Page 29 of The Leaving Road

“Put some whiskey in it, and you have yourself a deal.”

I held my hand out to my best friend, hoping I didn’t just break her heart by asking her to move here with me.

Chapter 19

Magnolia

I groaned as a beeping noise from somewhere jostled me from my sleep. I drank too much hot chocolate with whiskey in it, and I knew better. Today was my first day back at the clinic, and I was sporting a rather nasty hangover. Luckily, last night I was using the half brain cell I had left after drinking half a bottle of whiskey with Lex and set my alarm for an hour earlier than necessary so I could drown my irresponsible ass in a long shower and hot coffee.

“Make it stop,” Lex moaned from beside me.

“Jesus Christ.” I hadnoidea she was in here. In fact, I’m pretty sure we went to sleep in separate beds. “Could you warn a girl the next time you come sneaking into my bed?”

“I wanted to cuddle. Now, shut off your alarm, and be a good girl and get ready for work.” She winked at me, rolled back over, and was back to snoring in seconds.

Lucky bitch.

After a scalding thirty-minute shower and a half a pot of coffee, I was finally feeling human again and ready to make my way to the clinic. I dressed casually, opting for a pair of form-fitting jeans and a scrub top with my work boots. The air outside was cooler, in the low seventies, again reminding me that we were seeing the last of summer. The drive to the clinic was shorter than I remembered, but I had a feeling it was because I had to stop myself from speeding to get there.

Walking in, I couldn’t help the smile that overtook my face. There was something about the calm before the inevitable chaos of the day that I always loved.

“Well, we didn’t get to introduce ourselves last time, but I’m Louise,” the receptionist said. She was probably in her mid-forties, and her chocolatey brown hair had strands of silver running through it. It was short, sitting against her chin, and bone straight. She had harsh features, but her voice was soft, which seemed to work well for her.

“Hi, it’s nice to meet you. I’m…”

“Dr. Evans, or Magnolia, what is it you prefer?”

“Oh, whatever it is you’re more comfortable with.”

“I’d prefer it if you told me what address you as,” she said in a no-nonsense way.

I couldn’t help but chuckle, I liked her. “Magnolia is great.”

“Perfect, now that that’s out of the way, let me show you around. I’d say we could wait for Dr. Lewis and Ben, but those boys are always running late.”

Funny how she called them both boys, even though there is no way she was older than Dr. Lewis. She ushered me into the back area and started showing me where they kept everything: syringes, needles, medications. She was about to start touching on the new computer system software, which had been upgraded significantly since I was here last, when Ben came in. He made a beeline for me and looked almost as if he were about to pull me in for a hug, thought better of it, and went with a handshake instead.

“Magnolia, it’s a pleasure to meet you. I’m sorry I’m behind this morning. Twin boys, you see…” His half-frazzled appearance and tardiness made all the sense in the world now.

“There’s a pot of coffee in the kitchen, dear,” Louis said.

“Bless you, Louise,” he said to her but kept his attention on me. “Would you want to join me for a cup, and we can get to know each other before the first appointment at eight-thirty gets here?”

“Absolutely. Let’s.”

He took the lead to the kitchen area, grabbed two cups from the cabinet, and poured us coffee.

“Cream or sugar?” he questioned.

“Black is fine.”

We both sat at the small dining table that had a direct window view to the acres in back with a stall set up for horses. I noticed there were none currently.

“So, how’d you make your way to Rockland, Ben? Dr. Lewis mentioned that you had moved here with your partner.”

“Yes, I’m gay. I figure it’s better to just come out and say it. His name is Martin, and we have two adopted twin boys—they are seven and terrors. We were living in Arkansas, but the prejudice there was real, and while we could make the most of it, it wasn’t fair to our kids who were constantly being bullied. When I saw the job posting here and applied, we didn’t hesitate when I was offered it.”

I frowned at him. “I’m so sorry that people suck. There is absolutely no judgment from me, and I grew up here. Everyone respects everyone; it was a great place to grow up.” I couldn’t help but reach over and grab his hand in support. He offered me a genuine smile.

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