The Sheriff of Wickham Falls

by Rochelle Alers

  “A little distraction usually does the trick to take her mind off what is to come. Another ploy is not to let the patient see the hypodermic beforehand.”

  “I’m glad it worked with Lily,” Mya said. “We’re going to New York for a few days before flying down to the Caribbean, but plan to come back in time for the holiday weekend. I’d like for you to join Giles and me at our table for the Memorial Day picnic following the parade. The townsfolk always gather under a gigantic tent on the church lawn for an afternoon of music, fun and games.”

  Natalia felt a warm glow flow through her with the invitation. She had heard talk about the holiday festivities, but Mya was the first one to invite her to celebrate it with her family. She wanted to ask Mya if Seth was going to join them because she’d mention his connection to her husband. “I’d loved to join you, and thank you for asking.”

  Mya waved her left hand and the overhead light reflected off the diamond eternity band on her finger. “My motives for asking are purely selfish because I’m curious as to why you decided to practice medicine in Wickham Falls when your license plate reads Pennsylvania.”

  Natalia discarded the needle in the red canister for used hypodermics. “That’s a long story.”

  “Well, if you ever need someone to talk to then just walk across the road and ring the bell. Giles divides his time between The Falls, New York and the Bahamas for business, so there are times when it’s just me and Lily.”

  Natalia wanted to remind Mya that she was the one with a husband and child and she didn’t believe in just dropping by unannounced. “That goes both ways. If you feel the need for some adult female company, then you’re more than welcome to come over with Lily.” Reaching for the prescription pad, she jotted down her cell phone number. “Call me and let me know when you’re free.” Mya’s eyes sparkled like multicolored gemstones when she smiled, and Natalia wondered if perhaps she was experiencing bouts of loneliness because of her husband’s business trips.

  “I will.” She pulled up Lily’s pants and set her on her feet. “Since you were such a good girl, Mommy’s going to take you out for ice cream.”

  “I like ice cream, Mommy.”

  “I know you do.” Mya winked at Natalia.

  She updated Lily’s chart with the date and type of vaccine. “Lily is up to date on all of her immunizations. However, she’ll need a fifth dose of DTaP to protect her from diphtheria, tetanus, whooping cough, a second dose of MMR for protection against measles, mumps and German measles, and Varicella for chicken pox between the ages of four and six, and before she enters school. I’ve flagged her chart and we have your email address, so we’ll send out a reminder once she celebrates her fourth birthday.” Tapping a key, she sent the information to Angela’s computer for the receptionist to print out and file in the patient’s folder.

  “We’re leaving, sweetheart,” Mya said when Lily tugged on her slacks. “I’m so glad the office is now computerized. In the past we got postcards reminding us of appointments.”

  “It makes life easier for everyone involved.” Natalia waved to the little girl. “Bye, Lily. Have a safe trip.”

  Lily peered around her mother’s leg. “Bye.”

  Natalia waited for them to leave and then picked up the phone. “Who’s next, Leah?”

  “Mr. Sanderson is in room one.”

  “Thanks.” She walked out as Leah came in to change the paper on the examining table. Since Natalia had reorganized the office protocol everything worked more smoothly. It had taken less than a week before everyone had become familiar as to their function and the waiting area was no longer crowded with patients waiting beyond their appointed time to be seen.

  Natalia walked in, introduced herself and shook hands with the man who’d complained of pain in his right knee. “I’m going to have the technician take an X-ray of your knee to see what I’m working with,” she said, as she washed her hands.

  Although the X-rays were negative he asked if she could prescribe a painkiller to ease his discomfort. “I’m sorry, Mr. Sanderson, I can’t do that. I recommend you take an over-the-counter pain reliever, and if your pain continues, then I’ll give you a referral for an MRI.”

