.

Chapter Sixteen

So many people had dropped by the house on Monday
morning—including Sarah—that Grace was wondering if she’d ever get a chance to
relax.

Exhausted after the picnic hike with Jack, the Saturday evening
concert and Sunday with the O’Malleys at Adam and Carly’s house, Grace wanted
nothing more than to pull up a deck chair and have a snooze on the porch.

The latest visitor was someone she’d never met before, although
she knew the woman’s brother.

Grace had stopped sweeping up yet another pile of sawdust and
plaster when she heard the front gate squeak.

A tall, fair-haired woman strode up the path and mounted the
few steps to the porch. She held out her hand and said, “Hi, Grace, I’m Lucy
Cochrane, Mike’s sister and an old school friend of Matt’s.” Mike Cochrane was
the lawyer who’d sweet-talked Jack into taking on this project.

Grace dusted her palms on her jeans and shook Lucy’s hand.
“I’ve heard of you. You’re the local OB/GYN?”

“That’s right. And that’s what I’ve come to talk to you
about.”

Grace frowned slightly. She didn’t need an OB/GYN. She crossed
her arms and leaned against the railing. “I have a gynecologist back in Boston
and I’m not pregnant, so I don’t really need another.”

Lucy laughed and leaned against the railing, too. Grace noted
her height—she easily topped six feet. “No, I came to offer you a business
proposition.”

“Oh?” Grace had never had one before and she wasn’t sure how to
proceed. “I’m a pediatrician, not a businesswoman,” she said.

Lucy’s eyes twinkled. “You’re a woman who owns a large house on
prime real estate.”

“Sorry, the house isn’t for sale.”

Smiling, Lucy said, “I didn’t expect it to be. Can I take you
to lunch at Maria’s and outline what I have in mind?”

Intrigued, Grace could only accept the invitation. “Okay,” she
said. “Just let me wash up and let the boss know I’m leaving for an early lunch.
Would you like to come in?” she asked, leading the way to the front door.

They stepped inside and Lucy gasped. “Wow! I always wondered
what this place looked like. It’s even better than I imagined.”

Grace glanced around, mystified. “They’ve ripped out the
kitchen and the interior walls in order to insulate them, and torn up a lot of
the flooring. Trust me, it looked a whole lot nicer last week, even though it
hadn’t been lived in for years.”

Lucy grinned and said, “No, I meant the space!” She indicated
the two-level foyer, the wide staircase and the size of the downstairs
rooms.

“Do you mind if I take a look upstairs?” Lucy asked.

“Be my guest,” Grace said. “I’ll wash up and meet you back down
here.”

She watched as Lucy dashed up the stairs. The woman had an
athletic body and a fluid grace. She could’ve been a professional athlete, Grace
decided as she entered the downstairs bathroom and washed her hands.

It was a good few minutes before Lucy joined her again.

“It’s perfect!” she said as she came downstairs and into the
foyer.

Lucy had obviously been impressed with the capacious rooms
upstairs, as well.

“Ready?” Grace asked.

“Sure. Want to walk? Nothing’s far from this place.”

Grace nodded. As they left the house, she said, “It’s one of
the reasons I decided to get rid of my rental car. I figure I can walk anywhere
I need to from here.”

She spotted Tyrone coming around the side of the house and
said, “Tyrone, would you mind telling Mr. O’Malley I’ve taken an early lunch? I
looked for him but Buzz said he’s gone out.”

Tyrone’s smile lit up his face. “Sure, Ms. Grace. See you
later.” He rubbed a hand along the railings she’d been sanding. “Boss won’t like
the job you’ve been doin’ here. I’ll fix it before he finds out, okay?”

Grace laughed. “You know his exacting standards too well!
Thanks, Tyrone, I owe you.”

Tyrone gave her a little salute, and set to work on the
railings.

“Nice kid,” Lucy said as Grace held open the gate. “Jack does
wonders with all the kids who come here. I have to admit, Tyrone scared me when
I first met him—a kid with too much attitude and a bad reputation. But Jack
seems to see through all that. He gives the kids respect, somewhere safe to live
and an honest day’s work. It doesn’t take him long to turn them around.”

