“Good. Busy.”
“Isn’t it always?”
“Yes, unless I’m working the night shift. Even then, it can be crazy sometimes.”
Grace worked as a lab tech in the radiology department at Eden Medical Center in Richland. Gabe was grateful that despite being financially stable, she was content to live at home with their mother. He hated the idea of their mom being alone, and Grace was introverted and slow to trust thanks to a traumatic experience as a teenager. Knowing she and Mom had each other gave him peace of mind.
“Is Mom busy?”
“She’s asleep on the couch.” Concern filled Grace’s voice.
Gabe’s stomach clenched. “Again?”
“I’m telling you; I think aliens abducted our mom and replaced her with a woman who suddenly likes to sleep. She went to bed at eight o’clock last night.”
Over the past month, Marisol Rivera, the most energetic woman he knew, had started sleeping in on the weekends and taking naps after work. Something she’d never done while Gabe was growing up.
After his dad walked out on them, Mom cried and moped for a month, but then she snapped out of it and started building a new life for herself and her children.
“Has she had any cold or flu symptoms?”
“Not since she had that cold two months ago.”
His gut twisted as he recalled the fatigue his mom experienced twelve years ago while she battled breast cancer. Was something wrong with her again? Anemia maybe? Thyroid problems? He considered her age; fifty-three. Could be hormone changes. All of those were much easier to accept and treat than cancer.
“Is that Gabe?” He heard his mom’s voice in the background.
“Yes,” Grace said. “You’re on speaker now, Gabe.”
“Hi, Mom. How are you?”
“I’m great.” Despite the positive response, her voice lacked its usual liveliness. "How are things at your new clinic, Mijo?"
"Slow but good."
"You expected that. It will take time to build up a clientèle." The clank of dishes and silverware sounded in the background. "Before long, you'll have a reputation as the best physical therapist in town."
Grace snickered in the background.
"I'm the only physical therapist in town."
"So it shouldn't take long for word to spread," Mom's tone was optimistic.
If she knew how truly small Providence was, she'd worry—like he did—that there weren’t enough people who needed rehabilitation. At least he saw a new patient this afternoon and had another scheduled for Friday.
"Do you have any challenging patients?"
"If by challenging, you mean patients who need long-term and specialized therapy? Then yes, I have one at the moment."
The real challenge, however, was keeping his attraction to said patient in check. He’d never been so drawn to a client before, and itrattled him, making him say and do crazy things. Calling Paige one of his favorite patients was one thing—he often did that—but he never winked at them, like he did Paige.
Luke had teased him incessantly on Monday after he made thatwoman after my own heartslip.
Good thing he wasn't there to hear my faux pas this morning.
Gabe was captivated by more than Paige's pretty face. He admired her grit and determination. She persevered even when the exercises were hard, and she was exhausted.
"What makes this patient so challenging?" Mom’s voice pulled him from his thoughts of Paige.
