6. Love It Here

6

LOVE IT HERE

" A re you sure you're fine with me leaving today?" Jack asked on Monday morning.

"Yes," Andi said. "I'm fine. My headache comes and goes, but they said that is normal. I'm not dizzy or lightheaded. I'm not nauseous. They said that though I was unconscious it was a mild concussion."

"Mild or not, I don't care. I still think I should stay."

"I'm going to call and schedule a check-up with my primary today. I'm going to see if I can get in to see the dentist too. Amanda canceled my appointments for today. I'm going to do that for all of tomorrow and Wednesday too."

"All week," Jack said. "Or I'm staying."

"I didn't have anything scheduled for Thursday." It's not like she had packed days today or tomorrow either. She was still building a client base here. It made it easier when something like this happened.

"Friday will be a full week. Cut me some slack. I'm not stupid."

"I know you're not," Jack said. "I'm worried."

"There is no reason to be. And if you stay I'm going to give you a concussion."

He laughed. "That is more like it."

"I'm good. Ireallyam. I'll watch where I'm going more. I'm going to rest and be bored out of my mind, but I really won't work. I'll catch up on some stupid mindless TV and nap because I read that is good for the body too."

It was all she did this weekend. When her eyes weren't bothering her from looking at the computer.

She researched what she could and how to heal.

She wasn't going to be stupid and put herself in a bad position. And she wanted Jack to know that.

He knew that she'd follow orders. She always did.

"Don't get pissed, but I'm going to look into transferring to Boston."

Her shoulders slumped. She knew it wasn't something that could or would happen right away. Part of the reason he hadn't done it yet was because she wasn't sure how long she'd stay here.

They agreed to give it a chance. One year. If things weren't working, she could leave.

Just like they had the agreement in Tulsa, but Jack seemed to forget that until she reminded him when she wanted to go.

He couldn't keep picking up and moving all the time either.

"We said a year," she said. "It's been four months."

"You're not going anywhere," Jack said. "I can see it. You love it here."

"What gave it away?"

"You're not jumpy. You're not scared. You talk about the place you've been in for four months as fondly as you do about your father and Denver where you lived almost thirty years. I see it. I know."

"I do feel that way here," she said. "I don't know why. When I'm walking on the paths or the beaches, I just think of my father. You know how much he loved nature."

"I remember," Jack said. "I don't like the picture of your father on display."

It's not like she had time to hide them. She had no time to plan for anything. But it was in her room on the shelf.

"Sorry," she said. "He's not in uniform and I was a teen."

"With blonde hair," Jack said.

"I've got my hair in a ponytail and a baseball hat on in that picture. You can't tell what color my hair is there. You're just trying to make excuses for me to take it down. It's not hurting anyone. It's not like I've got it on my phone."

Which she wanted to do and was told no. That someone could get her phone and see the pictures.

The only person who'd been in her bedroom since she'd lived here was Jack.

As annoyed as she was that he flew here so fast, she supposed she needed someone to keep an eye on her for a few days.

She would have been fine on her own, but she had to admit waking up on Saturday she felt better knowing he was in the house.

By this morning though, she was ready for him to go.

"And you better not. I don't even like that picture of you and the cat on your phone."

"If my picture wasn't on it, then Jarrett might not have known it was my phone."

"He would have known and you know it. I'm not sure why you've got the picture of the cat though."

"I miss Pillow." It was her father's cat. She ended up with Pillow when her father died, but the cat was old and heartbroken and passed away shortly after.

"That feline always made me sneeze when I walked into the house," Jack said.

"And it made Dad laugh. But I know you're allergic. I also know it's harder to move with pets so that is why I don't have one."

She wouldn't admit that she was thinking of getting something though.

Maybe a dog. There was a vet on the island so that wouldn't be an issue.

Working herownhours and being close to the salon, she could run home on breaks and let the dog out.

Just the thought of it was comforting. That she could put some roots down.

"But I know you're thinking of staying," Jack said.

"Fine," she said. "I love it here. I don't want to be forced out and don't want to move. The island living doesn't bother me. I barely leave the island. I order anything I can't find here and if it takes a few days longer, then it does. I've always lived a fairly simple life."

