The Healing Touch of his Love, page 4
Ginny sighed. “No, I’m afraid not. My father is expecting me soon. That’s the trouble with working two jobs, there’s simply not enough time to do anything else. I’m glad I got to see you for a few moments at the very least, and thank you for inspiring me to start charging for my tailoring. It might be just the thing that allows me to afford the life I want to lead. How about you, Ashley? Do you ever think about your future?”
Up until that moment, Ashley had been looking straight at Ginny as she spoke. She looked away as soon as Ginny asked about her own future, as if it was something she preferred not to think or talk about.
“Oh, I don’t know. I suppose what I’d really like is for some handsome cowboy to come riding into town, take one look at me and decide to settle down. I think I’d like to have my own set of children to yell at, and my own homestead with a big porch looking over the rolling hills towards the water. How does that sound for a future? Achievable?” Ashley looked back up, pleased with the tale she’d spun.
“With the exception of hoping that some handsome, roaming cowboy will stroll into town and fall in love with you at first sight, I think it all sounds very realistic.”
“I don’t know, part of me feels like that’s the most dependable part of my ludicrous plan. Think about it. There are no eligible bachelors in Park County worth my time, or yours for that matter, but the population is growing all the time. Every day it seems that there is some new stranger wandering into town and deciding to settle down, and why shouldn't one of them be a handsome cowboy?”
“You’re right. I suppose the unrealistic part is that you’d fall in love at first sight.” Ginny had never experienced anything approaching love herself, and perhaps because of that she was sure that she would never be so taken by someone upon first glance as to declare her love for him.
“I don’t doubt that I could fall in love at first sight. If the right man came along, of course. Did you hear there’s a new doctor in town? Now, he’s no cowboy, but still. Rumor has it that he’s quite handsome,” Ashley said, nudging Ginny with her elbow teasingly.
“I’m sure he is, but what does that mean if he doesn’t have a congenial personality or a sense of kindness in his heart? Maybe he’s only here because he’s running away from some criminal past? Did you ever think of that?” By that point in their friendship, Ginny was immune to her friend’s teasing. Ashley loved pushing the envelope and trying to shock Ginny with her outrageous statements, but Ginny knew how to bite back.
“Ah, a dark past! Is there anything more attractive than a changed man? All of a sudden I’m rethinking my dream of a marauding cowboy. Maybe a dastardly doctor is more ideal after all.”
Ginny shook her head and laughed. The front stoop of the saloon was nearing them, and as they approached, Ginny could see that it was busy inside. She sighed, preparing herself for another night of pouring pints and trying to keep the peace between unhappy gamblers. There were perks to the job, to be sure.
Besides church, the saloon was effectively the heart of the town, so she was the first to know about all the comings and goings. In fact, she’d already heard about the new doctor’s arrival as well as Mayor Daniels’ plans to start a spring fair the following year.
“As much as I would love to spend the rest of the night speculating on the merits of men with dastardly pasts, I must go to work. Thank you again for convincing me to take the Martin commission, and for the company on my walk to work.” Ginny started loosening the ties on her bonnet in preparation to head behind the bar.
“The pleasure was all mine. Let me know if any strange cowboys walk into the saloon this evening. Or doctors, I suppose,” Ashley said with a wink as she skipped off toward her own home. Ginny rolled her eyes playfully and headed up the steps to the saloon.
She blinked a few times upon entering, letting her eyes get used to the darkness of the oak-lined establishment. Her father, Manny, had put his heart and soul into the place, and it showed. Everyone who came in from out of town remarked on how fine the saloon looked, especially compared to other saloons in similarly sized counties. It had broken Ginny’s heart when her father had been forced to consider shuttering the place after the robbery. For that reason, she knew she wouldn’t be able to resist her father’s request to have her work there, taking care of the place until he’d saved up enough money to hire someone else.
“Ginny, you’re late!”
She blinked once more and saw her father frantically shouting at her from behind the bar as he filled a lineup of rocks glasses with whiskey. She looked at the standing clock in the corner beside the player piano and shook her head.
“I’m not late, Father; you’re just overworked. Here, let me take over.” Ginny marched behind the bar and started pouring the whiskey herself while her father looked around the big, loud room anxiously.
“I appreciate all the extra business, and we need it now more than ever, but I’ll never quite get used to the nervous rush of trying to take care of so many people at the same time.” Manny’s head whipped around as someone called his name, waving their hand in the air to get his attention.
“It’s alright,Father, just take everything one order at a time. I’m here now; we’ll catch up in a few minutes. Here, take this tray over to the men waving to you.” Ginny arranged all the whiskey glasses on a wooden tray and handed it to her father.
