Dorothy Garlock (15 page)

Damn farmer didn’t even have a car of his own.

Fred listened for the sound of the door closing and for her footsteps on the stairs. Quietly he felt his way across the dark room to the wall that separated the two rooms and waited for the girl of his dreams to turn on the light that would guide him to one of the several small holes he had drilled in the wall so he could view every corner of her room.

His heart pounding with excitement, his eyes tight against one of the holes, he watched her plug in the electric iron, then go to the vanity and look at herself in the mirror. She lifted the hair off the back of her neck before slowly unbuttoning the front of her dress, then worked on the side fastener. When the dress was off, she placed it over the back of a chair, unhooked and removed her bra. She lifted one rose-tipped breast and rubbed at the red line made by the bra.

Now wearing only a pair of wispy panties, she slipped a white uniform over the ironing board and began to iron.

On the other side of the wall, Fred watched, breathing heavily and sweating profusely. His hand slid down to his extended member. He swallowed the low moans of pleasure that rose in his throat and wished fervently that she had a hundred uniforms to iron.

Chapter 11

T
HE FIRST PART OF THE WEEK
was so busy that April didn’t have time to think of anything but the work at hand. Mixed in with the usual office calls were a broken arm, a man with a series of bee stings and a serious dog bite. Doc had to have the dog killed and its head sent to Kansas City to be tested for rabies.

On Wednesday Miss Davenport, the most aggressive of all the ladies striving for Doc’s attention, spent three hours in the reception room waiting for him to return from an emergency call north of town. All the while, she eyed April like a hawk watching a baby chicken and repeatedly asked her where the doctor had gone and what was the emergency. Fearing the woman would track him down and waylay him, April explained that the information was confidential and then tried to ignore her, but at one point it was impossible.

April was in the back room when she heard the door open and Miss Davenport’s voice, clear and precise.

“The doctor isn’t here.”

She hurried to the reception room to see a woman standing hesitantly just inside the door. She was holding a baby. A small boy clung to her skirt.

“Hello. May I help you?”

“I come to see the doctor, but—”

“He’s out on an emergency. Is there something I can do?” April saw the disappointment on the woman’s tired face.

“Mama. I wanta drink.” The boy tugged on his mother’s skirt.

“Shhh ...We’ll get one on the way home.”

“I’m tired, Mama.”

April held her hand out to the boy. “Come with me. We’ll get you a drink of water.”

The woman followed April and the boy into the back room. While April was getting a glass of water for the boy, she set the baby down on the examination table and took a small bottle from her pocket.

“Doctor said bring the bottle back and he’d give me more medicine for the baby’s colic.”

“What is your name?”

“Colson. Mrs. Gordon Colson. This is Emery.” She indicated the boy. “And Lucille.”

Noticing the woman’s weariness, April said, “Lay the baby on the table while I get your file.” She nudged the baby’s chin with her fist. Lucille waved her little hands and kicked her feet. “You’re quite a chunk for your mother to carry.”

“We walked a long way.” The boy returned the empty water glass to April.

“What do you say?” Mrs. Colson prompted.

“Thank you.”

“You’re welcome. Would you like a drink, Mrs. Colson?” “I would appreciate it. Emery’s right. It was a long walk.” After getting the water for Mrs. Colson, April left the room to find Doc’s record of Mrs. Colson’s visits. Thank goodness he had made notes.

Baby Lucille has frequent bouts of colic. Two drops of paregoric in 8 ounces of water no more than twice a day. (Paregoric in green bottle reduced to half strength.)

“Your baby suffers from colic?” April asked when she returned to the room.

“Doctor thinks it’s caused by what I eat. I been tryin’ not to eat gassy things.”

“Oftentimes babies have colic while nursing.”

“I’m real careful of the medicine I give her. The doctor gives me just a little bit at a time. He said she should grow out of it soon.”

“I’m sure she will.” April took the bottle with the eye dropper over to the cabinet. She filled it to half an inch, which would be not more than two tablespoons. When she turned, Miss Davenport stood in the doorway.

“You are not qualified to prescribe medication.” Her voice was loud and stern. “You’re only a nurse, if that. I’ve not seen a nursing certificate.”

