His girl. With a burst of colorful imagining, Amanda tipped her head back on her pillows and imagined just what it would be like to be Doc Handsome’s girl for real.
“THE DOC was a hundred percent correct, Mandy. Confidentiality is the hallmark of the Fairlane Clinic.” Charlotte Evenson made the announcement with as much dignity as a woman with pale yellow hair puffed up like a honeycomb and three-inch triangles bearing the likeness of Elvis dangling from each ear could muster. “Nary a symptom or cure ever leaves this building via my lips or anyone else’s. Call that the first order of business of my training session.” Her wrinkled face held a slightly bewildered expression as she shuffled some papers on the long admitting counter. “You’ll have to forgive me. I didn’t expect to be training in a new girl—didn’t even know we needed one.”
“Perhaps you don’t need one,” Amanda suggested.
“But we do. We really do.” The magnanimous judgment was made by an attractive blond man in a lab coat, thumbing through a stack of pink phone messages. “You must be Mandy Smythe.”
She nodded. “And you’re Dr. Graham?”
“Jack Graham. Pleased to meet you.” He extended his hand. Amanda, leaning on one crutch, shook it with her free hand.
“He’s my oldest grandson.” Charlotte aimed a careless thumb at Jack but was openly pleased and proud of the link. “All I hear from this doc and the other one is that I work too hard. That I should delegate more, take more vacations.”
“Take your first vacation. Any vacation.” Brett appeared through an inner door with a grin, dressed in a lab coat identical to Jack’s. “Cape Cod, for instance, is lovely this time of year.”
“Cape Cod?” Charlotte blasted. “Are you crazy?”
“The leaves are beginning to turn about now,” Jack put in. “Red, yellow, gold.”
Charlotte rolled her eyes. “Here we go again, hoist sweet old Charlotte out of her dream job to ride around looking at stuff she can watch on the Travel Channel from the comfort of her easy chair with a stiff whiskey.”
Jack shook his head. “The whole of New England is nature’s wonderland this time of year. You can’t fully appreciate it on a dinky television screen.”
“I’m not about to shirk my duty to flit across country to watch leaves change color when there’s patients here to tend!” Charlotte slapped her moccasins across the tiled floor, heading for the coffeemaker. “This place would fall apart without my constant attention. Need I remind you boys that I was working here with Dr. Stanley Hickcock long before you two were anybody’s good idea?” She glanced at Amanda and jabbed a pudgy finger at Jack. “Doc Hickcock delivered that boy right here in this very clinic. I was manning this very counter at the time—by myself quite efficiently—when my daughter Emily tumbled through the door in hard labor. I left my post to cut the cord and give Jack a smack on the rump. Satisfied his wail was hearty and healthy, I was back out here to tend to business.”
The last proclamation was mouthed quite distinctly by both Jack and Brett, causing Amanda to emit a small giggle, which she quickly disguised behind a cough.
“Thirty-five years of faithful service and they still can’t accept that I’m a one-woman show,” Charlotte whined. “No offense to you, Mandy. Jack explained your situation to me. Pitiful drifter friend of Ivy’s, leaning on that teacher for room and board. With a bum ankle besides—”
“Now, Charlotte,” Jack objected, “I didn’t put it quite like that.”
“Well, maybe I’m adding my own special zing to the story, but the upshot is the same.”
“My grandmother has a tendency to exaggerate her upshot,” Jack insisted. “At every opportunity.”
“It’s just that I have my routine, my ways, my system.”
“So teach them to Mandy.”
“Nobody’s ever lasted long,” Charlotte cautioned her. “Been a while since anybody tried.”
Amanda glanced to Brett, then to Jack. Neither one of them would meet her eyes. At best, this situation was fishy.
MEANWHILE, Tess was entering her new friend Mandy’s room to return the sleep mask. It had been good fun, showing it to Frank, wearing it herself, putting it on her dolly. Sleep masks were great fun. Next time she painted Daddy in kindergarten, she was going to paint one on him.
