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“I think so.” She gave him a small smile. “But I’m assuming there will be a whole new batch of patients who want to match me up with someone.”
Janessa laughed. “You’re learning quickly.”
“This is never a problem I thought I’d have,” Aria said with a shake of her head.
“I’m not sure any of us thought we’d have that problem,” Janessa said. “After all, Mom and Dad were married already when they came to work at the clinic. There was no opportunity to make matches for them.”
“It’ll die down eventually,” Gareth assured her.
“There are worse things that could be going on. I’ll be fine.”
Gareth was happy to hear that, and he appreciated her attitude. He leaned against the counter as he continued to sip his coffee.
“It’s my turn to cook tonight,” Janessa said as she and Aria prepared coffee for themselves. “And since you seemed averse to buying pizza for us, I think I’ll make it from scratch.”
Gareth gave a laugh, then smothered it when Janessa turned to glare at him. “You’regoing to make pizza?”
“Yes. And you are not invited.”
“Oh, come on,” Gareth said. “I really need to try this pizza that you’re making.”
“If you have such little faith in my abilities, maybe you should save us all from disaster and buy pizza for dinner.”
Gareth shrugged. “Maybe I should.”
“If you’re going to bring pizza, perhaps we should invite some of the other family members,” Janessa suggested.
“Sure. Though I think Mom is planning a family dinner for tomorrow night, so they might not come.”
“I’ll call a few of the sibs to see what they’re up to.”
Gareth took another swallow of his coffee, then turned back to the coffeemaker. As he topped up his mug, he said, “Figure it out and place the order. I’ll pick it up on my way over.”
“Are you bringing the duo?” Janessa asked.
“Not sure that would be a good idea yet,” Gareth said, thinking that perhaps it would be okay to invite Wade, but Jackson would likely be annoying.
“I would agree.”
Gareth added a bit more cream and sugar to his mug, then said, “I’ll be in my office if you need me.”
Seated at his desk a few minutes later, he continued to drink his coffee as he reviewed the cases for the day.
“Morning.”
Gareth looked up in time to catch the wave of Jay’s hand as he walked by his open door. They were supposed to have a staff meeting at lunch, so he hoped it went smoothly. Nora often got a bit heated about something she felt was important, and that might be the case with her feelings regarding the receptionist position. Hopefully, Janessa had given Aria a head’s up about the staff meeting and what it might entail.
A couple of his appointments that morning ran long, and because of that, he was late joining the others in the break room at lunchtime.
Once again, Janessa had ordered lunch for them. That day was going to be a bad day eating-wise. He wasn’t strict with his diet, but he tried to not eat too much junk food.
“I got you a salad with grilled chicken,” Janessa said as he sat down beside her at the table.
“Thanks very much.” He said a quiet prayer of thanks for the food, then opened the container. “What have I missed?”
He listened to the others talk as he ate. Aria wasn’t participating in the conversation, though that wasn’t a surprise. Gareth caught her scratching at her arm, then she seemed to stop herself, curving her fingers into a fist. She was wearing a long-sleeve shirt, so he couldn’t see what might be irritating her skin.
Her brow furrowed as she crossed her arms, tucking her hands against her sides. It looked like she was trying to keep herself from scratching again, and Gareth couldn’t help but wonder what was bothering her.
