Chapter 5
A long day already of not quite runny noses, unfounded fevers, and an abundance of flirty moms — even married ones — in low cut tops and short skirts generated Doctor Jace’s currently overbooked schedule. Like full moon craziness, Dr. D’s office was pure chaos. Jace knew he was well liked by team mommy and me — they found him more desirable than elder docs — but this was out of the norm.
Jace 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. It was like they were all standing in line and left disappointed when they didn’t get whatever it was they were after. He thought about suggesting the new pole dancing class to a few of the women as a way to redirect their unwavering advances. Though a few husbands might have thanked him, he thought better of it. It could be misinterpreted.
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. Reading 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 — a book group, of course — but one of the lady’s in particular had his attention. Kinley.
Kinley’s face was buried in her hands while the others snickered. What could that be about? he asked himself sarcastically. Jace’s cheeks felt warm, and he imagined the shade matched Kinley’s blushing expression. Why was he blushing?
Jace caught Cady’s eye, flanked by her gray-haired bitty brigade. They also seemed to have an eye on him. Cady’s knowing grin and wink tinted his cheeks more pink at the realization that this did indeed have something to do with him. Great.
Brady O’Reilly hollered his way with a surprised yet satisfying look, confirming his suspicion. “Hey, Doc McSteamy! How’s it going?”
Kinley’s body stiffened at the mention of Jace’s name…or his inferred name. Slowly lifting her head from her hands, Kinley eventually turned her stiff body his direction. Her eyes were wide with shock, cheeks rosier with embarrassment, and her jaw fell to the floor when she finally met Dr. McSteamy’s stare. Had they been talking about him?
Quick to her feet, Kinley gathered her things and tossed a few hushed words at the women around the table before charging off. She briefly stopped in front of Jace with a look of anxiety that met his happy to see you smile. Her mouth was moving, but nothing was coming out as Kinley looked left then right, as if searching for the words she had lost. Or maybe it was to see who around them was watching the encounter. Why would she care, though?
“Hey. You okay?” Jace let her off the hook by talking first. He tossed a glance at the table Kinley came from. They were still snickering. Interesting.
“Oh, yeah. They’re just…just…teasing me a bit. It’s what they do,” Kinley finished with a half assed chuckle that wasn’t convincing anyone. “Look, I have a class in a few, so I, uh…gotta go.”
“Right,” Jace said, before lowering his voice, “have…fun.”
Kinley gave him a weak smile and nod before she looked down and started to speak. It seemed she thought better of it and walked off while shaking her head. Jace watched her all the way to the door, unsure what to think.
Kinley seemed upset, or maybe it was just awkward considering the night before. Even so, that seemed like more than a morning after encounter. Either way, Jace wanted an excuse to see her again. To talk to her. Who knew exactly why, it just seemed like the right next move. He decided he’d follow up with her. Things didn’t need to be awkward.
“Hey there, Doc,” Molly, the owner of Reading Grounds, interrupted Jace’s thoughts with a forced cheerful greeting. “Twice in one day, how’d we get so lucky? What can I get for you?”
Jace nodded at her. “Yeah, it’s just…” he turned back to the door where he last saw Kinley, then to the corner table still full of eyes on him, before finishing his thought, “one of those days, I guess?”
“You can say that again,” Molly fired back as more snickers came from the corner.
“Hey, am I missing something? The giggles, McSteamy comment, then Kinley seemed…I don’t know.” Jace really didn’t know. How could he reconcile her behavior and determine whether it was normal or not? He really didn’t know her.
Molly’s puzzled expression was full of confusion. “You really don’t know, do you? Have you seen…it?”
“It? Should I know what we’re talking about here?” Jace looked around. “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.
Jace reluctantly followed Molly straight to the hornet’s nest in the corner that began to hush the closer he got. Walking into that circle of ladies felt like walking into certain death in the bowels of hell. A fearful chill struck him. Being the only man in the proverbial 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. Wolves, hens, women…it was never good to go in alone.
