She waited another minute, and when Helen still didn’t return, she moved back into the house. In the hall, she stopped at the bathroom door. It was open.
She poked her head in to see an empty bathroom.
What the heck?
Suddenly, Helen stepped out of Scarlett’s room.
Clara straightened. “Helen, what are you—”
“I’msosorry. I noticed the records in this room and I’m a sucker for a good Bob Marley record.”
Clara crossed over to Scarlett’s room and ducked her head in. Nothing looked out of place.
She closed the door. “Come on. Let’s get back.” But the entire walk, she kept flicking her gaze toward Helen, wondering what she’d really been doing in Scarlett’s bedroom.
Holden cuta piece of foam weather stripping to fit the length of Deb’s new doorframe. The adhesive back was sticky, but he worked quickly, pressing it firmly into place along the bottom of the door, just where the frame met the threshold.
He’d been here all morning. Deb was home and had popped out a dozen times to offer him water and coffee and cookies. She’d also spent a fair chunk of the morning talking to him about anything and everything. He was pretty sure he knew her entire life story, had the name of every family member, and was up to date on the full schedule of her week.
It was a good distraction from Clara and their kiss.Secondkiss. And the second damn time he’d run afterward.
He tried to focus on what he was doing. On making sure the weather stripping was flush, tight, and clean. After this, he’d apply the doorknobs, then he’d go home and work on Briar’s kitchen cabinetry.
Maybe if he could exhaust his body enough, he could get Clara out of his head.
When the weather stripping was done, he went to his truck and got the knobs and the tools to install them. The door had already been pre-drilled, so it wouldn’t take long.
He’d just returned to the door when footsteps sounded in the hall, then Deb’s voice.
“Oh my, look at that door. You, Holden Forbes, aresogood with your hands.”
His lips twitched. The woman had been complimenting him on anything and everything all morning. His ego certainly enjoyed being here. “Thanks. I’m almost done.”
“And so efficient. Amber Ridge really hit the jackpot when you decided to move to town.”
“Thank you, ma’am.”
Deb threw back her head and laughed. “Oh God, please, no ma’am. I already feel old being around all these young-gun doctors and nurses. Even Malcolm’s a good couple decades younger than me, and look at all he’s achieved.”
His fingers tightened around the baseplate as he aligned it with the holes, making sure it sat level and straight. “Do you know him well?”
“He’s been at our hospital for three years. He’s humble, but also proud of his work. And he should be after this whole sepsis treatment plan. Although…”
Holden stopped before putting the screws into place. “Although what?”
“I mean…he had a lot of help on the treatment plan and didn’t really give anyone else any recognition. But he’s young.”
So the doctor was selfish. Good. Another reason to dislike him. “Is there anything else going on at the hospital?”
Deb’s eyes widened, and she probably didn’t realize it, but she’d just given away the answer—therewas.
“There’s always stuff going on,” she rushed out with a nervous laugh. “I think you get that at every workplace.”
He wasn’t sure that was true.
He used his screwdriver to insert the screws into place, making sure the knobs were secure. Deb watched as he finished the last bit of the door installation.
“All finished,” he said at the end.
