by Debbie Mason
Julia looked from Finn to Olivia and smiled her sweetly mischievous smile. “Do you know, I think I’ve just thought of the perfect solution.” She took out her phone and texted someone. She waited a few moments, then smiled and looked at Olivia. “How would you like to live right next door to the clinic?”
Olivia pressed a hand to her chest. “Are you kidding me? That would be ideal. If George wasn’t feeling well, Finn would be only steps away.” She caught the triumphant gleam in Julia’s gaze and waved her hand. “I don’t know why I said that. Probably because we’re here and Finn’s right there, you know. Just ignore me, sometimes I babble. What I really meant to say was that it’s an ideal location because it’s close to the school. And the library. And you, it’s close to you too.” Fig Newton, she had to stop talking. Then she thought of the pretty Cape Cods on the street with their well-tended lawns and gardens. “But I didn’t see any homes for sale.”
Julia smiled. “You just leave that to me.”
Two weeks later, Finn walked into the examination room. “Hello, Mrs….” He slapped a hand over his eyes and backtracked out of the room, walking into someone. Before he apologized to whomever he’d bumped into, he said to the naked woman on the examination table, “Mrs. Edwards, you’re here for”—he glanced at her chart to be sure he’d read it right the first time—“a sore throat, not a”—he mentally deleted the curse word before finishing—“physical. Get dressed, and I’ll be with you in a minute.” Not without Sherry, he wouldn’t be. He closed the door and turned to apologize to…the reason he couldn’t tell his grandmother and Doc Bishop what they could do with this job.
Lexi leaned against the wall with her arms crossed and a grin on her face. “Gotta love a job where married women drop their clothes and jump on your table and half the single women in town are packed like sardines in your waiting room just to get a look at your pretty face.”
“Har har, you’re spending too much time with Liam.” He pretended to look around while doing a quick visual search of her face to gauge how she was feeling. Lex didn’t stop in just to razz him or shoot the breeze. She broke out in a cold sweat anytime she had to go to the hospital or clinic. “How did you get past Kerry without an appointment?”
Her lips flattened, and she pushed off the wall. “I have an appointment. Your brother made it.”
“The guy’s been a pain in the ass since he learned to talk,” Finn said, gently throwing an arm over her shoulders. “Always checking up on you, making sure you’re okay. Yeah, Griff’s a real pain in the ass.”
“Oh, shut up. I know I got lucky as far as exes go. But he hovers and gets this worried look on his face if I say I’m tired or complain about a sore arm or back.” She leaned against him, her voice going low. “And then I get paranoid that maybe it really is something. Maybe it’s not because Gabe weighs a shit ton or I was up with him three times in the night.”
And this is why his brother wanted him home, and why, when Finn caught the tiny break in Lexi’s armor, saw a touch of fear in her eyes, he knew he wasn’t going anywhere anytime soon. And he realized he was good with that.
Finn leaned past her to open the exam room door. “You’re fine, Lex. I’ll just check you out to make my brother happy. Now go get bare-ass naked and get up on my table,” he teased to distract her.
She elbowed him. “In your dreams. Besides, I wouldn’t want to ruin you for the hordes of women coming after me. It’s standing room only out there.”
He blew out a frustrated breath. “Grams and the Widows Club are behind this, you know. I’m tempted to tell them I’m gay so they’ll just leave me alone. They’re taking time away from people who are actually sick.” It was weeks past amusing. He’d already planned to talk to Doc Bishop about it tonight.
“Or you can just tell them the truth and say you and Olivia have a thing.”
“We don’t have a thing. The only thing we have is a standing appointment every second day at four o’clock because the woman is neurotic. She’s going to turn George into a hypochondriac if she doesn’t stop.”
“But she’s beautiful. Olivia, I mean.”
An image came to him of the other day when he’d walked into the exam room to find Liv on her hands and knees hunting down the baseball that George had dropped on the floor. She had on a pink skirt that gave him the perfect view of her sweet cheeks. He felt his lips curving and quickly corrected that. Making sure to sound uninterested, he said, “Some people might think so, I guess.”
