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Only Grant’s slightly lifted eyebrows indicated he thought she was rushing them. He took Aunt Elly’s arm, and together they disappeared into the exam room.
Just in time. As the exam room door closed, the front door opened. Deputy Sheriff Gus Foster ambled toward the desk.
At least the sheriff’s department had sent someone she knew. Thank You, Lord.
“Hey, there, Maggie, how’s life treating you?” Gus lifted the dark felt hat from his white hair. With his snowy hair and beard and his comfortably round stomach, Gus visited the Button Gap schoolchildren as Santa every year.
“Fine, Gus. And yourself?” The formalities had to be gotten through before Gus would get to the reason for his visit, but her stomach tightened with the fear that Grant would come back out for some reason.
“Can’t complain.” He leaned against the desk. “Hear you’ve got a new doc.”
She nodded. “From Baltimore. Just until Christmas.” Had they’d chatted enough? It felt like her nerves were rubbed raw. “What brings you in to see us?”
“Well, now.” A shade of reluctance, maybe even embarrassment, touched Gus’s ruddy face. “It’s this way. We had a call from Mrs. Hadley.”
Maggie’s stomach lurched. Mrs. Hadley, head of the county’s social services department, wouldn’t have called the sheriff’s office for fun. Her thoughts flickered to the Bascom kids, safely tucked away with retired teacher Emily Davison for the afternoon, except for Joey, who was in school.
“What does she want now?” She tried to keep both face and voice expressionless.
“Now, Maggie, I know the two of you don’t get along. Reckon I know why, too. But I can’t ignore her when she calls.” He gave a wry grin. “Leastways, not unless I want her trampling over my head again.”
“If you know how she is—”
“I’ve got a job to do,” he said with heavy finality. “Mrs. Hadley’s had her eye on Nella Bascom and her kids. She stopped by to see them a couple of times and didn’t find anybody home. She wants to know what’s going on.”
Her heart sank. She’d been hoping against hope that the woman had enough to do without running all the way up to Button Gap. She’d prayed that no official notice would be taken of Nella’s absence before she was back home with her kids.
“Why did you come to me?” She tried to sound unconcerned.
Gus didn’t look convinced. “Everybody knows you’ve been helping Nella get by since that no-count husband of hers sent himself to perdition by crashing the logging truck. I figured you might know something.”
She could tell him Nella had gone away for a few days, leaving the kids with her, but that would only lead to more questions. “I don’t.” Another lie.
I’m sorry, Lord. I don’t want to lie, but what choice do I have? Mrs. Hadley would snatch those kids away in a minute. Nobody knows that better than I do.
“What business is it of Mrs. Hadley’s what the Bascoms do, anyway?”
“Now, Maggie. The way I see it, if something comes to my notice, official-like, I’d have to do something about it. If not, well, I don’t.”
Her tension eased. “Thanks, Gus.”
“I’m not saying I know anything. But you want to be careful.”
The exam room door opened, and a wave of panic raced through her. “I’ll be careful.” She rounded the desk, wanting to hurry Gus out.
He straightened, immovable. “You know as well as I do that those paper-pushers at the county seat would just as soon close down the free clinic if somebody gave them a reason.”
“Close down?” Grant stalked into the outer office, frowning. “What’s going on? Can I help you, Officer?”
Maggie looked at Aunt Elly, who gave a helpless gesture seeming to indicate that she’d done everything she could to hold him back.
“Nothing’s going on,” she said. “Dr. Hardesty, this is Deputy Sheriff Foster. Gus is an old Button Gap boy, just stopping in to say hi.”
Gus extended his hand. “Welcome to Button Gap, Doc. Hope you enjoy your stay here.”
“I’ll enjoy it more if I don’t hear talk about closing down the clinic,” Grant said, shaking hands. “What did you mean?”
Maggie held her breath.
“Oh, that’s nothing.” Gus smacked his hat against the side of his leg. “Maggie’s an old friend. I was just teasing her.”
Thank you. She should have known Gus wouldn’t give her away to an outsider.
Aunt Elly bustled between them. “Gus, I’ll give you a cinnamon bun for a ride in that sheriff’s car.” She swung the basket in front of him.
