Everybody Knows (Sunnyside #1) (11 page)

Zach’s dad and brother hadn’t returned from the
farm yet. The place echoed with emptiness when he entered the back door of the
house the three of them shared. Dad had even taken Molly, their ancient collie,
with him for the weekend. Nothing but silence greeted him.

Sometimes, he preferred being alone, since it so
seldom happened.

But not tonight.

Not content with his own company, he showered,
changed clothes, and went back out. He intended to go for a walk, with no
particular destination in mind. Instead, he found himself trudging toward the library,
pondering his bitch of a day.

They all were lately, but today was worse than
most. He’d made at least three trips out to the hospital, spent several hours
in surgery, conducted an hour-long phone consultation, as well as seeing
patients in his office. Exhaustion urged him to go home and sleep for about
twelve hours straight, but he was still too keyed up.

Typical for the life of a small-town doctor.

He was on call every day, everywhere, all the time,
anytime he was awake. And even when he wasn’t. For the most part, it was
rewarding. He loved the medical part. He even loved his patients. But it was
wearing to have everyone constantly look at him with big imploring, worshipful
eyes as their potential savior.

And that wasn’t just his ego talking.

He knew the town looked at him that way. Maybe
that was the case with all small-town doctors, everywhere in the country, but
it was especially true here in Sunnyside.

They knew him too well and expected too much.

Everyone in Sunnyside loved him. He knew they did.
But they never saw him as himself. To them, he’d always be who they wanted him
to be. Although he was that person in many ways, he wasn’t perfect, and he was
weary of faking it.

They forgot that when he was a child, he was
light-hearted and carefree, just like every other kid in town. He played pranks
and got into mischief and screwed up just like everyone else.

As an adult, all he wanted was to practice
medicine to the best of his abilities someplace where no one had any other
expectations of him, where people didn’t look to him to save everyone’s life no
matter how dire their medical condition, to solve everyone’s problems, or to be
perfect all the damn time.

He wanted to tell them “no” sometimes. To make
decisions without being paralyzed by the fear of making a mistake. To kick back
and watch all nine innings of a ball game and drink more than two beers without
worrying he’d be called to the hospital. To kiss a pretty girl with mischievous
eyes and plump sexy lips without having to look over his shoulder to see who
was watching. And most of all, he wanted to have head-banging unforgettable sex
without having to leave town to do it.

Was that too much to ask?

Apparently.

Because if he looked at any Sunnyside woman for
more than a minute, the church ladies would have him in a tux with the wedding,
reception, and honeymoon planned before he could ask the woman out on a date.

Of course, that would have to be after he
explained to everyone how he and Kate hadn’t really been dating for the last of
couple of years. How it was all just a ruse they’d maintained to keep every
blasted matchmaker in town from trying to fix him up with any woman with a
pulse between the ages of twenty and forty, no matter how unsuitable.

Lately, he’d been attempting to downplay the
notion of him and Kate being a couple without spelling out the whole truth for
them, but nobody seemed to buy his denials. Even though his old friend was
happy to keep up the subterfuge, he didn’t want to leave her in an even more
awkward position than she was already in.

For just as many years as Zach had been the most
eligible bachelor in town, the busybodies had been trying to fix Kate up with
someone, too. Not with the concerted effort they made for Zach, but with just
as much success—which was exactly none.

Poor Kate. In just another few months he could
escape, but he doubted she ever would. And she had even fewer opportunities to
have a real relationship in Sunnyside than he did. A lot of people here were
just as open-minded as they were anywhere else and wouldn’t care that she was a
lesbian, but some would care. Big time.

People like the high-school principal. And the
school board.

Some of her students. And the parents of those
students.

He didn’t know what Kate would do after he left,
but she’d always known that was his plan. She would be better off moving away,
too, but she had her own reasons for wanting to stay. Just as he had his
reasons for wanting to go.

Which was why he had an absolute rule of being
polite to everyone and flirting with no one. And never, ever, under any
circumstances, asking out any Sunnyside female.

He’d never escape if he married, or even dated,
someone who lived in town, although who that someone would be he couldn’t
imagine. He intentionally blocked the knockout image of Harper in her workout
clothes that threatened to surface.

Half of the single women here were like sisters to
him. The other half he’d seen naked in a professional capacity. Which sort of
took the romance out of it.

There wasn’t a single woman in town he hadn’t
known since birth, who didn’t know about his sordid past, who didn’t think he
was some sort of medical hero.