Mandy’s little phone was buzzing again! From within the dresser this time. Top drawer. But Mandy said not to be afraid. It wasn’t bees. She could make it stop like Mandy did the last time.
Tess stood on tiptoe, opened the drawer and rooted through the heap of undies. Curling her fingers around the phone, she took it out for a closer look. Mandy would want her to stop the buzz. It might scare somebody else. Tess pushed the square button Mandy did, only to hear a gruff voice calling out. She couldn’t resist holding the phone up to her ear.
“Anyone there? Answer me!”
“I’m here, mister.”
“Finally! Who are you?”
“Mandy’s very good friend.”
“Oh, really. Mandy, is it?”
“That’s her name, isn’t it?”
“Well, yes. Her mother called her that.”
“Her mommy died.”
“I know. This is her father. Lowell.”
“That’s a funny name.”
“How impertinent.”
“What’s that mean?”
“Never mind. What’s your name?”
“I can’t tell.”
“Why not?”
“My daddy says never tell strangers your name.”
“I want to speak to my daughter. Immediately.”
“She’s not home.”
“Where is she?”
“With my daddy.”
“What’s your daddy’s name?”
“Mandy calls him Doc Handsome.”
“This is ridiculous. You tell her I called. Tell her to call me back.”
“I can’t.”
“Why not?”
“Because I’m not s’posed to be in her room alone. I’m not s’posed to be touching her stuff.”
“Oh, for Pete’s sake.”
“I gotta go now. Here comes Colonel Geoff from his constitutional. If he sees me in here he’ll tell on me.”
“Why would he do that?”
“Because I peeked at his freckles and now he’s mad. Bye-bye, Lowell.”
AMANDA WASN’T a receptionist, she was a mole. Despite Brett’s promise of front counter work, Charlotte had delegated her to paper pushing. She’d spent the entire morning in the cramped windowless file room behind the admittance counter, filing stacks upon stacks of forms into cabinets of patient files. The most thrilling part of the process was rolling back and forth between the cabinets on a stool with her bandaged ankle in the air.
This wasn’t a job for a bright incognito reporter on the lam. And she was determined to complain. Big time.
A glance at her watch confirmed it was nearly eleven-thirty. She rolled to the doorway where she had a plain view of Charlotte’s solid uniformed back seated at the counter. “Shouldn’t I be tackling something else? I thought I was hired to deal with the public.”
Charlotte swiveled on her stool to confront her. “First off, your outfit isn’t what we in the trade call appropriate.”
Really? Amanda glanced down at her aqua Armani pant suit. It had been good enough to interview Brad Pitt at the Cannes Film Festival last year! “I’m afraid I don’t have a white nylon ensemble with silver buttons yet.”
Charlotte didn’t seem to notice her mild sarcasm. “You wouldn’t, of course. This sort of outfit is bought at a special store carrying uniform supplies. The docs provide a clothing allowance for all the staff.”
“I see. So if I had the uniform—”
“The docs tend to wait a spell before investing in whites for a new girl. If and when your time comes, know that nobody but me wears silver buttons. I put them on special, as my own personal stamp.”
“This filing gig isn’t working out. I can’t learn about the c
linic tucked away in this box.”
Charlotte stiffened. “There are many facets to my job. And you really are helping. That is the sort of paperwork I generally do on Saturday afternoons—when we’re closed.”
“Well, it’s very dull.”
“Is it? You haven’t looked bored, hunched over, working at a snail’s pace.”
“It’s your system,” Amanda lamented. “You have patients separated by doctor. I have to check both sets of files to find them. Roll back and forth on this stool. Back and forth.”
Charlotte rose from her seat and, with a tug of white nylon, stalked over. “Naturally, I have them memorized. And if you last more than a week, you will, too.” She jabbed a finger on the sheet of paper in Amanda’s hand. “In the meantime, look here in the corner at these color codes. A green dot means Doc Graham.”
“Green speck you mean.”
“You’ll either see green or orange. Orange being for Doc Handsome.”
Amanda pinkened. “So even you heard about that Handsome thing.”
