Chapter 7

CHAPTER SEVEN

Gwen stood in her office, checking the information for her next patient. It was a little girl, and the form stated that she’d been feeling nauseous and had been running a fever the night before. She pressed her lips together in concern—it was unlikely to be anything serious, but she always felt especially bad for the kids that came in and were sick with something. She noted that the age of this little girl was eight.

She glanced at the clock and decided to head to the examination room right away—it was still five minutes before the appointment, but perhaps this little girl and whoever had brought her would be there early.

She stepped out of her office into the lobby and saw Heidi talking to a smartly-dressed woman with brown hair. Standing beside the woman was a little girl with curly hair who was scrunching her face up as if she didn’t feel well.

“Here’s Dr. Gwen now,” Heidi said, smiling and gesturing to Gwen. Heidi looked down at the little girl with kind eyes and spoke in a reassuring tone. “She’s going to make sure you feel better soon, Pearl.”

The little girl gazed up at Heidi with wide eyes and a trembling bottom lip. “What if I don’t get better in time?” she whispered.

Heidi cocked her head to one side in confusion, but at that moment Gwen stepped in, wanting to make sure the little girl got to sit down somewhere as soon as possible. She looked as though she was sick enough to be uncomfortable standing there like that.

“Hi, I’m Dr. Gwen,” she said, shaking the hand of the smartly-dressed woman.

“Nice to meet you. I’m Caitlin Lewis,” the woman said, smiling. “I’ve heard great things about you.”

Gwen’s face broke open into a smile, and her heart leapt up at the words. Relief swept over her—the clinic getting a good reputation so quickly meant a great deal to her. “Thank you. Why don’t you and your daughter come on back to the examination room? You’ll feel better in no time at all, Pearl,” she said to the little girl, smiling at her.

Pearl offered a wobbly smile in return, and they went into the examination room together. Gwen and Heidi usually did the initial patient check-in together when things at the clinic were slow, so Heidi came into the examination room with them. Pearl sat down on the padded table, looking nervous and holding her mother’s hand.

“Now, Pearl,” Gwen said, smiling at her, “tell me what you’re feeling.”

Pearl bit her lip and shrugged, staring at the floor. “My tummy feels sloshy,” she said. “I feel like I might throw up. And Mom says I have a fever.”

“I took her temperature last night,” Caitlin said, “as soon as she told me she didn’t feel well. It was 99.8, which is a higher fever than she’s had in a long time. I’m mostly worried because she’s not talking as much as she usually does.” Pearl’s mother laughed breathlessly, but she looked nervous. “It really isn’t like her, and I’m concerned. She wanted to come see you today and I was more than happy to bring her here.”

Gwen nodded, and Heidi typed down notes rapidly on the computer.

“Well, I’m glad you’re here, Pearl,” she said, smiling reassuringly at the little girl. “Let’s go ahead and take your temperature again.”

Pearl’s temperature had gone down a little since Caitlin had taken it the night before. Gwen continued to examine the little girl, speaking to her gently and letting her know why she was checking everything that she was. When asked questions, Pearl replied in a muffled voice, staring at the carpet.

“You just have a case of the flu, nothing too bad,” Gwen reassured her, once she was certain—although she’d been fairly confident of that diagnosis ever since the little girl had walked into her clinic. “You should be better pretty soon.”

“How soon is that?” Pearl asked, biting her lip. Her voice was almost a whisper.

“I can’t say for sure, but it won’t be too long—” Gwen stopped speaking as she saw the little girl’s bottom lip began to quiver. Children were more likely to be emotional when they were worn out from being sick, but it was clear that something was seriously upsetting Pearl.

“What if I miss it?” Pearl said, beginning to cry.

“Miss what?” Gwen asked, glancing at Caitlin in confusion. The little girl’s mother was frowning, and then all at once Caitlin’s eyebrows lifted in realization.

“Pearl, honey, are you worried you’re going to miss the wedding?” Caitlin asked, taking a step toward her daughter.

“Yes,” Pearl sobbed, and Caitlin folded her into her arms.

“That’s so sweet. But you don’t need to worry one bit. You’ll be better by then,” Caitlin assured her daughter, stroking her hair.

“When is the wedding?” Gwen mouthed at Pearl’s mother.

“The wedding is weeks away,” Caitlin said to both Gwen and Pearl. “You’re definitely going to be all better by then, honey.”

