Page 76 of Rescuing Ryder

The electrician ordered supplies and gave her an estimate for rewiring parts of the house. Matthew searched for wireless cameras to place in her home. After hearing stories of how people hacked them, she refused. The camera idea paused until the wiring was completed.

Chase contacted the electrician and offered an incentive to add Claire as a top priority. Everyone knew if Chase asked for a favor, they repaid them ten-fold. Not necessarily by money but in the form of exclusive business opportunities. Kassie offered contracts for the long winter months when businesses slowed. Sometimes, it saved a contractor from closing up shop.

A knock indicated her company arrived and she hurried to answer the door. She smiled as she greeted Dr. Klein and allowed him inside. He handed her a beautiful bouquet.

“Thank you for the flowers; let me put them in a vase. What do you want to drink?” she asked as she placed the carry-out bag on the dining table.

“I’ll take water with lemon if you have it.” Dr. Klein smiled and handed her a box of candies.

“I’ll be right back. Make yourself at home.” She walked into the kitchen, leaving the candy on the counter. Pulling out a vase, she filled it with water. She poured Dr. Klein’s drink and added a lemon wedge then a glass of tea for herself before returning to the dining room.

Claire entered to discover Dr. Klein missing. She walked into the living room when she heard a noise from her office. She hastened her steps to find him browsing through her book collection.

“I’m sorry. I wandered in here and was unable to resist seeing how you added to your collection. Do you still have the book I gave you?”

She smiled and reached toward the shelf above him, pulling out his gift. Dr. Klein smiled.

“You remain the best intern I ever worked with. We missed you when you left,” he confessed to Claire.

“It’s sweet of you to say. How’s the new batch of interns?” Claire asked as she walked him back to the dining room.

Dr. Klein shook his head as they sat down. “Sometimes it worries me. These kids stay glued to their phones. They rely on technology for everything. Don’t get me wrong, technology has done wonders in the medical field. Sometimes, it feels like it misses the human component and they miss critical cues when observing a patient. They want to list the information and then deduce the prognosis. It’s nothing like when you interned for us.”

“I’m afraid it shows our age.” She giggled. “I imagine they’ll find their way like all of us did. I can’t imagine what the senior colleagues thought of your generation and mine when we walked through the doors.”

Dr. Klein laughed. “I agree. Now, tell me how you’re doing.”

“I’m healing wonderfully. I still get a bit dizzy, but it’s improving. I can’t read for long, which disappoints me greatly. The specialist refuses to let me return to work even if I agree not to check the files. I’m sure the next three weeks will fly by.”

“What do you do now with all your spare time? You seemed to furnish your house beautifully after living in your tiny apartment in Seattle.”

“Some of it came from storage. This is my mother’s dining table. After Kilner visited, my bosses furnished my living room and replaced it again when I came home to discover my house vandalized.”

“Oh my gosh, Claire. When did it happen?” Dr. Klein asked, surprised.

“It happened about a week ago. Luckily, I wasn’t here when they entered. I’m not entirely without blame. I forgot to turn the alarm on.”

“Do they know who vandalized it?” he asked, concerned. “I didn’t think Serenity experienced much crime.”

“No. They think some teens they’ve dealt with before did it,” she confided.

“Have you thought of returning to Seattle? This place doesn’t seem like the town you described to me in the emails,” he expressed his concern.

Claire laughed. “It’s a wonderful place and I love it here. They treat me like family. They showed up after everything happened and cleaned up the mess. My friends refused to let me bend over because of the dizziness. I sat in my office, inspected my books and sent some to Seattle to see if they might be repaired.”

“Did they take anything?” he asked.

She shook her head. “Nothing to my knowledge.”

“Your book collection’s rare and extensive. Did you catalog each one as I advised? They could sell one of those books alone for a ton of cash.”

“No,” she admitted guiltily. “I forgot. I planned to do it when I moved. Life became hectic. I took on a new patient and we do special theme nights at the hospital. I only unpacked a few days before David Kilner arrived.”

“Did he say how he knew where you lived? It seems odd he knew exactly where you were,” Dr. Klein asked thoughtfully.

“No. The team’s investigating it,” Claire stated.

“The team?” Dr. Klein questioned.

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