She opened her mouth to speak but Sawyer wasn’t finished. “Sticking to the plan doesn’t always work. Helen and I stuck to the plan. The plan didn’t cover what to do in a surgical emergency with no equipment in the middle of nowhere. Because that’s all it was—a plan. Nothing more, nothing less. Just another tool to have in your box. Life has a funny way of making its own plan, no matter what’s down in black and white.”
“And if you don’t like it?”
“That’s the beauty of having a plan, Callie. Knowing when to use it and knowing when to drop it.” He crouched down in front of her, “Thinking of Isabel, does it still hurt?”
She hesitated. “Yes.” Her voice was barely audible.
“Callie, if Isabel were here right now, what would she say to you?”
Callie shifted in her seat. “She’d tell me to get my act together.” She looked Sawyer in the eye, “She’d tell me not to get distracted by other people. She’d tell me not to waste the last nine years of my career by throwing away my role in the DPA now.” Was she trying to convince him or her?
“And if she could see you now—if she could feel how you felt every day at work? Do you honestly think that’s what she’d say?”
Callie sighed and he could see light dawn across her face. She was finally going to stop giving the answers she was expected to give. “No. She’d give me a boot up the ass and ask me why I hadn’t said something sooner.”
He smiled at her. “I think I would have liked Isabel.”
She buried her head in her hands. “What will my parents think if I tell them I don’t want to do this any more? They’ll be so disappointed.” Her voice drifted off and he could see pain flit across her eyes again.
“Callie, they’ve lost one daughter. They’ve gone through the worst pain imaginable. All they could want for you is to be happy.”
He put his hand back on her heart. “Think of me as your own Aladdin’s genie. I’m going to grant you a wish. And I’ll do everything in my power to make it happen. What is it that you want, Callie?”
She was looking into his eyes, searching his face. He could tell she was terrified of revealing what she really wanted. He prayed he wasn’t making her take a step too far.
But this felt right. It wasn’t just him who needed to move on—it was her too. And they could do it together. Because nothing else could feel as good a fit as they did.
She sat for a few minutes. He could hear her deep breaths. He didn’t want to push her any more. He knew how he would have reacted if someone had tried to push him too hard a few years ago.
She needed to be ready. She needed to be sure.
She lifted her eyes and they took on a determined edge. This was the Callie Turner who’d swept into his E.R. and told him she was in charge. This was the Callie Turner who’d made the decision to start vaccinating. This was the Callie Turner who hadn’t blinked an eye at him watching her change her clothing. “I want more than one wish.”
He felt relief wash over him. “Cheat. I’ll give you two.” His heart was thudding in his chest. He could only hope where this might go. “The first for work, the second for life.” He felt his lips turning upwards, praying he wasn’t reading her wrong.
She sucked in a breath and held it for a few seconds.
“The first for work,” she repeated.
He nodded.
“I want to leave the DPA.” As she said the words her shoulders immediately relaxed. It was almost as if someone had released the pressure in her and it had escaped. “I want to leave the DPA.” She repeated the words again, this time more determinedly, with a smile starting to form on her lips.
The smile progressed, reaching across her face until her eyes started to light up. “I want to retrain. I want to work in family practice.”
“You do?” He couldn’t have picked that lottery ball if he’d tried.
She nodded. “I do.” Those words sounded ominous. She met his eyes again and laughed.
“And your second wish?”
She stood up and pulled him up next to her. “This could be a difficult one.”
Sawyer felt his heart plummet. “How so?”
She wrapped one arm around his waist. “I’m going to need some help while I retrain. I’m going to need some support.”
He could see where this was going. “And where do you think you could get that support?”
“I’m kind of hoping I can rely on a friend.”
“A friend?” His voice rose.
She stood on tiptoe and murmured in his ear. “It would have to be a special kind of friend. One who doesn’t mind helping me study.” She dropped a little kiss on his ear. “One who could make dinner and tidy up after himself because I’m going to be really busy.”
He nodded. “Really busy. And where do you think you could find someone to meet all these demands?”
She ran her fingers down his chest. “I’m kind of hoping my genie can arrange it.”
“Oh, you are?” He pulled her closer. She molded her body to his and wrapped her arms around his neck.
He got a waft of her raspberry shampoo. This was going to drive him crazy. Hopefully for the next fifty years.
She pulled back a little. “Come to think of it, most genies grant three wishes. I guess mine kind of short-changed me.”
“Why, what would be your third wish?”
She stood on tiptoe again and whispered in his ear, with a sparkle in her eyes and a pink tinge to her cheeks.
“Now, that I can make happen straight away.”
And he took her by the hand and led her down the corridor.
EPILOGUE
IT WAS A perfect day.
The deep blue water was lapping up onto Osterman beach. Callie wiggled her feet and felt the sand shift under her toes. The ocean breeze blew her hair around her face, one side catching more of the breeze than the other. She grabbed a few strands and tucked them behind her ear.
The white canopy above her swayed in the wind, shading the guests from the early morning sun. She sighed and relaxed back into her white canvas chair and closed her eyes.
There hadn’t been time for much sleep last night. Sawyer had just arrived back from his latest conference for the DPA and had been anxious to show her how much he had missed her. His new role as a DPA lecturer had been a surprise for them both. But he’d embraced it with more enthusiasm and vigor than he’d apparently possessed in years.
She could hear the ripple of voices around her. The ceremony was due to start in few minutes. There was a thud as Sawyer flopped into the chair next to her.
“How are you doing, beautiful?” He leaned over and dropped a kiss on her lips. She caught a whiff of his aftershave and touched his newly bare jaw.
“You’ve shaved. I was kind of liking the jungle warrior look.” His hair was still slightly damp from his shower and she pushed it back from his eyes. “Next thing, you’ll be having a haircut. Then I really won’t recognize you.”
He gave her a cheeky smile. “Never gonna happen.”
She kept her hand on his face as she ran her eyes up and down his body. He was wearing a pale blue shirt with the sleeves rolled up and white cotton chinos. She stared down at his feet, at his toes pushing the sand around like her own.
“What happened to the shoes I bought you?”
He let out a laugh. “I decided to go native.” He held out his hands at the beautiful scenery, “Somehow I don’t think anyone will notice.”
His phone buzzed and he pulled it from his pocket, a smile instantly appearing on his face. He handed the phone over. It was a text message with a photo of Jack and Ben, complete with Stetsons, on vacation in Texas. Jill had added the words “With thanks to you both. xx.” Jack still looked a little frail and both boys still had pockmarks on their arms.
Callie sighed. “They look so much happier. I’m so glad they’re doing well.”
The music started and they both stood, turning to watch Alison, her husband and three kids walk down the sandy aisle between the chairs. Jonas, her eight-month-old, was held in her arms. He was wearing a white and blue sailor suit and hat and was chewing on his thumb.
He was older than the average baby who was christened, but Alison had wanted to wait until she could arrange something special. This was truly a baby to celebrate.
Callie felt a surge of warmth in her chest. He was the picture of health. It had been great relief to everyone that Alison had never shown any symptoms of monkeypox.
“Can we have the godparents, please?”
She felt a sharp nudge as Sawyer stood and held out his hand towards her. “Shall we?”
She slid her hand into his. It still gave her the same little tingle along her spine that it had all those months ago when they’d met.
Time had flown past. She’d handed in her resignation to the DPA and had started to retrain for family practice. From the first day and hour that she’d started, she’d known she’d made the right decision.