Bachelor Remedy

Flynn peered at her for a few seconds. “Is this computing? Those women you met the other night, at the Cozy Caribou? Most of them are related to Tag. He has relatives all over this town.”

Ally’s brain went into overdrive. This meant Iris’s sisters, Shay and Hannah, were also Tag’s sisters? Meaning she’d initiated a discussion with his sister Hannah about her arthritis that, had the conversation taken place, would have included mention of alternative treatments.

Yikes. Based on their initial encounters, Tag would not approve. Ally was almost relieved that Hannah hadn’t taken her up on her offer. Almost, because, she reminded herself, she didn’t care what he thought of her. At least today’s excursion would give her a chance to apologize before encountering him in a social setting.

A small smile played on Flynn’s lips. “You know, most women in this town wouldn’t consider it such a hardship to spend the afternoon with him.”

“Oh, yeah?”

“Yeah, he’s generally considered the one to catch around here.”

“The one to catch?” She repeated the statement flatly.

“Rankins’s most eligible bachelor.”

What did that mean? That he was some kind of player or that he wasn’t? “Huh. Well, I’m not most women, am I?”

Flynn barked out a laugh. “That you are not. I gotta get going. Promise me you’ll make nice with Tag James?”

“I promise I’ll...try.”

* * *

TAG WAS SURPRISED when he arrived at the hospital to find that the patient wasn’t ready for transport. His inclination was to seek out Dr. Ramsey, although he knew the task now fell under Ally Mowak’s job description.

With flashbacks of their last meeting flickering uncomfortably before him, he headed to Ally’s office only to find that she wasn’t in.

Tag gritted his teeth as he realized they’d never had that meeting with Dr. Ramsey. He’d headed back to the office that day and asked his assistant, Ivy, to schedule it. But that same evening Ivy had received word that her dad had died, and Tag had immediately given her as much time off as she needed to fly home to Nebraska to be with her mom, assuring her that all tasks would be taken care of in her absence.

Was it too much to hope for that someone other than Ally was assisting with the transport today? Dr. Ramsey or one of the other doctors sometimes accompanied patients, and he knew of at least two nurses who were trained to travel. He went to the nurses’ station on the first floor—they always seemed to know everything—and asked about Flynn and Ally.

“They’re both with patients,” Marlena, one of the nurses, told him a moment later after making a call. “But Nicki wants to know if you’re aware that you’re more than an hour early for your transport?”

“I thought the pickup was scheduled for one.”

“She was afraid of that. She says she called your office this morning to reschedule but got your machine.”

“Ah.” Tag nodded. That would explain it. He hadn’t gone into the office this morning. And probably none of his crew had bothered to check the messages. He couldn’t blame them; that wasn’t their job and he hadn’t asked them to. He made a mental note to give Ivy a raise immediately upon her return and headed to the cafeteria to grab a coffee.

On his way out, he ran into his friend Laurel Davidson, the owner of the town’s newspaper, the Rankins Press.

“Laurel, hey, what are you doing here? Chasing a story?”

“Possibly. I have a line on a human-interest piece. What are you up to?”

“Killing time because of a scheduling snafu. Ivy is gone, and my office is bordering on chaos.”

“Speaking of chaos, I am looking for the new hospital liaison, Ally Mowak. You know her, right?”

Tag set his features to bland. “Met her. Briefly.”

Laurel’s brows jumped high onto her forehead. “And...?”

His answer was a little frown and a shrug to match.

Clearly not fooled, not that she ever was, she said, “You can cool the closemouthed, cagey act. I know you flew her cousin in from Jasper Lake after the grizzly bear attack. Tell me what you know, what you think.”

“About what? I don’t know anything. It was pretty intense, Laurel. The patient was her cousin, and we didn’t spend much time chitchatting.” Why did he sound defensive? Tag wasn’t about to mention the controversy Ally had caused with the use of the clay, although he knew gossip had already flown around the hospital like a foot fungus in a dirty locker room. Heck, he’d heard it being discussed at the Cozy Caribou the day before.

Meaning Laurel already knew, which must have something to do with her being here. Her doubt-filled expression seemed to strengthen his deduction.

“Do you know her grandfather is Abraham Mowak?” Laurel asked.

“No...” Doctor Abe Mowak, the well-known, well-connected Native healer and advocate had a reputation for being...unconventional. How had he not made that connection?

“Yeah, we’ve got the granddaughter of one of Alaska’s most renowned Native healers working right here in Rankins. I met her earlier this week before I realized who she was, and even then, I thought she was...intriguing. From what I’ve learned, she’s been working by his side since she was a very young girl. And she’s an Army veteran.”

“Huh. Well, Laurel, it sounds like you already know more than I do.”

“Big surprise,” she teased. “I also stopped by to see Ginger.”

“Ginger is here?” Ginger Weil was a mutual friend. In addition to being a professional photographer, shooting weddings, parties and portraits, she also took photos for the region’s newspaper. She’d been diagnosed with ovarian cancer nearly a year ago, and it hadn’t responded well to treatment.

“Yeah, they admitted her last night with an infection.”

Tag felt his gut tighten with concern. “Is she staying?”

“I don’t know.” Laurel shook her head. “She doesn’t want to. Poor thing. She wants to stop treatment and her family is not taking it well.”

“Yeah, I talked to Jacob last week. He’s not dealing with the whole thing in general. I think I’ll head up there and say hi.”

“She would love that. And so would Jacob. You should try talking to him. He likes you. Maybe he’ll listen. I’ll see you tomorrow at Iris’s party, right?”

“Yep, her flight gets into Anchorage this afternoon. I’m picking her up after I drop off a patient.”

* * *

ALLY HAD RETURNED from her lunch break to discover a request to visit a patient ASAP. She’d headed to the fourth floor to find a smiling nurse standing outside the patient’s door, seemingly waiting for her arrival.

“Hi, I’m Nicki. You must be Ally. It’s great to meet you finally.” With a wave, Nicki moved to the end of the hall. Ally followed. “Ginger has ovarian cancer. She’s done two rounds of chemo. They didn’t work. Now she says she’s through. Doesn’t want to talk options anymore. Family is distraught. Dr. Ramsey thought a conversation with you might, um, encourage them to accept her decision. Ginger agreed.” Nicki handed her a chart.

“Of course.” Ally skimmed the details and headed into the room.

“Ah, Ally.” Flynn smiled and waved her over. “Thanks for coming. I’d like you to meet Ginger Weil. Ginger, this is Ally Mowak, our hospital liaison. Ginger is a photographer, the most talented one I’ve ever met.”

“Pfft.” Ginger flapped a hand in his direction, but she was grinning. “Charmer. How many photographers have you met?”

Ally sent her a warm smile. “Hi, Ginger.”