Lily woke a little before five after only a few hours’ sleep, but those hours had been deep and restful, her dreams only vague shadows that left her mercifully unhaunted. She showered quickly in her little bathroom and pulled on a favorite pair of jeans that were too loose now, along with a long-sleeved, button-up cotton shirt. She smiled as she laced her running shoes, thinking about new boots. Maybe she needed to add new jeans to that list, if Chase had time and didn’t hate shopping. Lily wasn’t wild about shopping, and hadn’t been in so long her wardrobe—excluding her new camp clothes, of course—was probably hopelessly out of style. Chase didn’t give off born-to-shop vibes, but people could be surprising. She laughed aloud. She’d surprised herself just accepting the mad invitation to hide out here for the summer, and what did she do to disturb the peace and quiet she was after but practically jump the first attractive woman she met. Although, in her defense, Chase was a pretty extreme example of attractive, like a 10 on the Richter scale.
And she really needed to stop thinking about Chase every spare minute. She’d see her in a little over two hours, not that she was clock-watching or anything.
Determined to keep her mind off Chase, she headed downstairs in search of coffee.
“Good morning,” she called to Alisha, who sat curled up at one corner of the leather sofa in front of the fireplace in a gray hoodie and jeans, her boots on the floor in front of her and her sock-clad feet tucked up on the seat. A fire burned low in the hearth, embers glowing red and the lingering scent of pine in the air.
“Morning,” Alisha called back, looking and sounding wide-awake and energetic.
“Did you start the fire?” Lily asked, hoping it wasn’t something she’d need to do—maybe she should have asked if there was some kind of chore list she’d have to volunteer for. Not that she’d have any facility for much that would need doing around the lodge. Coffee making, yes. Log burning—no.
“Not me. Sarah most likely,” Alisha said. “I’m an early riser, but somehow she always beats me to it.”
“It’s nice,” Lily said, enjoying the heat and subtle, smoky scent of the burning wood.
“Mmm. Mornings are still pretty crisp around here, so we’ll probably have a morning fire until the end of the month.”
“I’ve never started a fire,” Lily said.
Alisha laughed. “I won’t tell anyone. If you ever need help with anything, come find me.”
“Thanks, I will. Okay for me to hit the kitchen?”
“Absolutely. Coffee is always on, and you’ll probably find some other kinds of treats. They start cooking around three.”
“Morning,” Lily called to Juan and Clara as she helped herself to coffee and the best-looking blueberry scones she’d ever seen. Sarah came in just as she was adding cream to her coffee.
“How did you sleep?” Sarah asked as she poured coffee.
“Wonderfully,” Lily said. “And you’re right, the mountain air definitely does something to the appetite. I’m starving.”
Sarah smiled, a distracted expression on her face.
“Problem?” Lily asked.
“What?” Sarah looked surprised and quickly shook her head. “No, no. At least as of right now everything is quiet.”
“Oh good. I know I have walk-in clinic hours at six. What about after that? I was going to go into town with Chase to—”
“Chase isn’t here,” Sarah said abruptly.
“Sorry?” Lily thought she’d misheard. She’d said good night to Chase barely six hours earlier.
“She left sometime in the middle of the night. Must’ve gotten a callout. No telling when she’ll be back.”
“Oh,” Lily said, a flare of disappointment coursing through her. “I guess that happens a lot.”
“The district is about nine hundred square miles,” Sarah said as if she was reading from a brochure, “and there are only three rangers to cover it. In an emergency, they’ll all get called out.” She grimaced. “Although knowing Chase, she picked up something on the radio from some local dispatcher and just went to lend a hand.” She shrugged. “Whatever it is, she’ll probably be out for a while.”
Lily’s stomach tightened. Even here, the emergencies managed to shatter her brief illusion of calm. “They must be spread pretty thin with so few people and such a huge area.”
Sarah gave her a long look. “They’re all trained for it, but yeah—could be anything from retrieval of an injured hiker to an unrestricted burn somewhere or a multijurisdictional operation to apprehend poachers.”
