One Day in Apple Grove(66)
“OK. Bye, Jack.”
“Bye, Cait.”
He was just coming out of his office when the bell on the front door jingled. Mrs. Sweeney was up and welcoming Mrs. Hawkins when the phone rang again. “I’ll get it, Mrs. Sweeney. Doc Gannon.”
“It’s Mitch,” the sheriff said. “Can I talk to you?”
“Sure, go ahead.”
“When you finish up with appointments for today, stop by my office.”
“Sounds serious. Can you give me a hint as to what this is about?”
“Not over the phone. See you around five-ish?”
“I’ll be there.”
Mrs. Sweeney was settled at her desk, going over the appointment schedule as Jack disconnected. He could tell she wanted to know what was going on, but knew she wouldn’t ask; she could be patient waiting for Jack to confide in her. Sometimes he did…and sometimes he didn’t.
He knocked on the examining room door and waited for Mrs. Hawkins to answer. “Now,” he said, walking into the room, “what seems to be bothering you today?”
“I hurt my wrist. I’m not sure if it’s sprained or strained.”
“Let’s take a look.”
A few hours later, he’d finished for the day. He closed the door behind him and walked down Main Street. He had an appointment to speak with the sheriff. He should have asked if it was official business or personal. But Mitch would have said so, wouldn’t he?
When Rhonda poked her head out of the front door to the Apple Grove Gazette’s office and called a hello, he returned the greeting. Enjoying the short walk down the street, he looked around him, reassured by the simple fact that Main Street hadn’t changed; it still looked the same as it had as far back as he could remember. He loved the change of seasons and watching the progress. The warmer temperatures coaxed the leaf buds till they unfurled and were now wide, glossy, green leaves.
He stopped and looked both ways before crossing Dog Hollow Road. There might have been a few subtle changes, a new bit of sidewalk replacing an old, cracked section. He noticed the raw patch where Cait’s truck had scraped the bark on one of the maples before letting his gaze settle on the Knitting Room across the street. He’d heard from the McCormack sisters yesterday morning that Melanie Culpepper was thinking of starting up a knitting group during the day, now that her boys were a little older. Odd to think that what he’d heard had been the town’s local Internet café for the last few years would once again be used for knitting.
Mulcahys was still open; he could see Grace sitting at her desk. “Still hard at work,” he mused, “keeping the family business going.”
The trees lining the street shaded the way and had him thinking back to Miss Trudi’s description of what it looked like right after the Second World War when each one of the trees had had yellow ribbons wrapped around them, tied up in a bow, for all of the returning GIs.
“Hi, Doc!” He looked up, surprised that he’d passed Murphy’s Market and was already in front of the diner.
“Hi, Kate.”
“Stopping by for dinner?”
“No, on my way to see Mitch.”
“We haven’t seen you for coffee lately,” she told him, standing in the doorway to the diner.
“It’s been hectic.”
“See you tomorrow?”
“I’m not sure, depends on Jamie.”
Her knowing smile had him wondering if word was out about him and Cait. Instead of coming right out and asking, she threw him for a loop, distracting him. “How is the puppy doing?”
“He’s a pistol, full of energy, likes to tear apart my laundry, but he’s great company.”
“He’s lucky you found him,” she said before looking over her shoulder when someone called her name from inside the diner. “I’ve got to go.”
Honey B.’s salon closed up early these days, so she wouldn’t overdo it again. By the time Jack’d crossed Apple Grove Road, he was starting to worry about what Mitch wanted. He walked into the sheriff’s office and called out, “You in the back, Mitch?”
“Yeah.”
Hmm…one word response. Not out of the ordinary for Mitch, but not what he expected.
Mitch’s door was open, like usual, so Jack knocked on the doorjamb. “So, what’s so important that you couldn’t tell me over the phone?”
“Not couldn’t,” Mitch said. “Wanted to tell you face-to-face.”
“What?”
“Someone called about the puppy you and Caitlin found out on Eden Church Road.”
Recoiling like he’d just taken a blow to the solar plexus, he couldn’t get any air in or out.