Except for Harper.

Well, hell. That wasn’t an acceptable thought to
have in his head.

That couldn’t happen.

Shouldn’t happen.

Wouldn’t
happen.

Harper was having a hard enough time getting along
with the natives without having him screw up her future. They’d scorn her for
coming between him and Kate. And after he left, they’d blame her for running
him out of town. No, there was no way that was going to fly.

Just four more months before he could leave. He
could handle four more months of seeking his sexual adventures somewhere else.

Zara Spencer, one of his former girlfriends in Chicago,
worked in an orthopedic practice in St. Louis. Just three short hours away.
They’d gone at it like rabbits when they’d both been residents. But that was
such an intense time with no way to maintain an emotional relationship.

He’d tried to have a normal relationship for a
while in medical school, had even gotten engaged, but his fiancée had gotten
bored waiting around for him to make time for her. He felt bad for the spouses
and kids of married residents. All any of them had time for was sleep and medical
rounds, food and medical training, sex and medical mysteries. And, oh, yeah.
The only other thing they had time for was medicine, medicine, medicine.

There was no room in their lives for anything
else.

Sometimes Zach found it so demanding he forgot to
eat and sleep. But sex, looming always beneath the surface of his
consciousness, became a basic adrenalin release that was necessary for his
continued existence.

Zach and Zara had formed a bond, sharing some
pretty grueling shifts at the hospital, some insane study sessions, and some
stripped down to the nitty-gritty fundamentals of sex. In a locker room, in a
supply closet, up against a door, in the backseat of his car, wherever they
happened to meet up when their shifts ended. For months after they went their
separate ways, he could hardly think of her without getting hard. The memories
of their time together generated a lot of affection and a bushel full of heat.

Whenever the isolation and expectations of
Sunnyside got too much for him, he headed over to St. Louis where he and Zara
could let off some steam together.

As the newest member of a big practice, she didn’t
have time for a social life. She and Zach agreed that the opportunity for them
to put in the work to make it as a real couple was long past. But they had a
lot in common and enjoyed each other’s company. And their physiological
chemistry clicked on all levels. Zara was literally the path of least
resistance when Zach needed to get laid. With none of that awkward
getting-to-know-one-another crap.

It wasn’t romantic, and it wasn’t perfect, but it
was mutually satisfying and worked for both of them. Time to call Zara and sync
up their schedules. She was making some decent money now, had a nice place in
the Central West End, and always welcomed him with open arms. Yes, he should
definitely give her a call, take her out for a nice dinner if she had time for
that, and then spend the night naked and rubbing up against one another.

Oddly, though, Zara hadn’t been as enthusiastic
about meeting him the last time he’d visited. And the idea of calling her
didn’t provide him with the warm glow of expectation he usually experienced.
Instead, Harper Simmons face flashed to mind. Again.

But that would never work.

If he’d met her in Chicago, sure, he’d have tried
to get her into bed. But now, she was too close to home. And there was no
reason to think she’d even be interested.

Except she had flirted with him a couple of times.

And even though she lived here, how long would she
really be willing to stay? She was enjoying the novelty of small-town life for
now. She might think it was an adventure, but would she like it when the
reality set in, and she couldn’t buy a designer purse anywhere within a
hundred-mile radius? Hell, she probably couldn’t buy a falafel within a
hundred-mile radius.

So how attached would she get to this town she’d
temporarily adopted?

She was smart and funny.

Cute, definitely. More than cute. Hot, actually.

Great body. World class.

Beautiful mouth. Kissable. Lickable. Suckable. Oh,
yeah.

Mischievous eyes. Mischievous, but observant. And
knowing.

Way out of his league, normally, but who would
there be for her in Sunnyside? Chuck, the mechanic? Wayne, the bartender at the
Lucky Dog? Stewart, the grill cook at Lenore’s? All good enough guys, but nowhere
near good enough for Harper.

Liam, maybe. Brilliant mind. He could match Harper
for education and worldliness, but he had that moody self-destructive thing
going. As much as Zach was pulling for Liam and hoping he’d manage to get his
shit together, there was still a desperate, dissipated edge to the man that
Harper would find distasteful. Probably.

Or, maybe he was exactly the kind of guy that
appealed to her.

God, Zach hoped not.

