Must Be Fate: (Cody and Clover) (A Jetty Beach Romance Book 3) Read Free

first. One isn’t one of my lucky numbers. But two—two means a couple, and a couple means a future, and a future is what I’m looking for.
    Jetty Beach. It looks like a quaint little tourist town. There are cafés, and shops, and long sandy beaches. They won’t be warm beaches, but still, it sounds cozy. Quirky. I like quirky—that fits me well.
    My worries about my job, my apartment—all of it—fall away in an instant, and a big smile crosses my face. I know. This is where I’m supposed to go. Maybe fate has been leading me to the edge of the country all these years, and I just haven’t quite made it yet. After all, where else can I go once I reach the coast? That must be where I’m destined to be.
    I close my laptop, finish up my meal, and head to my apartment to pack. I’ll leave the furniture. Most of it was here when I moved in anyway. I’ll stow the rest of my stuff in my car, and leave first thing in the morning. A heady sense of excitement runs through me. A fresh start. New possibilities. New people. I’ll miss my friends here, but it’s time, and I have a feeling my horoscope is going to be spot-on.
    Change is in the air, and I’ll ride the wave where it takes me.
     

“Dr. J, can you see a walk-in patient? We’re slammed and Addy already went home.”
    I look up from my desk. Darcy, my front desk manager, stands in my office doorway. Her brow is furrowed. She looks stressed.
    It’s almost six, and I should have left the clinic already. “What’s the issue?”
    “Five-year-old girl,” Darcy says. “The mom brought her in, says she won’t use her right arm. She’s in a lot of pain. If I send them to the ER, they’ll wind up waiting longer.”
    I’m going to be late, but there’s no way I won’t take this patient. “Yeah, of course.”
    “Exam room five,” Darcy says.
    As soon as I open the door, I can see the mom is anxious. Her daughter is in her lap, arm tucked against her body. The little girl’s eyes are red-rimmed, her cheeks splotchy.
    “Hi,” I say. I immediately sit down on the rolling stool so I’m closer to the little girl’s level and don’t appear so intimidating. “I’m Dr. J. What’s your name?”
    The mom gives me a tense smile, and the girl looks at me from the corner of her eye.
    “Her name is Lily,” the mom says. “I’m Christie.”
    “What’s going on, Lily?” I ask.
    “My arm hurts,” she says.
    I tilt my head and look at how she’s holding it. “Your arm hurts? That’s no good. Did you fall down?”
    “No,” Lily says.
    I meet Christie’s eyes.
    “She didn’t fall that I know of,” Christie says. “But I might have missed something. She was playing in the living room with her brother while I was cooking dinner, so I didn’t see what happened.”
    “Okay,” I say. “Lily, how old is your brother?”
    “Eleven.”
    “Eleven? Wow, he must be pretty big. Do you like playing with him?” I ask.
    “Yes,” she says.
    “How old are you?” I ask. “Seventeen?”
    She cracks a smile. “No, I’m five.”
    “Five? Wow, I was way off,” I say. “Listen, Lily, can you help me out with something?”
    She nods.
    “I need you to show me your arm. I want to see if I can help it feel better. Can you do that for me?”
    She buries her face in her mom’s chest.
    “She’s afraid she’s going to get a shot,” Christie says.
    I nod. “Lily, how about this. I’ll make you a promise. No shots, okay? I promise, I will not give you a shot today.”
    She turns to look at me, still clinging to her mom. “You promise?”
    “Yes,” I say, my voice solemn. “In fact, let’s pinky promise.” I hold out my pinky.
    She reaches out her other arm and clasps her tiny pinky finger around mine. I make a show of shaking up and down a few times.
    “Good,” I say. “Now, I need to touch your arm, okay? I’m going to try really hard not to make it hurt.”
    She sits still and I very gently probe her arm, starting at her hand. “So you didn’t