Page 146 of My Fake Dating with the Grumpiest Highlander

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The List

(Or How Renovating a Medical Practice Turns Into a Declaration of Intent)

I didn’t sleep all night.

Not because of a medical emergency. Not because Ragnar decided to smash through my door. Not even because Hamish stole something important.

No, I didn’t sleep because I spent the entire night making a list of everything I want to change about the medical practice.

I’m staring at it now, spread across the desk in my room at the cottage.

Three handwritten pages.

Detailed. Precise.

Completely exposing the state of my brain after kissing Mary.

Page 1:Paint

• Office walls: blue-gray (something Mary would like, not too cold, calming)

• Waiting room: off-white (she’s right, the yellow is depressing)

• Office: keep the wood paneling, but strip the varnish (she thinks the oak is beautiful underneath)

Page 2: Flooring

• Replace the linoleum in every room

• Keep the light oak hardwood if possible

• Otherwise neutral tile, but modern

Page 3: Furniture and Decor

• New sign outside: “Dr. Finn McLeod, General Practitioner” (WITHOUT “temporary”)

• Take down McKinnon’s photos (put them somewhere else, don’t throw them away, don’t be a monster)

• Replace the orange waiting room chairs

• Buy green plants (Mary said they help calm patients during one of her visits)

• Fix the leaking sink (should’ve done it three months ago)

• New curtains (Mary’s suggestion: “something that doesn’t look like it came from a haunted manor house”)

I reread the list.

Then I reread it again.

Mary’s name is everywhere.

I rub my eyes.

What the hell am I doing?

Last night, I kissed her on the castle terrace. I admitted I couldn’t keep pretending anymore. She said she couldn’t either.

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