The two women spent the short walk to Maria’s diner discussing
Jack’s program for disadvantaged youths. Lucy obviously admired Jack for what he
was achieving with the kids. It made Grace glow with prided.

At Maria’s, Lucy picked a table that looked out on the street,
but was farthest from other patrons and any potential interruption.

Almost before they’d sat down, Maria was at their table,
pouring glasses of water. “Dr. Lucy, Dr. Grace! How nice to see you. Can I get
you something else to drink?”

Lucy looked up and smiled at Maria. “How are your children,
Maria?” To Grace, she said, “I delivered all three of them. Each one an
angel!”

“Hah!” Maria scoffed. “I don’t have enough hours in the day to
complain about what rascals those boys of mine are. They all take after their
father!”

The three women laughed, then Lucy said, “I’ll have the usual,
Maria. Chocolate milk shake and your delicious wilted spinach salad with goat
cheese.”

Grace hadn’t had a milk shake since she was a teenager and it
sounded appealing. So did the salad. “I’ll have the same,” she said, handing her
menu back to Maria.

She crossed her arms and rested them on the table. “So, what’s
this about a business proposition?”

“Well,” Lucy said, mirroring her action, “I need space for my
practice. So do some other professionals in town, and I’ve been thinking your
house is the perfect location for a clinic that offers family medicine, medical
specialties, physical therapy and so on.”

Grace was dumbfounded. Finally, she found her voice. “
My
house? You want to convert my house into a medical
center?”

Lucy nodded. “That’s the idea.” Taking advantage of Grace’s
lack of response, she plowed on. “I live in town, but my practice is in Silver
Springs. And I’m paying a fortune for the space! My patients will follow me if I
relocate. And it would be a whole lot more convenient to be closer to my kids
and their school.”

“But...you deliver babies at the hospital,” Grace pointed
out.

“True, but we all know babies don’t arrive as quickly as they
do in movies. And if they come quickly, like in under thirty minutes, I’ve never
actually made it to the hospital to deliver them, anyway!”

Grace laughed at that. “Granted, but why my house? Why not
anywhere in Spruce Lake? There’s parking to consider, as well.”

Lucy held up her fingers and counted off the reasons. “It’s the
perfect size—large reception area downstairs and treatment rooms upstairs. It’s
in a great location, just off Main Street but an easy walk to everything. It’s
got historical charm that screams Spruce Lake—rather than a purpose-built brick
box in another area. I think patients and clients will feel more comfortable
somewhere homey. Parking? There’s a big backyard. We could even make the house
wheelchair accessible with a ramp out back. Plus, there’s a wide laneway out
back and a vacant lot that no one wants to build on because it’s cut off from
everything else. We could buy it and turn it into the patients’ parking
lot.”

“We?” Grace squeaked. “All my spare cash is tied up in that
house and the renovation.”

Undaunted, Lucy said, “I’m positive we could sort something
out. The street in front of the house is extra-wide, so maybe the town would be
amenable to angle parking—”

Grace made the time-out sign, thankful that it halted Lucy’s
speech. “There’s an awful lot of ifs, buts and maybes involved in this. That’s a
historically listed house. I’m not actually sure it
could
be converted into a medical center.”

“But are you amenable to my ideas?”

“Amenable! I don’t know if your ideas are even sane,” Grace
said, then softened her words with a smile.

Lucy laughed and said, “I can’t blame you for thinking I’m a
bit crazy. Jack said you were going to renovate the house but didn’t intend to
live in it.”

“I can’t see myself staying here, especially all alone in that
big house,” Grace said.

“Wouldn’t you live there with Jack?”

“Now, why would I live there with Jack?”

“Because he’s the most eligible bachelor in town—if not the
entire state of Colorado. And he’s in love with you.”

Grace could feel her face heating. “And you know this
because...?”

“The whole town knows! No one around here can keep a secret and
when word spread that Jack’s old girlfriend was back—the one who broke his heart
and...” Lucy’s words trailed off.

“Gee, thanks. Next they’ll be blaming me for global
warming.”

Maria arrived with their salads and milk shakes. “Thanks,
Maria,” Lucy said. “Looks delicious, as usual.” Once Maria was gone, she
launched back into the conversation.

“Global warming? Hadn’t thought of that one, maybe you did
cause it?” She winked and picked up her fork.

