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"Thanks again," he said He opened the door, started to leave and then turned back

"Millie?" he said

"Yes?"

"You look beautiful, by the way" With a half grin, he bounded off the deck Digger and I watched hi into the kitchen

I put the dessert dishes into the sink, shut off the lights and said good-night to hts bounced between Sam and Joe As always, I was completely dumbfounded that my sister could have left Sam Nickerson He was so…whatever He was, and she blew it, and someday she would be sorry

In the meantime, I had my own problems What had happened with Joe? What about my plan? What possible reason could there be for hied my pilloed and ordered myself to sleep I’d think about it tomorrow Me and Scarlett O’Hara

CHAPTER SEVENTEEN

I CALLED DR BALA EARLY the next day and offered to take the daytime shift He accepted, warnedup

The clinic was hopping Sunburn with blistering on aon a ten-year-old boy; the old favorite, poison ivy, resulting from a boisterous bachelor party; and a ood to be busy I x-rayed the lady’s finger, splinted it, adhter The jellyfish sting was no probleave the kid’s moover bachelor, and some lidocaine crea a hat

Things slowed down in the afternoon, and I called a few patients to check on them, filled out some paperwork, dictated my cases and closed up On Saturdays, the clinic closed at five It was a beautiful day, clear and dry after last night’s rain, and Route 6 was packed with tourists I got ho fixedly atmaniacally He knehat sneakers meant I pulled a T-shirt over my head (Free Your Inner Lance) and headed out for a leisurely run

I was now a proficient runner in that I didn’t have to stop every thirty yards to vomit, wheeze or collapse Granted, I would never be a natural athlete, and my stride was short and slow, but I had actually co, the fresh, salty air, the tiness I felt when I was done Today, the breeze rushed overhead, the sun beat down in bright, cheerful bea of the beach as I ran down Ocean View, the cries of the gulls and shrieks of childrenwith the breeze

Now that I had no distractions, etically at bay for the past twelve hours, returned with a sodden thu to do the next ti had happened? That would be tough I loved him, for God’s sake I had sunk a lot of ti hi?

I finished ruCurtis had put up with ht Maybe I would drop in on one, and I’d have to tell her that I’d been stood up Perhaps a drive into Boston to see Janette? Nah Traffic was too heavy, and I lacked the energy Clearly, I needed er leaped up as if shot, barking ainst the back door I heaved hby to see if I needed any s done around the house

Joe Carpenter stood on ht drained froer launched hirinning at er quieted

"Hi, Millie," he said with a chuckle

"Joe," I breathed

"You forgot, didn’t you? Wow, I can’t believe it" He straightened up and shook his head "Millie, Millie, Millie You invited irl"

"But…but…" I sta: Joe here Me, sweaty and flushed Joe here Wrong day Of course, he had gotten the day wrong…but he was here And oh, God, I looked…

"Can I coain

"Oh! Of course, sure" I backed up and let hilued to Joe’s work boots, sniffing with religious fervor

"Joe, it was--you actually--" I said A light flared in et I’m so sorry"

"That’s okay," he replied amiably "Can I stay?"

"Yes! Sure! Uh, just let edhow I looked--and smelled

"Sure Take your ti, huh?"

"U after I ju that theI’d ever whipped up was toast Thanks to Saht, there were no leftovers, either

"Sure, whatever Got any beer?" I nodded and Joe opened the fridge and helped himself to a Corona

"Make yourself at ho to back out of the kitchen in a dignified manner I bumped into the door frame, then turned and fled to the bathroom

In a frenzied manner, I peeled off my T-shirt, sports bra, shorts, shoes and socks I avoided the mirror Shit! But thank God! He hadn’t blown ht All that money and tius Don’t worry about it, Millie He’s here

I leaped into the shoithout waiting for the water to heat up and dousedshampoo into my hair, I mentally went over what to wear, what to do withforever Joe had turned on the stereo and had one of the Cape’s classic rock stations tuned in--Black Sabbath blared over the speakers, a far cry froht’s carefully chosen CDs Frantically, I toweled off ive Joe the ih-maintenance kind of woman

I slapped on some moisturizer, mascara and lipstick, yanked on my robe and leaped across the hall to my bedroom From the closet, I pulled on some cropped jeans and a sleeveless button-down shirt, brushed my hair out and slapped on a hair band Thank God for hair bands Was I ready? No Shoes I grabbed so in thebreaths

Your ed Calht Not what you had planned, but still Joe Carpenter is out there waiting for you

At least my house was clean And there were still flowers on the table,it seem like I always had flowers on the table Joe s at the stove, stirring His jeans looked soft with age, slightly torn at each knee, and he wore a blue T-shirt I had never seen a more beautiful male ina beer out of the fridge

"I found this in the cupboard I love this stuff," Joe said He was stirring a pot of e kind that comes in a box, which I kept on hand for Katie’s boys