Zoe knocked, a little hesitantly. She was used to staying in hotels with doormen and reception desks, not B&Bs that seemed to be run out of someone’s house. A moment later, the door opened, and an older woman with dark gray hair and warm brown eyes smiled at her.
“Welcome! You must be Zoe Devine!” Everything she said sounded enthusiastic, as though Zoe was a long-lost friend she’d been dreaming of reuniting with.
“That’s me,” Zoe said, a little unsure of how to respond to such enthusiasm.
“Please, come in.” The woman beamed at her and stepped aside to let her in. “My name is Iris Whitaker, and I run this place with my husband, Jacob. He’s around here somewhere, but he has bad knees, so he can’t help with your suitcase. Luckily, we only have one flight of stairs.”
“Right.” Zoe was taken aback by how much she’d shared. It would have taken months to get to know this much about a fellow New Yorker. “Um, nice to meet you.”
“You too. Come, come.” Iris gestured for Zoe to follow, so she did. The inside of the house was bright and airy, with wooden furniture and pictures on the walls of Iris and the man who must be her husband standing on the beach or in the forest. There were a dozen pictures of kids who looked like their children and grandchildren, all smiling. Iris led Zoe up the stairs to her room, which was small but comfortable and had the faint smell of lavender. The bed was covered in a yellow bedspread, and there was a vase of fresh flowers on the nightstand.
“I hope it’s all right,” Iris said. “We call this the Sunshine room, because there’s so much yellow.”
“It’s great.” Zoe set her suitcase down. “Well, I’ll be heading out again.”
“Already?” Iris looked surprised.
“Yes. I have some work to do.”
Iris still seemed surprised, but she nodded. “If you need anything, just give me a call. You have my number, right? Oh, and breakfast tomorrow is anytime you’d like, but I usually prefer to have things ready around eight.”
“That should be fine. And I do have your number. Thanks.” Zoe was still uncomfortable with this level of friendliness. Even if she hadn’t needed to get to the clinic to start gathering material, she probably would have left.
“I’ll see you later, then.” Iris smiled a kind smile and walked Zoe back to the door. The clinic was just a few streets away, so Zoe left the rental car parked in front of the B&B and walked over. A small group of preteen kids on bikes rode past, giggling and trying to balance with no hands. Zoe was surprised at first, until she remembered that it was summer break. Apparently, Islingburn was the kind of town where kids spent the summer break riding bikes with their friends. In New York, these kids would probably have been at a camp or some kind of summer school.
Zoe arrived at the clinic in the early afternoon and went straight in. The waiting room was emptier than the last time she’d been here. Maya, the receptionist, stood up and smiled at her. This week, she had dark purple hair instead of last week’s red.
“Hey, Zoe!”
“Hi, Maya.” Zoe smiled at her. “Where can I find Nathan?”
“Doc’s back in his office,” Maya explained. “Just take a seat.”
“I’ll head back.” Zoe held up her camera. “I need to get a few shots of him in action.”
“Are you sure he’s okay with you attending patient appointments?” Maya asked, a flicker of worry crossing her young face.
“I’m sure. We talked about it.” Zoe headed down the hallway, her steps quick and assured. She remembered Nathan’s office from last time and found it easily. She gave the door one brisk rap and stood back to wait. A moment later, the door opened.
“Zoe?” Nathan’s brow furrowed. “What are you doing here?”
“Coming to get some candid shots of you,” Zoe explained patiently. “For the pitch. Like we talked about last week.”
“Yeah, sure, but I thought you’d film me, I don’t know, walking around or something. Not in my appointments.”
Zoe chuckled until she realized he wasn’t joking. “Oh. You’re serious. No — you’re a doctor, so we need images of you doing doctor things.”
“I can be in the pictures, no problem,” another voice piped up from inside the room. Zoe gestured towards the sound.
“See? Your patient is fine with it.”
“Fine then. Come in.” Nathan didn’t sound all that pleased, but he stepped back so that Zoe could enter. His patient was, to Zoe’s surprise, Claire, the barista she’d met in the coffee shop last time she was in Islingburn. She smiled at Zoe, her eyes lighting up in recognition.
“Let me guess — you’re back for more donuts?” She smiled.
“That’s exactly it,” Zoe joked.
“Do you two know each other?” Nathan asked.
