Bachelor Remedy, page 3
“Fine.” Moving closer, he lowered his tall frame into the seat across from her.
Better, she thought, meeting his gaze head-on. Except now he seemed really...close.
Gathering her thoughts, she said, “When I’m out on a call and acting as the paramedic on behalf of Rankins Hospital my word is final. My way is the right way. I also have some ideas on how you can improve your efficiency. It took you too long to take off after you landed at the lake.”
He scoffed. “Are you kidding me? The only thing holding up my takeoff was you chatting with Jessie while I waited for you by the plane.”
Hands folded neatly on the desk in front of her, she went on. “I disagree. It took three minutes for you to get inside the plane and settled after I’d already boarded, and your dissension took at least another minute. Had you already been on board, we would have landed approximately five minutes sooner. I don’t think I need to remind you how vital five minutes can be in an emergency medical situation.”
Ally waited for him to respond, steeling herself for whatever came next. He didn’t look angry or upset, though. In fact, he was completely still. Too still?
“Hmm. You know what? Coming here might not have been the best idea, after all. Because I don’t need professional advice from someone who was still in grade school while I was getting my EMS certification.”
* * *
TAG WISHED HE could take the words back before they were even out of his mouth. A flicker of something was there and gone from her face faster than the beat of a swallow’s wing. Disgust maybe? Which he might deserve. Bering was right. Normally, Tag was the easygoing, slow to boil, diplomatic one.
Admittedly, he’d come here geared up for a possibly unpleasant conversation, but a professional one. Ally Mowak didn’t seem to have any problem maintaining a professional tone, whereas he’d just blown it. Her expression remained as unreadable as a slab of granite, and he couldn’t help but think he’d disappointed her in some profound way. Or maybe that was his own disappointment nibbling at him.
When she didn’t speak, he let out a sigh and tried backtracking, “What I was trying to say is that I don’t need anyone to advise me on how to do my job, Ms. Mowak. I’ve been at this a very long time.”
“Ally,” she said. “Please call me Ally. And the same goes for me.” Shrugging a shoulder, she continued in that same serene, not-quite-condescending way that he was fast learning was how she spoke. “But isn’t that what you’re really doing here now? Telling me how to do my job?”
“Uh, no.” He resisted the urge to scratch his itchy scalp because he sort of was, wasn’t he? He hadn’t meant to, not exactly. “That wasn’t my intention, anyway.”
“Did you or did you not see a woman who you interpreted as too young for this job and then decided that you’d teach her a thing or two? You, with your wisdom honed from years of experience, would come to the aid of an inexperienced, newbie female colleague?”
“No!” That he was not doing. “Nope. No way. Don’t even try that on me.”
“Don’t try what on you?”
“There’s no misogyny or ageism or sexism or racism or any other ‘ism’ going on here. I have four sisters and a boatload of female cousins, all of whom are younger than me. Each one is equally as smart and capable as I am, more so in many, many ways. This isn’t about any of that. This is about your workplace attitude, your approach and your lack of respect. After your behavior yesterday, I would have come in here today if you were an eighty-six-year-old man wearing a honey badger suit.”
One side of her mouth twitched. Only slightly, and he probably would have missed the movement if he wasn’t so intent on watching her, marveling at her composure.
“I don’t see how my attitude plays into this. My approach was honed through four years of military service, a civilian EMS-P certification, and a decade and a half of studying and practicing under the tutelage of a renowned medical expert. And as far as respect goes, I subscribe to the ‘respect is something you earn’ school of thought. And you being here right now and complaining about nonissues isn’t helping on that front.”
“Your résumé already got you this job, Ms. Mowak. You don’t need to recite it for me, and the fact that you are speaks to your insecurity, which I’m guessing has something to do with your attitude. Your approach is my concern because I have to work with you. And the respect I’m talking about is the respect you should innately have toward a fellow medical professional whose job and reputation you put on the line because you chose to smear mud all over a patient.”
“It’s clay.” Her tone was flat, but her shapely black brows arched higher and Tag had no idea what that look was supposed to convey.
Waving a hand, he said, “Whatever. Since we’re sharing our qualifications, I am going to give you a piece of advice based on my eighteen years of experience as an EMS-P, my fifteen years as a volunteer firefighter, and a lifetime as both a friend and a big brother. If you don’t want people to notice your age, don’t draw attention to it.”
“You’re the one who brought it up.”
“That’s true. But I—” Biting back the words he’d been about to say—I’m not used to people questioning my skills—he went with “I shouldn’t have. For that, I apologize.”
A head tip told him she acknowledged the mea culpa.
Exhaling, he checked the time on his watch. This meeting had been an epic fail, and he had no hope of turning it around at this point. He’d promised his sister Hannah he’d give her a hand with some repairs up at the ski resort this morning before his flight to Anchorage at noon. He needed to wrap this up.
“For now, I’m going to quit wasting both our time. Maybe we should meet with Dr. Ramsey and talk about our professional expectations?”
“That would be fine.”
“Good. I’ll set it up.”
