Doug returned to work on Tuesday to a lot of fanfare. The only thing the hospital staff didn’t do was throw confetti and rose petals on the floor as he walked down the hall to his office. Jackie was embarrassed on his behalf as she watched him accept congratulations and slaps on the back and pose for pictures like he was a celebrity.
She waited for him outside his office door. He hesitated when he saw her, and it stung a little. Jackie flashed the file she was holding, and he nodded. She let him get seated before she handed it to him. Then she sat in the patient’s chair while he read.
“I was hoping we were wrong,” he murmured.
“Me, too,” she agreed.
Mr. Ronald had more problems than arthritis.
“Let me know when he’s scheduled to come back. I’ll make sure I’m here. Unless there’s an emergency, I can give him a solid couple of hours,” Jackie said. A set of full-body X-rays took a while on a good day; moving an eighty-year-old into various positions to get good shots of his skeleton was going to take some time and finesse.
He closed the file and shoved it to the centre of his desk. He stared at it for a long minute, and Jackie stared at him. There was nothing to say in cases like this. They each had their jobs to do, but no matter what they did, it wouldn’t change the diagnosis.
“Subject change?” Doug said unexpectedly.
“Sure.”
“I’m sorry for not calling you on Saturday. Or Sunday, or Monday.”
Jackie opened her mouth to say, “That’s alright,” but then it was her turn to pause. It really wasn’t. She deserved an apology. “Thank you.”
“Would you be interested in trying again?” he asked.
Would she? Her high-school self screamed yes. Her adult self from last week echoed the sentiment. But the woman who’d spent the afternoon with Scarlett and Andie as they tried to adjust to their new reality wasn’t certain it would be the best move for her or for Doug.
She was saved from answering when someone knocked on the door. Louise didn’t wait for permission to open it. “MVA inbound. They’re taking the two more serious victims to Brandon. We’re getting an injured child, female, five, and a male, forty-seven. EMTs say the child has at least one broken bone, maybe more.”
Louise didn’t waste time on a goodbye. She pulled the door shut without a further word. They heard the rapid squeaks of her shoes as she jogged away.
Jackie glanced out of Doug’s office window out of habit. All she saw was sunshine and blue skies. Thankfully, she wouldn’t have to worry about a leaking roof on top of dealing with accident patients. “To be continued?” she asked.
“Yes, please.”
The accident must have occurred closer to town than Jackie had realized, because the ambulance pulled up before they knew it. The man was banged up but mostly mobile. He insisted they treat the smaller patient first.
The only facts they got from Olivia Donavan was that she was five and a half years old and was born on “Valetimes’ Day.” She wore a unicorn T-shirt with a pair of matching aquamarine shorts, and one flip-flop. She rocked and whimpered and called for her mother, who had been taken to Brandon for emergency surgery.
Jackie wasn’t going to get anything done until she calmed the little girl down. She asked a volunteer to fetch her a lap blanket from the volunteer’s room. They had a stash of handcrafted things they gave to patients to cut through the institutional atmosphere. The pink and white crocheted blanket was very soft, and she was grateful to see Olivia snuggle into it when she wrapped it around her shoulders.
“Hi, Olivia. My name is Jackie. I like your shirt. I don’t have a unicorn shirt like that. But I have a Cat in the Hat one. Do you know The Cat in the Hat?”
“All we could do was sit, sit, sit, sit.”
“You do know The Cat in the Hat!” Her smile was bigger than necessary and showed more of her braces than she liked, but Jackie needed the little girl to interact with her. “That was pretty good.”
Jackie gently lifted the little girl’s uninjured hand and rubbed it briskly. “It’s cool in here. Your blanket will warm you right up.”
“Do you know where my mommy is?”
“Yep. The doctors are taking very good care of her.” Louise arranged for them to get updates as things happened, so they were prepared for whatever Olivia asked. “And your daddy is on his way here.” Unfortunately, he was still at work in Thunder Creek, half an hour away, but he’d given them permission to treat his daughter.
“Can I see my mommy?”
“No, sweetie. The doctors need to take care of her by herself right now. Like me and Doctor Doug need to take care of you. I bet your arm is pretty sore, isn’t it?” Jackie could see it was already swelling. The bright red skin was a good indicator of the bruise that was going to follow.
Olivia clasped her arm to her chest, then winced at the impact. “It hurts lots.”
Jackie pointed at the table behind her. “Did you know that machine over there can look inside your body and take pictures of your bones? It’s true. We can use it to see why your arm is sore.”
“Does it hurt?”
“No way. It just takes a picture.” It wouldn’t hurt, but it was going to be tricky to get her to hold still. Jackie usually had a parent on standby to keep a kid from moving.
“Maybe I can help.” Doug appeared in the door. She blinked, but the image didn’t change. He really was wearing a tall, red-and-white striped hat that towered a foot over his head.
She turned back to Olivia. She didn’t have to fake surprise. “Oh, my goodness. Look what he’s wearing!” She returned her attention to the door. “Hi, Doctor Doug.”
The top of his hat wobbled as he stepped into the room. It looked like it might topple at any second. “I like your hat,” Olivia said.
