One Hundred Reasons

by Kelly Collins

  “When did you get so cantankerous?”

  “Born that way.” Sage pressed the needle into his forehead. His pink skin blanched white, but she continued to stitch the gash until it closed. Once the gut was cut, she dabbed on antibiotic ointment and handed him a mirror.

  “You may have missed your calling. You’d make a fine doctor.” He looked at his injury in the same way Sage looked at art—with appreciation.

  “One in the family is enough. My sister is an ER doctor in Denver.”

  “Is that right?”

  In the distance, Sage heard the ambulance. She looked to both men. “Both of you stay put.”

  Once Zachariah was on his way to Copper Creek, she helped Doc upstairs to his apartment. She cleaned up the exam room, canceled the day’s appointments, and turned off the blinking red sign before she left for the day.

  She considered a stop at the bar but decided instead to go home.

  When she arrived, a woman sat with her face buried in her lap on the steps. She lifted her head, and Sage sucked in a breath. To say she was bruised was an understatement. The woman looked like she’d been mugged—twice.

  “Are you okay?” Sage knelt before her.

  “Do you have a room I can rent?” Her voice small and desperate.

  Sage looked around to make sure there was no immediate danger. “Come in, let me help you.”

  “Thank you.”

  She led the woman into the kitchen, where she pulled out a chair. “Have a seat. I’m a nurse. Let me clean you up.”

  There was nothing better than a cup of tea when life got stressful. It was that or a bottle of wine, and since Cannon and Sage had finished the wine last night, she made tea.

  Sage picked up the phone. “I’ll call the sheriff.”

  “No,” the woman screamed. “Please. No.” Tears ran past her black and blue eyes and over her swollen cheek.

  “Okay. Okay. How about some ice?”

  The woman nodded. Her shaking hands brought the cup of hot tea to her lips. “I need a day or two.”

  “Have you been here before?”

  She nodded.

  “A lot?”

  She nodded.

  “What’s your name?”

  The woman’s eyes grew wide, and she shook her head.

  “Okay. My name is Sage. Will you tell me who did this to you?”

  She shook her head.

  It broke Sage’s heart she couldn’t offer anything more than a safe place and an ice pack. But then again, she’d learned a lot about people lately. Healing couldn’t start until the problem was acknowledged.

  “You deserve better.” Sage pulled a bottle of ibuprofen from the cupboard and set it on the table. Sage’s wounds had hurt like the dickens, and this woman was in worse shape. She dabbed antibiotic cream on the worst parts and stepped back. There was nothing she could do until the woman acknowledged the problem. “Help yourself to anything you need.” She pointed to the private wing of the house. The place where she and Cannon fell into each other’s arms each night. “I’m down that hallway if you need something.” Sage walked away but stopped and turned toward the battered woman. “My boyfriend will be home later. His name is Cannon. He’ll cause you no harm.”

  Chapter Twenty-Nine

  The next morning, Sage hid behind a table in the bakery while Ben crouched behind another on the opposite side. “Do you see anyone?” she called to him.

  “No. You?” His voice was strong and healthy. Ben was on top of his sobriety, and she couldn’t have been more proud. Too bad Cannon remained guarded. She couldn’t blame him. He had years of disappointment to work through.

  Katie walked out of the back room, drying her hands on her apron. Today, she added cookies to the menu. They were simple snickerdoodles, but the smell of cinnamon filled the air, making them seem like so much more than a cookie.

  “I’m telling you, they’re ghosts. I’ve been watching all week to see who’s dropping off supplies. The minute I turn my back, something shows up.” The timer rang, and Katie pulled a tray of perfectly round, golden-brown cookies from the oven.

  Ben abandoned his post to get the first taste. He’d become an integral part of Katie’s success. Not only had he cleaned, but handy was his middle name—or should have been. A week ago, there was a plumbing leak. Ben fixed it. Two days ago, she found ants. They were now gone.

  Today, leaning against the freshly painted wall was a bulletin board waiting to be hung. The top of it read “The Wishing Wall.” One half was a section for wishes, the other for wishes granted.

  Sage walked away from the window and pointed to the board. “Tell me about the wishing wall?”

  Katie placed two trays of hot cookies on a cooling rack and closed the oven door. She picked up a spatula and scooped a hot cookie from the silver tray, plopping it on a napkin and handing it to an impatient Ben, who stood in front of the display case tapping the tip of his shoe on the clean checkerboard tile.

  The floor wasn’t the only thing that had been spruced up. Ben looked good dressed in blue slacks and a button-down shirt. His hair had been trimmed. His scraggly facial hair shaved away to reveal a smooth complexion and ruddy cheeks. It was hard to believe this was the same man who only weeks ago lay passed out on her deck.

  Katie poured coffees and plated up a few cookies and walked around to one of the tables. The tables and chairs were still in need of repair, but with the pace she was moving through the needed fixes in the bakery, Sage was certain Katie would have everything in good shape in no time.