* * *
ALLY STARED AFTER HIM. At least he’d suggested the meeting with Flynn and not Dr. Boyd. She had no more time than that to dwell on it, though, because the phone on her desk let out a buzz. She answered it and proceeded to deal with the first call for the job she’d actually been hired to do. She tackled paperwork and fielded calls until lunchtime, when she placed one of her own to Louis’s mom, her aunt Gina, who Ally knew was sitting vigil in his room.
Quinn was there, too, she learned, so she headed to the hospital’s cafeteria and ordered cheeseburgers, fries and strawberry shakes for them all. In the room, she was heartened to see Louis already sitting up, laughing and chatting with Quinn. At least she’d made the right call regarding his injuries.
When her break was over, she said goodbye to her family and promised to stop by again when she could. The afternoon was spent visiting patients and their families, assessing their needs and making notes about any questions or concerns they had regarding hospital, hospice or at-home health care.
The interaction with patients revived her, reminding her why she wanted this job. Back at her office, she immediately began cataloging the patients’ needs while they were fresh in her mind. One was ready for palliative care, so she called the hospice and set up a meeting for the patient and her family.
The remainder of her day consisted of more phone calls, emails, strategizing, and plotting out her to-do list and schedule for the next week. Just past six, a knock sounded on her door and relief flooded through her when she discovered this one had a much friendlier form attached to it than the morning’s.
“Flynn, hi.”
A dimpled grin transformed the young doctor’s already handsome face into a combination of sweet and gorgeous. Too bad she thought of him like family. With no siblings of her own, he was as close to a big brother as she could imagine. Their grandfathers were friends, so Ally and Flynn had known each other since childhood.
Flynn’s grandfather—“Doc,” as he was more commonly known in Rankins—had always welcomed her grandfather’s advice as a Native healer and doctor. Likewise, Abe had never had a problem calling on Doc when modern medicine was needed. A friendship had sprung up early in both of their respective careers, one based on mutual respect.
An image of Tag James flashed into her mind, embarrassment rushing through her because she realized in that moment that he’d been right about one thing: she’d been so concerned about his respecting her that she hadn’t shown him the respect he deserved.
Lowering himself into the chair Tag James had occupied that morning, Flynn said, “Hey. Good job with Dr. Boyd.”
“Thank you. I only wish all of my confrontations today could have gone as smoothly.”
Eyebrows a shade darker than his seal-brown hair darted up on his forehead. “Uh-oh. What else?”
“Among other affronts, I was told I need to work on my attitude.”
Scrunching his features into a grimace, he said, “Seriously?”
“Yes.”
“Not by a patient, though?”
“Of course not! It was a colleague. Although, in thinking about it now, I may have deserved part of it.”
“Well, honestly...” he drawled, pursing his lips as if thinking about the statement. “I’m not that surprised. You know you’re not exactly warm and fuzzy, right? Outside of patient care, I mean.”
“Yes, but I think basically this guy was telling me that he didn’t like me. Right before he made a crack about my age.”
“Ooh. How politically incorrect of him. I know how much you hate that.”
“Right? He apologized, but for some reason I let it get to me. You’d think I’d be used to it by now.” Working with her grandfather at his medical clinic, Ally had been given a lot of responsibility at a young age. She’d joined the Army at seventeen, but she’d looked even younger, so she’d grown accustomed to people asking about her age. At twenty-two, it was still a common occurrence. “I thought I was. But this guy...”
Why did she care what he thought? She didn’t, she reminded herself. She didn’t care what anyone thought about her. But she would apologize properly because they needed to work together.
“Never mind, I don’t want to talk about it. I’m using my energy to focus on the future. And right now, I’m focused on that dinner you promised.” Ally logged off her computer. “I believe fish and chips were mentioned?”
“Lucky you.” He held his hands aloft as if he were a prize she’d won. “That’s what I’m here for.”
She stood and stretched before stepping over to the corner behind her desk to fetch her bag.
“Speaking of the future—do you want to go to a party with me this weekend?”
“What kind of party?”
“It’s a welcome home, congratulations on getting your graduate degree party for my friend Iris. Casual, fun and there will be a ton of people.”
A party was exactly what she needed to meet people, make some connections, become a part of the community. She wanted people to get to know her before hearing about her and reaching the wrong conclusions, although she knew the “mud story” had probably already raced through town faster than a staph infection in an untreated wound.
“That would be wonderful, Flynn. Thanks.”
CHAPTER THREE
“WE’RE GOING TO the Cozy Caribou,” Flynn said after they exited the hospital. By silent mutual consent, they paused to admire the water of the bay sparkling below them like freshly ground glass. Thick green forest fanned out from snow-capped mountains jutting upward in the distance.
“See that red roof over there?” He pointed toward the middle of town, and Ally couldn’t help but notice the rectangular-shaped building situated roughly in the center. It seemed to be a pretty big place by small-town standards, certainly in relation to Saltdove, the remote village she’d grown up in, where there were exactly two “large” buildings, neither of which would ever be described as such.
“It would be difficult to miss. Let’s walk?”
Flynn nodded and took off at an unhurried pace. “This kind of evening makes me remember why I love it here.”
