Page 58 of It's a Wonderful Knife
I frowned. “He’s had no time to investigate anything.”
“True.” He poured himself a cup of coffee. “Are you enjoying working at my clinic, Max?”
The sudden change in subject threw me a bit. I couldn’t exactly say I enjoyed being in River’s clinic. It was a necessary evil. But I couldn’t admit that. “I appreciate having a place to see my patients.” I was pleased by how tactfully that came out. I was beginning to get the knack for twisting words so that they were truthful but not insulting.
Amelia might not agree.
River smiled. “Sometimes I think you should just stay at my clinic. Why bother rebuilding? We make a great team, don’t you think?”
Obviously, I did not think that. I couldn’t wait to get out of his place. Surely he knew that? What was he playing at?
When I didn’t speak, he said, “You’d save a lot of money by not rebuilding. I’m a good landlord, aren’t I?”
“I like having my own place.”
“But why? There’s so much more overhead when you have your own clinic. If you stayed at mine, you wouldn’t have to worry about money.”
“I’m not worried about money.”
“Oh, you know what I mean.”
I shifted uneasily. “I can’t really think about all of that right now. I’m distracted with… you know… Santiago’s murder?”
“That’s understandable,” River said.
I started to move away, but River grabbed my arm.
“Max, don’t you think we should make peace with each other?”
I frowned, looking down at his slender fingers that had a death grip on my arm. “Are we at war?”
He threw back his head and laughed. “Oh, Max, you are just so funny.”
Am I?
Lucas poured himself some coffee, and while his expression was bored, I knew he was listening to our conversation.
“I’m not your enemy.” River’s gaze was beautifully sincere. I had little doubt he’d practiced that look in the mirror many times.
“I never said you were my enemy.” Imighthave said that once or twice, but he didn’t need to know that.
Girdy gave a nervous laugh. “Of course you two aren’t enemies.”
River sighed and bit into a cookie. As he chewed, he studied me like I was a butterfly pinned to a bulletin board. Once he’d swallowed, he said, “I wasn’t trying to replace you with Lucas as GP of Rainy Dale.” He grimaced. “Okay, Iwas, but that was only because everyone in town thought you were leaving.”
“Okay.” I cleared my throat. “Well, I’m not leaving.”
A muscle flinched in River’s cheek. “I know that,now. But you can’t be mad at me for thinking you were leaving. Everyone did. Even Royce.”
Girdy squeezed my arm. “Oh, what’s done is done. Right, Max?”
I met her distressed gaze. “Sure.” Why was River bringing all of this up now? Of all times, why was he talking about all these awkward things when we were under so much stress already?
“We should be friends,” River cooed.
That felt like a trap for sure. If I rejected his offer of friendship, I would look like a jerk. However, if I accepted, wouldn’t I be forced to…God no… hang out with him more often? Wasn’t that what friends did?
“I work a lot,” I said softly.
