incredibly primitive. But Nate was a good doctor.” She paused, clearing her throat. “It was while we were there that he was killed.”
He nodded. “I remember seeing the stories in the paper when he…died. I didn’t make the connection when I first met you.” He hesitated again before speaking. “I heard that he was missing for a while before you learned that he’d died.”
“More than two weeks.” She realized with a little surprise that this was the first time she’d told her story to a stranger. Her friends and everyone at her church already knew her circumstances. Revisiting that time aloud now, eight months later, she felt herself choking up. She cleared her throat again, struggling for control.
But Dr. Hunter looked into her eyes, unabashed. “What a tragedy. It must have been very difficult for you.”
“It is very difficult.”
“Yes.” He shook his head sympathetically, his eyes never wavering from hers. “I’m sorry. I know a little of what it must be like for you. I suppose you’ve heard that I’m also widowed.”
Daria nodded. Dorothy Janek had told her that Dr. Hunter was a widower. She sometimes forgot that she didn’t have the corner on grief. “Yes, I know that. I’m sorry. Of course you know what it’s like.”
“It’s been several years—since the accident.” He put his head down, then looked back at her with a sad smile. “It gets easier. Don’t give up.”
“Thank you.” It was an awkward moment, yet something tender passed between them.
The phone rang and broke the tension. But later Daria decided that it had felt good to talk about Nate, to affirm his life to someone who hadn’t known him. She felt as though she had taken an important step forward, and she was grateful to Dr. Hunter for making it easy—and for causing her to remember that she wasn’t the only one who had ever lost a love. She tried to picture the kind of woman to whom Colson Hunter might have been married. No doubt she had been a sweet, patient woman.
The day continued at a frantic pace, and it was midafternoon before Carla finally had a free moment to show Daria how to run some of the office machines and further explain the duties that would be expected of her.
“These need to be sent out on the fifteenth of each month.” Carla was reviewing the billing procedure when Dr. Hunter stepped into the office. “And you can work on updating the medical files whenever you have time.”
“That is, when you’re not assisting in surgery,” Dr. Hunter chimed in, winking.
Jennifer Daly came in after school and took over where Carla had left off, teaching Daria how to use the printer and explaining the filing system. In spite of the boyfriend who came to pick her up at closing time, it was apparent that Jennifer had a serious crush on her boss. She flirted demurely with Dr. Hunter and, when he wasn’t looking, gazed at him through dreamy, hooded eyes. But she was a sweet, personable girl and a good teacher, and Daria enjoyed the time spent with her.
By the time Daria picked Natalie up from her parents’ and fixed herself a sandwich for supper, she was utterly exhausted. She wasn’t sure how she was going to do this all over again tomorrow, but she was strangely excited at the prospect.
The following morning found her under Carla Eldridge’s tutelage again. Carla, the clinic’s lone technician, was a single mom herself, with two boys in elementary school. With her petite figure and her pixie haircut, she would have been perfectly typecast as Peter Pan.
“So your first day wasn’t exactly a breeze?” she said to Daria as the two grabbed a quick lunch behind the reception counter.
“Not exactly—I don’t mind telling you I was scared to death.”
“Cole said you did a great job.”
“Cole?”
“Dr. Hunter.”
“Oh. Is everybody on a first-name basis here?”
Carla nodded and mumbled over a bite of celery, “Oh, don’t even try to call Cole ‘Dr. Hunter.’ He might let you get by with just plain ‘Doc,’ but he asks everybody to call him Cole. I’m surprised he hasn’t corrected you yet.”
“Well, I haven’t exactly called him anything yet.” She smiled. “So… he said I did all right?” she asked coyly, fishing.
“He said you were great.”
“Well, surgery sure wasn’t in the job description. But to tell you the truth, I did kind of enjoy it, at least when it was all over and I saw that everything came out okay.”
“I don’t want to scare you off,