I felt better when we walked into Bite Me! since I wasn’t starving anymore. As always, the place smelled like heaven. I should have gone into something like baking cupcakes instead of making babies but learning to get someone pregnant was definitely easier.
Charlie had two vanilla bean cupcakes waiting for me on the counter with everyone else’s. I picked up my plate just as someone brushed my arm. I turned and smiled at Wyatt.
“You can’t hate the holiday season if your favorite cupcakes are vanilla bean. They’re white, like snow.”
I laughed. “They’re boring, like me. I need as few decisions in my life as possible.”
“And choosing a cupcake flavor is a tough decision?” he asked, a twinkle in his brown eyes and a hint of teasing in his tone.
“When your brain is so full of decisions and facts and ways to diffuse emotional women, yeah, even choosing a cupcake flavor is enough to send me over the edge.”
Wyatt laughed, the deep sound sending a jolt through me.
Well, that was new.
“Then you should try the candy cane ones. Charlie only makes them this time of year. It’s like Christmas in cupcake form.”
“Then I’ll probably hate them,” I teased.
He laughed again, then offered me the cupcake. I noticed that he hadn’t taken a bite of it yet, but he was holding it out to me to bite it, not take the whole thing.
I leaned forward and bit off a small piece. The minty candy cane flavor was definitely front and center. The chocolate cake was smooth and rich and delicious. My vanilla bean was always good, but the chocolate was like sin. As I chewed, crunchy candy cane pieces exploded in my mouth, adding a new element.
“Damn. That is good,” I confessed.
He beamed. “See. I told you not everything about winter is bad.”
I shook my head. The man was nothing if not determined.
“It sounds like you need to take a break. The winter festival will be a perfect chance to get out and enjoy everything Winterville has to offer.”
“There you are, rolling out the Chamber of Commerce speech again. Or is it Visitor’s Center?”
Wyatt laughed again, making me grin. I really did enjoy talking to him.
“Alright people, we have an announcement!” Carrie said, interrupting us before I had a chance to say anything else.
Wyatt and I exchanged a glance then headed to our respective tables. One for the women so we could talk about the men, and one for the men so they could… well, probably talk about the women. Although they had the kids, so maybe not.
“We’re having another baby!” Carrie announced, squeezing Drew’s hand.
My eyes immediately went to Addi. Another one of the friends, but also my patient, I knew what Addi had gone through to get pregnant. Hell, besides her husband, Joey, I probably knew the best what she’d been through. I’d been there for her for almost a year. She was one of those patients that made my job harder because I knew they would be amazing parents, but I couldn’t get her pregnant.
It hurt me to hear Carrie was pregnant. I knew it was killing Addi. She finally swung watery eyes to me, and I almost cried. Shit. I had to find a way to get her pregnant.
“Congratulations,” I told Drew and Carrie when it was my turn to speak to them. I didn’t know them well, but Drew was Vicki’s boss and she adored him. Carrie was a character, definitely my kind of woman with a dirty mind. Except she didn’t keep it in like I usually did. She definitely kept me laughing.
Yeah, she was a great mom, too. She deserved another baby. She wanted a lot of kids, and I never begrudged anyone who made getting pregnant look easy. But dammit, I wanted to give that gift to all my patients.
Everyone morphed into baby fever with questions for Carrie. I slid into a seat next to Addi and quietly asked how she was doing.
She flashed me a smile I knew was forced. “I’m happy for them.”
“I never said you weren’t.”
“You know how it is,” she said with a shrug.
I nodded. “I do. You’re an amazing friend. It’s hard to sit back and watch so many babies come into this group when you’ve been trying. It’ll be your turn one day.”
Addi came to the realization that things were going to be harder for her before we met. I hated to see the defeated look in her dark eyes when they met mine. “I hope so.”
“I’m not ready to give up if you’re not,” I said with a lift of my eyebrows.
She shook her head. “I’m not ready to give up yet either.”
“Good. You have an appointment in two weeks, right?”
She nodded.
