In the Doctor's Arms

by Carol Ross

  “Huh. Wow.” Surprise flickered across his features. “That is all one hundred percent accurate.”

  “I know. Just because I don’t like to do what you do doesn’t mean I’m not interested or proud of you.”

  He grinned. “Well, I could take your fancy new boss fishing and show him a thing or two—or seventeen.”

  “I wish,” Iris said, and plopped down on the sofa next to Hazel. “I wish we could do some kind of triplet power transfer. Remember how we used to wish were identical so we could trade places and—”

  “That’s it!” Hazel cried, springing to her feet.

  “What’s it? Please tell me you’ve been waiting for this moment all our lives to tell us that we do indeed have special powers?”

  “Bear with me for a second. I might have an idea. What is this retreat going to consist of exactly?”

  “Let’s see... I called Bering while I was in DC and he was so nice and enthusiastic. He asked Emily to get involved and she suggested working something out with Shay at the Faraway Inn. We’ll do some day trips and offer choices of activities dependent on their skills and fitness level and what they want to do.

  “So, for example, deep-sea fishing, fly-fishing or a wildlife-and-photography tour one day, glacier excursion and whale watching or kayaking the next, then maybe mountain biking or a jet boat ride—that kind of thing. Then the entire group will backpack up to Perry’s Meadow and camp for two nights. That’ll be fun,” she drawled sarcastically. “More fishing and hiking but with extra mosquitoes. Then, the final night will be spent at the Faraway Inn before they head back to Anchorage the next day.”

  Hazel had been staring at her intently. “Listen to me, you can do this. We can help.”

  If only. “How?”

  “Seth guides for Bering sometimes, so it wouldn’t be unusual for him to offer in this case, seeing as how this guy is your new boss and all. We’ve got a couple of weeks before they get here. Seth can give you a crash fishing course and then he’ll cover for you on the trip.”

  “Done,” Seth declared. “What kind of fishing does he want to do?”

  “Halibut and grayling fishing are his top two.”

  “The halibut fishing will be a breeze,” Seth declared. “I’m not sure I can make you an expert with a fly rod that quickly.”

  Hazel waved off his comment like a pesky fly. “We’ll figure that out. He won’t expect you to be by his side on every excursion. The hiking and sightseeing will be easy. All you have to do is read up on the wildlife, history and fun facts about Alaska. All the bad stuff you already know, but let’s try to keep that to a minimum. You know, your bear-attack statistics and all of that. Spin things positively.”

  “Trust me, I already do plenty of that working for Tag.”

  “See, you’re already ahead of the game! I’ll teach you about backpacking and I can even hike in with you to Perry’s Meadow. Again, no one will think a thing of me going along—I do it whenever I’m home. And your colleagues will love having another local along, especially your triplet sister.”

  Iris knew this was true. Bering’s family members or friends often tagged along on excursions when there were open spots. Hazel had done it since high school. Charming, knowledgeable and at home in the woods, she’d only be an asset in a group of newbies.

  Iris felt a tiny spark of hope, and a blazing fire of appreciation for her siblings. “You guys would really do this for me?”

  “Absolutely,” Hazel said.

  “Heck, yes,” Seth said at the same time.

  “Do you have any idea what other activity Sebastien might choose?” her sister asked.

  Iris grimaced. “Yep. Kayaking.”

  Hazel nibbled thoughtfully on her lip. “How do you feel about letting Flynn in on this, too? He could have you kayaking in a week.”

  How mortifying to confess to Flynn what she’d gotten herself into.

  * * *

  FLYNN DIDN’T SEE any reason to beat around the bush. “Iris, we have a problem.” They’d met after Flynn’s shift at the hospital and were on their way to the Cozy Caribou to grab a bite.

  “You already know about my problem? Did Seth tell you?”

  “I haven’t talked to Seth about this.”

  Iris shifted on her feet and Flynn could see that she was nervous. Raising her hands up, palms down, she said, “Let’s start over. I think we may have separate problems. You go first.”

