Chapter 3
I’m aware that this is a terrible idea, standing outside room two with an old phone, my excuse for being here.
But the truth is, Joyce asked me to look out for him, and I’ve been doing a shit job at it. He’s been cooped up in that room for a week without a phone or a car to go anywhere, and I’ve been too busy with work and the kids to make it back.
And even I, who knows little to nothing about being an addict, can guess that’s probably not helpful for staying on track.
So that’s why I’m here, with my terrible idea.
The door swings open barely a second after I knock, revealing my shirtless brother-in-law who must have taken the time to build up his body in prison because—
He looks good. Healthy. And as a doctor, I notice these things.
That’s all. Good for him.
I avert my eyes to the phone in my hand. “I brought this for you. It’s one of Addie’s from a few years ago. We can get something better, but this is what I had on hand, so…” He takes the box, his fingers brushing mine as he does.
In my peripheral vision, I see blue where I used to see skin, so he must have put on a shirt.
I exhale through my nose.
“Thanks,” he says, turning the box over, examining the package.
The room looks exactly as I left it a week ago.
I don’t know what I was expecting. Maybe a mess.
Will seems like the messy type. But the only change from the last time I was here is a half-empty glass of water on the nightstand and an open paperback face down on the bed.
“Get dressed. You’re coming with me today. ”
“Where are we going?” he asks, looking up from the box to meet my eyes.
“Work.”
“No.”
“I’m not taking no for an answer.” I lean against the doorframe, crossing my arms. “You’ve been in this room for a week, and that’s not good for you. You need fresh air. Human interaction. Doctor’s orders.”
“I’ve been outside,” he challenges, matching my stance.
“Going to the vending machine doesn’t count.”
“Your parents asked me to look out for you,” I continue.
“Letting you sit in a motel room and stare at the ceiling all day isn’t doing a great job of that, and I really don’t want to face the wrath of Joyce.
You’d be doing me a favor, really.” His lip quirks up as he looks away, but I think I see the start of a smile.
It’s gone a moment later when he says, “People aren’t gonna want me there.” The words come out small, an admission of his reality, something I can’t even deny. I don’t know what the town would think if they walked into my office and saw the black sheep of our family sitting at the front desk.
But Will isn’t a bad guy. He made some bad decisions, yeah, but the thought that anyone would judge him when he’s trying to be better—
It bothers me more than I’d expected it to, considering I’ve been doing the same thing.
There’s just something about that kicked puppy look in his eyes that tugs on my heartstrings in a way it didn’t used to. Probably getting older, being a dad and all.
“It’s my practice,” I say. “If anyone has a problem, they can leave.”
He studies my face, and I get the feeling he’s looking for the catch. Some version of this that makes sense. Why a man who never particularly liked him is showing up and dragging him into the world.
When he finds the reason, I’d like him to let me know.
“Fine,” he says, moving toward the bathroom, pulling a pair of jeans out of his bag on the way. “Give me five minutes.”
“Take ten.”
He stops in the bathroom doorway and turns to look at me with a raised eyebrow. And when he closes the door, I hear a scoff that might sound like a laugh if I listen hard enough.
I listen to the shower run, and then he comes out in the jeans and the simple t-shirt he had on before, looking—
“Ready?” I say, pushing away any thoughts about his appearance.
He nods, pocketing his new phone. “Can we get breakfast on the way?”
I check my watch. My first patient is at nine, and the diner on Main Street is only a few minutes walk from the practice, so we should have plenty of time. “Sure,” I agree with a shrug.
The last thing I’m expecting from this solemn version of Will is for him to visibly perk up. Like the prospect of breakfast genuinely makes him happy. He turns the knob, tugging the door open, and I follow him out into the chilly autumn morning, making a mental note to bring him some better food.
This isn’t the sort of establishment I typically spend time in. It’s more for the younger crowd, with their vintage games and teen music. Addie and Emmett spend quite a bit of time here.
But the morning rush is filled with older folks while the teens are at school, and it is the best place in town for breakfast.
Will stops inside, taking it in with a whistle. “This place sure didn’t use to be here.”