Andi loved being outdoors and surrounded by nature. She could sit on her deck and had daily since she moved here.

"You have. You don't draw a lot of attention to yourself and that helps," Jack said.

She looked at her watch. "You're going to miss the ferry and then you'll be late for your flight. You don't want that."

"I've got time," Jack said.

"No, you don't. If you miss the ferry another won't run for two hours this time of year."

He frowned. "I don't like that. You're almost trapped here."

"There are three ferries on the island. One to go to Boston. Two at the south end that go to Plymouth or Cape Cod.There are helicopters flyingon and off all day long too. No one is trapped and you know it. Stop looking to start a fight with me. It will only tire me out and give me a headache."

"You know how to pile the guilt on," Jack said. "Come give me a hug."

She moved closer and hugged the man who was like an uncle to her. Cousin was probably better. Not an older brother. Anddefinitelynot anything romantic even though at just nine years older than her no one would think anything of it.

"Text me when you get home."

"Stay home today," Jack said.

"Not if I can get in to have my tooth looked at. ButotherwiseI won't leave. I look and feel like I came out on the losing end of a fight."

The bruising around her eye almost made her scream this morning when she looked in the mirror.

She was wearing her auburn hair down and in front of her face to cover it as best as she could. Good thing she'd dyed it a few days ago so she didn't have to worry about her roots coming in while the cut healed on her head.

She'd bet hair dye wouldn't feel that great there.

"The landscape did you in," Jack said, moving back. "Try not to trip again."

"I'll be careful. I'm glad this is one story. No stairs." Not even to do laundry, as they had a stackable washer and drier off of the kitchen.

"Call me if you need anything. Do you hear me?"

"I do. And I've got the cards for the chief of police and the state police too. They could get to me faster."

Jack frowned when she said that, but she didn't care.

"I need to know if you call them, do you hear me?"

"Yes," she said, giving him a push toward the door. "Go."

She watched him leave and stood in the doorway while he got in his rental car and drove away.

The first thing she did was call her doctor's officeandexplain what happened and asked if they needed to see her. They'd said they'd wait for Dr. Mills's report and let her know, but if she wasn't having any issues then most likely not.

Good enough for her.

Secondcall was to Coy Bond hoping to get in and get her two broken teeth fixed.

"Hi," she said when they answered at the Bond Dental. "I had an accident this weekend and broke two of my teeth. I was wondering if I could be seen to have them looked at?"

"Are you a patient here?" the woman asked.

"I'm not. I've only lived on the island for a few months. I work with Amanda Bond, and she told me to call and say that."

She wasn't lying and hated to add that part, but Amanda told her if she couldn't get in that way, then Drew would call his brother.

The woman on the other line laughed. "Coy said that you might be calling. Andi, right?"

Guess Coy got aheads up. "Yes. Andi, Andrea Benson."

"I've got an appointment at two today if you can make it. It's just a consult."

"I can," she said. "Thanks."

She hung up and moved to the couch to sit down and watch TV. It was only nine thirty. Plenty of time to rest her eyes.

She found a talk show and lay back to relax.

The next thing she knew, she was opening her eyes and noticed it was one.

Jumping up fast was stupid to do because she got a head rush and sat back down.

She had almost an hour before she had to leave and it was less than ten minutes away.

When she stood up the second time, she was steadier on her feet and made her way to the kitchen for a drink and some food.

Since she was still sticking to soft foods, she grabbed some yogurt. She was getting low on it and would need to go to the store in a day or so.

The minute her yogurt was done, she went to the bathroom and put as much foundation andcover upon her face as she could. There was still a dark shadow around her eye, but there was not much she could do. Sunglasses would help too, but she wasn't going to be someone to walk into a building with them on either. That would draw more attention to her than the shiner.

Once she was set, she left and figured she'd get there early and have paperwork to fill out anyway. It's not like she had dental insurance. She paid for medical insurance out of pocket too. Good thing, after her ER visit. She didn't even want to think of what that bill would be.

She had plenty of money in the bank, but she was young and it cost a lot to live here. Her goal was to just make enough to live and the rest was her savings for the rest of her life. But then things like this happened.

Between her inheritance, her father's life insuranceandthe sale of his house, she was sitting pretty and had to remind herself of that too.