  “Sonya is still here.”

  “Here, where?”

  “In Rankins.”

  “Oh. And?”

  “You’re not surprised.”

  “No, not really. She came here for a reason and in spite of what she said I don’t think she’s ready to let it go.”

  “That’s what I’m afraid of, too. I ran into her at the grocery store while you were gone. She told me she wants to relax for a few days before she goes back to Anchorage. She’s says it’s peaceful here. I don’t know what she’s up to. The problem is, she still thinks you and I are a couple.”

  “Yeah, her and the rest of the town. Even Hazel thinks something is going on.”

  “It’s my fault. I’m the one who kiss—”

  “It doesn’t matter, Flynn. I’ll be gone soon, anyway.”

  She glanced away and frustration built inside of him. It was so obvious she didn’t want to discuss their kiss, which just reiterated to him that it had affected her as much as it had him. Why wouldn’t she just admit it?

  “It doesn’t matter to you, but I’m afraid that if Sonya finds out that we’re not really together, she’ll...”

  “What? Do you think she wants you back? She’s like seven months pregnant.”

  “Maybe.” Flynn didn’t believe for one second that pregnancy would stop her from trying, if that was what she wanted. Flynn wasn’t taking any chances. “I’m more concerned about whatever that favor is that she wanted to ask of me. That’s why I have a favor to ask of you.”

  “Sure.”

  “I haven’t even asked it yet.”

  “It doesn’t matter what it is, I’ll do it. I want to ask you for a favor, too. Maybe we can trade.”

  “Great,” he agreed. “I was wondering if you’d keep pretending that we’re together? Sonya seems to like you and I’m hoping one of two things will happen. She’ll either a) give up on me or whatever it is she’s doing here and leave, or b) she’ll confide in you about what she really wants.”

  “Done. I only foresee one tiny problem. What will we tell my family? And your grandfather?”

  “I think the fewer people who know the truth, the better. Our story is that we were dating and tap-dancing around a relationship before the wedding. I kissed you and it was all over.” Truer words had never been spoken as far as he was concerned.

  Iris tapped a thoughtful finger to her lips. “I don’t see why that won’t work. People are already speculating, anyway. We were apparently very convincing at the wedding. But that means we’ll have to fake it in front of my new boss and coworkers, too.”

  “Well, sure, but by the time your company Christmas party rolls around we’ll have ended our fake relationship. But I’d be happy to fly to DC and be your date if that’s your favor.”

  She tipped back her head and laughed. “Thank you, Flynn. I wouldn’t have guessed making me feel better would be possible right now considering the state I’m in. But now that I think about it, this could work to my advantage.”

  “Fill me in.”

  “Right. So, my boss and a bunch of my soon-to-be coworkers are coming to Rankins in a couple of weeks...”

  Flynn listened as Iris related her tale and he tried not to be irritated. She suddenly wanted to do all things Alaskan, but not for him or with him. And, she essentially wanted Flynn to help her impress the guy who was, however inadvertently, taking her away from him. Flynn knew it w
as selfish and petty, but he hoped her boss was a total jerk. He immediately felt guilty about that because Iris had to work for the guy. He decided he’d settle for sort of a jerk, a quasijerk. Ugly, obnoxious, mean—any of those would be a helpful addition, as well.

  “So, you actually told your boss that you enjoy all these outdoor activities?”

  “Not on purpose and not in so many words. He assumed.”

  “This is quite a scheme you’ve cooked up here.”

  “It was Hazel’s idea. Seth agreed to help. So we’ll probably have to clue those two in on our fake relationship.”

  Flynn nodded. “It would be a good idea to have them on our side, anyway. We could use people to cover for us. Sonya is going to be watching.”

  “Now that you’ve said that, we’ll have to tell Tag and Ally, too, when they get back from their honeymoon.”

  CHAPTER ELEVEN

  “CONCENTRATE,” FLYNN INSTRUCTED from where he floated in the comfort of his bright orange kayak, which Iris was convinced worked better than hers. How else could he be so good at this?

