“He sounds like a remarkable man,” Sophie said. She remembered that Kim used to talk of her brother as though he were a pest, and that she didn’t much like his hometown girlfriend. “The most boring person on earth,” Kim used to say about the woman. “I don’t know what he sees in her.”
The three women were staring at Sophie as though they expected her to say something, but she didn’t know what. “Should I come back later when he’s here so he can tell me what he wants me to do?”
“Oh no!” Betsy said. “He won’t be back until this evening. Late.”
“But what about his patients? Don’t they have appointments?”
“We cancelled them,” Heather said.
“Because of emergencies,” Alice added.
“Why don’t you go upstairs and make yourself at home?
” Betsy said.
Sophie had no idea what they were talking about. This was a job, not a home. Before she could express her doubt, the three women opened a door and practically pushed her up the stairs. She went through a doorway, a door shut behind her, and she found herself alone in an apartment.
Her first thought was that it wasn’t a very nice apartment. There were few windows, little furniture, and what there was seemed to be covered in gray. It looked as if people who wanted to get a new set of furniture had given Dr. Reede their old things. There was a fine coat of dust over everything, and as far as she could see, there was nothing personal anywhere. Motel rooms had more personality.
There was one large room that contained a living area, an old dining table with three scruffy chairs, and a little kitchen that had some basic appliances. At the end of the room was an open door and inside was a bedroom with as little personality as the rest of the place. The bed hadn’t been made up, but it wasn’t a jumble. The bathroom, with a stack washer and dryer, completed the apartment.
Sophie went back to the living room and called Kim on the landline and right away confirmed that it was all right for her to stay in Kim’s house.
“Make yourself at home,” Kim said.
Sophie went on to tell her where she was at the moment. Kim groaned. “Horrible, isn’t it? It used to be the sheriff’s apartment. His office is next door and the apartment is above both of them.”
“Where did this furniture come from?”
“Grandma’s attic.”
“That was my guess. Kim, I don’t mean to be ungrateful, but what am I supposed to do here?”
“Make him stay.”
“What does that mean?”
“Reede agreed to stay in Edilean for three years while the original doctor, Dr. Tris, works in New York to be near Jecca.”
“The other doctor is who Jecca married? This Dr. Tris?”
“Sorry. I keep thinking you know everything that’s happened. Yes, Jecca married Dr. Tris, but then she got a job in New York and Tris went there to be with her. But that left Edilean without a doctor. When he gets back in about two and a half years, my brother is going to hit the road again. Until then he’s staying in that hideous apartment.”
Sophie tried to digest this news and her heart went out to Dr. Reede. How many men would do such a noble thing? “Isn’t there a house he can rent here in Edilean?”
“The man hardly has time to sleep, much less to go looking for a place to live. Sophie?”
“Yes,” she said.
“My brother is miserable. He took a job he didn’t want and got stuck with it for years. I’d appreciate anything you can do to make his life more comfortable. And you have carte blanche to do whatever you want to that horrible apartment.”
“I don’t know . . . ” Sophie said as she looked around the place. “I’m not sure . . . ”
“You can do it,” Kim said and began a pep talk.
Sophie had to smile. Kim was a doer, a go-getter. Tell her something was impossible and she went after it. Right now she seemed to believe that Sophie’s problem was a lack of belief in herself. That was far from the truth. Sophie was tempted to interrupt Kim’s little speech by saying “I’m just concerned that the FBI might be after me,” but she didn’t. Instead, she said, “You’re saying I should be a cleaning woman, a secretary, a cook, and an interior decorator. It sounds like a wife. Tell me, is sex included in this job?”
Sophie meant it as a joke, but Kim didn’t miss a beat. “I would imagine that some all-night, mind-blowing sex would cheer both of you up. It’s done wonders for me. Speaking of which, Travis is pointing at his watch. I have to go. Oh, and Sophie, help yourself to my clothes. After all I’ve bought on this trip, I’m going to need the closet space.” With that, she hung up, and Sophie stood there, staring at her phone.