Long Simmering Spring by Elisabeth Barrett Read Free Book Online

Julie said, shaking her head. “Just for right now. I took a big risk opening my own practice instead of taking a job at a hospital, where they’d deal with all of the administrative issues. Now, it’s just me—the successes and the failures. You know what it’s like to only have yourself to rely on. I’m so close to nailing this business down I can taste it. The summer season will only help things. I just have to make it through August.”
    “Which will slip into fall, which will slip into winter.”
    “No.” Julie paused. “Maybe.”
    “Try ‘yes.’ You’re forgetting how well I know you.”
    Julie sighed. “Ah, the pleasures of living in Star Harbor.”
    Lexie just smiled. “The other thing I know is that you are long overdue for some fun. In the whole time I’ve known you, I don’t think you’ve had one date.”
    “Yeah, well, Cole is not exactly the man I should be breaking my streak with. The guy is a lot to handle and I don’t know if I have time for that kind of relationship. You, of all people, would know what I mean.”
    Lexie’s eyes softened and she nodded. “Given that I’m married to his brother, I sure do. But you know what? He’d be worth it.”
    Julie gave a delicate little snort.
    “Let me try to convince you. Cole’s a good guy. He goes out of his way to help those who need it, especially the older folks. Kind of like you.” She gave Julie a sly smile before going on. “If Melinda Cook is busy, Cole sends someone to check on her ninety-one-year-old grandmother in her cottage by the beach. And if no one is available, he does it himself. He’s organized a ton of community events, just to let the kids know that there’s a strong safety presence in the town. He actually cares about Star Harbor and everyone in it.”
    “Kids and grandmas? Come on, Lexie.”
    Lexie grinned unrepentantly. “All right. Maybe my examples were a bit heavy-handed, but you get what I mean. He’s a solid man and he’d be good for you. Anyway, I’m not saying you should marry the guy. Just have some fun. You’ve spent so many years being responsible and good. It’s time to let go and enjoy yourself for once. I guarantee that Cole Grayson knows how to show a girl a good time, and you, my dear, deserve it.”
    A little smile crept up on Julie’s face as she thought about all the ways Cole Grayson could show her a good time.
    “See? Got you smiling again,” Lexie said cheerfully, pulling out a cake stand from the display case. “Coconut cake?”
    Julie laughed. “Cake pusher! I haven’t even gotten my dinner yet.”
    “I’ll just cut you a slice for later. On the house,” she said, pulling a fresh plate from beneath the counter. “Look, Julie, you’ve got a lot going for you and you deserve someone great. In the meantime, you just need to let yourself be open for it. Stop thinking about work so much and find a way to weave in some semblance of a personal life. I did, and I’m so much happier.”
    “I appreciate that,” Julie said softly. “But I still don’t know how to manage things if I’m not completely focused on my work.”
    Lexie cut a thick slice of cake and set it on the plate. “You’re a smart woman. You’ll figure it out.”
    Julie nodded. But the truth was, she wasn’t sure how. She’d spent so long being completely devoted to her business that she didn’t truly know how to be anyone else anymore. She wasn’t a fun-loving, carefree girl. She had responsibilities—not just to herself, but to her employees and her patients, and loosening up, even a little, was hard to contemplate. “Everything’s going to be fine,” she said, and Lexie smiled and nodded. But even as the words left her mouth, she wondered whom she was trying to convince—Lexie, or herself.

CHAPTER 6
    At one o’clock in the afternoon, Cole was seated in the conference room at the Sheriff’s Department with two of his deputies, Hank Jacobs and Pete Thawley, flanking his sides. Hank, a younger man