“Oh, definitely,” Gwen added, smiling. “Don’t worry about that.”

Pearl took a deep breath, sniffling back her tears. “Okay,” she said, offering everyone a watery smile. “Then I won’t worry.”

“Good,” Caitlin said, stroking her head. “You just relax so you can feel better soon.”

“You’ll definitely be all better by the time the wedding arrives,” Gwen said, feeling touched by the sight of Pearl cuddling up to her mother in relief. “Who’s getting married?”

Pearl snuffled and pointed a finger at Caitlin.

“Oh! Congratulations,” Gwen said, smiling.

“Thank you.” Caitlin nodded. “Pearl is from my first marriage, which didn’t work out. I’m about to marry Michael O’Neil, the man who owns Tidal Wave Coffee. It’s the most popular coffee shop in town. Have you been there?”

Gwen’s eyebrows lifted as she made the connection. “I have been there,” she said. “I met him. He was telling me about your cruise ship—a dining experience of some kind?”

“Yes!” Caitlin laughed. “He told me once he was going to tell everyone new in town about my dinner cruise and I guess he meant it. That’s Blueberry Bay, though, not just Michael—everyone here looks out for each other and helps each other out. That’s part of why I love this town so much—the support network is really something. Even our wedding has become a community effort. We’ve got people offering to help us with things all the time. It’s really touching.”

Gwen felt her heart soften a little as she heard Caitlin’s words. She thought the concept of a community banding together like that was sweet—it wasn’t something she was used to. The idea of the people in a town caring for one another like that was a bit of a strange concept to her, since she was used to living in communities where everyone took care of themselves rather than look out for others. She had to admit that the idea of being looked out for by others was nice—it was heartwarming.

“Here’s the handout we give to parents when kids have the flu,” she said, going over to one of the cupboards in the examination room and taking out a printed information sheet. “She should get plenty of rest and drink plenty of fluids. There’s other information here too, about medication and diet.”

Gwen handed the sheet to Caitlin, who took it and glanced over it with interest.

“What kinds of foods do you recommend I give her?” Caitlin asked.

“Whatever she can stomach at first, and then try to make what you give her as nutritional as you can. I’d recommend letting her sleep and watch some of her favorite movies today.”

“Yay!” Pearl said, suddenly looking excited.

Caitlin and Gwen laughed.

“Thank you, you’ve been very helpful,” Caitlin said, smiling in a friendly way and reaching out to shake Gwen’s hand.

“I’m just doing my job,” Gwen insisted, returning Caitlin’s smile in a more reserved manner. “I hope Pearl feels much better very soon.”

“I think she will. She hardly ever gets sick, and when she does, she usually recovers quickly. I make sure to feed her healthy foods.”

“That’s very important.” Gwen smiled again, and then realized to her surprise that she felt disappointed that Caitlin and Pearl were leaving. She liked the little girl very much, and she had been enjoying talking to Caitlin. “I’ll see you both around town, I’m sure.”

“See you around town,” Caitlin said warmly, and she and Pearl left the examination room. Heidi followed them out so that she could check them out at the front desk.

Gwen lingered alone in the room for a moment, thinking to herself that perhaps it would be nice to get to know the town better. Everyone in Blueberry Bay seemed so kind and pleasant to be around. But she couldn’t shake the feeling that she was an outsider—and she didn’t know how to become part of a community that she wasn’t sure she would fit into. Could she become one of the kind, pleasant people of Blueberry Bay, or would she always feel like someone who didn’t quite belong?

I just wish I wasn’t the only stranger here, she thought. I feel like the odd man out, being surrounded by all these folks who know each other so well.

In a flash, she remembered Isaiah Dunlap—he was an outsider too, someone who was new to the town and who most people didn’t know. She found herself wanting to reach out to him to get to know him better—he at least had something in common with her, since they were both newcomers. And he seemed like a genuinely friendly, fun person.

Unexpectedly, she felt herself flush a little. Then she shook her head, starting to tidy up the examination room. If her goal was to become part of the Blueberry Bay community, there wasn’t much point in spending time with him, since he was a stranger in the town as well. A voice in the back of her mind told her that he was sure to get acclimated to the community much faster than she was, but she brushed those thoughts aside.

He's a stranger here too, she thought. He’s not the right person to go to for help with getting settled into the town. Although I have to admit, he doesn’t seem like a stranger here.