  He walked out, shouting that she wasn’t a real doctor, but Natalia wasn’t bothered by his outburst. She suspected he wanted her to write a script for a narcotic pain reliever either for his personal use or someone else. The opioid epidemic gripping the country was a crisis and she refused to add to it by arbitrarily prescribing drugs to anyone complaining of pain.

  By the time Henry returned, she’d diagnosed and treated an eight-year-old with conjunctivitis and a teenage boy with strep throat. Natalia still was getting used to working shorter hours and arriving home in time to unwind, prepare dinner for herself and get a head start on housework.

  She wasn’t certain when it started, but she found herself sitting on the porch or in the living room listening for the sound of Seth’s pickup before going to bed. Most times he returned home between ten thirty and eleven, and the one night he didn’t arrive until after midnight she whispered a silent prayer that he was safe. What she did not want to acknowledge was that she was not only attracted to him but she also liked him—a lot.

  * * *

  The rain that had begun Friday night continued into Saturday, with meteorologists predicting it not to end until Sunday, and Natalia doubted whether Seth would be able to cook outdoors. She and Henry had agreed to alternate working on Saturdays, and with a retired school nurse, they saw patients who were unable to come during weekdays. Revised office hours were now nine to six Monday through Friday, nine to one on Saturday. The rain was coming down in torrents when she locked the door behind the nurse minutes before noon. There were two cancellations and she decided to wait until one to see if she would have a walk-in.

  The telephone rang and she picked up the receiver before the second ring. “First Care Medical.”

  “Dr. Hawkins, this is deputy sheriff Seth Collier.”

  She sat up straight. It was the first time she and Seth had spoken over the phone. “How are you?”

  “I’m right as rain.”

  Natalia rolled her eyes upward. “Please don’t mention rain. Do you think we should start building an ark?” she teased.

  Seth’s laugh caressed her ear. “Nah. It’s been pretty dry around here, so we need the rain. By the way, May is our rainiest month. And I don’t mind it because it keeps the troublemakers indoors. I’m calling to ask if you wouldn’t mind accompanying me to a restaurant in Charleston later on this evening instead of eating at home.”

  “Deputy Collier, are you asking me out on a date?”

  “Yes, I am.”

  Slumping back in the chair, Natalia stared at the diplomas on the wall above the credenza cradling photographs of her with friends and family. She’d had a hard and fast rule not to date until six months after her last breakup, but apparently Seth asking her out was going to change that.

  “Okay.”

  “Okay what, Natalia?”

  “I’d love to go out with you.”

  “Love?”

  “Stop it! You know what I mean,” she countered.

  Seth chuckled again. “I should let you know that I’m very literal. To me, love is a lot stronger an emotion than like.”

  “Like, like, like,” Natalia said over and over. “I’d like to go out with you tonight.”

  “That’s better. I’ll make a reservation for seven, so can you be ready to leave at six?”

  “Yes. I’ll see you later.” Natalia replaced the receiver in the handset, picked up a pen and drew interlocking circles on a pad that had a drug company logo.

  Seth had asked whether she could be ready when Daryl had demanded she be ready. And it wasn’t until she was free of him that she wondered if she’d lost her senses when she surrendered her will to a man who felt he had the right
to program her life.

  Daryl’s attempt to control her life had been so subtle that Natalia wasn’t aware of what was happening until her mother pointed it out to her. Sylvia Hawkins had pulled her aside after a family reunion and asked her in Spanish why she had allowed Daryl to speak for her whenever someone asked her a question about her future. She’d wondered why her mother had spoken to her in the language she’d taught her children when they very young, but when she turned around, she’d discovered Daryl had followed them in an attempt to eavesdrop on their conversation.

  In that instant it was as if a lightbulb had been turned on and she saw the man with whom she’d pledged her future in a whole new light. She’d asked Daryl to excuse himself while she spoke to her mother and when he hesitated she raised her voice ordering him to leave. Later that evening when they returned home she told him in no uncertain terms that if he ever attempted to spy on her again, then it was better they stop seeing each other. Then Daryl did what he could do best—become remorseful and apologetic.

