Dok considered this for a moment. “What happens when you use Dramamine?”
“I haven’t. I don’t want to rely on medication.”
“It’s available over the counter.”
Annie shook her head firmly. “Not over the counter. Not under the counter. No drugs.”
“But why? I could provide a letter for your future employer. I can explain your situation.”
“Thank you, but I prefer not to depend on medication.” Her voice sounded surprisingly firm, even to her own ears.
Dok tapped her fingers thoughtfully on the desk. “And this happens every single time?”
“There was one time when I didn’t feel sick,” Annie said. “Last winter, when Sarah Blank fell through the ice and had to be taken to the hospital by ambulance.”
“And you didn’t feel sick on that drive? Why do you think that was?”
“The ambulance wasn’t speeding, but...” Annie hesitated, her cheeks flushing as she focused on the tops of her shoes. “There was a very nice EMT in the ambulance with Sarah.”
One of Dok’s eyebrows arched. “Is this the same very nice EMT who frequently visits the office?”
Annie nodded slowly, surprised by how much Dok noticed around the office, considering she was always moving fast, so busy. “I thought ... maybe that’s a good sign. With the right mental conditioning, I could overcome this.”
Dok sighed. “Annie, that was a onetime experience where your feelings for someone were strong enough to overshadow everything else. But how long do you think that could really last? Love can be very exciting at first—”
Who saidanything about love?
“—but love changes with familiarity. In a good way, of course. You can’t live on new love’s high alert all the time. Nothing else would get done in this world.” Dok sighed, her tone softening. “I’ll be honest with you, Annie. The kind of motion sickness you’re describing is often linked to issues with the inner ear, vision, and balance.”
Annie didn’t need Dok to say anything more. She’d read about those circumstances. All issues that couldn’t be fixed. “If I can’t get over this, then I can’t be an EMT.” Her voice betrayed her with a tremble.
“Let me mull this over, Annie. There could be other ways to tackle it.”
The phone at Annie’s desk rang, so she rose from her chair to go answer it.
“We’ll figure this out,” Dok said, offering a reassuring thumbs-up.
Annie managed a small smile, but she had a gut feeling that she already knew the answer.
Suppers with Charlie and Fern had become athing, something Evie looked forward to all day, almost as much as the otherthing—study lunch sessions with Charlie. After supper, they’d linger around the table, swapping stories about the little moments that made up their days. It was sharing the everyday with Charlie that she savored most. You really got to know someone when you spent that much time together. The more she knew him, the more her feelings for him steadily grew.
Today had been one of those sticky, humid days. After work, when Evie climbed off the scooter at Windmill Farm, she was dripping with sweat. She took a quick shower, changed, combed her hair out, and then gave herself a once-over in the mirror. Hearing Charlie’s voice float up from the kitchen, she decided to add just a touch of mascara and lipstick—enough to look better without looking like she was trying too hard.
She came down the narrow stairs, and just as she reached the last step, Charlie looked up from the table where he was pouring water into glasses. His gaze lingered a moment too long, until water was spilling over the edge of the glass, flooding the table.
“Charlie, the water!” Evie grabbed a dish towel from the counter and rushed over to help mop up the spill.
He fumbled with the pitcher, his cheeks flushing. “Sorry about that.”
Fern turned from the counter, looking like she was trying to swallow a smile. “Supper’s off to an exciting start.”
Once the table was patted dry, they sat down to bowls of Fern’s garden gazpacho, the summer heat making the cold soup a perfect choice. Fern bowed her head, and Charlie and Evie took her lead. After a long moment, Fern lifted her head.
“Amen,” Charlie said, like he meant it.
Fern gave him an approving look and handed him the breadbasket. “So, how did you two first meet?”
Evie nearly choked on her spoonful of soup. What was Fern up to? “I don’t remember.”
