Page 89 of Daddy’s Fortitude

“Well, yes.”

“And I haven’t got anybody else before her, have I?” he asked with a confused look.

“Well, no.”

“So why would she have to wait?” Dr. Melton asked.

“Sorry, I just thought you were doing notes.”

Doctor Melton looked at her curiously. “Right, of course. Thank you, Sally-Anne.”

“Actually, that wasn’t what she said to me at all,” Aimee said.

Sally-Anne turned to glare at her, but Aimee was done with letting these women push her around. Why should she remain quiet and just take whatever they dished out?

She was done trying to earn their acceptance, and she remembered now that it was always Charlie who had told her to keep her mouth shut, to just smile and go along with whatever they said, or to ignore them altogether. That they’d eventually accept her, and she’d have what she was always searching for.

A place to belong.

Now she had her suspicions about why Charlie had said those things to her. Had it been about helping her fit in, or had he been worried what they might say to her?

“What do you mean?” Dr. Melton said. “What did she say to you?”

“As soon as I walked in the door, she treated me horribly. Calling me names and telling me how I upset Kelly-Anne at my husband’s funeral. When Kelly-Anne was the one who got up at Charlie’s funeral and told everyone that she was his lover and carrying his child.”

“You called her a skank,” Sally-Anne exclaimed. “And you came in here provoking me.”

“Ahh, no, I didn’t. Did I, Ammo?”

It was a risk bringing him into the conversation, because she wasn’t certain what he would do, but she should have known he would be on her side. He’d been on her side through everything else, after all. Ammo just stared down his nose at Sally-Anne.

“You didn’t come in here provoking her, no.”

“That’s not true, Dr. Melton. Who are you going to believe? Me? Her?” Sally-Anne screeched. “She’s a liar. She lies about everything. Plus, she really did upset my cousin, who is pregnant, I might add.”

“I’d heard rumors that your sister got up during the funeral and claimed to be Charlie’s lover, and that the baby she is carrying is his. But I have to say, I didn’t believe it. And now this? You cannot bring your personal business into your job, into my medical clinic and speak that way to my patient.” Dr. Melton stared at Sally-Anne as though he’d never seen her before.

“They’re lying, Dr. Melton. I never said anything like that to her.” Once more, she turned to Aimee and glared at her.

Aimee’s stomach was a mess of nerves, but she was determined to stand her ground on this.

“You know there are cameras in here, don’t you, Sally-Anne?” Dr. Melton said tiredly.

“What? When did those get put in?” Sally-Anne’s face grew pale.

“After I had several complaints from other patients about the way you treated them.”

Sally-Anne’s mouth opened wide. It was clear that she’d had no clue about the cameras.

“I’m sorry, Sally-Anne, but I cannot have somebody who is rude to patients working for me. You’ll need to gather your things and leave.”

“You can’t just fire me!”

“I think you’ll find that I can. But you are welcome to talk to a lawyer. Now, leave.”

They all watched as Sally-Anne stomped her way over to the reception desk and grabbed her stuff before moving past Aimee. There was a lot of room and she should have been able to walk past her easily. Instead, she slammed her shoulder into Aimee’s and sent Aimee flying backward. She would have fallen onto the floor if Ammo hadn’t caught her.

“Bitch,” Sally-Anne told her as she strode past, but what she didn’t realize was that Ammo wasn’t one of the men in this town who was under her spell. Same with Dr. Melton.