In Sullivan’s Crossing, #1 New York Times bestselling author Robyn Carr has created a place where good people, powerful emotions, great humor and a healthy dose of common sense are the key ingredients to a happy life. Sullivan’s Crossing brings out the best in people. It’s a place you’ll want to visit again and again.

Dr. Leigh Culver loves practicing medicine in Timberlake, Colorado. It is a much-needed change of pace from her stressful life in Chicago. The only drawback is she misses her aunt Helen, the woman who raised her. But it’s time that Leigh has her independence, and she hopes the beauty of the Colorado wilderness will entice her aunt to visit often.

Helen Culver is an independent woman who lovingly raised her sister’s orphaned child. Now, with Leigh grown, it’s time for her to live life for herself. The retired teacher has become a successful mystery writer who loves to travel and intends to never experience winter again.

When Helen visits Leigh, she is surprised to find her niece still needs her, especially when it comes to sorting out her love life. But the biggest surprise comes when Leigh takes Helen out to Sullivan’s Crossing and Helen finds herself falling for the place and one special person. Helen and Leigh will each have to decide if they can open themselves up to love neither expected to find and seize the opportunity to live their best lives.

ROBYN CARR is an award-winning, #1 New York Times bestselling author of more than sixty novels, including the critically acclaimed Virgin River, Thunder Point and Sullivan’s Crossing series, as well as highly praised women’s fiction like Four Friends and The Summer That Made Us. Robyn and her husband live in Las Vegas, Nevada.

www.RobynCarr.com

Also By Robyn Carr

Sullivan’s Crossing

THE FAMILY GATHERING

ANY DAY NOW

WHAT WE FIND

Thunder Point

WILDEST DREAMS

A NEW HOPE

ONE WISH

THE HOMECOMING

THE PROMISE

THE CHANCE

THE HERO

THE NEWCOMER

THE WANDERER

Virgin River

MY KIND OF CHRISTMAS

SUNRISE POINT

REDWOOD BEND

HIDDEN SUMMIT

BRING ME HOME FOR CHRISTMAS

HARVEST MOON

WILD MAN CREEK

promise canyon

MOONLIGHT ROAD

ANGEL’S PEAK

FORBIDDEN FALLS

PARADISE VALLEY

TEMPTATION RIDGE

SECOND CHANCE PASS

A VIRGIN RIVER CHRISTMAS

WHISPERING ROCK

SHELTER MOUNTAIN

VIRGIN RIVER

Grace Valley

DEEP IN THE VALLEY

JUST OVER THE MOUNTAIN

DOWN BY THE RIVER

Novels

THE SUMMER THAT MADE US

THE LIFE SHE WANTS

FOUR FRIENDS

A SUMMER IN SONOMA

NEVER TOO LATE

SWEPT AWAY (formerly titled RUNAWAY MISTRESS)

BLUE SKIES

THE WEDDING PARTY

THE HOUSE ON OLIVE STREET

Discover more at millsandboon.co.uk

The Best of Us

Robyn Carr

www.millsandboon.co.uk

ISBN: 978-1-474-08858-9

THE BEST OF US

© 2019 Robyn Carr

Published in Great Britain 2019

by Mills & Boon, an imprint of HarperCollinsPublishers 1 London Bridge Street, London, SE1 9GF

All rights reserved including the right of reproduction in whole or in part in any form. This edition is published by arrangement with Harlequin Books S.A.

This is a work of fiction. Names, characters, places, locations and incidents are purely fictional and bear no relationship to any real life individuals, living or dead, or to any actual places, business establishments, locations, events or incidents. Any resemblance is entirely coincidental.

By payment of the required fees, you are granted the non-exclusive, non-transferable right and licence to download and install this e-book on your personal computer, tablet computer, smart phone or other electronic reading device only (each a “Licensed Device”) and to access, display and read the text of this e-book on-screen on your Licensed Device. Except to the extent any of these acts shall be permitted pursuant to any mandatory provision of applicable law but no further, no part of this e-book or its text or images may be reproduced, transmitted, distributed, translated, converted or adapted for use on another file format, communicated to the public, downloaded, decompiled, reverse engineered, or stored in or introduced into any information storage and retrieval system, in any form or by any means, whether electronic or mechanical, now known or hereinafter invented, without the express written permission of publisher.

® and ™ are trademarks owned and used by the trademark owner and/or its licensee. Trademarks marked with ® are registered with the United Kingdom Patent Office and/or the Office for Harmonisation in the Internal Market and in other countries.

www.millsandboon.co.uk

Praise for Robyn Carr and Sullivan’s Crossing

“A beautifully crafted plot with multiple story lines, relatable characters, and a setting that makes readers want to head for the Rockies.”

—Library Journal on The Family Gathering

“A moving tale about the power of love, familial bonds and finding a safe and loving place to call home.”

—The National Examiner on The Family Gathering

“Carr addresses serious problems realistically and sympathetically while seamlessly weaving them into the fabric of her engrossing story. Characters from the first installment pop in and out like old friends.”

—Booklist, starred review, on Any Day Now

“Insightfully realized central figures, a strong supporting cast, family issues, and uncommon emotional complexity make this uplifting story a heart-grabber…. A rewarding (happy) story that will appeal across the board and might require a hankie or two.”

—Library Journal, starred review, on What We Find

“Robyn Carr has done it again.... What We Find is complex, inspirational, and well-written. A romance that truly inspires readers as life hits them the hardest.”

—San Francisco Review Journal

“Carr sets the bar for contemporary romance. haracters, and an inviting setting make Carr’s latest an enhancement...to any fiction collection.”

—Booklist, starred review, on What We Find

To Sarah Burningham,

my friend and PR guru, with deep affection and gratitude.

Contents

Cover

Back Cover Text

About the Author

Booklist

Title Page

Copyright

Praise for Robyn Carr and Sullivan’s Crossing

Dedication

Part 1

Chapter 1

Part 2

Chapter 2

Part 3

Chapter 3

Part 4

Chapter 4

Part 5

Chapter 5

Part 6

Chapter 6

Part 7

Chapter 7

Part 8

Chapter 8

Part 9

Chapter 9

Part 10

Chapter 10

Part 11

Chapter 11

Part 12

Chapter 12

Part 13

Chapter 13

Part 14

Chapter 14

Part 15

Chapter 15

Part 16

Chapter 16

Part 17

Chapter 17

Part 18

Epilogue

About the Publisher

Happiness is the only good. The time to be happy is now. The place to be happy is here. The way

to be happy is to make others so.

—Robert Green Ingersoll

1

ON THE FIRST really warm, dry day in early March, Dr. Leigh Culver left her clinic at lunchtime and drove out to Sullivan’s Crossing. As she walked into the store at the campground, the owner, Sully, peeked around the corner from the kitchen. “Hi,” Leigh said. “Have you had lunch yet?”

“Just about to,” Sully replied.

“Let me take you to lunch,” she said. “What’s your pleasure?”

“My usual—turkey on whole wheat. In fact, I just made it.”

“Aw, I’d like to treat you.”

“Appreciate the sentiment, Doc, but it’s my store. I can’t let you buy me a sandwich that’s already bought and paid for. In fact, I’ll make another one real quick if that sounds good to you.” He started pulling out his supplies. “What are you doing out here, in the middle of the day?”

“I wanted to sit outside for a little while,” she said. “It’s gorgeous. There are no sidewalk cafés in town and I don’t have any patio furniture yet. Can we sit on the porch?”

“I hosed it down this morning,” he said. “It’s probably dried off by now. Got a little spring fever, do you?”

“It seemed like a long winter, didn’t it? And I haven’t seen this place in spring. People around here talk about spring a lot.”

Sully handed her a plate and picked up his own. “Grab yourself a drink, girl. Yeah, this place livens up in spring. The wildflowers come out and the wildlife shows off their young’uns. Winter was probably long for you because everyone had the flu.”

“Including me,” she said. “I’m looking forward to the spring babies. I got here last summer in plenty of time for the fall foliage and rutting season. There was a lot of noise.” She took a bite of her sandwich. “Yum, this is outstanding, thank you.”

“Hmph. Outstanding would be a hamburger,” he groused. “I’m almost up to burger day. I get one a month.”

She laughed. “Is that what your doctor recommends?”

“Let me put it this way—it’s not on the diet the nutritionist gave me but the doctor said one a month probably wouldn’t kill me. He said probably. I think it’s a lot of bullshit. I mean, I get that it ain’t heart-healthy to slather butter on my steak every day, but if this diet’s so goddamn healthy, why ain’t I lost a pound in two years?”

“Maybe you’re the right weight. You’ve lost a couple of pounds since the heart attack,” she said. She had, after all, seen his chart. When Leigh was considering moving to the small-town clinic, she visited Timberlake to check out the surroundings. It was small, pleasant, clean and quiet. The clinic was a good urgent care facility and she had credentials in both family medicine and emergency medicine—she was made to order. It was owned and operated by a hospital chain out of Denver so they could afford her. And she was ready for a slower life in a scenic place.

When she first arrived, someone—she couldn’t remember who—suggested she go out to Sully’s to look around. People from town liked to go out there to swim; firefighters and paramedics, as well as Rangers and search-and-rescue teams, liked to hike and rock climb around there, then grab a cold beer at the general store. Sully, she learned, always had people around. Long-distance hikers came off the Continental Divide Trail right at the Crossing. It was a good place to camp, collect mail, restock supplies from socks to water purification kits. That’s when she first got to know Sully.

She had looked around in June and moved to Timberlake the next month. She might have missed the spring explosion of wildflowers but she was in awe of the changing leaves in fall and heard the elk bugle, grunt and squeak in the woods. It took her about five minutes to fall in love.

“What have you done?” her aunt Helen had said when she visited the town and saw the clinic.

She and her aunt lived in a suburb of Chicago and Leigh’s move was a very big step. She was looking for a change. She’d been working very long hours in a busy urban emergency room and saw patients in a small family practice, as well. She needed a slower pace. Aunt Helen wasn’t a small-town kind of woman, though she was getting sick of Midwestern winters.

They were the only family either of them had. Leaving Helen had been so hard. Leigh had grown up, gone to college and medical school and had done her residency in Chicago. Although Helen traveled quite a bit, leaving Leigh on her own for weeks or more at a time, Leigh was married to the hospital and had still lived in the house she grew up in. But Leigh was thirty-four years old and still living with her aunt, the aunt who had been like a mother to her. She thought it was, in a way, disgraceful. She was a bit embarrassed by what must appear as her dependence. She’d decided it was time to be an adult and move on.

She shook herself out of her memories. “Such a gorgeous day,” she said to Sully. “Nobody camping yet?”

“It’ll start up pretty soon,” he said. “Spring break brings the first bunch, but until the weather is predictably warm and dry, it ain’t so busy. This is when I do my spring-cleaning around the grounds, getting ready for summer. What do you hear from Chicago?”

“They’re having a snowstorm. My aunt says she hopes it’s the last one.”

Sully grunted. “If we’d have a snowstorm, I wouldn’t have to clean out the gutters or paint the picnic tables.”

“You ever get a snowstorm this late in the year? Because I thought that was a Midwestern trick.”

“It’s happened a time or two. Not lately. How is your aunt? Why hasn’t anyone met her yet?”

“She made a couple of very quick trips last fall. I wasn’t very good about introducing her around. Besides patients, I didn’t really know a lot of people yet. She’s planning to come here this spring, once she finishes her book, and this time she’ll stay awhile.” Leigh laughed and took another bite of her sandwich. “That won’t cause her to leave the laptop at home. She’s always working on something.”

“She always been a writer?” he asked.

