He sighed. “It just kind of slipped out.”
“What slipped out?” Mrs. Numi asked.
“I was just making conversation…” He winced. “But I told her that Dr. Thornton wouldn’t need to rent a room from her boss anymore. That I was moving to Florida and that Dr. Thornton was buying this place.”
“Damn,” I muttered, unable to keep it in.
“Oh, dear.” Mrs. Numi frowned.
Looking guilty, Dr. Johnson said, “I… I didn’t mean to spill the beans. To be honest, I didn’t even think twice about it at first.”
Mrs. Numi sighed. “But then you suddenly received another offer?”
“Yes.” He nodded.
Sounding frustrated, Mrs. Numi asked, “Was the second offer from River Martin?”
“Oh, I’m not sure I should say.”
Mrs. Numi scowled. “Reginald, we’ve been friends for a long time. I think you owe that much to me.”
His shoulders slumped. “Okay, fine. Yes.”
“Do you promise you didn’t tell her so that Dr. Thornton and River would get into a bidding war and drive up the price?” Mrs. Numi looked disgusted.
“What?” Dr. Johnson appeared mortified. “God no. I swear I didn’t want you guys to get into a bidding war. I… I had every intention of accepting Dr. Thornton’s offer at that time.”
“But you don’t now?” It was impossible to keep the disappointment from my voice.
“Well… I haven’t decided.”
I felt numb as I held his confused gaze. “I see.”
“I’m very upset with you, Reginald. That wasn’t right to tell anyone about Dr. Thornton’s offer.” Mrs. Numi sounded offended.
“I know. I’m sorry. Like I said, it wasn’t on purpose. In fact, my first reaction was to reject that offer.”
“But you didn’t,” I said glumly.
He sighed. “Well, no. I called my daughter to discuss the matter with her, and she told me to accept the higher offer.”
Anger toward River surged inside me. That little rat had intentionally screwed up my deal with Dr. Johnson. There was no way this was coincidence. He was actively trying to mess with me and my livelihood. He was doing his best to ruin my chances of succeeding, or being happy, in Rainy Dale.Why?
“This is so unfair,” I muttered.
Dr. Johnson held out a hand toward me. “I haven’t accepted his offer. I want you to know that.”
“Well, that’s something, I guess.” I dropped my gaze.
“Regardless of what my daughter told me to do, I’m trying to really think things through. While I’m sympathetic to your position, Dr. Thornton, I’d be a fool not to at least consider River’s offer.”
“Yes. That’s a lot of money.”
“Reginald, don’t you see what’s happening here?” Mrs. Numi asked brusquely.
He frowned. “What do you mean?”
She sighed. “I mentioned this property to River once before. When he was trying to purchase the land Dr. Thornton’s other clinic was on when it burned. I told him about this property because it looked like that other lot wasn’t going to happen.”
