Chapter 5
Tuesday morning at eight a.m., Sydney let herself into the clinic, prepared for anything.
“Hello, boss. Looks as if this week won’t feature as much chaos and mayhem as usual,” Edison Whorlen teased.
Sydney paced past the clinic’s registered nurse, headed for the staff room. “Did everybody who had an appointment suddenly cancel?”
“No, but the new physician is here.”
It wasn’t that she’d forgotten about Lexie’s arrival. Sydney expected the woman to ride shotgun for a week before taking over, which didn’t make for less work.
“I did warn you she was on her way.” Sydney stepped into the staff room toward the earnest blue-eyed woman in her early forties. “And by warn, I mean, hallelujah and thank God.” She held out a hand. “Sydney Jeremiah. My grandfather spoke highly of you.”
The woman shook her hand firmly. Her dark brown hair was pulled back into a ponytail high on her head, and the glint in her eyes said she was comfortable, even in this new setting.
“Lexie Jacobson. I’m glad to hear that. I’m excited to join the practice.
The experience and the hours are much appreciated. ”
“It’s small-town doctoring,” Edison warned. “We get everything from farm accidents to helicopter parents worried about the sniffles to actual emergencies.”
Lexie looked pleased. “Even better.” She waited until Sydney had hung up her coat and grabbed her clinic lab jacket. “Edison has shown me around. The clinic is small, but it looks as if you have everything we need.”
“For anything that requires more than nickel-and-dime surgery, we have access privileges at Diamond Valley Hospital just over an hour up the road. We’ll have to make sure your credentials are added to the slate so you won’t have to jump through any hoops when you’re in a hurry.
” Sydney poured herself a cup of coffee then indicated for Lexie to take a seat at the table.
“If you don’t mind, I’d like to ask a few questions.
Just to make sure I know your history, anything you excel at, or any areas where you’re not comfortable.
Edison, if you could listen in and take notes, please.
Then you can be sure to brief Lexie before any patient visit in case I’m not here. ”
“Of course.” Edison grabbed a notepad and settled to Sydney’s side. “Our receptionist, Jenny, arrives just after nine. She drops her kids at school before coming in, which is why we open at nine thirty.”
“We are looking for a second receptionist,” Sydney admitted, “but there aren’t a lot of available applicants.”
“I understand. I was working at Toronto General, but I did my internship in a small community in rural Ontario.”
Interesting. “My brother works at TGH.”
Lexie studied the contents of her coffee cup. “I’ve met him. He’s very talented.”
Edison snickered. “Please. You’re talking about the Jeremiah family. There isn’t one of them who isn’t talented to the nth degree.”
“Hush,” Sydney mock ordered. “You start bowing to me again like I’m a deity, and I’ll put you in quarantine the next time you have a date lined up with Kevin.”
“Meany,” Edison complained before glancing at Lexie. “Sydney delights in tormenting me regarding my blooming romance with a wonderful gentleman from one of the local ranches.”
“Blooming romances are a good thing.” Lexie smiled at him before turning her attention back to Sydney.
“There seems to be a lot of romantically minded people in this town. My new landlady informed me there’s speed dating at the local pub tonight, and she said if I was interested, she could get me an introduction to the organizer. ”
“Speed dating?” Sydney arched her brow. “Are you interested?”
Lexie shook her head firmly. “Right now I’d like to find out more about the clinic and what your priorities are.
Your grandpa mentioned briefly that you do outreach in the community and that’s where you truly shine.
If it’s true, I’m more than willing to focus on keeping the office moving smoothly. ”
Which was good news.
While Sydney hadn’t liked the way her grandfather had simply up and hired someone new for the clinic, the longer she spoke with Lexie, the more she realized what a relief it would be to have extra help.
It wasn’t simply the time Sydney spent out of the office. The community of Heart Falls was growing, and a rising population meant a higher percentage of accidents, illnesses, and straight-up need for healthcare.
By the time Jenny arrived to organize her desk and set up for the first patients, Sydney felt good about Lexie being a part of the team.
Before they opened the doors, Sydney tugged Lexie aside. “Do you want to sit in with me as a physician, or would you prefer to be the physician with me as your shadow?”
“Let’s jump in with both feet,” Lexie said. “I’m comfortable, but it would be a good idea for you to stick around for the first few visits until the town knows I’m here and the patients aren’t wild with curiosity.”