“No. When I was growing up, she was a teacher. Then she was a teacher and a writer. Then she was a retired teacher and full-time writer. But after I finished med school, she grew wings. She’s been traveling. She’s always loved to travel but the last few years it’s been more frequent. Sometimes she takes me with her. She’s had some wonderful trips and cruises. Seems like she’s been almost everywhere by now.”

“Egypt?” Sully asked.

“Yep. China, Morocco, Italy, many other places. And the last few winters she’s gone someplace warm for at least a couple of months. She always works, though. A lot.”

“Hmph. What kind of books?”

Leigh grinned. “Mysteries. Want me to get you one? You have any aspirations to write the tales of Sullivan’s Crossing?”

“Girl, I have trouble writing my own name.”

“I’ll get you one of her books. It’s okay if it’s not your thing.”

“She been married?”

“No, never married. But that could be a matter of family complications. My mother wasn’t married when I was born and the only person she had to help her was her big sister, Helen. Then my mother died—I was only four. That left poor Aunt Helen with a child to raise alone. A working woman with a child. Where was she going to find a guy with all that going on?”

Sully was quiet for a moment. “That’s a good woman, loses her sister and takes on her niece. A good woman. You must miss her a lot.”

“Sure. But...” She stopped there. They had been together for thirty-four years but they ran in different circles. “We never spent all our time together. There were plenty of separations with my education and her travel. We shared a house but we’re independent. Aunt Helen has friends all over the world. And writers are always going to some conference or other, where she has a million friends.”

But, of course, she missed Helen madly. She asked herself daily if this wasn’t the stupidest thing she’d ever done. Was she trying to prove she could take care of herself?

“Well, I suppose the waiting room is filling up with people.”

“Is it busy every day?” he asked, picking up their plates.

“Manageable,” she said. “Some days you’d think I’m giving away pizza. Thanks for lunch, Sully. It was a nice break.”

“You come on out here any time you like. You’re good company. You make turkey on whole wheat a lot more interesting.”

“I want you to do something for me,” she said. “You tell me when you’re ready for that hamburger. I want to take you to lunch.”

“That’s a promise! You don’t need to mention it to Maggie.”

“We have laws that prevent talking about patients,” she informed him, “even if she is your daughter and a doctor.”

“That applies to lunch?” he said. “That’s good news! Then I’ll have a beer with my hamburger, in that case.”

“Hey, boss,” Eleanor said when Leigh walked in. “We have a few appointments this afternoon and then the usual walk-ins. Did you have a nice lunch?”

“Excellent,” she said. “Spring is coming fast! There are buds on trees and green shoots poking out of the ground.”

“Rain in the forecast,” said Gretchen.

Leigh had two assistants, both RNs. Eleanor was about fifty years old, maternal and sweet-natured, while Gretchen was about thirty, impatient and sometimes cranky. They were both perfectly efficient. Both of them were excellent nurses. They’d known each other for a long time but Leigh got the impression they weren’t friends outside of work. Frankly, Leigh wondered if anyone was Gretchen’s friend.

“I’m ready when you are,” she said to the nurses, going back to her office.

There weren’t a lot of patients waiting, but with the number of appointments, the afternoon would be steady. Some people in town used the urgent care clinic as their primary doctor, which was fine if they didn’t need a specialist. Leigh referred those appropriately. Leigh thought about the one time she’d treated Sully. He had an upper respiratory infection with a lingering cough. She ordered an X-ray, gave him some meds and told him to call his regular doctor. “Don’t need any more doctors,” he said. “I’ll let you know if this doesn’t work.” Apparently it worked.

It was a good little clinic. There was another doctor who filled in two to three times a week for a few hours or a shift; he was semiretired. Bill Dodd. They kept pretty odd hours, staying open two nights a week and Saturdays. Outside clinic hours, patients had to drive to a nearby town to another urgent care. The clinic was there primarily for the locals. Emergencies were deployed to area hospitals, sometimes via ambulance.

Leigh hung her jacket on the hook behind her desk and replaced it with a white lab coat. She had worn business attire under her lab coat until she’d been puked on, bled on and pooped on a few times. She was a quick learner. Now she wore scrubs and tennis shoes like her nurses.

Not only was their attire pretty casual, the office was friendly and open. A few of the firefighters from across the street were known to drop in just to visit. If they could get past Gretchen, who was a tad rigid. Leigh thought it was nice to have this open, welcoming atmosphere when possible, when the place wasn’t overflowing with kids with hacking coughs. “It wasn’t like this when Doc Hawkins ran the place,” her friend Connie Boyle said. “You always got the impression he was secretly glad for the company, but he couldn’t smile. His face would crack.” Leigh thought that described half the old men in town, but she was learning that underneath that rugged demeanor there were some sweethearts. Like Sully. He could come off as impatient or crabby, but really, she wanted to squeeze him in a big hug every time she saw him.

She saw a one-year-old who appeared to have croup; he was barking like a seal. Then there was a bad cold, a referral to the gastroenterologist for possible gallbladder issues and she splinted and wrapped a possible broken ankle before sending the patient off to the orthopedic surgeon.

Just as they were getting ready to close the clinic, there was some excitement. Rob Shandon, the owner of the pub down the street, brought in his seventeen-year-old son, Finn. Finn was as tall as Rob, and Rob was a bit over six feet. Finn’s hand was wrapped in a bloody towel and his face was white as a sheet; Rob seemed to be supporting him with a hand under his arm. “Bad cut,” Eleanor announced, steering them past Leigh and into the treatment room.

The towel was soaking up lots of blood and it looked like the patient might go down.

“On the table and lie down, please. Nice, deep breaths. You’re going to be okay. Close your eyes a moment. Dad, can you tell me what happened?” she asked while snapping on a pair of gloves.

“Not totally sure,” Rob said. “Something about a broken glass...”

Finn was recovering. “It broke in the dishwasher, I guess. I was emptying it and ran my hand right across a sharp edge. My palm. And the blood poured out. You should see the kitchen floor.”

“Well, you wrapped it in a towel and have probably almost stopped the bleeding by now. I want you to stay flat, eyes closed, deep breaths. If you’re not crazy about blood, looking is not a good idea. Me? Doesn’t bother me a bit. And I’m going to have to unwrap this and examine the wound. Eleanor, can you set up a suture tray, please? Some lidocaine and extra gauze. Thanks.” She positioned herself between the injury and Finn’s line of vision. She pulled back the towel slowly and a fresh swell of blood came out of a long, mean-looking gash across the palm of his hand. “Good news—you’re getting out of dishes for a while. Bad news—you’re getting stitches. Plenty of them.”

“Aww...”

“I’ll numb it, no worries.”

“I have practice,” he mumbled. “Baseball...”

“I don’t think that’s going to work out for you,” she said. “This is a bad cut. Let’s do this, okay?”

“I’m staying, if that’s all right,” Rob said.

“Sure,” she said. “Just stay out of my work space.” Leigh picked up the prepared syringe and injected Finn’s palm around the gash. “Only the first prick of the needle hurts,” she explained. She dabbed the cut with gauze. “It’s not as deep as it looks. I don’t think you’ve cut anything that’s going to impact movement. If I had even a question about that, I’d send you to a hand surgeon. It’s superficial. Still serious, but...”

Eleanor provided drapes, covering Finn, lying the hand on an absorbent pad that was on top of a flat, hard, polyurethane tray that was placed on his belly.

“Are you comfortable with the hand on this tray?”

“Okay,” he said.

Leigh tapped his palm with a hemostat. “Feel that?”

“Nope,” he said.

“Good. Then can I trust you not to move if we let your hand rest right here?”

“I won’t move. Is it still gushing?”

“Just some minor bleeding and I’m going to stop that quickly,” she said. Eleanor turned the Mayo stand so it hovered over Finn’s body and was within Leigh’s easy reach. Leigh cleaned the gash, applied antiseptic, picked up the needle with a hemostat and began to stitch. She dabbed away blood, tossing used gauze four-by-fours back on the Mayo stand, making a nice pile. “You really did a number on this hand,” she said. “You must have hit that broken glass hard.”

“I was hurrying,” Finn said. “I wanted to get everything done so I could get to practice.”

“Yeah, that backfired,” she said. “Safety first, Finn.”

She dropped the bloody towel on the floor, stacked up more bloody gauze squares, applied a few more stitches. Then there was a sound behind her—a low, deep groan and a swoosh. Rob, his face roughly the color of toothpaste, leaned against the wall and slid slowly to the floor. “Rob,” she said. “I want you to stay right where you are, sitting on the floor, until I finish here. It won’t be long.”

“Ugh,” he said.

“You going to be sick?” she asked.

He was shaking his head but, fast as lightning, Eleanor passed a basin to him. “Stay down,” the nurse instructed. “Don’t try to stand up yet. That never works out.”

“I’ll be done in a couple of minutes,” Leigh said. Then she chuckled softly. “The bigger they are...”

“Did my dad faint?” Finn asked.

“Of course not,” Leigh said. “He’s just taking a load off.” She snipped the thread and dabbed at the wound. “Dang, kid. Fourteen stitches. It’s going to swell and hurt. I’m going to give you an antibiotic to fight off any infection and some pain pills. Eleanor is going to bandage your hand. Don’t get it wet. Do not take the bandage off. If you think the bandage has to come off, come in and see me. If I’m not here and you think that bandage has to come off for some reason, do not touch it. Call my cell. No matter what time it is. Now tell me, what is the most important thing to remember about the bandage?”

“Don’t take it off?” he asked.

“You’re a genius,” she said. “You come back in three days and we’ll look at it together, then wrap it up again. I want you to keep it elevated, so Eleanor will give you a sling.”

“Aw, man...”

“Don’t argue with me about this. If you dangle your hand down at your side or try to use it, you’re going to have more bleeding, swelling and pain. Are we on the same page here?”

“Yeah. Jeez.”

“He’s all yours, Eleanor. Tell him about Press’n Seal.”

She pulled off her gloves, sat on her little stool and rolled over to where Rob was propped against the wall. His knees were raised and he rested his forearms on them. “I’m fine now,” he said. But he didn’t move. She noticed a glistening sheen of sweat on his upper lip.

“Don’t try to stand yet,” she said. “Close your eyes. Touch your chin to your chest. Yeah, that’s it.” She gently massaged his shoulders and neck for a moment. Then she put her hands on his head and gently rubbed his scalp. She massaged his temples briefly, then moved back to his scalp. She heard him moan softly but this time it wasn’t because he was about to faint. It was because it felt good. And she knew if it felt good and he relaxed, his blood would circulate better and he’d recover quickly. This little trick of massaging would take Rob’s mind off his light-headedness and perhaps any nausea. “So, you’re not so good with blood?” she asked very quietly.

“I’ve seen plenty of blood,” he said. “Just not plenty of my son’s blood.” He took a deep breath. “I thought he cut his hand off.”

“Not even close,” she said. “It was a gusher, though. Some parts of the body really bleed. Like the head. You can get a cut on your head that’s about an eighth of an inch, doesn’t even need a stitch, and the blood flow will still ruin a perfectly good shirt. It’s amazing.” She kept massaging his head with her fingertips while Eleanor bandaged Finn’s hand. Eleanor was asking him about baseball and what college he’d be going to, and they even talked about his friends, most of whom Eleanor knew.

“Did I hit my head?” Rob asked.

“I don’t think there was anything to hit it on. Why? You feel a sore spot or dizziness or something?”

“I think I hear bells or birds chirping,” he said. He lifted his chin and looked up at her. He smiled very handsomely. “You keep doing that and I’m going to want to take you home with me.”

She pulled her hands away. “You couldn’t afford me. I’m wicked expensive.”

