Page 9 of Welcome Home to Ivy Falls (Ivy Falls #3)

I left the office and walked down the hall to Room Three.

After I knocked once, I poked my head in the door.

A kid, maybe twelve or so, sat on the exam table.

He was chatting, laughing with a woman who had rich dark hair swept back from her face in a braid.

My heart stuttered when she turned to look at me.

‘What…what are you doing here?’ she gasped.

‘I’m the physician filling in for Dr Sheridan while he’s away.’

‘I heard something about that. But nobody said…’

‘That you’d welcome that person to town with a latte bath?’ I turned to the kid sitting on the table. ‘Thanks to our friend here.’

He gave me that preteen stare down. ‘Ooops. Sorry about that,’ he said like he wasn’t sorry at all.

I tried not to laugh as Piper’s face went three shades of red.

‘Dex, be nice. This man is your shot at getting that candy out of your ear.’

‘Candy?’

‘Yep. Dex thought it’d be cute to show off for his friends and shove a gummy bear deep into his ear.’

‘Why’d you do that?’ I asked.

‘Cause Jake Anderson dared me I wouldn’t,’ he huffed.

Piper gave him a concerned look.

‘So are you two related? Is he your son?’

‘No! Of course not. You think I’m old enough to have a kid this big?’ she said like she thought I was an idiot.

‘No. But you’re here, and… you were chatting… and…’

Shit. I need to stop talking.

‘For your information, Dex is part of the summer musical I’m directing over at the community theater.’

‘Oh, that makes sense.’

Yeah, I was sounding even dumber now. What was it about this woman that made me so damn flustered?

I turned my attention back to Dex. ‘Where are your folks?’

His shoulders sagged. ‘My dad lives in Knoxville, and my mom is working over on Silverlake Street.’

‘I called her as we walked over here,’ Piper said. ‘She said you have permission to examine him.’

At that moment, Shirley slid in the door. Her red hair tucked into a tight bun. ‘Dex’s mom, Rachel, called. Said she can’t get away for a few more minutes, but that she signed a medical release for the theater program in case of emergency.’

‘Fine. Let’s get started.’

I grabbed the otoscope off the wall and walked toward the exam table.

My gaze clashed with Piper’s. There was something about her that was magnetic.

I couldn’t put my finger on it. Of course she was beautiful, but there was a quiet resilience hidden beneath her steely attitude.

A steady thrum to her personality that drew me in. Made me want to know more about her.

‘I need you to move so I can look in his ears.’

‘Oh, yeah. Right.’ She scooted away to sit on a nearby chair.

Being gentle, I looked in one ear. The kid had jammed the candy pretty deep into the ear canal.

‘Shirley, can you grab me a pair of forceps?’

For the first time since I’d entered the room, the kid’s tough demeanor crumbled.

‘What’s that?’ he gulped.

She opened the sterile package and handed them to me. I held them up for Dex. ‘These are like tweezers and will help grab the candy.’

‘Will it hurt?’ he squeaked.

‘No, it may feel uncomfortable for a minute though.’

The kid’s worried gaze flicked to Piper. Without hesitation, she pulled her chair close and reached for his hand. The silver rings on her fingers glittered in the pale light of the room.

‘How old are you, Dex?’ I asked.

He puffed out his chest. ‘I’ll be thirteen in August.’

I tried to grab the candy but could only grasp small bits. Shirley stepped closer and I whispered to her about another idea I had and she left the room.

‘Yep. That was the year of “The Great Brother Battle” for me.’

‘What’s that?’ Dex asked.

‘The summer I turned thirteen my older brother, Grayden, who was sixteen at the time, was a real pain in the a…’

Piper arched a brow at me.

‘He was a menace, always harassing me and my friends. Constantly challenging us to do stupid things like jump off our roof into the pool.’

‘Cool,’ he gushed.

Piper’s arched brow morphed into a scowl.

Yeah, probably should not be giving the kid ideas.

‘One night when I was hanging out at my favorite pizza place, my brother came in with his high-school friends. He bet me I couldn’t eat an entire large pepperoni pizza and drink a full liter of soda in under ten minutes.’

Dex’s eyes gleamed. ‘You totally took that bet, right?’

‘Yeah, and I paid the price.’

His look turned puzzled. ‘How?’

‘I took that pizza down, not a crumb left. Drinking the liter of soda was easy too. Thought for sure I’d beaten my brother, but five minutes later the cutest girl in middle school showed up. She smiled at me and I proceeded to throw up all over her flip-flops.’

‘Ooooh, gross,’ Dex laughed. ‘Were there chunks and stuff between her toes?’

Piper pressed a hand to her mouth but not before I saw her smile.

‘Tons of chunks. She and her friends hated me for the rest of middle school.’

Dex gave a hesitant smile. ‘Wish I had a brother. I’m an only child.’

‘Do you have a best friend?’

‘Yeah. Jensen Banfield. We’ve been buddies since second grade.’

‘And do you play video games? Skateboard? Hang out regularly?’

‘Yep,’ he sighed, finally showing a flicker of vulnerability. ‘He invites me over a lot because my mom’s always working.’

‘See, you do have a brother then. Blood might not unite you but friendship does.’

Dex cocked his head like he was giving it serious thought. I caught Piper’s eye and her steady gaze said she approved of the way I’d handled his worries.

Shirley returned a minute later with another sterile package. She pulled out a curette and handed it to me.