Lex gave him a look.
“All right, yeah, she’s got incredible eyes, great hair, and a nice bod. That better?”
“Why are you asking me?” She patted her chest. “This is what matters to me. I care what’s in here, and Olivia has heart. I couldn’t ask for a better friend. She puts herself out there for everyone. The woman is tireless, and what she’s doing for George…that says everything about her. She’s one in a million.”
“Yeah, she is.” He smiled as he remembered the day she was supposed to bring George to live with Nathan’s parents. Finn had been thinking about her, about both of them, and then George had opened the exam room door—much to the chagrin of the patient having a physical—and announced that she was staying with Liv. The kid had been beaming, happier than he’d seen her since she’d landed in Harmony Harbor. And Liv, well, she’d gotten to him that day, not that he’d tell either her or Lex. Because his ex-sister-in-law was right—the most beautiful thing about Liv was her heart.
“So there’s your answer,” Lex said.
He blinked, afraid he’d said the last out loud. “Does everyone around here talk in code? I have no idea what you’re getting at.”
“Olivia can be your fake girlfriend. Everyone will buy it and back off, and you can get back to what you do best, taking care of your patients, not just the ones who want to get naked with you.”
“They don’t want to get naked with me…Okay, a couple might, but mostly they want a ring on their finger.”
Or to feed him, he thought several hours later as he looked at the casseroles piled up on the reception desk. He’d forgotten to say that to Lex this morning. He’d tell her when he dropped by the manor later. She’d made him promise to have a talk with his brother. Which he planned to, but he’d talk to Ava first. Because if anyone could alleviate some of Griff’s fears for Lexi, it was his wife.
“There’s no more room in the fridge,” Sherry said, gesturing at the two foil-wrapped casserole dishes on the desk. “Or the freezer,” she added when he’d opened his mouth to suggest exactly that.
“All right, what about…” He turned to see what Sherry was scowling at, thinking it was another casserole-bearing patient. It was Liv. “Hey, you’re early. Where’s George?” he asked, even though all he could think about was his conversation with Lex earlier. He couldn’t ask Liv to be his fake girlfriend, could he? No, no way. It was a bad idea.
She looked confused. “Early for what? George is in school.”
“Why are you acting all innocent? You’re only in here every other day. You’re going to give the kid a complex if you’re not careful,” Sherry said.
Finn looked at his nurse and picked up the casserole dishes. “Find room for them. And I want to talk to you before you leave tonight, Sherry.”
“Fine. Whatever. You want to keep seeing patients who have absolutely nothing wrong with them while patients like poor Mr. Taylor, who is dying, have to wait hours to see you, fine.” She turned and headed for the back, making as much noise as she possibly could wearing rubber-soled shoes.
He might not like how she handled the situation, but Sherry was right. He had to do something.
Her cheeks bright pink, Liv said, “I’m sorry. I didn’t realize how often I’m here. Sherry’s right, I shouldn’t be using you like our own private physician. I just get worried, that’s all. I promise, I’ll get a handle on it. We won’t bother you anymore.”
Finn looked out into the waiting room, wondering if he had a big enough aud
ience, and then he remembered where he was. He took Liv’s hand and smiled down at her. “It’s okay, Princess. You come by anytime. You know how much I love playing doctor with you.” He inwardly grimaced. He’d taken it a bit too far, as evidenced by the stunned and possibly horrified look on Liv’s face.
“Kerry, I just need two minutes before I see the next patient,” he said, tugging Liv after him.
“Uh-huh,” his receptionist said, looking kinda shocked and disappointed, which was heartening. Because if he was going to make an idiot of himself, it was good to know his plan had a chance of succeeding.
“Give me a minute, and I’ll explain,” Finn said to Liv as he dragged her down the hall. When he was out of earshot of the waiting room, he stopped and put his hands on her shoulders. “Okay, I know that was weird, but it’s about to get weirder. I have a favor to ask.”
“You want to play doctor with me?”