He laughed. “I bet you are. Come down to the bar. I’ll buy you a drink.”

“That’s neighborly. You feeling better? Want to get up?”

“Yeah,” he said. Then he pulled himself to his feet and towered over her. “He’s never going to let me live that down.”

“Sure I will, Dad,” Finn said from the table. “Some people just can’t take the tough stuff.”

“I seriously thought we were holding his hand together with that towel. Aw, look. We got blood on you,” he said, touching Leigh’s sleeve.

“I know how to get it out,” she said. “Hydrogen peroxide. Straight. A little rubbing. Magic.”

“Listen, I think we should just get married,” he said. “You’re perfect for me. You make a good living, you know how to get out bloodstains and that head massage thing—that’s a little addicting.”

“Not interested, but really—I just can’t thank you enough for the offer. It sounds enchanting.”

“Yeah, that’s me. Mr. Enchantment. I will buy you a drink, though. Or however many drinks you want. You have a bad day—see me.”

Eleanor demonstrated how Finn should wrap his bandaged hand with Press’n Seal when he took his shower. That would keep the bandage from getting wet. Rob looked on in fascination.

Leigh wrote out a couple of prescriptions. She handed them to Rob. “As soon as you get the pain meds filled, give him one. Stay ahead of the pain. The anesthetic will wear off in a couple of hours. It’s going to throb, sting and eventually itch. No matter what, do not take that bandage off!”

“Yeah, I heard all that. Do you tell everyone that and do they still take it off?” Rob asked.

“You just wouldn’t believe it,” she said.

After Rob and Finn left, Leigh helped Eleanor clean up the treatment room.

“I love Rob,” Eleanor said. “I think you should just marry him. He’s probably ready to remarry now.”

Leigh knew he was a single father, but little else. “Is he divorced?”

“Widowed,” Eleanor said. “The poor guy. He lost his wife when the boys were little. That’s when he came to Timberlake to open the pub. He said he needed a business with flexible hours so he could raise his sons. He’s a wonderful father. He must be the best catch in town.”

Leigh’s mouth hung open for a moment. She hadn’t shared any details of her personal life with Eleanor. She had lost her mother very young. Years later when she was still quite young, she was abandoned by her fiancé just a week before their wedding and it had felt so much like a death. She rarely dated. And she was not shopping around for a guy. He could find someone else to get his stains out.

When Leigh Culver was a little girl, her childhood was idyllic. She was a lovely child with blond ringlets, a bit of a tomboy with a risky curiosity and an outgoing nature. The Holliday family lived next door; they had three children and their middle child was Leigh’s age. Johnny and Leigh were best friends from the age of three. Inseparable. They had regular sleepovers until Dottie Holliday and Aunt Helen decided they were getting too old for that to be appropriate.

Leigh’s mother had moved in with Aunt Helen when she realized she was pregnant at the age of eighteen. It was so long ago that her mother had died, Leigh could barely remember her. But Helen remembered and reminded her of the details—it was a freak accident. She’d had a reaction to anesthesia during a routine appendectomy, went into heart failure and they couldn’t save her. From that moment on it was Helen and Leigh.

Leigh went to and from school with Johnny and the other Holliday kids. Sometimes she went to Helen’s classroom after school and worked on her homework assignments while Helen finished her work. They had a very nice routine for many years. And, over time, Johnny Holliday went from being a best buddy to a boyfriend and they dated all through high school.

Leigh and Johnny wanted to get married as soon as they graduated. Johnny wanted to go into the marines and take Leigh with him. Helen wanted Leigh to go to college, get an education. “Haven’t we learned anything?” she’d said. “You could find yourself the sole support of a family! I won’t make you wait too long, but we have to find a way for you to get an education.”

They compromised. Johnny enlisted in the army reserve. Leigh registered at the local university. She wanted to be a teacher like her aunt Helen. Biology caught her interest. She would get her degree and they would marry at the age of twenty-one.

For a couple of years, things rolled by without too much stress or trauma, even though, looking back on it, she could see that Johnny had a tendency to grow restless. Helen went off now and then to visit writing friends or attend conferences when school was not in session. Johnny worked in his father’s home furnishings store and was gone for occasional reserve weekends or training.

Then he deployed. After nine months in Kuwait he was on his way home. Their wedding was scheduled to take place a few weeks after he got home. But something had changed. Suddenly, he had doubts. He said he couldn’t do it. He said he was sorry, he just wasn’t ready. He wanted to see more of the world. He didn’t want to spend the rest of his life working in his father’s store and living in the neighborhood he grew up in. And since he’d never even dated anyone else, how could he be sure she was the right woman for him? How could Leigh be sure, for that matter?

They argued and fought and then Johnny told her he was being transferred to an army reserve unit in California. He thought they should make a clean break and, maybe in a year or two, see if they still wanted to be together.

She begged him not to go. Crying, sobbing, feeling as if her heart was being ripped from her breast, she pleaded with him not to end their beautiful, perfect love match. The humiliation of begging just about did her in.

Helen was beside herself. “That self-centered little bastard! I think you dodged a bullet. That is not good husband material!” Helen pointed out that things weren’t as perfect as Leigh wanted them to be. That he’d been an imperfect boyfriend who flirted with other girls, went through spells of neediness that required a lot of special attention from her, that he was spoiled by his mother. Despite the fact that Helen liked Dottie Holliday and was grateful for her support while she raised Leigh alone, she was critical of Dottie’s blind eye where her middle son was concerned.

As for Johnny’s claim of having never dated another girl, Helen was not so sure. He hadn’t dated anyone Leigh knew about but Helen taught at the high school. She saw things and heard things. Helen thought Johnny was not as loyal as Leigh believed, but Leigh refused to believe that.

She grieved. Johnny wasn’t going to change his mind. He said it was best, they should both be sure. And they both needed to experience a little more of life. Though clearly he was not concentrating on what she needed, leaving Leigh and Helen to deal with calling off the wedding and returning gifts that had arrived early.

“You’re so young,” Helen said. “Someday you’ll see he didn’t deserve you.”

It took Leigh a while to stand upright, to sleep through the night without crying, to face the world without her best friend and fiancé. She plagued Mrs. Holliday for news of Johnny. She called him, relentlessly pleading with him to come back or invite her to move to California. He rejected her. “Come on, Leigh, I’m happy! Why can’t you just be happy, too?”

She was shattered.

She took some time off from school but ironically it was school that eventually brought out the best in her. She was so angry and hurt she decided her revenge would be to succeed, on her own, without him! She pursued her degree in biology. Johnny’s mother told her Johnny was engaged to a California girl, and when Leigh was done crying her heart out, she said, “Fuck him!” and then took the MCAT and applied to medical school, losing herself in the difficult study, relieved not to have time to think about being lonely. She was driven and she worked with a vengeance.

She knew lots of girls and young women had traumatic breakups, but she always felt hers was different. She had spent her whole life loving Johnny, forgiving him when he was a screwup and moving with a single-mindedness toward their hopes and dreams, their forever together. How could he walk away from that so easily? Had she been wrong about him all along? Helen’s books did better each year and she retired from teaching to write full-time. She began to travel, writing everywhere she went, taking Leigh with her now and then.

Johnny’s parents sold their house and moved to Arizona to enjoy the warmer weather while Leigh went on to not one but a double residency. And she wasn’t lonely—she had many friends within her field just as her independent aunt had many friends within her profession. She dated now and then but nothing clicked. And that was fine, Leigh was happy and accepted she would be just like Helen—active, self-sufficient, free and fun-loving. But probably not attached.

Helen kept in touch with Dottie Holliday and Leigh learned Johnny had married, had a couple of kids; they were having trouble making ends meet sometimes. Johnny even got in touch with Leigh when she was a new ER doctor. He asked her if she was happy and she said, “Deliriously.” Johnny had said he thought maybe the biggest mistake of his life was letting Leigh get away. “Actually, that isn’t what happened,” Leigh said. “You dumped me. You practically left me standing at the altar.” And she hung up on him. Not long after that she learned that Johnny had divorced and remarried.

She got over him, of course. She even relented that her life was much better than it would have been had she married Johnny at the age of twenty-one. And then Aunt Helen told her she’d heard from Dottie Holliday again. By the age of thirty, Johnny was unhappy in his second marriage.

And Leigh thought, Whew! Dodged a bullet indeed!

Not long after Helen retired from her teaching position, she said that she wasn’t planning to live the rest of her life in Chicago. “As much as I love it, I’m over the winters here. Of course, I’ll be back often...in spring, summer and fall. I’m shopping for a more hospitable climate.” She spent a few months in California one winter, Florida another, even Texas once. Leigh often visited her for a winter respite and Helen always came home for a long summer stay. Helen also returned to the Chicago suburbs for Christmas but it didn’t take too many of those visits to confirm that she was right—she’d had enough of those harsh winters. That was when Leigh started thinking maybe she also could use a change. Their Naperville house was paid for, their incomes were sufficient; they hadn’t spent twelve months of the year together in a long time. It was time for Leigh to find her special place.

“Timberlake, Colorado?” Helen had asked. “What’s the population there? Three hundred people, six hundred elk?”

“Something like that,” Leigh said. “You can visit me in the summer when it’s warm and I’ll visit you in the winter wherever you are. I’ve only signed a two-year contract so this is just my first possibility. Who knows? I might end up in Maui!”

“Can we please try La Jolla?” Helen asked.

“We’ll see. You’ve been indulging your wanderlust for ten years now. It’s my turn to have a look around. I’ll try to settle on a place where you won’t slip on the ice when you’re old and brittle. You know I’ll always take care of you. You always took care of me.”

“I’m not planning to get old and brittle,” Helen threw back. “That’s why I keep moving! It’s the best defense.”

So, the time was coming up. Helen would spend most of her spring and summer in Timberlake with Leigh. The house in Illinois was sitting empty for longer and longer now with Leigh in Colorado and Helen always on the move.

Leigh had clearly learned the importance of autonomy from Helen, who was so comfortable being a single woman. It took her a long time to get over Johnny Holliday and there had not been a man with real potential in her life since him. She had had a dalliance here and there, but nothing serious. Her sixty-two-year-old aunt was her best friend, and quite the girlfriend she was. She wrote books, traveled the world, tried living in new places, taught writing classes all over the country and online and had a wonderful group of writer girlfriends everywhere. She’d been on a couple of writers’ organization boards of directors, toured to promote her books and had even taught a summer writing course at Boston University. She was open to anything, it seemed. She was fearless and Leigh thought she was beautiful. And she believed her—Helen had no intention of getting old, no matter how old she got.

Leigh knew her move to Timberlake was good for her. She needed to establish her own life but, if she was honest with herself, sometimes she missed having a best friend of the male persuasion. I think we should just get married. You’re perfect for me. Rob was kidding, of course. He had no way of knowing those were the words that she most wanted to hear but that most terrified her.

A person often meets his destiny

on the road he took to avoid it.

—Jean de La Fontaine

2

“THEN DAD HIT on Dr. Culver,” Finn said.

All movement stopped. Everyone in the kitchen froze. Present were Rob’s younger son, Sean, his sister, Sidney, and her husband, Dakota Jones. And of course Rob. He had made dinner and Sidney and Dakota wanted to check on Finn since the accident.

“I guess those pain pills are stronger than I thought,” Rob said.

“Dad, you totally hit on her. And I think she liked it.”

“This sounds interesting,” Dakota said, leaning back on his chair.

“Go ahead and tell us all about it, Finn,” Sid said.

“He almost passed out from the blood and stitches. He was sitting on the floor, I guess to keep from fainting, and she told him to stay down. Then she rubbed his shoulders or something and talked to him real soft. Oh, and the nurse gave him a bowl to puke in.”

