She slipped into the passenger seat in the front and after Joe had got her luggage in the back he took the driver’s seat and started the cab.
“Is this your first time in Wolf’s Harbor, Dr. Saunders?”
“No.” She wanted to say yes—to serve her three-month rotation and maybe go unnoticed, so she could leave the painful memories of her past behind her—but she couldn’t lie.
She’d lost a piece of herself when she’d been taken away from Wolf’s Harbor, and even though she was only going to be here for a short time perhaps she could lay to rest some of the ghosts that continued to haunt her. Stop the restless feeling she often got. The night terrors which sometimes still plagued her.
“Really?” Joe asked. “I don’t remember seeing your face before.”
“How old are you, Joe?” she asked.
“Twenty—which I know is young to be a father...”
“I wasn’t going to judge you for your age, or tell you that you’re too young to be a father—it’s just that the last time I was in Wolf’s Harbor I was ten, which was twenty years ago.”
Joe beamed. “No kidding? Well, welcome home.”
He didn’t pry further, for which she was glad, but she was sure that he’d soon be getting the word out that she was back.
It would be better this way. To let everyone know that she had come back instead of facing a constant stream of questioning shock. She just hoped they wouldn’t all give her the cold shoulder as they had done for the past twenty years.
Twenty years with no word from her family up here.
Twenty years of silence.
Joe pulled up in front of the clinic and she paid the fare, insisting that he keep the change. The clinic was a new building with red siding. It reminded her of a barn, but it was very clean, with the sign freshly painted. It sat on the main road downtown, and through the gaps in the buildings across from her she could see the tall masts and onboard hoists of the fishing boats in the harbor. Her father had practiced medicine out of a small storefront. This looked so much better than that cramped old space.
Joe set her luggage down beside her.
“I guess I’ll see you tomorrow, Dr. Saunders.”
Evelyn grinned. “See you tomorrow, Joe.”
She picked up her luggage as Joe drove away. The clinic sign said “Closed” and there was no sign of Dr. Pearson anywhere. It began to drizzle and Evelyn tried the handle. The door was unlocked and she stepped inside.
There was no nurse behind the reception desk. It was quiet. Deserted.
Great.
She wandered past the reception desk, looking for someone. Anyone.
“Dr. Pearson?” she called out. She was met with only silence.
Just great.
She peeked into an exam room and flicked on the light. It was modern and well stocked, which surprised her for such a small community. She wandered through the room, taking it all in. She couldn’t believe that she was back here. Back in Wolf’s Harbor.
Home.
Evelyn cursed under her breath. She had to stop thinking about this place as her home. This was not her home. It hadn’t been for some time.
Still, it was hard not to think of those days. And all the time that had been taken away from her.
And whose fault was that?
“Who are you?” a harsh voice demanded.
Evelyn spun round and was taken aback by the sight of the most handsome man she’d ever seen. She felt a bit stunned, and all she could do was stare at him in awe. He was tall, broad-shouldered. He wore a flannel shirt stretched a little tight over his strong, muscular upper arms. His dark hair was close-cropped and his skin was a warm, deep tawny brown. He had a neatly kept beard. But it was his eyes, a green-gray-blue, which were really stunning. Clear, bright—and focused on her.
They held her rooted to the spot.
“You’re not supposed to be in here,” he growled.
“Are you Dr. Pearson?” she asked, finally finding her voice.
His eyes narrowed. “No. He’s gone back to Juneau.”
“What?” Evelyn frowned. “You’ve got to be kidding me!”
* * *
Derek had been in the back. He had been waiting for the new doctor to arrive, annoyed that Dr. Pearson had left for Juneau early and saddled him with the new OB/GYN when he had a full caseload as general practitioner to handle.
He hadn’t left for a bigger city even though he could have.
His mother had begged him to return to Chicago when Vivian died. She’d even offered to retire from her catering business to help him raise his daughter, but he couldn’t leave Alaska.
He might have been born in Chicago but, like his parents—one of whom came from Haiti and one from the Ukraine—he needed to forge his own path. Put down his own roots. And Wolf’s Harbor had been the place to do that.
He loved it here. Loved the people. Loved his life.
Even though as a widower it was slightly lonely.
Whose fault is that?
It had been his choice to be alone after his wife had died from a uterine rupture when their daughter was born. His life was his practice and his daughter.
Still, he was annoyed that he had to deal with these rotating doctors. Doctors who came in and left him with more work in the end. Doctors who saw the patients of Wolf’s Harbor as an inconvenience. He was tired of the extra burden, but he’d gladly bear it for his patients.
Dr. Pearson had left him high and dry by leaving before the new OB/GYN showed up, and Mo was still getting over a bug she’d picked up, so he had to relieve the sitter. He would be glad when school started again. He had no time to deal with another rotation doctor and Dr. Pearson had just dumped this one in his lap.
So like Dr. Pearson. So like all these doctors who came through the town, never staying longer than they had too. Never willing to help him out or put in a good word to get a hospital built in town. These big city doctors were all selfish—if it wouldn’t further their career they didn’t lend a hand.
Okay, you’re sounding like a curmudgeon now.
He stuck it out all year in this isolated community, while these specialists fluttered in and out, never staying long enough to get to know the people. There was no real trust between these doctors and the patients. It was a dangerous thing.
He tried not to think about how the lack of a specialist during one of these rotations had cost him everything. How his late wife had hemorrhaged and bled out before they could get her on an air ambulance to Sitka. And the fact that it had happened during a storm that had grounded all the planes had made it so much worse. There had been nothing he could do. But if there had been a hospital here in Wolf’s Harbor maybe she would have had a fighting chance.
He focused on this fiery, auburn-haired woman, who thought it was okay just to waltz into his closed office. He’d been taken back by the beautiful, tall, polished woman who was now standing in his exam room. So like Dr. Pearson to have his girlfriends and paramours just show up unannounced.
Although he was a bit jealous that this one was one of Dr. Pearson’s girlfriends...
He’d seen many of them go through this clinic when Dr. Pearson had been here on rotation, but this one—this one actually made him jealous