“We’ll talk then. For now, maybe we can steer things away from babies?”
She grinned. “I’d like that, but Carrie needs to have her time to be excited. They’ll move on eventually.”
“To sex most likely,” I teased.
“You’ve learned our weakness.”
I laughed. “High school boys have nothing on this group.”
Addi, the high school science teacher, laughed. “Sadly, I think I agree with you!”
”I’ve decided we need to change our agreement,” Wyatt said as we helped clean up.
“Oh, really?” I prompted, a smile already teasing my lips. “And what changes do you propose?”
“Well, just going to the winter festival isn’t enough. Since we aren’t having that until January, you’ll miss so much the town has to offer between now and Christmas. I think we should make this a whole winter experiment.”
“Experiment?” I asked, feeling excited and apprehensive at the same time. I could definitely get on board with an experiment.
“Yes. I’ll show you what I love about the holidays and you can try to shoot down all my amazing ideas. The winter festival will be the end of our experiment.”
“And what happens at the end?” I asked, the scientist in me curious.
Wyatt shrugged. “What happens at the end of any experiment?”
“Well, you come to a conclusion. Decide which hypothesis was correct. Who wins, so to speak.”
His face broke into a wide grin. “I like the sound of that. But we need to have something at stake. The winner has to get something.”
“Like what?”
He rubbed his chin, contemplating what he wanted. He was trouble. I could see it.
“When I win, and convince you that this is a great time of year, then you have to be my date on Valentine’s Day.”
“Whoa, date? I thought you were happy to be single?”
He nodded. “I am. But the town has a Valentine’s party for all the staff. Since Christmas is so busy, we do something in February. Over the years it’s become a Valentine’s Day thing. Everyone brings their significant other. And I’m always alone.”
“Aw, poor lonely Mayor Ramsey.”
He laughed at my sad, pouty lip.
“Be careful with that. Someone might get the wrong idea and try to kiss your sadness away.”
I stuck my lip out again. His eyes dipped to it and I swore they darkened.
“You’re a temptation I can’t afford, Peyton.”
I laughed. “I’m not trying to tempt you, Wyatt.”
“That doesn’t mean you aren’t.”
“Oh,” I said, the playfulness disappearing. I needed the temptation as badly as he did.
“On the off chance that you win, what do you want?” he asked, tearing his eyes from my lips.
“Hmm.” I tapped a finger on my chin, trying to come up with something really good. Something that would be worthy of the torture I was going to endure trying to enjoy the worst few months of the year for me. “When I win, I want you to come up with an event for women who can’t get pregnant and who can’t afford the expensive treatment to keep trying.”
“What?” he asked, clearly shocked by my request.
“I lose patients more often because they can’t afford to continue than because they get pregnant. The treatments are pricey. Especially once we move past prescription medication treatment. All advanced treatments are expensive. Most insurances don’t cover the meds these patients need. One IVF attempt is into five figures. You’ve done a lot of great things for this town. Your events are fabulous. But there is a large group of residents who don’t attend because it’s too painful to watch all the happy parents with their children. These couples aren’t able to have their own children naturally, they can’t afford to have children with medical help, and adoption is risky in New York, not to mention it takes years to go through the process. This is an underserved group. We need to bring some attention to them. Maybe even make the dream of being parents come true.”
“Wow,” he breathed when I was done. “You’re right. I never wanted kids so I never thought about how the people who do might see the events we throw. Shit. I’m an insensitive ass.”
I shook my head. “You’re not. You’re just unaware. I want to change that.”
“Me too. I think that’s a great idea, Peyton.”
“Good. I look forward to making it happen.”
“Me too.”
I raised my eyebrows. “Admitting defeat already?”
A laugh burst from him. “Not a chance. We start Friday. Our first winter date. What time are you off work?”
“Six,” I said, waiting for him to tell me it was too late.
“Perfect. I’ll pick you up.”
“I look forward to changing your mind, Mr. Mayor.”
“And I look forward to changing yours, Dr. Peyton.”
