“She’s fine. Mom got some ginger ale and crackers down her earlier, and right now, she and Dad are watching cartoons.”
“Okay, thanks. Give Colleen a hug from me, and I’ll swing by to pick her up after work.”
There was a slight pause before Erin asked, “Is everything okay? Your voice sounds funny.”
“No, no, everything’s fine. I’m just… Well, I don’t know what you hear. I’m fine.” Tara rolled her eyes at her babbling.
“Okay, Sis, give it up. You know you can’t get anything past me,” Erin demanded.
“The detective came by again this morning and he asked me to lunch—”
Erin emitted a squeal, and Tara could not remember the last time her sister sounded so excited. “It’s not a date. It’s just lunch.”
“I don’t care what you call it,” Erin said. “I’m just excited that you’re going out for lunch instead of eating in your office or on the run. And the fact that it’s with a man you described as handsome, well, that’s all the better. You can even impress him with your McBride police pedigree.”
“Oh, no. I don’t want this getting back to Sean or Kyle. Detective Fiske is just asking me… Tara Wilson, not a McBride a few more questions about the homeless shelter and some of our residents. And for God’s sake, don’t say anything to Mom. I may be thirty, but you know how she is, she’s been wanting me to date, and I don’t want her to get the wrong idea about this. Like I said, it’s just a business lunch.”
Erin laughed, another sound that Tara had not heard much of since her sister got out of the Army.
Disconnecting, she looked up as someone knocked on her door frame. Seeing Polly from the clinic, she smiled. “Hey, Polly. How are you?”
Polly sniffed as she smiled in return, wiping her nose. “I don’t want to get too close because I think I’m coming down with a cold. I came over to help with the lunch distribution, so I thought I’d pop in and say hello.”
“I doubt there’s any germs you can give me that I haven’t already been exposed to with Colleen. In fact, she’s with my mom today because she woke up with a fever.”
Polly’s brow furrowed and she asked, “Do you think it’s an ear infection? Or sinus infection?”
Shrugging, she shook her head. “I have no idea. Her nose was running just a little, but it may be an ear infection. I’m so lucky she’s rarely been sick, but she came in the other day and said her best friend at school was sick.”
Polly reached into her pocket and pulled out a pill bottle, giving it a shake so the pills rattled. “Listen, I know that it’s hard to get a doctor’s appointment at the pediatrician’s office. I’ve got some antibiotics here if you want to take them.” She looked at the bottle and then reached back in her pocket, pulling out a different bottle. “Oh, here, this is the one. This is for children.”
“Are you a walking pharmacy?” Tara asked, her eyes wide as she looked at Polly’s bulging pockets.
“Good grief, honey, we get so many samples from the pharmaceutical reps that come in. Dr. Tiller gives them out all the time. I had grabbed a bottle for me this morning, and then realized I had the children’s antibiotic. Because I’d already opened it up, I just stuck it back in my pocket when I grabbed the adult dosage.” She blew her nose, then added, “Honestly, Tara. We get this all the time. Please, take it and use it for Colleen. It’ll save you a trip to the doctor.”
Shaking her head, Tara declined. “Thanks, Polly, but I don’t really want to give Colleen any medication unless I know what’s going on with her. It looks like her fever is already down, so I may not even have to take her to the doctor.”
“Well, I hope she feels better. I’m going to head out to the back and see if they need any help.”
Polly waved and walked back down the hall, leaving Tara staring after her. A niggle of doubt about Polly’s motives moved through her, but with a shake of her head, she dismissed it. Polly was one of the most helpful, caring nurses and had certainly been a friend over the last several years. In fact, Polly used her lunch break on the days when they offered bag lunches to help with the distribution. It also gave her a chance to invite some of the homeless to the free clinic if she noticed that they appeared sick.
Looking at the clock, she had over an hour before she needed to meet at the deli. She rarely helped with the bag lunch distribution since it did not fall under her responsibility but occasionally liked to see how things were going. But with her desk still filled with files and forms, she heaved a sigh and turned her attention back to her work. I’ll check on them before I head out to the deli.
Thirty minutes later, she buttoned her coat and grabbed her purse before walking down the hall. It appeared that most of the people who had been in line for the lunches had already left, and the volunteers had things well in hand. Polly was standing in the corner with several men, their new coats wrapped around them and their lunch bags in their hands. She recognized a few as regulars and hoped that if they were ill, they would meet with Polly inside the clinic.
Turning, she hurried out onto the sidewalk, her stomach doing cartwheels as she thought about her upcoming non-date lunch.
Back at his desk, Carter researched pharmaceutical companies and how their representatives worked while talking to Rachel on the
