25. Chapter 25
Chapter twenty-five
The Marshals gave her a small two-bedroom cottage twenty minutes from the clinic and a little under an hour to Billings.
She would start work the following week.
She needed at least a week to get settled.
The cottage had been furnished for her, and miraculously, her things from her old apartment had been packed and left for her to go through.
At least she would have her personal things with her.
She wouldn’t have to start over from scratch furnishing the cottage.
A picket fence surrounded the yard and an untended garden grew in a shamble against the house. She would tackle the outside after she organized the inside.
Ciara handed Isla the key. “Welcome home, Siobhan. We’re staying at a small motel in town for the next few days to help you get settled and then we’re off to Albuquerque. Here’s to a new start. “
Isla unlocked the door and entered the cool, dark interior. She felt herself exhale. This was home now.
With her new identity, Isla felt almost free.
She left the cottage and unlocked the door to her new-to-her Toyota Camry and drove the five miles to the downtown area of Hardin.
She planned to pick up groceries and to stop in the drug store to pick up a pregnancy test. She knew with all her heart that she was pregnant, but she needed to confirm it and hopefully talk to the pharmacist on hand to recommend a good OB/GYN in the area.
She was thirty-six. Not a young mother—the sooner she had a doctor, the better she’d feel.
Driving down the highway brought back memories of when she’d been on the run from the assassins sent to kill her.
Scared was too mild a word for how she had felt that day, but Mitch had made her feel safe.
She checked the rearview mirror for the twentieth time in the short drive into town to see if she was being followed. Would she ever feel safe again?
After filling the trunk with her groceries, she walked across the street to the drugstore and found the feminine aisle.
She stood there for fifteen minutes reading the backs of all the pregnancy tests.
She picked two and turned to leave when a young woman with a toddler in a cart entered the aisle.
She smiled and cooed to the little one who beamed up at her.
She eyed the tests in Isla’s hands. “So a baby, maybe?”
“I’m hoping. It would be my first.”
“Well then, let’s hope congratulations are in order.”
“I’m praying that they are,” Isla said, smiling. For a moment she pretended that this was a normal pregnancy. That the father was at home, and she was going to surprise him in some memorable way. “Can I ask you something personal?”
“Sure, what do you want to know?”
“I’ve just moved here and I was wondering if you could recommend either a good OB/GYN or a family practitioner in the area?”
“The only OB/GYNs you’ll find here are in Billings, but Dr. Aketcheta Bear is my GP and he’s wonderful. He has office hours right at the Green Lake Clinic. It’s a few blocks from here.”
“Thanks,” Isla said, smiling. “I actually start working there next week. I’m a nurse practitioner. I’ll be working part-time there, three days a week.”
“Welcome to town. I’m Allison Keffler and this is my son, Liam. Maybe we’ll see you around.”
“Thanks, I’m Siobhan O’Grady. I just moved here from Florida.”
“We’re a small town,” Allison said warmly. “So I’m sure we’ll be running into each other. Good luck with the new job and best of everything with the new baby. Fingers crossed.”
“It was really nice meeting you. You have a good day,” Isla said. She looked down at the toddler. “Bye, Liam. Such a cutie.”
“He is, and a handful at that,” she laughed. “He’s trouble.” Allison tickled his tummy as he giggled and squirmed.
If all went well, that would be her in the next few months. She finally had something to look forward to.
Back at the cottage, Isla followed the instructions on the pregnancy test and then sat on the tub edge watching her phone tick down the minutes.
She waited, worrying her lower lip between her teeth.
Please God, let me be pregnant. I need this baby.
The timer beeped. She closed her eyes and took the first test off the sink.
Two pink lines. Before she got too excited, she picked up the other one and the outcome was the same.
Thank you, God. Please keep me and my baby safe. Tears sprang to her eyes. And its father.
Now that she had this baby, she had a family for life—no matter what. It wasn’t all she’d ever wanted—but it was also better than she could ever hope.
Monday came soon enough. Isla was scheduled to work from seven to three. Office hours started at nine. She’d be filling out paperwork till then. She had taken the test for her licensing online while she was under lock and key, so she was ready to go.
Leslie at reception was short and round with long gray hair and warm eyes. She greeted Isla as she walked in the door. “Good morning, Siobhan. How was the move?”
