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“A bit.”
“Let me get your weight,” Janessa said as they got to the little alcove where they kept the scale.
Maria sighed as she stepped up onto the scale. “I still haven’t lost the baby weight.”
“That’s fine,” Janessa said. “We don’t do these weigh-ins to get after you about your weight. Unexpected weight gain or loss can indicate that there might be a health issue. So we just keep track of it for reference.”
“I do want to lose weight, but it’s just so hard right now.”
Janessa rested a hand on the woman’s arm as she stepped off the scale. “You don’t need to add more pressure on yourself. I would recommend that you just focus on eating healthy food and getting a little exercise. If that results in weight loss, great. If not, that’s fine too. You’ve got a lot on your plate right now. Cut yourself a little slack.”
She led Maria into an exam room, instructing her to have a seat beside the desk. After taking her blood pressure and making notes in Maria’s digital file, Janessa told her that Misha would be in soon and left the room.
“Your ten o’clock is in exam three,” Janessa told Misha as she passed her in the hallway.
“Thanks!” Misha gave her a quick smile before heading for the room.
Janessa returned to the front to get the next patient, trying to keep her thoughts occupied with anything other than “the question” from the night before. It wasn’t the first time someone had asked that question. It was like everyone was convinced that something was going on between her and Will.
Did people actually think they’d make a good couple? It wasn’t that she thought that theywouldn’t, but she’d also tried not to think about Will in that light.
But surely they wouldn’t be asking if she and Will were dating if they thought they’d be horrible together. So far, Janessa had gotten the feeling that if she’d said yes to them being a couple, people would have been excited.
The problem was, she just didn’t know if she could handle a relationship. And even if shewasonboard for a relationship with Will, who was to say he felt the same way?
It had been a few months since his breakup, and he did seem to be doing better, but he might not be interested in diving into another relationship yet. And would she want to be the rebound?
The answer to that was a resoundingno. If she was going to date someone—which she wasn’t!—it would be because she saw herself in a serious, long-term relationship with them. So if there was a chance that Will wanted to date just to rip the bandage off before moving onto something serious, Janessa would never be interested in that.
It was all pretty much a moot point, though, because there had been no indication that Will was interested in dating anyone, let alone her. And Janessa wasn’t about to ask him out herself. Not that she believed that only guys could do the asking. But in this particular case, Will would be the one to know best when he was ready to date again.
Butnoneof that mattered, Janessa forcefully reminded herself. She wasn’t looking for a relationship. Not even with Will.
“Is Gareth’s next patient here?” Janessa asked as she joined Aria at the reception desk.
“Yep.” Aria handed her a paper that Janessa added to the small clipboard she held. “Just got here.”
“Thanks.” Janessa skimmed over the info, then stepped from the reception area to the door leading to the hallway with the exam rooms.
After calling for the next person—an elderly man—Janessa chatted briefly with him as they made their way to the exam room. She enjoyed connecting with the patients, even if it was just for a few minutes. Many were long-time patients of the clinic, and they were as apt to ask how things were going in her life as she was about theirs.
The day settled into a fairly predictable pattern. There wasn’t much variety to her days at the clinic, as far as schedules were concerned. The variety came in her interactions with the patients, and that was enough to keep it from getting boring.
When lunch rolled around, Janessa pulled hers out of the fridge, then sat at the table with Aria.
“How was your meeting last night?” Aria asked. She’d been out with Gareth when Janessa had gotten home, and Janessa hadn’t seen her before she’d gone to her room for the night.
“I think it went well.” Janessa pulled out her sandwich. “Good turnout, and everyone seemed really interested in helping out. We’ll see how many return for the next meeting, which is when we’re going to instruct them on how to serve.”
“You worked as a server during college, right?” Aria asked.
“Yeah, but I didn’t work anywhere fancy, and it’s been years since I served at a church dinner. I plan to watch YouTube videos to refresh my knowledge. I’m sure someone has uploaded some.”
Aria laughed. “YouTube for the win.”
“I certainly hope so because I don’t think Will remembers much about the times he served either.”
Jay showed up then, followed a couple minutes later by Misha, then Gareth. The discussion shifted to other things unrelated to the Fall Dinner, which was just fine. Lately, that event had dominated a lot of her thoughts and conversations.
