They walked up the steps, and Mathew sucked in a deep breath. What if April answered the door? What if she was home safe? Hope swelled within him, and he knocked. No one answered. He knocked again with more conviction. They waited, but no one came. Mathew used his cell and called Kiko, but it sent him to voicemail. Now he felt like an ass for trying to interrupt her family emergency. Verity wasn't in any danger here, but her family and her life were back there.
Sighing and turning around, he sat on the cement steps. Verity mirrored him.
"You miss her, huh?" She placed at hand on his back and rubbed with a soothing motion.
He ran a hand through his hair and said, "You know, I told her to go get a life, and I guess—I hope—she did. But I haven't heard from her or seen her in weeks. Maybe she figured out what I did and hates me for it? I don't know. If she hates me forever, so be it. I just need to know she's safe. A letter, a text message, anything, just to tell me she's okay. But it's been radio silence on her end, almost like she just vanished."
"I'm sorry." Verity held his hand, and he was thankful. After his mom had abandoned them for California, and his dad moved into assisted living after a grievous injury during a drunken spat in a bar, April was all the family he had left. It tore him apart to have her missing.
"I know what that feels like," she said.
"How so?"
"I was eighteen years old when Mom set me up with Bernard—the barn incident I told you about. She passed a few days after, and Barnard left without proposing. When Dad got sick, he scoured the area for acceptable suitors for Johnny. He set up an arranged marriage for him, but it didn't work out either. Dad demanded I agree to a contract as well. I refused. I ran away from home. After that thing I told you about with Jaime Perez, I went back home like a wounded puppy to face my fate. Dad had already died, and I missed the funeral. Johnny and Graham are all I have left."
"That must've been hard, missing the funeral."
"Yeah, but not as hard as being a prisoner in my own home."
Mathew's empty hand balled into a fist. His primal protective urges fought his calm exterior. "Did your brothers hurt you, too?" He wouldn't return her to a family who didn't treat her with the respect and dignity she deserved, cataclysmic event be damned. He'd take the risk. For her.
She chuckled. "No. They're good to me. They forced me to stay home for my own safety. I was hiding from Jaime."
"That was why you darted away when someone came to the door."
"Every time."
"Why didn't Johnny have him arrested?"
"If you have a disagreement, money or dual is the only resolution with a crooked sheriff and missing mayor. Sometimes a bride,"—Verity snorted—"But obviously that's not an option, and Johnny refuses the extortion payment. I didn't want my brother to lose a duel, because then I would be at Jaime's mercy again. He doesn't know mercy." She shuddered.
That was enough of that story. Mathew stood and brought her to her feet, intent on bringing her somewhere safe. "Let's go home. Do you want to watch Back to the Future Part Two?"
Her eyes lit with excitement. "There's more to the story?"
"Three parts."
"Yes please. And more popcorn."
He hadn't realized things were so life-and-death back then. History books failed to deliver the right feel. Mathew was not capable of winning a duel, whether guns or fists. He hadn't been in a fight since he was a teen. He only needed money to pay Jaime off, and she'd be safe for good. Once again, his financial mess mucked up the rest of his life.
Chapter Twelve
VERITY HUNG UP THE phone at the clinic and typed notes in the patient's chart using her index finger to hunt down each letter. Mr. Sylvester P. Hippopotamus—she asked for spelling confirmation twice—was being treated at another clinic for a second opinion about his fatigue. The poor cat was twenty pounds, and despite what Dr. McCall had recommended, the client believed her cat was just depressed. Verity didn't understand most of that, but she transcribed the dictation as was told to her. That was the second client today that decided a hiatus was in their best interest.
Becca hung up her phone, and Verity asked, "Do clients switch doctors regularly?"
"Not really. Most clients become loyal after a few visits. If you run a special, then a bunch of new customers show up for the deal and then leave for the next one. Occasionally a new customer sticks around. Why?"
"I just had two clients call to say they were seeking a new clinic and want records forwarded."
"Hmmm. That is odd. Everyone loves Dr. McCall."
Verity understood why. He was kind and generous, smart and sexy too. She caught a few eighty-year-old Pomeranian owners giving him the sparkle eye.
Becca smiled. "You know, sometimes I see him giving you that look."
"What look?" Verity's chest bloomed with affection.
"That same look you have right now," Becca said. "A lovey dovey dopey grin. I can see it in both of you. What's keeping you two apart, anyway? Dr. McCall's been lonely for so long. This last week, though, he's been light on his toes and lit up like the fourth of July."
"What do you mean?" Verity was jumping in her skin knowing there was a chance he liked her. She noticed that he smiled frequently around her, but she didn't have any comparison.
"Just look at him. It's obvious, and it's great to see him happy. The man deserves it after everything he's been through."
Verity gazed at Mathew's closed office door as if she could see through it, wondering if he was thinking of her at that moment. Earlier, when Verity went into his office to inform him the next client had arrived, Verity noticed a pile of mail on his desk, and when Mathew took lunch by himself, he seemed to be stressed. She didn't think his sister being missing was the entirety of his problems. Verity hoped he wasn't fretting over trying to get her home. She didn't want to go. She worked hard with Becca each day to learn all she could to convince Mathew to let her stay.
"He seems to be suffering some hardships right now," Verity said.
Becca's eyes glistened under the blinding artificial lights. Had she said something wrong?
"Yep." Her voice was thick as if fighting tears. Becca snorted and Verity noticed the woman was on the verge of sobbing.
"Are you all right?" she asked gently.
"Sure." Becca sniffed. "Why?"
"Pardon me for my frankness, but you appear to need a hug." Verity opened her arms, and tears sprung to the woman's eyes as she eagerly fell into Verity's embrace. She rubbed her palm across the woman's back in comfort. "It's all right. I've got you. Everything will be all right."
After a few minutes, Becca's shaking shoulders calmed down, and Verity held out the tissue box. Becca snapped a few out of the box and snorted her sinuses clear. "Wow, I needed that. Thank you. Dr. McCall needs me here, no matter how much he insists I take time off, especially since his sister disappeared. I couldn't leave him with no staff. And I need to be here to keep my mind off..." Becca trailed off with her voice on the verge of breaking.