Page 11 of Ryder's War

Rolling his eyes and without missing a beat, he stated, “Reynold’s Medical.”

“Well, now, they weren’t working too hard on that name, were they?” she observed as she performed an online search.

When she found the number and hit call, Ace was still trying to dissuade her. “I don’t know what you hope to accomplish by sticking your nose where it doesn’t belong.”

Tiffany had watched Ace pull himself together over the few weeks she’d been in South Dakota with Ryder. In sharp contrast to when she first met him, he was well groomed, dressing nice, and the dark circles were disappearing from under his eyes. Granted, a great deal of that was because she and Ryder had stayed after him, forcing him to eat and take better care of himself. At first, he’d been pretty depressed and didn’t often talk. As the weeks wore on, Ryder argued with him constantly in an effort to pull him out of his shell and get him talking again. The ploy worked like a charm. They bickered back and forth like an old married couple most days.

A woman’s crisp voice came on the line. “Hello, Reynolds Family Medical. How may I help you?”

“Hello, my name is Tiffany Stone, and I’m an RN looking for work. Can you tell me if you’re hiring?”

“Are you kidding? Registered nurses are few and far between in these parts. We’ve had an opening for the better part of a year. I could get our human resources person on the line if you like,” the woman said happily.

“Well, I had a couple of quick questions. How many physicians are in practice there?”

“Just the two Doctors Reynolds are here full time.”

“Husband and wife?” Tiffany asked.

“Father and son. Why do you ask?”

Tiffany delivered the lie smoothly. “I met a really nice lady who said her name was Dr. Reynolds, and I just thought there can’t be that many doctors with the same last name in a small town.”

Laughing, the woman lowered her voice. “Dr. Barbara Reynolds is no longer married to Dr. David Reynolds, Jr. Barbara isn’t a medical doctor. She’s an archeology professor over at Dakota Tech. Tell her Shelby says hello if you see her again. We miss her around these parts.”

“I will do that. Do you have any PAs or anything like that?” Tiffany added.

“No, ma’am. We have Dr. Snyder, but she just fills in occasionally when one of the other two can’t come in.”

This was getting more interesting by the moment.

“How do I go about applying for the opening?” Tiffany asked, figuring she might as well continue with the lie in case she needed to pursue it further later.

“We have a section on our website for applications. Just attach a copy of your transcriptsand license. If you’re selected for the position, we’ll need to see original copies of both with a raised seal.”

“Thanks, Shelby, I appreciate it.”

“No problem. Hope to see you soon.”

Shutting her phone off, Tiffany discovered that Ace had wondered off. She pulled up the website for Dakota Tech, and sure enough, Dr. Barbara Reynolds was scheduled to teach a night class beginning in three weeks. It was designed for adults wanting to broaden their horizons, and there were two ways to take the class: as a formal college course or audit it, meaning it would carry no academic credit or count toward a college degree.

Ace walked back into the bar carrying a box of vodka and began stowing it under the bar.

“Ace, what’s your real name?”

“Jeremy Strond. Why do you ask?”

“I’m ordering you a gift,” she told him.

“Great. I hope it’s a stripper,” he said unenthusiastically.

Tiffany pressed on. “Are you still using the clubhouse as your address?”

“Since I got no place else to go, yes. My birthday isn’t for five months.”

“Really, what day?”

“April first.”

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