A long morning and early afternoon of endless not quite runny noses, unfounded fevers, and an abundance of flirty moms, even single ones, in low cut tops and short skirts generated Doctor Clay’s overbooked schedule. Like full moon craziness, his office was pure chaos. He knew he was well liked by team mommy and me – they found him more desirable than elder docs.
He was always flattered, but his goal wasn’t to meet mommies; it was to heal sick children so he took it all in stride. Today, however, it was like an army of curious moms, after something, and he hadn’t a clue what. He thought about suggesting the new pole dancing class to a few as a way to redirect their unwavering advances, though a few husbands might have thanked him, he thought better of it.
There must have been something in the air, perhaps a few local poker tournaments leaving the town’s wives lonely? Who knew, but it was enough to get him out of the office mid-day for a bit of fresh air and an infrequent sugary treat and fluffy coffee drink to distract his nerves. Brewing Grounds was a quick walk, and exactly what he needed.
The delectable scent of freshly brewed coffee and sweets welcomed him at the door, as did the rowdy giggles from the far corner of the seating area. A handful of women sat at the table with books in their hands – perhaps a book group – but one in particular had his attention. Heather.
Her face was buried in her hands while the others snickered. What could that be about? He caught the eye of Chichi, who was flanked by her gray haired bitty brigade, and who also seemed to have an eye on him. Her knowing grin and wink tinted his cheeks pink at the realization that this had something to do with him.
Frankie Deluca hollered his way, with a surprised yet satisfying look, confirming his suspicion, “Hey, Doc McSteamy! How’s it going?”
Heather’s body stiffened at the mention of his name, or what was his inferred name, anyway. She slowly lifted her head from her hands, and slowly turned her stiff body his direction. Her eyes were wide with shock, her cheeks rosy with embarrassment, and her jaw fell to the floor when she met his eyes.
Quickly getting to her feet, she gathered her things and tossed a few hushed words at the women around her before charging off. She stopped in front of him, a look of anxiety meeting his happy to see you smile. Her mouth was moving, but nothing was coming out as she looked left then right, as if searching for the words she had lost.
“Hey. You okay?” He let her off the hook, tossing a glance at the table she came from, still snickering, genuinely concerned.
“Oh, yeah. They’re just… just… teasing me a bit. It’s what they do,” she finished with a half assed unconvincing chuckle. “Look, I have a class in a few, so I, uh…gotta go.”
“Right,” he said, before lowering his voice, “have…fun.”
She gave him a weak smile and a nod before looking down, mouth open, as if she was about to say something. Thinking better of it, she closed her mouth, gave her head a subtle shake and walked off. He stood there, watching her all the way to the door, unsure what to think.
She seemed upset, or maybe it was just awkward considering the night before. Either way, he wanted an excuse to see her again, talk to her. Who knew exactly why, it just seemed like his next move.
“Hey there, Doc.” Molly, the owner of Brewing Grounds Book Store, interrupted his thoughts with a forced cheerful greeting. “Twice in one day, how’d we get so lucky? What can I get for you?”
Clay nodded his head at her. “Yeah, it’s just…” he turned back to the door where he last saw Heather, then to the corner table that was still full of eyes on him, before finishing his thought, “one of those days, I guess?”
“You can say that again,” she said in response to more snickers coming from the corner.
“Hey, am I missing something? The giggles, McSteamy comment, then Heather seemed…I don’t know.” He really didn’t know, how could he reconcile her behavior and determine whether it was normal or not? He really didn’t know her.
A puzzled look of suspicion filled Molly’s expression. “You really don’t know, do you? Have you seen…it?”
“It? Should I know what we are talking about here? This it…does it have a name or…”
A slight pause rested between them as Molly did some reconciling of her own. “Come with me,” she said.
He reluctantly followed while she was leading him to the hornets’ nest in the corner that was quickly hushing as he got near. Walking into that circle of ladies felt like walking into certain death or the bowels of hell. A fearful chill struck him since being the only man in the hen house, couldn’t play out in his favor, no matter how nice each of the women were individually. When in a pack, they acted like a pack.
One woman in particular had him sweating; it was the old woman, the pack leader, Chichi. She had her stare stuck on him with a grin that was either friendly, or menacing, he didn’t quite know which. She was the type to bring you cookies and wine just because, as much as she was a meddler. She was the one he didn’t entirely trust, especially given their encounter earlier in the day…she was in match maker mode.