Pulling the library door closed
behind her, Harper spotted Zach turning into the park. Suddenly, her day took
an upswing. Or it did until she remembered she looked worse than a mangy, wet
cat. Despite his weariness and the dark circles under his eyes, the sight of
Zach’s calm and confident good looks sent something warm and gooey oozing its
way to her lady parts.

Hot Doc. She smiled as she remembered Nathan’s
words from earlier. Tired Doc was what he looked like now. Had she really only
known him for twenty-four hours?

It seemed like forever, but maybe that was because
he offered the only lifeline between her real life and this town she’d moved
to. She had to find a way to fit in, and he might be the only willing and
available guide.

“On your way home?” he asked. “Or to Rachel’s, I mean.”

“On my way to get something to eat and stop by the
nearest grocery. How about you? Have you eaten?”

He looked surprised by the question. “Not since
lunch.”

Expecting him to refuse, she put the offer out
there. “Do you have time to join me or are you on your way somewhere?”

“Why don’t you go on to the house and freshen up?”
he suggested. “If you can wait another day to hit the grocery, I’ll pick up a
pizza and bring it by.”

“Sounds good.” Better than good, actually. Working
all day in the sticky heat had exhausted her. She didn’t really have the energy
to walk the extra block or two just to be stared at or snubbed by more of the
locals.

“Veggie with cheese okay?”

“Veggie, yes, if the vegetables are fresh, not
canned or frozen. Cheese is fine. Extra cheese is better. But only if it’s real
cheese, not that fake stuff.”

“I’m on it.”

“Some drinks and a salad too, please, if they’ve
got it.”

“No problem. Meet you back at Rachel’s in about a
half an hour.”

Sneaking peeks at one another over their shoulders,
they went their separate ways. As determined as she was to shake off her
interest in him, Harper wondered if the synchronized over-the-shoulder glance
they shared signified another bona fide moment or simply coincidence.

Zach breezed through the back door of Rachel’s
house like he would if Rachel were home. But then he remembered that she wasn’t
home. Another female was there who might be naked or in some other state of
undress, and maybe he should have knocked. He wouldn’t want to violate anyone’s
privacy. But what the hell? He was in now.

A quick glance confirmed Harper wasn’t in the
kitchen, scantily clad or otherwise. On this crappy day, he couldn’t be that
lucky.

“Pizza’s here, hot and ready,” he called up the
stairs when he heard her thumping around in the guest room. “And so am I.”

Cleo appeared before Harper did, checking to see
if he’d brought her anything interesting. Harper bounced down the stairs with
the exuberance of a teenager. Clearly, she’d had a shower and put on clean
shorts and a soft-buttery yellow T-shirt that fit her toned body like spray
tan.

Again, her hair was pulled up on top of her head.
But slightly damp tendrils escaped the clasp to frame her cheeks and neck. Her
face had been scrubbed clean of all makeup. She smelled fresh and girly and,
frankly, good enough to eat. Better than the pizza.

“If today’s any example, the heat and humidity
here are killers. They’re doing a great job of murdering my hair.”

“Just another thing to love about Southern
Illinois. You can’t avoid the heat in the summertime. The humidity is worse
than a wet blanket. And if there’s the hint of a breeze, take cover. It usually
means there’s a tornado headed this way.”

“Really? Tornadoes come through here?” She went to
the window as if searching for one.

“Not right this minute.”

“How will I know?”

“If there’s enough warning, the tornado siren will
go off.”

“What does it sound like?”

He gave her a long look, wondering if she really meant
it. “Um, like a loud siren?”

“No kidding.” She punched him in the arm for the
sarcasm.

“Believe me, if you hear it, you’ll know. It’s
loud enough to wake the dead from a sound sleep. Which is kind of the point.”
He retrieved plates and handed them to Harper.

“Thanks.” Setting them on the table, she ripped
open the bags and boxes. “This salad looks scrumptious. I’ve been wanting
something green all day.” Inhaling a deep breath, she expanded her chest,
drawing Zach’s attention to the perfection of her breasts. “The pizza smells
divine.”

He turned away to fill glasses with ice while she
rummaged for silverware. “I didn’t know what you’d want to drink. I brought
green tea, water, and soda.”

“Oh, God, soda. That’s tempting. I don’t usually
drink caffeine, but I could use the energy boost.”

They both selected a drink and settled at the
table. Harper looked so delicious, Zach couldn’t stop staring at her. After a
moment, he cleared his throat and searched for conversation. “How did it go at
the library today?”