  Two weeks later when Natalia drove to Paoli to have lunch with her mother they talked at length about her and Daryl. Her mother had asked whether she was in love with him or in love with his meteoric rise as one of Philadelphia’s brilliant young litigators. Sylvia’s query left Natalia where she’d begun to question her feelings about the man whose ring she wore. The four-carat ring Daryl had selected without her input and one she rarely wore except when they went out together socially. Time and time again she tried to have compassion for her fiancé’s drive for success and perfection because of his underprivileged childhood but in the end she knew he had to stop compensating for something which he had no control over.

  Pushing back her chair, she stood and walked over to the window. Her office faced the rear parking lot. Many of the spaces were empty and she attributed that to the inclement weather. Natalia had learned quickly that parking rules were strictly enforced. Members of the town council had voted to install meters along Main Street, and parking behind stores and shops was limited to two-hour intervals. An area had been designated employee-only parking. Shopkeepers were required to complete an application for a nominal fee and file it with copies of their workers’ car registrations to get stickers that employees had to affix to the bumpers of their vehicles. Natalia and Henry, along with the postmaster, the fire and sheriff’s departments, and town hall personnel, were issued special vehicle permits as first responders. Overnight parking in the downtown business district was prohibited between the hours of two and six. Parking violations became a source of revenue for the town treasurer.

  Not only was the rain coming down in sheets it was also blowing sideways, and Natalia doubted whether anyone was going to show up unless they had a medical emergency. She’d just closed the window blinds and turned off the table lamps when the phone rang again. “First Care Medical. This is Dr. Hawkins.”

  “Seth again.”

  Her eyebrows lifted slightly. “Are you calling to cancel our date?”

  “Not really. I just heard on the police scanner that a section of the road leading to the interstate has been washed out, and I wanted to ask whether you’d rather come to my place for dinner.”

  She smiled. “Are you still talking about grilling outdoors?”

  “No. But I need to know if you’re allergic to shellfish.”

  “No. Why?” she asked.

  “I’d like to serve surf and turf. I have an electric indoor smokeless grill.”

  “Count me in but only if I can make the sides.”

  “You’re in, babe.”

  “What time do you want me to come over?”

  “Anytime you want. I’m not going out.”

  Natalia estimated it would take her time to stop at the supermarket to get the items she needed for the sides to go along with the fish and steak. “If that’s the case then look for me sometime this afternoon.”

  “It’s going to be fun to cook together.”

  “We’ll see about that, chef,” she said teasingly.

  Seth laughed. “Yes, we will.”

  Natalia ended the call, slipped on her rain slicker and gathered her tote. Normally she would’ve changed out of the scrubs and into jeans and a T-shirt. She armed the security system, locked the door and headed for the parking lot. If it hadn’t been raining she would’ve walked down to the supermarket, but not today because she would be soaked through to the skin before reaching her car.

  She was in and out of the market within fifteen minutes. The clerk complained she hadn’t checked out more than twenty people since they opened the doors at eight because of the weather. Natalia started the SUV remotely, slipped in behind the wheel and turned the wipers to the fastest setting. She exhaled an audible sigh of relief when she finally maneuvered into the driveway of her house. Many of the roads were flooding because the rain was coming down so fast and heavy that drains weren’t able to handle the overflow.

  Walking around to the back of the house, she opened the door and walked into the combination mud-laundry room. After hanging the slicker on a wall hook, Natalia slipped out of her shoes, and stripped down to her underwear. Walking on bare feet, she made her way to the bathroom. She needed a cup of tea and a shower, but not necessarily in that order. After that, she planned to gather the ingredients she needed to make the sides for dinner with Seth.

  Chapter Seven

  Natalia bit back a smile when Seth opened the door and went completely still. They were similarly dressed in faded jeans and sweatshirts. Hers with a logo of her college alma mater and his stamped with the insignia of the seal of the US Marine Corps.

