ELLA PUT ONE foot in front of the other.
She could see the inn and its hulking logs ahead, but the rest of her surroundings were a blur of tears. She balanced Penny in her arms, the diaper bag on her shoulder, her jacket dragging behind them through the icy sidewalk.
She’d been so heartbroken, she hadn’t put either of their jackets on and the temperature was below freezing. Penny’s snowsuit hung from her small head like a thick pink cape.
Ella was sure she couldn’t hide out in her room for long, not with so many Monroes in attendance. And she was doubly sure that it would be difficult to avoid Noah completely until she left town. But she’d manage. She always managed when things didn’t work out.
“Are you okay?”
Ella sucked in a sob and looked up.
The woman who’d come in for coffee was pumping gas.
Ella didn’t trust herself to speak. Heartbreak crowded her chest and made it difficult to breathe. But she could nod.
The woman hesitated before nodding back. “I’m Emily Clark, from the Bucking Bull Ranch.” Her sister had been the woman who’d driven Zeke into town after his accident. Emily had an understanding smile. “If there’s anything I can do, just ask.”
Ella put her feet back in motion. The woman was leaving town. How could she possibly help Ella?
She’s leaving town.
Ella stopped and turned back to this small-town stranger. “Can I get a ride to the Boise airport?”
“Sure.”
Ella sucked in more air. “I need a few minutes to pack.” That would be the deal breaker—delaying her. Everyone had a schedule to keep.
“I’ll wait,” Emily said with just the right amount of casual reassurance.
“Thank you.” Ella hurried back to her room, throwing clothes in her suitcase without folding a thing. She had to sit on top of it to get the zipper closed, but close, it did.
The door to Laurel’s room was ajar. Laurel was buried under the covers. Instead of waking her to say goodbye, Ella moved on.
“What are you doing?” Shane met her at the top of the stairs.
“Leaving. You’ll be fine without me.” She rolled her suitcase to him. “Take that down for me, will you?” She didn’t wait for him to agree. “I need Penny’s car seat from your SUV.”
“You can’t leave.” But Shane carried the bag, anyway.
Sophie came through the inn’s front door with the twins just as Ella reached the ground floor, carrying Penny, their jackets and the diaper bag. The threesome was pink-cheeked and smiling, even Sophie. The twins went to the hearth and each unwrapped a bar of candy. Penny squirmed to be let down, hurrying to plead for a piece of the chocolate.
“What’s happening?” Sophie demanded, handing Penny a candy bar from her pocket.
“Noah proposed,” Shane blurted. “Ella shot him down and now she’s leaving.”
“But why?” Sophie grabbed Ella’s shoulders. “If you’re upset, you need to be with family. Here. With us.”
Ella’s body went numb and she wavered. But then it all became so clear. Grandpa Harlan had wanted his loved ones to come to Second Chance and find a path in life, one not dictated by the Monroes.
The most difficult path is finding the truth in your heart.
The truth was it wasn’t just Noah who wasn’t ready for love. Ella had to be comfortable loving him unconditionally.
Are you ready, Hezzie?
She may have been heartbroken, but she was ready for sure.
“All my life, I wanted a storybook family.” Ella dropped her room key on the counter. “And you and you.” She gestured to Shane and Sophie. “And Grandpa Harlan. And Bryce.” Her voice cracked. “You all gave that to me. But the truth is… I need to be comfortable being alone before I try to fit into anyone else’s family.”
“You fit in,” Sophie argued.
“Legally, you’re a Monroe,” Shane added, scowling. “No one can take that from you.”
“But maybe…” It killed Ella to admit it. She had to swallow twice and hug Penny tighter to get the words out. “But maybe I don’t want to be a Monroe.”
Sophie gasped.
“Maybe being a Monroe means I have to meet expectations and be someone I’m not.” She pressed a kiss to Penny’s forehead. “Maybe I need to accept who I am and where I come from first.” She’d always be the impoverished daughter of a waitress, saving ketchup packets and bundling up at the first snowfall.
Shane swore. “There’s no arguing with that, Soph. I’ll get the Hummer keys.” He took the stairs two at a time.
“Don’t listen to my brother.” Sophie gave Ella another shake. “I can’t let you go like this.”
“You can. You have to.” Before Ella collapsed into a blubbering mess on the floor and lost her nerve.
There must have been something in Ella’s eyes that convinced Sophie, because she hugged Ella fiercely. “You will always be a Monroe. Always.”
Shane returned to them, keys in hand. In no time, he had Penny’s seat in Emily’s truck and Ella was buckling her daughter in for the trip.
“You stay in touch.” Shane hugged Ella just as fiercely as his sister had done. “And take care of Penny ‘La Pew’ Monroe?”
Ella nodded, blinking back tears. “Tell Laurel I said goodbye. I’m not dropping off the face of the earth.” Just getting into a truck with a complete stranger.
“Well,” Emily said when Ella closed the door and the truck was in gear. She gave Ella a searching look. “Last chance.”
“To stay in Second Chance?” Ella shook her head.
* * *
NOAH STAYED AWAY from the window in his cabin.
