The very thought of that made me flinch. “Why do you ask that?”
“Well.” She shrugged. “If Royce were to lose the election, would you two stay in Rainy Dale?”
Uneasiness shifted through me. “Do you think Royce will lose the election?”
Her gaze flickered. “Oh, um… I… I don’tthinkso. I certainly hope not.”
“Royce would be heartbroken,” I murmured.
“I wouldn’t blame him. That would be unfair and cruel after how hard he’s worked for our little town.”
I wrinkled my brow. “He has to win.”
“I couldn’t agree more.” She touched my arm. “Let’s not think about that dreary stuff, okay? This is supposed to be a happy day.”
“Right.” I straightened and murmured, “Happy.”
“Now, on with the tour.” She brightened. “Shall we go see the upstairs?”
“Uh… sure.”
As we entered the house, she said casually, “I’m curious what you think about Lucas temporarily taking over River’s clinic?”
Shocked, I glanced at her sharply. “What?”
She blinked at me. “You hadn’t heard?”
“No. What exactly is Lucas doing?”
She grimaced, looking like she wished she’d kept her mouth shut. “Oh, well, it’s just that Lucas is goingto run River’s clinic for him while River is… indisposed.”
I scowled. “How does that work? Isn’t Lucas a GP?”
“I believe so, yes.”
“Well, then, how is he going to run a homeopathic clinic?” I stopped halfway up the stairs.
She stopped walking too. “I don’t know. That’s just what I… I heard.”
“Do you know what his intentions are? Is he going to practice regular medicine?” My pulse sped up at the thought of that. I had no beef with Lucas as a person, but if he was going to practice general medicine, we’d be in direct competition with each other. The thought of that made my stomach hurt. While River had been more charming than me, his homeopathic focus had been very different. But if Lucas was going to practice regular medicine, then we’d be going head-to-head. I had more experience than him, but I also had no illusions about who’d win on personality. He was awaymore likable person than me.
“I’m not sure exactly what Lucas has planned. I believe his main goal is to keep River from going bankrupt.” She began to move up the stairs again. “Most of the people in town think that’s very honorable of him.”
“Uh, sure.” Were Royce and Ibothabout to be out of a job?
As excited as I was to see the rest of the house, my brain now buzzed with the information Mrs. Numi had dropped on me. On the one hand, I understood why Lucas was trying to help his friend, but that didn’t make the prospect of competing with him anymore appealing. Lucas had an approachable charm about him. Royce had once describedmeas an artichoke: prickly on the outside but tender on the inside. Unfortunately, most people didn’t make it past my thorny exterior to see I wasn’t so bad.
Mrs. Numi was waxing poetic about the marble-and-pearl master bath shower tile, but I couldn’t concentrate on what she was saying. I wasn’t the smoothest person to begin with, and the idea of competing against Lucas didn’t exactly make me more tactful. The need to grill her for more information swirled inside of me like a cyclone, and try as I might, I failed to contain it.
“Can Lucas just start practicing homeopathic medicine like that?” I blurted. “How would he just take over River’s clinic? Wouldn’t he need to have things transferred into his name or something? Wouldn’t he need some sort of certificate? Can you just step into another person’s business and legally run it?”
She lifted her brows. “I’m afraid I don’t know any of the details.”
I grunted. “Maybe he just plans on practicing the homeopathic side. Maybe he isn’t trying to actually compete with me.”
She laughed uneasily. “I… I wouldn’t know. I simply heard through the grapevine that he planned on trying to keep River’s clinic running until River is… released.”
“That could be a while. Depending on what he’s charged with.”
