a bed to himself would’ve been considered high living.
He glanced at the electric clock on the bedside table. It said seven twenty-eight. The woman would have his hide if he didn’t turn up on time this morning. He couldn’t take a chance that she’d inform her Uncle Gene about his tardiness. More time he couldn’t do.
Ten minutes later, freshly shaven and dressed in khakis, a knit shirt and loafers, he opened the door and almost stepped in the tray sitting on the stoop. There he found a Thermos of coffee, toast and a boiled egg. He smiled. Maybe the caustic doctor was feeling a little guilty about how she’d treated him when he’d been late. Apparently she wasn’t all vinegar.
He checked the time. If he didn’t get a move on she might chew him out again. Grabbing the Thermos and egg, he closed the door behind him and hurried down the stairs. Knocking on the back door of her house, he received no response. She must’ve found a ride to work. If she wasn’t at the clinic when he got there, he’d hunt for her.
As Taylor walked across the parking lot towards the clinic, Shelby came out. “Coming in under the wire, aren’t you, Doctor?” Her voice was full of censure as she worked the key until the deadbolt was drawn into the door to open the office for the day.
“I said I’d be here, and I’m here. And good morning to you too, Doctor. What time did you show up?”
“I’ve been here an hour or so. It usually takes me that long to set up for the day.”
“I knocked to see if you needed a ride.”
“I walked. Bert said he’d have my truck fixed this afternoon.”
Taylor held the door for her to enter ahead of him. “You walked? I would’ve brought you if you’d woken me.”
“You were tired. Walking isn’t a problem. I do it pretty regularly. I’m safe enough and it’s good exercise.”
A couple of people who’d been waiting around outside came in behind them.
“Thanks for the breakfast.” He showed her the egg and Thermos.
“No problem. Those’ll have to wait, though. We’ve patients to see.”
Her no-nonsense statement went along with her functional attire of navy slacks and white V-neck T-shirt that showed a hint of cleavage. Despite her simple attire, it couldn’t hide the shapely curves of her body. Her waist was small enough that a man’s hands could easily slip around it.
She’d pulled her hair back but at the nape it was too short to capture. The only flash of color was a bright neon-pink stethoscope hanging around her neck. Taylor followed her to the desk, where a blonde teenage girl sat, drumming a pencil and chewing gum.
“Carly, this is Dr. Stiles. He’ll be helping us for the next couple of weeks,” Shelby said as she picked up the sign-in clipboard.
Taylor nodded to the girl.
She looked up. He watched her eyes widen. She shifted, then straightened in her chair. “Hey.” She flipped her long blonde hair behind her shoulder. He’d never thought of himself as vain, far from it, but he did know when a female appreciated his looks.
“Carly, do you think you could find Ms. Cooper’s file? And get rid of the gum.” Shelby turned to him, “I’ll see Ms. Cooper since this is a check-up.”
Carly didn’t move. He didn’t know why but he wished Shelby would have the same reaction to him that Carly did. Other than that one unguarded moment when he’d been unbuttoning his shirt, she’d acted as if she had no idea he was male. It intrigued and disappointed him. Simple admiration from Shelby would be hard earned.
“I’ll call Dr. Stiles’s patient for him,” Carly said as she dropped her gum into the trash can at her feet and gave him a toothy smile.
“Will I be using exam one?” he asked Shelby.
“That’ll be fine.”
Her words were said so tersely that he glanced at her. What was her problem now?
For the rest of the morning he had little time to ponder what might have upset Shelby. The waiting room stayed full no matter how efficiently he tended to the patients or how simple the cases were.
Where Carly’s reaction to him had been an ego booster earlier in the day, it had become borderline comical by midday. He noticed that she saw to all his patients, showing them to their exam room, asking him if he had everything he needed or if she could get him something to drink. All of it was nice but it was in direct contrast to how Carly treated Shelby. Carly offered her no assistance.
When Taylor asked Carly about that she shrugged in a typical teenage dramatic fashion and said, “Oh, Dr. Wayne likes to do everything herself.”
Of course she does.
By lunchtime Taylor couldn’t help but admit that he’d put in a pretty hard morning. The little clinic was plenty busy. The mundane work sucked him back to another time. Each patient reminded him too much of the people he’d known growing up.
There was the kid with the cough that never disappeared, like Mike Walker’s. He’d been in Taylor’s third-grade class one year but wasn’t there the next. Or others, such as old man Parsons, who’d had no teeth and had chewed tobacco until his gums were diseased. Or Mrs. Roberts, who might’ve been pretty at fifty, but with too many children and a sorry husband had looked like she was seventy.
Taylor would do his time and get back to where he belonged, where memories weren’t darts being thrown at him constantly.
Around noon the egg he’d eaten in bites between patients was gone. He was glad to see that the crowd in the waiting room had dwindled. Maybe they would let him and Shelby have some lunch before every seat was filled again.
“Where do you get a good burger in this town?” Taylor asked as Shelby approached the front desk.
“There’s a burger place on Main,” Carly offered.
“We can all go. I’ll buy,” he offered.
Shelby gave a negative shake of her head. “I have paperwork to do. And someone may come in.” She slipped a chart into the file cabinet.
Really? The woman couldn’t even stop long enough to go out for a quick bite of lunch?
“I want to go. Can we ride in that cool car of yours?”
Taylor wasn’t sure he wanted to be seen riding around town with the very young girl beside him but there was no choice because he had no idea where the burger joint was and he was starving. “Can we bring you back something?” Taylor asked Shelby.
“No, I have a pack of crackers in my desk.”
“Okay.” He shrugged. “But I bet a burger would be a lot better.” He looked at Carly. “Come on. Show me the way. I guess I should learn my way around town.”
Shelby pulled out the drawer of her desk and reached for the package of crackers but didn’t pick them up. She would’ve been satisfied with them if Taylor hadn’t mentioned a burger.
She