“I never had any idea the rangers got involved in things like that.”
Sarah shrugged. “They’re police officers. They just have a different kind of district than most.”
“I see,” Lily said quietly.
“Chase is—” Sarah blew out a breath. “Chase is happiest when she’s out there somewhere. She never was one to want to stay in one place, even home, for very long.”
“Then she has the perfect job,” Lily said quietly, watching Sarah, who was sending some kind of message here, but she wasn’t sure exactly why Sarah thought it was important for her to know that.
“She’s not likely to settle down, Lily.”
Lily couldn’t help but laugh just a little. “Sarah, if you’re worried that I have any intentions toward your sister, you don’t need to be.”
“I wasn’t thinking about your intentions,” Sarah said. “I was more thinking about Chase’s. She…enjoys women…briefly.”
“I see,” Lily said, tamping down on her irritation. Really, she didn’t need a lecture from Chase’s sister about who she should or shouldn’t date—even if she wasn’t planning to date anyone, and even if Sarah was her very good friend. But Sarah had practically raised Chase after their mother died, and that probably made her overly protective. Creating an issue over something that didn’t even exist was foolish. “If you’re worried about my tender feelings, you needn’t be. I’m not twenty, Sare.”
Sarah pursed her lips. “Right. I’m being an ass, aren’t I.”
Lily shook her head, fondness erasing her pique. That was her friend Sarah, always willing to call BS on herself if she deserved it. Maybe sometimes when she didn’t. “No, you’re just being a big sister and a good friend, and the two of them in this instance are probably giving you fits. You don’t have anything to worry about.”
“Not even after the moonlight midnight walk last night?” A bit of teasing had crept into Sarah’s tone.
But still.
“Not even after that,” Lily said, refusing the bait. She wasn’t about to talk about her personal time with Chase, or any other woman for that matter. Good friend or not. She glanced at her watch. “And since I’m on duty in half an hour, I’m going to go enjoy my coffee and this delicious-looking scone. Coming with?”
“I’ve got a few minutes before I need to make some phone calls. And I promise not to nag anymore.”
Lily looped an arm through Sarah’s. “Fair enough.”
If Sarah’s gentle warning was intended to prevent her from thinking about Chase, it hadn’t worked. As she sat with Alisha and Sarah, half listening to their casual chatter about camp business, she thought about Chase. About a hand guiding her down the trail in the dark, a kiss so tender she’d felt precious, and desire so strong she ached. Even knowing she was probably the farthest thing from Chase’s thoughts, she couldn’t stop wondering when she would see Chase again.
* * *
Lily unlocked the clinic front door a little before six and picked up an envelope just inside the door with her name on it. She opened it and pulled out the single sheet of folded paper as she turned on the lights in the treatment rooms.
Lil, she read, in Sarah’s neat block printing. Here’s a roster of campers by name, age, and cabin. Files in computer by folder dated this month have pertinent medical history as provided by parents. The campers may or may not know or be willing to tell you if they have any health-related issues. Parents did not flag any health concerns on prelim applications. Only Marty Riley, cabin 8, and Canto Kim in 2 take Rx meds—parents signed waiver allowing camper to bring and take their own meds.
Sorry I couldn’t go over this with you in person—usual first day snafus. Text me if you have probs – S.
The password to the computer is TLR!#mtn10
Lily scanned the list. Not a great start to her first day. She should have thought to ask for the campers’ medical profiles yesterday afternoon. Just because they were young did not mean they were illness free, mentally or physically, and she was responsible for their well-being. She hadn’t thought about primary care in forever, and not cutting herself any slack, she hadn’t really thought very hard about what this job might require. She’d fallen a little too comfortably for Sarah’s hard sell of no stress, no emergencies, and no unpredictable hours for three months. She’d needed so badly to get out of Manhattan, to get away from the ER and leave the pressure and self-recriminations behind, that she hadn’t prepared for her new job.