“Why thank you, Miss Olivia” He bowed slightly. “I like to dress up when I meet a new patient.” Doug bowed again to Jackie and gave her a wink. “Hello, Jackie. Can I help?”
She couldn’t believe it. At best, Dr. Roberts handed a kid a lollipop once the X-rays were done, but he’d never make the effort to help calm them down beforehand. Doug was good at it. The goofy hat, and his nonchalance about it, put the five-year-old at ease immediately. She’d never seen this side of him.
“It’s very important that we take an X-ray so we can make you feel better. Can we do that now, Olivia, or should we wait a couple more minutes?” he asked, cleverly giving her the choice on timing but not on having it done. Jackie needed to remember that trick.
The little girl screwed up her nose as she considered her options. “Are you sure it doesn’t hurt?”
“Absolutely positively. We put you on the table, and move the camera over your arm, and Doctor Doug will tell you when to say ‘cheese.’ Then you’ll be done.”
“Do you have to move my arm?”
She did, and that part wasn’t going to be pleasant. She needed Olivia to agree and move on to get this over with. “I do. What’s your favourite colour? Pink? Blue? Orange?”
“Orange!”
“Once we’re done, Doctor Doug can see about getting you an orange cast. But we’ll have to check what colours you have to choose from.” Jackie held out her arms in a silent question. Olivia nodded, and she moved her to the table.
Doug’s hat was awesome. Especially when it kept bouncing off the X-ray’s overhead frame, and he apologized to the machine each time. After the third apology, he shook his head. “This won’t do. Will you wear it for me?” he asked Olivia.
It slid over her forehead and stopped at her nose.
“Oops.” He adjusted it, keeping Olivia’s attention while Jackie manipulated her arm where it needed to be. She folded a heavy lead apron over Olivia’s torso and legs and handed a second to Doug. “Can you stay right like that? I have to push the picture button in the other room. Are you ready to help, Doctor Doug?”
Doug simply looked at her and nodded like he’d done it before. He probably had. She took a second image to ensure they could see it from all the angles and moved Olivia into the treatment room just as her dad arrived.
Miss Olivia was all wrapped up by the time Jackie was ready to head out. Jackie heard footsteps slapping the floor behind her, so she stopped at the door, prepared to get out of the way in case the runner was responding to an emergency.
It turned out she was the emergency.
“Would you,” Doug asked the second he got to her, “like to try again? I’m on call for the long weekend but I’ll be free from next Tuesday night on. We could go to dinner. Or watch something at the Sunset.”
She knew he wasn’t talking about watching the sun go down. The Sunset Grill and Drive-in was the last drive-in still in operation in the province, and it was only a forty-five-minute drive from Hopewell. Jackie tried to go at least once a month while it was open during the summer, but she hadn’t made it yet that year. Going to the Sunset was a commitment. If the date went bad, you were stuck with the person for an entire movie plus the long ride home. It wasn’t like dating in the city where you could walk out of the theatre and never see each other again.
“Why don’t we try supper,” she said.
His smile was blinding.
“I’ll talk to you over the weekend,” he said. He crossed his heart. “And I won’t buy another lottery ticket, so I won’t have any excuses not to call. Thanks, Jackie. I’ll see you later.”
He didn’t sound like he knew he’d see her tonight when she catered the supper he was going to. Even though that wasn’t a date, she still had to hurry. Jackie rang the bell on her handlebars fiercely on her way downtown, not giving the friendly go-ahead to the car she met at the four-way stop on Main Street across from the grocery store. She needed to make up time. She couldn’t spare a second to use the rack; she leaned her bike against the tree closest to Greenley Grocery’s front door.
The small but well-stocked produce aisle made her feel better. She took a deep sniff of a cantaloupe before she put it back; it wasn’t on the menu. Carrots were, though. She’d been hired to do a casual, intimate dinner for eleven and had been sworn to secrecy. On her calendar, she’d listed it as “W.D.” and her list said the same in case any snoopers caught a peek of it.
Only she knew it stood for “Winner Dinner.” A couple hours after Andie had taken refuge in her apartment, she had called her to ask if she could put together a meal with a day’s notice. Jackie quickly agreed; she wouldn’t turn down a booking for anyone, let alone friends.
When she warned her it wouldn’t be fancy, Andie had laughed. “We’d be happy with hotdogs and chips, so long as we don’t have to cook it,” the blonde said. “We need someone we can trust. You would not believe some of the things people are trying.”
“Worse than running you out of the diner?”
The smile in Andie’s voice disappeared. “That looks to be the least of it,” she said quietly.
Jackie was pushing her cart to the checkout when she heard a familiar voice arguing with the cashier. “Just put the beans in my bag, please.” It was Scarlett, and she sounded close to tears.
“No,” the teenager said.
“No?” Jackie asked, joining the conversation. “Why not?”
“I’m stopping Miss St. James from making a horrible mistake. She was trying to put the store brand of beans in her cart. A millionaire like her should be getting the name brand stuff at the very least. Maybe she should take a limo to Winnipeg and shop for her groceries at some imported food store.” He tossed the can into the re-shelving basket on the other side of the conveyer belt.