“This doesn’t concern you. Please wait in the reception room.”

Miss Davenport turned to Mrs. Colson. “Surely you’ll not give your baby medicine prescribed by ...this woman.”

Mrs. Colson’s frightened eyes went from April to the tall, stern-faced woman in the straw hat. The small boy, sensing the tension, grabbed on to his mother’s skirt.

April’s temper flared. “What goes on in this office is no business of yours. The doctor prescribed this medicine for this baby and suggested the mother come back for a refill. I suggest that you leave this room immediately. Better yet, leave the office and come another day if you wish to see Dr. Forbes.”

“Oh, you would like that, wouldn’t you? You want a clear field with him so you can work your crafty schemes. That dear man is too trusting to see through a woman like you. I’m staying.”

“Suit yourself.”

“Dr. Forbes will hear about this. If that baby has one sick day, you will go to jail. I swear it.” Miss Davenport’s face was red with anger.

April went to her desk to get the stick candy Doc gave to the children. “Candy for you,” she said to the boy. “And one for baby sister.” She walked with Mrs. Colson to the door.

“Thank you,” Mrs. Colson said. Then she added in a low voice, “Tell the doctor I’ll pay when I can.”

“I’m sure he understands. Bye, Emery. Bye, Lucille.” “The doctor will hear about this and the sheriff, too, if that baby gets sick.” Miss Davenport crossed her ankles primly and slammed her pocketbook down on her lap in a gesture that clearly meant she was there to stay.

April went back and sat at her desk. The tension in the room was thick. She mumbled a word she seldom used, pulled open a drawer and took out the ledger, but she was so angry she couldn’t concentrate on the work.

When Doc finally returned, his shoulders slumped; he was tired to the bone. He had been out to a farm where a man had been cutting down a tree. The trunk had kicked back, pinning him to the ground. Doc had worked for hours trying to save him and had lost him in the end. Any death sat hard with Doc, but this man had a wife and two small children, who hovered near. At first he thought he had a chance to save the man, but it wasn’t to be.

He still had Miss Davenport to deal with.

“Doctor.” She jumped up as soon as he walked in the door. “I’ve been waiting three hours.”

“If you had an appointment, Miss Davenport, I’m s-sorry. I had an emergency c-call.”

“That’s all right. I understand.”

April grimaced.
Now butter wouldn’t melt in her mouth!
“Well, if you’ll excuse me . . .”

“Doctor I must speak to you . . . privately.”

Doc gave April a look of resignation, then said, “Come in.” He hung his hat on the hall tree and went into the examination room. Sweeping past April, Miss Davenport followed and closed the door.

April wondered where Doc got the patience to deal with women like Miss Davenport. She could hear their voices coming from behind the closed door. After a while the female voice became shrill. Doc’s voice remained low and even. Suddenly the door was flung open. The woman, her face red with anger, came out. Looking neither left nor right, she marched across the reception room and out the door, slamming it behind her.

April looked up to see Doc leaning wearily against the doorjamb. “If we’re lucky, that’ll be the last we s-see of her.”

“I was tempted to set the place on fire to get rid of her.” “She was p-planning a dinner party for me, asking the big-wigs in t-town. She wanted to r-raise money to improve this place. She also w-wanted me to fire you.”

“I’m not surprised at that. I wasn’t exactly civil to her.”

“I told her that I w-wasn’t interested in her advice about my n-nurse, I wasn’t interested in her d-dinner party and definitely not interested in
her
. I made it c-clear that I was not in the m-market for a wife and if that was w-what she had in mind, she should set her sights on s-someone else.”

April had to grin. “At times harsh words are necessary.” “She caught me at the wrong time. I lost a p-patient today. I keep w-wondering if there was something else I could have d-done.”

“Doc, I’m sorry.”

“I keep telling m-myself that his injuries were so severe that he might not have thanked me if I had saved him. It doesn’t help much.”

“It should help to know that you did your best.”

Doc crossed the room and looked out the front door. “Anything happen that I should know about?”

“Mrs. Bacon called. Paul’s fever is down to normal. She said you told her to watch it; and if it stays normal, you’ll take his tonsils out at the end of the week.”

“The kid’s tonsils n-need to come out, or he’ll be sick the rest of his life.”

