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“I’m sure that was all that you wanted. It had nothing to do with the fact that you wanted to talk to her.”
What could he say to that? It wasn’t like he could deny it. Apparently, at least one of his sisters had picked up on his interest in Aria. “Sure. I enjoy talking with her.”
“So do I,” Janessa said, holding up her hand. “She spent the afternoon giving us manicures.”
“Looks like she did a great job.”
“She did. She said that she learned how to do it because her mom loved to have pretty nails, but she couldn’t afford to go for regular manicures. Aria ended up buying the supplies and learning how to do her mom’s nails.”
“That’s cool.” Gareth was happy to gain some new insight about the woman, even though she wasn’t there.
“She painted Layla’s nails, too.” Janessa called for the little girl to come over.
Layla skipped over to them, then held up her hands even before Janessa asked her to. “Look at my pretty fingers, Uncle Gare. Aria did them for me.”
Gareth bent to inspect the light pink nails, then smiled at his niece. “They are very pretty. Just like you.”
Layla’s smile widened even further. “I love them. They’re the prettiest things ever. She even drew some nice designs on them. And she did Momma’s nails too.”
“They look like a professional did them,” Gareth said, although realistically, he wouldn’t know for sure one way or the other.
“Yeah, they do,” Janessa agreed.
“I’m going to need to get in on the nail action,” Kayleigh said as she approached Gareth and Janessa. She took Janessa’s hand and bent to admire her nails. “Aria did a great job on you guys. I’ll need to talk to her about getting mine done.” She glanced around the room. “Where is she?”
“She didn’t come tonight,” Janessa said.
Kayleigh frowned. “Why not?”
Gareth wasn’t sure if his sister was just disappointed because she couldn’t get a nail appointment lined up, or if Kayleigh really liked Aria. His sister had always been a bit more stand-off-ish with new people in their lives. If Aria doing her nails helped Kayleigh warm to her, that could only be a good thing.
“She felt that since this was a family dinner, she’d sit this one out.”
“Oh.” Kayleigh shrugged. “I appreciate that she respects that even though she would have been welcome.”
Gareth tried to set aside his disappointment at not seeing Aria and focus on the dinner ahead. At some point in the evening, they’d video call with the two siblings who were away at school, so they’d feel like they were part of the evening.
They’d eat some good food and laugh and talk together. They’d also spend some time in prayer for their parents’ trip. It was an evening he looked forward to, though he wished Aria was there to be part of it all.
Early the next morning, Gareth let himself into the clinic. Jay would be late coming in as he had volunteered to drive their parents to the airport. There was a familiar uneasiness within Gareth that came whenever his parents set off on one of their trips.
He knew that they viewed what they did as service and a way to share God’s love with the people they helped. He even accepted that this was their mission. But it was the knowledge that if anything happened to them, the responsibility for the family would fall on his shoulders that weighed down on him. The will made him guardian of any underage children—which was just Skylar now—and he would be responsible for executing their will.
So far, nothing had ever happened to them beyond the storms and struggling with stomach issues as they adjusted to new food and water. Other than that, they’d been safe and healthy during each of their trips.
But Gareth never took that for granted. He accepted the uneasiness he felt as a reminder to keep them in his prayers during their trip.
In the quiet of the clinic, Gareth spent some time in prayer for them, as well as the patients who had appointments with him. By the time he heard the back door open an hour later, he was ready for his day.
Getting up, he retrieved his white coat and put it on. He slipped his pen into the pocket, then left his office, turning to the left to head to the front of the clinic and the reception area.
The lights were all on, and he could hear the murmur of conversation as he approached. Sometimes Janessa took part of Monday off after helping with the free clinic on Saturday. But other times, she saved up the time and took off a full day at some point.
He hoped that eventually Aria could take over some of the Saturday clinics so that Janessa didn’t have to work them as much. They had a semi-retired nurse who was willing to work one or two free clinics a month, but having a third person to help would be even better.
Gareth rarely took off time to account for his hours spent at the free clinic. He enjoyed doing it, and since it was only every other Saturday, he didn’t have a problem with just absorbing the hours into his work week.
“Good morning,” Gareth said as he joined the two women at the reception desk.
