Vivid (5 page)

"But that's hardly a reason to be so
rigid in your thinking. You don't believe I could live here as a member of your
community?"

"Not as a doctor, no."

"Why?"

"As long as you don't mind a truthful
answer, I'll tell you."

She nodded that she understood.

"You have two marks against you, the
main one being you're a city woman."

"Why is that a problem?"

"Because women like you are useless
out here. You're more concerned with the price of gowns than the price of
seed."

Vivid thought that a very prejudiced and
harsh statement. "I beg to differ."

"Beg all you like," he offered
easily, "but I've yet to meet a city woman able to do anything besides
complain about the lack of shops and how cold it gets here around the new
year."

Vivid thought about what he'd said for a
moment and then responded. "Granted, I can certainly envision a city-born
person being unhappy here, after all, where we are headed does seem a bit off
the beaten track. However, one must adapt to life. If one makes the effort, happiness
can be found anywhere. And besides, I've spent winters in Philadelphia; surely
your winters aren't any worse."

Nate thought she displayed quite a bit of naiveté
in comparing the winters in Pennsylvania to the frigid wasteland that Michigan
turns into from late November to late April, but he ignored it because he was
more interested in her opinions on happiness. He turned to her and asked.
"Is that what you believe, Doctor, that happiness can be found
anywhere?"

"Yes, Mr. Grayson, I do."

"Interesting philosophy. Naive, but
interesting."

"If you embrace life, Mr. Grayson,
happiness will follow. And if you believe I'm naive, so be it," she added
with a shrug. "It won't alter my outlook."

He asked then, "What do your parents
do?"

"My father's a caterer and my mother
oversees our home."

"Do they approve of your
occupation?"

"They raised me and my two sisters to
make our own choices, so yes, my parents approve."

Nate could see the perspiration beading
around her hairline. "You're going to die in this heat with all those
clothes on, Lancaster," he noted.

"You won't mind if I remove this
jacket?"

He shook his head.

Relieved, Vivid removed her gloves,
stuffed them into her handbag, and undid the buttons of her jacket. As she went
to remove it, she looked over at Nate and found him intently watching her.
Ignoring him as best she could, she removed the jacket and placed it on the
seat beside her. There was hardly any breeze but she felt much cooler.
"Thank you for your consideration. I'll put the jacket on when we reach our
destination."

"It's not a problem. Folks know it's
hot. Nobody expects you to be bundled up like it's November."

Vivid wanted to undo the top buttons of
her high-necked blouse, but she doubted folks would be that understanding.

"Can you really use that rifle?"
he then asked.

"Mr. Grayson, why would I bring a
rifle cross country if I couldn't use it? Don't the women here shoot?"

"Yes, they do, but you don't look the
type who would know how."

"Mr. Grayson, every woman needs to be
able to protect herself, or are you one of those men who believe the best
protection for a woman is a man?"

Nate smiled. "You said that so
innocently, Lancaster. Do you always ask questions that bite?"

"I'm a doctor and I carry a rifle,
what do you think?" she asked, smiling.

"I think you don't suffer fools real
well," he replied.

"I think you might be right,"
Vivid answered.

"Why didn't you try practicing in San
Francisco?"

"I did, for about a year. But our
community already has two male doctors who are well-respected. I couldn't drum
up enough patients to keep my doors open. When I read your aunt's notice in the
local San Francisco paper advertising for a doctor, it seemed the answer to my
prayers."

Then she remembered that he'd said there
were two marks against her, and so far they'd discussed only one. "You
haven't explained what my second shortcoming is."

"I don't believe you'll stay,"
he said seriously. His eyes held hers. "The first time a man proposes
marriage to you, you'll leave—doctoring in the Grove will be the furthest
thing from your mind."

"You're wrong, you know. I'm here to
be a physician. I'm not looking for a husband."

"Sometimes a man doesn't care what a
woman is looking for, especially if he wants her for his own."

"I don't need a husband."

"Every woman needs a man."

"Only a man would say that."

He chuckled. "Ah, Dr. Lancaster, you
and I are going to butt heads often, I see."

"Does that mean you will give me a
chance and let me stay?"

"I think I've pretty much made up my
mind," he said, looking her way.

Pleased, Vivid returned her attention to
the landscape.

He finally brought the horses to a stop
before a cluster of small buildings erected in a clearing surrounded by trees.
The largest was a log cabin with a sign across the front which read
Grayson Grove General Store.
Next to the
store were a few other clapboard and log buildings with signs that read
Grayson Livery, Vernon the Barber,
and
Bates Undertaking.
Next to the
undertaking establishment stood a newly built cabin with a large painted sign
above the door announcing the
Gazette.
She was pleased to see the town
had its own newspaper. She counted nine buildings of varying age and
construction. Up the dirt road stood some type of mill in front of which men
sat atop large wagons filled with cut trees. She guessed that this was the end
of the journey, but Grayson gave her no indication either way. He simply got
out, tied up the horses, and walked into the store. As his broad back
disappeared inside, she prayed to the saints above to give her strength.

Vivid put on her jacket, stepped out of
the buggy and followed Nate. She entered the store just as someone inside
asked, "Where's the new doc, Nate?"

At her entrance the place grew silent.
Nate looked back over his shoulder at her and said, "She says she
is."

Vivid's eyes narrowed at his mocking tone
and assessing eyes, but she stood silent as the small group of people in the
store craned to get a good look at her.