‘Continue to hold still, buddy. I’m going to use this to scoop out the rest of the candy.’

Piper’s stare never left Dex. For his part, he managed to stay frozen as I worked the candy out of his ear. Piper was good with him. Knew to smile when he tensed up. Squeeze his hand when he winced.

There was something gentle, kind in her demeanor that made me want to move closer. Look into those deep, thoughtful eyes and ask about her life. If she was originally from Ivy Falls. How long she’d lived here.

A small knock on the door forced me to look away. In a flurry, a woman with curly white-blonde hair flew into the room.

‘Oh, Dexy! What did you do?’

Piper instantly moved out of the chair. ‘Sit down, Mrs Swanson.’

The woman gave Piper a scathing look before she said, ‘Is my baby all right, doc?’

‘He’s fine. I’m almost done.’

She held her son’s hand and he wilted. ‘Sorry, Mom. It was a dare and I had to do it.’

‘We’ve talked about this, Dexy. You don’t have to perform to get people to like you.’

Piper inched back against the wall like all she wanted to do was disappear.

‘I know, but I thought it’d be funny. People did laugh.’ His chin dipped. ‘Until they didn’t anymore.’

She patted his hand, but the tense set of her mouth said this wasn’t the first time he’d pulled a stunt like this.

It took ten more seconds before I pulled out the remaining red chunks from his ear. I checked the canal once more with the otoscope. ‘Looks clear. You may be sore for a little bit, but no lasting damage.’

Mrs Swanson stood and reached for my hands. ‘Thank you, Dr…’

‘Foster.’

Piper did a double take as Mrs Swanson kept speaking. ‘Talk around town says you went to Vandy?’

‘Yes. Undergrad and medical school.’

‘It’s good to have a local boy here to help us.’

‘I’ll only be here three months until Dr Sheridan gets back.’

Piper’s attention moved to the small window in the corner of the room. Her cheeks were too pale for my liking and she rubbed at something on her wrist.

Once I was done chatting with Mrs Swanson, she and Dex left the room and Piper started to follow.

‘Hey, can you hold on a second?’ I asked.

Her lips thinned into an unhappy line. ‘Why?’

‘Because I want to talk.’

‘About what?’ There was a sudden chill to her voice as she kept rubbing at her wrist. No, not rubbing, but tracing the edges of a colorful hummingbird tattoo.

‘Don’t be upset by this incident. I’ve seen preteen boys do a lot worse.’

‘I’m not upset,’ she said, shoving away a loose dark hair near her mouth.

‘Are you sure?’

‘Please tell me you are not questioning whether or not I know my own feelings.’ I didn’t like how she went quiet again. ‘Can we please not do this?’

‘Do what?’

‘Pretend like you don’t know who I am.’

I held her panicked gaze. ‘What do you mean?’

The rest of what color was left in her cheeks drained away. ‘You worked at Memorial Springs Hospital, right? I was there right before I went to rehab. My brother said he spoke to a Dr Foster. I was unconscious and you told him to talk to me. That I’d be all right,’ she said on a wobbly breath.

Like a blurry image coming into focus, I saw the whole picture. The stillness of her body in the bed. The hunch to her brother’s shoulders as he held her too pale hand.

‘Let’s make a deal.’ Her voice turned to iron. ‘I’ll avoid you while you’re here and you avoid me.’

‘Why?’

‘Because I’ve worked hard to straighten out my life, even if some people still don’t trust me.

’ Her gaze moved to the door. The way Dex’s mom had spoken to her now made sense.

‘What I don’t need is you skulking around as a constant reminder of that past.’ My mouth must have drooped, because she followed up with, ‘The broken person you saw in that moment doesn’t exist anymore, and that look of pity currently settled into the curves of your face is something I don’t want to see every time we pass in the street, and we will, because Ivy Falls is damn small. ’

‘Pity?’ I circled a hand around my face. ‘This is not pity.’

‘What is it then?’ she said with an annoyed huff.

Desire.

Lust.

Want.

Yeah, none of those words were coming out of my mouth while she glared at me like I was an insect she wanted to stomp.

‘Look.’ I pushed my glasses up the bridge of my nose, taking my time so I didn’t screw this up.

‘I’m not going to deny that I remember you now from the hospital, but I was only on shift for that one day.

I never examined you or had any other interaction with your case.

Seeing me is a shock, I get that. But, I swear, I’d never do anything to make you uncomfortable.

And from watching you in the bookstore, and just now with Dex, it’s clear you’re doing well. ’

She pulled in a thready breath. ‘You don’t know a thing about me.’

I couldn’t explain it but a raw ache built in my chest. It was like every element in my body was screaming that I should touch her.

Offer some kind of reassurance that she was safe with me.

She was right though, I didn’t know her.

But I wanted to. There was still that insistent pull inside me wanting to ask a dozen questions.

To know every single little detail about her life.

How she got involved in theater. Where all those rings on her fingers came from.

Why she frantically rubbed at that tattoo when she was nervous.

‘Like you said, you’re only here for a few months.’ Her firm voice pulled me back from my spiraling thoughts. ‘Let’s just agree to stay out of each other’s way.’

‘Wait—’ I started to protest.

‘Goodbye, Dr Foster.’

She was gone in a flash and I stood alone in the exam room, my thoughts a jumbled mess.

What she’d asked was fair, and I’d respect her wishes. But I was also painfully aware of how hard that task was going to be.