Page 78 of Falling With You

“Thanks. I figured Maddy’s going to come in a bit once we figure things out, and we’ll see what I can do at home. Because I want to be at home more now with the baby and helping Maddy. But I also don’t want to mess up my back along the way. Or my neck.”

“Well, we will figure out exactly what we need to do. But you’re allowed to lift a couple of pounds.”

“Yeah, that’s true. But Maddy’s worried I’m not going to be able to lift her if something happens to her, you know?”

That was a real fear because his spine did have issues, something that we all needed to think about.

“Okay, so we’ll figure out exactly what we need to do. But let’s finish you up here, and then Maddy and you can come in, and we’ll figure out exactly what steps you need to take in case something happens. But we’re going to go with the idea that it’s not going to happen and we’ll just take safety measures.”

“Sounds like a plan, Miss Knight.”

I smiled then and went back to work. By the time I was done with him, my own shoulder had started to ache, so I did some stretching exercises and went back to my office. Jefferson was standing in the waiting room, talking to the front desk clerk when I passed. I frowned. I didn’t think he had an appointment today, but since he wasn’t paying attention to me, I went back to my office to go and check. I should be done for the day, so it was a little weird that he was here, but maybe he had an appointment with someone else? No, that didn’t make sense. Perhaps I’d just forgotten.

I went to my tablet and looked. He wasn’t on the schedule. He wasn’t even on the schedule for next week, in fact.

Weird.

I picked up my things, stuffed them into my bag, and walked out to the front area. Jefferson wasn’t there.

“Hey, Sandy, why was Jefferson here?”

“Oh, he had a question about getting to see you this week, but I said that you were full.”

“Really? Is something wrong?”

“No. Honestly, it sounded like he just wanted to see you. He said that nothing was wrong. He just wanted extra time. But you’re booked, and you’re past overtime hours if you add him in.”

“Well, if he calls again, maybe I can work something out.”

“Okay, I’ll let you know. But you know Jefferson. Sometimes, he just likes to have extra appointments with you.”

“I know.”

“You know you can talk to Greg if it gets weird.”

“It’s not weird yet. But I’m very aware of it.”

It seemed that everybody had noticed that Jefferson had a crush on me, and that wasn’t good. I’d told Aiden that I needed to remain professional, but that meant that my patients had to be professional, as well.

“You know what, I’ll talk to Greg tomorrow.”

“Jefferson’s a sweet man, but he’s also a big guy and can make you uncomfortable.”

“I know. It just annoys me that I feel uncomfortable at all. But this isn’t the time or place to talk about it. I’ll figure out exactly what I want to say, and I’ll talk with Greg later.”

“Okay, girl. You have a good day, and tell Aiden hi for me.” She waved at me after she’d said it.

“I swear. Am I wearing a sandwich board that says something?”

“No, honey, you’re wearing a smile. One that reaches your eyes in the most perfect way. I’m happy for you.”

I tightened the strap on my bag and smiled. “I’m happy, too.”

I made my way out to my car and lifted my head up to the sun as it beat on my face. It was nice not having to work the full day so I could actually enjoy some of it. Yes, I needed to do some paperwork, but I’d been working a little too many hours back to back lately, trying to make sure that I kept up with my caseload.

But I was having a good day. A really good day.

I had just reached my car when someone put their hands around my throat and tugged my ponytail. I didn’t have my keys out, didn’t even have the little cat thing that hadn’t saved me before.