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Misha gave her a reassuring smile. “It’s fine. I didn’t explain the situation when I said she was my daughter. I mean, sheismy daughter, just by way of adoption.”
“Well, she looks a lot like you,” Janessa said. “Even if she isn’t your biological daughter.”
Misha gave a little huff of laughter. “To confuse you further, there’s a reason for that. She’s my brother’s daughter. When he was killed, his girlfriend was early in her pregnancy. She wanted to terminate it but agreed to carry the baby to full term when my mom and I said we’d take the baby. Once Ciara was born, her mom signed all the papers necessary for me to adopt her.”
“Wow.” Aria sighed. “First, I’m so sorry to hear about your brother. That must have been so difficult for you and your mom. Second, how amazing that you did that for Ciara.”
Misha’s revelation had answered a couple of questions for Jay, but he felt so bad for what Misha and her mom had endured. He hoped that they’d find the safety and security they desired in Serenity Point.
“Did your brother’s death play a role in you coming here?” Jay asked.
Misha nodded. “Though he wasn’t in a gang, he was killed by one, then I was being targeted. We needed a safe place to raise Ciara, away from the violence that took her dad.”
“That’s understandable,” Janessa said. “I think that’s what every parent wants.”
“I was just fortunate to have been made aware of the opportunity here.”
“We’re fortunate that you chose to move here,” Gareth told her. “We’d just about given up hope of finding someone. But even so, we wouldn’t have hired just anyone. We saw something in you that we thought would work well for the clinic. And we were right. You’ve fit in so well here. Even better than we could have imagined.”
“Nora did fine with the patients, but behind the scenes, she wreaked havoc,” Aria said.
“You’ve been great with the patients,andyou’ve been great with the rest of us too,” Janessa said.
There was much about Misha to respect, and Jay didn’t even bother to rein in that admiration. She wasn’t just smart. Every day he saw her passion for her work and for people. It wassomething that had definitely been missing in Nora’s attitude toward her work at the clinic.
She’d had a more clinical approach to her patients, where he could see that Misha was going to make connections with them the way his parents had. She’d want people to be comfortable with her, understanding that going to the doctor was stressful for some people. Feeling at ease with a doctor would come with someone like Misha.
When his parents asked how things were going—and they would—that was what he was going to tell them. That Misha was smart and passionate. His mom had probably seen those qualities during the time Misha had shadowed her, but it wouldn’t hurt to reinforce it. They needed to know that the other clinic staff continued to see that about her as she was working.
Jay left that lunch hour with a lot more insight into the newest member of their staff. Misha had revealed a lot about herself and her motivations in that time. The reasons why she’d had to leave Atlanta explained her passion for the free clinic. She’d clearly been working with a similar demographic in Atlanta, so her desire to work more with the free clinic made a lot of sense now.
All he hoped was that none of the danger that had forced them out of Atlanta followed them to Serenity Point. The doctor who had recommended her clearly knew what was going on, so Jay figured that he’d do what he could to protect them, even from a distance. Hopefully, the distance would be what would keep them safest.
It was unlikely that someone from Atlanta would think to look in Idaho for Misha and her mom. After all, it wasn’t a place with a huge Black population, and if the people targetingMisha knew anything about her, they probably assumed she’d go somewhere she could continue the work she’d had in Atlanta.
As the workday drew to a close, Jay prepared to leave the clinic. He didn’t have any big plans for the evening, but Will was probably going to show up at some point. The man was feeling pretty down over the state of things with Daphne.
“Hey, Jay.”
Jay looked up to see Misha standing in the doorway, her purse strap over her shoulder. “Heading home?”
“Yep. Time to go give Mom a break,” Misha said. “Ciara’s been cranky today, so I have a feeling Mom’s going to need some time to herself to recover.”
“Is she not feeling well?”
“Teething, I think.”
“Oh, the joys,” Jay said. “Poor baby.”
“Yeah. She’s usually pretty happy, so seeing her so cranky and miserable is hard.”
“I remember times when Shelby and Cole got like that. Thankfully, with such a big family, we could take turns entertaining them.”
“I suppose that would be good, but I’m not sure I’d want a bunch of kids just to have some help with a cranky baby.”
Jay laughed. “I hear you.”
“Anyway, I need to go, but I wanted to follow up on the workout conversation from lunch.”
