The Boss and Nurse Albright. Lynne Marshall

laughing at someone getting caught in a compromising situation. That was unkind, he thought as he wiped away tears from laughing so hard. She could have gotten stung by a bee and that would have hurt like hell. Though she’d shown no evidence of that. No, he shouldn’t laugh.

      Definitely no laughing.

      He turned around again. She sat back down on the bench and ate the other half of her sandwich, after she’d retrieved the first half and tossed it in the trash. She glanced around a second time, no doubt hoping no one had seen her antics. She was obviously unharmed, except for maybe her pride.

      And the replay of her dance in his mind made him laugh again. “Your secret’s safe with me.”

      A few minutes later, he sat back at his desk, still grinning.

      How odd it felt.

      The next morning, Jason stopped at Claire’s office door with an impish look on his face. It made her pause. He cleared his throat.

      “I brought you something,” he said. He reached into the sack he carried and withdrew a safari hat complete with a veil made of netting and handed it to her.

      “What’s this?” She stared at the object she’d only ever seen in the movies before.

      “In case you decide to eat outside today,” he said, one side of his mouth ticking into a smile.

      The blush started at her neck and promptly rose up her cheeks. “You saw me?”

      He nodded and grinned, a bright flash in his eyes.

      “The whole thing?”

      “As a physician, I needed to make sure you weren’t injured or anything.”

      She covered her eyes and grimaced. “I’m so embarrassed.”

      “Don’t be.” He looked uncomfortable, his teasing stance having vanished as quickly as it had appeared. “Please.” They shared a gaze, and she instinctively knew he’d meant no harm. “I’ve botched things up, I see.” He scratched the side of his mouth. “I guess I’m out of practice.”

      “No,” she said, lifting the hat even as her cheeks heated to what she assumed to be bright red. “This is very funny. Really.”

      On an awkward note, he tipped his head and went to his office.

      Claire had to give him credit for trying to act like a regular person instead of a recluse. In fact it touched her. She collapsed into her chair and continued blushing for a few more moments, but decided her embarrassment was worth it to see Jason Rogers’s gorgeous smile.

      And, to remind her he had a sense of humor, she hung the beekeeper’s hat on the antique coat rack in the corner of her office.

      The next day, to her surprise, Jason personally escorted one of his patients to her New Diabetic Class.

      “This is Leona Willis,” he said, assisting the middleaged lady to sit. “I think she can use a refresher course on diabetic care.”

      This was a change. Jason had specifically told Claire to keep away from his patients, and here he was delivering one to her. She smiled at the new student, and then at Jason, and felt a mild blush dance across her cheeks, which seemed far too much like it was becoming a routine. He seemed to hesitate before walking backwards to the door with an odd expression in his eyes. It made her pause to remember what she’d been talking about. “Where were we?” she asked the class.

      “The importance of eating several small meals a day,” one craggy old gent replied.

      Claire nodded and, instead of concentrating on the subject, took one brief moment to ponder the fact that Jason seemed to be reaching out to her as one professional to another. The thought buoyed her spirit and set the tone for the rest of her day.

      One week of truce with Jason had made working at the MidCoast Medical Center so much more bearable for Claire, yet she was still antsy about her first administrative board meeting. Jason couldn’t have chosen a worse night. Monday was the one night this week her childcare provider couldn’t keep Gina past six p.m. And the meeting was scheduled for six-thirty.

      René had arranged for dinner to be delivered, but Claire brought a special kiddie meal for Gina at the local organic market. She tried to set it up as a “treat”, telling her how she’d get to have her very own picnic while the grown-ups had their meeting. Gina didn’t seem too impressed. Running a bit late, Claire gritted her teeth and pushed through the clinic’s kitchen door with her daughter toddling beside her.

      The others, Phil, Jon, René and Jason, were already seated and passing around their individual reports.

      “I’m so sorry to have to bring Gina tonight.” She glanced around the room for sympathy and understanding and found it with everyone except Jason, who’d made a merely tolerable glance her way. “Babysitter problems,” she said.

      Claire situated Gina in the corner with a few books and small toys, then opened and served her dinner after washing the child’s hands with disposable wipes. “Be a good girl for Mommy, OK?” She tried not to plead but, depending on Gina’s mood, her personality could range from introspective to gregarious, and there was usually no warning which way the wind would blow.

      As the meeting went on, Claire got a glimpse at how the clinic ran through spending reports from Jason, trends in ailments from Jon, recommendations on being more efficient from René, and meeting the Occupational Health and Safety standards for clinic care from Phil. Just as Claire prepared to give her report, Gina decided she’d had enough self-entertainment.

      She brought her favorite book and plopped it on the table next to Claire. “Read me,” she said.

      “Mommy can’t right now. I have to work.”

      Instead of fretting, Gina picked up the book and went back to her assigned corner.

      Claire took a deep breath and prayed she’d stay there.

      “OK,” Claire said. “Rene asked me to talk a bit about CAM-complementary/alternative medicine—and its prevalence of use amongst our client population. My statistics show that thirty to forty percent of the general population is using or has used some form of herbal compound in the past year.”

      Gina stood and opened her book. “Thnow White and the theven dorfs,” she recited aloud to the wall.

      René and Phil tried not to snicker.

      Claire swallowed and continued. “I feel it is very important to identify which of our patients are using these herbal medications. Many patients think of them as dietary supplements or natural health products, not medicine.”

      “Onth upon a time,” Gina recited as she paced back and forth in a similar fashion as her mother, pretending to read from the page. “A printhess had to run away from her meanie tep-mommy.” She turned the page with great flair.

      “Gina, honey, can you wait until later to read your book out loud?”

      “Can she read already?” Jon asked.

      Not wanting to pop Gina’s bubble, Claire shook her head surreptitiously and mouthed no. “She’s working on it,” she said, with sing-song optimism for Gina to hear. “Wait until later, OK, honey?”

      The child turned to the wall and continued to “read” the story in a whisper.

      Phil grinned, and René mouthed “aw”. Claire nervously glanced at Jason and, instead of finding a scowl, she noticed one corner of his mouth edged up into an almost-grin.

      “I’m so sorry,” she repeated to everyone.

      “Not a problem,” Jon said. “Continue with your report.”

      She raised her voice and rushed through her carefully planned presentation, hoping her daughter wouldn’t make any more disruptions. Claire had run down the list of herbal compounds most frequently used, and had offered her theory why patients failed to report the medication to their care