“Lucy Grayson. I’m new to town. I’m running from some unsolved crimes in Colorado. What can I do for you, Mr. Birl?”
Stunned silence.
Lucy winced and looked at the phone as though she could see his reaction through the small black holes. Oops. Perhaps not her best move. Wasn’t she planning to be professional today? Prove to Graham he hadn’t made a mistake in hiring her?
When she put the phone back to her ear, loud cackling greeted her. “I like you. Listen, I have a rash I need to discuss with someone.”
Don’t pick me. Don’t pick me.
“It’s kind of round, though there’s a few spots—”
“Mr. Birl, you really need to speak with the nurse or schedule an appointment with Dr. Redmond. I’ll be no help at all.”
“Okay. Transfer me to Danielle, then.”
Lucy sighed with relief, then pressed a few buttons on the phone, hoping the call actually went to Danielle’s phone and voice mail in the back.
She dived into the waiting queue. It took her almost two hours to wade through the calls, partially since everyone had to get the lowdown on her before talking medical business. Finally, the screen didn’t show anyone on hold. Lucy did a happy dance, chair sliding back and forth with her movements.
“What are you doing?”
She screeched. Graham had come down the hall during her happy dance...with a patient. Thankfully the frazzled mom with a toddler on her hip simply waved and walked out the front doors.
Lucy motioned to the phone. “Just celebrating getting through the phone calls.”
“Oh.” Graham sported the same look of confusion he’d been wearing when he’d stopped to help with her flat tire. “Okay.” He shrugged and disappeared down the hall again. Even slightly snarly, the man still managed to look good. He also had impeccable taste in clothes. A crisp white button-down shirt and black dress pants. A tie that teased some of the lighter flecks of green from his eyes. He reminded Lucy of an actor on a television show she used to watch. Definitely Hollywood for this small town.
Digging into her purse, Lucy plucked out her phone and texted her sister.
What are you doing?
When it beeped a response, Lucy gave a silent cheer. Liv almost never responded to texts during the day because she was normally in the middle of teaching one of her French classes at the high school.
Between classes. How’s the first day?
How to answer that?
Exciting.
Lol. Yeah, rt. R u still at work? Have u caused any trouble?
Lucy’s lips curved. Her sister knew her too well.
Yes and no.
Though Lucy had simply meant to answer Liv’s questions in order, the humor in it made her perk up. Let her sister wonder a bit at that.
Lucy?!!!??
She laughed and slid the phone back into her purse. It took her a few minutes to figure out how to print the updated appointment schedule so she could pull the patient charts for the rest of the day. Once she did, Lucy did a pirouette on her way to pick up the sheet from the printer located in the far left corner of the reception space. Now that the phone calls had slowed, she was doing okay. Maybe she’d get the hang of this job faster than she’d expected.
Graham walked into the reception space and dropped some charts on top of the pile on her desk that needed to be reshelved, then turned and scanned the files.
“Just grabbing my next appointment. I’m sure you haven’t had time to pull anything with handling the phones this morning.”
“Thanks.” That was nice. Maybe the man didn’t just speak in grunts all the time. Actually, she knew he didn’t. She’d heard him being great with the patients. And she’d seen him interact with Mattie the other night. Graham looked at his daughter as if she made the sun rise and set each day. From what Lucy had gathered in the short time they’d been together on Sunday, she agreed with that assessment. Mattie was supercute with her red glasses, glossy hair and bright, inquisitive green eyes that seemed to quietly observe everything around her.
Seeing Graham act so sweet with Mattie had melted Lucy a bit.
But he certainly hadn’t sprinkled any of that sugar in her direction. With Lucy, he kept a polite distance and only spoke caveman.
She considered the way Graham obviously adored Mattie to be his best quality. Second best? His choice in cologne.
Inhaling, she inched closer to his back as he faced the charts. Woodsy. Spicy. Definitely worth a second sniff. She leaned in just a bit more.
Graham grabbed a chart and turned, almost bumping into her. Lucy jumped back, not realizing how close she’d migrated in her efforts to breathe him in.
He stared at her, those dark, stormy eyes wide.
“Sorry.” She took a step back. “I—” Want to smell you? Nope. Not first-day-on-the-job words.
Graham’s brow furrowed. “You okay?”
“I’m great.” You just smell distractingly good. What kind of cologne is that? Would it be weird if I requested you wear it every day? Would it be even worse if I grabbed your perfectly knotted grass-green tie, tugged you forward and buried my nose along the collar of your shirt?
Graham made his way past her, pausing by the edge of the desk. “We’ll turn off the phones for lunch. I need to grab Mattie from school. She has a half day today. But Danielle can answer any questions you have after you’re done eating.”
“Sounds good.” Lucy pasted on a bright smile and waited until Graham disappeared down the hall before letting it fall from her face. Phew. That had been a close one.
She searched the shelves filled with rows and rows of manila folders reaching up to the ceiling behind her desk and along the wall. Looked as though the chart she needed was on the top row. She glanced around. Not a stool or chair to be found besides the rolling one behind her desk. At five and a half feet, Lucy wasn’t necessarily short—unless she compared herself with her sister or father—but she was pretty sure she needed some assistance to reach the top row.
She rolled the office chair over, aligned it in front of the shelves, then dropped to the ground and locked the wheels into place. Lucy stood and put one foot on the chair, then changed her mind and unzipped her brown, high-heeled boots. She removed them from her feet, rather proud of herself for taking the time to ensure her safety. She’d learned her lesson about climbing in heels.
Her outfit for the day—an army-green dress that swished above the knee, cinched with a multicolored belt and accessorized with an assortment of mismatched beaded bracelets—wasn’t exactly ideal for climbing on a chair. But Lucy would make it quick. She’d grab the chart and be back down before anyone knew what she’d been up to.
After giving the chair a test shove to make sure the wheels didn’t roll, Lucy stepped up, toes digging into the leather. She heard the front door to the office open but kept her concentration on the charts. Scanning the names until she found the one she needed, she slid it from the shelf. The chair moved under her feet. She gasped and reached for the shelf, dropping the file in order to hang on with both hands. The grip stopped her movement. A shaky, relieved breath whooshed out, causing dust to fly off a few files in front of her. Another close one.
She jumped from the chair before it could cause further damage, bare feet landing on the floor with a thud.
Lucy found herself face-to-face with a young man who’d appeared behind the receptionist desk during her chart hunt. He screamed cowboy.