Page 9 of Love Me Fierce

She works here?

Thankfully, Logan passes in front of me, giving me a second to reclaim my bearings.

When we enter the patient area, Sepp looks up from his workspace behind the counter. “Hey, guys.”

Vivian whirls around, her eyes narrowed.

Sepp flashes his palm in my direction. “Vivian, this is my brother, Everett, and my nephew, Logan.”

Sepp has mentioned a coworker named Vivian a couple of times, but I didn’t put it together. That’s not like me, but then again, the past sixteen months have been the most challenging of my career.

“We’ve met, actually,” Vivian says with a terse nod.

“Oh?” Sepp cocks his head.

“On my drive to Finn River,” Vivian continues, not meeting my eyes. “There was an accident on the road. I stopped to help.”

Sepp arches an eyebrow. “Interesting.”

Vivian leads us into an exam room.

“Hop up, Logan, and I’ll get a set of vitals,” Vivian says, hooking the step under the exam table with the toe of her tennis shoe to slide it out.

Logan climbs up and slides off his hoody so she can get the BP cuff on while I lower into one of the two chairs against the opposite wall.

Vivian keeps her focus on Logan while getting his vital signs.She’s efficient and warm with him, even laughing at something he says.

Who cares if she doesn’t like me? I’m a cop. It’s part of the job.

Her long hair is tied back in a braid that swings between her shoulder blades, and silver hoops adorn her earlobes. Beneath her scrubs top, she’s wearing a cream-colored waffle-knit thermal shirt printed with tiny blue flowers. So, she hasn’t acclimated to our mountain temperatures yet. How’s her son doing? How are they liking Finn River? Why’d she move from California?

Enough. Vivian Reece isn’t my business.

Vivian hands Logan a clipboard and a pen. “Go ahead and fill this out. Dr. Greely should be in soon.”

“Want me to go ask Uncle Sepp about the shot?” I ask Logan once the door is closed.

A pink tint colors his neck, but he keeps his focus on the questionnaire. “Um, that’s okay.”

This shouldn’t irk me. So what if Vivian’s managed to charm my kid in ten minutes?

After Dr. Greely’s exam, she asks me to step out so she and Logan can have a chat about whatever he entered in that mental health questionnaire. Sepp warned me it was coming this year, but my chest is still tight when I close the door behind them.

Logan lived only with his mother his first six months, in conditions I don’t like to think about. Had I known about him sooner, I would have done things differently. There’s a very real possibility whatever trauma he experienced before I brought him home is going to manifest at some point in his life. Maybe as anxiety or depression. Or learning challenges. It’s not that I don’t think we can tackle them together, but I hate thinking that his mother’s neglect could cause him even more suffering.

But Dr. Greely is all smiles when she invites me back into the room. Logan’s doing great. Once Sepp prints out the sports physical he needs for football and soccer this year, we’re on our way.

“I guess we’ll see you at the wedding,” I tell Dr. Greely in parting.She and another good friend of mine from high school, Ryan Hutchins, have been in love for as long as I’ve known them and are finally tying the knot next month.

Dr. Greely’s soft brown eyes light up. “Yep.” She gives Logan a wink. “Kids are welcome.”

“Vivian’s bringing Mateo,” Sepp remarks from his desk.

Right. Vivian will be at this wedding too.

We say our final goodbyes just as Vivian comes out of an exam room. Our eyes lock for an instant before she shifts her attention to the tablet in her hands.

I read people for a living, and my initial interpretation of Vivian Reece has only been confirmed. She may be proficient at her job and warm with her patients and coworkers, but she wants nothing to do with me.

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