Page 2 of Doctor Grinch
“Thanks. He seems to be in a good mood for a change. Thank goodness. I’ve had enough of his grumpiness lately. I like working for him, but some days—”
“Ms. Johnson? So you think I’m grumpy, eh?”
Loren turned around, the coloring immediately draining from her face. “Dr. Sewell. You startled me.”
“I can see that. Your face says as much.”
“I wasn’t talking about you. I was referring to my…uh, my neighbor.” Loren was close to tears.
“I didn’t realize you had a second job.” Dr. Sewell wasn’t one for biting his tongue.
Second job? Loren wrinkled her brow. Oh, God, so he had overheard her. “I can explain.”
“There’s no need to explain yourself. I’m just going to grab my badge out of my car. Since I forgot it earlier. And I’ll do us both a favor and work on that grumpiness.” Jack winked then continued on to his vehicle.
Loren didn’t know if she should laugh or cry. Of all the things for her to say, why did she have to say that he was grumpy? If she were able to get into her car, she’d probably drive back home. If this were any indication of how the rest of her day was going to be, then she was in trouble.
Chapter Two
Jack
Jack ventured into the breakroom for his morning cup of coffee just shy of eight o’clock. The girls were pretty good at keeping a fresh pot made, at least until noon-time. “Good morning, ladies.”
Everyone looked up from whatever it was they were doing to greet him. Everyone but Loren.
He couldn’t blame her. He’d probably keep his head down too. If he wanted to be a jerk, he could say her name but that was taking it a little too far. If there was a bright side to it, at least she hadn’t called him an ass.
“Anyone else before I put this away?” Lydia Vaughn held out the container of flavored coffee creamer. “I need to get started on pulling charts.”
He watched from the corner of his eye as Loren looked at her empty cup then returned to her phone. If the poor woman wanted another cup of coffee, by all means, she should fix it. He wasn’t going to bite her head off.
“Thanks, Lydia. I think I’ll make myself another cup.” Cicily walked over to the freshly made pot and poured some into her stainless steel cup.
Upon looking around the room, every single one of them had some sort of fancy tumbler. If it didn’t have their initials on the outside, there was some ridiculous saying on it. He glanced back at Loren’s then shook his head. Christmas. He should’ve known. He’d never met anyone who was as obsessed as she was about holidays. He was almost willing to bet she kept a tree up year round, swapping decorations as she transitioned from one holiday to the next.
He didn’t dislike celebrating holidays, he just hated to see people get so carried away. His mother would practicallysuffocate him and his sister with all sorts of Christmas stuff when they were little. She even went so far as to decorate their bathroom. Loren probably did the same thing too.
Since they’d relocated to the new wing in the hospital, hopefully, they could keep things to a minimum this year. If he had a wife and kids, he might feel differently, but since he had neither, a wreath on the door was about as much as he cared to see.
“Before I forget, if anyone still needs to use their vacation time or you know of any special requests coming up, could you get it to me by the end of the week? I know things pop up, but I’d like to make sure we have enough coverage during the holidays.” Jack really enjoyed their tight-knit group and they all worked well together. Every single one of them, including Loren.
“Sure will, doc.”
“Not a problem, boss.”
“What about a Christmas party?” Lydia asked. “Can we block out an afternoon for a little get-together?”
He should’ve known someone was going to bring it up. “I don’t see why not. I’ll take a look at the calendar and get back with everyone.”
It was a safe response for now. In a few weeks, someone was bound to bring it up again and he’d be forced into setting aside some time for them to do their little thing. If it made them happy, why not.
Loren continued to avoid him the rest of the day, which he found somewhat amusing. He was sure his name was the highlight of their lunch, but he didn’t really care. He had more things to worry about than a bunch of chatty nurses.
The next morning, he stopped by the cafeteria on his way up to the office and picked up his order. Every so often he liked to surprise them all with something for breakfast and today he was in the mood for something warm. Especially with theblustery cold-front that had pushed through the New England area overnight. It was time to pull out the winter coats and prepare for the colder temperatures.
With sacks of food secured in each of his arms, it was a struggle to open the front door without dropping anything. As soon as he walked inside, he immediately felt the urge to sneeze and quickly lowered the bags down into the closest chair in the nick of time.
“What the heck is that—” Jack looked around the room and shook his head.No, say it isn’t so. “Ahh, choo.”