“I think I’ve lost my appetite,” Grace said, staring at the
plate piled with spinach, caramelized walnuts, goat cheese and other
goodies.

“You don’t like the salad?”

“No, it’s fine. I don’t like the thought of everyone talking
about Jack and me. Poking their noses into our business.”

“So you
are
an item!” Lucy said,
apparently latching on to the words
our
business.

“No, we’re not.” Grace dug into her lunch. She finished the
mouthful and said, “You’re right. This is a great choice.” Sipping the milk
shake she closed her eyes in bliss. “This, too. Now, can we drop any reference
to Jack and me and get on with your insane idea for my house?”

“Will you consider it?”

The idea was so new to Grace, so unformed, that she hadn’t had
time to process it. But since she had to keep the house in the family, maybe
repurposing it wasn’t such a bad suggestion. “I think we need to do a whole lot
more research. For instance, it could take years to find tenants for all the
treatment rooms.
If
the council even lets us turn it
into a clinic.”

Lucy swallowed some of her milk shake and said, “Not so.
There’s me, you, Harley James the physical therapist, Suze Wilson the counselor
and Carly O’Malley the massage therapist.”

Apart from Carly O’Malley, the others’ names blurred together
as Grace focused on one word—
you.

“Hold it! What do you mean
you?
As
in
me?
”

“Yes, of course, I mean you! I know you’re a pediatrician, but
this town needs a really good family practitioner and you’d be great in that
role.”

“What about Doc Jenkins?”

“He’s retiring at the end of the week. Thank goodness!
Should’ve been put out to pasture long ago.” As if sensing Grace’s hesitation,
she pushed her plate away and rested her forearms on the table. “This is a
growing town, Grace. You could make a good living here. I heard what you did for
Sally’s son Aaron. If you weren’t there, he might not have made it. We need good
doctors. If we set up this clinic, we will attract
more
good doctors. We have orthopedic guys who visit during the
winter, but they work out of the emergency center. And they need somewhere to
refer patients for physical therapy. Harley wants to move his practice here.
Susan needs space for her clients. Same with Carly.”

Grace shook her head. “I can’t believe you’ve rounded up all
these people so fast.”

Lucy smiled. “It’s not as shocking as it sounds. We’ve been
discussing for months that we wanted a clinic in Spruce Lake, but there’s
nowhere big enough for all of us to rent. But your house is. Picture this,
Grace.” Lucy gestured in the air. “Patients and clients come into the foyer to a
front desk. They have a lovely, big, light-filled waiting room—where the present
living room is. The dining room can be converted into office space for the
staff. The drawing room could easily be converted into a couple of consulting
rooms and then upstairs are more exam and treatment rooms, as well as bathrooms.
We can all share in the front counter staff, thereby cutting costs. Can you
imagine people gathered on the front porch during the summer, enjoying the fresh
air, relaxing before their appointments? The older patients waiting in a safe
environment to be collected by loved ones or the staff from the Twilight Years?
That big eat-in kitchen would be ideal as a lunch room and even for staff
meetings. It’s a no-brainer, Grace!”

Grace held up her hands. “Stop!”

Lucy halted and Grace said, “I can’t believe I’m saying this,
but it’s all starting to sound like it could work.”

“Yay!” Lucy cried, causing several customers to glance in her
direction.

“Not so fast,” Grace said. “First, we need to secure parking.
And find out if we can get permits to run a medical center there—and even if
we’re allowed to convert the house into something other than a residential
building, then we need to talk to Jack.”

“I don’t see that as a problem.”

“What? The permits—or Jack?”

“Either. The town wants a medical center that caters to a range
of issues. And a renovation is a renovation to Jack. Doesn’t matter if it’s a
house into a house or a house into a medical center.”

“How can you be so sure?”

Lucy had the grace to flush. “Uh, I saw him last night and ran
the idea by him.”

“I see.” Grace felt strangely betrayed that Jack hadn’t
mentioned it this morning. Still, Lucy’s idea was growing on her. “How soon do
you think we can talk to the town about this?”

As Lucy nearly leaped over her seat to hug her, Grace waved her
back down. “Just so you understand, agreeing to talk to the town doesn’t mean
I’ve agreed to this, okay?”