Chapter 19

Chapter Nineteen

Allison

I went through the day with a smile on my face despite the events of the night before. I had expected to be shaken up. Instead, I felt happy. Calm. Safe.

In fact, yesterday felt like it had happened a million years ago, having been far outshadowed by everything that happened after. Jackson had stayed with me. He had volunteered to watch a movie he clearly had no interest in just so I didn’t have to go upstairs and sleep alone. And he had slept on the uncomfortable floor to keep from waking me.

Pact or no pact, one thing was clear. Jackson was a completely different kind of man than Mike, and I was beginning to think my decision had been made in haste. It was still a terrible idea to date the town hero and then break up. But breaking up might not be inevitable after all.

That is, if Jackson felt the same way about me that I was starting to feel about him.

That was the one thing that made me pause. He might not be interested in me at all. He also seemed to be set on remaining single, believing against all evidence that he wasn’t capable of being a good husband or father. My heart ached just thinking about it.

Russell had really done a number on him, and I knew those wounds weren’t likely to heal quickly. But surely he could see that he would never make the same mistakes. He was a good man, deserving of every good thing in life. That might not mean a wife and kids for him, but if he wanted it, he shouldn’t deny himself the chance.

Other than his quick text asking about the clinic that morning, I didn’t hear from him all day. By midafternoon, his absence had left a hole in my day that hadn’t existed prior to the renewal of our friendship. I had never been one to keep up with my phone—work always got one hundred percent of my focus. But I missed him.

So I sent him a text asking if he wanted to meet for dinner. He didn’t reply. But twenty minutes later, when I heard Beverly loudly saying hello in the sugary tone she seemed to reserve for Jackson, I smiled. Unable to stop myself, I got up from my office chair and headed straight for the lobby.

Unfortunately, it wasn’t Jackson waiting for me there. It was Sheriff Morrison.

“Oh, hello, Sheriff,” I said, reaching out to shake his hand. “What can I do for you today?”

“Call me Greg,” he said warmly. “I’m actually here—” He stopped, glancing at Beverly and Danny, who were both hanging close by, pretending to work so they could overhear our conversation. “Could we talk in your office?”

“Of course,” I said, ignoring the glare Beverly shot me. I led him down the hallway and opened my office door, gesturing for him to enter. “Have a seat.”

“Thanks.” He slowly walked into the room, taking a look around as he did. “Nice office. I see Doc left his furniture.”

“Did he? I wondered who had furnished it.” I walked to my desk and sat with what I hoped was calm elegance, despite my anxiety about why Greg was here. I wanted him to get to the point already, not make small talk about my office.

“Yeah,” Greg said before finally taking a seat. “Looks almost the same as when he was practicing. But I see you’ve added some touches of your own.” He pointed at the succulents I’d placed in the window and the photographs on my desk.

“So,” I said, still wanting to skip past the pleasantries. “What can I do for you?”

“Jackson told me about the trouble at your place last night,” he said, interlacing his fingers in his lap and tapping his thumbs together. “I’m here to follow up on that and to see if you’ve noticed anything out of place here today. One of our theories is that a disgruntled patient may have been looking for narcotics. Jackson told me about the incident he witnessed with Frank Cross yesterday.”

I tilted my head. “Is it typical for a sheriff to investigate? I thought that was Jackson’s job.”

Greg’s mouth lifted in a smile he appeared to be fighting. “Jackson’s got a conflict of interest, seeing as you two are close. And I’m the only one he’d trust with someone who’s important to him.”

“I see,” I said as my heart soared. If I was important enough to Jackson that Greg wouldn’t assign him to my case, well, that meant something.

“So have you noticed anything out of place today? Any sign that someone was here who shouldn’t have been?”

“Not a thing,” I said, shaking my head. “We aren’t a pharmacy, though. It’s not like we have narcotics on site.”

“No samples or anything?”

“Not currently. When I inventoried what we have here, it was just the basic stuff you’d keep on hand for emergencies and some expired samples of migraine medications and beta blockers. Nothing like what Mr. Cross was looking for.” I rapped my pen on my desk and mentally reviewed my day, trying to remember if anything at all had felt odd. It hadn’t, but would I have even noticed? I had practically floated through my day with thoughts of Jackson on my mind. My patients still got one hundred percent of my focus when I was in the room with them, but otherwise, I hadn’t been the most observant version of myself.

“Mind if I look around?” Greg asked. “See if I notice anything you might have missed?”

“Please, be my guest. Do you want me to walk with you?”

“Not yet,” he said, standing. “I’ll holler for you if I need to ask you any questions. No more problems with Frank or anyone else today, right?”

“None,” I said, feeling fresh relief over it. “I haven’t heard from him.”

“Good deal. I don’t want to scare you, but Frank has a tendency for violence,” Greg warned. “I’m not here to tell you what to do, but my recommendation would be that if you’re going to stick to your guns and not prescribe what he wants, you should send him somewhere else. Because he’s not going to back down.”

“I understand,” I said, nodding. “I plan to call him first, talking to him over the phone for safety, and offer him the protocol I think would help. If that conversation goes as badly as the office visit, then I agree with you and will be firing him as a patient.”

“Good,” Greg said, nodding. He headed toward my doorway, but I stopped him.

“Can I ask you something?” I said tentatively.

