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Tonight was the night Katie would see her biological mother. It seemed like it had taken forever for Friday night to roll around, and now that it had, she was all nerves. Her hands shook as she took a patient’s blood pressure. When she had it, she pulled off the cuff, the release of Velcro loud in the small examination room.
“It’s 120 over 68,” she told the thirtysomething woman. “Can I get you some water while you wait for the doctor?”
“No, thanks. Will he be long?”
“She. Dr. Avery Robinson. And no, she’ll be right in to examine your knee. Good luck with the rest of your hike. I hope you’re able to complete it.”
“Thanks. This will make it a little challenging, but I’m determined.”
Katie gave her a conciliatory smile, then slipped out the door. She slid the clipboard into the assigned slot, then made her way to the office she shared with Avery and Sharise, the new nursepractitioner. It was after six and that had been Katie’s last patient of the evening.
The meeting started in twenty minutes. Katie pulled off the stethoscope and tucked it into her bag. The clinic was a converted brick house on the edge of town. But Avery had it gutted before she opened last year. It still smelled like raw timber and new flooring.
The clinic was comprised of four exam rooms, a front office, a small kitchen/break room, and this smaller office. The staff and patients shared the one bathroom.
Avery occupied the upstairs apartment, which pretty much meant she never escaped work. But she seemed to prefer it that way.
Katie was shrugging off her coat when the door opened.
“Done for the day?” Avery swept into the office and grabbed a water bottle from the mini-fridge. Her hair was up in its usual topknot, but a few mahogany tendrils had escaped, framing her face in a lovely way. Katie had always admired her wide-set green eyes and ivory complexion.
“Unless there’s something I don’t know about.” Katie kind of hoped there was and hoped there wasn’t, all at the same time.
“Nope.” Avery took a swig from the water bottle. “There’s a patient in three with Sharise, and the patient in four is my last. Patti already turned over the Closed sign.”
“Great.”
“If you have a minute, I can recheck your wound. How’s that concussion?”
“No need. It’s getting better by the day. No more headaches or dizziness.”
“That’s good.”
Katie checked her watch. It would only take a few minutes to drive to the meeting. And her legs were shaking—not concussion related. She lowered herself onto her desk.
Avery quirked a brow. “Big plans tonight with my brother?”
“He’s busy at the campground.” She didn’t want to mention the meeting, so she changed the topic. “What about you? Going anywhere fun?”
Avery capped her water bottle and put it back in the fridge. “I have pretty much the perfect night planned—a quiet night at home with Boots and a good book.”
Katie released a wry grin. “If you consider that the perfect Friday night, you need a boyfriend.”
“A boyfriend is the last thing I need.”
“Said the woman who set me up with her brother.”
“How’s that going anyway? We haven’t had a chance to catch up since the family dinner. We didn’t scare you away?”
“On the contrary. Your family seems pretty much perfect.”
Avery laughed. “Oh boy, do we have you fooled.”
“You’d never know you were a blended family. You squabble just like full-blooded siblings.”
“Well, we’ve been together since we were young. And I have to give Lisa credit. She handled it all very well. I was pretty rotten in the beginning.”
“How’d she handle it?”
