Page 42 of White Collar Rancher

Brigit opened her mouth, then closed it again and gave Priya a hard look. “I know you can keep stuff quiet. Patient-doctor confidentiality. Can you do that with what I’m about to tell you?”

“Of course.”

“Caleb and I want to start a family soon.”

Priya grinned. She’d heard this phrase so often, but the excitement for the couple never faded. Not in this stage. There were plenty of bumps in the road and potential heartache later. But she’d learned early to celebrate this moment of unadulterated optimism. “Congratulations.”

Brigit’s smile was almost shy. “Thanks. I don’t want word to get out and then have family and friends constantly watching and waiting for an announcement. I’d rather wait until we’re a few months into baking the bun in the oven.”

“Understandable.” The crack yawned open further. This was getting into Priya’s territory and Brigit hadn’t sounded happy about what she’d heard.

“I was asking Farah for doctor recommendations. She hears stuff, you know.”

“So Farah heard something and told you?”

Brigit glanced away. “Would you be offended if I went to a different doctor? I know it’s stuff you do every day, but it seems weird…us having grown up together.”

“Choosing a doctor is a personal choice.” It was easier to distance herself when she was in her office. Here in the coziness of Justin’s house, his sister’s choice to see someone else stung a little. Logically, she knew that on the patient’s end, picking who was going to root around your privates was a deeply personal choice. As a doctor, it was her job. It was clinical.

“I also refuse to see a doctor that spends all of two minutes with each patient like the one you replaced.”

That made Priya feel better. “A family practice doctor can provide excellent care.”

“I haven’t ruled you out yet, but I wanted to let you know that if I go to another doctor, it’s only because it’s too embarrassing for me to have you see everything. I just want to cover my bases.”

Priya couldn’t help but give a tiny internal cheer. “Good to hear.”

“And that’s where my talk with Farah comes in. Some of the people she arrests go on and on about everyone’s that done them wrong, or who might do them wrong in the future, and your name was brought up.”

“With the women Farah arrests?”

“They said they’d never go to you because you were hired on because of your dad, blah, blah, blah.” Brigit rolled her eyes. “Small town. They’re going to say that no matter what. But they’re also saying that you’re not a good doc and you’re responsible for Maisy’s death.”

Cold shock laced down her spine. Her stomach twisted until she wanted to vomit. Suspecting those rumors were being spread was one thing, but to hear that it was real? Tears burned the backs of her eyes.

They were right. The last incident had killed Maisy, but Priya had been her doctor and had suspected she needed medical help. Only she’d been too afraid to urge Maisy to see a therapist, afraid Maisy would stalk off and never talk to her again.

But what if she’d been the only one who could have gotten through to Maisy? She should’ve done more.

Brigit set Isaiah down on his play mat and leaned forward. “Listen. You’re probably wondering why I even told you. Farah asked these women who they do go to.”

A hot tear streaked down Priya’s face. She swiped it away, but too late. Brigit noticed and hesitated. Priya nodded for her to continue, even though she’d rather run from this humiliating conversation.

“They all see Dr. Bezos.”

Priya blinked back the flood of tears waiting to spill. But these weren’t merely from self-pity anymore. It wasn’t town gossip scaring her patients away. Everyone wasn’t out there wondering if she was so awful at her job that she’d let her friend expire. They were being told that. It was targeted rumors, toxic manipulation of her career. Rage licked up her spine. “How many women were there?”

“Maybe like three in the last few weeks.” Brigit shrugged. “Enough to make Farah wonder at the source of the rumors.”

“Indeed.” Dr. Craig Fucking Bezos. It was one thing for her to struggle with her own insecurities, but it was quite another for someone so distanced from the situation, distanced from both her and Maisy, to try and drive her out. “I know he’s not my biggest fan, but why? Did he think all his patients were going to abandon him and come to me? Unreal.”

But this was all too real. The situation with Maisy had never felt like it was enough to explain her drastic drop in patient load. Yes, it had been an extremely tragic event. But while most people didn’t understand medicine, they weren’t stupid. Yet if a doctor told them something, they’d believe it.

Like a disease, Dr. Bezos’s lies had spread through the clinic’s client base and beyond. And because of it, she’d been questioning herself more and more, wondering what she’d done wrong.

Her mind spun.

Male voices drifted through the door. She wiped off her face and took a steadying breath. This was her career. She’d take care of it.

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