1
She Didn’t See What Could Be
Lola
“I ain’t seein’ noladydoctor!”
The mechanic stood with his arms crossed, an oil-stained shirt stretched tight over his belly, and a scowl already carved into his weathered face.
Clutching the chart with his name on it to my chest, I nudged my gold-rimmed glasses up my nose. “Mr. Barnes—”
He snorted. He wasn’t listening.
This wasn’t exactly the start I’d hoped for.
I didn’t move, hiding under a limp blonde fringe, my shaky knees betraying my nerves. The waiting room was too quiet, too quaint, for a medical clinic. And as odd as the crochetedWelcomesign looked above the shelf of glossy pamphlets about flu shots and erectile dysfunction, I was the one thing in the room that didn’t quite belong.
And this man wasn’t about to let me forget it.
“Mr. Barnes, I know it’s my first day,” I said, relieved my voice didn’t shake as badly as my knees. “But I’ve been a GP for more than ten years—”
“You listen here, Lola from the City. March yourself back to your room and shut the door. Iain’tseein’ you.”
My fingers tightened around the chart, but I stayed quiet. He might have been the first patient to flat-out refuse to see me, but even the ones who shuffled in without protest watched me with an uneasy curiosity. My new neighbours paused every time I pushed open the gate of my cottage, too.
The locals were suspicious.
Of me.
Lola from the City.The newcomer. Theoutsider.
“Evan Barnes!” Brooke shot up from behind the reception desk. “Are you causing trouble in my waiting room?”
“Sit that perky rear down, Goldilocks,” he said. “You ain’t part of this.”
“Wanna bet?” She planted her hands on the hips of her stiff teal uniform. Her military precision running the clinic’s appointments clearly didn’t include any disruptions from him. “Look how busy we are this morning!”
My gaze skipped over the handful of people in the waiting room. One, two, three… Yep. Only four patients.
This was…busy?
At the clinic where I used to work in Sydney, just claiming a seat was a battle. Coughing, crying toddlers, and the hum of too many voices had overwhelmed me from the moment the doors opened.
Richmond was the opposite. Here, the quiet wasn’t just a relief—it was the point. It was why I’d chosen it.
Safely tucked at the bottom of the world, tourists trickled through the small town, snapping photos of the sandstone cottages and convict relics cradled by the Coal River Valley. Onlya thousand or so called this place home. Three days ago, I’d slipped into town unnoticed, a single suitcase bumping along the path behind me, hoping to become one of them—despite every odd stacked against me by a man who’d made staying with him impossible.
I took a steadying breath. Apparently, I hadn’t run far enough to avoid men like him.
Evan still stood there, arms folded, unimpressed. Brooke tried again. This time, she dialled up the charm with her sweetest, red-lipped smile.
“You know we wouldn’t let any old city girl work here,” she said. “Dr. Hughes has a sensible head on her shoulders.”
Evan flopped onto a chair. “She can have ten heads on her shoulders. I ain’t seein’ her.” He grabbed a magazine and thumbed through the pages. “My rear’s parkin’ right here until the other doctor is free.”
And that was that. There was nothing left to say.
Sighing, I slunk down the corridor, opened the door to my room, and let it click shut behind me. My back hit the wall. I didn’t have the energy to lift my eyes, much less admire the space I’d so proudly decorated the day before.
