Part of Your World, #1
Part of Your World
by Abby Jimenez
Contents
Chapter 29
Overview
Four months pass as Alexis deepens her bond with Daniel and learns self-reliance helping at Grant House, even as she readies to end the relationship when the chief vote arrives. A tense sighting of Jake watching from a bluff terrifies Liz, underscoring ongoing abuse and the limits of Alexis’s help.
Neil keeps therapy promises, forcing Alexis toward joint sessions and looming decisions about the house, career, and a painful breakup.
Summary
Alexis recounts four transformative months with Daniel as summer returns to Wakan. She helps run the Grant House, learns practical skills, and feels empowered and calm in the town and in Daniel’s presence. Despite falling in love, she braces for an imminent split once the hospital’s chief vote and a court decision on her house arrive.
Back in Minneapolis after a night shift, Alexis fixes her garbage disposal and bakes a quiche for Daniel, startling Neil, who notes he has nearly completed the therapy Alexis required. Alexis rehired their housekeeper after Neil fired her, and she retreats from further discussion, aware that joint sessions and major decisions loom.
Alexis drives to Wakan, helps Daniel with checkouts, and spends the afternoon tubing with Daniel, Doug, Brian, and Liz. She and Daniel discuss marriage and children in the abstract, while acknowledging her likely 80-hour weeks if she becomes chief. Alexis resolves that a fast, clean breakup will spare them a slow deterioration.
The mood shifts when the group floats beneath a bluff and sees Jake watching from his cruiser, wordless and menacing. After he leaves, Alexis separates to check on Liz, who forces a bright facade but is visibly shaken. Liz insists she will be safe by working late and refuses help, fearing Jake will kill her if she leaves and that she would lose Wakan—and glances toward Brian, hinting at deeper ties she risks.
Alexis recognizes the familiar cycle of abuse and the limits of her protection, feeling that the “bad guys” still hold the power as she faces her own approaching heartbreak and obligations.
Who Appears
- AlexisER doctor; spends four months with Daniel, gains self-reliance, prepares to end things as chief vote nears.
- DanielInnkeeper-mayor; teaches Alexis practical skills, shares tender moments, quietly faces the impending breakup.
- LizFriend; terrified after Jake’s silent intimidation, refuses to leave, hints at attachment to Brian.
- JakeLiz’s abusive husband; watches from a bluff in his cruiser, wordlessly reasserting control.
- NeilAlexis’s abusive ex; living in her house, attending therapy, challenged when she rehired their housekeeper.
- BrianFriend; floats with the group, tethered to Liz’s tube; her glance suggests a complicated bond.
- DougFriend and eager learner; joins the river float, previously learning medical basics from Alexis.