“It went well, no problems at all,” Isla answered.
“I was glad to have the week off before I started here. Everything’s unpacked so it feels a little more like home.
” She wanted to go all-in with this ruse, pretending that she was really just a woman up for a change in her life.
“I’m excited about today. What do I need to do before patients arrive? ”
“Dr. Bear will be here soon. You didn’t get a chance to meet him when you were here for your interview.
You’ll like him. He’s easy to work with and one of the best doctors I know.
He knows his stuff. With your experience in a big city ER this will be pretty boring stuff around here.
I’m not saying we don’t get the occasional upheaval, but normally it’s runny noses and stomach flu and the rare broken bone. ”
“I’m looking forward to a slower pace, but I can run with the best of them,” Isla said with a grin.
The door to the clinic opened and in walked Dr. Bear. At six-four, the man was not easily overlooked. His chiseled features and glowing tanned skin would turn heads for sure. Black hair hung in a braid down his back and his warm smile lit up the room.
Leslie looked in his direction. “Kech, this is our new nurse practitioner, Siobhan O’Grady. After she’s filled out the paperwork, she’s all yours.”
He held out a hand. “It’s nice to meet you, Siobhan. I’ve heard a lot of wonderful things about you. I’m sorry I wasn’t here to meet you when you came in for the interview.”
“I’ve heard some wonderful things about you as well, Dr. Bear,” she said. “I’m excited to be here.”
“Call me Kech,” he insisted. She nodded. At one point in her life, she may have protested and called him Dr. Bear anyway. But if there was one thing she knew after this experience, it was the simple freedom in owning your name.
“Kech, I’ll send her to you as soon as she’s done,” Leslie said.
“Looking forward to it. Siobhan, I’ll see you soon.” Off he went down the hall, presumably to his office.
“He seems nice,” Isla said.
“He is,” said Leslie. “He’s my nephew, actually. He was one of the few who came back after school. Usually once our young people leave the reservation, they don’t come back. It’s sad, but understandable. There’s nothing to keep them here.”
“Leslie, is Dr. Bear taking new patients? I need a GP now that I’ve relocated.”
“He doesn’t turn anyone away. I can guarantee you he’s a good doctor.”
“Great, I’ll have to make an appointment with him soon. I’ve sent for my medical records. They just haven’t arrived yet.” Isla knew that her old medical records were still being changed over to have her new name and background on them.
“Well, when they do, let me know and I’ll set you up with an appointment.”
“Thanks, Leslie,” Isla said. “I really appreciate it.”
She put her hand on her belly. They were doing this together.
Kech showed Isla around the facility and let her shadow him while he saw his patients. She was here to make life easier for him. He was easy to work with, quick to smile, and kept his patients at ease.
At noon, Kech invited her to join him in the small cafeteria available for staff and visitors. He grabbed a lunch bag from the refrigerator and sat down. Isla grabbed some Club crackers from her purse—all she could stomach these days.
“So Siobhan, what made you decide to come here? Montana, of all places. Leslie tells me you’re originally from Florida, sunshine in a bottle. You do know that we can get snow in June here and again in August, right?”
Isla laughed. If only he knew the circumstances that landed her here.
She made up a story. “I’ve always wanted to live in Montana.
Ever since I was a little girl, all I’ve ever dreamed about were these wide-open spaces.
When the opportunity arose, I jumped at it.
My folks wanted a change as well, so we pulled up roots and headed to Montana. ”
“You brought your folks with you?” Kech asked. He pulled out a meaty-looking sandwich from a paper bag.
Isla nodded. “They have an apartment in Billings. They already have more friends than I can count!” She realized that she was telling the truth about that.
Her parents were thriving. The move was good for them.
She added, “They were getting stagnant in Florida, never left the house, all their friends were gone. And the house was just too much, so here we are. I’m working two days a week in Billings at St. Vincent’s, so I’ll see them often.
I have a cottage I’m renting here in Hardin.
It’s perfect. Life is good. I’m excited for the change.
” This was her story now. She could tell it over and over, pretending it belonged to her. She took a bite of a cracker.
Kech said, “Family is the most important thing.”
“What about you?” Isla asked. “I’m surprised you’re not working in a big hospital up in Billings. Why here?”