Chapter Three

Claire was dropping off the herbs on a daily basis, now. The first day she walked into the Clinic, she went to drop them off with Elli, but the Doctor appeared and told her to feel free to give them to him in his office any day. So, that's what she did: arrive right when the Clinic opened with a basket full of herbs from around town, handing them to him one by one before taking off. They didn't really converse much; she was extremely shy around him and saw that he was really busy all of the time, but he always gave her a kind smile and a big word of thanks, which was enough for her.

As the days went on, Claire started to notice the townspeople walking around town, staring at her a bit more suspiciously than usual. Sometimes, a few of them would say hi, like Ann, Doug the Innkeeper's friendly daughter, or Rick, a nice young guy she bought her chickens from. Most of the time, however, the women would cast a quick glance at her, eyes wide with wonderment. Before the whole herb business, Claire rarely came into town, so at first it sort of made sense that they kept staring at her like that. Now, Claire had started to grow a bit annoyed. It had been going on for over a week, now! Why did they keep looking at her that way?

As summer was coming near, Claire didn't pay much attention to her crops (they were going to wither soon, anyway). Now, she had more free time to go to the beach and grab more herbs. One of those afternoons, she was cutting through town's square to head to the sandy shore when a group of three women pulled her aside. Manna, who ran the Winery in her town, Anna, who worked as a stay-at-home mom, and Sasha, who helped run the grocery store, all said hi to her, lips curled up politely. These were the women that had been giving her the eye lately, and she wasn't too keen on talking to them much. She'd met them before, and they had always been nice, but hearing from everyone else, they were big gossipers and worried a lot about outward appearances.

"Has your farm work been going well?" Manna asked, reaching out to wipe a bit of dirt off Claire's pale cheek. The people in the town seemed to be extremely comfortable with one another.

"Yeah, it has, thank you for asking." Claire responded, looking around nervously. She really wasn't comfortable around them the way she was with the other people around her town. Although they were all a bit older and mothers, they were quite beautiful. Each had nicely done hair and makeup, as well as wore feminine dresses. It was that way back in the city, too-Claire could never really make friends with girls because she didn't enjoy wearing skirts or lipstick or anything like that. She didn't like gossip or going to get her nails done; that's why she moved out to her farm. Although guys always told her she was really pretty, she always ignored them, not really the type to have a boyfriend. Claire sighed, trying to brush off her insecurities.

"We noticed you've been running to the Clinic quite often," Sasha raised her brows curiously. "Have you been feeling well? Is it anything serious we could help you out with?"

Claire shook her head furiously, her now-braided hair whipping across her back. "No, not anything like that. It's just…" She looked down at her dirty work-boots, hoping they wouldn't talk about her behind her back when she left. "I've been helping the Doctor with collecting herbs, since there's a lot right by my house. He just seems really busy, always working so hard," Claire smiled shyly, staring off into space. "I thought the least I could do is help him out."

Manna inched forward a little, a huge smirk playing across her face. "He's a handsome guy, don't you think, Claire?"

She widened her eyes, blush crawling from the top of her head down to her toes. "Uh… hum…"

"I mean, all of the trips you take to the Clinic, day after day going out of your way and collecting all of those things for him. Seems like you've got a bit of a crush! Do you, Claire? Well, do you? Just between us girls, of course, you can always tell us anything!" Manna babbled on. All of the women were leaning in a bit more now, making Claire jump back nervously.

""I…I've got w-work back at the farm, and uh… my animals haven't been fed or…a-anyway, I gotta go. S-see you guys later." She sputtered, turning on her heel and running back to her farm. There was no way any of them denied it, now! Those pesky little gossips. Why couldn't they just leave her alone?

Summer had finally arrived. Working out on the farm was turning into a sweaty chore, so Claire liked to drop by the beach with her puppy Ringo every once and a while, stopping for a quick bite to eat at the restaurant owned by summer visitor Kai. She still collected herbs for the Doctor daily, but lately began to feel a bit strange. Whenever she dropped off the herbs, it was always the quick greeting and departure. Was she wrong for wishing they'd go further? What she have to do to get things going between them? Was there even a point in wishing that? People had been talking about the Doctor a lot lately at Doug's Inn, and they said he'd never had girlfriends, or had never even shown any signs of wanting one. Maybe work was his top and only priority?

