“Stop!” April slapped him on the arm.
Nathan chuckled. “Call him if you want to. Or don’t. You’re the birthday girl. I won’t get to him for a while, so you’ve got some time to decide.”
After that, every time April went out to call another patient, she took a moment to look at the boy and his father. Owen. Cute name, she thought. The boy looked normal enough, aside from being a little under the weather. His father, on the other hand, looked deeply uncomfortable. April had to wonder why. She took the patient she had just called back to an exam room and began taking her blood pressure.
“Did you see the stranger?” the patient asked. It was someone April knew, a young woman who worked at the local grocery store, who always liked to chat whenever April was checking out with her. She’d come to the clinic with a mystery rash thatlooked to April like an allergic reaction. “It’s like, where did he come from? Why is he here? There isn’t an event in town or anything, and we never get out-of-towners for no reason. He must belong to someone in town, but who? Do you know?”
April shook her head. “I haven’t seen him before now. We were thinking he must have been passing through when his kid got sick.”
“Poor man,” the patient said. “He looks terribly uncomfortable out there. People keep staring. I’m sure they’re just curious, but from his perspective, it probably feels like judgment.”
When April had finished with her patient, she went back to the waiting room and watched. The big guy was definitely all tensed up. She could see the protectiveness toward his son, but there was also discomfort in his movements. He must have felt awful, she thought. Maybe Nathan was giving her a birthday present by offering her the chance to work with this particular patient, but April decided the gift would really be for the man in the corner. He needed a little respite from the curious people in the waiting room.
She stepped from the door and cleared her throat. Then she called out, “Owen Nolen?”
CHAPTER 3
APRIL
The big man with red hair stood and lifted the boy on his lap with one arm. He was physically impressive, to say the least. April couldn’t help appreciating the size and obvious strength of him. He wore blue jeans and a flannel over a white T-shirt. Simple, predictable. The man definitely had a rugged look about him. But he moved with the kind of purpose April rarely saw in a small town like this. He was like a businessman on his way to a meeting in the big city, except his pace was slow. The way he moved, it felt like everyone at that imaginary meeting would just wait for him. It felt like he owned everything, and everyone knew it.
“Follow me,” April said when he reached her.
He nodded silently and followed her through the door toward the examination rooms.
“Let’s get his weight,” she said, stopping in front of the scale in the hall.
The man was hesitant to let go of the boy. “Why?” he asked.
“It’s just to keep track,” she said. “So we know if he comes back in the future whether he has gained or lost an abnormal amount of weight.”
The big man frowned. “We won’t be coming back.”
April sighed. So he was going to be one of those difficult parents, was he? Well, she’d dealt with his type before. “It’s just protocol,” she said, her tone firm but soft. “Everyone gets weighed.” Then she turned her attention to the boy. “Do you want to know how much you weigh, Owen?”
The boy nodded, and April looked back up at his guardian with a winning smile. “See? He’s on my side.” Then she held out her hand. “My name’s April,” she said. “I swear I don’t bite.”
The man shook her outstretched hand. “Cal Nolen,” he said, and he let his boy slide from his arms. Finally, some headway.
“Is Owen your son?” April asked.
He nodded as April helped the boy step onto the scale.
She wrote down the boy’s weight and led the pair of them into an exam room. “The doctor isn’t quite ready for you yet,” she told them. “But I thought you might be more comfortable waiting in here. People in this town can be a bit nosey.” She laughed. “They’re harmless, though. I promise.”
Cal Nolen frowned like he didn’t believe her, and she wondered what could have made him this jaded. She’d only just met the man, and already he was treating her with an awkward suspicion. “So, what brings you into our clinic today?” she asked with as friendly a tone as she could manage with the intense stare he was giving her. On the other hand, she was certain she’dnever seen eyes that shade of green before. They were gorgeous, even though they weren’t exactly warm just now.
“My son has been sick for twenty-four hours,” he said in a deeply serious tone. “I can’t bring down his fever, not even with medicine.”
“Oh, dear,” April said, turning her attention back to Owen. “Is that true, Owen? Are you not feeling well?”
Owen nodded.
“Well, we’ll just have to do something about that today.” She watched the boy’s eyes dart around the room and realized he was beginning to worry as much as his father. “Have you ever been to a clinic like this, Owen?” she asked.
Owen shook his head.
“Well, you’re in for a good time. See, kids who do really well during their appointments get a prize at the end.”
