Page 18 of Mountain Freedom
But all of my enthusiasm drained away the moment I walked through the clinic doors and saw Beverly give me the side eye from where she was whispering to a scrawny man in wrinkled blue scrubs. She looked at the clock and raised her eyebrows.
“Yes, I know, I’m three minutes late,” I said, forcing myself to not roll my eyes as I held up the packages I was carrying in my very full hands. “I stopped to buy coffee and donuts for everyone, and it took longer than I expected.”
“Yes, well, you should know Anna’s extremely busy in the mornings and you need to call ahead for large orders,” Beverlysaid, those overly groomed eyebrows still arched as high as she could possibly get them.
“Three coffees and a dozen donuts is hardly a large order,” I said before realizing it was pointless to argue. “I’m putting these in the breakroom. Help yourselves.”
I carried them myself, along with my purse and the heavy medical bag that was about to take my arm off, since neither of them offered to help. I knew I needed to introduce myself to the man, who was presumably the nurse who hadn’t shown up the day before, but I couldn’t even begin to do that until I got some relief for my arms.
Thankfully, he followed me down the hallway to the breakroom, which gave me a chance to chat with him—though I was seriously annoyed he didn’t offer to carry anything.
He did at least hold the break room door for me, which I appreciated.
“Hi,” I finally said when I had slid the coffees and the box of donuts onto the table. “I’m Dr. Bell.” I held out a hand to shake.
“I know,” he said, cocking his head and ignoring my hand. “Don’t you remember me, Allison?”
I searched my childhood memories for his face and almost said no, but then the recognition finally dawned. “Oh my goodness. Danny?”
“That’s right.” He grinned at me.
“Danny Rogers. I can’t believe it.” I shook my head.
When I had accepted the job in Rosemary Mountain, it had never crossed my mind that I would be working with people I had gone to grade school with. I had forgotten what a small world this town really was. Danny Rogers, of all people. I blushed, wondering if he would remember the fact that he had been my first kiss. Boyfriend number two, at age thirteen. We had technically still been “going steady” when my mama had moved us away in the middle of the night.
Funnily enough, I hadn’t even thought to write him a letter the way I had with Jackson.
“I couldn’t believe it, either,” he said. “I remember back then you used to talk about wanting to be a doctor someday, and it looks like you did it.”
“I did,” I said. “You talked about that too, though!” In fact, it was the only reason I had agreed to be his “girlfriend.” As Doc Rogers’s nephew, he had access to all of Doc’s medical textbooks and sometimes helped out in the clinic, which I had thought was ridiculously cool back then.
“Yeah,” he said, his face changing from a smile to something a bit darker. “Well, plans don’t always work out for everyone. Went to nursing school instead.”
“RN?”
“LPN,” he said, obviously growing more uncomfortable by the second.
“That’s great,” I said, realizing I had stuck my foot in my mouth. “I’m so glad to have you on the team here.”
“Yeah. Hey, listen, can I take you out to dinner tonight? Catch up, for old time’s sake? I mean, we never technically broke up, so I think that means you’re still my girlfriend.” He winked at me before laughing awkwardly.
I felt like a deer caught in the headlights. “Well, Danny, I don’t know. I mean, Ijustgot out of a relationship, and I’m just not ready to…” I felt myself babbling and clamped my mouth shut.You’re his boss,I reminded myself. It was inappropriate for him to even ask. I didn’t have to give any excuses or justify saying no.
“Right,” he said as his face turned bright red. “Well. I’m just going to grab a coffee.” He reached around me and grabbed a cup. Then he fled the room.
Three hours later,any enthusiasm I’d had for this job was completely gone. In fact, I was poring over my contract, looking for a loophole that would allow me to leave without notice. Not that I’d do it. Once I committed to something, I saw it through.
But with the day I was having, I wanted to at least know what my options were.
I jumped when my office door flew open. My cheeks flamed when I saw Beverly’s smug smile. She had caught me with my head in my hands, feeling totally defeated—and the look on her face told me she liked it.
“Hi, Beverly. I’d appreciate it if you’d knock in the future. Can I help you with something?” I asked, forcing a smile on my face.
“You told me to let you know when your patients are checked in,” she said in that falsely sweet Southern accent of hers.
My first four patients of the day had sat in their rooms for nearly half an hour past their appointment times, simply because nobody had bothered to tell me they had arrived—or update their status on the electronic health record I kept eyes on while in my office.
“Yes, thank you. I’ll be right there.”