He gave his head a slight shake to clear the image of Liv in the same position as Mrs. Edwards this morning. “No, if there’s any playing, it will be of the pretend kind. So would you be up for that?”
“Are you feeling all right?”
“Sorry, I’m messing this up.” Probably because a voice inside his head was yelling, No, don’t do it! You were never any good at playing let’s pretend…“I need your help, Liv. Sherry’s right. I spend three-quarters of my day seeing patients who should be on Match.com, not at the clinic. What do you say? Will you do me a huge and be my fake girlfriend? But you can’t tell anyone it’s not real or my grandmother and the Widows Club will find out.”
She rolled her eyes. “No one will believe we’re dating, Finn. You’re too young for me, and—”
Finn heard the squeak of Sherry’s shoes coming toward them. “Trust me, they will. And I’m going to prove it to you right now,” he said, lifting his hands to frame her face. “Pucker up, Princess, and make it good.” His lips closed over hers, swallowing an irritated huff that was soon replaced with a tiny, far-from-fake moan. And he couldn’t be sure, but he thought he may have groaned when her fingers tightened around his shoulders and she pressed against him. The reason he couldn’t be sure whether he was groaning or not was because he was high from the feel of her soft, plush lips under his, the warmth and the taste of her mouth, the…
“I knew it! I knew there was something going on between you two,” Sherry muttered. “You can bet I’m going to tell Dr. Bishop about this, Dr. Gallagher. Making time with your girlfriend while patients are waiting.”
Finn slowly pulled back from Liv. This was when he was supposed to smugly point out to her that he was right. But he couldn’t because, the way his heart was pounding and his head was spinning, he had a feeling that he should have listened to the voice in his head.
Chapter Fourteen
Every time the wild child came near, Colleen made sure to disappear behind the door in the closet. She didn’t want the little girl throwing Olivia’s treasures at her from across the room again. It would be a long time before Colleen banished the image of Olivia desperately trying to save the photo of her son.
But watching them from where she hid in her old closet in the tower, Colleen could see their relationship was much improved. She was happy for them. They deserved…
Colleen startled at a quiet rustling beside her. Before she had a chance to investigate, a head poked out from among Olivia’s dresses. “You! What in the name of all that is holy are you doing here?” Colleen said to Ivy, but it was obvious the woman didn’t hear her.
No good, that’d be for darn sure, Colleen thought. She had to alert Olivia to the danger. Simon was down in the tunnels chasing mice, so she’d get no help from him. She peeked around the door. Olivia, who moments before had been folding clothes, was down on her hands and knees with her head under the bed. She backed out and came to her feet, holding a baseball.
“Here you go.” Olivia looked at the ball for a moment, turning it in her hand before carefully tossing it to George, who stood by the fireplace. “No playing in the manor though.”
“Is Finn coming after work?” the little girl asked.
“Umm, I’m not sure. Maybe. But he might be busy, so don’t get your hopes up, okay?”
“I wonder whose hopes you’re really worried about, the child’s or your own?” Colleen murmured, taking in Olivia’s flushed cheeks. It appeared the rumors she’d heard this afternoon about Finn and Olivia might be true after all.
The members of the Widows Club had been all in a tizzy thanks to Evelyn Harte, owner of the Harmony Harbor Gazette, announcing what she’d seen and heard at the clinic. There were a lot of sour faces at the meeting, including Evelyn’s. She’d hoped for a match between Finn and her granddaughter Poppy. But no sourer than Rosa’s and Kitty’s. Though their pussfaces were not about Finn and Olivia. They were after the same man again.
If Sophie hadn’t called the meeting to discuss the spa, the two wouldn’t have deigned to be in the same room together. They were acting like teenagers, fighting over Kyle Bishop the way they were.
Colleen didn’t know why she was surprised. They’d fought over Ronan too. If only she could find a way to communicate that evil had come to Greystone Manor, they’d at least have a common cause to fight for that would bring them back together again.
