Moonstone (5 page)

“Perfect.” Denise pointed at the television when the chef held up a block of cheese. “See? Parmesan.”

Kelsey glanced at the sliced sourdough stacked in the bread basket in the center of the table. Barb never used a bread basket. It was a gift from Denise. She sighed. “Some nights I want a girlfriend. And popcorn. And a movie.”

Denise and Barb both looked over at Kelsey.

She held up her hand. “Don’t say anything. I know how pathetic that sounded. I didn’t really mean to say it out loud.”

Denise was waiting in the hallway between the exam rooms and the lounge with an expectant look on her face. Joy handed Mr. Torbin’s file to Chloe and then turned to Denise. “Everything okay?”

“It’s another beautiful foggy day in Raceda. What more could we ask for?”

“Coffee?” Chloe asked.

Joy went over to the coffeemaker. “After three weeks, you’d think I’d be able to figure out this machine.” A half-inch of rust-colored water filled the bottom of the pot. “I used to drink two espressos every morning made in these little stamped metal cups, and on busy days, a mocha in the afternoon. Today anything hot and caffeinated would do. It doesn’t need to be fancy.”

“It’s not you. I’ve tried my best tricks and got nothing in return,” Denise said. “That workhorse has brewed its last cup. But I’ve got good news.”

“The rest of the day’s appointments canceled and we can go home?” Chloe asked. She looked hopeful.

Denise arched her eyebrows at Chloe. “No.” She turned to Joy and continued, “A sales rep from that software company I was telling you about called. She’s in the area and offered to pick up doughnuts and coffee.”

“Sales reps don’t count as good news,” Joy said.

Denise turned the same tight smile she’d given to Chloe on Joy. “Beggars can’t be choosers. She was going to drop off some information about her company, but I told her we would be more receptive if she had coffee with her.”

“I like the way you think,” Joy agreed.

“Sales reps have got a hard job,” Denise said. “But I’m not about to make it any easier unless I get a doughnut out of it. Everyone’s got a job to do.”

“And I’m allowed to hate some people’s choice in careers,” Joy said.

“I’ll let you know as soon as she gets here.” Denise tapped the coffeemaker. “By the way, I’m buying you a new one this weekend. It’ll be a welcome present from me to you. Don’t try arguing.”

“You don’t have to do that, Denise,” Joy protested. “We can budget for a new one—maybe even a Keurig—as soon as I clear this next month’s bills.”

Both Chloe and Helen lingered in the hallway. They glanced from Denise to Joy.

Helen finally said, “You said it yourself, Dr. Henderson, we don’t need fancy. We just need coffee. And I don’t think I’ll be able to keep us on schedule if we wait till the end of the month.”

Maybe Denise really wanted to give her a gift. It was her father’s pride, not her own, that she was wrestling. She’d finally taken the time to go through everything on her father’s desk and found several bills that had been overlooked. Two bills were due a month before her father passed. Knowing that he’d missed payments made her wonder how the last few months had gone. He hadn’t mentioned any problems, but she was beginning to wonder if he’d kept it from everyone. Whatever had happened, or not happened, reality was that money was going to be tight for the next couple months. “You’re right. Okay.”

Denise unplugged the coffeemaker. “All right. No farewell party for this piece of junk.”

“Your next one—Mrs. Robbins—mentioned that she thinks she needs a new prescription. Blurry vision. But her glasses were so smudged I could hardly see through the lenses. I cleaned them for her already.” Chloe handed the file to Joy and then added, “By the way, she brought you a little present. And she started crying when she sat down in the chair. Helen said she was one of Dr. Sam’s old friends.”

“Thanks for the heads up.” Joy wished she could wait for coffee and a doughnut before seeing another patient. No one wanted Sam Henderson’s daughter to replace him as the town’s favorite optometrist. Joy didn’t blame them. She flipped open Mrs. Clarissa Robbins’s file and straightened her back.
Chin up
, she heard her father say.

Chloe handed Joy a cup of coffee as soon as she emerged from the exam room. “You have a ten-minute break.”

“Any doughnuts left?”

“The rep brought a dozen. I think there’s plenty.”

Joy scanned the lounge area. “Think the sales rep is still here?”

Chloe leaned to see down the hall to Denise’s office. “I don’t think so. She was talking with Denise for a while, but I think you missed her.”