“You puked?” Sean asked. It was hard to tell if he was appalled or thrilled.

“I did not puke,” Rob said. “I got dizzy and light-headed. Not from the blood and stitches but... Through all the injuries these two have had, this one actually scared me. I thought he’d cut his hand in half. When the doctor had it under control, I had an adrenaline drop. That’s all it was. She told me not to try to get up too fast. She rubbed my shoulders and head for a minute.”

“And Dad said, ‘Marry me.’”

Rob shrugged and grinned. “In that position, I think that’s just what you do. I admit, I forgot you were in the room for a minute.”

“No kidding,” Finn said.

The doorbell rang and Sean shot away from the table with a hearty, “I got it!” A moment later, the sound of female voices talking and laughing came from the living room.

“Can I be excused?” Finn asked.

“Sure. Of course.”

The house was full of teenage girls, momentarily. They were all fussing over Finn. They brought him flowers and chocolate, let him tell his war story, which Rob was relieved didn’t seem to include him hitting on the doctor. Rob counted. There were six of them. All adorable. All around seventeen. Included among them, Finn’s girlfriend of the past year, Maia—a sweet beauty.

Dakota took a drink from his bottle of beer. “That never happened to me,” he said.

“Or to me,” Rob said.

“Uh...it most certainly happened to you,” Sidney said to her brother. “Maybe not identical circumstances, but girls chased you all the time. I was the wallflower who never went to a prom or formal. Not even in college.”

“I don’t remember that,” Rob said. He glanced into the living room to see six girls and two boys sitting on the furniture, floor, anywhere, talking and laughing. “My house is going to be dripping in testosterone tonight.”

“I’ll help you clean up the dishes,” Sid said. “Why’d you have to make spaghetti? I hate cleaning up the spaghetti pots.”

“I got it,” Rob said. “I left Kathleen in charge at the pub. In case Finn needs me.”

“Oh, I think you’re the last person he needs,” Dakota said. A burst of laughter came from the living room. “He seems to have this under control.”

Sidney started rinsing plates while Rob gathered pots off the stove and put away leftovers.

“It wouldn’t kill you to take a woman on a proper date,” she said to Rob.

“Nah. Someone around here has to keep a clear head.”

“She seems like a nice woman, the doctor. Not at all crazy—a plus in this town.”

“Agreed, she seems nice,” he said. “And she knows how to get out stains. Did you know hydrogen peroxide gets out blood? I could’ve used her expertise while I was raising those two maniacs.”

“Not to mention a discount in medical costs,” Sid said. “You know, the boys are certainly old enough to accept the idea of their father going out with women now and then. After all, they do.”

“Sean isn’t exactly dating yet,” Rob pointed out.

“I bet he’s got something going on—walking a girl to classes, sitting with a girl at games, that stuff. Finn has a steady girl,” Sid said.

“I think he lucked into that,” Rob said. “She’s a sweetheart. And smart.”

“They’re going to leave you, you know,” she said. “You should be looking. For companionship.”

“Maybe I am and don’t want to talk about it. Keep the water in the sink, please,” he said.

And then he thought about it. He’d always had an open mind. But most of the women he’d met since his wife died nine years ago had been a bit too eager and anxious to win over his sons and take charge of his life. He just hadn’t been ready for that. There were a couple of women from out of town he’d had casual relationships with. What that meant was he’d see them briefly, talk to them occasionally, maybe there would be a quick roll in the hay. He’d had that kind of relationship with a woman named Rebecca for a couple of years, then she wandered off for a more serious man. A couple of years later he met Suzanne. She was in sales for restaurant supplies. He took her out for a drink, learned she was divorced, had a couple of grown daughters and was not interested in anything serious. That was about his speed. They got together infrequently but when he did spend a little time with her, it was good. She was also nice and didn’t seem to want anything more than he did.

She didn’t rub his neck or head, as he recalled. And she didn’t have that creamy, peachy skin. He wondered how long Leigh Culver’s hair was—it was always tied up in a bun when he saw her. She had playful green eyes. And a real take-charge attitude. She came into the pub from time to time, was well-liked in town. Today was the first day he’d called on her professional services.

He wouldn’t mind seeing more of her, but that was complicated in a town like Timberlake. Two dates and the whole town had you engaged. Maybe that didn’t happen to everyone but he and Leigh were pretty high-profile—the town doctor and the town pub owner. They would run into more people every day than the average citizen. And people had been trying to fix him up for years.

He wondered if she’d been fixed up lately. He didn’t even know if she’d ever been married. Maybe if he got to know her, he’d find she wasn’t such a prize.

No, that wasn’t going to happen. Eleanor and her husband liked to eat at the pub and Eleanor loved Leigh. Eleanor didn’t suffer fools gladly. Connie Boyle was always saying she was great, as did some of his fellow firefighters.

“Dad? Is it almost time for another one of those pills?” Finn asked as he walked into the kitchen.

Rob looked into Finn’s eyes. He could see he was hurting. He felt his head—warm. But he’d gotten antibiotics. “What’s the matter?” he asked.

“It’s throbbing. It feels like the bandage is too tight.”

“Let’s take your temperature,” he said.

It was just barely above normal.

“You’re almost due a pain pill,” he said. “We’ll watch your temperature. If you’re still having trouble in the morning, I’ll call the doctor. If it gets bad in the night, I have her cell number.” She had said it would save her a world of trouble if he’d just call that number rather than meeting a big problem first thing in the morning. Made sense. “We’re going to be good boys and not take off that bandage. I don’t know what happens if you do that but I think she executes you. It sounded serious.” He craned his neck toward the living room. “Your girls gone?” There they sat, waiting patiently. Quietly.

“Everything okay?” Sid asked, drying the last pot.

“Pain, like she said would happen,” Rob said.

“Can you put ice on it?” Sid asked.

Rob got a shocked look on his face. “I don’t know,” he said. “I’ll call her after things quiet down and ask.”

“Good idea,” Sid said. She leaned toward Finn and kissed his cheek. “We’re going home. If you need me for any reason, please call.”

“We’re good,” Rob said.

Dakota put a hand on Finn’s shoulder. He leaned close. “Nice cheering section, bud,” he said.

“Thanks,” Finn said.

A half hour later, Finn had another pain pill and the girls retreated. Rob ordered Finn to bed and Sean to his room to either finish homework or find some quiet pastime—it would probably take place on his tablet or phone.

Once everything was quiet he called Dr. Culver.

“Yeah, that’s exactly what I would expect. You can cover the bandage with Press’n Seal or a plastic bag and rest a bag of frozen peas in the palm. Gently.”

“We have a variety of cold packs,” he said. “Athletic boys. They have to ice knees and shoulders and even heads regularly.”

“As long as it’s a soft ice pack,” she said. “We don’t want to disturb the stitches. Why don’t you bring Finn by the clinic before school and let me have a quick look, just to be sure.”

He grinned so big his cheeks hurt. And he was glad no one could see his face. “Thanks,” he said. “I’ll do that.”

“We mustn’t have any regrets,” Helen Culver said. “The house can sit empty until we’re absolutely sure. I have plenty of friends here in Naperville so after we sell the house I can come back for a visit anytime. I don’t have to have my own house to visit friends.”

“It’s the only home I’ve ever known, but I’m not there. It’s just that...”

“You like knowing it’s waiting for you?” Helen asked.

“Well, I haven’t decided I’m staying here for the long-term, but I haven’t decided I’m not, either. And I understand you’re done with those winters. Winter here is not like that. It’s mostly calm. And with all the ski lodges, it’s very festive. And cozy. There’s nothing like a blazing fire on a snowy evening.”

It was early morning. Helen and Leigh were both early risers. They usually had their daily chats before starting work and sometimes again after work in the evening. They talked every day with rare exceptions. Even when Helen was traveling.

“It should sell for a good price. The house is over fifty years old but in excellent shape in a nice neighborhood near shopping and restaurants, in a great school district...”

“Why does this come up today?” Leigh asked. “This morning?”

“I can’t get the car out of the garage!” Helen said. “I’m snowed in.”

“Oh,” Leigh said, smothering a chuckle. “It looks like spring is on the way here, but there are no guarantees.”

“You know I’ve been thinking about it, Leigh. I can arrange to have it polished up and put on the market. Maybe when I’m down there visiting you. Houses move nicely from spring through summer, before a new school year starts. If you’re ready.”

“Auntie, do you need the money from the sale?” Leigh asked.

“Nah, I’ve got money. I’m a miser! Eventually I’ll buy something in a more hospitable climate. Not only am I tired of the cold, I’m bloody over gray skies!”

“You’ll miss the changing seasons,” Leigh predicted.

“As I’ve said, I can always visit. More likely my girls will visit me!”

She always called them her girls. They were friends of a certain age and they were wonderful fun. Wonderfully bad. All writers. Leigh adored them. They came and went over the years, but Helen was always surrounded by sassy, hard-working, independent women, some married, some not. One of them was on her third husband. “What do you think, Auntie? La Jolla?”

“I’m not settled on that quite yet,” she said.

“La Jolla is a bit pricey, isn’t it?”

“Everything is pricey. I want you to decide if you’re settled. There’s no great hurry and it doesn’t have to be final. You might decide to go back to Chicago, in which case you can always buy a new house. Wherever I go will have room for you.”

“And I will always have room for you. We’ll spend the summer here.”

“Much of it, sure. I’m going to New York in May and visiting friends in San Francisco in July.”

“All right, I have a patient coming in early so I can look at his stitches. I’ll think about this. We’ll talk tonight.”

“Is he single?” Helen asked. “This patient?”

“Why, yes, he is,” Leigh said. “He’s seventeen.” No need to mention his handsome father.

“Ah! You’re no fun at all. I’ll let you go. Take this matter seriously. A house sitting empty is a liability. And I’m freezing! If we’re not going to live in it...”

“I’ll talk to you after work,” Leigh said. And just then she heard the bell on the front door of the clinic.

Helen was so right, she thought. Leigh didn’t see herself going back to that old life, that hectic grind in the big city. This probably wasn’t her final destination but she was enjoying her work life a lot more than she had a year ago. And she’d made some friends here. She actually had a pretty decent social life. Not like city life but still good.

She shrugged into her white lab coat and went to the reception area. Her staff hadn’t arrived yet and that early-morning time alone was great. The Shandon men stood in the waiting room. This time the younger brother was also present. “Good morning, gentlemen,” she said. “How’s the pain this morning, Finn?”

“It comes and goes,” he said. “I didn’t sleep much.”

“Did the ice help?” she asked.

He shrugged. “A little bit.”

“Okay, let’s look at it. This once.”

They all gathered in the treatment room. Finn sat on the table. Leigh pulled her bandage scissors out of her pocket. She reminded herself he was a seventeen-year-old boy. Men were often melodramatic when it came to illness. They could power through pulled muscles and broken bones, but let ’em get the flu and it was like death. Same with bloody injuries.

She sliced through the wrap. “You’re probably going to be sorry,” she said. “Eleanor is a much gentler wrapper than I am, or so I’m told. And we’re not doing this every day, you know.”

“I know,” he said. “Can you put something on it to keep it from hurting?”

“Your palm and fingertips are very sensitive, but they’re also good healers. Ah,” she said, spreading the bandage. “Looks good. A little inflammation, no bleeding, stitches intact. Here’s what should concern you—if bleeding shows through the bandage or if a red line is traveling up your arm, call me immediately. And don’t take off the bandage.”

Sean leaned around Finn. “Cool.”

“It feels so much better off,” he said.

