Love On Anchor Island: An Anchor Island Novel

fifty on this sandy little oasis. The only one I can think of at the moment is the doctor. Alan something, I think.”
“Alex,” Roxie corrected. “Alex Fielding, and that’s a no.”
She hadn’t run into the doc since the day he’d nearly run her over. At least not beyond a wave of acknowledgment from next door when they happened to be outside at the same time. Beth hadn’t brought him up again, and Roxie had been too busy to think much about him, though he did creep into the far recesses of her mind more often than she cared to admit.
“Why not? If I recall correctly, he isn’t bad on the eyes, seems like an honest guy, and there’s the MD cherry on top. What’s not to like?”
The looks assessment she couldn’t argue with, but Alex had one major trait going against him. “He’s a man.”
Blue eyes narrowed. “Did you just switch teams on me in the last twenty seconds?”
“No, it’s just that my last relationship didn’t end well.” The understatement of the year. “Nor did most of the ones before it. I don’t think I’m cut out for all that love stuff.”
“You can’t say things like that to a romance writer. Everyone deserves a happy ending.”
Roxie knew better. “Trust me. If you knew my track record, you’d agree.”
After a weighted pause, Henri said, “You never know. Callie said the same thing before coming here, and look at her now.”
They both glanced over to the sleeping beauty. “She’s so big,” Roxie whispered.
“She’s also awake,” Callie said. Lifting her head, she met Roxie’s gaze and thankfully didn’t appear offended. “Henri is right. You never know. This island has a way of putting people together.” Dropping her feet to the floor, she sighed. “Now help me up. I’m ready for that fresh air.”
Henri bounced to her feet and offered her cousin both hands. Getting her upright took a great deal of effort, and Roxie couldn’t help but feel bad for the poor soul. If Beth’s munchkins weren’t enough to keep her on her birth control, watching Callie endure this misery was certainly doing the trick.
“The charts are pulled for tomorrow, and I’ve made the reminder calls,” Flora said. “Do you mind if I head out? Emma has a project due tomorrow, and she needs my help.”
Alex looked up from the file he was updating. “That’s fine. I’m leaving soon anyway. I need to check on Callie Edwards.”
Flora Meyer had been Dr. Tobin’s nurse before Alex took over the practice, and he wasn’t sure what he’d do without her. Emma was her teenage daughter, who had different-colored hair every time Alex saw her.
“How long do you think we have before those babies make their entrance?”
“With luck, at least another month.” He closed the file and rose from his chair. “Sam says she’s struggling with the bed rest, so I’m sure she’d like it to be sooner.”
“Carrying one was bad enough. I can’t imagine carrying two.” Flora retrieved her purse from a bottom desk drawer. “Stephen says he’ll be happy to help with the delivery if you need him.”
Flora’s husband rotated with three other doctors in the Edwards Medical Center ER. The couple lived on Hatteras Island, where most of the other doctors resided as well.
“I appreciate that.” The office phone rang while she was headed to the door. “You go on,” Alex said. “I can get this.”
“Are you sure?”
“Of course. See you in the morning.”
“Okay. Thanks, Alex,” she said and closed the door behind her as he reached for the receiver on her desk.
“Fielding Family Practice, Dr. Fielding speaking.”
“What the hell are you doing answering your own phone?”
Alex ran a hand through his hair. “Hello, Dad.”
“Don’t you have a receptionist?”
A receptionist for an office this small was impractical, but then Dr. David Fielding, one of the most renown neurosurgeons on the East Coast, didn’t know the meaning of the word practical.
“I was just leaving to see a patient, Dad. What do you need?”
“Since when do you go to the patients?”
“Since the patient is thirty-two-weeks pregnant with twins and suffering gestational hypertension. I’ve put her on bed rest, and I’d rather she not come to me.”
What sounded like a slamming door echoed from the other end of the call. “That’s an OB’s job.”
How long were they going to have these debates? “It’s my job, actually. Is something wrong with Mom?”
“No. Your mother’s fine.”
“Then I need to go.”
“Son, what you need is to come home. Stanton Biggs is taking a position in Chicago, and that leaves an opening for you. You’ll have his office and a docket of patients ready and waiting.”
Alex didn’t want Stanton Biggs’ office or anyone else’s. “I don’t know how many times I have to say this, Dad. I’m happy here. I don’t want what you and Tanner want.” Tanner was his older brother, a sought-after cardiologist who was also operating out of his father’s practice. “Why can’t you understand that?”
“You’re wasting your talents down there. This isn’t what you went to medical school for.”
“This is exactly what I went to medical school for,” Alex argued, struggling to control his temper. “To help people.”
“Don’t you have any ambition?” he countered. “Son, the Fielding name means something around here. It’s respected.”
“Are you saying I’m not respected here? Because you’re wrong.”
“I’m saying that you’ve had your little adventure playing small-town doctor. Fine. Now it’s time to come home, take this position, find a wife, and stop wasting everyone’s time, including your own.”
Alex’s patience snapped. “This is the last time I’m going to say this. I am not leaving Anchor Island. And if I ever do, it will not be to return to Philadelphia to fulfill some ridiculous idea of a Fielding dynasty that you’ve created in your mind. This life was good enough for Grandma, and it’s good enough for me.”
“I never should have let you spend your summers in Tunkhannock.”
Thank God he had. Not that his mother would have let him veto their summer visits. She’d made sure both of her