“What are you doing?” she asked.
“I have one more appointment today,” Nathan said. “But it’s a house call. And you’re not invited.”
“What?” Zoe forced herself to take a deep breath. Why couldn’t Nathan just be civil with her? “Are you serious? You’ve been making my life difficult all day, and now that you’re actually doing something interesting, you won’t let me come?”
“That’s about the size of it,” Nathan said. He lifted his medical bag with one hand and started towards the door. “I’ll be done around six thirty or seven. Let’s meet back here. We need to talk.”
“No.” Zoe stepped into his path, blocking his exit with one hand on the doorframe. Nathan stopped very close to her, and for a split second, she was overwhelmed by that pine scent. He could have easily moved her out of the way with one hand, but he didn’t. He was so tall and so handsome — and, more importantly, so annoying. Zoe focused on that. “I’m coming with you.”
“Move, please.” Nathan tried to step around her, but Zoe held her ground. Instinctively, she lifted one hand to press against hischest and hold him in place. They both froze at her touch. The outline of his pectoral muscle pressed against her palm.
“No,” Zoe repeated. She didn’t move her hand. “I get that you’re stubborn. I get that me being here is a big inconvenience. But I can’t let you being a stick-in-the-mud bring usbothdown. I’m coming, and that’s final.”
Nathan let out a long sigh. He took off his glasses, simply holding them in his hand for a moment while he rubbed his temples. Then he put them back on.
“You can come,” he said finally. “But no filming. And no getting in the way. You need to stand back, not ask questions, and be polite. Do you understand?”
“Sure,” Zoe said quickly, ignoring her annoyance at the requirements. She was intrigued by Nathan’s secretiveness. He’d tried to avoid filming all day, but he was much firmer now than before. Maybe she was finally going to find the hook the show needed, even if Nathan wouldn’t allow her to film it yet. Maybe they were going to visit his secret child or his mysterious twin brother — though neither of those seemed likely. Probably this was going to be another visually bland consultation.
“Come on, then.” Nathan put his hands on Zoe’s shoulders and gently moved her to the side so that he could get through the door. Her skin prickled where he’d touched her, but she tried to ignore it.
They went out past reception, both nodding to Maya as they passed, and circled to the small parking lot behind the clinic. To Zoe’s surprise, Nathan led her to an old pickup truck instead of one of the fancier cars in the lot.
“Is this what you drive?” she asked.
“Yeah. Get in.”
“Okay, you have to let me take a picture of you with the truck.” Zoe reached for her camera. “This is great. A nice picture of you in your lab coat with the truck would help showcase your small-town upbringing and your humility…” She was already framing the shot in her mind.
“I thought we agreed that you wouldn’t take pictures.”
“When we’re at the patient’s house I won’t, but we’re not there yet.”
Nathan gave her a look, and Zoe let her camera slide back into her bag. “Fine, I won’t take a picture of you with the truck.”
She climbed into the passenger seat, wondering why Nathan was in such a mood. He’d been annoyed with her all day, but this patient was definitely special somehow. Not least because Nathan was making a house call instead of asking whoever it was to come into the practice.
They pulled out of the parking lot and drove along the main street. Zoe spotted the diner where she’d eaten. Even a few of the pedestrians walking along the sidewalk looked familiar — they must be Nathan’s patients. She’d spent just a few days in Islingburn, and Zoe was already getting to know it a little too well for her liking. After thirty-two years in New York City, there were still hundreds of streets she’d never explored and thousands of people she’d never seen.
Islingburn was small, and within a few minutes, the main street had entered a narrower residential neighborhood. They drove past houses with big front yards and an elementary school. The further they got from Islingburn, the fewer houses there were.
“Are you taking me somewhere to murder me?” Zoe joked, trying to break the tension. Nathan glanced at her, his mouth a firm line. He was clearly not amused in the slightest, and, with a sigh, Zoe sank back into her seat. Apparently, this drive was going to be awkwardly silent, and there was nothing she could do about it.
Well, maybe notnothing. She reached for the car’s ancient radio and a pop song came on over the speakers. She turned up the volume enough to drown out the fact that they weren’t talking. With the music playing and the warm early evening air pouring in though her open window, the drive became almost pleasant.
Outside, scattered houses gave way to leafy forests and rolling hills. About twenty minutes after leaving the clinic, Nathan turned onto a gravel drive, and they crunched to a stop. Ahead of them stood a modest house painted a bright, cheerful green, like leaves in springtime. The garden in front looked wilted and overgrown, as if it hadn’t been cared for in a while, but the house looked warm and inviting.
“Leave the camera in the car, okay?” Nathan asked. He turned to Zoe, his blue eyes meeting hers for the first time all day. “Please.”
“I will.” Zoe put her bag in the back seat. “I promise, I won’t film.”
“Or interfere.”
Zoe fought the urge to roll her eyes. “Or interfere.” Her curiosity had gotten the better of her, and she’d have agreed to anything to see what Nathan was being so secretive about.
“Let’s go.” Nathan reached for the handle and got out of the car. Zoe followed. The air outside smelled like flowers and sunshine and warm earth, and the only sounds were the soft rustle ofwind in the leaves above, the buzz of crickets in the distance somewhere, and the melody of birds singing.
Nathan headed towards the house, Zoe on his heels. Despite the cheeriness of the house, Nathan’s serious expression made Zoe’s chest tight with foreboding. Maybe he didn’t want her to film because she was about to see something truly terrifying…