“We accomplished a lot, but there’s so much more
to do before we can begin on the actual renovations. Most of the workers said
they’d be back tomorrow, which is good. No point in starting from scratch with
a new batch of volunteers.” She paused for a bite of pizza and had to loop a
string of gooey cheese from the crust into her mouth. “Will I be able to get
into the house tomorrow?”

“I’ll take you over for the grand tour in the
morning. A couple of church ladies will stop by to do a final cleaning. They should
be done before lunch.”

Her eyes gleamed with enthusiasm. “Perfect. My
furniture is arriving from Chicago tomorrow afternoon. If you come by here
again at seven, we can go to the house and then I’ll go to the library and work
until the moving van arrives.”

“A lot of people will be working on setting up the
Fireworks Festival for Wednesday. But I can try to scrounge up a few more
volunteers. If you need more.”

“Let’s work with the ones that show up, since it’s
just a half day. My contract doesn’t go into effect until next week, but
anything we get done this week, the better off we’ll be. I’ll take a break to
unpack, enjoy the fourth, and resume with the volunteer helpers on Thursday.”

He nodded. “Sounds like a plan.”

She swirled the ice in her glass, and he could see
the gears whirling in her brain. “I’m going to ask Andrew Berkman if we can pay
the workers for their time. Wouldn’t that get us a bigger workforce and
generate some goodwill, too?”

“Are you kidding? You’d have people lined up all
the way to Tucker’s gas station if you could pay them.”

“I can’t guarantee Andrew will go for it, but
that’s one of the things on my list to ask.”

He didn’t really like the warmth that came into
her voice when she talked about Berkman. Not that Zach had anything against the
man, but he wondered if there was something more going on with Andrew and
Harper than boss and employee. It stood to reason with her looks and
personality and his money. They’d make a dynamic couple. “Have you met him?”

“No, he’s kind of reclusive. Not like Bill Gates
or some of the other techno-philanthropists who get out into the public eye to
front for their pet causes.”

“How did he hire you?”

“He has a couple of assistants. I interviewed with
one of them. After I made it through that round of applicants, I Skyped with
Andrew, just like I did with the town council. We hit it off as well as two
people can through technology, I guess. He said he liked my credentials and my
youthful enthusiasm, and”—she flung her hands out, palms up—“here I am. The final
decision was his to make, apparently.”

“I can see why he was taken with you. You must be
pretty photogenic. That would make a good impression.”

You haven’t seen my credentials. And you haven’t
met my mother or my sister,” she said, with steel in her eyes. “Or my former
fiancé.”

“What would they have to say about it?”

She ticked points off on her fingers. “My mother
is a fashion stylist who works with top models, actresses, and other
performers. Even politicians. My sister is a well-known fashion model with her
own official fan clubs, and my fiancé was a fashion photographer. So believe
me, I know what photogenic looks like, and it’s not me. Plus, while I hope I
know how to make a good impression, and I know a thing or two about wearing
clothes and makeup to my advantage, one of my favorite things about being a
librarian is not having to rely on my appearance to get a job.”

Not having to rely on them and them not playing a
part wasn’t the same thing. How could anyone discount her beauty? “But they
don’t hurt.”

She put her pizza down and sat up straighter. “My
resume speaks for itself.”

“I doubt they’ll be putting pictures of your
resume up on the foundation’s website when the library reopens.”

She stared at him in confusion again, a little
crease between her eyebrows. “Are you saying they’ll put my picture on the
foundation website for any reason other than my position as library director?”

Now he was the one staring in amazement. “You
don’t think your looks had anything to do with getting this job?”

“I really don’t.” She crossed her arms as if that
would end the discussion.

She had to know what a knockout she was. How could
she not? “You really don’t know how beautiful you are?”

She wrapped a stray tendril of hair around her
index finger and looked everywhere but at him. “Compared to whom?” she asked
with a laugh. “Everything’s relative, you know. And if you had my relatives,
you’d see why I had to make my peace with my less-than-perfect looks a long
time ago.”

“If you’re the dog in your family, I’d love to
meet your mother and sister.”

Harper pointed to the space behind her. “Yeah, get
in line. You wouldn’t be the first man to use me to get to them.”

“No way!”

“Believe it.” She shrugged. “And you may get your
wish. India and Fiona will probably come to visit at some point in the next two
years. Right now, I’m trying to hold them off until I get settled.”