There were a lot of cars in the parking lot, but the building had more than one business in it.

She got out of her small SUV and walked to the front door.

"Hi, you must be Andrea," the woman at the desk said.

"Did the makeup over the black eye give it away?" she asked.

"No," the woman said. "But I know all the patients and haven't met you yet."

Duh, she thought to herself.

"Guess I'm not thinking clearly from getting my bell rung," she said.

"Come on over and we'll get you set up. We've got some forms for you to fill out."

Which she hated doing, but most of it was the truth. Just a different name and social security number. She kept her birthday to make life easier for her.

Andi filled everything out the best she could. She hadn't been to a dentist in years and had to lie about it even more since it's not like her dental records could be accessed. Luckily her medical ones were all transferred over into her new identity. Once the hospital knew who she was and could access it, they had what they needed on her. Maybe if she went for a walk with her pocketbook, she would have had her ID on her.

No, it was just a walk and her phone should have been good enough. And it was.

"Here you go," she said. "Been so long since I've been to the dentist. I've kind of moved around a lot and have really good teeth."

"Don't worry about it," the woman said. "Have a seat and Dr. Bond will be with you shortly."

She sat back down and looked at the TV in the waiting room. There were three other patients there and she could see they wanted to stare at her bruised face but were trying not to.

"Andrea Benson?"

"That's me," she said, standing up slowly this time so she didn't get dizzy. It worked. Her body was still sore, though it was getting better.

She followed the woman through the door and down the hall, then took a seat in the chair.

"Dr. Bond will be in soon."

She hated sitting back like this and feeling helpless, but not much she could do about it.

"Hello, I'm Dr. Bond."

"Hi," she said. "You look like your brother Drew."

"I hear that a lot. You can call me Coy since you work with Amanda."

"Thanks for seeing me so quickly," she said.

"Not a problem. Drew texted yesterday and said you'd be calling at some point. Sorry about what happened."

"Could have been worse. Guess I got lucky and one of your other cousins witnessed my fall."

"Jarrett," Coy said. "The news traveled fast."

She wondered what else was said. Probably not much. She only told Amanda the basics. Not even that Jack was in town. It wasn't until Amanda worried that she shouldn't be alone and offered to come over that she said her cousin came to stay with her.

She didn't give his name or where he was from.

"And now I'm here," she said.

"Lie back and open up if you can. Just as wide as you can," Coy said. She did as he said. No reason to say which two teeth were broken; he could see it himself. She realized they weren't as bad as she feared. "I'm going to take imaging. I know you don't have insurance. Your choices are a full scan, which is easier and faster than X-rays but more costly. Or full X-rays which will take a bit more time with the placements of the films all around your mouth."

Money wasn't an issue, but she didn't want to say that.

And the truth was, it might be smart to have her whole jaw looked over just in case.

"Might as well do the full scan"

"That would have been my suggestion. As long as everything comes back as I expect, you have two choices. I can pull the teeth and then put implants in. That's the most expensive option and invasive. I wouldn't suggest that unless we have no choice. The other option is the bottom tooth looks to only be slightly chipped. I could file that down as long as there are no cracks and put composite resin over it as if it was a filling to prevent cracking."

"That sounds like a good option."

"The top tooth is broken more and most likely will need a crown. Both of those things can be done in the office in one appointment."

"Even better," she said. "No downtime?"

"No," he said. "Just the Novocain wearing off."

She had the scan and then came back and sat in the chair and waited ten minutes for Coy to return.

"What's the verdict?" she asked.

"Good news. We can do what I had hoped. Just put the resin over your bottom tooth and a crown on the top."

"I needed to hear some good news," she said. "How soon and what are my restrictions before then? I've been eating soft foods. I'm getting hungry."

He laughed. "I can probably get you in next week. As for food, eat within reason but chew on the other side if you want. I'd hate for you to chip another piece off even though everything looks stable."

"I can do that," she said. "Thanks again for seeing me so quickly."

"Not a problem. Nice to meet you."

"You too," she said, leaving. He seemed nice enough. Attractive too.

Andi wasn't sure why she was looking so much at men and thinking those things lately. Maybe it was the fact she hadn't been on one date in almost two years and was missing it more than she could have imagined.