Love On Anchor Island: An Anchor Island Novel

to the porch. Beth looked to be struggling with hers, so the cousin abandoned her own to help get the first up the steps.
“She must be staying for a long time,” Nota observed. “Either that or she’s got a dead body in there.”
Doubtful of the dead body theory, Alex had to agree that she appeared to be prepared for an extended stay. Exactly how extended was the question. Once the two women teamed up, the suitcases reached the house in no time, with the little girls offering a push and a shove here and there. Dozer gave the newcomer a thorough sniffing before she could cross the threshold. The bear-like dog was friendly, but he didn’t let just anyone near his family. As Alex had learned the hard way. He would never forget that bark or the thunderous echo of pounding feet that had accompanied his first Dozer encounter.
“I’ll stop by Lola’s on my way home and see what I can find out.” Nota returned her attention to the matter at hand. “What else is this drug going to do to me?”
There was no way to answer that since the medication affected everyone differently, and some not at all.
“The pharmacy should have included full documentation for you to read.”
She waved his words away. “I never look at that stuff.”
If she did, they might not see each other quite so often. “Read it, Mrs. Stamatis. There’s a chance this numbness will be the only side effect, but the more you know, the less scared you’ll be if something else happens.”
With a dramatic eye roll, she rose to her feet, barely using the cane—a good sign that the medication was working. “Mia said you two had lunch yesterday.”
Alex had hoped they’d get through one visit without having this conversation. “Yes, we did.”
“When are you two going to make this official?” she asked, pegging him with a hard glare.
Mia was Nota’s granddaughter and had been Alex’s first friend on the island other than his cousin Lucas. For reasons Nota had yet to learn, her granddaughter was never going to fall for the island doctor.
“Mia and I are just friends, Nota. You know that.”
Shaking her head as she shuffled from the room, she repeated a statement he’d heard many times before. “Men and women aren’t supposed to be friends. It’s unnatural.”
Poking her just a little, he replied, “Aren’t you friends with Olaf Hogenschmidt?”
The older pair had been spending a great deal of time together since the previous summer yet dismissed any possibility of a budding romance. Or at least Nota did. As far as Alex knew, Olaf had never confirmed nor denied the rumors.
“I have a luncheon to get to,” his patient said, suddenly in a hurry to leave. “Make sure Flora sends me a reminder for my appointment next month.”
Opening the front door, Alex nodded. “Will do.” He would do no such thing. Flora was the best nurse he’d ever worked with, and she did not need a reminder about reminders.
He watched closely as Nota toddled to her car, again noting the improved mobility. Tolerating these visits wasn’t so difficult when he knew the medication was working. Moments later, he winced as she missed his car by mere inches on her way out. Mia was going to have to take her keys away sooner or later.
Alex turned to go back inside and caught sight of the brunette removing two small bags from her car. When their eyes met, her expression hardened as if she’d spotted an enemy in the distance. They hadn’t gotten off to a great start, but he hadn’t done anything to deserve such raw hostility. Without another glance, she carried the bags to the house and disappeared inside, leaving Alex wondering what he’d missed.

Chapter Two
A sign on the house next door read Fielding Family Practice Dr. Alex Fielding, MD.
Brendon, the asshole responsible for Roxie’s involuntary exile, had been a doctor. A lying, cheating asshole of a doctor. So, of course, the first man she meets here just had to sport MD after his name. Or so she assumed. He could have been a patient, but she’d seen him unlock the office door, which said otherwise.
Anger bubbled over, driving Roxie to slam the door on her way into the house. Dozer barked his displeasure.
“Sorry, buddy.”
The big mutt huffed as if saying, “Don’t let it happen again.”
“Are you okay?” asked Beth, appearing from the hallway with Daphne on her hip.
Roxie set her bags on the floor next to the suitcases they’d already brought in. “I didn’t mean to close the door so hard.”
Beth put the toddler down, and Daphne immediately hugged Dozer’s neck while keeping a distrustful eye on Roxie. Mary Ann had welcomed her mother’s cousin as if they were old friends, but the younger Dempsey was going to take some work. Roxie wasn’t sure how to win her over but wasn’t above resorting to bribery, if necessary.
Could one-year-olds have Hershey bars?
“That’s okay. Let’s sit in the kitchen and catch up. You must have left at dawn to be here already.” Beth shuffled around the large kitchen island and pulled two glasses from a top cabinet. Opening the fridge, she said, “I have lemonade, sweet tea, juice—both apple and orange—and water. What can I get you?”
“Lemonade is fine.”
Though they’d been close as kids, Roxie hadn’t seen Beth since before she’d taken up permanent residence on Anchor Island. The last time they’d been in the same room together had been a Thanksgiving dinner when Beth brought her fiancé home to meet the family, somewhere around eight years ago.
That man was now Beth’s brother-in-law. Roxie never got the full story of how that happened but hadn’t been surprised. The man she’d met hadn’t seemed right for her cousin at all.
“I pulled out at six so the sun was up but not by much.”
Settling onto a red barstool, Roxie took in her surroundings. Though an open floor plan, the space was relatively small. The living room would likely look larger without all the