Colleen supposed she was lucky that Finn and Olivia had seen the light sooner rather than later and with little help from her. She was going to be busy, it seemed, with their resident evil. Peering through the wardrobe to get a look at what Ivy was up to, Colleen had a feeling she’d need more than luck to deal with this one.
Crouched amongst the dresses with a bottle of what looked like ibuprofen, Ivy emptied the pills into the palm of her hand and then shoved them into the pocket of her uniform. Reaching into another pocket, she withdrew a baggie of white tablets and carefully emptied them into the ibuprofen bottle.
Poison, that’s the only explanation Colleen could come up with for Ivy replacing the original pills with the ones in the baggie. What other reason could there be? Colleen wished she could come up with one because the lengths this one would go to scared the bejaysus out of her. She wasn’t dealing with the likes of Hazel and Paige now. Oh no, this one was tetched in the head.
“I’m sorry, child. I truly am, but I need your help.” Colleen stepped out of the closet, holding up a placating hand while giving George her warmest, kindest smile.
“Bad juju! Bad juju!” The child ran on the spot, screaming.
“No, no, read my lips.” Colleen pointed to her mouth. “I’m GG. I’m good. She’s bad. Ivy’s bad.”
The little girl stopped screaming, and Colleen breathed a sigh of relief, until she saw George’s chin go up and her arm go back.
“No!” Colleen cried, when Olivia moved to comfort George and stepped right into the line of fire.
“George, it was an accident. I’m fine.” Olivia held her stomach as she rolled onto her side on the floor in the tower room. “I’m just going to lie here for a moment.” Red lights from George’s sneakers bounced across her face as the little girl moved from side to side as though she had to go to the bathroom. Obviously, she wasn’t going to relax until Olivia was on her feet. Unless something else was upsetting her…Olivia lifted her head and looked around. “Is the ghost still here?”
“No, in there.” George pointed at the closet.
“Okay, then, we’re going to get rid of that ghost once and for all.” Olivia rolled to her hands and knees, holding back a moan at the sharp stab of pain.
“Olivia! Olivia, are you okay? Someone heard screaming,” several voices, both male and female, called from outside the door. Despite the pain, she took a moment to appreciate that she had so many people in her life who genuinely cared about her.
George ran to the door and threw it open. “Livy was dead, but I brought her back to life.”
Well, she supposed to George it might have looked like she was dead. The blow had stolen Olivia’s breath and knocked her on her bac
kside. She’d lain there stunned for several seconds before George began pounding on her chest. The little girl’s retelling of the event was somewhat interesting though.
It reminded Olivia of something Nathan would do. Minimize his involvement if it showed him in a negative light and then overblow his actions to make himself out to be a hero. There was a difference though; he never took responsibility or apologized for his actions the way George had just done. Olivia took that as a good sign.
Jasper, Lexi, and Sophie rushed into the room, followed by a breathless Kitty. “Oh my, Olivia, what happened?” Kitty asked, pressing her hands to her face.
Olivia stayed quiet to see what George would say. The little girl glanced at her and then looked up at Kitty. “I threw the ball, and it hit Livy in the tummy.”
Olivia reached for the bedpost to drag herself to her feet. “It was an accident.” George didn’t mention the ghost, so Olivia decided she’d stay quiet about it too. They’d deal with that later.
Jasper and Sophie helped her to stand. “Maybe we should take you to the clinic and let Finn look you over,” Sophie suggested.
“No,” Olivia said, more forcefully than was warranted, but she’d been horribly embarrassed yesterday when Sherry called her out for wasting Finn’s time. In her own way, Olivia had been as bad as the women making up phantom illnesses just to bask in Finn’s masculine beauty. Only she hadn’t gone to the clinic just to look at him or flirt with him. Obviously, Sherry wouldn’t believe her now that she’d caught them kissing in the hall.
And of course, Olivia had admired his Clark Kent good looks when he put on his glasses, his muscular forearm when he took notes, and how wonderful he smelled when he came close…All right, so she wasn’t immune to the man but that was not why she’d gone to the clinic.