“And it is so much more susceptible to infection or damage to the incision and stitches. Why don’t you take a day off from school, rest, put ice on it from time to time, take your antibiotics and chill out. It could be sore for a few days but you’ll be all right. It’s healing as it should.”

“We were wondering, what exactly do you do to people who take off the bandage?” Rob asked.

“Your name goes on a list of patients who just won’t listen,” she said. “And I’m not above sharing the list. So, when there’s a bank robbery or something, I have a list of people who won’t follow the rules.” She grinned. “You take off the bandage, you risk infection, difficult healing, complications.”

The bell on the clinic door tinkled and moments later Eleanor popped into the treatment room. “Did he take that bandage off?” she asked, sounding annoyed.

Leigh winked at Finn. “No, I did. We’re just checking it.”

“Let me wash my hands and I’ll wrap it up again,” Eleanor said, turning away while swinging her jacket off her shoulders.

“You got lucky,” Leigh said to Finn. “Listen, it’s going to hurt and eventually itch like the devil. Be brave. This will pass.” Then she felt his head for fever. “Don’t forget to take all of the antibiotic pills.”

“I won’t,” he said.

“As much as I enjoy seeing you, I’m sure you have better things to do.”

“Not really,” he said, and he grinned.

What a handsome boy, she thought.

Finn went home from the clinic, took one of his pain pills and sprawled out on the couch, falling asleep instantly. It seemed like only seconds had passed when the doorbell rang. And rang again. He rolled to his side and looked at the time on his phone. It was noon. He’d been asleep for hours.

He opened the door and frowned in confusion. It was Maia. His girl. Probably the prettiest girl in his class. She smiled at him and held up a bag from McDonald’s. “What?” he asked, groggy.

“I brought you lunch,” she said. “Sean said your hand was so sore you were taking a day off.”

“But you have school.”

“I’ll skip fifth period,” she said. “They’ll never miss me. I thought you could use a little special treatment.”

“Wow,” he said.

“Can I come in?”

“Oh,” he said, running a hand over his head, taking note that he felt some serious bedhead. “Yeah, of course.”

“Thanks,” she said as he held the door open. “I texted you three times but you didn’t respond. I hope you’re up to company.”

He looked at his phone. Yup, three texts. “I’m up to it, I just never expected it.”

“I think I woke you up.”

“I saw the doctor this morning. She looked at the stitches and told me to just take a day off if it was hurting. So, I took one of those pain pills and fell asleep on the couch. Gimme a sec.” He headed for the bathroom. “I’ll be right back.”

He had to pee like a racehorse but first he looked in the mirror. Oh, man, not only was his hair weird, it looked like he’d drooled a little. What a stud. So he peed, washed his face, brushed his teeth and tried to smooth down his hair.

He’d known Maia since junior high; she was part of a whole group who were buddies. He’d had a crush on her about that long but it took him until his senior year to ask her out because, well, she was one of the most popular girls in school and she tended to date the most popular guys. He thought she’d never go for him. Then he came to his senses and noted that she hadn’t had a steady boyfriend in a long time. He screwed up his courage and asked her out and was thrilled when she said, “Took you long enough.”

Now she was sitting on the couch and had set up a little picnic on the coffee table.

“Aw, you didn’t have to go to any trouble,” she said.

He looked at her, confused.

“Your hair is wet,” she said.

“My hair was pretty goofy from sleep,” he said. “And my brain might be on drugs.”

Her hair was beautiful. She had long, shiny dark hair and he loved plunging his hands into it. It was black or almost black. Maybe a little light around the edges. Soft and silky. He couldn’t believe she gave him a chance.

“Big Mac, extralarge fries, apple pie. I bet I should’ve gotten two Big Macs.”

In front of her was a cheeseburger, regular fries, a Diet Coke. That wouldn’t even start his motor. “No, this is great,” he said. “Why’d you do this?”

“I was looking for you this morning and couldn’t find you. Sean said you stayed home because of your hand.”

“You were looking for me?”

“Finn, you’re wearing a sling. I thought, since we have three classes together, I could help you with your books. Carry them for you.”

“Huh. I never thought of that. I have a backpack.”

“I’d still be happy to help, if you want.”

“I’ll probably manage,” he said. Because he was an idiot! “I wouldn’t mind the company, though,” he said. “I mean, if you want to.”

“Finn, I wouldn’t have offered if I didn’t want to,” she said with a laugh. “Besides, we walk to class together, anyway.”

“Cool,” he said. Because he was oh-so-smooth. “This is good. This was really nice of you.” He’d rather be making out. But she’d brought food.

“You’re welcome.”

“What did I miss in trig?”

“Phfft, nothing. Same old drill—we went over the last assignment we turned in, he explained the next chapter, assigned the problems at the end. We have a big assignment in English, though. A paper, due in a week. Mary Shelley’s Frankenstein. I hate when he does that. Why didn’t he give us more time?”

He groaned. “I’m lousy with writing assignments...”

“I can help,” she said. Then she flashed him her beautiful smile. “Don’t I always?”

She was in three of his classes. All three were college prep because she was smart. And beautiful. And thoughtful—she’d brought him McDonald’s. He thought if he didn’t fuck this up, he might get to kiss her for a while before she had to get back to class. “Tell me about the paper,” he said.

“Essay format and it has to be on the original work, which is about two hundred years old. It was on the reading list for the year so I have it. I was going to read it but, of course, I didn’t. It’s horror and I hate horror.”

“What am I going to do next year when we’re at different colleges?” he asked.

“You’re either going to find a new girlfriend or flunk English.”

“I guess I’m going to flunk English. And you’re not going to do that well in math.”

“You’re my go-to boy for math,” she said, laughing.

Maia read all the time. She wanted to be an English teacher. But even though they were hot and heavy by now, she was going to college in Flagstaff and he was going to CU in Boulder. Boulder was close; he’d be home a lot of weekends. Flagstaff wasn’t so close.

“I only read the directions on things I have to assemble,” he said. “Or textbooks when there’s going to be a quiz. Stories bore me.”

“But you’re a genius at math.”

“Well, that’s because I’ve got my aunt Sid—she knows everything about math. She’s really a genius. She’s a physicist. Big-ass brain.”

“I know. That is so cool.” She nibbled her cheeseburger.

She took little bites, he noticed. Her fingernails were pink and he liked that. A lot of the girls were painting their nails green and blue and black. Freaky. Maia’s nails were the color of her lips. And she didn’t wear much makeup. Just lip stuff that tasted so good. Her eyelashes were so thick and dark she didn’t have to dress them up.

They talked about school. Her favorite course was obviously English; he loved science and right now his favorite class was advanced chemistry. They talked about their teachers and both of them loved their math teacher even if Maia didn’t love math. They talked about how they dreaded being separated while they were in college. Then, lunch devoured, he reached for her. “Don’t hurt your hand,” she said before landing on his lips.

A few minutes later he stopped the kissing. “You’re making my hand feel better. Do you have to go all the way to NAU?” he asked.

“I love NAU. You should see it. It’s almost like home.”

“You can’t guess how bad I’m going to miss you.”

“That’s funny. I had to drop hints for months before you even noticed me!”

“Oh, I noticed,” he said, pulling her closer. Then he bumped his hand and yelped in pain and she pulled away.

“I’m going back to school before you do something to your hand.”

“Will you come back after school? I don’t have to work at the pub. The only bright spot...”

“I’ll have to check in with my mom and see if she has anything I need to do.”

“Tell her I’m seriously injured and need you,” he said. “If my dad likes me even a little bit, he’ll make Sean work at the pub and we’ll be alone.”

“Are you going to behave?” she asked.

“I’ll do whatever you say. But we could be alone.”

“How long is it going to take for that hand to heal?”

“I don’t know,” he said. “We can use it to our advantage. Want to go out Friday night? Obviously I don’t have baseball...”

“I have to babysit Friday night and till about five on Saturday afternoon. Then I’m free. I have to clear it with my parents, though.”

“Tell them I’m pathetic and need you.”

She giggled a little. Then she kissed his cheek. “I gotta go. Can you handle the trash with one hand?”

“Got it,” he said, lifting the bag.

She took her Diet Coke and skipped out the door.

“Thank you!” he called out. And she smiled and waved.

He closed the door and leaned against it. “Thank you, God!” he said. She was the hottest, sweetest, coolest girl in his school. And she was his.

He backed up to the couch and flopped down on it. He did not sleep. His hand miraculously did not hurt. At. All.

Experience is the teacher of all things.

—Julius Caesar

3

LEIGH WOKE UP and looked out the window at the heavy rain. She smiled as she remembered what Sully had told her when she’d asked him when he thought it would be hamburger day. “First really wet rainy day when I can’t work outside,” he said.

Knowing he got up even earlier than she did, she called Sully. “Can we meet at Shandon’s Pub and will you let me buy you that hamburger today?” she asked.

“Perfect. That’s where I like to get my beef. I’m not going to waste my special day on meat loaf at the diner.”

“Noon?” she asked.

“That’ll do,” Sully said.

At fifteen minutes prior to noon Leigh put her raincoat over her scrubs. With her wallet and cell phone in her pocket and umbrella in hand, she told Eleanor where she was going. “Call if you get anything you can’t handle,” she said. Then she walked down the street in the rain. From within every business doorway she passed, someone yelled, “Hey, Doc!” A couple of cars tooted their horns and she waved. This little town seemed to sparkle in the rain. It was clean and busy and shop owners left their doors open in a welcoming fashion unless it was freezing outside.

She was glad she’d given Helen her support in selling the house. She missed her aunt, but if she’d been working in Chicago, Helen wouldn’t have seen much of her, anyway. Her hours had been brutal and Helen was often away. Helen had been clear—those tough winters were in her rearview mirror. She was passing through Chicago for just a week and got caught in a huge spring blizzard. She announced that was the last time she’d be in the Midwest before May.

She shook her umbrella under the pub’s awning, closing it up. It was a little less busy than usual, probably because of the weather. She loved the food here but she usually got it to go. In fact, she usually got whatever anyone at the clinic wanted and took it all back. At least once a week they got take-out orders from the diner, the pub or the pizza kitchen down the street. Most other days they all packed a lunch or dashed home for a quick bite.

Today she chose a booth in the bar. Sully had not arrived yet.

“Hey, Doc,” Rob said, coming out from behind the bar. “How’s it going?”

“Excellent,” she said. “How’s my favorite patient?”

Rob chuckled and slid into the booth across from her. “After we left the clinic the other day, he stayed home from school and his girlfriend cut class to bring him lunch. His hand hasn’t hurt since.”

“Amazing how that works,” she said with a smile. “Bring him in next week and I’ll take his stitches out. I can fix him up with a more manageable bandage and he can see how baseball works for him. Unless he’s getting a lot of mileage out of the big, bulky one.”

“He’s always been kind of shy with girls. I’m amazed by the girlfriend. They’ve been an item all year,” Rob said.

“I’m surprised to hear that he’s shy with girls—he’s so darn cute.”

“Boys don’t want to be cute, if I remember correctly,” Rob said. “From a father’s perspective, I’m happy he doesn’t seem to be a player. But for the last several months every time I talk to him, his mind seems to be elsewhere. Can I get you something? Did you call in an order for lunch?”

“I’m eating here today,” she said. “I have a date!”

“Do you now?” he said, smiling.

“You sittin’ in my place, boy?” Sully said, looking down at Rob.

He got up immediately. “Sully! Long time, buddy! Is it hamburger day already?”

“I want bacon and cheddar on it, too,” he said, sliding into the booth.

“You got it, pal. And for the lovely doctor?”

“Turkey club sandwich with a side salad, no fries or chips. And how about a Diet Coke.”

