“Stock up on Kleenex and antibacterial wipes. Check.” Shelby Abbott, the clinic office manager, scribbled a note on her ever-present list.
“How are we on the peroxide wipes and spray?” Piper asked, repressing a smile at the incoming text from Myles: Prepping for staff meeting. Nerf dart gun or koosh balls?
Never a dull day around The Observer.
“Low.”
“Might want to add those, too,” Piper suggested, rather wishing they had time for horseplay at their own staff meetings. “We haven’t had a stomach bug in a couple of months. That always makes me nervous. It’s coming.”
“Fair point,” Shelby conceded.
“Anything else I need to know about?” Miranda asked this with a pointed glance at Piper.
“What?” Piper asked, slipping the phone back into her pocket without answering the text.
“Just wondering when you’re going to tell us who this mystery guy is you’ve been texting like a teenager. I’m working too much to date, so I’m living vicariously through you.”
“How do you know it’s a guy I’m texting?” she asked, all innocence.
“Because you’ve had that same secret, flirty smile since high school,” Miranda said. She crossed her arms. “Spill it, Parish.”
Piper huffed a sigh, but couldn’t seem to tame said flirty smile. “Myles Stewart.”
“The guy who played Bob in White Christmas?” Shelby asked.
“The newspaper editor?” Miranda put in.
“Right on both accounts.” Piper couldn’t help the immediate aren’t-I-a-lucky-girl blush.
“Totally not surprised,” Shelby announced. “You two were shooting off sparks at that karaoke fundraiser. Everybody else was paying attention to Tyler and Brody, but I saw you.” She smirked and tapped two fingers beside the eagle eyes that tended to miss nothing.
“How is it we didn’t know about this?” asked Keisha Williams, one of the other nurses, as she handed Miranda a patient file.
“We’ve been keeping it quiet,” Piper said, deliberately not mentioning how long they’d been seeing each other.
“Surprised he didn’t have to beat them off with a stick after that write up in Something Southern,” Keisha said.
Piper had a sudden, entirely irrational desire to show off the engagement ring that nobody could know about. She had it on a very long chain around her neck. “Wait, you saw the article? I haven’t seen the article. What was in this thing?”
“Mmm, best I recall, an account of his newspaper career to date and his plans for The Observer. Pics of the hottie in his element and all that. He’s got a hella great smile.”
“Yes, yes, he does,” Piper agreed, unable to stop her own grin from spreading.
“Well, good for you,” Miranda murmured absently, reading the file. “At least one of us has the good sense to have a life outside this place. I’m pretty sure I’m going to be buried here.”
“Speaking of which, can I get off a week from Friday?” Piper winced, knowing she’d just asked off several days for Carrie Jo’s wedding and half a day so she and Myles could go to Lawley yesterday.
“Check with the Schedule Master,” Miranda told her. “I apparently have a broken finger to set in Room Three.”
“Shelby?” Piper asked hopefully.
“I need to see if Noelle can come in to sub for you,” Shelby replied. “If this cold epidemic escalates like we expect, we’ll need someone else here.”
“Okay, just let me know.” Piper’s phone buzzed in the pocket of her scrubs.
“Is that Myles?” Shelby asked in a sing-song voice.
Piper lost her smile as she read the message. “It’s my mother.”