do people in Rust Creek Falls do for fun?”
“Fun?” Her eyes flashed just before the deep freeze set in again. “If you’ll excuse me, I have to return these phone calls, Dr. Clifton.”
“That’s so formal. Please call me Jon.”
“That’s all right. Formal works for me. Have a good evening, Dr. Clifton.”
One second she was standing there, the next she was gone. She hadn’t wanted to talk to him at all and wouldn’t have if the questions were about adults instead of kids. Apparently with her, friendly and pleasant was too much to ask. What was her deal?
Admittedly he’d always been more studious than social. He could talk to people; after all he had to communicate with his patients and their caregivers. But talking to a woman was different. Of course they were people, but there was often an undercurrent or subtext to the conversation that he didn’t get.
Jon wasn’t sure how long he’d been contemplating the mystery of Dawn Laramie but he snapped out of it when Emmet walked into his office.
Without invitation or conversation the other man sat in one of the chairs facing the desk. Why couldn’t a woman be more like a man?
“You’re just standing here, Jon. Something wrong?”
That’s what he’d been trying to figure out. “How long have you known Dawn?”
“Let me think.” The older man contemplated the question. “She lives with her mom and is a native of Rust Creek Falls so I’ve seen her from time to time. But I didn’t really get to know her until she came to work here.”
“After leaving Mountain’s Edge Hospital.”
Emmet nodded. “Like I said, the commute must have been bad because she took a cut in pay leaving that job.”
“Sometimes it’s not about the money.” If it was, Jon could have had his pick of lucrative career opportunities. Thunder Canyon Resort was what he’d needed at the time.
“Care to elaborate?”
“No. Guess my Zen just slipped out.” Jon straightened and moved behind the desk. “How well do you know her?”
Emmet thought for a moment. “We work closely together. She’s conscientious and good-natured. Her previous job was in the pediatric ICU at the hospital. Parents relate to her. Kids seem to love her. She’s efficient and knowledgeable. An invaluable asset to this place.”
“So if adults and children like her she must be pretty easygoing?”
“Real friendly. Callie and Brandy took to her right away.” Emmet studied him for a long moment. “Why?”
Jon started to say no reason but knew that wouldn’t fly, what with his interrogation. He wasn’t sure how to answer. It would sound like a complaint and that wasn’t the case. Her interaction with him had been completely professional, but all the friendliness had been surgically removed.
Finally he said, “I like to get to know my coworkers.”
“Makes sense.” Emmet nodded thoughtfully as he stood. “And it occurs to me that when the rest of the reinforcements arrive, I should get everyone on staff together socially.”
“To get to know each other better?” Jon asked.
“Yes. In a relaxed setting where we can let our hair down. A friendly office is a happy office and everything runs more smoothly.”
“Very forward looking of you, Doctor. Sounds like you’re open to suggestion.”
“Yeah,” Emmet agreed. “Why?”
Jon figured he had nothing to lose and this had been on his mind since yesterday when he walked into the clinic. “What do you think about setting up a separate waiting room for kids?”
The other man met his gaze. “Because of the wedding babies?”
“What?”
“All the infants who were born as a result of the spiked punch from the wedding last summer.” Emmet’s eyes twinkled.
Obviously he didn’t hold the adults’ behavior responsible for the population explosion. Jon wasn’t touching that topic, not after his run-in with Dawn.
“Yeah, the wedding babies,” he said. “Infectious disease control would say that a waiting room full of sick people is a breeding ground for germs and it’s especially bad when folks’ immune systems are already compromised by illness.”
“A catch-22. If they weren’t sick, they wouldn’t be there in the first place,” Emmet agreed.
“And infants shouldn’t be exposed to all of that,” Jon said.
“It’s a good idea and would probably mean some remodeling. There’s still grant money left from rebuilding this place after the flood. I’ll look into it.”
“Good.”
“Now, I’m going home. And you need to get out of here, too, Jon. Don’t want you to burn out.”
“Right.”
The other man nodded and left. When he was alone Jon thought about burnout and figured in his case it felt more like a flameout when he considered Dawn. It sure sounded as if she was friendly and easygoing with everyone but him. If that was the case, the logical assumption was that he’d said or done something to upset her.
But, for the life of him, he didn’t know how he’d managed to alienate her. Mentally he reviewed every conversation, all of it up to his innocent question about what people did for fun in this town. From her reaction, you’d have thought he’d hit on her...
Jon winced.
That hadn’t been his intention, but he could see how she might have jumped to that conclusion. Truthfully, he wouldn’t mind getting to know her. She was an attractive woman and, as much as she’d tried to hide it, they shared a similar sense of humor. But none of that meant a tinker’s damn if the workplace was hostile. Doctors were trained to take symptoms and form a diagnosis. That’s what he was going to do with Dawn.
If he didn’t find out what he was doing to put her scrubs in a twist, it was going to be a very long year.
After a second day of working with Dr. Jonathan Clifton, Dawn needed to vent to someone who knew all the skeletons in her closet. Her sister, Marina, had talked her through the personal crisis that was so much of the reason she’d quit her hospital job. For two shifts now Dawn had watched the new doctor charm everyone within a two-mile radius of the clinic. Except her. Was she just being overly cautious and seeing problems where there weren’t any? Talking to Marina might give her a better perspective.
Dawn knocked on her sister’s front door and waited. It could take a while sometimes to get an answer if Marina was busy with the baby. But not tonight.
