Page 49 of After You

“Shut up, Derek.”

But they all knew there was no way Derek was going to shut up. “Kyle wanted to show her that it’s really nice to be involved in taking care of the people in your hometown. You know, kind of rub it in that she didn’t come home to practice like she’d promised. But he wanted her to talk to them as a physical therapist.”

“Because she is a physical therapist, right?” Scott asked.

“Yeah, but Hannah’s not talking to them about physical therapy. She’s telling them all about acupuncture and massage and immersion therapy and stuff,” Derek toldhim.

“Immersion therapy?” Scott repeated.

“Oh, you’ll have to have Hannah explain it. She gets really excited talking about it,” Derek said with a smirk.

Kyle rolled his eyes. Obviously, Hannah and Derek had been talking about her new passion. That didn’t bother him. Exactly. Though he hadn’t seen her really excited about anything. And he wanted to. Hell, he’d like for her to talk to him about anything at this point. And this mild sense of desperation was making himnuts.

Derek went on, “She’s very anti-pain medication and, well, pills in general, it seems. So she’s telling our old guys with arthritis and gout all about how to change their diets and to use meditation and massage and other stuff instead. Which, of course, kind of rubs our doc the wrong way. Pun totally intended.”

Her advice to the other men did not rub him the wrong way. Her not talking to Kyle—about her life and career and practice, or about anything at all—was rubbing him the wrongway.

Scott seemed to be thinking about all of that. “So,” he said to Kyle. “She came to town, you sent people to talk to her to show her what she’s been missing, and now she’s telling them the opposite of what you’ve been telling them. And on top of that, they’re sneaking around and meeting her after hours to avoidyou.”

Kyle just lifted his cup. He really wanted to lift his middle finger. But that wouldn’t faze either of these guys anyway.

It wasn’t the advice that she was giving—exactly. Then again, it was kind of a moot point. Where would these people go for immersion therapy? And yeah, okay, he was going to look that up. He knew the basics, but being the primary care physician in a small town of mostly farmers and manual laborers, he read a lot about arthritis and traumatic amputation and the flu and infections and other things that affected the general population. Immersion therapy and meditation and acupuncture were not in his wheelhouse. And he didn’t like that either. She wasn’t talking to him, but he also knew nothing about what she was talking to everyone else about. He didn’t like feeling left out of herlife.

And that was the stupidest thing of all. He’d been left out of her life for three yearsnow.

Of course, he’d never likedit.

“Pretty much,” was Derek’s response to Scott’s summary.

Scott laughed. “How long is sheback?”

“Her grandma is having her hip replaced, so she’s here to help with her rehab. I guess she’ll be here for, what, about six weeks or so, Doc?”

Kyle nodded. “Orso.”

“And Riley’s back, too?” Scott asked. “When did that happen?”

Kyle felt his scowl increase. Speaking of women who were keeping him out of their lives and away from any details about those lives.

“A few days ago too,” Derek said. “She’s staying with her parents while she gets back on herfeet.”

“I heard all the charges were dropped,” Scott said. It was no secret that Riley had been in jail, but Kyle had asked Scott about some of the legal things surrounding Riley’s arrest and release, so Scott knew even more than most. He had connections across the country because of his work with a task force battling sex trafficking along the major interstates that went through the Midwest, so he’d made some calls and gotten Kyle a few extra details.

“They were, but it’s hard to get a job in the computer world after something like that,” Dereksaid.

“But she didn’t do anything wrong,” Scottsaid.

“Well, she did—it just wasn’t her fault,” Derek said. “She was set up.” He grinned. “But everyone now knows that she’s capable of hacking the biggest, most secure companies. Her skills make potential employers nervous in spite of her intentions.”

“Got it,” Scottsaid.

“So, she can’t get a job,” Kyle said flatly. He was far less impressed with it all than Derek seemed to be. “Which means she can’t pay her rent or buy food or, you know, take care of herself, so she’s back—living with my parents and doing web design until she can find somethingelse.”

“And she hates every minute of it,” Derek added. “Well, except hanging out in here, because her family isn’t here being judgmental and giving her unsolicited advice. Until now, of course.” He gave Kyle a look. “But Dr. Ames just couldn’t stay away. I just haven’t figured out which girl he’s herefor.”

Riley hated every minute of being back in Sapphire Falls too? Great. Two of the most important females in his life were back in town, both hated being back in the town he loved, and were shutting him out. Perfect.

“Both,” Kyle muttered, pushing his cup toward Derek for a refill.

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