Connor recognized her as the one who’d worked on his head. She’d used a minimum of words while she checked him over. She’d been efficient and called out orders that sent everyone scurrying. She might be petite—not much over five feet—in her fifties or so, but everyone in the clinic took her seriously, and so did Connor.

She held out her hand to him. “Lela Thomas. I introduced myself earlier but you weren’t really in a position to know much of what was happening around you.”

They shook hands. “Connor Rye.”

She winked at him. “Let’s hope you’re less trouble than your brother.”

Her mix of confident and comforting worked for him. It also put him at ease in a place guaranteed to make him twitchy. “An hour ago I would have said yes.”

“Now?” she asked.

He shrugged and immediately regretted moving. “It’s an open question.”

Some of her amusement faded as she snapped into doc mode. “The good news is, no concussion, but you did get rattled. You have a few stitches, and I’d like you to come back in a few days. But for now, you should get some rest. I’d prefer for you not to be alone, so you can stay here—”

“No.” Connor thought about apologizing for the cracking whip of his voice but decided to pretend it didn’t happen because it wasn’t personal, and the doc had to know that.

She eyed him for a few seconds before talking again. “Okay. But I’d prefer if someone checked in on you periodically.”

That struck Connor as a problem. “I just got to Whitaker. I don’t actually know anyone here except Ben, and I met him a half hour ago.”

“I have some forensic work to do at your place tonight,” Ben said. “I’ll put you up at Berman’s Lodge, let the owner, Sylvia, spoil you, and I’ll check on you a few times.”

“That’s not necessary.” It was too much attention. Connor sucked at being coddled. Like, really sucked at it. People tried to help him and he had to bite back the urge to scream for space.

“It’s one night,” Ben said, clearly not impressed with Connor’s refusal. “Then you can come with me to the cabin tomorrow and let me know if anything is missing.”

“How will I know? I’ve been in town for about ten seconds.”

“Right.” Ben winced. “We’ll figure something out.”

The doc winked at Connor. “See? All problems solved.”

Maybe it was the island air. That was the only explanation Connor could come up with for why no one seemed that upset about an attacker whacking him in the head for no reason. “Uh-huh.”