Gus patted his stomach. “Always room for one of your cinnamon buns, but I don’t want to deprive the doc.”
“Plenty for everyone.” Aunt Elly handed Gus a napkin-wrapped bun from the basket. She took his arm. “Now let’s see about that ride.”
“You’ve got it.” Smiling, he escorted her to the door. “Nice to meet you, Doc. Be good, Maggie.”
The door closed behind them. Maggie drew in a relieved breath.
Grant grasped her arm to turn her toward him. One look at his frown told her that her relief had been premature.
“What was that all about?”
She tried for a casualness she didn’t feel. “Nothing. You heard Gus. He just likes to tease me.”
“About closing down the clinic?”
She shrugged. “He has an odd sense of humor.”
“It didn’t sound like teasing to me.” His mouth was set in an uncompromising line. His determined gaze pinned her to the spot, demanding answers she wouldn’t give.
“Look.” She pulled her arm free, letting annoyance show in her face. “I can’t help what you thought it sounded like. Gus and I both know that some of the penny-pinchers in county government would be happy to close down the clinic, so they could do something else with our tax dollars. But that’s not going to happen.” Please, God.
“I’m glad you feel so confident about it.” His eyes were the blue-gray of a stormy sky.
“I do.”
He wasn’t satisfied—she could see that. But there wasn’t anything he could do. As long as he didn’t learn the truth about the Bascom children, they were safe.
“I hope you’re right, Maggie. Because I have no intention of letting the clinic be shut down while I’m in charge here.”
He tossed Aunt Elly’s chart onto the desk and stalked back toward the office. The door banged behind him.
Lord, what else could I do? I have to protect those kids.
She had to. But there was one thing she didn’t have to do any longer.
She didn’t have to worry about any more moments when attraction sparked between her and Grant. He’d obviously decided she wasn’t to be trusted.
Chapter Three
Grant prodded the limp green beans in the frozen dinner he’d just taken from the elderly oven. Saturday night, and he was dining on what looked like leftovers from the hospital cafeteria. If he were back in Baltimore, he’d probably be eating seafood at Thompson’s with friends or a date.
He glanced at the clock. Well, no. He wouldn’t have dinner anywhere near this early on a Saturday night in his normal life. Here in Button Gap, without city lights to dispel it, the November darkness seemed darker, the hour later.
Picking up his plate, he wandered into the living room and settled into the faux leather recliner in front of the television. This wasn’t exactly the right ambience for dining, but it beat sitting at the Formica table in the kitchen.
He’d been in the village for nearly a week, and he had to confess the time had gone quickly. After a couple of quiet days, things had picked up at the clinic. Routine cases, for the most part, but they had kept him busy enough to forget he was stuck in the middle of nowhere for the rest of the month.
Okay, Hardesty, stop acting like a baby. Anyone would think this was a lifetime commitment.
Three more weeks, and he’d be free to leave. So life in Button Gap wasn’t exciting. So what? The benefits to his future career certainly outweighed a little discomfort and a hefty dose of boredom.
The clinic seemed to run effectively, in spite of the jolt he’d had at hearing some county bureaucrats wanted to shut it down. Maggie had been scrupulous in following clinic procedures. She’d even exchanged her jeans and flannel shirt for a lab coat worn over a sweater to ward off the drafts that slipped through the chinks in the frame building.
At least, he’d prefer to believe the chill in the air came from the drafts. Possibly, however, the frost might be emanating from Maggie.
Had he overreacted to that overheard conversation with the deputy sheriff? Judging from the coolness she’d shown him the past few days, Maggie certainly thought so.
He didn’t have anything for which to apologize. He was the doctor, and any problems with the clinic would reflect badly on him. He could just imagine the reaction of Dr. Rawlins, the man he hoped would soon be his senior partner, to hearing that his pet project had closed down while Grant was in charge.
Still, Grant wouldn’t mind seeing Maggie’s smile again.
A knock was a welcome interruption. He swung the door open to reveal Aunt Elly, swathed in a plaid wool jacket several sizes too large, topped by a discordant plaid muffler.
