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Jay poured himself a cup of coffee, then moved to lean against the counter. “Which was…?”
“She asked if she could take on full responsibility for the free clinic hours,” his mom said. “Plus, she wondered if we’d ever be open to having a full day of clinic hours on Saturday instead of just a half-day.”
Jay considered the idea as he sipped his coffee. “Would she take another day off in lieu of her work on Saturday?”
“I would insist on it,” his mom said. “I know Gareth just adds the hours to his week and rarely takes other time off, but if she’s going to be working every week, I think she’d need to. Especially since she has a baby to consider. I don’t want her to burn herself out. We want to keep her.”
“I don’t suppose it would be a big issue. Aria just wouldn’t book Monday appointments for her. That way, she could have two days off in a row.”
“The only issue might be that the nurses who help with the Saturday clinic might not be interested in working a full day.”
“Maybe it’s time to speak to Aria again about helping out.” She’d been reluctant to take over too many free clinic shifts so far, preferring to only work them if absolutely necessary, but maybe she’d reconsider. “If we had three nurses in the rotation, it might not be so overwhelming for them.”
“Ideally, we could find someone like Betty, a retired or semi-retired nurse, who wouldn’t mind working just Saturdays.”
Jay nodded. Lots of changes to consider, and it would be something they’d have to discuss with everyone involved. It wouldn’t impact him much, if at all, but it was important that the people it impacted the most had a say in the changes. Namely, that would be Janessa, Aria, and Betty.
When Janessa and Aria walked in, his mom gave them the update on Misha. Jay left the three of them chatting and headed for his office. Gareth was already in his, and Jay poked his hand in the doorway for a wave as he walked past.
With Misha having accepted the job, he needed to spend some time working on the budget to factor that in. Though Gareth hated dealing with the clinic’s finances, Jay enjoyed that part of his job. They might clash a lot over the budget, but Jayknew that at the end of the day, Gareth trusted him with that aspect of the clinic operation.
“You ready for the new doc?” Will asked from where he sat sprawled on Jay’s couch later that day.
The man was Jay’s best friend, though they were an unlikely pair and had been for the length of their long friendship. They’d met when Jay had first moved to Serenity after his mom had passed away. His new teacher had tasked Will with showing the new kid the ropes.
Jay hadn’t known what to expect from the blond-haired, blue-eyed boy who wore glasses and was on the scrawny side. However, Will had taken his assignment seriously and hadn’t left Jay’s side that day, sticking by him through the lunch hour and both recesses. And when Jay had arrived at school the next day, Will had been waiting for him so they could walk to their classroom together.
They hadn’t had a lot in common at first, and Jay had struggled with moments of intense anger and grief over the loss of his mom. Will had taken it in stride, showing a surprising empathy for what Jay was going through, even though his family was still intact.
Years later, Jay had asked Will about what he’d thought back then, when Jay would have his outbursts. Will had paused before saying that all he’d had to do was imagine losing his own mom and how that would make him feel.
Will’s dad had been the pastor at the church the Halversons had attended, so when he’d arrived on Sunday, it had been to find a familiar face waiting for him. And the guy had been there for Jay ever since.
“I think we are,” Jay said as he came from the kitchen. He held out a can of the soda Will preferred. He didn’t drink it himself, but he kept it on hand for Will. “Cleaned out the office of all the junk Nora left behind so Misha can make it her own.”
“When does she officially start?”
“I’m not sure. Hopefully soon, since they want her to overlap with my mom, and Mom is eager to join Dad in Haiti for a bit.”
He sat down in his recliner, then grabbed the remote to turn on the game they were set to watch. Will had become a basketball fan once Jay started to play, and now they usually watched an NBA game or two a week when the season was ongoing.
They were just about to go into the playoff portion of the season, which Jay was really looking forward to. In another life, he might have been playing in those games.
Wings were cooking in his air fryer, and Will had brought a container of his mom’s potato salad. He’d also brought another container. One that probably contained cookies or brownies. Will wasn’t as focused on healthy eating and exercise as Jay was, but Jay always made an exception for Will’s mom’s food.
“Do you feel more confident that she’ll fit in than you did when Nora started?”
Jay laughed. “I thought Nora was going to work out just fine. She had us all blinded. I do think we’ve done a bit more due diligence this time. Gareth reached out to the doctor who recommended her, and it turns out he’s her mentor, so he knows her on both a personal and professional level. He’s also a well-known neurosurgeon, so I doubt he’d put his reputation on the line if she had the type of tendencies that Nora had.”
“That’s good. A real answer to prayer.”
“How’s Daphne doing?” Jay asked.
Will frowned with a sigh. “I guess she’s doing okay. I think she’s going to break up with me, though.”
Jay felt for his friend. His own up and down relationship with Casey had given him sympathy for what Will was going through with his girlfriend. The difference was that Will and Daphne had been together steadily for the duration of their relationship. Daphne had been a couple of years behind them in school, and when she’d come back from college to work alongside her mom as a dental hygienist, Will had asked her out.
“Why do you think that?” Jay had personally sworn off relationships for a while. He enjoyed dating and having a girlfriend, but what had happened with Casey had wrung him out emotionally.
