Chapter 7
CHAPTER SEVEN
“Bye, Mr. Dawson! Great work today!”
Noelle stood in the lobby of the physical therapy clinic, waving to the sweet old man who was walking out the front door, carefully using his cane. He lifted a hand and waved back cheerfully, a huge smile on his face. She grinned at him, thinking to herself that he had probably been her favorite patient so far. He’d been incredibly sweet and good natured throughout his entire appointment, cracking silly jokes and laughing instead of complaining when he was struggling with something. He’d worn a button-down sweater with a dandelion tucked into one of the buttonholes, and when she’d asked him about it, he’d said, “I don’t think dandelions get enough credit, do they? Look at how pretty it is.”
“Oh, he’s darling,” she murmured as the door closed behind him. “What a sweetheart.”
She turned around and started to head back toward her office, reflecting that her appointment with the elderly man had been a wonderful way to start her morning. Mr. Dawson had been her first and only patient so far that day, and he’d brightened her whole morning as completely as if it was his job.
I love working with the older folks , she thought as she stepped back inside her cozy office. And in a small town like this, most of my patients are probably going to be on the elderly side.
She smiled, sitting down at her desk and turning on her laptop. She was used to having a wide variety of patients, some of them healing from serious injuries and some of them struggling with conditions that made mobility difficult for them. She thought to herself that she might miss the challenges that came along with helping some of those kinds of patients, but she reminded herself that her work was always rewarding. It was a joy for her to see her patients improve their health and mobility, no matter what their struggles were.
She found herself staring into space, remembering how she always used to imagine that she might meet some handsome man who came to her as a therapy patient one day. She chuckled, shaking her head at the idea.
I don’t think that’s likely to happen here, she thought with a grin. And that’s fine with me. I’ve dated plenty. I could go for having some quiet in my life.
She’d dated a fair amount of people over the years, although she’d never seemed to find that spark that made her want to settle down with someone permanently. It had all worked out for her in the long run, since her singleness had allowed her to move to a new town easily, and she was glad that she was there in Rosewood Beach. She had plenty of time to focus on her career and enjoy living quietly and peacefully.
In the next moment, there was a soft knock on her office door.
“Noelle? Your next patient is here.”
The receptionist opened the door to Noelle’s office a little and poked her head inside, smiling. Noelle glanced with surprise at her schedule, which she’d pulled up on her computer screen. She hadn’t been expecting this patient, which meant that they had signed up for an appointment very recently.
“Send him in,” she said breezily, glancing at the appointment information on the screen and seeing that the patient’s name was Dean Owens.
A young man stepped into her office. She was immediately taken aback by the fact that he was so young—close to her own age. It seemed like a strange coincidence that she’d just been thinking to herself that she was unlikely to have any young patients, and then she got one within minutes. He was handsome too, she thought, and looked pleasant. She liked the way his dark brown hair was a little messy, since it implied he was a laid-back person.
“Hello, Dean. I’m Noelle,” she said, standing and offering her hand for a handshake. “Nice to meet you.”
“Nice to meet you,” he said, grasping her hand firmly and shaking it. She got the impression that he was a little uncomfortable, and she made a mental note to try to help him feel more at ease.
“So, Dean, what’s going to happen first is I’ll go over some questions with you. All general procedure. We’ll go over things like your medical history, and you can tell me what your goals for physical therapy are. Sound good?”
“Sure.” He nodded. “Sounds good.” He spoke politely, but she got the sense that he was in a hurry to get things underway so that he could get out of there that much sooner.
“My first question is very important.” She paused for dramatic effect, and then said, “What’s your favorite color?”
His eyebrows lifted for a moment, and then he smiled a crooked smile. “What?”
She laughed, pleased that she’d succeeded in lightening the mood a little. “I think it’s important to know my patients. Besides, if I want to color-code my files, knowing everyone’s favorite color helps me do that. So, what’s your answer to the big question?”
Dean laughed, and she noticed how kind his dark blue eyes looked. “Mmm, maybe red? Or sometimes blue. Like a dark blue.”
“Like your eyes.” She was about to say, but she stopped herself. Instead, she just nodded. “So red or blue. What about we just make things easy and say ‘purple’ for you?”
He laughed. “Sure. That’s fine with me.”
Chuckling, she made a note, feeling glad that she’d gotten him to laugh.
“What’s your favorite color?” he asked, smiling that crooked smile again.
“Oh, me? Hmm, probably pink.” She laughed.