She awoke one morning quite a bit earlier than normal. The weather outside was cool, so Claire decided to take a walk to the beach to pick up some extra herbs before getting to work on the farm. That way, she'd get to feel the nice cool breeze from the sea on her skin, not something that normally happened because she was always wearing her overalls and plaid shirt. Quickly, she dressed in a tight white tank top and some shorts (cut off from some old jeans) and departed, bringing along her puppy on a leash. Thoughts about the Doctor began to fill her mind again. It always made her day when he gave her that smile, blinking his long, dark eyelashes at her. "Thank you, Claire!" He'd exclaim in that gentle voice of his. Claire closed her eyes, beaming silently. It didn't matter how many times she tirelessly searched for herbs, his wonderful reaction was always worth it.

Thunk, thunk, thunk, thunk. Someone's running footsteps had made sound, seeming to come towards her. Confused, Claire began to open her eyes, but it was too late. The person crashed into her at full speed, forcing both of them onto the ground.

"Owwww!" With the wind knocked out of her, Claire tried to pull herself back into focus. At first, all she could hear was Ringo barking defensively at the top of his little lungs. Then, she moaned and blinked her eyes, trying to make the vision in front of her less blurry.

Oh my God.

Claire felt herself rouge and her bright aqua eyes grow even larger. Doctor was on top of her, his expression held frantic. "Are you okay?!" He yelled, panting heavily. He leapt back up onto his feet, taking her by the shoulders and pulling her back up to standing position. Still a bit dizzy, she swayed for a moment, trying to catch her breath. Without realizing it, she placed her slender hand against his ripped chest, then snatched it away, screaming on the inside when she realized just how fit he was.

She looked him up and down once she was finally back to normal. He was wearing a plain blue t-shirt (that was tight enough that she could see every sculpted abdominal on his body) and some jogging shorts, as well as a pair of worn tennis shoes. He was sweaty and breathing heavily, probably out for a jog in the morning, and his black hair was matted to his forehead in a totally adorable way. That's when she realized she had never seen him in normal clothes before! Claire swallowed the lump in her throat and told herself to stop staring at him, pulling up her fallen tank-top strap.

"Please tell me if you're alright," the handsome man worried, his eyebrows pulled inward. He reached forward to grab her shoulder, worried she might fall over. "I'm so, so sorry, Claire. My office isn't that far away, I can bring you back and examine you-"

"I'm f-fine," she stuttered honestly, "Seriously. You just startled me. But I'm okay. Promise."

The Doctor put one hand on his hip and wiped his forehead with the other, sighing with relief. "I'm so sorry. Nobody ever wakes up this early, so my route is usually around the town since I know I won't run in to anyone." With a sharp exhale, he shook his head. "I guess I was wrong. I have to be more careful. I'm glad you're okay, though." His breathing had finally returned to normal. "Well what are you doing out this early?"

Claire searched her mind quickly. If she told him she was going to find him some herbs, he'd probably tell her that she didn't need to work so hard for him. Plus, she didn't want to seem so desperate! "I was just going to watch the sunrise with Ringo." Claire cocked her head towards her puppy, who was still snarling at the Doctor.

He beamed widely, coming down to let Ringo smell his hand. The tiny dog came forward to sniff his long fingers, then warmed up to him, allowing the Doctor to pat his head. "What a great idea! People who truly appreciate the beauty of nature are wonderful. It's so hard to find that nowadays." He offered a gorgeous smirk. "I really respect people like that."

She could hear her heart thump hard against her ribcage. Did he just say that he liked her? By the look on his face, it definitely seemed like he didn't mean it that way. "W-well what are you doing, Doctor?" Claire could have smacked herself. It was so obvious what he was doing!