  “I am concentrating!” Iris cried, and then paddled her kayak in large wobbly circles. She was never going to be able to do this. “I told you this was hopeless.”

  At least the backpacking and fishing lessons were going better. Hazel was teaching her about “gear.” Ironically, there was a mind-boggling amount of gadgetry involved in “roughing it.” Hazel had made flash cards of all the terminology and quizzed Iris every evening while they laid in bed. She could “hike-speak” with the best of them. Too bad she couldn’t “hike-do.” Setting up the tent had been a lesson in chaos. Hazel had laughed until she cried when Iris had tripped, entangled herself in the tent and taken Seth down with her. But Hazel was persistent, and with her insistence and careful instruction, Iris felt like she was finally getting the hang of it, or at least the important parts.

  Seth had her “fishing” every day off the “stern” of her parents’ deck. Baiting hooks, casting off the “taffrail”—better known as the deck’s railing—and practicing reeling in a bag full of laundry. They discussed bait and lures in all their forms, the habits of halibut and other species they may catch on the trip. Tomorrow they were doing a “dress rehearsal” with a half day of fishing in the bay. Seth was absolutely convinced she could pull off a decent imitation of a person who had gone halibut fishing more than once in her life.

  Kayaking, on the other hand, was not going as well. After five lessons, she was definitely better, but there was no way she could pass for a mediocre paddler, much less a skilled one like Flynn.

  Flynn, she suddenly realized, was quiet. Too quiet. When she managed to circle her kayak around so that she faced him, she stopped paddling. He had his face pressed into the crook of his arm against the inside of his elbow—his favorite way to squelch laughter, she’d discovered over the preceding days.

  “I’m so glad you’re enjoying this.”

  Still grinning, he raised his head to look at her. “I am.” He added an apologetic shrug. “I’m sorry, but I’ve never seen a person who has one arm that is so much more dominant than the other.”

  “At least I haven’t tipped it over today.” Come to think of it, she hadn’t tipped over since lesson three.

  “True.”

  Iris sighed. “What am I going to do?”

  “Maybe you could be sick on kayaking day.”

  “Acting sick always comes back to bite me somehow. Maybe you could find me some bad chicken and I could literally get sick. You’re a doctor,” she joked, “so you could cure me.”

  He laughed. “I’m just happy to get you out here on the water. I don’t care how good you are at it.”

  Iris couldn’t even make a smart comment. Because, honestly, she was happy, too. Spending time with Flynn like this was...dangerous. The thought popped into her head without prompting, or maybe it was the movement off to her left—something rising up out of the water that she instantly knew was too large to be a seal or an otter. They’d seen plenty of those in the last few days.

  More of the creature surfaced—it was impossibly huge and menacing and so close she could see the rubbery texture of its skin. Adrenaline coursed through her, prickling her skin and making her pulse pound like a frenzied drumbeat. She thought about paddling, but her arms had gone numb.

  “Flynn!” She tried to shout but it came out like a wispy croak. “What is that? Oh, crikey... It has a fin!” Terror lodged in her throat and she wanted to scream. Why couldn’t she scream? Seriously? A whale was going to swamp her kayak and drown her and she couldn’t even scream. Iris twisted around helplessly, which made her kayak bob and dip erratically. She squeaked out another feeble “Help.”

  But Flynn was too busy watching the show, paddle lying across the bow of his kayak.

  Whipping her head back around, she saw that it was gone. But for how long?

  “Awesome,” Flynn said, his voice filled with wonder. “That is without a doubt the closest I’ve ever been.”

  Was he crazy? This was not at all awesome. But she couldn’t say that because she was still speechless. Before she could even gulp in another breath, a series of black-and-white humps surfaced—thankfully, this time a little farther away. But not far enough.

  Sensation seemed to be returning to her arms, but when she stuck her paddle in the water it seemed to flip a switch because another whale went airborne, its black-and-white form glistening in the sunlight. And it was angled right toward her.