He sat in the desk chair in the shadowy exam room with Woof where he couldn’t see what was happening in town and where Odette couldn’t see what was happening with him—the beast.
Woof had his big shaggy head in Noah’s lap.
“I thought you were my ace in the hole, buddy.” Noah stroked the dog’s soft fur.
Woof sighed, as if he’d thought so, too.
How had everything gone so wrong? Noah felt about as gutted as he’d felt when he’d woken up in the hospital after his accident.
Woof’s ears swiveled toward the door. Someone climbed his porch steps and knocked.
“Go away!”
A key fit in the lock and the door opened.
“Odette, I’ve got no patience for your drama today.” He’d had enough of his own.
Mitch stood in the doorway. He spread his arms. “Not Odette.”
“Not happy to see you, either,” Noah snapped.
Mitch closed the door. Too bad he remained on Noah’s side of the door. “I’ve been thinking. Maybe this arrangement between you and Second Chance isn’t working out.”
“You’re firing me?” Could this day get any worse? “Is this because I wasn’t willing to milk information out of Ella about the Monroes and their plans?”
“No.” Mitch produced a folded piece of paper from his pocket and ripped it up, letting the pieces fall to the floor. “That was your contract.”
Noah’s mouth dropped open. “But… Why?”
Mitch shoved his hands in his jacket pockets. “Because Ella’s right. You aren’t cut out to be a country doctor. And I want you to be happy.” That was so not like Mitch.
“Happy?” Noah hung his head. “I don’t know what that means anymore.” How could he be happy if he couldn’t practice the branch of medicine he loved or be with the woman he loved?
“It’s not hard to discover happiness.” Mitch gestured toward the bits of paper at his feet. “Especially when you have nothing tying you here. You’re free to follow Ella if you want. Maybe you can figure this happiness thing out together.”
Noah’s head whipped up. “Ella’s gone?” The day just got worse.
Mitch nodded, looking like he wished he could take that news back. “She’s on her way to the Boise airport.”
Woof laid his head on his big paws.
For whatever reason, the bearer of bad news didn’t leave. “Do you remember when we first met?”
Noah wasn’t in the mood for a trip down memory lane. “Vaguely.” It had been a frat party. “We were both questioning why we’d ever considered pledging.” They decided Greek life wasn’t for them.
“You introduced yourself as Noah Bishop, future surgeon general.”
He’d forgotten that. “Not to be outdone, you introduced yourself as Mitch Kincaid, future attorney general.” How bright and shiny the future had looked back then. “We were full of ourselves, weren’t we?”
“We were.” Mitch sighed. “I loved the law, but the legal system sickened me. As mayor I found a way to bring justice and peace to this tiny corner of the world.”
“I love practicing orthopedics.”
“You just used the present tense,” Mitch pointed out. “If I were to introduce myself to you today, I’d say something like, ‘I’m Mitch Kincaid, mayor of Second Chance.’ And you’d say…”
Noah drew a blank. He knew what he wanted to say—Chief of Orthopedic Surgery—but that no longer applied.
“And that’s the problem, isn’t it?” Mitch sighed. “Look, buddy. I’ll never be attorney general and I’m okay with that, but…” He fixed Noah with a hard stare. “You can still be the surgeon general. Or at the very least, an orthopedic doctor.”
Noah reached down to pat Woof. “Just not an orthopedic surgeon.”
“Yeah. But life is always about compromise and trade-offs.” Mitch laid the remains of Noah’s contract on the exam table. “I’ll see myself out.”
And he did, locking the door with that spare key.
What was it Ella had said to him in the Bent Nickel? It was hard to remember anything but the bitter taste of rejection. But the gist of it had been he shouldn’t be a general practitioner.
He’d been ecstatic treating Zeke, in his happy place. It was wrong how much joy he’d derived from that poor man’s misfortune.
Maybe Mitch was right. Maybe Noah needed to find his happy place in the world.
Without Ella.
Noah thought he might be sick.
Someone else braved the steps and knocked.
“Unless you’re gushing arterial blood, go away!”
Whoever it was had the firm walk of the healthy and the courage to weather Noah’s horrible mood.
A key slid in the lock and the door opened once more.
“Doc, I’m dying.” Odette didn’t bother taking off her jacket or boots. She tracked snow across the floor and hopped onto the exam table without using the stepping stool.
“You’re not dying.” Noah didn’t get out of his chair.
“How can you tell?”
“Because I couldn’t get so lucky.”
Odette cackled. “You’re the first doctor to tell me that.”
“Points to me.” The phrase made him think of Ella, which made the room feel claustrophobic. He stared at his gloved hands.
“Do you want to hear a secret?” Odette asked.
“No.”
She hopped off the table. “Someone I loved deeply left me here.”
“I can’t imagine why.”
“Because I loved him, but not near enough. I loved him within the comfort of my boundaries, which happened to be the Second Chance city limits.” She leaned down until they were eye-to-eye. “You have to ask yourself how far you’re willing to go and how much of your pride you’re willing to swallow to love another soul. And when you think about that answer, think about old Odette and ask yourself one final question.” Odette walked to the door, digging in her pocket for the key. “How much are the two of us alike?”