His gaze roamed the room, flinching a moment when he noticed the tools of her trade, a hand-carved wooden box, lid open and packaged needles in sight, on the dining table. Then he moved on, pausing for a long moment on the old iron bed in the far corner, half hidden by a set of folding screens.
“Wow, the old cabin sure looks different from the last time I was here.” Dev turned to face her. “I hardly recognize the place.”
“You’ve stayed here before?”
“A time or two over the years.” His mouth hitched into a half grin. “And you’re right about that mattress. It is a bit lumpy.”
Tanya’s cheeks heated for the second time today. A heat that raced the length of her despite the fact she was dressed in simple beige lounge pants, a white tank top and a matching lightweight knit cardigan.
Suddenly she wanted to wrap the sides of the sweater across her chest, but she settled for crossing her arms. “Yes, well, I’m sure I’ll get used to it.”
“You should’ve said something. We can replace it if you want,” Mac said.
“Don’t be silly.” She broke free of Dev’s gaze and walked to the dining table, reaching out to rearrange the supplies that were already in perfect order. “I’m only going to be here for a couple of months.”
“The old couch is pretty comfortable.” Dev headed for the piece of furniture and Tanya turned to watch him, noticing how he favored his right leg even more than before. “But it looks too clean to sit on now.”
“White is Tanya’s favorite color. Once I knew she was coming to visit, I gave the walls and the kitchen cabinets a fresh coat of white paint,” Mac said, walking over to join her. “Ursula helped with the decorating, everything from the white denim slip covers to the dishes.”
“Let me guess. You like vanilla ice cream best?”
She dropped her arms. “Actually, I prefer oatmeal cookie chunk. And fixing this place up for me was totally unnecessary, but much appreciated.”
“Not if you’d seen it in the before state.” Dev’s gaze wandered the length of her body. “Trust me, the after is a step up, even if it’s a bit...unexciting.”
“I prefer peaceful, tranquil.” Tanya pushed the words from her mouth, refusing to believe her sudden breathlessness had anything to do with the interest she saw in Devlin’s blue eyes.
Nerves, it was just nerves about working on Mac again.
She broke free from his gaze and dropped her hands, patting the table. “Mac, why don’t you hop up here and stretch out on your back? Dev, you can grab a seat where you are. Unless you’d like to get a closer view of my work?”
Dev sat stiffly on the edge of the couch, the smile now gone from his face. “This is close enough.”
Crossing to the kitchen sink, Tanya washed her hands again. When she got back to Mac, she found he’d already folded back the legs of his sweatpants before stretching out. Tucking the sheets and blanket around him, she left his lower legs and arms free.
“I’m going to talk as I go like the first time we did this, so Dev can understand what’s going on.” She offered Mac a smile, reaching for a needle packet from the box. “Ready to start?”
Mac flexed his fingers and then relaxed them across his stomach. “Ready.”
She looked up, centering her gaze on Dev. “I have no idea how much you know about acupuncture—”
His brows drew down into a sharp V. “You get stuck with lots of needles.”
“Well, not ‘lots,’ but let me back up a moment. Chinese medicine believes there are opposing forces, known as yin and yang, inside the body. When the forces are balanced, the body and the spirit are healthy. What helps to create this balance is an energy, a life force, called qi, which sounds like chee, but is spelled q-i. Qi flows through the body on a series of paths. When a path is obstructed, and in turn that force is blocked, illness can occur.”
“Is this where I start to call you Obi-Wan?”
Tanya smiled. “The point of acupuncture is that by using pressure on specific points within these paths, it will release any barriers that are hindering the flow of qi, which in turn will allow the body to heal. Make sense?”
He didn’t look convinced. “If you say so.”
“Yeah, I thought it was a bunch of hocus-pocus at first, too.” Mac turned his head and looked at Dev. “Now I’m a believer.”
Tanya saw the doubt in Dev’s eyes but continued, holding up the small packet in her hand. “Inside here is one needle. They are solid, hair thin and individually wrapped for sterilization. They are only used once and then tossed.”
Dev went visibly pale when she ripped open the sealed paper around the needle.
Dropping her hands to Mac’s lower leg, she held the needle between her index finger and thumb, out of Dev’s sight, while using her other hand to locate the first puncture location below his knee.
“Okay, here we go.” She looked at Mac. “Take a breath in...”
He did as instructed and after a quick tap on the end of the needle, it was in place.
“I thought this was to help Mac with the arthritis in his hands,” Dev said, his voice a bit rough. “Why are you sticking him in his legs?”
“There are almost two thousand acupuncture points on the human body and each one has a different effect on the qi. I’ve already mapped out the specific positions needed to help Mac find relief and yes, there are quite a few located in each hand as well as other areas of his body.”
“How long does he have to lie there like a human pincushion?”
“We did twenty minutes the past couple of times, but since it’s been a while I think we’ll go with a half hour today.” She had another needle and location ready on the same leg. “Another breath in, Mac.”
A quick glance up told her Dev was still watching, but his coloring had gone an even whiter shade of pale. “You okay over there?”
“Yeah, I’m fine.”
“You might feel better if you stretched out on the couch—”
“I said I’m fine.”
He wasn’t. Tanya could see that plainly, from his coloring to the way he sat hunched forward, his hands clasped tightly between his knees, but she continued to work.
Keeping her tone light and even, she explained each step while keeping her attention on Mac, making sure her grandfather knew when she was going to insert each needle until he had a total of eight, two in each leg and two in each hand.
“Okay, now we move onto what is known as ‘Eight Ghosts,’ which is the web area between each finger. Very helpful for those who suffer from pain and numbness in the fingers.” Tanya completed one hand, then reached for the last set of needles. “Mac, maybe you can explain to Dev what sensations you are feeling as I finish up?”
“I would, but he’s disappeared.”
Tanya’s head jerked up. Her gaze shot to the empty couch and then to Mac. “What? Where is he? What happened?”
“He was messing with his phone a moment ago, but as soon as you mentioned the between-the-fingers thing, he headed for the door.”
Surprised that she hadn’t heard him leave, Tanya tried to see if Dev was really gone or just outside on the porch getting some fresh air.
“Go.”
She looked back at Mac. “What?”
“Go check on him. I’ll be fine here.”
“Not until your treatment