“Word-of-mouth will get around pretty quickly, so we’ll have you on your own in no time,” Sydney promised.
True to her word, Lexie was more than competent.
She was one of those doctors who was excellent at sensing when she needed to be a little bit of a kidder, and when she needed to be absolutely serious.
Before noon, Sydney was introducing the patients to Lexie then leaving the room and letting her get on with the job.
It meant Sydney had time to catch up on backlogged paperwork and prescription refills.
Edison danced in out of the exam rooms as needed like usual, pausing during a break to lean in over Sydney’s shoulders as she entered the complicated coding into the Provincial data bank.
“I have no idea why your grandfather thought that woman needed any kind of practice.” Edison spoke quietly but with great enthusiasm. “I think we should admit we won the lottery and tell Lexie that she’s a full-time Heart Falls resident. No take-backs.”
“I had the same feeling,” Sydney admitted. Once again it appeared her grandfather couldn’t do anything the easy way. What on earth was he up to?
Although she wouldn’t devote too much energy to worrying about it when the results were so strongly tilted in her favor.
By the time the day was done, Sydney had done the equivalent of three days’ work, gotten compliments from some of the patients, and Lexie wore a bright, beaming smile.
The less positive sign of a great workday meant Sydney’s brain had time to refocus on the problems on the personal side of her life.
Declan wanted to date her.
She’d been around the man for a full year, enjoying his thoroughness in bed.
She’d also appreciated the dreams he’d shared regarding High Water and his worries at times for his brothers.
He didn’t up and spill all the beans like a tipped-over paint can, but he said enough that she very clearly knew what to expect.
Declan wasn’t about to give up on the idea, not yet. So if she wanted to have some relief from the temptation hanging in front of her, she’d have to take matters into her own hands and do something about his single status.
Phoning him was a smarter idea than texting. No time to consider his answers.
He picked up on the second ring, which was slightly shocking. “Hey, Syd. Everything okay?”
“Everything’s great. Just wanted to know if you had any plans for tonight.”
He hesitated. “Not really.”
“Because I was thinking about you and how you said you were ready to get back into the dating scene. They’ve organized speed dating at Rough Cut tonight. I thought it’d be a great opportunity for you to test the water.”
Dead silence on the other end of the line.
“Declan?”
“Sorry. Got distracted there for a minute. One of our new guests has obviously never been anywhere outside of a city before. He’s carrying a saddle on his head.”
Now Sydney was the one distracted, trying to picture it. “Wouldn’t that hurt?”
“Probably. I’d better go rescue him, but sure. I’ll join you tonight at the speed dating. Do you want me to pick you up so we can go and register at the same time? That’s probably the best for me. I know you’re done at the clinic by five, so what time does the dating start?”
“But I wasn’t going to—”
“It’s probably something that I’d like you to go along for. Haven’t done anything like this for a long time, and it would be good to see a friendly face in the room.”
Goddamnit. The man was either the most brilliant liar or he simply didn’t know what kind of knots he was tying her up in. “Sure, that makes sense. It starts at seven, so you can swing by and pick me up at six thirty.”
“See you then.”
As the phone clicked off, Sydney ended up staring into space, wondering what the hell had just happened.
After pulling in outside Sydney’s small house on the edge of town, Declan wiped his palms on his thighs and cursed himself for creating a nightmare of a situation.
He hadn’t felt nervous. Not until he’d lied to Sydney and said he was. Now all he could think about was how much of a fool he was about to make of himself, and wouldn’t that just endear her to him.
Still, there was no getting around it. He was here and he had made this bed. Now he had to lie in it.
The sight of her stepping onto the porch wearing one of those old pinup model dresses in a sunshiny yellow and white made up for a ton of the nerves he’d developed since putting this in motion.
She was short, but somehow her legs looked a mile long in that frilly sundress, vanishing at mid-thigh. The neckline dipped down over the curve of her breasts and her shoulders were bare, the faintest hint of tan turning her skin a light brown.
She’d put her hair up in a half bun with little bits of it hanging on either side of her face, and he could’ve stared at her for hours.
He met her at the bottom of the stairs, holding out a hand. “You clean up nice, but we already knew that.”
She laughed, and the sound brushed over him like a spring breeze. Fresh and clean and enticing. “You are a charmer.”