Had she really drifted so far from who she once was and everything she prided herself on? Only if she let that be true. With a long breath, she settled in the chair, typed in the password, and pulled up the folder with the health forms. She needed to see all the information for herself. Predictably, not all the campers had routine health histories.
Giovanna—Ford—Langford was allergic to bee stings. She should be carrying an EpiPen at all times. Lily, who’d never given up the habit of jotting notes to herself on paper, found a pen and made a list on the back of the roster. She’d track down Ford after clinic and ask her about that. Jeremy Ridgefield had a history of asthma, although he didn’t take any medications. Another note—did she have a nebulizer, albuterol, Decadron, and the other meds she might need for an acute attack? Who knew what lurked in the forest that might trigger an attack—mold, or moss—was moss a mold?—and likely all kinds of other pulmonary irritants. Canto Kim took Imuran for control of pediatric Crohn’s disease. No note on special diet for him, but she’d check with him. And Marty Riley, cabin eight, took Prozac.
A red flag flew up Lily’s mental flagpole and snapped in the breeze. She knew from the psych consultations she’d gotten for troubled kids in the ER that Prozac was generally prescribed for serious depression in teens. Damn it—the parents didn’t think that warranted a health alert on the application? She found no indication in the past medical history section of any in-hospital treatment, but these health forms were only as complete as what the families supplied. And many patients, or parents of patients, did not want to disclose mental health problems.
She scanned back up to the beginning of Marty’s application form—age seventeen years, seven months. Under gender—nonbinary. Pronouns: they/them/their. Connected to the depression? Certainly possible, but not a given. Lily squeezed the bridge of her nose. Double damn it. From the driver’s license photo, an average-looking kid, sandy brown hair cut in casual layers, dark brown eyes, height and weight average also.
She made her last note: get to know Marty Riley.
By six forty she’d made it through all the files and felt much more comfortable, having at least begun to think of the campers as her new patient practice. She’d never considered anything other than emergency medicine, family practice seeming too tame, too ordinary. Right now tame and ordinary was very appealing.
The door opened and a boy came in wearing a camp T-shirt, loose sweats, and high-top sneakers. She recognized his face but not his name from the files.
“Morning,” Lily said as she rose and came around the desk to greet him.
“Um, I came to see the doctor.”
“That would be me,” Lily said with a smile and held out her hand. “Lily Davenport. And you are…?”
He looked surprised and a little chagrined. “Uh. Manuel. Manuel Lopez.”
“So,” she said indicating the hallway behind her, “do you want to come on back here and tell me what’s going on?”
“Oh,” he said, shuffling his feet, “it’s kind of personal.”
“We’ll talk in private, how’s that?”
He hesitated for just a second, then said, “Yes, okay.”
Once in the treatment room, she gestured for him to climb up on the treatment table while she sat at the small shelf provided as a desk and opened her iPad to the medical records she’d downloaded from the clinic computer. “So what’s going on?”
He said, “Nothing really.”
“Okay. Did you just want to talk?”
He grimaced. “Um, yeah, so, I have…I think…a rash?”
He said it as if it was a question.
“How long have you had it?”
“Just since last night. But”—he grimaced—“it really itches, and I think it’s spreading!”
“Maybe I should take a look at it.”
He flushed, and then said, “Yeah, okay, it’s”—he gestured to his thigh—“down there.”
“Right. Were you out in the woods, maybe wearing shorts?”
He nodded. “Yes, gym shorts. Some of us new guys, we went with Jeremy—he’s been here before—on this shortcut to the lake. To, um, swim.”
Translation—a bunch of boys found some spot to go skinny-dipping, and Manuel either sat in, on, or otherwise tangled with some allergenic plant resin. “Let’s have a look.”
He jumped down and pushed his sweatpants down to his knees. A string of angry-looking red bumps trailed over his thigh and disappeared under the edge of the navy underwear. Lily did a very deep dive into her long-ago derm rotation. One did not see much contact dermatitis from foliage in Manhattan. Fleas, lice, bedbugs—yes. Leaves and stems? Not so much.