“Girl food,” Sully scoffed. “I guess you’re allowed. I’ll take a water and coffee, black.”

“I have to mind my figure, you know,” she said.

“Your figure is fine,” Sully said. “You doing any interesting doctoring today?” he asked.

“It is very boring doctoring today,” she admitted. “Tomorrow or the day after tomorrow everyone who got their feet wet today will come to me complaining of a cold or cough. Being cooped up inside means people are exposed to more viruses and they all pass around the same germs. What’s going on with your family, Mr. Sullivan?”

“Well, little Sam is walking and, when he picks up steam, running. Sierra’s big as a house and about ready to whelp. Elizabeth is talking nonstop but only about ten percent of her words are recognizable. Thing is, Cal and Maggie respond to her as if they can understand everything she says. Maybe they can. Dakota and Sid are just hanging around—Dakota’s still working on that garbage truck, sometimes they let him drive and he gets the biggest kick out of that. Sid helps out in here sometimes but she’s been back to UCLA a couple of times to work on those fancy computers. They’re going to move to Boulder at the end of summer. Sid has herself a job in the university computer lab and Dakota is going to take a few courses so he can teach in high school. He said he had a lousy experience in high school. He was bullied a lot...”

That caused Leigh’s eyes to widen in surprise. “Dakota? Bullied? He doesn’t look like he could’ve been the kind of kid to get picked on. He’s big, strong and to-die-for handsome!”

“No one is immune, that’s what. He was dirt poor and his father is crazy as a bedbug. Those Jones kids—they grew up with a lot of drama going on. The other Jones kids did all right in that regard but seems like Dakota took a real hit. So he thinks if he’s a teacher, he can profile bullies, help with that problem. Plus, I think he likes kids.”

She just stared at Sully. “That’s wonderful,” she said. “I think I love him for that.”

“Yeah, it was my lucky day when Cal hung out in my campground and eventually married my daughter. I inherited a whole family. So what’s up with your family?”

“I talked to Aunt Helen just this morning. We’re going to sell the house we shared in Chicago. Then she’ll come here for a visit. I miss her. I haven’t seen her in a while. We went to Maui for some sun. But she’ll be here next month and she’ll stay while she plans her next move. A couple of months, probably.”

“Will you take time off then?” he asked.

“Maybe an extra day or two but Helen likes to stay busy. And she needs her writing time, which doesn’t include me. Usually about this time of year she makes all her plans for the trips she’ll take in the year to come. She goes to conferences, library events, visits friends all over the place. And she usually rents a house or condo in a warm place for winter.”

Rob delivered their plates. “Sully, just like you like it,” he said. “That burger should moo for you. And for you, Doctor, your boring turkey club.”

“I’m saving my heavy eating for a little later in the day so I don’t fall asleep while I’m icing an ankle or putting in stitches.”

“And we all appreciate that,” Rob said. “I’ll refill your drinks in a minute.”

“Are you on your own today?” Sully asked.

“Sid will be here soon but I’d insist on taking care of my two favorite customers even if she was here.” And then he was gone.

Sully took a big bite of his burger and savored it. His eyes were closed. He was in heaven.

Leigh took a more delicate bite, and she smiled at him.

“Your aunt Helen lives like she’s independently wealthy or something,” he said.

“I believe her writing keeps her comfortable,” Leigh said. “I’m sorry, I keep forgetting to get you a book! She’s become an expert at visiting friends.”

“Hmph. I’d be just as happy to never have to go farther than town,” Sully said.

“She might be spending winters in Florida from now on, for all I know.”

“She’d rather have hurricanes?” Sully asked.

Leigh laughed. “Good point. Do you like winter?”

“Winter here isn’t so bad,” he said. “So much skiing, skating, snowshoe hiking... Course, I’m very busy just keeping the road plowed and trying not to slip on the damn ice.”

“I enjoyed this winter,” she said. “It wasn’t nearly as challenging as winter in Chicago. Of course, I don’t have to contend with a freeway to get to work. Winter here seemed mild. Gentle.” And just the scenery, she remembered, was more like a snow globe than the harsh, blowing, difficult Midwestern city winter.

“Your aunt hike?” he asked.

“She likes long walks,” Leigh said. “She reads a lot. She writes three books a year. We talk about books all the time. She’ll call me and say, ‘What are you reading?’ And I’d better be reading something. But she’s so cool. I can’t wait to introduce you—I know you’ll like her.”

“I don’t know, I don’t read much,” he said, biting into that big burger again.

“I don’t think that’ll be a problem,” she said. “You’re not her niece.”

Finn and Maia were experts at texting. It wasn’t interesting stuff, just silly stuff, just keeping close tabs on each other. They weren’t allowed to use their phones in school; if a teacher saw a phone, it was confiscated. But there was time before school, during breaks, after school, while at work. They didn’t start eating lunch together right at the beginning of senior year—Maia had her posse of girls and Finn had his guys. But it wasn’t long before they merged those friends so they could be together. Finn liked to put a hand on her knee under the table; she liked to give him a brief kiss on the cheek before heading to the next class.

They saw each other whenever they could. They walked to classes together, they went out on weekends, and Maia liked to watch him practice with the baseball team. They did homework together now and then, sometimes at one of their houses, sometimes on the phone. Maia’s parents were ready to adopt Finn, and Rob and Sean were big Maia fans.

Then at night, they had those quiet serious talks that seemed to mark love in bloom. And there were long stretches of time when, phones pressed to their ears, they just listened to each other breathe.

Maia was not Finn’s first kiss but there hadn’t been that many girls before her. And he had fallen into those awesome, hot, steamy makeout sessions with Maia easily. And while love was in bloom, so was Colorado. Things were sprouting everywhere, from the ground to the treetops. April came with a blush on the land.

“It’s obvious you’re down for the count,” Rob said to his son. “I like Maia, she seems like a real nice girl...”

“She’s awesome. Brilliant and fun and cool,” Finn said.

“So, is there anything we should talk about?” Rob asked. “Like ground rules? Boundaries? Safety? Responsibility?”

“Haven’t we had this talk about fifty times?” Finn asked. “Maybe you should talk to Sean.”

“Does Sean have a girlfriend?” Rob asked, eyebrows raised with surprise.

“Probably,” Finn said. “He moves a little fast in that area. Faster than me.”

Finn had never dated seriously before Maia. His focus had really been on school, work and sports, not necessarily in that order. He had to do well in school—it was a means to an end. If he was going to live well and have good man-toys, he’d have to find a way to earn a good living. And he did not want to own a bar or restaurant.

Then he noticed Maia and, holy shit, by Thanksgiving of his senior year he had fallen hard. He loved everything about her—her skin, her hair, her voice, her scent, her shape, her brain, her personality. She was the only girl he’d ever known who had it all. Really, all. He just couldn’t believe she wanted to be with him.

He didn’t know if this was what love felt like but he couldn’t imagine it got any better.

He’d gotten his stitches out; the bandage was off but his hand still hurt sometimes, like when he caught a fly ball. He wasn’t playing that well. He was hitting okay, catching worse. It frustrated him but graduation was nigh and he knew he wasn’t scholarship material based on athletics. He was getting a little scholarship help at UC for academics. But he liked baseball and wanted to play. “You’re going to have to give it time,” Dr. Culver said. “It might be slightly sore when stressed for a few months.”

“So much for baseball,” he grumbled.

“If you still have trouble in midsummer, we’ll contact a specialist. Since you only have moderate pain when you pressure the injury site, I don’t suspect any deeper problem. Why don’t you cushion the site with a bandage while you play ball, see if that helps.”

“I’ll try that,” he said.

But when he had Maia in his arms, his hand never bothered him. It felt particularly good when he had it full of the warm, sweet flesh of her breast. They did a lot of kissing, touching, bumping and grinding, then one night they unbuttoned each other’s jeans. He reached for hers, she reached for his and he thought he might die. All he wanted in life was that they put their hands down each other’s pants. They were parked at a turnout on a mountain road, steaming up the windows just as they steamed up each other.

“Okay, whoa now,” Maia said. “Let’s slow this down before we lose control.”

“Okay,” he said obediently. He put his arm around her shoulders, pulled her close and said, “Should we go to prom?”

She laughed softly. “I wondered about that. I wondered if you were ever going to ask me.”

“I’m just an average guy, Maia. I was putting it off, afraid you’d say no. I mean, you could go with anyone.”

“You’re so funny. Who else would I go with? Who else would ask me as long as we’re going together? Of course I’ll go with you! Why wouldn’t I?”

“You’re so wonderful.” He kissed her temple.

“I’m not quite ready for sex,” she said.

“That’s okay,” he said.

“Going to prom with you might not make me any more ready. Promise me you won’t expect sex if you take me to prom.”

“I promise. Sex. That’s your call.”

“But I bet you have a condom.”

A short laugh escaped him. “I will always have a condom. Know why? Because we’re not going to get in over our heads. We’re going to be safe and we’re going to be sure.”

“Well, I have something to tell you. I haven’t had sex with anyone. I’m not sure I even know what to do. But I know I’m not quite ready.”

He stroked her soft hair. “Maia, I haven’t, either. But I bet if we do eventually do it, it’ll be all right. No hurry. Your call, like I said.”

“But you’re ready?”

He was quiet for a moment. He sighed. He was such a hustler—not. It had only taken about six months to get to this conversation. “There’s no way I can say the right thing here.”

She giggled. “I know you want to. I want to, too. But you know what? I’d like to be sure we’re going to be together for a while. I want to be sure we both feel like we’re with the one we love. But don’t say you love me—it won’t get you sex.”

He laughed. Then he kissed her cheek. “Okay, I get it. I do think I love you, though.”

“Seriously?”

“What do I know? I’ve never been serious with a girl like this. I love every second with you. Everything about us together is good. When we’re making out or doing homework. Okay, that’s a lie. Making out is better than homework. There is one thing...”

“Yeah?”

“When you start to seriously consider sex, with me or with anyone, you need protection. Like the pill or something. And I think if it’s ever with anyone but me I might have to kill him, but don’t let that bother you. I’ll do it fast and as painlessly as possible and we don’t have to ever talk about it.”

She laughed. “You’d never kill a fly.”

“Hah! I’ve killed hundreds of flies!”

“I’m already on the pill,” she said quietly. She shrugged and didn’t look at him. “Terrible cramps. But that doesn’t mean I’m ready for sex with you. But I do feel like I love you, too. For all the same reasons.”

Finn really thought he might explode on the spot, but not only had his father lectured endlessly on this topic, his aunt Sid had talked with him at length about how to respect women. There was a lot of talk about consent. “Whew,” he said. “Okay, you just keep me posted. You should definitely be sure.”

After that conversation, spring seemed to literally blast its way onto the land—flowers, bunnies, elk calves and all.

Leigh moved everything off her desk, then put everything back and moved everything off her credenza. She checked her pockets and dumped the contents of her purse on her desk. She looked under her desk and in each drawer. Then she went to the front of the clinic where Eleanor and Gretchen worked. “Has anyone seen my cell phone?”

“Did you call it, listen for the ring?” Gretchen asked.

“It’s turned off. I swear I just had it.”

“You checked desk drawers, purse?”

“Yes. And I emptied my purse completely to be sure.”

“Could you have left it in your car?” Eleanor asked.

“No. I sat at my desk and talked to my aunt Helen this morning.”

“Trash?”

“I’ll look,” Leigh said, heading back to her office.

“I took out the trash,” Gretchen said.

Leigh and Eleanor both looked at her. She had a reputation for not doing the dirty work until asked. At close of business either Eleanor or Leigh usually handled the trash.

