Ugh. She jumped up from the love seat and headed to the kitchen. Kingston Bedford was the last person she wanted to think about.
After washing her cup and putting it in the cabinet, then preparing her lunch to take to work tomorrow, she crossed off the day on her refrigerator calendar and went to bed. As she turned off her light, one last thought crossed her mind.
Did he ever remember his promise?
Not that it mattered. He certainly didn’t know how to keep one.
Chapter3
On Wednesday morning Kingston grabbed the chart outside of the exam room in front of him, checked the name, and inwardly groaned. Sylvia Strickland and her twelve-year-old daughter, Sailor. He was already running late—he’d slept through his alarm and rushed into the clinic at ten minutes after eight—but this would definitely put him behind schedule.
He scanned the nurse’s notes. Sylvia and Sailor had been here just last week for the same issue—the warts on Sailor’s hand. He’d told Sylvia it would take time for those to disappear.
“Dr.Bedford?”
He turned and saw his admin, Janine, approach at the same time his phone buzzed in the pocket of his lab coat. He pulled it out as Janine stood beside him. A familiar number appeared on the screen. He winced. Ray, the head of the biology department at Henderson, had already left five messages about him teaching an evening class, and Kingston hadn’t had time to return any of them. The semester was starting next week. He couldn’t keep Ray waiting.
“Dr.Bedford,” Janine said, more urgently this time. “What are—”
“Just a sec.” He slid his thumb over the phone and scooted past her as he walked to the end of the hall for some privacy. “Hey, Ray—”
“About time you picked up.”
Kingston cringed at the bite in his friend’s tone. “I promise I was planning to call you back. Things have been hectic.”When have they not been?“But I’m happy to teach anatomy this semester—”
“We found someone else.”
“Oh.” He looked up to see Janine waving her arms at him. “Okay.”
“Sorry, but I had to hire someone when you didn’t return my calls.”
“Maybe next semester, then.” Kingston lifted one finger and nodded at Janine.
“We should probably talk about your future here at Henderson.”
The exam room opened, and Sylvia poked her head out. When she spotted Kingston, she glared and marched toward him. “Dr.Bedford,” she said, her tone making Ray’s sound downright hospitable. “Sailor and I have been waiting for nearly twenty minutes. She’s in pain.”
Kingston immediately hung up and put his phone into his pocket. He ignored Janine again and went into the exam room. Sailor was sitting on the table gripping her pink phone case, eyes fixated on the screen with no acknowledgment of him or her mother. Kingston smiled at her anyway.
“How are those warts doing, Sailor?” he said as he put down her file on the counter next to the small sink.
“They’re gone.” She didn’t look up.
“Excellent.” He walked over to her. “Can I see your palm?”
As Sailor extended her hand without looking up from her phone, Sylvia appeared. “We’re not here about the warts, Dr.Bedford.”
“Oh?” He examined Sailor’s clean palm, the remnants of the warts barely noticeable. His phone was buzzing again. Probably Ray. Uh-oh. He hadn’t meant to hang up on him. He’d have to call him later and explain—
“You didn’t prescribe medicine for my daughter.”
Kingston let go of Sailor’s palm and turned to her, puzzled. “For the warts?” He’d frozen them, so there wasn’t a need for the prescription.
“No.” Sylvia let out a dramatic sigh. “For herotherissue.”
Kingston wracked his brain. What other issue did Sailor have, other than an unhealthy attachment to her cell phone? He’d talked to Sylvia about that problem as he’d applied the liquid nitrogen to the warts. Clearly, she hadn’t taken his advice about limiting her child’s screen time.
A knock sounded at the door. Now what? “Just a minute, Mrs.Strickland,” he said as he stepped toward it.
