LITMIR.BIZ

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around the building. It had been finished right after he’d left for medical school and housed both church services and the school. Ma would have loved teaching the local children in a building like this when Jake was young rather than at their kitchen table. Would his relationship with Coralee be different if they had attended a more formal school? If so much of their time hadn’t been spent together at Holbrook’s? He couldn’t imagine what he would be doing now if he hadn’t spent so many hours learning basic remedies and a love of medicine from Coralee’s father.

      Jake tried to focus and listen to the sermon but his mind wandered. Coralee sat with her aunt and sisters across the aisle and several rows ahead of his family. Every time he caught a glimpse of her, his attention derailed.

      He knew when he’d returned to town that there would be tension between them. But he hadn’t prepared himself for the onslaught of emotions every time he saw her. His heart ached with ugly emotions he thought had healed. Pain from the lingering sting of her rejection when he’d tried to lay his heart out for her. Jealousy that always flared when he remembered how she’d turned to his best friend while he’d been away at school. He was sure now that no length of time could erase that hurt from his heart.

      His trip down memory lane was cut short when the congregation stood to sing a final hymn. As the ending notes faded away, the congregants all turned to greet their neighbors with happy conversation. Noticing that everyone around him was occupied, Jake slipped out the side door. He waited by his parents’ wagon while they socialized, trying to look like he wasn’t hiding. He couldn’t bring himself to face questions from all the folks who would want to welcome him back to town when he had so many unwanted feelings distracting him.

      Finally the couple finished greeting the other churchgoers and joined him. It was a fine spring day, so his mother had packed a picnic for them to share before his parents headed back out to their farm.

      Jake gathered up the picnic basket and blanket before his father could try to reach for them and led the way to a quiet spot by the creek. Soon they had the blanket spread on the grass and Jake helped Pa lower himself onto it. Ma laid out the food and they all filled their plates and said a prayer.

      “Son, how’ve you liked your first few days working with the doc?” Pa shoveled his wife’s delicious cooking in his mouth as he waited for Jake’s response.

      “Just fine, Pa. Samuel is an excellent doctor, just as I thought in St. Louis.” Jake hesitated, not sure if he should bring up Coralee and her accusations against the older doctor. But he needed some perspective on the conflict. “I ran into Coralee the other day.” He tried to sound nonchalant, but judging from the look on his mother’s face, he wasn’t succeeding.

      “Oh, Jake,” Ma breathed, her voice hopeful but laced with traces of worry. “I’ve been praying that you two could start to get along again, now that you’re home for good. How did it go?”

      He shrugged off her concern. “She’s convinced Samuel is doing anything he can to force her to close Holbrook’s. I spoke to him and he doesn’t approve of her running the shop, but I can’t believe he would do anything more than state his opinion.”

      Ma considered his words for a moment as she chewed a bite of her lunch. “I haven’t spent much time with Coralee since your pa’s accident.” She gestured to her husband’s arm and Jake flushed with guilt. While Pa was recovering from the farm accident that cost him the use of his left hand, Jake had been away in school, unable to help at all. But now he finally had a chance to secure his practice in Spring Hill so he could be near his parents to help out. He had to make this work.

      Ma’s soft voice pulled him back to the conversation. “Coralee’s always been kind and honest, Jake. I understand that you trust Dr. Jay and believe in him, but Coralee is a good woman, too.”

      “Ma, how good could the woman be when we all know I can’t trust her any farther than I can throw her?”

      A compassionate smile graced her face. “Jake, I know she hurt you, but there are reasons behind the things people do. You should give her a chance. Maybe time has changed both of you for the better.”

      Jake didn’t quite know what to say in response. His relationship with Coralee had ended seven years ago. He should be past the pain by now. But he still couldn’t bring himself to even try to understand Coralee’s motives. There couldn’t be any good reason for the way she had hurt him. Just when he had been ready to confess his love for her, she had started a fight about him going away to medical school. Without giving him a chance to explain his plan for them, she had stormed out. Less than a year later his best friend, Alan, had broken the news that he and Coralee were going to be married. He understood how Alan had fallen for her, but he would never understand why she had betrayed him that way.

      “Talk to Coralee, Jake,” Pa said. “You’ve already talked to the doc. Now find out her side of this and get it settled. And you know I think you ought to settle the past, too. But I suppose you won’t listen to your old pa any more now than you did when it happened.” He grabbed another cookie and leaned back on the quilt, done saying his piece.

      “Fine, Pa. I’ll go see her about Samuel. But you’re right. I’m not going to dig up the past. It’s done and buried.” Jake reached for more lemonade, determined to ignore the knowing look his parents exchanged.

      He put off the visit for several days. But, finally, he knew he had to confront Coralee. He left his room at the boardinghouse early to stop by Holbrook’s before starting his day at the clinic. As much as he wanted to avoid any contact with Coralee, in a small town like Spring Hill there was no way to steer clear of her forever. He wasn’t ready to trust her, but he supposed hearing her side of the conflict with Samuel wouldn’t cause any harm.

      All too soon, he approached Holbrook’s Apothecary. The old pane-glass door was now embellished with the shop’s name in gilded letters. As he pushed the door open, the familiar scent of herbs and soap filled his nose. Nostalgia washed over him. He missed the hours spent discussing remedies and diseases with William Holbrook. He had always admired the older man’s passion for healing.

      Inside, the shelves that lined one long wall contained neat rows of the same bottles, tins and jars that he remembered. But the counter in front of the shelves now held a large copper scale and several small displays instead of Mr. Holbrook’s piles of paperwork. To his surprise, the small tables on the other side all sat empty. He hardly remembered a time when there hadn’t been at least one customer waiting for an order.

      “Jake!”

      He turned just as a dainty figure swathed in flowered muslin launched into his arms. Laughing at Cat’s exuberance, he swung her around before setting her back on her feet. It was good to see that her unconventional, passionate spirit hadn’t changed with the years.

      “Coralee said you were back, Jake, but I wasn’t sure you’d have time to stop in. All that responsibility with Dr. Jay, you know,” Cat quipped with a wink. She glanced at the door behind the counter. “If you’re here to see Coralee, she’s working with some ingredients in the back. Peppermint, this time. It smells wonderful, unless it burns.” Cat’s pert nose wrinkled at the memory of the acrid smell and Jake grinned.

      “It’s all just part of the job, Catrina, my girl.”

      Cat shot him a good-natured smile and sudden seriousness settled over Jake. Life had been much simpler when they were growing up. Before Coralee had broken his heart, before he’d left Spring Hill, before Alan had died.

      He shook off the gloomy thoughts of the past and looked around. The middle Holbrook sister wasn’t in the store as he expected her to be. “How’s Cecilia?”

      “Oh, she’s fine,” Cat answered, waving one hand in her usual flippant way. “You know she was covering the school when Alan was sick and couldn’t teach?” Jake nodded. “The school board asked her to take over the position after he...” Her voice trailed off as she glanced at the workroom door again. Her brow furrowed and she caught her bottom lip between her teeth, looking as if she was hesitant to even mention Alan’s death. But she shook it off, smoothing

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