I can’t help but notice the heads turning to look at us. Everybody knows everybody in Rosehill, so when the town doctor and one of the only criminals Rosehill ever had are out together—
People notice.
I ignore the shift of attention and the murmured exchange between two women at the counter who are watching us. They can gossip all they want. Will’s family.
But he must notice too, by the way he sits down, his shoulders pulled in and his gaze staying down at the menu, the almost good mood from earlier replaced by a tension running through him.
“Breakfast is good here,” I say, opening my menu, chatting like nothing is wrong. “The kids like their pancakes.” He opens his own, and I think I actually hear his stomach growl.
“Biscuits and gravy looks good, but so does the bacon. And the waffles—” he says out loud, his body relaxing again as he scans the options.
“Get whatever you want,” I hear myself saying, finding that I mean it. I want him to have whatever he wants. I’m sure it’s been a long time. At least seven years, but by the way he was living before…
He sets the menu to the side, looking up with a smile that looks weird on his usual solemn face.
Not bad weird.
“This is why you gotta hang out with the rich guys.”
I roll my eyes. “I’m not rich.”
“Compared to me, you are,” he retorts, and I’ll give him that.
The server comes and takes our order, setting a cup of black coffee in front of both of us that Will proceeds to dump way too much cream and sugar into. “What?” he asks, when I’ve been watching in horror for a minute straight. “I’ve been drinking shitty coffee for years, don’t judge me.”
“I’m not.” I am.
His bacon and eggs and waffles come, along with the egg white thing I force myself to eat because I’m supposed to be watching my calories. Will turns his nose up at it, but doesn’t comment, and we settle into the closest thing to comfortable we’ve been since he got home.
He asks about Ollie again, and I tell him more about the teacher situation and the ice cream negotiation, and he listens like he’s interested. When he lifts the coffee cup to his lips, his hands aren’t shaking the way they were at Frank and Joyce’s.
That settles a nagging concern I haven’t been able to shake since that day.
I’m telling him about the time, after he was arrested, that I came home to find Addie and, in turn, Emmett had decided to paint the kitchen table when I feel a presence beside me.
“Dr. Murphy.”
Barbara Mullins is looking at me with her church smile on, too polite to be real, but she can’t quite keep it up when she looks Will’s way. “And William Davis. What a surprise.” She purses her lips. “I didn’t realize you were home.”
Will goes still across from me.
The ease of the last twenty minutes drains out of him like it was never there to begin with, and all of a sudden, he’s that same man from a week ago, looking down at his coffee, his voice nowhere to be found.
She takes that as an invitation to keep going.
“I hope you know this town doesn’t tolerate any of that—”
I tune her out, knocking my foot against his under the table. His eyes flit up to meet mine briefly, the green taking on a sort of teal color with the blue shirt he’s wearing—
“You better leave that poor boy alone, Barb,” I hear from the bar, where Lily Price and her wife, Diana, sit, having their own breakfast.
Will’s head shoots up at her voice, and I don’t have a single explanation for the disappointment I feel when his eyes are out of my line of view.
“Oh, hey, Mrs. Price. Long time no see,” he says, with a real smile, when she hops down from her stool with a word to her wife and comes to stand beside Barbara.
“Well, it was nice to speak with you boys,” she says with a look bordering on a grimace before she returns to the other ladies from church.
“I was hoping I’d run into you. Your getting out of the slammer has been the talk of the town,” Mrs. Price says, taking her wife’s hand right there in the middle of the restaurant.
Will’s eyes dart down to them.
“Shit, you finally find somebody willing to put up with you?” he questions with a chuckle, and I can’t even make myself smile, watching the interaction. Taking in the strange experience of Will having a normal conversation with someone.
“She sure did,” her wife says, kissing her hand, making Mrs. Price look away.
“Alright then, that’s my cue,” she says, turning to me. “Make sure this one stays out of trouble, Dr. Murphy. We like having him around.”
“Will do, Mrs. Price. Don’t forget your appointment next Friday.” She doesn’t respond to that, tugging her wife behind her before she has to hear more about it.
When I turn back to Will, he’s shaking his head with a frown. “That’s a damn shame.”
