Page 13 of A Hidden Hope

Dok had offered to give Annie a lift home on Saturday afternoon, since she was heading out that way to stop by her friend Bee Bennett’s house.

As Annie hoisted her scooter into the back of the SUV, Dok watched her with a thoughtful look on her face.

“Odd. It just dawned on me that I don’t think I’ve ever given you a ride before. ”

Not so odd. Dok lived in the opposite direction from Fishers’ dairy farm and worked crazy hours. Annie kept strict office hours and enjoyed the independence of riding her scooter. If the weather was bad, either her mom or dad would drop her off or pick her up.

Annie climbed into the plush leather passenger seat, a change from the hard buggy bench she was used to. Eyes wide, she looked over the sleek dashboard, the elegant clock. She hadn’t been in a car in years and years, and never ever in one so fancy as Dok’s.

“Buckle up,” Dok said, and they were off.

Down the tree-lined road that ended at the Bent N’ Dent, left at the stop sign, right at the old gray barn.

And then they reached a long, open stretch of road, and to Annie’s surprise, Dok stepped hard on the gas pedal.

The car lurched forward. Annie gripped the armrest, trying to steady herself, but Dok’s speed caught her completely off guard.

Everything felt off-kilter. She grew dizzy, her stomach twisted and turned, and she had to squeeze her eyes shut.

The sickening churn in her gut intensified, and she fought the urge to gag.

The thought of throwing up in front of Dok, in her SUV, was terrifying. Please , God , no!

Dok made a sharp right turn, jolting Annie into more misery.

She opened one eye like a pirate. Home was just a few hundred yards away.

Hold on , hold on , she told herself. Nearly there .

As soon as Dok came to a stop at the top of the hill, Annie bolted from the car to hurry toward the house.

She needed to get to a bathroom! “Thanks!” she called over her shoulder.

“Wait! Your scooter!” Dok called after her.

Annie rushed back to the SUV and grabbed her scooter from the back.

Dok twisted in her seat, peering at her with concern. “Are you okay? You look pale.”

“Yes,” Annie said, forcing a strained smile. “I’m just fine.” She wasn’t fine at all.

Dok hesitated. “Are your folks at home?”

Oh , I really , really hope not. “You know what it’s like for dairy farmers,” Annie said, backing up. “They’re around here somewhere!” She turned around and walked fast toward the house.

As soon as Dok’s car disappeared down the road, Annie stumbled to the bushes and threw up.

Afterward, she collapsed on the porch steps, her head buried between her knees.

The cool, solid feel of the steps beneath her was a small comfort, but her stomach continued to churn with that all-too-familiar, terrible sensation.

It was strange how a problem from so long ago could return so forcefully.

Motion sickness had plagued her childhood, but she’d thought she would’ve outgrown it.

As time went on, it was forgotten. She realized now why she hadn’t been in a car for years—she’d suffered from motion sickness profoundly as a child, so much so that her parents didn’t take her along on bus trips to visit her brothers.

A horse and buggy traveled slow, less than fifteen miles an hour.

The sudden jolt of being back in a car had revived it with a vengeance. Full force. Annie took deep, steadying breaths, waiting for the nausea and dizziness to pass.

Her eyes flew open. EMT! How could she possibly become an EMT and ride in an ambulance if she suffered from motion sickness? Dok drove fast, but an ambulance? That thing would be like a rocket. Her heart began to pound. What if she couldn’t?

Oh, how her mother would love this turn of events! Annie could hear her now, declaring that it must be the Lord’s will to keep Annie from pursuing EMT work. Probably a direct answer to her prayers.

“Calm down, Annie,” she told herself. “You’re just making a big deal out of nothing.

Dok’s just a wild driver, that’s all.” She took a deep breath, slowly inhaling through her nose for a count of four, holding it for seven, and then exhaling through her mouth for eight.

She repeated the breathing exercise four times, and by the end, she felt a bit more grounded. A tiny less nauseous.

Hold on.

Her head snapped up. Last winter, she had ridden in an ambulance without any major issues.

Once. She had gone with Sarah Blank to the hospital after Sarah had fallen through ice into Blue Lake Pond.

It had been fine. So it was definitely possible to be in a fast-moving vehicle without succumbing to motion sickness. She let out a big sigh of relief.

But what was the difference? She closed her eyes, thinking back.

