She seemed to think about it for a moment before saying, "If you have to ask yourself if she's the right one, then she isn't. You'll know."
By the way she smiled, I assumed her words were meant to be somewhat lighthearted, but they hit me right in the chest. Because I did know. I hadn't oncewonderedif Gemma was right for me. I'd only ever wondered if she felt the same way or if I deserved her. But there was no question in my mind: Gemma was made for me.
When I left the exam room, I pulled my phone from my pocket to read the text in full.
Gemma:
I found a solution to the Pumpkin problem. At least temporarily. Meet me at the hardware store after you're done with work? I'll leave whenever you do.
Smiling again, I tapped out a reply.
Rook:
I'm finishing up here, anyway. I'll meet you there in twenty.
Gemma:
Most punctual of you, Dr. Rook. See you in a bit!
Shaking my head, I put the phone back in my pocket and tapped on the door to the nurses’ station. Madison looked up from the computer and gave me a wave. "Last one?"
I nodded. "Last one. I'm headed out if you have things here."
She gave me a thumbs up, and I noted that she hadn't even put her hair up in a clip today. Chill day for all of us, then. "I'll see you tomorrow."
"Hey," she gave me her full attention suddenly. Madison had dyed one streak of her pixie cut bright orange, and her scrubs had ghosts on them. "Tomorrow is Halloween. I'm not kidding—you need to throw on a pair of vampire teeth or something at least. We're all dressing up. The patients love it."
My lip curled. "You've ruined my evening."
"Costume," she repeated with a point. Then, summarily dismissing me, she returned back to her screen. My practice was a dictatorship, and I was most decidedly not in charge.
I checked the address Gemma had texted me and knew which store she meant, so I gathered my scant belongings in my briefcase, put on my coat, and walked through the leaf-decorated, twinkle-light-infested building and out to my car. Most of us parked in on-street parking spots unless we wanted to walk to the nearby parking garage, and in this weather, I did not. A frigid wind blew through the dying trees, rustling the decaying husks of leaves and biting through my wool coat. I would need to switch to my winter coat at this rate.
I drove through downtown Eugene until the small city broke up some, and then I parked in the enormous lot of the hardware store. As I made my way toward the bright orange building, my instincts warned me that if Gemma hada thingplanned, then it was highly likely I would be inconvenienced in some way. She met me at the sliding glass doors, wearing a puffy, white winter jacket and pink earmuffs over her ears. She waved, and as Iheld out a hand for her, a pink mitten grasped it with gratifying warmth. "Hey, fuck buddy," she grinned.
The sudden urge to tie her up and gag her nearly overwhelmed me. I gave her a dark look as I led us into the store. "Fuck buddy?"I looked around the store, wondering if anyone had heard her, but the other customers and employees were well out of earshot. "What the hell is a fuck buddy?"
"You know." She punched me lightly on the shoulder like I was her best bro. "My… fun person."
I stopped her in the entrance by the carts and enormous dollies. "I think the word you're looking for is 'partner,' yes?"
Gemma's nose and cheeks went as pink as her earmuffs. She fiddled with the zipper on her coat nervously as she barely opened the side of her mouth to mutter, "I wasn't going to label anything."
"I'm labeling it," I said, tugging her forward again so we could get a cart. "At the very least, you're not calling me 'fuck buddy,'" I added with some irritation.
"Oh." Gemma halted me as I pulled out a regular, neon orange cart. "Hold up. We need the big one."
I slid a wary look her way. Slowly, I asked, "Why?"
Gemma let go of my hand and went for the enormous dolly carts. "For my brilliant project. I looked at your building plans, and even though you're technicallyrentingthe space, the land around the building is still fair game, so I'm building a home for Pumpkin."
I tried to fully digest what Gemma had just told me, but it was getting lodged somewhere between her words and actual logic. My brows came together in confusion. "You're building a… barn? At the apartment?"
"Not a barn," Gemma guffawed. "Asmallenclosure."
"On theapartment grounds," I clarified, hoping in vain that she would realize how absurd that sounded.
"Mommy is giving you the whole building," she reminded me with factual ease. She pushed the cart right past me. "We can do whatever the hell we want. And if I'm going to go along with this stupidity," she added over her shoulder, "I'm building Pumpkin a home."
