Page 130 of My Fake Dating with the Grumpiest Highlander
I stare at him, surprised.
“Seriously?”
“Seriously. Butyouhave to ask. You have to show them you’re invested.”
For that to happen, I’d need to believe I actually have a future here.
I turn toward the window overlooking Glenfield’s main street.
A few villagers pass by outside.
Mrs. MacTavish enters the grocery store.
Old Angus stops to chat with Duncan Fraser in front of the pub.
People I’m slowly beginning to know.
People who are, little by little, beginning to accept me.
“And what if I do all that and it still doesn’t work?” I ask quietly without looking at him. “What if I renovate everything, settle in properly, and then end up having to leave anyway?”
“And what if itdoeswork?” Nate counters. “What if you actually stay and build something here?”
I don’t answer.
Nate sighs and moves to stand beside me at the window.
“You know what I see when I look at this clinic?”
“A decorating disaster? A mausoleum? A time capsule?”
“Huge potential. These walls could be painted calming colors. The linoleum could be ripped out to reveal the hardwood underneath. The waiting room could feel welcoming instead of depressing. And those photos of McKinnon…”
He turns toward the wall.
“They could be replaced with yours. Not to erase him. Just to show that life moves on and Glenfield has a new doctor taking care of its people.”
“They don’t want a new doctor. They want McKinnon.”
“TheywantedMcKinnon. Now they have you. And if you give them a chance, they might eventually want you too.”
I stay silent, looking around the worn-down clinic with entirely different eyes.
Trying to imagine what it could become.
WhatIcould make it become.
“Think about it,” Nate says while heading toward the door. “And not in ten years. Because every day you spend inside this McKinnon museum is another day you keep telling yourself you don’t really belong here.”
He opens the door, then pauses.
“Oh, by the way. Lily wants to invite you and Mary to dinner. At our place. Something simple. You interested?”
It’s an invitation for both of us.
As a couple.
And the idea does something strange to my chest.
