some additional income and she enjoyed helping people recover their strength and physical abilities. Most of her clients tended to be older, which suited her just fine.
“Do you know Craig Cameron?” Meghan, one of Dr. Tio’s admins asked.
“I know there’s a Cameron Ranch right out near the boundary of the valley, but I don’t know Craig personally, why?”
“He called yesterday looking for someone to work with his mother, Esther. She slipped and broke her arm last month and she needs some physio.” Meghan lowered her voice. “He was super bossy on the phone. In all the years I’ve lived here, I can’t say I’ve heard anything good about the man or his family. My dad worked for him at one point and he didn’t even stay a month.”
Beth frowned. “I don’t need the work right now, but if there’s no one else available, I’d be happy to give it a shot.”
“Thanks for that.” Meghan wrote herself a note. “You obviously have a way with the difficult ones. I never thought we’d get Conner O’Neil back in here.”
“I threatened to go and check up on him every day if he didn’t come in. I guess that scared the crap out of him,” Beth confided, making Meghan chuckle.
“I doubt he’s that easy to scare, but he certainly is easy on the eye.” Meghan winked. “I’ve always had a thing for retired military guys.”
Beth tried not to blush as she looked back toward the interior door of the clinic. How long was Conner likely to be? If she was quick, maybe she could nip home, check on the boys, and be back before he even realized she’d gone.
Neither Wes nor Mikey had replied to her text telling them she was on her way home, but that wasn’t unusual. They both tended to sleep in, and it wasn’t yet time for lunch.
“Meghan?” Beth made a decision. “I’m going to check on Wes and Mikey. If Conner comes out before I’m back, can you tell him where I’ve gone?”
“Sure.” Meghan looked up from her keyboard.
“He has my cell number, or if he wants to get moving, show him how to get to my place, okay?”
She went back out and headed across the street to where the town’s only gas station was located. There was no sign of her brother Ted, but she waved at Mano, who was working his shift, and walked on. Even as she approached her dearly loved house, her smile dimmed. She’d allowed herself to forget her problems with Mikey for a short while, but it was time to face them again.
When she went back to the clinic, she’d ask Meghan for some referrals to family therapists and would make sure that she, Mikey, and Wes went to get some help. Sean’s reappearance in Mikey’s life was too disruptive to ignore. Mikey was an adult now and free to make his own decisions, but as his mother she would do everything in her power to help him make good choices.
As she delved into the pocket of her jeans to find her house keys, she yawned so hard she almost cracked her jaw. After she’d dropped Conner back at the cabin she would come home and sleep for a week. The Garcias were due back in two days and she hoped everything would be back to normal by then. Conner was leaving at the end of August, which meant he’d still be around for another month or so. Not that she would be seeing much of him; she only went out there every second week. If she asked Kaiden Miller, the part-time ranch foreman, he’d probably deal with Conner’s needs at the cabin, leaving her with no contact with him at all.
She fitted her key in the lock and went through the front door. Would that be for the best? She didn’t want to spoil their amazing night together or make him feel like she wanted a repeat or something . . .
Not that she’d say no if he was interested.
Beth grinned as she walked through into the family room. An open pizza box sat on the floor by the couch along with an abandoned game controller and two cans of soda. The drapes were still shut and the whole room smelled like essence of teenage boy. Wrinkling her nose, Beth opened the drapes and the window and set the empty pizza box back on the countertop.
Apart from the humming of the various appliances and the ticking of the kitchen clock, the house