“What is?” I ask, hoping my brother-in-law doesn’t mean her marriage. We’re not homophobic in my family, and I won’t tolerate it from him.
“I always hoped I’d have a chance with Mrs. Price someday.”
Oh.
I laugh harder than I have in a long time, paying no mind to the people around us.
My new practice is in the middle of Main Street in a building that’s been around longer than I have. Jess and I bought it almost two years ago, an upgrade from the old building that hardly had room to move. The plan was to renovate the space and eventually hire more doctors.
It was a nice plan.
Jess left before it could happen.
So now I’m stuck with a space I have nothing to do with, and renovations that I wouldn’t have any idea where to start. We were supposed to figure it out together.
Will’s eyes scan the sign, Murphy Family Medicine, and the large white building, widening slightly. His awe will be short-lived, I can guarantee.
There’s a pride sticker on the window beside the front door, Addie and Emmett’s recommendation. Will nods at it. “Nice.”
“Everyone should feel welcome here.” I pull out my keys with a shrug. “Seems like a low bar, but this is Rosehill.”
The outside can pass as being well kept, but the inside is a different story.
The waiting area is functional, with chairs Jess picked out and a desk, as long as you don’t look to the left, where the wall is half painted with a color I don’t even like anymore, and tools I wouldn’t know how to use propped up against it. Floor samples piled up in the corner.
It’s a mess that the decorative plant off to the side can’t cover up.
Will stops abruptly. “It’s a work in progress,” I defend, even though I know this isn’t a good look.
“Mm.” He walks to the half-painted wall, running a hand along the poorly done spackle. “How long has it been like this?”
“About a year.” He looks at me over his shoulder. “Jess and I were supposed to do it together and, well. Obviously, that didn’t happen.”
There’s a question in his eyes. He hasn’t asked about Jess, but I know he’s wondering. What happened. Why she left. What I did wrong.
The list is endless.
I clear my throat. “Come on, I’ll show you the desk.” He takes one more look at the wall, but follows me without a word.
I’m in the middle of showing Will around the very sparse desk when my only employee, Victoria, arrives. “Morning, boss, I heard the craziest thing on the way—”
She stops in her tracks, her eyes sliding from me to Will. “Oh. Hi.”
“Good morning, Victoria. This is Will. He’s going to be helping out today.”
“Helping out how?” she asks slowly, her brown eyes more cautious than they usually are.
“Dealing with the phones, customers, whatever,” I tell her calmly, even though I can tell she’s at the very least concerned. “Take the day off. Will’s got it covered.”
Her eyes linger on him. “Um. Are you sure?”
“You’ve been complaining about needing a day off for weeks,” I remind her with raised eyebrows.
She stares at me for a moment, then back at Will, who’s gone unnaturally still. “Full pay?”
“Full pay.”
“Awesome, thanks, boss!” she says, her apprehension gone in the face of a day off. “Don’t forget to water the plants!”
The door shuts behind her before either of us says anything, and it’s a long, tense moment before Will turns to look at me. I smile, giving him a pat on the shoulder that leaves my hand tingling. “So, you’re answering phones today.”
He scowls, shrugging my hand off of him. “I don’t know how to answer phones.”
“You pick it up and talk into it. Pretty self-explanatory.”
“You could’ve told me that before I came with you.”
“Would you have come?” He crosses his arms. “Come on,” I say, ignoring his attitude. “I’ll show you around before the first patient.”
The tour consists of the two functioning exam rooms, a small lab, my office, and a break room in the back with a coffee maker I overpaid for and still can’t use without Victoria’s help.
He stops outside exam room one, staring at a watercolor painting of the Rosehill water tower. “Did Addie do this?”
I nod. “Yeah. There’s more in the break room if you—” He doesn’t wait for me to finish my sentence, starting toward the break room while I follow behind, stopping where three of her paintings hang on the otherwise empty wall.
Will stands in front of them, scanning the pictures. “Wow. She’s good.”
“She’s very good.”
He nods, still looking, and there’s something sad on his face. The look of a man who didn’t get to watch his niece grow up when he looks away from them. “Alright,” he says. “Let’s get this over with.”