  A new burst of panic exploded inside of her. “Oh, no!” Her voice, at least, was working. “Why do they keep jumping like that? They’re heading this way. Flynn, please, help me!”

  Maybe it was the increase in volume, or even the hysteria. It didn’t matter because suddenly Flynn was there, right by her side, and he pulled her kayak close to his.

  “Iris, hey! Look at me.”

  She did.

  “We are fine. They have no interest in us. Nothing is going to happen.”

  “Are you kidding me?” she whisper-yelled and pointed. “They are right there, I could literally hit one with my shoe. I hope they didn’t hear that and if they do I hope they understand hyperbole.” She cringed and squeezed her eyes shut.

  “Whales are known for both their keen sense of hyperbole and sarcasm,” he returned calmly.

  “Flynn, this isn’t funny!”

  “I’m sorry. I know you’re scared, but you don’t need to be. Now, open your eyes and just watch them for a minute, okay?”

  “I doubt that’s going to dissuade them from swamping us with their giant breaches.”

  He chuckled.

  She growled in frustration.

  “Seriously, you didn’t mean that to be funny—swamping us with their giant breaches? And please note that I didn’t say anything about you hitting a whale with your shoe.”

  “I don’t even want to paddle because then they’ll know I’m the weaker one.”

  “They’re not here to hurt us.”

  “Flynn, they’re called killer whales for a reason. They are the wolves of the sea. They’ll cut the weak one from the herd and eat it. So of course you’re not scared because you know that’s me.”

  He snickered some more and then said, “Iris, please. Will you do this? I won’t let anything happen to you. I promise. If you want to leave after this, we will. I will hook your kayak to mine and get us back to shore so quickly you won’t even remember the trip.”

  “Fine.” She opened her eyes in time to see another whale launch out of the water and land with a huge splash. She would have screamed, but then a baby immediately followed. More jumping and splashing and showing off. Flynn reached for Iris’s hand and she tried to pretend like she wasn’t in a kayak right next to the big guys, but watching from the comfort of her living room.

  It didn’t really work, but the animals were
fascinating. And when they finally calmed down, she was calm, too, and that’s when it hit her that they were chilling with a pod of killer whales. Which was beyond cool, now that she didn’t think they were trying to murder her. For the first time since she could remember, outside of the view from an airplane, she was awed by her home.

  “Flynn?” She looked at him, only to find him staring so intently at her that it caused a new rush to her bloodstream. But this time there was no fear involved. She smiled and hoped he could see the sincerity and the affection she felt for him. “Thank you,” she whispered, “for making me stay.”

  * * *

  “IRIS, CHECK OUT this app that Candace found.” Flynn watched Sebastien Frieze sidle up next to Iris.

  Twelve employees from The Frieze Group had arrived along with Sebastien that morning. The troupe was now gathered in the dining room of the Faraway Inn, where Adele, Iris’s cousin and the restaurant’s manager, had arranged a private buffet lunch. After a hearty meal and a social hour of meeting their hosts and guides, the group would be taking off on a half-day tour of Rankins, which included a short hike, followed by a boat ride around the bay.

  In addition to Bering, Hannah, Seth and Hazel, who would all be leading excursions over the next few days, three of Bering’s regular guides, Freddie, Ian and Tony, mingled with the crowd. Emily, Shay and Adele were on hand to answer questions and make everyone feel welcome. Tag and Ally, newly returned from their honeymoon, were also there.

  Tag and Ally had taken both the fake relationship and fake Iris-the-adventurer news like the good brother and sister-in-law that they were. Tag had even volunteered to give airplane tours to anyone interested.

  “That is so clever.” Iris studied the display on Sebastien’s phone. He stepped close and whispered something Flynn couldn’t hear. Iris laughed. Sebastien touched her arm.

  They acted like friends who’d known each other for years. Flynn squelched the tinge of jealousy and reminded himself that Sebastien was just her boss, while he, Flynn, was her fake boyfriend. Which, now that he thought about it, allowed him certain fake liberties.