“Of course.”

“I haven’t heard from Jackson today. I texted him and he never wrote back, which isn’t like him.” I took a deep breath, suddenly feeling very silly to be asking the sheriff about this and not knowing how to begin to explain. “Things were a little weird after last night and I was just wondering…”

Greg gave me a sympathetic look. “He got a tough case this morning. Child abuse. Pretty awful situation. You know about his childhood, right?”

“I do,” I said.

Greg’s eyes were still kind, but his face had turned dark. “Then you know Jackson’s going to give everything he has to this case. But this kind of thing eats at him more than anyone knows. He’ll probably be a mess for a few days.”

My heart sank. Not for myself, but for Jackson. I hadn’t even thought about how his job could trigger the past like that for him. It made me realize how selfless he was, that he would continue causing himself pain and bringing up those terrible memories just to make things right for someone else.

“He might try to shut you out,” Greg warned. “Jackson comes across as the sunniest, happiest person in my office. But don’t let it fool you. He still carries a heavy burden. He just refuses to let anyone else close enough to see it.”

“I won’t let him shut me out,” I said, willing it to be true.

Greg smiled. “I knew I liked you.”

“You’re leaving early.” Beverly’s voice, as smug as ever, echoed down the hallway as I locked up my office and headed toward the exit.

“I need to run by the post office before it closes. Feel free to leave early too,” I said, attempting to be friendly. “You and Danny both,” I added, trying to catch his eye.

He’d been awkward with me ever since I’d turned him down, which was less than ideal considering I needed to be able to rely on him in the clinic.

“We’re done with patients for the day,” I continued. “No need for you guys to hang around for another twenty minutes. Go ahead and lock up, head home before the five o’clock rush.” I laughed, thinking they would get the joke—there wasn’t a five o’clock rush here, unlike Memphis, where traffic could be completely gridlocked as everyone tried to leave work at the same time.

But neither of them even cracked a smile.

“Absolutely not,” Beverly said with that same smugness still in her voice. “ Some of us get paid by the hour and can’t afford to jet off early whenever we feel like it, now can we? Besides, we have a responsibility to be available should anyone call for a last-minute appointment.”

“We don’t schedule appointments after four twenty,” I pointed out. “So they would have to wait until tomorrow anyway.”

“Still, they might want to know they have a slot scheduled, right? Goodness, I’m glad some of us still care about our patients.”

I clamped my lips and took a deep breath, refusing to argue. “You’re right,” I said, forcing myself to play nice. “You’re a blessing to the clinic.”

Danny spoke up. “Um, since you won’t be here to see patients, is it okay if I knock off early? I have some stuff to do.” He glanced at Beverly, who glared at him.

“Of course,” I said, giving him a bright smile.

He sighed in relief and grabbed his bag, hitting the door before Beverly had a chance to pick her jaw up off the floor.

“Call me if you need anything,” I said, feeling like I had won some sort of victory. “Have a good night, Beverly.”

She gave me one of her classic fake smiles and bustled out of the room, acting like she had important work to do and couldn’t waste time saying goodnight. I just shook my head and walked out.

After stopping at the post office to drop off a package of local goodies for Mama—a peace offering of sorts—I drove through a fast food drive-through on my way home. It wasn’t the healthiest choice, but I felt emotionally exhausted after a day that had turned out to be as draining as every other day at the clinic. I wanted comfort food, a hot bath, and TV.

Going back to my house without Jackson felt a little unnerving, but I reassured myself all would be fine. Other than a quick text telling me he was working late, I hadn’t heard from him. But it was okay. Like Greg had said, Jackson was in the middle of a big case. I couldn’t depend on him to be around every night. And nothing had really been wrong the day before anyway. It really might have been as simple as someone poking around out of curiosity.

Still, I added a voice memo to my phone to order a taser to carry for self-defense. I hadn’t bothered in Memphis, as I wouldn’t have been allowed to carry it inside the hospital anyway, and walking to and from the parking garage to the hospital doors was the most unnerving part of my routine there. But here, I could carry it in my own clinic, and it would make me feel safer when I eventually started jogging again.

I pulled up in my driveway, eyeing the house. Nothing appeared to be out of place. No windows open this time, no movement anywhere. Still, I sat there for a good five minutes, watching everything carefully before making my approach.

I stuck my keys through my fingers as a makeshift weapon and walked up to the door, my heart pounding in a way it never had before for something as simple as coming home. A quick test revealed that the front door was still locked, a fact that made me sigh in relief. Everything was okay.

Safely inside with the door locked behind me, I moved to the kitchen, humming to myself as I pulled out a plate and dumped my burger and fries onto it. The sight of the sad meal made me instantly regret my choice—tired or not, I should have taken the time to get something better. This didn’t even look appetizing.

I went to the fridge, thinking I could at least throw together a salad or something to add a little nutrition to the meal. Then I froze, as I heard a creaking noise from upstairs. My heart pounded as I gripped the refrigerator door.

You probably imagined it. Still, I didn’t move. I stood frozen, adrenaline coursing through my body, straining my ears to listen.

Nothing. See? It was your imagination. Everything’s fine.

Just as I began to relax, I heard another creak.

Then another.

Footsteps, slow and deliberate, came from my bedroom above.

I grabbed my phone and keys and ran for the door.