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“Rest assured, I would never be even remotely tempted to do anything like that.”
“The guys will be relieved to hear that,” Janessa said with a laugh.
Janessa was unaware of how bad things had gotten for Aria. There was no way she would ever do anything to jeopardize this job opportunity. The last thing she wanted was to once again lose her job and her place to live. Maybe it was a mistake to go into a situation where her employment and housing were so closely tied, but it also felt like it was the perfect answer to the mess her life had become.
“Do I need to fill out any paperwork?” Aria asked. “Should I come in and do that this afternoon?”
“If you want,” Janessa said. “But I can also bring the papers home, and you can fill them out here instead.”
Aria decided that she’d just stay at the house. “Sounds good. Did you want me to make something for dinner?”
“Charli said she was going to make dinner again tonight,” Janessa said. “I’ll be back around five-thirty. Charli and Layla will probably be here by four-thirty.”
“Okay. If there’s anything I can do to help prepare for supper, just shoot me a text.”
“I will,” she said. “Are you finding everything okay?”
Aria nodded. “I think it’s going to take me a while to get used to so much space. And the bathtub… I’m in love!”
“I know, right?” Janessa laughed. “When this place came up for sale, Charli and I decided we wanted it.”
“So you own it together?”
She nodded. “Neither of us were planning to get married any time soon, but we were both ready to get out of the family home, so this was perfect. Plus, it’s big enough to rent out a room or two if we want. Like with you.”
“It really is a beautiful place,” Aria said. “I’m looking forward to living here.”
“I’m excited to have you here, too.” Janessa finished the last bite of her sandwich, then drained her water. Getting up, she took her glass and plate to the dishwasher. “I’d better get back to the clinic.”
Once she’d left, Aria cleaned up her dishes, then returned to her room. Over the next couple of hours, she finished emptying the last of her bags. It looked more like her space now that she had little bits of her own stuff spread out across the room.
After everything was done and put away, she settled down on the overstuffed loveseat that sat in front of the windows on the far side of the room. She used her phone to pull up her favorite playlist. It was made up of songs that she and her mom had loved to listen to. Before her mom had gotten so sick, there had been times when they’d danced around to the music, laughing and happy.
She didn’t feel much like laughing, and she wasn’t sure if she was exactly happy. But for the first time in months, she felt at peace, and there was a spark of hope growing inside her. Hope that she could get back on her feet and maybe find a place to belong once again.
CHAPTER THREE
Gareth unlocked the back door of the clinic and let himself into the building. Before going to his office, he took a quick tour of all the rooms to make sure that they’d been cleaned well.
They’d had too much staff turn-over recently. First the receptionist, then the person who cleaned the clinic after hours. They’d recently found someone to do the cleaning, but since they’d only been working since the beginning of the week, Gareth felt like he had to check and make sure that they were doing what was needed.
Thankfully, it looked like the cleaner was living up to their references. He hoped that would be the case with the new receptionist too, even though she had never been a receptionist before. If she couldn’t do the work, it was going to be Janessa’s job to fire her.
In his small office at the back of the clinic, Gareth settled into his chair and turned on his monitor. He glanced over the list of appointments for the day, recognizing most of the names.
He enjoyed knowing his patients so well and being able to follow them through whatever health challenges they might face. Before he’d ever gotten his medical degree, his parents had shared with him how they spent time each morning praying for the patients they’d be seeing that day.
It was something that he’d begun practicing as soon as he’d begun seeing patients. His prayers had been more general while he’d been in school and doing his residency. But at the clinic, he could pray for each patient by name, which was what he did, using the appointment schedule as his guide.
He was in the staff room pouring his second cup of coffee of the day—his first had been inhaled on the drive to the clinic—when he heard the back door open. When he heard Janessa’s voice along with another female one, he knew that he was about to meet their new receptionist.
“Good morning, Gareth,” Janessa called out.
Gareth glanced over at her as he tossed the stir-stick he’d been using into the garbage. “Good morning.”
“Gareth, I’d like you to meet Aria Jensen, the new receptionist. Aria, this is Gareth, one of the doctors here, and, of course, my oldest brother.”
The woman at Janessa’s side was about her height, though she was more slender, almost to the point of appearing fragile. Delicate. She had straight blonde hair that hung almost to her shoulders, and her hazel eyes were framed by dark lashes.
