Dr. Vance, who had run the family practice for thirty years and still wore a faded tweed jacket under his white coat, leaned over the counter. He had a yellow legal pad in his hand, scribbled with weekend emergency calls.
“Rachel, did we get the shipment of flu vaccines from the county?” he asked.
“They are in the second refrigerator,” I said, not looking up from the scheduling screen. “I cleared out the old tetanus vials to make room. The delivery driver signed for them at seven.”
He stood there for a second, watching me click through the digital calendar.
“You look like you are carrying the weight of the whole county,” he said, his voice dropping so the patients in the first row of chairs wouldn’t hear. “Is everything alright at home?”
“We are doing fine, Dr. Vance,” I said, my finger automatically finding my bare ring finger to rub the dry skin. “Just the usual school expenses.”
“I have some extra administrative hours on Saturday if you want them,” he said. “We need someone to audit the Medicaid files before the state inspector comes. It is quiet work, just you and the folders.”
“I can do that,” I said immediately. “I can start at seven.”
“Do not overwork yourself,” he said. “But the hours are there if you need them.”
“Thank you,” I said.
I went back to the keyboard, my mind already calculating the hours. It would mean sixty-two dollars after taxes, enough to pay the gas company before they sent the second notice.
That evening, the gold-embossed invitation sat on the corner of the laminate counter in the dining room, catching the dim light of the stove. I had tried to tuck it behind the breadbox, but Ethan had moved it back to the center of the table before we sat down to our plates of macaroni.
He did not eat his food. Instead, he ran his index finger over the raised gold letters of his father’s name, tracing the sharp angles of the calligraphy.
“We should go to this,” Ethan said.
“It is a very formal event, Ethan,” I said, setting my fork down. “We do not have the right clothes for a country club, and your father will have many guests from his office. People who do things differently.”