“Thank you, Ginny. I don’t know what I’d do without you. Ah! That player piano is so loud; I wish I could just turn it off altogether. I can’t hear myself think. I wish we could go back in time, to the days when I was just a bar owner of leisure, relegated to my books and ledgers. Now I spend my days bowing down to the whims and fancies of...these good-for-nothings. This is a degradation that I will never forgive Miles for.” As he spoke, Manny waved his hand around dismissively toward his customers.
“Father! You can’t talk about your patrons like that. It’s thanks to them that we have food on our table. I know that you miss the days gone by, but with a little more hard work, you’ll be back there in no time. I promise.”
Manny pinched his daughter’s cheek affectionately and rushed off with the whiskey toward a group of particularly rowdy men. Ginny laughed at her father as she went to greet one of the regulars who had sat down at the bar. As amusing as it was to see Manny so discombobulated, it was also tinged with sadness. It was true that their quality of life had changed drastically since Miles stole their family fortune. That was one reason why it was so exciting for Ginny to have found a way of earning her own money.
She’d been planning to tell her father about it that night, but something held her back. Though she had no reason to believe that he would, she was worried that her father might assume that Ginny had earned that money for the family. Her father would likely be confused about why she needed her own money in the first place, and she’d have to explain everything about her dream of going to college.
Ginny patted the five dollars still in her pocket and decided to keep her secret for the time being. The truth would come out eventually, but in the meantime, she needed to find the right way to reveal it.
Chapter 3
“Doctor Cook, you are looking well today. I hear you are almost as busy as I am these days, so I’m honored to have seen you twice in such a short time!” Mayor Daniels shuffled some papers and put them in a drawer as he gave his attention to the busy doctor.
“Yes, thank you for seeing me on such short notice and right in the middle of lunch. I’m afraid it was the only time I had available. The Cooper girl up the hill has a nasty cough I have to see to this afternoon, so I won’t be able to talk for too long.” Kenton fought the tiredness in his eyes as he sat down in the mayor’s office.
It was a simple space. In fact, the entire makeshift city hall was nothing more than a wooden structure. They were building a stone edifice down the way a bit, but such an undertaking was bound to take the better part of two years, so in the meantime, official city business had to take over a local storefront.
“Of course, anything for the man who keeps our town healthy. I must tell you that I haven’t heard back about my advertisement seeking out another doctor who might come take some of the cases off your shoulders. I’m sure someone will respond sooner or later, but for now, I’m afraid you are on your own.” The kindly mayor’s mustache dropped slightly at the corners of his mouth as he reported the unfortunate news. It was disappointing to hear for Kenton, although it had not been the reason for his visit that afternoon.
“Ah, I see. Well, thank you for the update. We can only hope that someone will be tempted to take up the position sooner or later. I actually came to speak with you on another subject, however.”
“Oh?” Mayor Daniels said, intrigued. “If not for that, what brings you in?”
“I was hoping that you could offer some assistance in terms of medical supplies. My stores are running hopelessly low, and as it is, another shipment isn’t due for another month. I don’t like to think about what I’ll be working with by then if the caseload continues at the pace it has been going currently. Do you think that there’s something to be done about that? Perhaps a transport cart could be sent to a neighboring town to see if anyone else might have some basic medicinal needs and supplies to spare?” Kenton asked the question nervously, though Mayor Daniels seemed to be listening to his request with an open heart and patient expression.
All Kenton knew was that if he had approached a local official in Maine with the same request, he likely would have been met with a brick wall. Even if his father hadn’t poisoned people against him, the bureaucrats would doubtlessly have considered the problem his alone to solve, and if he couldn’t, well, it was likely just a sign that he wasn’t up to the job. In contrast, Mayor Daniels immediately got to work pondering who might be able to lend a hand. After all, it was his mandate to care for the health and safety of all Park County citizens.
“Now, let’s see, I don’t like the sound of that. Not when I have my first grandchild due in a matter of weeks. I’ll wager that the Jones boy might have some spare time to head on down to Stittsville to see about some of the supplies you need. The only issue is the funds.”
Kenton watched with hope as Mayor Daniels looked through his ledgers to see if there was any extra money to be spent on medical supplies in the budget. The longer he looked, the less hopeful Kenton felt, however. Mayor Daniels was making unintelligible yet pessimistic sounding grunts every once in a while as he looked through the numbers, occasionally shaking his head.
“I don’t know about this, Kenton, I just don’t know. We might be able to spare you a few dollars here and there, but there’s no saying how long it will be until the city coffers are refilled once more. Would ten dollars be able to help you out in the meantime? I know it’s not much, but we just need something to carry us through until the next shipment from Cheyenne comes in, isn’t that right?” Mayor Daniels asked hopefully.