Ally agreed it was gorgeous. She’d only visited Rankins a few times before moving here, and she enjoyed the walk, seeing the tiny historic town through Flynn’s enthusiastic eyes as he pointed out businesses and landmarks, adding fun facts and anecdotes.
And clearly, Flynn wasn’t the only resident proud of their little town. Evidence of Rankins’s heritage was everywhere. They passed old fishing boats and equipment, vintage logging and mining tools, all strategically displayed and interspersed with newer, attractive sculptures and wood carvings. Along with the eclectic mix of building styles, the layout provided a pleasing glimpse of the town’s interesting and varied past.
Flynn said, “So, in case you don’t already know, the Cozy Caribou is an institution here.”
She gestured for him to go on.
“Half bar, half restaurant and all-around community gathering place, it can accommodate pretty much any event you can imagine—concerts, reunions, receptions, parties and meetings. They have karaoke nights and even an occasional poetry reading. Food is simple, home cooked and across-the-board fantastic, including the best fish and chips on the entire planet, and freshly brewed root beer that will make you forget your own name.”
Ally grinned. “Sounds like my kind of place.”
Flynn opened the door for her, and the second she stepped inside she knew it was true. The tension of the day began to recede as welcoming sounds bombarded them from all directions: laughter mixed with music while the slide-and-chime of dish on dish was accented by clinking silverware. Across the wide space and off to one side were a couple of pool tables. At the far end of the room a game of darts was in full swing. A group of women was seated at a large table nearby.
“Ah,” he said, following her gaze. “Friends of mine. Come on—I’ll introduce you to some of the nicest people. Most of them will be at the party Saturday, too.”
They approached the group and Flynn turned on his grin, gesturing around helplessly. “Uh-oh, I think I’m walking into a girls’ night thing here, aren’t I?”
A pretty blonde answered. “Well, it is girls’ night, but you can join us because you’re not one of our men and only if you don’t speak about any of them tonight. I happen to have argued with mine, and I don’t want his name mentioned.”
She reached out a hand toward Ally. “Hi, I’m Emily.”
Ally shook it. “Hi, Emily. Ally.”
Flynn draped an arm over Ally’s shoulder. “So, everyone, like Ally just said, this is Ally Mowak.” He started with the opposite side of the table where two look-alike women sat side by side. “Ally, this is Hannah and Shay. Sisters, in case you couldn’t tell.”
To the women, he added, “Ally is coming to Iris’s party with me this weekend.” He turned back to Ally. “Hannah owns and manages Snowy Sky Resort and JB Heli-Ski. Shay is the owner of the Faraway Inn and Restaurant.”
Anyone would guess the women were related; they both had long brown hair and nearly identical golden-brown eyes, over which the same sweeping brows arched gently. Matching smiles accented sculpted jawlines. Something seemed vaguely familiar about them, yet she was sure she’d never met the women.
Flynn was gesturing toward the other side of the table. “And this is Adele and Janie. Adele is Shay and Hannah’s cousin and manages the Faraway Restaurant. Janie owns a knitting business and simultaneously wrangles five children, while Emily here—” he indicated the woman she’d already met “—is president of the Tourism Bureau.” Next, he pointed to the woman seated beside Janie. “This is Laurel, owner and editor of the town’s newspaper, the Rankins Press.”
Ally felt like she’d walked into the middle of a chamber of commerce meeting instead of a girls’ night out.
“Nice to meet you, Ally,” Hannah said with a warm smile. “Was Flynn saying somewhere in there that you know our sister Iris?”
“No, I just know Flynn. He knows your sister. Flynn and his grandfather are pretty much the only people I know in Rankins.”
“How do you two know each other?” Laurel asked, glancing at Flynn’s hand still draped over her shoulder. Ally was pretty sure she wasn’t imagining the curiosity shining in more than one pair of eyes.
Flynn explained, “Ally is like a little sister to me. Our grandfathers go way back. Ally’s grandpa Abe is friends with Doc.”
A few more minutes of small talk went by before Flynn said, “We should go get a table. Ally started a new job at the hospital today, and we’re both starving.”
“Sit with us. Seriously,” Emily said, “we’d love to have you. We’re really not that strict on the girls-only rule.”
The waitress appeared to deliver food. Flynn quickly placed their orders and rounded up two chairs while the women shifted and made room at the table.
Easy conversation ensued until a blond man with a bright smile and boyish good looks sauntered over to their table. “Hey, since Doc Junior here is horning in on your girls’ thing, does that mean I can, too?” He twirled a finger around the table.
Adele scoffed. “Absolutely not.”
“Women and men, Park. No boys allowed,” Hannah said and bit off the end of a french fry.
“Ladies, come on...” he drawled. But his grin suggested that he loved the attention. “It’s been days, hasn’t it, since we’ve bonded like this? I know you’ve missed me.” He seemed to be talking to Hannah and Adele, but they all laughed.
“So, Hannah, how about a game of pool?” he asked.
Adele laughed. Hannah’s chin jerked up as if she was studying the ceiling, but she brought it back down quickly to peer at him. “Seriously, Park?”
“Yes! Please, Hannah. Come on! I’ve been practicing, watching videos on YouTube. Pretty sure I’ve got this.”
“Fine. One game. No bets.”