  “May I come in?”

  “Yes. Of course,” he said, at the same time he took the two large canvas bags from her loose grip. Seth peered into one of the bags. “What on earth did you buy?”

  Natalia kicked off her running shoes and left them on the mat inside the door. “Everything I need to make coleslaw and duchess potatoes.”

  “What the heck are duchess potatoes?”

  She strolled past him and into the living room. “You’ll see.” The open floor plan with a great room that combined the kitchen, dining room and living room gave the illusion of a much larger space. “I like the furnishings and layout of your home.”

  “I can’t take credit for any of it. My father renovated the entire house the year he retired, while my sister who is an interior decorator selected all of the furnishings.”

  “She’s quite talented.”

  The full charm came from uncluttered simplicity and unimposing furniture with a wingback chair and a classic, long, curved-arm sofa. The style was a combination of country and contemporary. Cheery yellow walls provided a cool backdrop for shades of beige and teal upholstery and natural wood. Natalia ran her fingers over the back of the wing chair covered with a teal fabric that had a raised crewel texture.

  Seth glanced at Natalia over his shoulder. He set the bags on the stools at the breakfast bar. “I know I may sound biased because Julie’s my sister, but she’s incredibly gifted. As a student at SCAD, the Savannah College of Art and Design, she won a number of awards for her ability to mix styles and textures. I remember her saying she wanted to blend a Shaker influence, whatever that means, with early-American pieces and contemporary when my mother said she wanted an informal country look, while Dad preferred furniture that was more modern-day.”

  “Do you like it?” Natalia asked.

  Seth turned to meet her eyes. “I love it. There’s nothing in this house I’d change.” He paused. “Do you like it?”

  A slow smile parted her lips. “Yes.”

  His smile matched hers. “Good. After we eat, I’ll give you a tour of upstairs and the basement. Now, come and show me what you brought.”

  Natalia wasn’t certain why Seth wanted to know what she thought of his home, but apparently he was pleased with her response. She emptie
d from the bag onto the cooking island plastic bags filled with small heads of red and green cabbage, potatoes, eggs, a container of cream, grated Parmesan cheese, carrots, celery, white onion and red pepper, a jar of mayonnaise, white wine vinegar, Dijon mustard and paprika.

  “Damn,” Seth drawled under his breath. “You need all of this for your sides?”

  “Yes. I must say I like the Village Market. It may not be as large as supermarkets like Kroger’s, but they stock everything I need to make my favorite dishes.” Natalia emptied the other bag she had filled with utensils, baking sheets and cookware.

  “You didn’t have to bring a baking sheet. I have a few.”

  “This is my first time in your home, so I wasn’t sure what you had.”

  Seth knew Natalia was right. It was her first time—he hoped it wouldn’t be her last—and she was the only woman to cross the threshold since his return.

  “Do you need a sous chef?” he asked when Natalia slipped on a bibbed apron with two large pockets.

  “Thanks for asking, but I have everything under control.”

  Seth sat watching as she wielded a knife with the skill of a trained chef as she finely shredded cabbage and carrots, and chopped a stalk of celery, white onion and the small red pepper into a bowl for the slaw. She filled a separate bowl with mayonnaise, a couple tablespoons of white wine vinegar and a teaspoon of Dijon, and whisked them before tossing the dressing with the vegetables. She covered the bowl with something that looked to Seth like a colorful shower cap.

  “That works a lot better than plastic wrap,” he remarked.

  Natalia nodded. “I bought these food covers after I got fed up cutting myself on the metal edge on plastic wrap boxes. They’re washable and microwave safe.” She handed him the bowl. “Please put this in the fridge.”

  Seth placed the bowl on a shelf in the refrigerator and then returned to watch Natalia peel potatoes. “How long will it take for you to make duchess potatoes?”

  “Twenty minutes once they’re ready for baking. I’m going to put them in a bowl of cold water until I’m ready to boil them.”