Kenton pursed his lips thoughtfully as he considered the list of supplies that he needed.
“I suppose it will have to do. It won’t get us far, but I’ll take what I can get. Frankly, I’d spend some of my own money, but I don’t want to have to charge the people any more than I already do.”
“You don’t have any old family shipping connections out this far west, do you? Know anyone that could give us a discount on any upcoming transportation fees? I know that you don’t have the best relationship with your father at the moment, but perhaps there’s someone else you could reach out to?” The mayor looked over at Kenton hopefully. The young doctor wanted desperately to be of more help, but he knew there was nothing more he could bring to the table.
“Even if I were willing to write to my father, I know that he wouldn’t respond favorably, and I have no other family geographically closer that could help. I’m sorry if it seems like I’ve only come here to present a problem and no solutions, but I promise, I’ll do whatever I can to get the necessary medical supplies to Park County. If I thought it would help in the future, I might even be willing to contact my father, but I know that he would ignore any attempt from me to reach out.” Kenton hoped that he was getting his point across without appearing too defensive. He’d traveled across the country to get away from the clawing, dishonest tendrils of his family, so the prospect of depending on them once more felt as if it might be some sort of failure.
Mayor Daniel’s eyes widened as he seemed to realize just how sensitive a subject he had stumbled into.
“No need to say anything more! I completely understand. Leave it with me; I’ll sort out the issue in a matter of days. You have already done so much for our community in the short time you’ve been here; it’s the least we can do. In the end, making sure that you have the supplies you need just means that we also have the supplies that we need. Thank you for coming to me with the issue, Dr. Kenton.”
“Thank you so much for your help and understanding, Mayor Daniels. Park County is lucky to have a leader like you. Now, is there anything else …”
Suddenly, there was a loud knock on the door, and both Kenton and the mayor turned their heads inquisitively toward the entrance.
“I do apologize for the interruption, but I …” Mayor Daniels started, before being interrupted by the knocking once more.
“It’s alright; I don’t mind if you have something to take care of.”
“No, no, your time is valuable too, and I don’t want anything to interrupt. I’m busy at the moment, but you can make an appointment with Nicholas at the front,” the older man called out with a gruff sense of authority in his voice.
“It’s not you I need to see, Mayor Daniels. I need to see the doctor,” said a panicked, muffled voice, calling out from the other side of the door. Without missing a beat, Kenton leapt to his feet and went to open the door. Though technically speaking, he was on his lunch break, he needed to be on call at all times should there be an emergency in the town.
There, standing behind the door was a boy who couldn’t have been more than twelve years old, out of breath as if he’d been running for the past half hour. Sweat and dirt were running down his face, and Kenton was half afraid that the boy was going to collapse right there in the mayor’s office.
“I’m the doctor. Are you alright? Take some deep breaths and tell me what’s wrong.” Right away, Kenton started assessing what might be wrong with the young man, although all of his limbs seemed to be attached. Except for being a little out of breath and tired looking, he seemed to be in perfect health.
Behind the boy, who was still trying to catch his breath, another head popped into the door frame. It belonged to Nicholas, the mayor’s assistant, and he seemed almost as frazzled as the young boy.
“I do apologize to you, Dr. Kenton, and to you, Mayor Daniels. This boy just rushed right past me, and I couldn’t do anything to stop him. Both the mayor and doctor have serious business to attend to, young man, and you can’t just storm in whenever you’d like to interrupt,” Nicholas said to the young boy.
“Nicholas, it’s alright. Let the boy say his piece. What’s wrong, young man?” Kenton asked, putting a comforting hand on the boy’s shoulder.
Behind them all, Mayor Daniels was standing behind his desk, watching the scene unfold.
“You’re the Nelson boy, aren’t you? Is there something wrong with your father?” Mayor Daniels asked. As small as Park County was, Kenton was still impressed that the mayor seemed to know everyone within his jurisdiction. More than that, he knew what every one of his citizens cared about, and he took those cares upon his shoulders as if they were his own.
The boy nodded and finally spoke. “Yes. My name is Tom. It’s my father. He collapsed in the field, and he seems to be unconscious. Nothing happened; he was working one minute, then the next he keeled over. Please come with me doctor; you’re our only hope!”
“The elder Mr. Nelson tends to overextend himself. Did you run all the way here, boy?” the mayor asked the young boy, whose eyes were wet with worry.
Tom nodded.
“That’s what I thought. I see that you’ve inherited the habit. Nicholas, go fetch the boy some water, and Dr. Cook, it seems like you have your work cut out for you. I’ll send Tom after you once he’s recovered.”
