Page 13 of Deck the Fire Halls

“Ah, yes,” he said, nodding slowly. “Jayden. He’s getting married, you know. To another man.”

Oh.

My defenses went up with my placating smile, because I knew how these conversations usually ended.

“The guy with the dark beard?” I asked. “He seemed nice.”

“No, no,” he said. “That’s Hamish. The other Australian guy. He’s married to Ren Brooks, at the hardware store. Jayden is getting married to Cass. He runs the bed and breakfast out on Ponderosa Road.”

“Oh.”

God, there were two gay couples in this small town?

“Well, that’s exciting,” I said, still trying to gauge his reaction and about to change subjects.

“And there’s Clay Henderson. Lemme tell you, that was a surprise to the whole town. He’s run the local sawmill his whole life with his dad, Cliff. As tall and broad as a door but met a newcomer to town. Smaller, quiet type. Gunther or Gunter, I can’t remember. He’s starting up the youth center. Nice fellow. And then last year another newcomer to town, a young Englishman he is, got pulled over by the deputy for speeding, and that was that.” He pointed his gnarled finger at me. “You might want to watch yourself, being anewcomer to this town. Might find yourself in the sights of a man.” He winked.

“Well, I...” Good freaking lord. What the hell?

“I dunno what’s in the water in Hartbridge,” he went on, “but it sure weren’t in the water when I was a youngin. There’s nothing wrong with that, mind you. My granddaughter told me it was accepted now, and people being in love is better than people being hateful, and I guess she’s right.”

I wasn’t about to tell him that it sure was in the water back when he was a youngin, folks just had to live in hiding, but I didn’t think it was appropriate. He certainly wasn’t being disrespectful. In fact, he was very accepting. “Your granddaughter sounds very smart.”

“Oh, she is,” he said, his gray eyes lighting up. And then he gave me the rundown on her schooling and the clubs she’s in and how she helps around the house. He clearly adored her, and he clearly adored chatting.

I kept thinking of the time, a stopwatch in the back of my mind counting the seconds, telling me I needed to wrap up this appointment, because time was money and there was a never-ending line of patients and insurance companies and hospital board quotas I had to meet...

But I didn’t.

Not anymore.

So I took a few minutes to chat with Mr. Thornton, and when he left, he left with a clean bill of health and a smile. And for such a simple thing, a ten-minute chat with a kind old man, it made me smile too.

My next appointment didn’t mind waiting a few minutes and came in with a smile of her own. Mrs. Shellyhad to have her blood pressure checked and a new prescription, and it took all of five minutes, and then she and Katie talked about an up-and-coming sewing club meeting.

The following appointments were relaxed and easy. A sinus infection, a baby’s six-month check-up, a toddler’s ear infection, a cholesterol check, a strained back.

And maybe in a few months’ time I’d be bored out of my mind, but my god... the change of pace was like a breath of fresh air.

The simplicity, the quietness.

No hectic and stressful ER events. No accidents, no assaults, no shootings. I hadn’t been sworn at, spat at, or threatened.

No directors yelling at us to treat people faster, cheaper. No boards to please, no quotas to meet.

Admittedly, I hadn’t met Doctor Humphries yet. He was the doctor who had been Hartbridge’s only doctor for forty years, and he was cutting his hours back getting ready for retirement.

Which was really him getting the townsfolk ready for his retirement.

All the patients I’d seen on my first day told me how much they liked Doctor Humphries, so I knew I had some pretty big shoes to fill. And as my first day wrapped up, I thought I’d done okay.

“People liked you,” Katie said. “They said you were nice.”

“Oh, thank you,” I said, genuinely touched.

“They said they preferred Doctor Humphries, but that’s not surprising.”

I almost snorted. Her bluntness was part of her charm.

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