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“It’s fine. I’m glad you did. Make sure you tell Dr. Ramsey that you’re eighteen, okay? And that you don’t wish to disclose your records to your parents.” They quickly exchanged cell phone numbers before Kyla went on her way.
Tag returned to the table. “How did that go?”
She briefly outlined the conversation, but kept Kyla’s privacy intact. “She’s on her way to see Flynn.”
“Good. That’s good. What’s wrong? It sounds like you handled it well, but you look upset.”
“No, I don’t.”
“Yep, you do. You have a tell.”
She responded with her best vacant stare.
He chuckled. “Sometimes you do. Mostly I see it when it involves someone else and not your own feelings, but I’m learning that’s kind of a tell, too.”
She grinned, liking that he’d figured this out and wondering if that should worry her.
“I’m right, aren’t I? You are upset.”
“Yes, you are. And it’s not about me. Something a doctor did…said.” She didn’t want to betray Kyla’s confidence. “So, I take it that the fact you left me alone to handle this means you weren’t worried I’d encourage her to dance naked on a bed of hot coals or something?”
He laughed. “Nope. I’ve got you all figured out.” His exaggerated confidence made her laugh.
“You do not.”
“Maybe, though. I didn’t realize your grandfather was a real doctor until I read Laurel’s article.”
She frowned. “A real doctor?”
“Yes, a board-certified medical doctor as opposed to a…someone who’s not.”
“He has a medical degree, but his practice is still very unconventional by modern standards.”
“Yeah, well, I agree with his overall approach to health and disease prevention. I think preventative care is the future of medicine, or at least it should be. He’s right about modern medicine too often treating the symptoms and not the condition.”
“Working backward, he calls it. Creating a healthy vessel so disease doesn’t have a chance to grow.”
“But when it does, then what?”
“Just like the article says, he’s not opposed to using whatever means available to cure a patient. But even then, he relies on a mix of traditional and modern means. The relationship between the body and the mind is incredibly complex. The mind plays a huge role in healing the body and keeping the body healthy. There’s a strong connection, and we believe in drawing on it whenever and however possible.”
“I-think-I-can meets the placebo effect?”
She tried to smile. His voice held a teasing edge, but the question felt a little disparaging. This was her fundamental belief system, her identity and her life’s work, not to mention her grandfather’s. Their beliefs were unconventional; she knew that, and so she was used to people questioning them. Funny, the more she cared about Tag, the more she cared about what he thought.
“Tapping into the power of belief is a big part of it. Wellness is a balance of body and mind and science.”
“Hmm.”
Ally tried not to let his noncommittal response bother her. “I didn’t intend for this to happen, by the way, people coming to me with their medical problems. My plan was to lie low and settle into the community gradually. But fate had other plans. And I can’t turn people away who need help.”
* * *
JAMES FAMILY SUNDAY dinner was more than tradition, more than the fulfilling of duty or seeing to an obligation. The entire family looked forward to it all week. It was a time to regroup, recharge, rekindle, make plans and remember what they liked about each other—and maybe be reminded about what they didn’t, too. No matter what, there was always plenty of laughter, lots of teasing, the occasionally heated discussion, some cutthroat game playing, random tears and tons of delicious food.
Kendall had been the last woman Tag invited over to his parents’ house for the occasion. Once had been enough. He could tell almost immediately that his mom didn’t like Kendall, just like he could tell today that she did like Ally. It may have had something to do with the fact that Kendall never offered to help in the kitchen, brought a very expensive bottle of wine instead of the dessert she’d been assigned and shooed the cat away, declaring that her cashmere dress and cat hair “did not get along.” The experience had been something of an eye-opener for Tag. Nothing like meeting the family to gauge the health of a relationship.