“Give her the beans, Tanner.”
“No.”
“He’s being a little jerk because he asked Junior for twenty-thousand dollars to buy himself a truck and Junior refused,” Scarlett said. She sounded annoyed, and Scarlett never lost her cool. “First of all, how I spend my money is absolutely none of your business. Ever. Second, is harassing customers a new service Greenley’s offers? Because what do you think is going to happen to your hours if the lottery winners, their families, their friends, and the people who make meals for them all take their business to the other grocery stores you mentioned? Do you think Greenley’s is going to need a part-time stock boy with so few customers coming in?” Scarlett didn’t wait for him to respond. “Here’s what is going to happen. You are going to politely apologize, gently place my can of kidney beans in my grocery bag and wish me a good afternoon.”
The teen glared at her.
“Or I can have a word with Patricia or the manager. Your pick, Tanner.” Scarlett wasn’t playing, and Jackie silently cheered her on. She wished she could stand up for herself like that when Dr. Roberts or Mr. Lang got on her case about her timesheet.
Evidently a paycheque was more important than harassing customers, because Tanner quickly rang Scarlett’s groceries through, and then did the same for Jackie. The two women walked out the door together.
“Have you been getting a lot of that?” Jackie asked.
“The attitude, or the being hit up for money?”
“Both?”
“Yes. It’s been non-stop since the news came out yesterday. Phone calls. Emails. Notifications on all my social media accounts, which I had to make private. I wouldn’t have left the house, but I promised my mom I’d make a three-bean salad and stick it in the fridge before I head to Evelyn’s, so she and Junior have half a supper ready to eat.”
“He wanted twenty-thousand dollars to buy a car?” Jackie couldn’t get over the brazen demand. That had to burn, especially since Jackie knew for a fact that Tanner’s father, the equally charming Alexander Kent, regularly refused to tip Scarlett’s mother at the diner, citing “poor service” when somebody called him on it. “Do you need anything besides beans? I can get it for you and bring it tonight.”
“No, that’s it. Thanks.” She looked over Jackie’s shoulder and her eyes got wide. “One thing. Give me time to make a getaway. Okay, thanks, bye,” she said all in one breath before she raced down the sidewalk.
Jackie hadn’t seen a news van all day. She had no idea what had spooked Scarlett so badly. She turned around and found herself face to face with a very good reason to run. “Hello, Mr. Wisher.” Her afternoon was going from bad to worse.
Mr. Desmond Wisher, like his wife, Hopewell’s mayor Miranda Wisher, wore several hats. In addition to being a full-time dad, he was on the board of every social and volunteer group the town had to offer, and he took his position of community leader seriously. His role on the board was always “volunteer recruiter.”
“I need to talk to you about the Diamond Willow Festival, Jackie. I hope we can count on your support.”
“I’ll be the first in line to buy tickets for the Tilt-A-Whirl,” Jackie promised, hoping that would be enough to make her escape.
It was not. “I was hoping we could count on you for the bake sale booth.”
Jackie sighed. As jobs went, it wasn’t the worst one she could be offered. Yes, it would eat up part of her day, but it meant she got first pick of all the donated goodies. “How long is the shift?”
“We have plenty of sales volunteers. I was hoping for a baked donation. Say, ten dozen cupcakes?”
The memory of Scarlett standing up for herself still echoed in her ears. It was the only reason Jackie could thing of for the “no” that exploded from her lips before she could stop it.
“Excuse me?” Mr. Wisher’s eyes sparked. “No” wasn’t a word he heard from her often. Perhaps ever.
“No, I can’t donate ten dozen cupcakes.” She couldn’t afford it. She could possibly squeeze five dozen out of her budget if she wanted to eat ramen for dinner for a week. But after the day she had, she wasn’t about to volunteer that information. Not with Mr. Wisher staring at her like she’d committed a crime by turning him down.
“I’m disappointed.”
“Me too, but it is what it is.” She felt an unexpected smile form on her face as she thought of a solution. “I’ve already donated a dinner for two from Dunn Home Cooking to the fundraising committee. Maybe you can ask Ruth’s Place to supply the cupcakes in exchange for a sponsorship sign or something.”
Faced with the fact someone else had already hit Jackie up for a donation, Mr. Wisher submitted graciously to defeat. “That’s a good idea. I’ll go speak to Heidi. Thank you for the dinner. I know it will be a popular item in our silent auction. We’ll see you at the festival.”
Jackie remained frozen to the spot after he left. She’d done it. She’d given a firm no to someone, and the world hadn’t ended. Of course, Mr. Wisher didn’t have the power to make sure she could pay her rent, but it was a start. She owed Scarlett a great big thank-you.
She’d give it to her friend tonight. At the dinner. Where she wouldn’t bring up their winnings unless directly asked. That wasn’t to say she hadn’t discussed the gang’s newfound wealth at length with Patricia. They both spent their own imaginary four-million-dollar winnings a dozen times over. But unlike some people in town, neither of them had ever assumed they had any right to so much as a cent of it. She and Patricia would have to earn theirs the old-fashioned way.
That reminded her. She had to get to the gas station and buy a ticket for this week’s lottery.