Molly spun the iPad that had been resting on the table, around to where Clay could see it. A few swipes of the screen and Facebook popped up. She handed it to him with what felt like a bit of reluctance, and a deep disappointing sigh that instantly made his gut sour. He wasn’t going to like this.
Nora Kinkaid’s face and name headed the screen – yep, definitely wasn’t going to like this. He looked at the recent posts of random town slander that included a city streetlight that had gone out and the increased traffic as the town readied for the upcoming town Cork Crawl and Fall Fling event. Then he saw it.
A post about Seth and Molly caught in the act of something with a less than flattering picture and tagline. Ouch. What Clay wasn’t anticipating was the sting that would follow the next post…it was him and Heather. In a heated kiss. Just as unflattering tagline.
Rolling his eyes with a deep sigh, it all began to make sense. He thought back to Chichi’s comment in the early hours in front of Picker’s Produce, Meats, and More – pictures all over Facebook, handsome couple, sultry embrace. Chichi had told him about the post and it went right over his head since he was so distracted by Heather.
The mom mob. No wonder his schedule went from manageable to over the top. Speaking of tops, low cut, it all made sense. Had they interpreted this post as some sort of dating advertisement? Were they wanting their tonsils checked, as Nora put it, too?
Heather’s awkward behavior was adding up too. Sitting in her car, and avoiding the grocery store. Backing into the pole in the parking lot in an effort to get out of there quickly and ultimately to avoid him. Not to mention her inability to make eye contact and need to get the heck out of dodge the minute she saw him in Brewing Grounds.
“This is…” he began to say.
“Hilarious!” Frankie snorted, “First Molly and fire boy, now you and twinkle toes. This is getting good.”
“Good? How is this…” Clay waved his hand over the iPad, indicating his reference to the Facebook post, “good?! This brought every kid in town to my office today – no one was sick!”
Laughter broke out amongst the group. They were enjoying it far too much, but more so were just glad that it was someone other than each of them on the receiving end of Nora’s Facebook antics!
“Look around,” Molly offered. “I haven’t been this busy…ever. Note the clientele – mostly men.”
“Ahh, geez. That stripper reference, ehh?” Clay dropped his comment in such a nonchalant manner he may as well have been commenting on the weather.
“Uh, yeah…that,” Molly replied.
“So, check any tonsils, Doc?” Frankie was an asshole without a filter. The town badass and pot stirrer.
“Charming…” he replied, his tone dripping in sarcasm as Frankie was anything but charming – pain in the ass was more like it. “And no, I didn’t even put it all together until now. What am I saying? I would never… Oh, forget it.”
“So you’re only interested in Heather’s tonsils?” Sara, Heather’s sister chimed in, sipping her coffee as if this was just regular conversation. Her sly grin, hiding behind her coffee cup, wasn’t lost on him, or the rest of the ladies as they each followed suit with a giggle.
“No…I mean…yes…I mean…” Clay ran a hand through his hair. “I mean this shouldn’t even be on here. It’s an invasion of privacy and was blown completely out of proportion.”
“Blown isn’t the word I would have used, but I see where you are going with that one, Doc,” Frankie replied.
“Look, dear. Why is this such a bad thing?” Chichi was calm, cool, and calculated. He knew where she was going with this, given their prior conversation, and history of relationship manipulation. “I think you make a fine couple and if you want to…check her tonsils, go for it!”
“She isn’t interested in a relationship. I don’t want to force the issue – look, we don’t even really know each other!” he defended.
“Uh, Doc Walker, the picture kind of suggests otherwise,” Lexi jumped in with her two-cents, clearly joining the team of meddlers.
Frankie tossed one finger in the air, as if an idea had suddenly sparked and needed to be voiced. “And…you didn’t say you didn’t want one…just that she didn’t.”
“Why yes,” Chichi added, with a bit of enthusiasm, “and it’s usually the words we don’t say that speak louder than those that we do.”
The masses were forming, and creating an alliance with their philosophical BS as they dug through his words, or lack thereof, to use it all against him. Chichi seemed to have new recruits, of the younger version, to add to her meddlesome mob of matchmakers. Sara seemed far too eager to get her sister’s match made, obviously finding him an adequate match.
As endearing as that could be, he couldn’t help but feel a sense of anxiety drift through him because he didn’t stand a chance against this group, with Chichi at the helm. He was screwed. Maybe that wasn’t such a bad thing.