Page 117 of The Blessings of Christmas
Dr. Darling got up. “Back to work. Looks like my patients are waiting.” Two women were sitting in the chairs placed outside his door.
“Bye, Big Mac. I have to get going too.” Draping her paper napkin over what was left of her meal, she followed Dr. D. over to the trash.
“See you again, Miss Victoria,” the older man called after her.
She turned. “You can count on it.”
Stacking his dishes at a pass-through window, Dr. Darling turned and sized her up with his eyes. He didn’t expect to see her here again and that made her madder than all get out.
“What time does this place open?”
His brow lifted with surprise. “Six thirty.”
Gulp. “Perfect. My shop doesn't open until ten, so I’ll have time to work a couple hours here.” No way was she letting this pompous physician get the best of her.
Disbelief lifted his brows. “If that’s what you’d like.”
That’s not what she would like. She’d like him to invite her to dinner at a romantic spot on one of the lakes that reflected colorful Christmas lights at this time of year.
But if this is what it took, she was not backing down. “Bye, Dr. Darling.” She turned to leave.
“Bye, Big Mac!” she called out. “See you soon.” The last part was for the good doctor.
With a wide smile, Big Mac waved.
Working hard to keep from laughing out loud, she walked to the door. When she cast a look over her shoulder, Dr. Darling was standing in the doorway to his office, arms folded as if she were a trouble maker and he was hall monitor. She’d show him.
“Give me a minute, would you?”he said to Betty Lou and Frances, who sat patiently waiting for him. “I need some coffee.”
The women nodded and he hustled into the kitchen with his mug. Back in the kitchen, he filled it to the top and hot coffee nearly overflowed. He was that distracted. Dumping in a couple containers of creamer, he headed back to his office, trying to straighten out his mind.
Heads nodded as he passed and he greeted his patients by name. But his thoughts were still with a blonde acting like she didn’t have a silver spoon in her mouth.
Victoria Pomeroy. What was she up to? When he sat down, the coffee slopped over the edge. He blotted it up with tissues. Glancing at the chair where she’d sat taking notes, he felt confused. The woman had looks, no doubt about that. And she had fire. Man, she took on those potatoes as if she really wanted to gain a pound or two. But why? He’d done everything to discourage her, practically force feeding her.
But she was writing an article. Derek told himself this was all about the publicity, which they sorely needed. Usually, the holiday season got people writing checks, or so he would think. The article might encourage readers to include the clinic in their gift-giving.
Could he stand having her around? Pretty soon she’d have more than Big Macs’s dog eating out of her hand. He fought a grin that turned into a chuckle.
She was everything he’d always avoided. But she seemed to have a heart, which was more than he could say about her father. Victor Pomeroy had turned him down flat when he’d called on him, asking for funding for this clinic. Said it wasn’t in his “portfolio.” Well, many roads led to the kingdom, and that applied to Pomeroy’s check book too.
Betty Lou peeked around the door and he waved her in. “I'm feeling poorly, Dr. D.,” the older woman said as she hobbled in. “My stomach’s hurting me again.”
“You been eating too many green apples?” Her bleeding ulcer was probably the culprit.
She chuckled. “No, Doc. But if I had a bushel of apples, I’d bake you a pie.”
“And I’d eat every bit and gain more weight.” He helped her onto the exam table. Maybe Victoria Pomeroy wouldn’t come back. He was surprised by a wave of what sure felt like regret.
CHAPTER 7
Humming along with Brenda Lee singing “Rocking Around the Christmas Tree” on her car radio, Victoria drove back to Sweetwater Creek. That man. That clinic. She’d never seen anything like it. Dr. Banburg’s potpourri-scented office was done in shades of teal and green. The folks in this clinic, however, were down and out in a way she’d never known. But they seemed happy. She’d enjoyed her time there, and Dr. Darling was only part of the reason why.
She wanted to do something, but what? Serving food would be a start.
Although she wanted to go back to the Open Hearth Clinic, Derek Darling hadn’t look thrilled to have her there. Passing through small towns decked out for the holidays, her heart should have felt jolly and light. Shop windows were sprayed with fake snow. People scurried from one store to another, their bags filled. But the folks at Dr. D.’s clinic didn’t have full shopping bags. Somehow she knew that. And she wanted to change it, but how?
Stepping on the gas, she got back to Victoria's Pantry in record time. And for a change she didn’t get a speeding ticket. Good thing because her points were getting up there.