“How high do they go?” she asked, googling derm images.
He winced and indicated his groin.
“Right,” Lily said. “Looks like poison ivy. I bet it itches, doesn’t it.”
“All the time.”
“We’ve got something you can put on there to stop the itching and quiet down the inflammation, but it’s going to have to get better on its own. I think if you’re going to be in the…woods like that again, shorts are not a good idea.”
“I won’t again,” he said vigorously. “Thank you, thank you.”
She smiled. “Once you get dressed, wait for me out front and I’ll bring you the ointment with instructions. You can shower like normal. It’s not contagious.”
“What about swimming?”
“You can swim in the lake.” She managed not to smile.
“Thank you, Dr. Davenport.”
She smiled as he left. “That part went well.”
* * *
The rest of the morning was filled with the usual orientation-type discussions, with all the campers congregated in the great room while Sarah went over things like meal schedules, the daily roster of events and where to find them, quiet hours, and reminders that the counselors were available twenty-four seven, and if there was anything urgent, campers could always find her or Lily. Lily stood in the back, mostly watching the teens, who for the most part seemed to be paying attention, with a few notable exceptions. Ford Langford sat on one of the leather sofas with another girl, a redhead Lily remembered being named Shannon Kelly. The two of them spent the entire time heads close together, talking. Lily picked out Marty Riley sitting with several other campers on a bench off to one side of the room. She couldn’t tell if Marty was actually with the others but didn’t see them talking with anyone. Natalie came in toward the end of Sarah’s presentation and made her way over to Lily.
“Good morning,” Natalie said.
“Hi.”
“Getting settled?”
Lily smiled. “Most of the shock has worn off.”
Natalie chuckled. “That’s right. Sarah said you came up from New York City.”
“Yes.”
“Quite a change?” Natalie asked.
Lily laughed softly. “A little bit. But I have to say, I’m kind of excited and looking forward to the summer. It’s beautiful here.”
“It is.”
“Are you doing one of the sessions?” Lily asked as Sarah told the campers to take a break before meeting at the shore in swimsuits.
“And don’t forget to stop at the facilities building and get a PFD,” Sarah called as the campers crowded toward the door. “No vest—no kayaking.”
Natalie said, “I’m going to talk to them about general water safety. We have an entire series of talks on how to get along in the wilderness that we work in with the skills they’re learning. So it’s a little bit of education and hopefully a little bit of fun.”
“Yes,” Lily said, “I saw that kayaking drills were scheduled for today.”
“Ever do any kayaking?” Natalie said as they walked out onto the porch.
“No, I’m a sailor.”
“You’ll like it.”
“I will?” Natalie smiled and Lily appreciated how attractive she was. “Why am I going to enjoy it?”
“It’s probably a good idea that you’re able to handle a kayak, just in case for some reason you need to go out on the water. And if you’re going to be in one, you need to know what to do when you’re not in one anymore.”
“As in, being in the lake.”
“Uh-huh.”
Lily imagined the scenario and nodded. “Thanks for the heads-up, Natalie. That does sound like fun. I think I better go get into a suit.”
“Don’t forget your life vest. And it’s Nat.”
Natalie seemed to hold her gaze for just a second longer than ordinary, and Lily wondered… She mentally laughed. Obviously something in the mountain air stimulated more than an appetite for food. Not that she minded, entirely, but she wasn’t prone to thinking every new woman she met was flirting with her, either. Which of course brought Chase instantly to mind. That had gone quite a lot farther than flirting, and all on her initiative too. Not that she really had to worry. She wouldn’t be taking any moonlight walks with Chase or Natalie, so she could put the issue of flirting or kissing safely aside.
“I’ll get the life jacket,” Lily said. “See you soon.”
“Good,” Nat said.
Lily changed into a plain, two-piece black suit, grabbed a towel and a cover-up, thought about sandals, and opted for her running shoes. She’d be walking down that trail again. And…snakes. Which, of course, made her think of Chase all over again.