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planning on being open Monday, Wednesday, Friday and Saturday—but I’ll come in if someone needs me. I’m keeping some E.R. hours in Bandon,” he said, then laughed. “I’m working in Bandon to afford this practice. I still have some equipment on the way—most of it is small and portable for now. I doubt I’ll ever have an X-ray but I have a small lab and can do simple tests here. It’s a very compact little setup. And I’m planning to run some specials.”
“Oh?” Sarah asked him.
“Cut-rate school and sports physicals and, in the fall, ten-dollar flu shots.” Devon smiled as she noticed his chest puff up a little.
It was sweet, she thought. Handsome young doctor, brand-new practice, good ideas for bringing in new patients.
“Who’s helping you?” Sarah asked.
“I’m doing everything myself, so far. I need an R.N. or, even better, a physician’s assistant, but no one really wants to work for a part-time practice, and I’m afraid it’ll be a while before I can give up the Bandon E.R. to keep this place open six days a week. I can cover for a good nurse, but the paperwork is going to kill me. What I really need is a top-notch office manager, one who can triage patient needs and keep the forms moving whether I’m here or not.”
“Well, I’m going to be out of work by the end of the summer, but I have no idea what a person does in a doctor’s office,” Sarah responded.
But I do, Devon thought. It had been a long time, but she’d been a clerical worker in a small neighborhood doctor’s office. She knew how to keep charts organized and up-to-date, file insurance claims, schedule appointments, all that sort of thing. She wondered if she’d find the courage to put herself out there. And just as she was considering this, she was snagged by a woman.
“So, you’re the new girl. From Seattle, I hear.”
Devon looked around a little nervously and the woman laughed.
“Believe me, there’s only one new girl that I know of,” she said. “How do you like the town?”
“I’ve hardly seen it,” Devon said.
“I’m Lou McCain. That’s my nephew, the big guy who won’t leave Gina alone. Come with me, I want to know all about you.”
The woman turned, clearly expecting to be followed, and Devon did so. She wasn’t about to argue.
Lou sat down on one of the chairs in the small waiting room and patted the chair beside her. Devon took the chair obediently, hoping this woman didn’t ask difficult questions because she would be impossible to refuse.
“Your name?”
“Oh,” she said, and laughed self-consciously. “Devon. How do you do.”
“Splendid, thank you. Now, tell me all about yourself. Where are you from? What brought you to Thunder Point? How long will you stay? What do you do?” Then she laughed. “I’m sorry—I’m used to dealing with middle-school kids and my nephew’s kids, who I help raise. I’m an eighth grade English teacher. It’s made me very direct. Kids that age live by the ‘literal minimal’ law—if you give them a question they can answer with one word, they will.”
So will I, Devon thought.
“I grew up in Seattle. I’ve been kind of a...well, I was in a relationship, but I wasn’t married. I was...ah...you know.”
“I know,” she said. “I’m still single at just a titch over sixty. Never married. However, I’ve had a relationship or two along the way. Just maybe more than two. Never lived with a man, however. I’m thinking about it now, though. My nephew just got married and Gina has moved in with us. It’s very fun, but we are bursting at the seams. And I do have this wonderful... Oh, you don’t want to know about that....”
“Sure I do,” Devon said.
“But where are you staying, darling?” Lou asked.
“My very distant cousin, Mr. Rawley Goode,” she said. “Just when I didn’t know where to go or what to do, he offered me a place. And it gives me time to think about what to do next.” Then she smiled. “I’m also a teacher, though it’s been years.”
“Really? What age?”
“I have a degree in early childhood development. I’d just gotten started on my master’s when I was...sidetracked, I guess you could say. I became a mother.”
Lou smiled. “It sounds like you made good use of your time. We could use a preschool here. Desperately so. But the town can’t afford it and paying tuition would be something most people here could not afford. A couple of people have run the numbers but the bottom line wasn’t good.”
“But is there a day care?” Devon asked.
Right at that moment a young woman entered the office holding the hands of two preschoolers. She was welcomed warmly and Dr. Grant came from the back to greet them. He seemed very happy to see them; he picked up the little girl and ruffled the little boy’s hair.
“The doctor’s children,” Lou explained. “Very cute. They’re three and four. And yours is...?”
“My daughter is three,” she said. “Right now she’s fishing off the dock with Rawley.”
“Day care, you asked,” Lou reminded her. “There are a couple of women in town who babysit in their homes for working parents, but no official day care center. People tend to rely on friends, neighbors and family for that sort of thing. Will you be looking for a sitter?”
“If I manage to find a job, I will,” she said. “How long have you lived here?” Devon asked Lou.
“Here? A little over four years, but I grew up not far from here in Coquille and lived there all my life until Mac took this assignment. As I’m sure you’ve been told, he’s the law in this little town—Sheriff’s deputy with a few other deputies that work for him. It’s a little office, right next door. I’ll be honest—I didn’t want to move, but I’m glad I did. I love the school where I teach and I’ve made good friends.”
“I don’t suppose they’re looking for a kindergarten teacher?”
Lou put a hand on hers. “Not that I know of, sweetheart. But there are a lot of schools in other towns not too far away.”
“I’ll have to call around. I’ve been at Rawley’s house for almost two weeks. I’d better either find a job or move on.”
“Where would you go?”
She shook her head. “I don’t know.”
“Not back to Seattle?”
“No. I don’t have any family there anymore. I think it’s time for a fresh start. Somewhere.”
“A fresh start as a single mom,” Lou said with a warm smile. “How exciting!”
Devon felt her stomach clench. “Exciting?”
“Yes, exciting!”
Devon just shook her head. “I don’t know. My future looks pretty uncertain right now. And before my daughter came along, I had some pretty lean times....”
“In my life, there seemed to have been cycles—for five to ten years things were up, then followed a long struggle, then things would swing up again. Up and down. I don’t think life is very consistent. But the secret is knowing there’s no limit to the number of times you can reinvent yourself!”
* * *
As the little doctor’s office got busier and more crowded, Devon excused herself and told Sarah she wanted to walk around the town a bit and would be back.
It wasn’t a new or highly polished town, but it was pretty. Devon walked down the sidewalk in one direction then crossed the street and went the other way. She passed lots of small shops, taking note of a store that sold secondhand