Gibb turns off the main street and parks in front of a modern-style building with a small sign that readsHollow Peak Family Clinic. He comes around to my side before I can attempt the door, and I've learned enough in the past two days to simply accept the hand he holds out to help me navigate out of the vehicle. He holds my crutches and helps me balance, stealing a quick kiss that leaves me dizzy with desire.
Inside, the clinic is cozy, clean and unexpectedly chic with beautiful photographs of the mountains on the walls and comfortable looking chairs. A woman behind the front desk looks up, noticing Gibb, and smiles warmly. "Gibson," she says. "Good to see you. This is your houseguest?”
“Poppy Johnson,” I say, sniffing the air. I expected it to smell antiseptic, like my doctor’s office back home, but the clinic smells fresh and crisp somehow.
“I called Lila earlier,” Gibb says.
“Room 3, Gibson. Dr. Brennan will be right with you.”
The doctor walks in five minutes later with the type of energy that makes me think she is always three things ahead. She reminds me of my boss, Geoff. She's tall and precise, chic glasses, a stethoscope she doesn't look like she ever takes off, and eyes that do a complete clinical assessment of my ankle in about four seconds.
"Hiking in the ice storm resulting in a sprained ankle," she says, reading what the desk gave her. "Gibson Hart playing mountain medic again." She says it to my chart, not to him, but there's warmth in her voice.
"Road was closed in the storm and I didn’t want to risk not getting out." Gibb says from the chair by the window, where he'sstationed himself with his arms folded and his full attention on me.
"Gibb wrapped this for you?"she asks, unwinding the bandage and probing the joint with careful efficiency. Her hands are quick and cool on my tender skin. “His grandfather taught him well.” She peers at me. “Any other injuries?”
“No, just the ankle.”
Dr. Brennan pulls down the eye examine thing, shining the light, first in one eye then the other, then taps my knees and runs her fingers up the inside of each of my arms. "Grade two sprain. Good job on the wrap, nothing shifted, but it wasn’t so tight as to restrict the blood flow with the swelling." She looks up at me over her glasses. "You're lucky. This wants another week of rest and elevation. No hiking, or anything too strenuous.”
She doesn’t look over at Gibb, but I’m sure the blush I feel crawl up my neck gives away the fact that I want to do all kinds of strenuous activity. "I wasn't planning to," I manage.
"Good." She rewraps it with a speed and neatness that makes Gibb's excellent job look like a rough draft. "You need to keep off it, keep it elevated when possible, and I’ll prescribe some anti-inflammatories which will help a little more than the ibuprofen.” She pauses, tilting her head. “How long are you staying in Hollow Peak?”
“For as long as she wants,” Gibb says, and I dare not look over.
Dr. Brennan gives me an assessing look. I’m flustered and not sure if I should chime in or not. I called Geoff and explained the injury, obviously leaving out the fact that I was very nearly an accomplice to breaking and entering. He was incredibly understanding, even offering to send a car for me if I was stranded. With a doctor’s note and Geoff’s insistence that I usethe time to recover and relax as I wouldn’t take a vacation last year, I do have some free time.
But I don’t even know what this is with Gibb, if it’s anything at all. Maybe it’s another situationship. Maybe it’s nothing at all and when I leave, I’ll just have fond memories of being rescued by the most gorgeous man I’ve ever met.
"Well, if you’re staying for a while, I think the hot springs would actually do you a world of good. The mineral water is genuinely therapeutic for soft tissue injuries. I know it sounds like a spa day, but it's actual medicine. Gibb’s grandfather would tell you the same thing if he were still here." She looks at Gibb. "I know you don’t like spending too much time in town, but she shouldn't be navigating the stone steps on that ankle without someone there."
Gibb says nothing. But I feel his attention shift in a very specific way. I don’t know why I feel so attuned to him, but it feels like I’ve been around him forever.
"There are hot springs here?" I ask.
"Ingrid runs them properly. It’s a real therapeutic soak, not a tourist trap." Dr. Brennan scribbles on a prescription pad and hands me a slip. "The pharmacy's two doors down. Crutches?" She checks out the pair Gibb brought in. "Those are good ones. Where'd you get them?”
"Medical supply in Durango," Gibb says. "I keep them on hand."
Dr. Brennan gives him a look that manages to be both affectionate and slightly exasperated. "Of course you do."
Gibb helpsme walk out into the surprising warm spring sunshine, and we stand for a moment on the sidewalk while Ilean on the crutches as the town goes about its business around us. A man tips his hat at me as he passes. I get back in the Land Rover and wait for Gibb to slide behind the wheel.
It’s a short trip back to Main Street and Gibb cruises slowly until he finds a spot that isn’t too far from the pharmacy.
A woman coming out of The Switchback next door does a small double-take but has the grace to simply smile and keep walking.
“Does everyone in town know who you are?” I ask.
“The ones who’ve been here a while know me. Many of them knew my grandfather.” He glances down at me. “The people here were never in my business, or my parents for that matter. Fame isn’t something that gets you far here and the people who watched my dad grow up, and me and my sister aren’t interested in what happens outside of Hollow Peak. After my parents died and Gramps and Grandma took us in, most of the people here were very protective over our privacy. It’s one of the reasons I came back.”
I think about that. A town that closes around its people like water, filling in the spaces, no questions asked. I can’t imagine a life like that.
“I need to pick up a few things,” he says. “Pharmacy first, then I want to stop at The Switchback because you keep eyeing it before we head back. Unless you’re too tired.”
I shake my head. “I wish I could explore the whole town.” My voice sounds wistful, even to my ears.