“Mr. Peterson is suffering another attack of gout. I told him to keep his foot elevated and put an ice pack on it. He swore at me and said he couldn’t stand the sheet on it, how in the blankety-blank-blank could he stand an ice pack.”

Doc grinned. “Pete uses some p-pretty colorful language at times.”

“I believe he was slightly tipsy when he called. How old is he?”

“He m-must be darn near eighty. He was an old man when I got here nine y-years ago. It’s almost six o’clock. Are you about r-ready to close for the day?”

“In another few minutes. Oh, yes. I gave Mrs. Colson paregoric out of the green bottle for Lucille.”

“It’s a small dose and will give the baby relief.”

“Why don’t you go rest for a while?”

“I think I will.” Doc went through the connecting door, and April finished her notations in the ledger. It was impossible to do more work with so much on her mind.

When she stepped out the door of the office to go home, she saw a car stopped in the street. Joe, with one foot on the running board, was leaning against the side window talking to a girl in the driver’s seat. Her hand was on his arm. He reached into the car and ruffled her hair. She squealed and he laughed. It was just one more unexpected event in an already nerve-racking day.

April retreated into the office, went out the back door and up the alley to the rooming house. Knowing that she had no right to feel uncomfortable seeing Joe with another girl, she chided herself for avoiding him. She should expect no less of him. He was a charmer and always would be. It was his nature, slow to temper and quick to laughter. He would still be attracting women when he was a gray-haired old man tottering around with a cane.

I have to get over him.

Joe and Jack parted at the newspaper office, Jack to talk to Corbin before the two of them went to the town council meeting and Joe to take his work boots to the shoe repair. When he came out of the shop, he was hailed by Evan, who had stopped his car in the street.

“Hey, Joe. Have you seen Joy?”

Joe walked over to the car. “No, but Jack and I just got to town.”

“I was to pick her up at the church, but she isn’t there.” “What’s she doin’ at church in the middle of the week?” “Meeting to plan some kind of party they’re going to have. Hop in, Joe. I thought she might have gone back to school, but she isn’t there. I’ve been to the library, too. Julie will be getting worried if we aren’t back soon.”

“Did you go inside the church?”

“The door was closed and locked. I saw Mrs. Poole walking down the street and asked her about Joy. She said the meeting was over and she didn’t know where Joy was. The girl with her started to say something, but the woman cut her off and propelled her on down the street. I got the idea that she was in a hurry.”

“She wasn’t concerned?”

“Not a damn bit.”

“Let’s go back to the church. She may be locked in.” Evan drove slowly along the street, searching on one side, Joe on the other.

“Julie told her to wait at the church and I would pick her up when I finished my business at the bank. I’m a little late, so I expected to see her sitting on the step.”

They drove past the lumberyard, then the pastor’s house next to the church. After passing the church, they reached the corner and turned. Joe looked back over his shoulder and saw a flash of something blue.

“Hold it! There’s someone behind the church.”

As soon as Evan stopped the car, Joe got out and hurried to the back of the building. When he reached the rear and saw the pair in a tight embrace, there was no doubt in his mind that the girl was Joy. The boy was crowding her up against the wall, his body pressing intimately into hers. Their arms were around each other, and, oblivious to the world around them, their lips were locked.

“You . . . horny little . . . bastard!” Joe’s hand fell heavily on the boy’s back, grabbed a handful of his shirt, jerked him back and off his feet. “I told you to stay away from her.”

Sammy came up off the ground with his fists flying. “Sonofabitchin’ asshole—” He landed a blow on Joe’s cheek before Joe grabbed his arm and twisted it up behind his back.

“Don’t try to fight me, boy. I’m already tempted to beat you to a pulp.”

“Leave him alone!” Joy shouted.

Joe’s temper went up another degree when he saw that his sister’s hair had come loose from the barrette and her blouse had pulled from her skirt.

“Shut up and get in the car,” Joe snarled. “Evan’s waiting.” “I don’t have to mind you.”

“You sure as hell do. Now, get!”

“I won’t until you turn him loose.”

“Dammit, Joy! I’ve had about all the sass I’m going to take from you. I told you that this little pup is trash. Didn’t you hear a word I said?”