“Yeah and ain’t you cute.” The twinkle in her eye suggested she truly meant it. “Maybe you can pick up the pace if you use the color codes.”
“You should’ve told me the codes in the first place,” she retorted softly to Charlotte’s broad backside.
Charlotte apparently had excellent hearing because she pivoted on her heel with a tight smile. “Anybody with clerical experience—” Checking herself, Charlotte smiled. “Never mind, dear. It’s so important to the boys that we make this work. I’ll whip you into shape no matter what the discomfort or cost.”
Was this charade truly worth the agony? When Amanda did work on her column for the Manhattan Monitor, it was sporadic and in the field. When she did come in for a landing at the newspaper, she was accustomed to tossing her filing in a basket on her desk and watching it disappear like magic into the hands of an underling.
She scowled at the cabinets. So this was what the underling did with her filing.
“Watch and learn,” Charlotte was chortling for the umpteenth time today. “That’s what I tell anyone they foist on me. Watch and learn.”
But for how long? Amanda fought the desire to rev up her stool, bonk the woman’s hideous honeycomb with a file and charge home to pack.
The doctors and staff kept the lunch situation simple. They shut down the office between noon and one fifteen, assigning one employee to man the phones during that time span with a bag lunch, and to page a doctor in an emergency. Even the doctors participated in this rotation. Today was Brett’s turn to eat in.
The moment Charlotte left to freshen up, Brett cornered Amanda behind the counter, speaking quietly. “How goes the battle?”
She struggled to keep her voice low, too. “Can’t believe the way you abandoned me all morning, after dumping me in this awful job.”
He winced. “I’ve been too busy to pop out for a look. I suppose Charlotte’s gave you the ‘watch and learn’ spiel.”
“Oh, yeah.”
“It’s nothing serious. Merely her attempt to appear the expert.”
“Oh, c’mon, Brett, it’s a complete dodge. So far all I’m doing is the roll and file.”
His mouth twitched with amusement. “Sounds like some kind of dance.”
“Well, you be the judge. I roll back and forth on my little stool filing papers in an isolated room with no chance to watch and learn anything.”
Brett looked genuinely surprised. And irritated. “But Jack told her—That’s not what we want. Any high school girl could come do that much.”
Amanda grew indignant. “Hey, hang on a minute. It takes some brain power and concentration.”
“I’m not trying to insult you. What I mean to say is that we want you in the receptionist seat, dealing with the patients alongside Charlotte.”
“Her main excuses are that I’m not dressed for it and I have a bum ankle.”
“The ankle will be like new, on schedule, by week’s end. As for the uniform, if we place an order today, it should arrive by week’s end.”
“If you really think—”
Brett hushed her as employees began to appear from all parts of the office, boisterously gathering in the waiting room. He spoke in a clearer voice. “They rotate between the sandwich shop, pizza place and fast-food joints, if you’d like to tag along.”
Rochelle was paying the most attention and paused at the door to speak with strained cheer. “Do come eat with us, Mandy. We’re going for pizza today, and to have a look at Kaitlyn’s family reunion photos.”
“I don’t think so.”
“C’mon, it’ll give you a chance to get to know all of us, as you know Brett.”
Ha! It was easy enough to see through the redheaded nurse who had treated her so coolly on Sunday. Rochelle didn’t want her company. She was merely trying to put a wedge between Brett and Amanda. Silly, as Amanda and Brett already lived under the same roof. But Amanda understood the infatuated nurse’s mind-set. Seeing them together at work was much harder than imagining them together at Della’s with a houseful of tenants.
“I think I’ll stay here with Doc Hanson,” Amanda insisted as Rochelle stood her ground. “My ankle is bothering me a little today.”
This claim stumped the nurse and she had no choice but to tromp out after the others.
Brett expressed immediate concern. “I thought the ankle was fine!”
“It is,” she assured him. “I just don’t feel like…pizza.”
“Rochelle hasn’t been the kindest to you, I know. But she will warm up in a genuine way with time.”
