"In England?"
"You don't know! We have snow in summer now, it could happen." Okay, I was talking crap, but one GP to look after everyone?
"That's the way it's always been." He looked at me and I realised he wasn't going to expand more on the topic. I'd always presumed a quiet man who didn't say much would be the perfect guy, but after spending time with Jackson I've realised how annoying it is.
"I have some business errands to run, will you be okay having a look around by yourself for an hour?"
"Oh dear. Going round some shops all by myself? However will I cope?" I said sarcastically, before winking at him.
I thought I was actually going to get a smile out of him, when he dashed my hopes and just shook his head as if despairing of my behaviour.
"I'll meet you back here in an hour. Oh, and ignore any looks or comments you get. Unfortunately we aren't used to new people in this town and these guys can be pretty narrow minded. Try not to take any of it personally."
"I can handle myself, big guy."
"Meet me back here in an hour."
"Yes, sir." I gave him a mock salute, walking towards what looked to be an estate agent. If I was planning on staying in this strange town, I should probably have a look at the sort of thing I could end up living in.
JACKSON
"Jackson! How are you?"
I stepped in to the store which sold everything from milk to computers, smiling at Bella, the shop assistant. She had been a shop assistant here for as long as I could remember, but was also famous for being the local gossip. She was middle aged but had still kept her youthful exuberance, being well loved among the community. Her dark hair was pulled up in to a tight bun and she gave me a huge smile as I approached the desk.
"I'm very well, thank you Bella. How are you?"
"Fab, as usual. How can I help you?"
"I'm sure you've already heard about our visitor last night?"
Bella looked sheepish for a moment, before smiling again. "Yeah, I know all about her. Will she be staying?"
"I don't know yet. I need you to do me a favour, though."
"Of course."
"Pretty much everyone in this town uses this store and you have a good rapport with your customers. Would it be okay, if you could tell everyone to be nice to Laura? People are bound to be worried, but I won't tolerate disrespect towards our guest for however long she is here. My men and I are keeping an eye on her, so no-one has any need to be concerned."
"Absolutely. I've heard some people express concerns, but most people are intrigued more than anything else. I'll make sure it's clear for everyone, though."
"Thanks, Bella. Anything I can do for you while I'm here?"
"Well..." Bella stopped talking, looking down at the floor as if wondering what to say.
"Bella? Is everything okay?"
"There's been word of unrest within the town."
"Unrest?" Alarm shot through me as I processed Bella's comment.
"I can't tell you where the rumours are coming from, because I have no idea. Each day people come in and tell me about things they've heard. All I know is that it's got the people worried and they are preparing for something to happen."
"Do you have any more information?"
"No, I'm sorry it's not much to go on."
"That's fine, Bella. If you hear of anything else, please ring me directly and let me know."
"Of course."
As I left the small shop, I felt like another monkey had been added to my back. We lived in a peaceful town, where the community was safe. I wouldn't let anything change that.
LAURA
Okay, I know I told Jackson that I could handle myself, but after an hour of continuous comments and scathing looks sent my way, I had to say I was not handling it as well as I thought I would be. My time in the small estate agents had been interesting and I'd seen a few places that looked good, but the woman in there clearly didn't want me to buy anything. She gave me the snootiest look and a whole new meaning to the word ‘unwelcome.' I almost wanted to put a deposit down on somewhere just to prove a point to her, but then I realised that would be stupid. I'd only been here five minutes and I needed to make sure I absolutely wanted to stay here before I used the little inheritance I had on buying a place. I had pretty much the same experience in every other shop I went in to; scornful looks, whispered comments to friends whilst blatantly looking at me. Oh, I couldn't tell exactly what they said, but it didn't take a rocket scientist to figure out they were talking about me. The icing on top of the cake (excuse the pun), was when I went to the bakery to grab a quick sandwich to stop my rumbling belly. The young man in the bakery looked absolutely terrified of me, stumbling over his words and practically throwing the food at me to get me out of the place as quickly as possible. I tried to remember Jackson's words and not take it too personally, but that was harder than it looked. The most difficult part was not having any idea why these people were reacting so badly to me. Like, did I smell or something? Half of the people looked angry at me and the other half looked absolutely petrified. What made me so different from these people? And why were they so untrusting of strangers?
The only positive aspect of my trip to town had been a run in with Logan. I'd bumped into him as he was stepping out of the bank, unable to contain the smile that I projected as I finally bumped in to a friendly face.
"Well, hey Miss Laura!" He waved at me, before pulling me in to a bone crushing hug which surprised me considering I'd only met the guy yesterday. Although a handsome man, I had no thoughts but friendly thoughts towards Logan - in fact the feelings I had towards him were almost fatherly, as strange as that sounded.
"Hey Logan!" I said, as he placed me back on my feet in front of him.
"You deciding to hang around here for a little while then?"
"I think so. I wanted a fresh start, and this seems like the perfect place. No-one knows me here and it really is a beautiful town."
"That it is. My mate always said that the beauty of this place was worth waking up for every morning."
His face suddenly turned so sad, that I was taken aback, until the oddness of his words intrigued me.
"Your mate?"
"Oh," he stiffened and was suddenly back to his normal self. "I mean, my wife."
"You have a wife? What's her name?"
"Well, I had a wife. Her name was Eva. She'd have loved you; she always said she wanted more visitors to the town. Said it was a damn shame to be hiding such beauty from the world. I always laughed at her, saying she was silly for thinking this place was beautiful when she was the most beautiful thing I'd ever seen." The wistful look on his face made me smile, but saddened me at the same time.
"What happened to her, if you don't mind me asking?"
"She passed away."
"Oh god, I'm so sorry." I reached out to touch his arm in what I hoped was a comforting gesture. Logan seemed like one of those guys who had a constant optimism about them, and it made me sad that he had been through such heartache.
"Ah, it was a long time ago. Bastard drunk driver ran her car off the road. She probably would have been okay, but the whole thing exploded when the car hit a tree." Jesus, it was worse than I thought.
I pulled him towards me for another hug and he squeezed me once before pulling away, looking at me with a small smile on his face.
"Eva was the most positive person I ever met. After she died I spent so many months in my own bubble of grief that I didn't even know what was going on around me. Once I got my head out of my arse I realised how disappointed she would have been with me. I made it my mission to be as optimistic as possible and try to share that with other people. If you need anything at all you just let me know, okay? I'm pretty much at the pub most of the time, I'm a bit old to be out much anymore. Eva loved people. She never did understand the narrow-mindedness of some of the people around here, so if you need anything just say the word."
I smiled and felt saddened at the thought I'd never be able to meet the woman who had stolen Logan's heart. He seemed like a wonderful ma and I was sure she had been the same. Sometimes you need to get to know someone for a while before you understand them, or even like them. I found it difficult to explain but there was just something about Logan that made me feel at ease and safe. I had no idea if I was using him to fill the dad-shaped hole in my life, but somehow I didn't think that was true. He just seemed to be one of those warm characters that people gravitate to and I just knew in my heart that we would end up being the best of friends. It certainly made me feel better to have an ally in this town, with my eagerness to stay increasing each hour I spent there. After ten minutes more of general chit chat, Logan excused himself to get back to the pub and I walked away with his phone number in my hand; promising to call him if I ever needed anything.