A.G. got up to go back inside and paused to pat the top of her head as if she were still five. “Glad you were here, girl. Don’t never think folks ain’t proud to have you. Might not say it, but you know how that is.”
Her head bumped the wall as she nodded. “I didn’t come here expecting thank-yous.”
“Know that, chère. Don’t mean I can’t tell you thanks here and there.”
She bobbed her head again, staring at the floor as A.G. left her standing alone. After one more deep breath she went back to the exam room. Fanning the door, she tried to encourage a bit of cool air to come inside. She wrinkled her nose. Michael hadn’t been joking. The scent of sweat and blood hung in the room, making it positively reek. And me, too, she admitted with a wry smile. Disinfectant spray bottles sat on top of a box and she took one, squeezing the trigger, shooting generous amounts on the exam table.
“Are we done for the day?”
Brijette continued cleaning the table as Alicia rejoined her. “Unless it’s an emergency, we’re going to pack and go home. I’m exhausted. Besides, it’s going to take an hour to clean up and get the supplies loaded on the boat.”
With a shove, Alicia moved a box against the wall and began to mop the floor. In minutes, they were both dripping sweat again.
BRIJETTE SET the last plastic storage container onto the deck of the twenty-eight-foot fishing boat. She could get to her field clinic by car, but it would take hours, beginning with a ferry ride across the river. Traveling by boat made more sense. Alicia untied the vessel from the old dock and Brijette started the engine.
As she steered the boat away, she caught a final glimpse of the wooden store on the slight rise above the water. Past the store sat the small community church with white paint peeling off the walls. A couple of wooden houses on stilts were visible in the distance. They were a ten-minute ride from the river and another ten minutes to Cypress Landing. A trip she knew well. She’d made it more times than she could count, and the summer after her senior year in high school she’d made it every day to work at the tire factory in Cypress Landing and, frequently, the coffee shop on Main Street. But that was another life.
The Mississippi loomed in front of them and Alicia grabbed a handhold as the boat lurched into the faster-moving water. Brijette slowed the engine.
“Can you believe what we did?” Alicia shouted above the hum of the motor.
Brijette stared at the river in front of her. The thought of all the things that could have gone wrong with the delivery hadn’t actually hit her until now. Her legs turned to jelly and she leaned against the seat behind her. She and Alicia had brought a life into the world. What would’ve happened if they hadn’t been there? What if the girl had delivered at home or in the back seat of a car? Or even worse, on the bottom of a rusty aluminum fishing boat as she tried to get to a hospital?
“I’m glad you were there with me,” she shouted back at Alicia. To her dismay, her throat clogged and her eyes filled with tears. Getting all weepy wasn’t her style, but she’d never delivered a baby by herself before.
A hand touched her arm. “Don’t worry, me, too.” Alicia pointed to her own cheeks, wet with tears, and started to smile. They were both laughing with tears trickling down their faces as the boat bumped toward Cypress Landing.
“I HEAR YOU HAD an adventure today.”
Brijette chuckled, stacking the last container in the storage room at the clinic. “It was more of a nightmare than an adventure, Emma.”
“Well, the baby and mama were both fine, so you must’ve done a great job.”
“Nature did the work, I just…caught the package.” She glanced at her soiled clothes and shook her head at the clinic’s longtime receptionist. “I need to go home and clean up.”
“Doc Arthur wants to see you before you go.”
“I’m on my way.”
Located a block off Main Street, the clinic was actually an antebellum home that Doc Arthur had refurbished to use as his business nearly thirty years ago when he’d first arrived in Cypress Landing. Brijette crossed the lobby and went down the hall to his office. Tapping on his half-open door twice, she pushed into the room.
“Emma said you wanted to see me.”
“Brijette, come in. Good work you did today.”
“Like I told Emma, I didn’t do much. The baby came without much help from me.” She didn’t bother to say how petrified she’d been that something would go wrong or that the baby would be premature.
“Still, you were there. You do good work in that community.”
She shrugged. “I hope so.”
The older man tapped his fingers on the armrest of his chair. “You do, and don’t ever forget it.”
“What did you need me for?” She didn’t want to sound as though she was rushing him, but she was beginning to smell herself, which wasn’t a good thing.
He sat back in his chair, shoving papers across his desktop. “You know I’ve been having problems with that valve in my heart. They say I can’t put off the surgery much longer.”
Brijette rubbed her hands together in her lap. Doc Arthur had been like a father to her since she’d lost both parents when she was young. He needed the surgery, but she wasn’t sure how they’d make it at the clinic without him. She sat a little straighter in her chair. Wait, as a nurse practitioner, if there was no doctor here then she couldn’t work.
“Don’t panic, I’m not going to close and make you find a new job.”
“I’m sorry. Was I that transparent? You know I’m worried about you, but I have to admit I really love my job and all the people I work with, especially you. I’d hate things to change.”
“Unfortunately, I will have to make a change. I’m bringing in another physician.”
“But, that’s great. We’ve been so busy.” She couldn’t stop smiling, not just because she’d get to keep working here, but because they’d needed help more than she was willing to admit to Doc Arthur.
“I hope he’ll want to stay, but in all honesty he’s only coming to help out while I’m at home recuperating. He’s planning to open his own clinic in Dallas later on.”
“We’ll have to make him fall in love with Cypress Landing.” Brijette couldn’t imagine that would be too hard.
The older man studied the far side of the room and she wondered if they were finished. She leaned forward to get to her feet and Doc Arthur suddenly started speaking again. “He’s been here before. You know him. That’s why I wanted to see you.”
Brijette narrowed her eyes. “What do you mean?”
“It’s my nephew, Cade Wheeler. You remember him, don’t you? The two of you were friends that summer he visited, before he started medical school and you and your grandmother left to live with your aunt.”
Despite the air-conditioning, a droplet of cold sweat formed at the base of Brijette’s neck and began a slow trickle down the middle of her back. She’d come a long way since that summer and could happily live the rest of her life without seeing Cade Wheeler again. For a brief second, she thought she might get a new job else-where—possibly, New Orleans. But she loved her life in Cypress Landing, and she couldn’t imagine trying to raise her daughter in the city. The mention of his name made her insides gel with fear. She’d prepared for this possibility, had tried to tie up the loose ends, but her plan had never really been tested. That was about to change.
“Yes, I remember him.”
“Good, I know you two will be able to work together.”
She could only move her head slightly in agreement. Beneath her