“Don’t count on it. She only sees me as unwelcome competition.”
Brett’s dark brows arched boyishly. “For what?”
“As if you didn’t know.” Amanda patted his cheek. “Wipe that smug grin off your face.”
“Why should I, with two women sizing me up?”
“If it were only two! Ivy tells me half the town is interested in you.”
Brett touched her face. “Ivy tends to see everything larger than life. Just like you.”
“Don’t knock our style. We make life…interesting.”
Brett worked his hand across her ear and behind her neck with a massaging motion. “Kissing you at work would break a whole lotta rules.”
“But you’re the boss, aren’t you?”
With a wolfish look he hoisted her onto the counter and kissed her hungrily. They were both breathing heavily when he finally pulled back.
She felt a tad disappointed. “Is that all I get, you tease?”
“Mandy, this is no time to get carried away.”
She kept her arms wrapped snugly around his shoulders. “One more time can’t hurt.”
With a soft growl he gave her a quick lip smack. She hung on tightly even as he tried to disengage himself.
“I shouldn’t have started this.”
She rubbed her nose against his. “True.”
“Anybody could walk in here at any moment.”
“True.”
“So it’s time to be good.”
“False.”
Brett lifted his eyes to the ceiling. “I believe you’re out of control.”
Amanda grinned. “And getting to the most eligible bachelor in town.”
“Oh, maybe not the most eligible. There’s Jack and Colonel Geoff to consider.”
“Well, stand proud anyway. You’re in the top three.”
Brett adjusted his lab coat as if trying to reestablish his role, then busily opened the brown sack and examined its contents. “Now let’s see what Della’s packed today. Ah, wouldn’t you know it, a meal for two. Cartons of milk, chicken sandwiches, coleslaw, pretzels.”
As Brett began to set things out on the counter, Amanda spoke up in protest. “Can we please get out from behind this blockade?”
“We really need to be stationed here to mind the store.”
Amanda scanned the waiting room. “How about out there?”
Brett
followed her gaze. “Where?”
“At the kiddie table. It’s not all that small and it’s by a real window, bathed in genuine sunshine.”
Brett was dubious but lifted her off the counter and handed her the crutches.
Once they were settled in on stout, purple plastic chairs, Brett began to spread out their feast on the matching table. “You can move those Legos into that box on the floor if you like.”
“The what?”
“Those blocks in front of you.”
“Oh.” She held up two and locked them together. “How ingenious.”
Brett shook his head, helping her push them into the box. “First you discover Old Maid. Now it seems you’ve never had Legos of your own.”
“I’ve never even heard of them.”
“The average kid has at least one set. I’m all the more convinced you’ve had a deprived childhood.”
“Never thought so at the time. But lately I’ve had my share of doubts about a lot of things.”
“Tell me more.”
She flashed him a smile. “All in time.”
His brows narrowed. “I think you like teasing me, making me wonder.”
“As if you should talk. The people around town claim you’re one cagey and illusive character.” She reached out and gave his crisp collar a tug. “A real hermit when you slip out of that magic lab coat.”
“It’s true I’m a man who enjoys his space and privacy. But when the timing is right, the person is right, I figure the barriers will just drop away naturally. Wouldn’t you agree?”
There was no mistaking the insinuation that they were at this very moment tugging at the barriers between them. She met his gaze with what she hoped was an understanding glance. “The last thing—the very last thing—I expected to find on this trip was a guy. I don’t believe I even need a guy right now.”
“I don’t need a woman, either. And as you’ve probably heard through the grapevine, I haven’t even been shopping.”
“So we’ve stumbled into this situation…”
His smile widened. “This very nice situation.”
“By sheer accident.”
“Sheer accidental luck.”
Her heart tripped as he watched her intently, affectionately. She was so accustomed to relating to men on a surface level of play or suspicion. But this man meant business in a new and deeper way. What a joyful bonus to know his interest in her had absolutely nothing to do with her reckless reputation or her rich legacy. He liked the girl. Plain and simple.
Flirting With Trouble Page 9