“Perfect.”

“This rep seemed nice,” Chloe offered.

“They always seem nice. That’s their act. Don’t believe it. At least this one brought something useful.” The coffee was lukewarm but tolerable.

Chloe’s furrowed brow was enough to brighten Joy’s mood for the first time all morning. Or else it was the coffee. She handed the last patient’s file to Chloe with instructions for setting up a recheck appointment and headed for the lounge.

Six doughnuts remained, three of which were glazed. The other three were chocolate. Joy picked out the puffiest of the glazed bunch and took a bite. Caketown Doughnuts. She savored the sugar crisp outside and then let the center melt in her mouth. Not one of San Francisco’s doughnut shops could compare. The sales rep had left a business card by the doughnut box.
Alpine Connected
had a logo of a mountain plugged into a keyboard. The mountain was wearing sunglasses that only added to the ridiculous look. Joy brushed her fingertip over the embossed mountain and then caught her breath as she recognized the name on the card. Kelsey West. “No way,” she said aloud. “What are the chances?”

“What are the chances about what?” Denise asked.

Denise had come out of her office and was staring at Joy. Standing next to her was a woman Joy would have recognized anywhere. It was too late to make an excuse and too late to walk away. Joy knew she was stalling for too long. She forced a smile and said, “I’m sorry. I was thinking aloud…”

“What are the chances that you know the sales rep?” Kelsey smiled. “Small world, right?” Kelsey stuck out her hand. “I’m glad you remember me, Dr. Henderson. I was hoping you would.”

Joy shook the offered hand. She couldn’t think of anything to say—at least not anything she wanted Kelsey to hear. What were the chances that Kelsey West still lived in this town? The same Kelsey West who was Raceda High’s “Most Likely To Make It To The Olympics”? And why would she possibly be working as a sales rep?

Kelsey had grown out her short haircut. Dark brown locks fell in soft curls past her shoulders. She had eyeliner on and lipstick, but she wouldn’t have needed any makeup at all. She’d always made Joy catch her breath. Only one jade earring dotted each ear instead of the three loops that she used to wear. Professional, Joy thought. And the jade earrings were probably supposed to complement the classy look of the trim black business suit with the green silk blouse. But the whole outfit was distractingly sexy. The blouse matched Kelsey’s eyes and with the first two buttons undone, it was difficult not to stare at her. The fact that her slacks were the perfect cut to show off Kelsey’s trim figure didn’t help. Joy glanced immediately back up at Kelsey’s face, hoping no one would notice the split second she’d spent checking out the sales rep.

“Good to see you again. It’s been a long time,” Joy said, regaining her balance when she heard her own confident voice. She’d had plenty of experience with sales reps. Reps wanted her attention, not the other way around. And she could be as smooth as Kelsey. High school was a distant memory. Joy glanced at Denise, trying to focus on present circumstances instead of the what-ifs that had accompanied the last time she’d seen Kelsey West.

“Looks like you got a doughnut. I was worried there wouldn’t be any left,” Denise said. “Your last patient took two. But she did pick out an expensive pair of sunglasses along with her reading glasses. By the way, Kelsey only wanted me to pass on a hello. She didn’t want to interrupt you… But she mentioned you were old friends so I insisted she hang around until you had a break. That’s the way it is in Raceda. Everyone’s always running into old friends.”

“Friends.” Joy repeated the word aloud without pausing to think how it would sound.

Kelsey cocked her head and said, “Maybe I should have said we were acquaintances.”

“Not at all.
Friends
is fine.” Joy swallowed.
Not so smooth, Joy
, she chided. “After the incident with the orange juice, I figured you’d run the other way if we ever met up again.” The orange juice was only part of the story. But that day had led to everything else.

Kelsey laughed. Suddenly she looked nothing like a sales rep and everything like the girl Joy remembered. The crush she’d had on Kelsey had been gut-wrenching. For years. And she could hardly blame her teenage self. Reality was, Kelsey wouldn’t go for her today anymore than she had eighteen years ago.

“Kelsey mentioned you two were on swim team together,” Denise said. “There’s thirty thousand people in this town, but you’d think it was half that number the way everyone’s connected. There’s always some history.”