"I'm just out for a jog," He said, stretching out his hamstring a little. "I jog a few miles every morning to keep healthy. Because I'm not a farmer, I don't get the kind of exercise that you do. We don't have a gym around here, so I have to make do."

Claire nodded, taking another peek at his sweaty chest, wondering if he'd eaten. "Why don't you stop by my house for a glass of water?" She asked, then caught herself. She just asked him over to her house! She hadn't invited anyone to her place before! And she definitely had never invited any super hot guys over!

The Doctor looked a bit bewildered. "Ah! I don't want to make you miss the sunrise!"

She dismissed this by waving her hand. "The sun rises every morning-I can see it anytime."

He smiled, nodding sharply then. "Well, since you're so kind to offer, then okay!"

They walked back to her ranch in silence. The Doctor kept his hands on his hips, silently observing her large (and finally tidied) farm. She opened the door and allowed him inside, not helping but feeling embarrassed by how little her house was. Quietly, Claire showed him to the kitchen an pulled out a chair for him, hurrying to pour him a glass of cold water.

He thanked her, taking a long sip and observing her silently. Claire bit her lip, realizing that she was only in her shorts and tank top (which was certainly risky in comparison to what all of the other girls around town wore). Embarrassed, she went to throw on an apron and started to cook him some eggs for breakfast. "How do you like your eggs, Doctor?"

The young man shot up from his chair with a worried expression. "Oh no, don't worry about that! Please, you've done enough."

"It's fine," Claire couldn't help but suppress her shy grin. "You're my guest, and anyway, nobody's ever tasted the food from my farm."

The Doctor sat back down, looking a bit pleased with her actions as he watched her cook him scrambled eggs with a side of some tomatoes. She placed the plate in front of him and waited nervously for him to take the first bite.

"Mmmm." He closed his eyes peacefully. "This is delicious, Claire, thank you. Obviously extremely healthy since it's all farm-raised too." He took another bite.

Claire couldn't contain her excitement. "Oh, thank you Doctor! That's so great that you like it!"

Pausing in-between bites, he looked up at her. "My name's Trent, Claire, I thought you knew that? Feel free to call me by my first name. I think we know each other well enough for that."

Her heart pounded hard into her chest once more. "Trent," she tried out, just to hear how it sounded. To that, Trent smiled and took another sip of his water.

Once he was all finished, Claire hopped up to clean up his dishes and he followed her, wanting to be of some assistance. "It was wonderful, really. You'll have to cook again for me, sometime, or maybe let me buy off some of the food from your farm."

I'd love to! She squealed in her thoughts, but just scrubbed his plate harder in response. "Of course," she mumbled.

Trent took the plate from her, wiping it off with a spare dry towel. "You know, I never really tell you how much I appreciate everything you do for me. Nobody's really helped me out that much…" His wiping slowed down a bit and he stared off into space. "I'm usually the one that helps people out, I guess, so it's nice to have a change of pace." Trent caught her staring, shaking his head. "Not that I don't like it! I love my job, I truly do!"

With his face pink, he glanced at the clock. "It looks like I'm a bit late to work." He didn't seem to be too worried, expression held calm. "I hope Elli holds down the fort for me at the Clinic."

Claire turned around to look at the time then, too. It was 8:30! "Oh, no! I'm so far behind on all of my farm work and going to collect your herbs!" She caught herself yet again, sinking lower and lower. How could you be so stupid?! Claire screamed at herself in her mind.

Trent examined her with his intense eyes, thin red lips parting. "Wow, Claire, I didn't know it was that big of priority to you…"

"I-it's not!" Claire stammered. "It really isn't-like I said, the herbs are close to my house, and-"

"Someday I'll make it up to you, okay?" Trent beamed widely, wiping off his hands. He glanced at the clock once more. "I'm really far behind on work, so I have to get going. Anyway, thanks for the meal, I really appreciate it."

"No problem," Claire replied, hugging herself as she watched him leave. When she was sure he was out of her farm, she threw herself onto the couch, screaming into her pillows. Finally! Finally things had gone farther between them! Maybe it wasn't so bad of her to want this after all!