The Doctor's Unexpected Family: (Inspirational Romance) (Port Provident: Hurricane Hope) by Kristen Ethridge Page B

tell himself he was waiting on the light show in the heavens, but as he checked his watch for the third time since sitting down, he knew he was really waiting on Angela.
    But waiting for what?
    He lived his professional life asking questions, getting answers, and then tying it all together for a diagnosis. That’s what he’d been trained to do as a doctor. But this…this was something he couldn’t identify.
    What he knew for sure was that he admired Angela’s steadfast resolve. Whether it was taking care of her daughter or fighting for the citizens who’d elected her, she picked up every burden in her path and shouldered it seriously, but with an unmistakable dose of grace. He also knew that the last few days, spending one-on-one time with Celina, had brought just as much of a smile to his face as it had to the little girl’s.
    And speaking of smiles, Angela hadn’t cracked too many of them since they’d met, but when she did, Pete forced himself to admit that they stayed on his mind, running in a replay loop.  He’d been intrigued by her since the moment he met her. He knew if Gloria considered her a friend, then Angela met a very high standard. Gloria had been through so many upheavals and tragedies in her life that she didn’t trust easily. But Angela was in her inner circle, and that spoke volumes to Pete about the kind of woman she was on the inside.
    A shuffling of feet up the stairs at the far edge of the deck announced Angela’s presence before she reached the top.
    “Wow. What an amazing view,” she said as she stepped one foot onto the deck and looked up. Specks like a child’s spilled container of glitter covered the sky as far as the eye could see.
    “Without any light pollution, it’s amazing. All of our street lights out here are pretty dim and designed to shine straight down, instead of illuminating a greater area.” Pete pointed off the front and side of the deck. “And with the gulf out front and the bay at the end of the street, it makes it even darker. I love sitting out here. If I’ve had a long day, it’s the best way I know to decompress.”
    “I could sit here and not move for a year and still probably not completely decompress,” Angela said as she sat in the empty Adirondack chair. “I’m not even sure I know how to relax anymore.”
    Pete cracked open both bottles of water and offered one to Angela. “I know it’s been busy for you since the forecasts showed Hope coming this way. But it won’t always be like this. Things will settle down.”
    She took a sip of the water, then screwed the lid back on and played with the bottle absently as she stared up at the sky. “Maybe for some people. They’ll get order back in their lives. They’ll rebuild their homes, go back to work, start to get back to normal. But that won’t happen for me.”
    The sadness in her voice couldn’t be missed.
    “Why not? Of course things will get back to normal.”
    “I sit in meetings all day long right now. I know what we’re up against. Once we get temporary housing settled, then there’s just another problem to solve. Then another and another and another. How will our businesses in downtown come back to life? Will the tourists return? They drive our economy. What about Provident College and the students there? We’re still assessing the damage to Provident Medical Center and the medical school. The brief I was provided yesterday gave a conservative estimate of a year to get Provident Medical back open. You’re connected there, Pete. I don’t have to tell you this—Provident Medical is our largest employer. We can’t have the place that provides more than a third of the jobs on this island closed for a year.”
    She looked squarely at Pete, and he thought he could make out a sheen of liquid along the lower lids of her eyes. There was no doubt that she took her responsibility seriously.
    Maybe almost too seriously. He definitely didn’t want Angela to get so stressed out that she