When she’d been riding in that ambulance to accompany Sarah, she’d been completely, thoroughly mesmerized by watching Gus at work.

Mr. Wonderful. Her entire being was so focused on him, there was no room left for her stomach to react to the fast ride in the ambulance.

She squeezed her eyes shut and dropped her head between her knees again. If she could control it once, she could do it again. She refused to let this derail her dream to be an EMT. With Gus.

May turned to June. As another week in Stoney Ridge got underway, Evie had barely seen Charlie.

He left at dawn to get to Dok’s office and stayed until late each evening.

One day after work, she went down to the basement to see what kind of progress he was making.

At the bottom of the steps, she waited until he had finished framing a wall with the nail gun.

She could have interrupted him, but the opportunity to just gaze at him was too appealing to skip.

What was it about Charlie? Why did he have such an effect on her? She’d spent so much time trying to figure it out, but she still didn’t know for sure.

It had to be subjective. Darcy might be right that he wasn’t that handsome. His nose was a little crooked, like it had been broken once and not reset properly. And there was a thin scar running down one cheek that she’d always wondered about. He wasn’t perfect. He should be nothing special at all.

But he just was.

He was endlessly good-natured and well-intentioned. He was all in. Thoroughly committed to whatever he was doing. Like ... this basement remodel. Committed Charlie.

She could have stared at him all day.

Too soon, he set down the nail gun and turned toward her, like he sensed she was there. The expression on his face when he looked at her, like it was the best moment of his day—it just melted her. Did everybody get that look from him?

“What do you think?”

Evie slowly turned in a circle, taking in the bare walls and scattered tools. “There’s so much more light in here with that enlarged door space.”

“Yeah, that’s made a big difference.” He’d carved out the space for the new entryway and was just using a piece of plywood as a door for now. The plywood rested on the wall, and light streamed in from the outside.

“I can see the possibilities down here,” she said with a smile. “But I’ve got a pretty vivid imagination.”

“Yeah? What else do you see?” Charlie said, crossing his arms, clearly interested.

“Well, off the top of my head, right where you’re standing could be more than a waiting room.” She moved toward the center of the room where Charlie stood.

“Like what?”

“Like, it’s big enough that it could be a gathering place for a group. And given the lighting situation down here, the walls should be a light color, maybe a pale blue, with a little gray in it.”

“Don’t stop.”

Not a problem! She was just getting started. “On the walls, I can imagine some framed pictures of local landscapes. A covered bridge, or some of those beautiful Amish barns. Or quilts! I could look in some downtown shops for them.”

Taking a step toward her, Charlie grinned. “Keep going. I like your ideas.”

Evie felt a surge of excitement. “We could put down a rug to make it cozy. A durable rug. As in ... washable.” Just yesterday, a little four-year-old boy threw up all over the floor of Dok’s small waiting room. “Definitely washable.”

He stepped even closer. “You’ve got a knack for this.”

Their faces were just inches apart.

Eyes locking, they both grew very still.

Evie should step back. Too close , too close! She didn’t trust herself to not throw her arms around him and cover his face with kisses.

Step back , step back! Right now, before it was too late. But she didn’t. She couldn’t make herself.

Just then, Wren came down the cellar stairs. “Charlie, you won’t believe what I’ve found—” She stopped short at the exposed threshold when she saw Evie, her expression shifting to one of dry disgust.

On the far side of the basement, Dok’s voice rang down the steps. “Evie? We’ve got a house call to make.”

“Oh, okay, Dok. I’ll be right up.”

Wren let out an annoyed sigh. “House calls are a colossal waste of time. You need modern equipment to properly evaluate a patient, and that requires a doctor’s office.”

Evie couldn’t disagree more. So much more about a patient was revealed in their home—like the elderly man who promised Dok that he was taking his medication, only for her to spot the full bottles on his kitchen windowsill.

In their homes, patients often revealed things they didn’t even realize themselves.

Like the woman who insisted she had asthma and needed an inhaler.

Each time her cat climbed into her lap, she started having trouble breathing—turned out she was allergic to it.

What was the point of disagreeing with Wren? It was never really a conversation with her. She told you what she thought, with a tone in her voice that you should think that way too. Even if you didn’t. Evie glanced up at Charlie. “Guess I’d better go.”

Charlie shot her an apologetic look. “No problem. We can talk more later.”