“Fine.” He slipped his glasses back on and met Zoe Devine’s wide brown eyes. “I’ll hear you out, but not now. I have patients to see. Come back at the end of the day,afterI’ve finished my work, and we can talk.”
“Excellent.” Zoe held out a hand. “I’ll look forward to it.”
Nathan took her hand and shook it. Unexpected warmth raced up his arm at her touch, but he ignored it. She’d worked magic to clear his waiting room, even though he hadn’t liked answering questions, but he wasn’t going to be distracted by her.
“Maya, who’s my next patient?”
“Juanita, Diego, and Marsela Rodriguez,” Maya said, gesturing to the young mother with her two kids.
“Great. Rodriguez family, please follow me. And Maya, if the young father you were speaking to on the phone comes in, let him know I’ll see him as soon as possible and see if you can find a time to squeeze him in.”
“I will,” Maya said.
“What time should I come back?” Zoe asked. Nathan hesitated.
“Around seven.”
“See you then.”
With that, Zoe left the clinic, and Nathan turned down the hallway towards the exam room. Even though the clinic was down to regular patients, at least mostly, it was going to be a busy day, and he couldn’t let himself be distracted by any of this. He was annoyed that he’d needed Zoe Devine’s help to clear the waiting room. People who weren’t his patients should have just left when he’d asked them. But he was grateful to Zoe for taking charge of the situation and getting them to leave, enough so that he was willing to hear her out this evening.
He just needed to make it clear that, while he would appreciate her help getting things back to normal, the last thing he wanted was to extend his fame in any way. He didn’t want to answer personal questions. He didn’t want to go on social media. He didn’t want to stand in the spotlight any longer than he had to. And he didn’t want to spend a bunch of money on a PR campaign when he could be directing those funds into the clinic itself. That was why he still did all the repairs on his modest house himself, instead of hiring anyone, why he still drove an old pickup he’d bought years ago, and why he rarely went on vacation except tovisit family. He didn’t want to spend any money on himself when he could be spending it on his patients.
Taking a deep breath, Nathan turned his full attention back to the young family in front of him. No matter what was going on in his personal life, he couldn’t let his care for his patients slip.
“So, Mrs. Rodriguez,” Nathan said. “How can I help?”
CHAPTER 6
ZOE
Zoe stepped out of the doctor’s office with more hope than she’d had in weeks.
Finally,finally,she actually had a meeting with someone who might listen to her. Sure, Nathan hadn’t seemed eager to launch a PR campaign, but evenhehad to have seen how useful she was when she’d cleared out his waiting room for him. And there was no chance Carla Vassallo would get to him — he wouldn’t even speak to PR professionals during his workday. All Zoe needed to do was kill a little time in this backwater Vermont town before going back to his clinic and acing the presentation.
Zoe’s first thought was that she should work more on her pitch. She needed to find somewhere in Islingburn with a good Wi-Fi connection and comfortable seats — a coffee shop maybe, or a coworking space.
But when she stopped on the sidewalk in front of Nathan’s clinic, which was run out of an old brick building with tall windows, bracketed by some leafy trees Zoe didn’t know the name of, she started to worry. There didn’t seem to be a lot to Islingburn.
On the left, the main road passed a secondhand clothes store, a shop that appeared to sell antique trinkets, a sewing and craft shop, a diner, and a small bookstore. On the right, she spotted a grocery store, a hardware store, an ice-cream shop, and — thank goodness — a blue metal sign that readCoffeein loopy cursive. That was it. That was the whole downtown, or at least what Zoe could see of it.
Stopping by the rental car to grab her laptop bag, Zoe headed down the street towards the coffee shop. She passed a few people who gave her curious looks. A few greeted her cheerfully with bright smiles. Uncomfortable and unused to such friendliness, Zoe just nodded at them.
The coffee shop turned out to be small and cute. An eclectic mix of couches and chairs filled the space, and signs with slogans likeHome Is Where the Heart IsandBe Kind, Do Goodlined the walls. The barista, who wore a name tag that identified her as Claire, greeted Zoe with a bright smile when she entered.
“Hi.” Zoe barely glanced at the menu. “Double espresso with oat milk and a pump of caramel, please.”
“Um…” Claire bit her lip and brushed her hands against her dark green apron. “Sorry, um, we don’t have oat milk. Or caramel pumps.”
What kind of coffee shop was this? Zoe swallowed her annoyance. “Okay, what do you have?”
“I can get you the espresso with your choice of whole or skim milk and some brown sugar?” Claire suggested, sounding more than a little hesitant.
“That’ll be fine. Thanks.” Zoe paid and went to find a seat. There were already a few other guests in the coffee shop. In one corner,three older men played a game with cards and a wooden board with plastic pegs that Zoe was pretty sure was Bridge. Near the windows, a group of young parents with infant- and toddler-aged kids sat in a loose circle, talking, bouncing their kids, and sipping coffee. Zoe found a free armchair near the back and powered up her laptop. Soon, the other guests were tuned out as she focused on the pitch.
The few moments she’d spent with Nathan had told her a few things. First, he really was handsome in person, in a nerdy kind of way. He was tall, which was always a good thing, taller than Zoe had expected from the video. And he had a soft scent, not of antiseptic, as Zoe might have expected from a doctor, but of fresh, green pine.
Second, he was completely clueless about his newfound fame. Zoe could help him — and help herself in the process. She just had to remind him that fame wasn’t a bad thing, like he seemed to think. Maybe that was something to add to the presentation. She created a new slide and began filling in information about the benefits of being better known. She just needed?—