"Why, she's a woman," a man said
with a gasp.

"I'm Dr. Viveca Lancaster," she
said in introduction. Silence followed—a reaction she'd become accustomed
to whenever she announced her profession, but this time she was unnerved
because she couldn't determine if the men and women watching her approved or
disapproved of her.

One of the men in the back finally asked, "She
staying, Nate?"

"Nope," he replied easily.

Vivid's eyes widened at that announcement.
"I beg your pardon?"

"You're not staying. Next train back
to Chicago is due in a couple of days. You'll be on it."

"But I thought you—why?"

He didn't respond. Instead he spoke to one
of the women behind the counter. "Edna, she can stay with you until then,
just send me a bill."

He gave Vivid a brief nod as he passed her
on his way out the door.

Dazed from this sudden turn of events,
Vivid turned to Edna and asked, "Does he really have the authority to send
me back without his aunt's say-so?"

Edna nodded. "I'm afraid he does,
dear."

Vivid let fly a very distinct curse and
went after him. She hoped the saints noted how patient she'd been because she'd
had just about enough. She thought an agreement had been worked out between
them, so why had he suddenly changed his mind? He'd vowed to give her a chance!

She looked left, then right until she
spotted him. She quickened her pace, snatching open buttons on her jacket as
she went. She felt betrayed. She was hot, tired, and frustrated. If he planned
on sending her home, she'd go, but she wouldn't go quietly.

She paid absolutely no attention to the
people who'd trailed her from the store or to the farmers who stopped and
stared curiously.

"Are you that pig-headed and
prejudiced that you would deny people a doctor?!" Vivid shouted at his
back.

He stopped and turned.

"Yes, I'm talking to you," Vivid
yelled. "Who in Jessy do you think you are?" She ran down the wooden
walk until she was close enough to confront him face to face.

Nate couldn't believe his eyes or his
ears. He was being accosted in the middle of the street, in his own town, by a
black-eyed little susan who obviously had no idea what she was about.

"Mr. Grayson, you promised me the
time to convince you."

"Don't need the time. You won't
do."

"But that is not fair."

"Lancaster, I have the health of
three hundred people to take into consideration and I've made up my mind."

Nate had thought this through and he was
not convinced that this woman was right for his town. She was a female for one,
and a young female to boot. He simply did not believe she would stay longer
than a few months and he didn't want to have the people come to rely on her and
then have her walk out on them.

"Mr. Grayson, I insist we talk about
this," Vivid stated, trying to keep up with his long-legged stride.

He didn't slow his pace or look at her as
he answered, "No. Now go on back to the store, and Edna will show you
where you can stay until the next train comes through."

Vivid stopped, totally outdone. What had
happened to change his mind? she asked herself. She wondered if maybe he was
suffering from some sort of mind derangement. It was as if the invitation he'd
extended back at the depot had never been given. "Mr. Grayson!"

He continued walking away from her.

"Mr. Grayson!" Vivid yelled
again. When he ignored her again and again, Vivid put away all sense of good
manners. She looked around for something, anything to make him stop and talk to
her. She spied a farmer tying up his team-drawn wagon to a post near where she
stood. On the seat of the big wagon lay a rifle. Vivid walked over to the man
and demanded, "I need to borrow your rifle, sir."

The farmer seemed so surprised by her
authoritative manner he handed it over without a word. Vivid quickly checked
the shells, closed the chamber, sighted, and fired.

The first shot blew her target's hat off
his head and sent it flying into the dust. She handed the wide-eyed farmer back
his weapon, smiled politely, and waited for Nate to come to her.

She didn't have to wait long.

He very gently but firmly grabbed her by
the upper arm, turned to the small gaping crowd, growled a very polite
"Excuse us" to them, and escorted Vivid across the street and into a
low-roofed log building. Once inside, he released her and closed the door. Then
in a soft voice belying his anger he said, "You're not a doctor, you're a
menace."

Vivid realized her actions had been a
trifle extreme but she'd had no other choice. "If I had a white flag, I'd
raise it," she offered.

His expression didn't change.

"I'm sorry about your hat, but if you
hadn't lied to me I wouldn't have lost my temper."

Nate had no idea what to do with this
woman. "Do you do that often?" he asked.

"Lose my temper?"

"No, shoot at people."

Vivid looked down at her shoes a moment,
then back up to his stormy eyes. "No."

"Well, that's something," he
stated. Nate noted that her suddenly meek manner reminded him very much of his
nine-year old daughter, Majestic. Magic, as she was usually called, was forever
in trouble of one sort or another, and when chastised she also played
apologetic and meek. However, Majestic didn't have a meek bone anywhere in her
body and Nate didn't believe this hat-shooting Dr. Viveca Lancaster had one, either.

"You really do owe me an explanation,
Mr. Grayson," Vivid said, wondering meantime if he planned on taking her
back to the depot immediately or first thing tomorrow morning.

"I
owe
you?" Nate replied
in disbelief. "You shot my hat off in the middle of the damned street,
woman."

“I will pay for the hat, Mr. Grayson. But
you impress me as being an intelligent man; why won't you give me a chance? And
don't tell me any manure about it being because I don't have buttons down the
front of my drawers like a man."

Nate eyed her. Impressed by her
challenging manner he shook his head in wonder. "Are you always so
forceful?"

"It's a necessary trait for someone
like me."

Before Nate could speak further the
black-garbed Widow Moss came charging into his office towing his daughter,
Majestic.