The Heart Remembers (30 page)

Dane’s face beamed. “Really? May 8?”

“Yes, sir.”

“For some reason, I had the idea it would be later in May when you finished your internship. I figured if you were willing to come to work for me, it would be in June. Well, Tharyn and I will be here for the wedding, that’s for sure. The four of us can travel from Denver to Central City that Monday together.”

Tim and Melinda smiled at each other, then Tim said, “We just set the date with Pastor Blandford a couple of days ago. We were going to write you, but we’ll tell you right now. I’m sure glad you two are wanting to come to the wedding, because Dane, I want you to be my best man.”

Melinda took hold of Tharyn’s hand and smiled. “And Tharyn, I want you to be my matron of honor.”

Dane and Tharyn smiled at each other, and then Dane said, “Tim … Melinda … we are thrilled at this. We will gladly grant your requests!”

TWENTY-ONE
 

I
t was three minutes till noon in Central City on Monday, October 17, when Dr. Robert Fraser and Nurse Nadine Wahl watched their last patient for the morning walk out the door.

Nadine was sitting at Tharyn’s desk, and Fraser was standing in front of it, rubbing his lower back. She looked at him with compassion and said, “Hurting again?”

“Mm-hmm. I took some more salicylic acid when I was in the back room with Mr. Austin. The pain will ease up in—”

Nadine looked up and saw him staring out the window.

“Oh! It’s Dr. Dane and Tharyn!”

Dr. Dane was helping Tharyn out of their buggy.

Dr. Fraser shuffled to the door and pulled it open as the Logans were crossing the boardwalk. “Well, if it isn’t the handsome hero of Central City and his beautiful wife. Welcome home!”

Dr. Dane chuckled as they passed through the door. “Well, you got half of it right. Tharyn most certainly is beautiful!”

“Well, if I can only get one half right, that’s the half I would choose!”

Nadine had left the desk and stepped up to them as Dr. Fraser closed the door. “Yes, welcome home. How did the hip replacement go?”

“Just fine,” said Dr. Dane. “No complications at all. And what about Bud Finch, Doctor? How’s he doing?”

“He’s doing as well as can be expected. I stopped at the jail to check on him on my way to the office this morning. It’s my opinion that it will still be a full two weeks before he can be transported to Denver to stand trial.”

Dane nodded. “The trial for Barton, Loomis, and Wagner is to be held tomorrow. Chief Brockman is dead sure they’ll hang.”

There were a few seconds of silence, then Tharyn said, “We’ve already been home. We unpacked the luggage, changed clothes, and ate lunch so we could handle the office for the rest of the day and let you two go to your homes and get some rest.”

“Well, that’s mighty nice of you,” Dr. Fraser said, “but after making the trip this morning, you’re probably pretty tired yourselves.”

“We’ll be fine,” said Dr. Dane. “And before you go, I want to give you the good news.”

Fraser’s bushy eyebrows raised. “Good news?”

“After Dr. Tim Braden finishes his internship the first week of next May, he and Melinda are getting married. They’ll be coming to Central City immediately after their wedding, because I’m hiring Dr. Tim to work for me. Do you think you can still fill in for me until then?”

Fraser smiled. “The Lord giving me strength, I sure will. But Dane, my boy, you have no idea how happy this makes me. There are some days when my back hurts so bad I don’t think I can get out of bed, let alone take a step. It will be such a relief to Esther and me when I can retire completely and give this old body some rest.”

“I know it’s been rough on you these past several months. And I’m so grateful that you’ve stayed on to help me as much as you have. I’m a young man yet, but the load of this practice tires
me
out. So I can just imagine how worn out you must feel. I deeply appreciate all that you’ve taught me, and even more, I’m glad for
the special friendship between us. It won’t be long now, and we can give you a proper, complete retirement party.”

Dane hugged his friend, and Dr. Fraser pounded him on the back.

When the two men released each other, Dr. Dane said, “My plan is to establish a clinic with four beds to begin with, but eventually I’d like to have ten or twelve beds. As soon as we can afford it, we want to buy one of the vacant lots on Main Street and have a building built. I’ve got my eye on the vacant lot in the next block south of us, between Hampstead’s Clothing Store and the Central City Pharmacy.”

Nadine smiled. “Oh, yes! It would really be good to have the clinic right next door to the pharmacy! With all of these plans, when you and Tharyn start your family, you’ll need a nurse to take Tharyn’s place. I wish I were younger so I could do it, but I know an excellent nurse in her late thirties who presently works at the hospital in Colorado Springs. She’s a widow, with no children. Her name is Susan Coulter. She’s a fine Christian and lives next door to my sister in Colorado Springs. They both go to the same church. I’ve gotten to know her quite well since I visit my sister often. Susan has been here to visit me twice, and has fallen in love with Central City. She’s told me that she would very much like to live here.”

“Nadine, I just might need another nurse even before we start our family,” Dr. Dane said, “if we can get the vacant lot purchased and the clinic under construction within a year or so. I’ll keep Susan in mind.”

Dr. Fraser and Nadine then left the office, and Tharyn checked the appointment book to see when the next scheduled patient would be in. She told Dane it wouldn’t be for another half hour.

“All right,” he said. “I’ll take a quick drive over to the parsonage. I want to find out how it went for Pastor Shane at Chief Tando’s village on Friday.”

When Dr. Dane Logan returned to the office, Tharyn was not in sight, but he noticed two men sitting in the waiting area. He knew Steve Bittner, the manager of the land office in Central City. The other man was a stranger.