I was dying to get my sister alone by the time we left Bite Me! I was horrible with men, but I knew Wyatt was flirting with me.
Not that anything would happen, but it was nice to have a guy like him show any kind of interest. He not only wanted to get together in a few days, but he wanted me as his date in February. Valentine’s Day.
It might end my torture in a good way instead of a frustrating one like normal.
I waited with my Lexus running while Vicki made out with Hunter. I wondered why they didn’t just move in together, but I figured it had something to do with me. Vicki always worried I’d starve to death if she wasn’t around to feed me.
She was probably right, but I wasn’t going to tell her that.
Maybe she’d find a way to relax if she knew Wyatt and I were going to spend time together.
She finally ran over to the car, nearly falling on the icy parking lot, and rushed to get in. She rubbed her hands together in front of the heater and sighed happily.
“Hunter isn’t coming over tonight?”
She shook her head and pouted. “No. He’s going back to work. Maybe tomorrow night.”
“Good. I think you guys are good together.”
“I do, too. You and Wyatt were pretty cozy.”
I chuckled. “Yeah. I like him. He’s a good guy.”
“He really is. They’re all good guys.”
“I wanted to tell you something.”
“Ooh, I wanted to tell you something, too. I’ve been debating on talking to you for a while, but I know it’s silly to keep it from you.”
Curiosity piqued, I told her to go first.
“I want a baby.”
“Oh, um, okay,” I said, unsure where she was going with that statement.
“Like now. I’ve wanted kids forever, but when Riley had Pauline I… It was different. Like I couldn’t ignore my desire to be a mom for much longer.”
“Is this why you started dating all those guys a few months ago?”
She nodded and chewed her cherry red lip. “Yeah. I thought if I went out with enough guys, I’d find someone who would be a good sperm donor.”
“Sperm donor?” I sputtered.
Vicki laughed. “Crazy, right? I knew I wanted a kid, but I wasn’t too in love with the idea of a husband. I’d been burned too many times. I just wanted a kid, and was kind of looking for a guy who was willing to get me pregnant and walk away.”
“Please tell me Hunter is not the winner of that one,” I groaned, really afraid that my sister had completely lost her mind.
She shook her head. “No. I love Hunter. He made me see why something like that was nuts. But I still want kids.”
“Okay,” I drawled, unsure where the conversation was going.
Vicki parked and turned to me. “Maybe this is too much to ask, but Hunter and I want to start trying to have a baby.”
“You’re not married,” I blurted, as though that were a requirement.
“I know, but we will be one day. I’m getting older. I don’t want to waste any time when I could have kids just because we aren’t married yet. Hunter feels the same.”
“Well, that’s great. I think.”
Vicki laughed. “Thanks. I really wasn’t sure how you would feel. I mean, I know you talk about pregnancy all the time, but I wasn’t sure if you’d be okay giving me advice.”
“Advice?” I squeaked.
She nodded, her auburn hair sliding over her shoulders. “Yeah. Positions to try. Things I should eat. Stuff to avoid. All the stuff you deal with every day, you know?”
I did know. She wanted free advice. It was fine, because she was my sister, but it was a little weird to be coaching her and Hunter, especially knowing they would be taking some of that advice in the bedroom next to mine.
Talk about crossing the line.
“I’ll make you a deal,” I said, slipping into doctor mode with ease. “I’ll tell you everything you want to know, but if you ever ask me to critique your moves, in person, I’ll never speak to you again.”
“Ew! There are certain things you shouldn’t share with your sister.”
I nodded. “Agreed.”
“Yeah, no. Definitely no in person coaching. Just tips.”
“Let’s go inside. I need wine for this.”
Vicki laughed and led the way inside. She poured us each a glass of red wine while I dug in my bag for pamphlets I had. We talked for hours, her asking questions, me giving advice. She told me she had a game-plan, but I told her to keep it to herself.
When we finally said goodnight and went to our rooms, I realized I never told her anything about Wyatt or our project.