Page 31 of After You

Why did Kyle want to have breakfast with her? She was here for whatever this talk was that they needed to have. He’d made it pretty clear at her grandma’s that something was going on and he said he’d fill her in later. Well, this was later.

“I was hoping you could show me the PT clinic,” she said quickly.

That would be a place where they might be able to have a private conversation. She had no idea how busy they were over there, but if it was a typical physical therapy clinic, there would be music, conversation, and the whirring of machines and clacking of weights. Maybe they could duck into one of the private treatment rooms.

There was no way they could huddle up for a whispered conversation—or a loud argument—anywhere else in Sapphire Falls without everyone knowing about it. They couldn’t duck into one of Kyle’s treatment rooms or head upstairs to his office. Bailey and Albert had already witnessed more than Hannah was comfortable with. Mostly because she didn’t know exactly what they’d witnessed. The PT clinic was the only place in town run by someone who hadn’t grown up in Sapphire Falls.

That thought made her chest ache. It wasn’t that they purposely kept other people out of Sapphire Falls or didn’t want them starting businesses. And plenty of those businesses started by hometown folk ended up bringing new people to town. Like Mason Riley’s huge company, IAS. He employed a huge number of people and many of them were from other places. And then there was Mason’s wife, Adrianne, who owned the bakery. She was not a Sapphire Falls girl originally, but the town—and Mason—had won her over. It wasn’t really a specific business plan for the town. It just kind of worked out that way. People grew up in Sapphire Falls and they didn’t really leave very often. Or if they did, they came home eventually. The ache intensified, and Hannah rubbed the spot over her heart.

“You want to see the clinic?” Kyle asked. He seemed surprised.

Hell no, she didn’t want to see the clinic where she was supposed to be working right now. Walking through the doors to Kyle’s clinic had been a kick in the gut. Seeing the PT clinic, her dream clinic, would be even worse. But she wanted to know what was going on with Kyle, and she couldn’t drag him down the hallway and lock him in a room with her here. At least not without feeding the gossip machine that was going to be going nuts anyway. So she nodded. “Sure.”

She needed to be cool about it though. She needed to be happy for the town and for the PT who was working there. She’d never even been brave enough to ask who it was. Because it didn’t matter. That person was lucky to be here and Hannah was glad the town had a therapist. That’s all that mattered.

Kyle was studying her, seemingly searching for something in her face. And she wasn’t sure she wanted him to findit.

“When do you want me back here?” Albert asked Kyle, edging toward thedoor.

“Bailey, what have I got later on?” Kyle asked.

“You’re booked all afternoon,” Baileysaid.

“Oh, then you need to talk to Kyle—Dr. Ames—now,” Hannah said quickly to Albert.

She wanted to talk to Kyle and find out what was going through his mind, but she could not come in here and disrupt his wholeday.

“But I’ve got this new exercise to do now,” Albertsaid.

“I do hope that helps a little bit,” Hannah said. “And let me know if you want any other tips. The yoga seems intimidating at first, I know, but it can really be a great adjunct therapy.” She glanced at Kyle. “In addition to whatever Dr. Ames has you doing, of course.” She didn’t actually fully believe that. Yoga and massage and meditation and acupressure and acupuncture could, in fact, replace a lot of the things that Western medicine prescribed for pain, but standing in the middle of Kyle’s clinic, in front of Kyle, didn’t seem like the time to tell one of his patientsthat.

Kyle looked even more surprised now. “You were talking to Albert about hispain?”

“She knew as soon as I walked in that there was something wrong with my back,” Albert piped up. “She could tell which sideeven.”

He beamed at Hannah, and Hannah couldn’t help but smile back. She’d known Albert all her life. He seemed to have not aged at all in the time she’d been gone. But he was moving slower.

“Albert had some back surgery about a year ago,” Kyle said. “It didn’t go as well as we would have liked. We’re working on management right now so he doesn’t have to have another.”

Hannah nodded. Albert had told her all of that. And her neck had spasmed in sympathy. She knew all about spinal surgeries that didn’t go as planned. And only a small portion of her knowledge came from her physical therapy textbooks.

“We were talking about management,” she said. “It’s important to recognize early pains and stiffness so that we—you—can prevent those really bad days.” Though the bad days sometimes came anyway, for no apparent reason.

Kyle gave her a small frown, but he didn’t seem irritated. It was more of an interested look. “Maybe you need to chat with Hannah a little more, Albert. Maybe we should see if we can set up an appointment withher.”

Hannah felt her cheeks heat. She had no business setting up appointments with anyone here. And she hadn’t meant to open her big mouth and talk to Albert about his aches and pains. But they’d been sitting there together, alone in the waiting room, and it had, actually, been obvious to her that he was having back pain. And she knew some things about managing that kind of pain. Why should she stay quiet?

Oh yeah, because it would complicate everything if she started talking about what she really did for a living.

Still, if she was a practicing physical therapist, surely she would have spoken up to help a man she knew well who was obviously inpain.

“I’m happy to give you some websites,” shesaid.

“I don’t use the internet,” Albertsaid.

Kyle snorted. “How do you email Coach Rileythen?”

Mike Riley was the head coach for the football team at the University of Nebraska. Which made him the leader of the main religion in Nebraska.

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