“What happened with the former fiancé? You don’t
mean he dumped you for someone more beautiful?”

“He was always on the look-out, but he was mostly
using me to get to India and Fiona, to further his career. It wasn’t a very
attractive characteristic and when I got past the superficial charm, there were
other negatives as well, so we agreed to split.”

“Mutually?”

Her pretty mouth curled into a grimace. “It seemed
so at the time, but now he makes growly noises about me and my family in the
media and to our friends, so I guess he’s having second thoughts.”

“What a dumbass.” Zach meant that most sincerely.
“That’s not a good way to go about getting you back.”

“No, it’s not, but we’re history. Since getting
back together is outside the range of possibility, no matter what method he
tries, he’ll have to get over it.” She snagged another slice of pizza. “So
let’s talk about the future. Tell me more about my house.”

“The family returns tomorrow, and Rachel will want
her house back. Not that you can’t stay with her tomorrow night if you need to.
Or for as long as you like. If your bedroom isn’t set up yet on Oakley, the
water isn’t turned on, the electrical doesn’t work, or something unexpected
happens, plan on staying here again. She’s looking forward to meeting you.”

“I want to meet her, too, but I hope to vacate her
house tomorrow, if at all possible.” Concentrating on her pizza, Harper avoided
his gaze. “You said your family will be back. Who does that include?”

“Rachel, my dad, my brother Josh, and his
girlfriend Susannah. We all went to my grandparent’s farm on Friday to
celebrate Dad’s birthday, planning to stay until Tuesday, but the best-laid
plans...”

“You were called back to Sunnyside on Sunday for
Malcolm.”

“Yes, which turned out to be a good thing since I
was needed here later that night anyway.”

“Good for me, too.” She added “seriously,” when he
eyed her skeptically. “I don’t think Malcolm or anyone else would have been as
helpful as you’ve been.”

“They’d have gotten the job done, each in their
own way. Different from mine.”

“I’m glad we didn’t have to put it to the test
since none of them seem to like me.”

“Sure they do.” He gave in when she scowled. “Okay,
just give them time.”

“I will if they will.”

Her acceptance in the town was a no-win topic, and
he returned to the original one. “Josh and I live with Dad. Josh’s girlfriend
Susannah lives with her mom on the next block.”

“High-school romance?”

He liked talking to someone who didn’t know the
Novak family history, chapter and verse. “More like Romance Interrupted. They
dated in high school and split up over something silly. Susannah went to
nursing school in Springfield and was engaged to someone else for a while.

He added more ice to his glass and poured in more
soda. “Josh indulged in the usual underage self-destructive behavior when he
went to college, but got it together before going to med school in St. Louis.
When he came back here to do his residency, they ran into one another at the
hospital where she works in Labor and Delivery, and everything clicked. They’ve
been inseparable ever since. They’re talking about getting married in the next
year or two.”

“Wow, that’s a great story.”

“It’s better in the telling than it is in person.”

“How so?”

He scratched his ear and hesitated. “I don’t like
syrup with anything but my pancakes.”

“They’re heavy on the honey-baby-sweetie-pie
stuff?”

“Exactly.” Zach laughed. “I’m happy for them.
They’re perfect for each other. But a little bit goes a long way.”

“Your brother’s a doctor, too?”

“Yep.”

“Good heavens, that’s a lot of ego running loose
in your house. When someone asks for ‘Dr. Novak’, who answers?”

She really was a newcomer. It wouldn’t be two
weeks before someone caught her up to speed on the family history of all the
long-time residents of Sunnyside. But for now, he could lay it out for her any
way he liked. “Usually my sister.”

Harper was suitably impressed. “She’s a doctor,
too? That’s quite an accomplishment for three kids in one family.”

“Rachel’s PhD is in psychology. She works at the
high school as a guidance counselor.”

“Oh! That’s why Kate wanted you to call her about
the boys in the accident this morning.”

“Yep.”

“Did she find out about them before you called
her?”

“Of course. This is Sunnyside. At any given time,
the Good Intentions Gossip Hotline is the favorite past-time of one-half of the
population. The other half are the people they gossip about.”

“Speaking of the boys, how are they doing?”

“Better,” he was happy to report. “I’ll go back to
the hospital and check on them before I turn in. Jason, the one with the
damaged spleen, is going to be fine, too. It was touch and go for a few hours,
though.”