Page 29

Sienna attempted to twirl her ankle, but yelled out in pain from the littlest bit of movement.

“I’d say that’s a no,” her mom said

Sierra and her moms worked together to get Sienna off of the ground and over to the car. Once she was sitting, Sienna rolled up the bottom of her pants and revealed an ankle that was already very swollen.

“Shit.” Her mama shook her head. “That’s not good. We should get you to see a doctor.”

“In this storm?” Sienna asked, aghast. “We’ll never get home.”

Sierra’s mama looked around them as if she was taking in the storm. “What difference is another hour going to make? At the very least, maybe we can get you some medicine to take away the pain.”

Sierra pointed toward the hotel. “I’ll go find out where the closest urgent care is.”

Her mom nodded. “That would be great. Thank you, sweetheart.”

Sierra walked as quickly as she could, but was careful not to trip. When she got inside, she shook off her jacket and walked to the front desk. “Excuse me, could you tell me where the closest urgent care is?”

The front desk woman’s eyes went wide. “What’s wrong? Is someone hurt?”

Sierra pointed outside. “My sister fell on the ice and her ankle is completely busted.”

“There is an urgent care, but I suggest going to the private practice instead. It’s closer and the doctor ismuchnicer. If I’m being completely honest, the doctor that normally works at the urgent care is a grouchy old man most people in this town can’t stand.”

“Good to know. Won’t the private practice be closed, though?” In Sierra’s experience, all of the privately owned medical facilities closed on Sundays.

“It is, but the doctor’s always willing to go in. She even gave me her emergency number for this very reason. She’s always happy to help out the people in this town, especially our visitors.” The front desk woman winked at Sierra. “Are you in town for East Pine’s graduation?”

Sierra shook her head as she fought to hide her growing impatience. “No. I was at East Pine for a track meet.”

“Oh, really? Small world. I’m pretty sure the doctor’s—” She put her hand up as if she was telling herself to stop. “You know what? I shouldn’t be rambling when your sister needs help. Let me get you the doctor’s information.”

Sierra felt herself grow even more impatient as the woman slowly searched around the desk, then copied down information from one piece of paper to another. When she handed the piece of paper to Sierra, Sierra said a quick goodbye before running out of the hotel. She slowed down once she walked out into the snow. When she got closer to the car, she found that it was running. Her mom was sitting in the driver’s seat, and her mama was in the passenger seat. Sierra slid into the backseat beside her sister.

She didn’t even bother to look at the piece of paper before handing it to her mom. “The lady at the front desk said we should call this doctor instead of going to urgent care. She made it sound like she’ll do a much better job.” Plus, Sierra would much rather support a female doctor than a grouchy old man.

“Perfect. I’ll give her a call and see how soon she’d be able to see us.”

After her mom dialed the number, the call rang through the car speakers. “Hello, this is Dr. Finch speaking. How may I help you?”

Dr. Finch?Did Sierra hear that correctly or was she imagining it? She had to be imagining it, right? It would be way too coincidental if the doctor’s last name was Finch.

Sierra couldn’t focus on the conversation, because her ears were ringing. When she heard her mom say goodbye and end the phone call, she forced herself to listen. “That was so nice of her to offer to see us right away.” Her mom leaned forward and looked out the window. “I hope we can find the way. It’s really coming down.”

“What did the doctor say her name was?” Sierra asked as nonchalantly as possible.

Sienna let out a short chuckle and snort but didn’t actually respond to Sierra's question.

“I believe it was Dr. Finch.” Her mama turned around to look at Sierra. “Wait. Isn’t that the last name of the really fast girl on your team? Ellie?” Sierra’s mama laughed. “She doesn’t live around here, does she?”

Sierra swallowed hard.Holy shit. She does.“I’m not sure where she lives.”

Sierra was sure she could get away with that lie, because there was no way the Dr. Finch they were headed to right now was related to Ellie. Life had been cruel enough to her lately.

At least, that’s what she thought until they pulled into the parking lot a few minutes later, and saw who was unlocking the door to the practice. There were two women who appeared to be around the same age as her moms, but that wasn’t who Sierra’s eyes were drawn to. Nope, her eyes went right to the girl standing beside the older women—Ellie Fucking Finch.

Chapter 15

Ellie