Read Online The Owl & Moon Cafe: A Novel (No Series) by Jo-Ann Mapson - Free Book Online Page B

wasn’t possible. Ali McGraw’s character in Love Story had died of leukemia. That was dopey movie-star romance, Romeo and Juliet updated, not the same thing as real-life dying. Just because she and Doc had a past did not mean there would be a future. Of course not. After he dumped the bad news on her he’d walk back out to his perfect life in the ritzy part of town with his no doubt beautiful, young wife and the brilliant children who adored him.
    He took hold of her hands. “Allegra? I know how to deal with this disease. Let me explain it to you.”
    “Why didn’t you ever call me, Doc? Just one call all these years?”
    He smiled gently. “We didn’t tell each other our last names. I got married, had kids—”
    “Of course,” she said, pulling away. She could even see them, a son and a daughter, smart, successful, driving SUVs, graduated from Ivy League colleges their father could afford.
    “—as I’m sure you did. But the kids are grown and gone, and I’m single now.”
    “Some stupid woman actually let you go?”
    “My wife ran away with her gynecologist.” He held up his hand. “Please, I’ve heard all the jokes. When I finished my residency, I worked overseas as part of a program to reduce my student loans, and for the chance to see how medicine is practiced in other countries.”
    She recalled him saying his family was wealthy. “Student loans?”
    “Yes, Allegra. You probably don’t remember what you said to me under the stars that night when we were baring our souls, but it sunk in. I paid for my schooling so I didn’t have to do what Dad had planned. Worked out fine. I taught at U.C. Davis for a while. Great school and town. I was awarded a grant to do some research, but when the money ran out they cut the funding. It was disheartening, and I decided to make a life change. I thought about what would make me the happiest, and I realized I missed the day-to-day patient contact, so when this post opened up, I took it.”
    “Your kids?”
    “My son Doug’s an attorney in the San Francisco DA’s office. My daughter Kaylie was born with cerebral palsy. Most of her life was spent in hospitals. She passed away fifteen years ago. I miss her, but it was a mercy all the way around.”
    “I’m so sorry.”
    “Thanks. Yours?”
    “Only Mariah. She teaches college, or did until recently. My granddaughter, Lindsay, is so smart she corrects me all the time.” Doc, she said in her head, is Alvin Goodnough. His only daughter died. How did he live with the loss? “What kind of last name is Goodnough?”
    He shrugged. “The kind you get teased for all your life no matter how you pronounce it. My ancestors came through Ellis Island. It probably got abbreviated or misspelled or something along the way.” He took a pen and a pad from his pocket. “You look fabulous. How’d you stay so young, Allegra? Did you find the fountain of youth? Did you marry rich and go to the spa every week?”
    “Never got around to the marriage thing. I thought we’d decided that the fountain of youth was swimming naked in the Big Sur River.”
    His cheeks flushed, and she noticed how easily he slid back into his professional persona. “Okay, that’s enough chat. I’ve got to examine you. If anything feels awkward, I can call the nurse in.” He unwound his stethoscope and snaked it under her gown to listen to her heart and Allegra blanched at the touch of cold metal. “Alvin—”
    “Just be quiet a minute so I can listen, will you? Remember the time we camped and saw that deer leap across the fire road.”
    How could she forget hiking Damnation Creek Trail all morning, making love all afternoon, sleeping under the stars, talking over dreams, eyes on the sky, watching for that rogue comet or falling star or UFO? Camped under a redwood tree, they had been heating water for cocoa following a lovely meal of pan-fried Spam. It seemed like magic, both of them looking up at the same time. Just the smallest sound of a leaf