Tharyn had taken a patient into the examining room, and returned to see if her husband was back just as Steve Bittner was introducing him to Todd Eckman, who owned the Central City Construction Company. As they shook hands, Dr. Dane said, “Mr. Eckman, I’ve been past your office many times, and I’ve seen some of the houses you’ve recently built in town, but I’ve never laid eyes on you until now. I’m very glad to meet you.”

Eckman replied that he had seen the doctor on the street several times, and had heard many good things about him.

Running his gaze between the two men, Dr. Dane said, “What can I do for you?”

Steve Bittner smiled. “We are here about what we can do for
you
, Doctor.”

Dr. Dane glanced at Tharyn, who was waiting near the back room door, then said to the men, “You have my curiosity up, but could you give me a few minutes? I have a patient who needs my attention.”

Both men smiled, and Steve Bittner said, “Go ahead. We’ll wait.”

Twenty minutes later, the patient was gone, and Dr. Dane approached the men where they were seated in the waiting area and sat down, facing them. Tharyn sat at her desk and listened.

“Dr. Logan,” Steve Bittner said, “now that you and your wife own the vacant lot down the street between Hampstead’s Clothing
Store and the pharmacy, I need your signatures on the deed to make it legal.”

“As soon as you and I can get together on the exact dimensions and floor plan for your clinic, Doctor,” Todd Eckman said, “we’ll get the construction started. Winter’s coming, but if we can get started soon, we still should have it done by early April.”

Dane shook his head. “Gentlemen, what are you talking about? We don’t own the lot between the clothing store and the pharmacy. I sure wish we did. And … and we very much want to have a clinic building built, but there’s some mistake here. I—”

“There’s no mistake, Dr. Logan,” Bittner said. “Kirby Holton said you would probably be a bit stunned, but believe me, there’s no mistake.”

Tharyn left her desk and sat down beside her husband. “Excuse me, gentlemen, but I’ve got to hear this from up close.”

Both men smiled. Bittner said, “You’re welcome to hear it up close, ma’am. You most certainly are involved here. You see, this past Friday Kirby Holton purchased the vacant lot and put it in both of your names. He then engaged Mr. Eckman to construct the clinic building to your specifications, guaranteeing that he will foot the entire bill.”

Dr. Dane wiped a palm across his eyes. “Gentlemen, I’m overwhelmed.”

Bittner leaned toward the Logans. “Mr. Holton left for Denver this morning to catch a train to Chicago. He’ll be back a week from Thursday. He asked us to come to you as soon as you got back from Denver so we could get things started.”

Dr. Dane chuckled and shook his head again. He looked at Tharyn. “Kirby had to have been on that stagecoach we met on the road this morning.”

“He no doubt saw us, too,” Tharyn said. “Bless his heart. This is wonderful.”

Steve Bittner opened his briefcase and took out the deed. “I need you both to sign this for me.”

They walked to Tharyn’s desk, where they used her pen and ink to sign the deed.

While Bittner was blowing on the ink to dry it, Todd Eckman made an appointment with Dr. Dane for the next day at the construction office so they could make plans for the clinic building.

When the two men had gone out the door and started down the boardwalk, the Logans turned and stared at one another, hardly able to believe what had just transpired.

Dane scrubbed a palm over his eyes again. “Honey, I did hear right, didn’t I? Those two men … they did tell us that Kirby Holton bought us that choice property and that he’s going to pay for the construction of our building. Didn’t they?”

“Yes, sweetheart. We both heard the same thing. What a miracle this is! I’m … I’m still completely stunned by all of this!”

Dane wrapped her in his arms, and with tears of joy and gratitude streaming down their faces, he said, “O dear Lord, we praise You for this unexpected and marvelous blessing! Please bless Kirby abundantly for his generosity.”

When they had both brushed away the last traces of their tears, Dane said softly, “We’ve come a long way from the streets and alleys of Manhattan, my love. Only by the matchless grace of our wonderful God are we where we are today.”

“Amen to that,” Tharyn whispered past the lump in her throat.

They embraced again, then Tharyn asked, “What did Pastor Shane tell you about his visit to Chief Tando’s village?”

“Well, he said most of the people showed interest in the newfound faith of the chief and his family. Pastor said he’ll be going to the village periodically to preach the gospel to them. He knows it’s going to take some time to get the seed of the Word planted in their hearts and to see more people saved.”

“Well, I’m happy to hear that most of the people showed interest. I just know in my heart that many of them are going to become Christians.”

“I feel the same way.”

On Tuesday, October 25, the Eckman Construction Company began work on the clinic building, and the people of Central City were glad when they read the sign at the site that informed them what it was.

Late on Thursday afternoon, Dr. Dane and Tharyn entered the Wells Fargo office and found the assistant agent behind the counter.

“Hello, Wally,” said the doctor, as they approached the counter.

“Howdy, Dr. Logan. Howdy, Mrs. Logan. What can I do for you?”

“We know the Denver stage usually comes in about five-thirty, and the chalkboard behind you says that’s what it’s supposed to do today. Is that right?”

“Yes, sir. The wire from the station in Denver said it left on time.”

“And is Kirby Holton aboard?”

“I believe so,” said Wally, turning to pick up a sheet of paper near the telegraph key. He looked at it and nodded. “Yes, sir. Mr. Holton is listed as one of the passengers.”

“Good. So it should be here in about fifteen minutes, right?”

“Oughtta be. Unless they ran into a problem along the way.”

“Well, we’ll just sit here and wait for it, if that’s okay?”