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“You know Jackson,” Gareth said with a huff. “He doesn’t take a whole lot seriously.”
Janessa snorted. “So true.”
“How about you? Plans?”
“I think we’re doing pizza and movie night,” she said. “Want to join us?”
Gareth thought about it for a moment. “Are we talking about a princess movie here?”
Janessa laughed as she left the storage room. “What do you think?”
As Gareth followed her, he had to wonder why he was even considering her invitation. Watching the princess movies his niece favored was the punishment—uh, the privilege—of babysitting Layla. Outside of that, those types of movies were definitely not what he chose to watch.
“I might come for the pizza,” he said. “But not sure about the movie.”
“Well, be there by five-thirty. We’ll have a pizza for you.”
“Sounds good. Do you want me to pick up the pizza, or are you getting delivery?”
“You can pick it up. I think the pizza shop employees like it when you come around.”
Gareth chuckled. He was sure they did because he always tipped well, remembering what it had been like to earn a living as a teen. “Okay. Let me know what time it’s ready, and I’ll grab it on my way over.”
He headed into his office while Janessa went into another of the exam rooms they’d used. After hanging up his white coat, he settled into his chair at the desk to work on his reports from the morning. Janessa peeked her head in to say goodbye, then it was just him in the clinic.
His phone rang just as he was finishing up his work, and when he saw Nora’s name on the screen, he debated not answering it. He had a feeling that no matter what reason she had for calling, she was going to be disappointed with his response.
With a sigh, he tapped the screen to accept her call.
“Hi, Gareth,” she said when he answered. “How did the clinic go this morning?”
“It went well.” He was more than happy to have a discussion related to the clinic. “It was busy, as usual, of course, but there was nothing out of the ordinary.”
For the next couple of minutes, they discussed specific patients that they’d both treated with some concern over recent months. One was a young man suffering from something that caused him chronic pain. He refused further testing, wanting only the drugs that would ease the pain. Gareth had warned him that morning that he wouldn’t prescribe any further painkillers beyond what he did that day until he got some testing done.
The man hadn’t been happy when he’d left, so Gareth had no idea if he’d return. Thankfully, Nora agreed to follow through with that should he show up again the following Saturday. It didn’t sit well with Gareth to use up a spot in their free clinic for someone who clearly had no interest in actually getting better and seemed to only want the drugs.
“Are you busy tonight?” she asked once their discussion about the clinic was over.
“Yep. I have worship team practice for church, then I’m meeting family for dinner.” He was careful to not mention which family that was exactly. “How about you?”
“Well, I didn’t have plans, so I was thinking of suggesting that we grab dinner,” she said. “But I guess I need to get my request in sooner for Doctor Popular.”
Gareth made a non-committal response. “I hope you have a good weekend. I’ll see you on Monday.”
Their conversation ended without her getting upset—at least that he could hear—so Gareth took that as a win. After he shut everything down, he headed for home to change out of the clothes he’d worn to the clinic and into something a bit more comfortable.
His home was an older Craftsman style house that had been completely renovated before he’d bought it. Though the house was nice, he loved the fact that it had a view of the mountains in the distance and that it sat on an acre and a half, so he wasn’t right on top of his neighbors.
It had more bedrooms than he needed, but he hoped hewouldneed them in the future. In the meantime, the bedrooms were there for any friend or family member who needed a place to crash.
The basement was set up with his drums as well as a large television where he usually watched sports, and where the men sat on the comfy couches he had there when he hosted their men’s group, which would be the case that next week.
After he’d changed, Gareth grabbed his drumsticks, preferring his own to the ones they had at the church. With them in hand, he left the house, moving off to the next thing he needed to do.
Weekends were rarely restful for Gareth, especially when he worked at the free clinic, but he didn’t mind. The things he chose to fill his time with were, for the most part, things he enjoyed.
Plus, he had a job he really loved, so he rarely felt like he needed a break. When he did, he wasn’t foolish enough to ignore it. He’d book time off from the clinic, then spend the day working on the land around his house or sometimes, if it was nice weather, he’d go for a hike.