She paused in her work, wondering if Isaiah was the kind of person who was at home no matter where he was.

She shook her head, telling herself firmly that it was time to get back to work. She’d spent enough time thinking about things that there was no point in thinking about.

Alissa snuggled up against the pillows of the bed she shared with Dane, taking a sip of the soothing tea she’d made for herself. She was propped up on the mattress, her glasses resting on the nightstand nearby, surrounded by baby books. She’d been there for an hour already, having finally started taking the gently-given advice of her mother-in-law and husband. She’d been “taking it easy” as they had urged her, and she’d spent a comfortable evening watching a movie with Dane before coming upstairs to bed early.

She and Dane had gotten all the baby books from the library a few days earlier. She wanted to read them out loud to the baby, even though he hadn’t been born yet. She’d read once that he could hear the sound of her voice reading to him from inside the womb, and she thought it was a sweet idea. She wondered if he would find the same baby books a little familiar when she read them out loud to him after he’d been born.

She smiled to herself and patted her stomach. “What did you think of that last one, Oscar? It was nice, wasn’t it? Just wait till you can see the illustrations.”

She chuckled and took another sip of tea. She’d really been enjoying getting some extra rest—she was feeling more relaxed and calm about everything.

Outside, the wind blew in gusts against the house, rattling the windowpanes and hinting at rain. Alissa felt warm and cozy, and now that she’d finished reading all of the books, she was beginning to feel sleepy.

“How’s the mother of my child?” Dane said, stepping into the bedroom. He’d been in the bathroom brushing his teeth, and he yawned as he walked over to the bed. He was wearing pajamas that she had bought him for Christmas, and she admired how handsome he looked in them.

“Sleepy,” she said, tilting her head up as he leaned down for a kiss.

“Perfect, me too. Except there’s so many books in this bed, there isn’t any room for me.”

She laughed, looking down at all of the baby books that had taken over the bed.

“Poor Dane,” she said. “I’ll make room for you.” She leaned over and gathered up the books into a pile while he climbed into bed beside her.

“Oh good,” he said. “That’s much better.” He snuggled in next to her, wrapping his arms around her. “How are you feeling?”

“Oh, pretty good physically. And excited. So excited. But I feel like I’m getting more jittery about Oscar’s arrival all the time. What about you, sweetheart?”

“I’m getting more jittery too,” he said, laughing. “It feels like cramming for a test—I want to be totally ready. I want to know everything there is to know.”

She laughed. “Yes, that’s exactly how I feel! I feel like I’ve been studying how to be a parent harder than I ever studied anything for school.”

Outside, the wind picked up and droplets of rain began to splash against the windowpanes. She sighed in contentment and took another sip of tea, offering the cup to Dane.

“Thanks, sweetheart.” He took a sip. “Mm, that’s interesting. Tastes like it must be very good for you.”

She laughed. “It’s supposed to be.”

“Do you think we’ll be more ready for baby Oscar if we drink more tea?” he teased, taking another sip before handing the cup back to her.

“I expect so,” she said, winking.

For a moment, they sat there smiling at each other.

“But no matter how ready we think we are, I’m sure baby Oscar will still manage to surprise us,” he said, chuckling.

“That’s very true.” She snuggled down against the pillows and grinned up at him.

“So the best we can do is be flexible and support each other,” he said, taking her hand and stroking her fingers with his thumb. “We’ll figure everything out as we go along.”

“I promise to do that with you,” she said, kissing his hand.

“I promise too,” he said, smiling at her. “I don’t mean to sound over-confident, but I think we’re going to make great parents.”

“I think we will too,” she said, sighing happily. “We already love him a lot and I know we’re going to do our best. That’s all anybody can do, really.”

“And we’ll make sure he drinks tea,” Dane said solemnly.

She leaned her head back, a soft laugh falling from her lips. Then she curled up against him as he reached for one of the baby books curiously.

“You want to read to Oscar?” she asked.

“I’d love to,” he said. “Are you ready to hear about the very sleepy sloth, Oscar?” He leaned over, pressing his ear to Alissa’s stomach. “He says yes.”

She chuckled again as Dane began to read the book out loud. She felt a wave of peace and sleepiness wash over her as she lay there cuddled up next to her husband, listening to him read a story out loud to their baby. She still felt jittery about becoming a mother, but she felt much better about it knowing that she would have this wonderful man by her side.