One woman in particular had him sweating. It was the old woman, their pack leader, the one who had already cornered him once today. Cady O’Reilly. She had her stare stuck on him with a grin that was either friendly or menacing, he didn’t quite know which. Cady was the type to bring you cookies and wine just because, as much as she was a pushy meddler. She was the one Jace didn’t entirely trust, especially given their previous encounter in front of the market. She was in match maker mode.
Molly spun the iPad that had been resting on the table around to where Jace could see it. A few swipes of the screen and Facebook popped up. With an ounce of hesitation, Molly handed it to him followed by a deep, disappointing sigh that instantly made Jace’s gut sour. He knew he wasn’t going to like this.
Evelyn Shirley’s face and name headed the screen — yep, definitely wasn’t going to like this. #RumorHasIt was the name of her Facebook page. Showing up on there was worse than your mug shot popping up in the Daily Chronicle. Jace 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 Drunk and Dirty Days Crawl and Fall Fling event.
Drunk and Dirty Days Crawl was how Pine Valley celebrated fall harvest. It was the biggest event all year and drew in tourists galore. The event was made up of all local wineries from across the Willamette Valley, each competing for the highly sought after, highly prestigious Cork King or Queen title. Oregon was already known for its wine, but adding that award was gold. Not only did the event expose wine makers to a voting public and potential new wine drinking fans, but also wholesalers and collectors.
There wasn’t anything out of the norm. Just a list of events for the week and what Evelyn thought of said events. Her comments weren’t exactly enthusiastic, but nothing about the old broad was enthusiastic. So, he kept scrolling.
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. No wonder her smile was so forced. That would ruin anyone’s day. What Jace wasn’t anticipating was the sting that would follow with the next post. It was him and Kinley. In a heated kiss. And a tagline just as unflattering.
Rolling his eyes with a deep sigh, it all began to make sense. He thought back to Cady’s comment in the early hours in front of the market — pictures all over Facebook, handsome couple, sultry embrace. Cady had told him about the post and it went right over his head since he was so distracted by Kinley.
The mom mob. No wonder his schedule went from manageable to over the top with every kid in town suddenly sick. 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 Evelyn put it — too?
Kinley’s awkward behavior was adding up as well. 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 trying to avoid him. Not to mention Kinley’s inability to make eye contact and need to get the heck out of dodge the minute she saw Jace in Reading Grounds.
“This is…” Jace began to say.
“Hilarious!” Brady snorted. “First Molly and fire boy. Now you and twinkle toes herself. This is getting good.”
“Good? How is this…” Jace 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 his predicament far too much. Deep down, Jace assumed they were really just glad it was someone other than them on the receiving end of Evelyn’s Facebook antics.
“Look around,” Molly offered. “I haven’t been this busy…ever. Note the clientele — mostly men.”
“Ahhh, geez. That stripper reference Evelyn made, eh?” Jace 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?” Brady was an asshole without a filter. She was also the town badass and pot stirrer who enjoyed the misery of others more than what was probably socially acceptable.
“Charming…” Jace replied, his tone dripping in sarcasm. Brady was anything but charming. A 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 Kinley’s tonsils?” Sadie, Kinley’s sister, chimed in, sipping her coffee as if this were just a 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…” Jace 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 heading with that one, Doc,” Brady chuckled.
“Look, dear. Why is this such a bad thing?” Cady was calm, cool, and calculated. He knew where she was going with this, given their prior conversation and her known 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!” Jace defended.
“Uh, Doc Detweiler, the picture kind of suggests otherwise,” Libby jumped in with her two-cents, joining the team of heckling meddlers.
Brady 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 a relationship, Doc…just that she didn’t.”
“Why, yes,” Cady 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 Jace’s words, or lack thereof, to use against him. Cady seemed to have new recruits, of the younger variety, to add to her meddlesome mob of matchmakers. Sadie seemed far too eager to get her sister’s match made, obviously finding him adequate. Was that a compliment?
As endearing as that could be, he couldn’t help but feel a sense of anxiety drift through him. He didn’t stand a chance against this group of women. Not with Cady at the helm. They’d have Jace and Kinley headed down the aisle by supper if he didn’t cut it off. He was screwed. Then again, maybe that wasn’t such a bad thing.