“Don’t look at me like that,” Gretchen said. “Not the medical waste. Just the paper and kitchen waste.”

Leigh sighed. “I’ll go get it.”

“Let me do that, Dr. Culver,” Eleanor said.

“No, it’s my phone. I wonder if I could’ve knocked it in the trash while I was cleaning off my desk this morning. I’ll be right back.” She took the stethoscope from around her neck and put it on the counter. Then she went out back to the Dumpster.

She could see the white trash bag that came from the clinic but she couldn’t quite reach it. If the Dumpster had been almost full, the bag would’ve been within reach, but it was about a foot too far down. She spotted an old wooden chair and grabbed it, pulling it out. It was a little wobbly but still functional. She pushed the chair up against the Dumpster to steady it, then stood on it and leaned over the edge, reaching in. Her fingertips grazed the trash bag. All she had to do was get a grip on it and pull—

She teetered on the edge of the Dumpster as she reached and her toe accidentally pushed away the chair. In a frightful moment, she fell. Headfirst.

She froze, sprawled atop the bags of trash. Her first order of concern was whether she had landed on anything sharp. She didn’t feel any pain. Her next concern—had she landed on anything really icky? She heard the sound of footsteps—someone was running toward the Dumpster. Her third concern arose—how long was she going to look like a complete idiot?

“Oh Jesus,” Rob Shandon said, peering into the Dumpster. “What the hell happened?”

“Kind of a long story,” she said, still lying across several bags of trash. “Short version, I seem to have lost my phone.”

He grinned at her. “You want to get out of there?”

“Not without my trash,” she said. She moved around and found the one she was after. She tossed it out of the Dumpster. Rob ducked as it flew past. “All right. Can you give me a hand?”

“Yes, Doctor,” he said, reaching for her. He checked the edge of the Dumpster, making sure it wasn’t sharp. “Can you stand up? I’m going to lift you out.”

“The chair isn’t a good idea,” she advised.

“Yeah, I saw that. Just let me get my hands under your arms. Don’t try to help me—I’m going to pull you right over the edge. It’s kind of dirty but no sharp edges. Here, hold my hands until you get upright.”

She had to stand on a pile of trash to get high enough for him to get a grip on her. “Ew,” she said, lifting a foot to which a limp and slimy lettuce leaf clung.

He laughed. “If that’s the worst you get, you’re in good shape. Ready? Here we go.” He pulled her right over the edge and into his arms. And he just held her there. He didn’t even attempt to put her down.

“How did you know I was in there?” she finally asked.

“I was driving by and I saw your legs go over the edge. I knew it was someone from the clinic because of the scrubs but I didn’t know which one of you. I hit the jackpot.”

“You can go ahead and put me down now.”

“I’d rather not,” he said. “Brings something to mind I’ve been thinking about for weeks. We should go out.”

“Out?” she asked.

“On a date.”

“Where does one go out in Timberlake? There’s no movie theater and you have the best restaurant in town.”

“Thank you,” he said, beaming. “I like to visit lots of different restaurants that are nothing like mine. I started my career working in a five-star restaurant.”

“And you want a date with me? Why?”

“Well, let’s see,” he said, rolling his eyes upward. “You can get out stains, you’re good with a needle, various things... Maybe we should get to know each other better. Isn’t that why people date?”

“I shouldn’t have rubbed your head,” she said. “I do that with patients who have a lot of fear or anxiety or look like they might puke. It relaxes them.”

“I’m not the only one?” he said. “Damn. I thought I was the only one.”

“You want to be the only one?”

He nodded and smiled slyly. “How about Sunday night? The pub is kind of frisky on Friday and Saturday night and I like to stay close. There’s this great gourmet restaurant in Aurora—only nine tables. The chef is a friend.”

“You can put me down,” she said. “I have to go through the trash.”

“This feels kind of nice,” he said. “Okay.” He let her legs drop down but, with an arm around her waist, continued to keep her close. “You said yes to Sunday night, right?”

“I didn’t yet. I haven’t had a date in a while.”

“Me, either,” he said. “Maybe we’ll get through it okay. I’m very polite. And helpful.”

“You did drag me out of a Dumpster, so I guess I owe you.”

“Dr. Culver,” Eleanor called, coming toward them, holding Leigh’s phone. “It was in one of the exam rooms.”

“That’s right!” she said. “I took it out to see who was calling me and put it on the counter rather than back in my pocket.” She smiled. “You’ll be happy to know I won yet another free vacation. That’s when I turned it off.”

“Then she fell in the Dumpster,” Rob said. “Headfirst.”

Eleanor gasped and covered her mouth with her hand. Then she started to laugh.

“It’s okay,” Rob said. “I saw her go in and pulled her out.”

Then Rob and Eleanor both laughed—hard.

Leigh crossed her arms over her chest. “I could have been killed, you know. Someone could have thrown away a butcher knife and I could have landed on it. Then would you be laughing?”

Rob draped an arm across her shoulders. “Of course not, Dr. Culver. I also wouldn’t have asked you to go out to dinner with me, so I’m glad you weren’t mortally wounded.”

“Oh, that’s so romantic!” Eleanor said. “You plucked her right out of the garbage and asked her out! What a great story!”

“You’re fired!” Leigh said. “And gimme that phone!”

And with that she stomped toward the clinic. She heard them behind her.

“Very good move, Rob!” Eleanor said.

“I hope so,” he replied. “A little klutzy, isn’t she?” And they both enjoyed a good laugh.

Later that night, her cell phone rang and she saw it was Rob Shandon. She clicked on Accept, but said nothing.

“You gave me your number, remember?” he said.

“Are you done laughing at me?” she asked.

“I should have been laughing with you,” he said. “You climbed up on a broken chair and fell headfirst into a Dumpster. You’re not even bruised and you were pulled out by a handsome man. Okay, that part’s fiction—you were pulled out by me.”

“I’m not going to tell you you’re handsome.”

“Fair enough.” He chuckled. “Can I pick you up at six on Sunday night? I’d really love to take you to dinner.”

“All right. Is it dressy?”

“Nothing in Colorado is dressy. I’ll probably trade my jeans for pants but anything is acceptable. You’ll love this place. It’s unique, delicious, there’s a guy who plays classical guitar and there’s always some new creation from the kitchen. It has a cult following—foodies who know what they’re doing. So, I’ll see you at six on Sunday. I hope the rest of the week is less adventurous for you.”

“Thank you,” she said. “Yours, too.”

Since Leigh spoke to Helen daily, she was well aware that the process of selling the house had been in full swing. The moment Leigh had said, “Let’s do it,” Helen had hired a team of three women her Realtor had recommended to help her sort through a lifetime of precious junk. She had over a dozen large plastic tubs filled with pictures, Leigh’s handmade Christmas ornaments from childhood, favorite books, special school papers, linens and dishes that had been handed down, everything she couldn’t part with. She also kept several boxes of her own books, mostly to give away. She was ready to lighten her load.

“I should come and help,” Leigh said.

“As much as I’d enjoy your company, I’m writing a check for this one. If you can think of anything you left here that you can’t live without, now’s the time to speak up. All those medical books are going to the library.”

“Everything I need is online now,” Leigh said. “Those books cost a fortune and will probably never be used again. Even medical records are all stored in the cloud now. We’re paperless. What about the furniture?”

“Is there anything you’re particularly attached to?” Helen asked.

“I brought the old oak dry sink and the two paintings I loved with me,” she said. “I bought a new bedroom set, guest room furniture and some living room pieces and just essential kitchen items for my rental. What are you going to do with the furniture?”

“Sell it or give it away,” Helen said. “It’s more than I need, and if I ever settle down again before the nursing home, I’ll buy what I need. Most of our furniture is deeply loved and quite old. If I decide to settle in San Diego or La Jolla this winter, I’ll rent something furnished. Our keepsakes are all packed up in waterproof tubs and I’ll have them shipped to be stored near you. If you move, it can also move. On lonely Saturday nights you can look at your old kindergarten drawings.”

“That sounds like wonderful fun,” Leigh said with a laugh.

“There’s something you can do, darling. Rent a storage unit—not a large one. Give me the address and I’ll have this stuff shipped. It’s all nicely labeled.”

Three weeks after the work of sorting and tossing had begun, the For Sale sign went up and in forty-eight hours there had been an offer. An excellent offer. Leigh had naturally assumed it would take at least a month to close and finish the moving process but she should have known better. With Helen in charge, delegating, the process moved like greased lightning.

It was only the day after Rob had asked her out when her cell phone rang and it was Helen.

“I’m just leaving work,” Leigh said. “Let me call you from home.”

“Yes, do,” Helen said. “I’ve finished everything and I’m coming.”

Leigh froze. “What?” She sat back down at her desk.

“I’ve disposed of the furniture, hired the house cleaners and painters, sold my car to one of the packers, signed my end of the paperwork, left the routing numbers for my account with the closing agent and packed my bags. I can be there in three days.”

“Helen! How in God’s name did you manage all that so fast?”

“I had very efficient help and have moved into a hotel. The buyers are in a hurry, had a walkthrough today and want to close as soon as the title office is ready. If anything is upset in the next couple of weeks I guess I’ll fly back here to straighten it out, but I have no business here. I’m going to have to buy a new car when I get there...”

Leigh laughed. “You are amazing. How do you do it?”

“There is no one to do it for me or to argue with me about my process. Therefore, I get it done. I’ll be there Saturday afternoon. Is that all right?”

Leigh just laughed. “Of course.” And she thought she would either explain to Rob that something came up or she would ask if Helen could be included on their date. “I can’t wait to see you.”

“Shall I arrange for a rental car?”

“I’m off this weekend. I’ll come to get you. Will you be flying to Denver?”

“Yes, please. I have quite a load this time. I might have to make your house my base, taking over your guest room. How do you feel about that?”

She felt all warm and lovely inside. “Nothing could make me happier, Auntie.”

“Wonderful! I promise not to get underfoot.”

Whatever words we utter should be chosen

with care for people will hear them and be

influenced by them for good or ill.

—Gautama Buddha

4

LEIGH HAD SEEN her aunt Helen several times since moving to Timberlake but only twice had Helen come to Timberlake. Last fall Helen visited and she was very preoccupied with the colorful leaves, plus she was finishing a book. Book deadlines always left Helen a bit antisocial and holed up with the final manuscript. Leigh was excited to introduce Helen to her new friends and colleagues.

This visit would be extended, at least until Helen grew restless. It was obvious when Leigh picked her up and filled the car with boxes and suitcases that she was planning on staying awhile.

“Wait till you watch the news,” Helen said, beaming. “They’re expecting another crippling snowstorm in the Midwest! And I’ll be here!” Then she giggled.

“When will you be traveling next?” Leigh asked Helen when they were on the road back to Timberlake.

“There’s a conference in New York at the end of May, just for a few days. Then I’m going to San Francisco in July. Maureen has a lovely little guesthouse and I can stay as long as I like. I wish you could get away for a little while. We could do the town.”

“We’ll see,” Leigh said. “Maybe I can take a couple of days. I do love Maureen and I haven’t seen her in a long time. But I’m needed here. These people depend on me and it feels...” She smiled. “It feels so good.”

“You’ve gotten so mellow since you’ve come here,” Helen said.

“The quiet and slower pace suits me,” Leigh said. “I was afraid I’d be bored. I’m not.”

“Have you made many friends?” Helen asked.

“There are some. The fire department is across the street and those guys hang around the clinic sometimes. They bring their families to me and sometimes include me in their get-togethers. There are a couple of other medical practices nearby—a pediatrician and an orthopedist—we’re friendly. There’s a neurosurgeon I’ve gotten to know—Maggie. She goes to Denver three days a week for her practice. We’re friends and her sister-in-law, wife of one of the paramedics, has become a friend. Maggie’s dad, Sully, has a great camping outpost on a lake nearby—he’s everyone’s friend.”