Joy felt Kelsey’s gaze on her. Maybe there was a connection even if it was short. She had always hoped that she’d see Kelsey again, but Joy doubted they’d have anything in common now. It was all history.

“I promise there’s no hard feelings about the juice. That spill was a long time ago.” Kelsey laughed again. It was an easy laugh as if she didn’t think that anything that had happened after the spill was important enough to worry about. Or she was playing the role of a slick sales rep and could pretend their past didn’t matter. “And I didn’t bring orange juice today so we’ll all be fine.”

Slick sales rep hoping to get my account, Joy thought. Times do change. Kelsey met Joy’s gaze and instead of looking away, Joy smiled. Go ahead, try and win me over, she thought. Maybe it would be fun having the tables turned. “So what exactly do you do with Alpine Connected?”

“I’m head of sales for this region.”

Denise interrupted, “I mentioned to Kelsey that you were considering upgrading to computerized records. Kelsey was showing me the details on the software system Alpine offers. Their program can integrate appointments, patient files and ordering—everything you were talking about wanting.”

“We target small medical practices—dermatology, dentistry and optometry obviously. But some larger hospitals use a version of our software as well.”

“For full-disclosure, I’m friends with Kelsey’s mom,” Denise paused. “And since you were talking about computerized records…”

“As much as I want computerized records and to have everything integrated, I don’t think we can swing it yet,” Joy said. “Eventually, yeah, but money’s a little tight at the moment.”

Kelsey smiled. “Of course. But we can help set you up with the financing as well, if you’re interested. Anyway, I wanted to drop off my card and some brochures.” Kelsey glanced at Denise. “I’m sure you’ll do your homework and look into the other options on the market, but Denise was nice enough to let me be the first one in the door.”

“Yeah, maybe we could set up a time to talk a little more about Alpine. My schedule’s slammed this morning…”

“I’d love to set up a lunch meeting.” Kelsey continued, “My sales talk is captivating.” She smiled. “All the nuts and bolts about our software system. And financing options. I’ll do my best to keep you from falling asleep.”

Lunch with Kelsey West sounded more daunting than coffee and doughnuts but also more interesting than lunch meetings she’d had in the past with other sales reps. Joy glanced at Denise and then back to Kelsey. “Okay, sure.”

“I can have Helen block off a long lunch next week,” Denise suggested.

“Or if that’s too soon, we can set something up later in the month. I don’t want to be the pushy sales rep.”

Joy shook her head. “It’s only lunch, right? So long as you don’t expect me to sign anything yet, I think we’ll be fine.”

“But I’m hoping you can convince her,” Denise said.

Denise’s conspiratorial tone was annoying, but Joy looked straight at Kelsey. “As fair warning, I can be a tough sell.”

“I like a challenge,” Kelsey returned.

The slight upturn of Kelsey’s lips made Joy wonder how many sales she got with a coy smile alone. But it was going to take more than a smile this time. Joy had plenty of experience with women trying to win her over. Sales reps were easy to blow off. She glanced at her watch.

“You’re probably running late for your next appointment,” Denise said. “Go on ahead and I’ll talk to Helen about scheduling the lunch.”

“Thank you.” Joy turned to Kelsey and added, “And I guess we’ll catch up next week.”

When she’d finished with her last morning appointment, Joy headed to the lounge to drop off a file for Denise. She passed by the doughnut box and paused.

Denise walked over to where Joy stood and picked up the business card that had been left behind. “I promised Kelsey that I’d make sure you got this.”

“Business card in exchange for doughnuts?”

Denise nodded. “I think she’s worried that you are going to cancel on lunch. At least if you have her card…”

“I don’t back out of things I agree to.”

“But I didn’t get the impression that you were looking forward to it either.”

“We both know there’s no such thing as a free lunch. Or free doughnuts.”

Denise bit her lip and Joy wondered what she wasn’t saying. How much had Kelsey told Denise? Joy doubted that Kelsey would have mentioned any details about their past—there wasn’t much to say anyway—but Denise clearly had something on her mind. It was possible she sensed Joy’s awkwardness around Kelsey. She didn’t want to explain why seeing Kelsey West set her back eighteen years.

“Free or not, I’d say it was worth it. I really needed the coffee. I’ll suffer through a sales meeting if that’s the price.” She tucked the card in the pocket of her slacks and took another bite of her doughnut.

* * *