are we doing here?”
“Come on, I’ll show you,” Zack says, getting out of the car.
I get out and follow him into the clinic. We breeze past the reception desk and down a corridor, our sneakers squeaking against the linoleum floor. We pass a couple closed doors with little signs that say ‘Room One’ and ‘Room Two,’ and then we reach an area with a sign that says ‘Nurse’s Station.’
A middle-aged woman in nurse’s scrubs is standing next to a hospital bed, on which lies an elderly man with a blood pressure cuff around his arm.
“Very good,” she says as she monitors the levels. “Seems like those new pills are working.” She removes the cuff and helps the man from the bed. “Okay, Frank. Off you go.”
“Do I still need to see the doctor?” he asks.
She shakes her head. “I’ll pass your information along.”
Frank shuffles off and then the nurse turns to Zack and me. “Zack!” she exclaims brightly, before her expression changes to one of concern. “You’re not sick are you?”
Zack shakes his head. “Nope. I just thought my brother might like to have a look at the clinic. He’s a nurse in New York.”
The nurse turns to me, her eyes alight with interest. “The Big Apple? Well, that must be exciting!”
“Betty here’s looking to retire soon so she can do some traveling,” Zack explains. “The problem is the clinic hasn’t been able to find a decent nurse to replace her.”
I groan inwardly. That manipulative son of a—
“Zack, what are you doing?” I ask wearily, running a hand over my face.
“Showing you your options.” His smile is so bright it could blind someone. “Wouldn’t it be great if you came back here and Betty was able to retire?”
I shake my head with exasperation. “I thought this was supposed to be a wedding surprise for Slater?”
“It is a wedding surprise for Slater,” he insists. “Just think…if you decide to move home, that’ll make me suuupppeerrr happy. And when I’m super happy, Slater gets suuupppeerrr lucky. Ergo, Slater is the one who benefits from this.”
I stare at him blankly. “If you need me to move home in order to jazz up your sex life, there’s a problem, little brother.”
Turning on my heel, I start to walk back down the corridor . I hear Zack mumble a hurried apology to Betty before following after me.
“Okay…so that didn’t go as I’d hoped,” he says airily.
“You know, for someone who’s supposed to be an expert in marketing, you really failed at reading your audience here,” I mutter.
“I don’t get it, I thought you were over New York?”
I spin to face him. “What on earth gave you that idea?”
“You! When you told me on Saturday.” He throws his hands up in exasperation.
I wave a dismissive hand. “You should know by now not to listen to anything I say.” Zack gives a roll of his eyes, but I ignore it. “Why would you think I’d want to move back here?”
He shakes his head in annoyance. “Gee, I don’t know. Because your whole family is here? Because you actually have a home here instead of staying on someone’s couch? Because a change in scenery would do you good?”
I growl in frustration, mainly because I know he has several good points. “Can we go please?”
He sighs. “Fine.”
We head out of the clinic and back toward the car.
“Oh, and you don’t get to use your wedding as an excuse to get me to do things anymore,” I say testily as I yank the passenger door open. “I cancelled plans for this, just so you know.”
“What plans?” he demands as soon as we’re seated inside the car. “It’s Monday morning in Finchley. What plans could you possibly have other than binge-watching Supernatural?”
“I’ll have you know I was also planning to go for a jog,” I snipe back.
12
From the private Facebook group ‘Finchley Locals Community Hangout’
* * *
Post by George Goode: By popular demand Lawson will indeed be reading the naughty parts of his book tomorrow night. I’ve decided not to let bad press censor us!
George Goode reply to George Goode’s post: But it would be helpful if Tansie didn’t point Evangelical tourists to the saloon on book club nights in the future
Tansie Goode reply to George Goode’s comment: That was an honest mistake! They mentioned something about flagellation. I assumed they were talking S&M.
* * *
Web
* * *
Jesse Cartwright: Soooo…I have to bail on the meeting with Chance today
I let out a soft groan as I stare down at the text.