“And you’re skiing?” Helen asked.

“Not much beyond the few lessons I took last winter. I went with Maggie’s other sister-in-law, Sidney. This time I’m going to make sure you meet some of these people. You’ll get such a kick out of Sidney. She’s an amazing woman—consults in quantum physics at UCLA. She and her husband are going to move to Boulder at the end of the summer. She’s taking a position at the university and her husband is going to get his teaching certificate. Apparently he’s always wanted to teach high school.”

“I hope he’s got nerves of steel,” Helen said.

“You loved teaching,” Leigh said.

“My current job is much more flexible.”

“After we get all of your luggage sorted out, we’ll go and get something to eat. There’s a little pub in town owned by a guy I know—Sid’s brother, Rob. It’s kind of lively on Saturday nights, especially during spring break, and it’s always spring break somewhere. But I’d like you to meet him. He asked me out on a date. I patched up his son after an accident.”

“Did you go?” Helen asked.

“It’s for tomorrow night. I’m going to introduce you, tell him you’ve come for a visit, and I’m sure he’ll invite you to join us.”

“Have you been seeing him long?”

“No, Auntie—he just asked me. First date, though I’ve known him since I moved here. I think he’s just being neighborly because I put stitches in his son’s hand.”

“What a crock,” Helen said. “If he was thanking you for the stitches, he’d give you a plant or fruit basket. This sounds like a real date. I’ll look him over, and if I like what I see, I won’t join you.” Then she smiled her dazzling smile.

Leigh thought Helen was beautiful. She hoped to be that attractive and youthful looking at sixty-two. Leigh sometimes worried that Helen had never married because of her. As far as Leigh could remember, Helen hadn’t even hinted that she had any interest in a love life until Leigh was in college. After Leigh’s breakup with Johnny, during one of their teary heart-to-heart talks, Helen admitted that some of her many evenings with friends or book club nights or faculty meetings had actually been dates. But none of the men were ever all that serious, not much more than friends.

Helen was tall at five foot eight, her back straight and her head held high. She kept her hair colored a rich dark brown; she was trim and athletic. She was just beginning to show the true signs of aging, laugh lines around her mouth and crow’s-feet around at her eyes, but these little things did nothing to diminish her attractiveness. She had a beautiful, joyful smile. She didn’t look like a woman trying to appear thirty-five, not at all. She looked exactly like who she was—an honest, vibrant, healthy sixty-two. She loved her age and was reaching it with grace and humor. Leigh wanted to be just like her.

Together they unloaded Helen’s luggage and got her partially settled in the guest room. Leigh hadn’t had time to set up a work space in that room for her, since she arrived so quickly. “Just as well,” Helen said. “I’m going to want a small bookcase and a worktop of some kind. Maybe a sturdy folding table or maybe a desk—not a fancy desk. Just a place for notebooks, Post-its, those little things that keep me organized. The boxes contain office supplies—from printer to pens. I don’t actually sit at a desk to work and we don’t work off hard copy anymore—it’s always on the computer screen. I like to move around a lot, sometimes sitting on the porch, sometimes in a cozy chair, sometimes at the kitchen table. Sometimes in a coffee shop or bar.”

“Make this room any way you like,” Leigh said. “I want this to be your house, too. I want you to spend as much time here as you want. If you decide to stay for months or even years, that would make me so happy. If you just want to visit, I understand.”

“I’m going to stay a good long time while I look this place over,” Helen said. “Then we’ll see.”

The pub was warm and woody and the place was hopping, laughter ringing out from the busy bar area. It looked to be populated mostly with college students. They were supposed to be over twenty-one but who knew how many fake IDs were floating around the room.

“Let’s see if we can get a table or booth that’s a little away from the bar,” Leigh said.

“Why are there so many young people here?” Helen asked. “Skiing is over, isn’t it? Please tell me it’s over.”

“It’s almost May, it’s pretty slim pickings even at the higher elevations,” Leigh said. “But the trails and rock climbing all around us call to these young people. A lot of them come here to camp, hike, bike and climb.”

“Let’s spend spring break in Timberlake, Colorado? That can’t sound too exciting on the campuses in the north. I thought the kids all went to Florida,” Helen said. “Or Mexico.”

“The majority probably do, but as you can see, there are quite a few right here. Sully’s campground is always full during holiday breaks and weekends. Lots of families and quite a few students.”

They settled at a table near the front window and Helen immediately picked up a menu. She slid on her reading glasses and scanned it. “You can’t eat here too often and keep your figure. Hamburgers, pizzas, wraps, wings...”

“Pub food. I can direct you to some dishes that aren’t too heavy or greasy,” Leigh said.

“Maybe next time, dear,” she said. “Look at these hamburgers!”

“And I can vouch for them, too. They’re wonderful. You do like your occasional hamburger, don’t you?”

“It might be my favorite meal. I’ve just never been any good on the grill. I can’t do it every time I eat out or I’d be as big as a house. But I’ve worked hard the last few weeks! Time for a treat. Let’s start with wine. What’s good here?”

“You pick,” Leigh said.

A few minutes later, their wine barely delivered, people began to drop by their booth to say hello. First was Eleanor and her husband, Nick. “Auntie, you remember Eleanor, don’t you? The best nurse in the county?”

“Of course! So nice to see you again!”

“I hope you’re staying awhile this time,” Eleanor said.

“I plan to be, until I get the itch to go somewhere.”

“Spring and summer are beautiful here,” Eleanor said.

Just after ordering their food, Connie Boyle approached the booth, carrying a large take-out sack. Leigh introduced Helen and asked about his wife, Sierra.

“She’s ripe as a melon and should pop in around a month or six weeks. She said she was dying for Rob’s potato skins and wings, so here I am. I’ve found granting every wish of a pregnant wife is always in my best interest.”

“Connie and Sierra have a one-year-old son and a daughter on the way,” Leigh explained to Helen.

“That’s cutting it close,” Helen said, sipping her wine.

“Good thing we like kids, huh?” Connie said with a smile.

Just as their food arrived, Tom Canaday and his fiancée, Lola, stopped by to say hello. Leigh explained that they were two single parents who had combined families and together had six kids between them. “We threw a pizza at them and ran for our lives,” Tom said.

“We really needed a night out,” Lola said.

All through dinner people stopped by to say hello and meet Leigh’s aunt. When Helen finished her hamburger and dabbed her lips with her napkin, she said, “That was fabulous. The meal and your neighbors. We often ran into people we knew when we were out at home, but nothing like this. You must feel positively embraced.”

“It doesn’t take long to begin to feel like a part of the community,” she said. “I want you to meet Rob but I only caught a glimpse of him and then he disappeared. I’ll ask about him.”

Before she could do that, an obnoxiously large piece of mud pie covered in whipped cream was delivered by the waitress. “Compliments of the management,” she said.

Leigh craned her neck and saw Rob behind the bar. He gave her a wave.

“Tell him if he has a minute to come over. I’d like to introduce him to my aunt.”

Leigh and Helen shared the dessert, though both of them were too stuffed to make much of a dent in it. Coffee was served and Leigh began telling Helen of the things she might like to explore—national parks, hiking trails, fancy spas, scenic railroads...

“It sounds like this could be a season of outdoor activities,” Helen observed.

Then Rob appeared. He said hello to a few patrons as he passed them, then slid into the booth next to Leigh.

“Ladies, how are you tonight? Everything okay? Can I get you anything else?”

“Everything was wonderful. Rob, I’d like you to meet my aunt Helen. She arrived just a few hours ago.”

“Pleasure,” he said, reaching across the table to shake her hand. “Is this your first visit to Pleasantville?”

Leigh saw Helen smile and could tell she was already charmed.

“I’ve made a couple of quick trips. Last fall, before winter settled in. Beautiful little slice of the world you have here. I’m going to stay a bit longer, see a bit more of it this trip.”

“You won’t be disappointed. Any way I can help, please call on me.”

“Your pub is outstanding,” she added. “And you do quite a business.”

“Thank you. The weekends are busier, of course.”

“Tell me, is it rewarding?” Helen asked.

“I love this place,” he said. “It was in lousy shape when I bought it, but with a little renovation it turned into a top-notch pub. I’ve been lucky enough to find great employees. It’s a small town so there are only two major eateries in town—the pub and the diner—and two different cuisines. The diner is more home cooking, no alcohol, great breakfasts and dynamite coffee. We have the best burgers, but there are plenty of good meals for the nonburger fan.”

“I’m definitely a burger fan,” Helen said. “You must be very well known for them.”

“Locally,” he said. “The best thing about this little business is that it allowed me the flexibility to raise my boys. They’re fifteen and seventeen now. Their mother passed away nine years ago and I needed a job I could escape when there were teacher conferences, sporting events, school programs or those nights they called to say they’d just happened to remember the big project they had to turn in tomorrow...that had been assigned a month ago.”

Helen laughed. “I’m a former teacher,” she said. “You just made my heart sing.”

“It all worked out, despite those emergencies. It’s so nice to meet you. I’m going to have to excuse myself. I want to keep an eye on the bar.”

“Thanks for stopping by,” Leigh said. “We’re going to get the check and be on our way.”

“I’ll have it sent over,” he said.

Leigh and Helen just looked at each other for a moment after Rob left. “I like him,” Helen said. “I suppose he’s very well known around here?”

“I’m sure everyone knows him,” Leigh said.

“Then the chances of him being a pervert and predator are slim.”

Leigh laughed. “I would think so.”

The check arrived. Compliments of the house was scrawled across the ticket. Leigh just shook her head, but she was touched that he would do that. She wasn’t completely sure, but she thought that was a gesture of goodwill and not just because he wanted a date. She left a tip for the waitress on the table. They were on the sidewalk when her phone pinged. She looked at the text and smiled.

If you’d like to include your aunt tomorrow night, feel free.

Everyone has a life story—in fact, several versions of that story, all of which are true but might differ in detail or emphasis. Leigh recognized that first dates were usually the time to share that story and the variations seemed to depend on how much she wanted the friendship or relationship to work. Most of the time she had no real interest in a serious relationship nor cared if it worked. She was very experienced with first dates. In fact, she was way too experienced with only one date. She had merely wanted to enjoy herself with a nice man for an evening but nothing beyond that.

The restaurant he’d chosen was perfect, Leigh thought. It was small, quiet, with a little soft background guitar playing. The chef immediately came out front to shake Rob’s hand and meet Leigh. They were delivered a menu of the nine courses to come. The food was a gourmet adventure designed to last a long time.

“I’m really surprised you’re not married,” Rob said.

“Oh? And why is that?”

“You know,” he said. “Because the good ones are always taken.”

She frowned. “That was a compliment?”

“I meant it as one.”

“Ergo, if you’re not taken, you probably aren’t one of the good ones?”

He put down his drink and smiled at her. “Or, like me, you have avoided marriage. While my kids were young and most of my energy went into building my business and taking care of them, I didn’t take the time to get involved with anyone. I was friendly with everyone in town and thought of the perils of dating any local women because of how small towns are. My sister lived with us for over a year after her divorce, then she met Dakota and within a few months moved in with him. She still helps us out but it was mostly down to me. But my boys are in a whole new place. Finn is graduating and going to college. Sean is a very independent young man. Sid and Dakota are moving north to Boulder. And I find myself with far more personal time than I’ve ever had. So, that’s my story.”

“That’s a very good story,” she said. “I guess you think I was being difficult. I know you meant it as a compliment.”

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