“I can see that,” he said, gesturing to the desk, which had a variety of pink items on it.
She found herself grinning. “But we’re not here to talk about me. Let’s go over the rest of your information. Tell me a little bit about your medical history.” She wondered what it was that he was struggling with, since he didn’t have any kind of visible injury.
He inhaled and then let out a long sigh. “Well, my health has been great for most of my life. I played sports as a kid and throughout high school. I own the local auto repair shop, so I do a lot of physical work on cars. But recently, I started feeling unusually fatigued and achy. Long story short, I went in to get tests done, and they came back with a diagnosis of osteoarthritis.”
She watched his shoulders become tense as he spoke. She could tell that the unexpected diagnosis had turned his world upside down, and her heart went out to him.
“I’m so sorry to hear that,” she said, meaning it sincerely. “Tell me more about what you do for a living. You said it’s physically demanding work?”
“It can be. It involves heavy lifting and being in awkward positions underneath the cars sometimes.” He laughed. “I love it, though. That’s mostly why I’m here. I’m hoping to improve my strength and flexibility so that I can go back to doing what I love. Cars are like giant puzzles, and putting them back together exactly the right way is important, rewarding work. Essentially what I’m doing is keeping the people in my community safe. That means a great deal to me.”
She nodded, noting the passion in his voice when he spoke about his work. Her heart broke as she guessed how devastating it must be for a strong, athletic man like him to have to deal with the weakness and pain that came with osteoarthritis.
“It sounds as though you’re a wonderful mechanic,” she said, smiling at him. “You clearly have a passion for your work. Do you take all kinds of cars at your repair shop? Even older ones?”
He grinned. “Oh, yeah, we fix everything. My favorite was a 1968 Ford truck. We had to take apart the engine and put it back together again with some new parts, which was difficult because we had to search for them because they’re antiques. But we ended up finding the parts we were looking for, and the whole thing was such a fun, rewarding experience.”
“Really? That’s fantastic. I tried to find a vintage alternator once, and it was very difficult.”
His eyebrows lifted in surprise. “I didn’t expect a physical therapist to have that kind of knowledge about cars. Do you work on cars?”
She laughed. “Not really. I mean, I know some things about fixing cars, and I enjoy the work. My grandpa loves cars and he taught me about them when I was a kid. I actually moved here to Rosewood Beach to be closer to my grandparents. My grandpa and I haven’t worked too much on cars together since I came here, but when I was younger we restored a 1988 Porsche 911, and it was so much fun.” She stared into space for a moment, reliving the memories in her mind. “I just remember feeling so proud of what we were doing, even though I never got to see the thing running.”
“How come?” He no longer appeared uncomfortable or eager to leave. There was a sparkle of interest in his eyes, and she knew that they’d landed on a subject that fascinated him immensely.
She shook her head. “I was away at school when he finished it—he finally got the engine up and running. I was so sad about it at the time, because I’d never gotten to ride in it.”
He nodded. “I can understand that. But at least you still had that wonderful experience with your grandfather.”
“Oh, you’re so right.” She smiled at him warmly.
“That must have been hard, to go back and forth to your grandparents’ like that,” he said. “I’m lucky that my family has always been in the same place, at least for the most part. I have two sisters that moved away for a while, but they’re both back now. Both my parents have always been here in Rosewood Beach with me—” He suddenly stopped himself. “Well, my father passed away recently. But up until then…”
She nodded quickly, feeling another surge of sympathy for him. “I’m so sorry for your loss.”
“Thank you.” He swallowed. He seemed to suddenly realize that he’d become unusually comfortable with her, sharing so much after knowing her for only a few minutes.
She could understand where he was coming from. She also felt instantly comfortable with him in a way that felt fun and easy. He was the kind of person that she would like to be friends with, she thought, and she was glad that there were people her own age like him in Rosewood Beach.
“Let’s go ahead and get started,” she said, smiling cheerfully. “We’ve introduced ourselves and gone over your medical information. Am I right in guessing that your goals are decreased pain, and increased strength and flexibility?”
He nodded, smiling. “Yeah, that’s about the size of it. Whatever you can do to help me feel better, doctor.”
“Sounds good.” She smiled back at him. “Let’s go ahead and get started.”
She thought about how odd it was that she’d just decided she’d probably be dealing with mostly achy, geriatric hips and knees. She hadn’t expected a young, charismatic man to be on her schedule. Although she loved working with elderly people, she found herself excited over the fact that she would get to be working with Dean as well. He seemed like a pleasant person who she would like to be friends with.