“What brings you out on this cold night?” He ushered her inside and snapped off the television news.
“Cold? Wait ’til you’ve been through a winter here and then talk to me about cold.” She loosened the muffler. “I came to bring you along to pageant tryouts.”
The only thing that came to mind was Miss America. “Pageant tryouts?”
“The Christmas pageant,” she said, as if it ought to be self-explanatory. “Everybody in Button Gap comes to church the night they pick the cast, just to cheer them on.”
Apparently he couldn’t escape the holiday, no matter where he went. “I’m afraid I don’t have any dramatic talent.”
“Shoot, you don’t have to try out, boy. It’s mostly kids anyway. But you ought to jump into Button Gap life whilst you’re here. ’Sides, Maggie’s directing it.” She glanced at his discarded plate. “We have dessert after they pick all the parts, y’know. More kinds of homemade pies than you can count.”
He didn’t need any reminders of the Christmas season. On the other hand, he didn’t want to hurt the old lady’s feelings, and just about anything was better than sitting here staring at the television.
“Your company and homemade pies sounds like a winning combination.” He reached for the jacket he’d hung on the bentwood coat rack next to the door. “You’re on.”
He pulled the door shut behind them and started to take Aunt Elly’s arm to help her down the two steps to the street. She’d already trotted down herself.
“It looks like your knee is feeling better.”
She glanced up as if startled, then nodded. “It comes and goes.” She snuggled the muffler around her chin. “Smells like snow in the air.”
They crossed the quiet street. No one else seemed to have ventured outside tonight, unless the hamlet’s whole population was already at the church. He slipped his hand under Aunt Elly’s elbow.
“You and Maggie are pretty close, aren’t you?” The question came out almost before he realized he’d been thinking about Maggie.
“Everybody knows everybody in Button Gap, if they live here long enough.”
“You wouldn’t be evading the question, now, would you?”
He could almost feel her considering. She wouldn’t answer anything she didn’t want to—he felt sure of that.
She looked at him as if measuring his interest, and then seemed to make up her mind.
“Maggie lived with me for a bit, when she was eleven,” she said. “Guess that made us close, no matter how many miles or years there might be between us.”
He digested that. “But you’re not really related.”
“No.” She shrugged. “Folks round here take care of each other when there’s trouble, blood kin or not.”
The white frame church was just ahead, its primitive stained-glass windows glowing with the light from within. A chord of music floated out on the chilly air, followed by a burst of laughter.
An urgency he didn’t understand impelled him. “What kind of trouble?”
Aunt Elly stopped just short of the five steps that led up to the church’s red double doors. He felt her gaze searching his face.
Then she shook her head. “I ’spect that’s for Maggie to tell you, if she wants to.”
She marched up the steps, and he had no choice but to follow.
The small church had a center aisle with pews on either side. At a guess, the sanctuary probably seated a hundred or so. Plain white walls, simple stained glass, a pulpit that had darkened with age but had probably never been beautiful—he couldn’t imagine a greater contrast to the Gothic cathedral-style church of his boyhood.
The atmosphere was different, too. There, he recalled the hushed rustle of women’s dresses, the soft whisper of voices beneath the swelling notes of the organ. Here, laughter and chatting seemed acceptable. More than half the people in the church were children, and they trotted around as comfortably as if they were on the playground.
“Okay, come on.” Maggie, standing by the piano at the front, had to clap her hands to make herself heard over the babble of voices. The deep red sweater she wore with her jeans brought out the pink in her cheeks.
“Let’s have a look at everyone who wants to be a wise man,” she announced. “Come up front, right…”
The end of that sentence trailed off when she saw him. Fortunately, the thunder of small feet would have drowned it out anyway.
Maggie’s eyes narrowed as she looked from him to Aunt Elly. Irritation pricked him. She had no reason to look as if he didn’t belong here. He’d been invited.
He’d have slid into the back pew, but Aunt Elly grasped his arm and marched him down the aisle to near the front. Their progress was marked by murmurs.
“There’s the new doctor.”
“Young, ain’t he?”
“Hi, Doc.”