  Sage sat across from Katie at the table nearest the window. It was a good perch from where to watch the day pass. Ben had devoured his cookie and was back at work hanging the bulletin board. He’d all but forgotten about his job as private eye.

  “First things first,” Sage said. “Tell me about the wishing wall.”

  Katie lifted her shoulders. “I thought it would be a nice touch. A tribute to Bea.” She said Bea’s name in a way that almost sounded like the word bay. “A place where people could post their wants and needs and dreams. A place where others could see them and help fulfill them.”

  How was it that this woman had come from such a place of need weeks ago and was already in a position to help others?

  “That’s amazing.” Sage broke off a corner of a cookie and popped it into her mouth. It nearly melted against her tongue. “So good. I’ll take a dozen of these when you make them again.”

  Katie bounced in her chair with giddy excitement. “Really, you like them?”

  By the time her friend had finished her sentence, Sage had devoured the entire cookie. “I’ve never tasted better.”

  “I’m baking more this afternoon. I’ll make you a batch.”

  “That’ll be perfect. I have someone at the bed and breakfast. I’d like to brighten her day.” Sage thought of the woman staying in one of her rooms. “She showed up yesterday. She’s black and blue and won’t let me call the sheriff. I’m afraid for her.”

  Katie’s hand lifted to cover her mouth. “Oh no. Should you tell him anyway?”

  Sage shook her head. “I have a feeling she doesn’t have anyone to confide in. I don’t want to push her away by making her not trust me.”

  “I’d never stay with a man who hit me.” Katie doctored up her coffee with cream and sugar and took a sip.

  Ben tapped a few nails into the wall beside them.

  “I’ve only been hit by one man.” Sage turned toward Ben. “He packed quite a wallop. Isn’t that right, Ben?”

  He picked up the bulletin board and hung it from the nails he’d pounded into the wall. “You know I’m sorry about that. I thought you were Cannon. I’ve apologized at least a dozen times.” He wore the repentant look well.

  “I’m just giving you a hard time, Ben,” Sage said. “I realize it was my dumb luck, but there’s never a reason for violence. I’m just glad you’re back to your sweet self. Or at least, that’s what I hear.”

  “Who’s telling you I�
��m sweet?” He reached over the women and snagged the last cookie from the tray. “I need this cookie to keep me sweet.”

  Katie grinned. “I told her you were sweet. Now, will you be really sweet and get the ingredients together for another batch of cookies?”

  Ben smiled warmly at Katie and walked to the storage room.

  “Speaking of Cannon,” Katie said. “How are you two doing?”

  Did the heat Sage felt rise to her cheeks give her away? “He’s hot. I’m . . . I’m—”

  “You’re in love.” Katie put her hand on top of Sage’s. “It shows in your smile and the way you light up around him.”

  Sage leaned into the center of the table. “I can’t be in love with him. It hasn’t been long enough for me to fall in love.” Sage had argued with herself for weeks about love and the possibility.

  “Did you love Bea?”

  “Yes, but that’s different. Our relationship was different. I wasn’t sleeping with Bea.”

  What started as a giggle swelled into laughter. “Exactly. You knew Bea less intimately, and for just over a month, but you loved her. You share everything with Cannon. How could you not love him?”

  It was hard to fight her logic. She shared every minute she could with Cannon. When they weren’t in bed making love, they were holding hands, walking around the lake, or taking meals together with Ben like they were a family. She’d come to depend on him. Couldn’t imagine her life without him. Was that love?

  She had no real gauge from which to judge. Todd had been her longest-running relationship, and it turned out to be a friend-with-benefits arrangement. Too bad she hadn’t realized that before her heart got broken.

  “I have to be cautious. I wound easily.” At least she was being honest with herself these days.

  Sage picked up her coffee and sipped while she watched Louise Williams struggle to get out of her car. She waddled to the back door and opened it.

  “I swear, she’s ready to pop any second.” Katie took one last look out the window at Louise before she picked up the tray. “I’ll get those cookies started.” She looked over her shoulder to the back room. “If I leave Ben too long, he eats all my chocolate chips. I’m thinking vodka may be a cheaper addiction.”

  Sage turned from the window to frown at her friend’s comment. Katie dropped the tray and bolted outside. When Sage looked out the window, she saw Louise was on the ground, sitting in a puddle of water.

  “Go get Doc,” Sage told Katie as she ran past her. She dropped to her knees in front of the pregnant woman. By the pained look on her face, she knew Louise was in labor.

  “I thought I had some time to make the delivery.”

  Sage kneeled behind Louise’s back, offering her support. She reached for the woman’s wrist and took her pulse. “Your pulse is elevated, but not too much of a concern. How long have you been in labor?”

  Louise’s face twisted with discomfort. She let out a few Hoo hoo hoos before she took a deep breath.

  “Don’t you push,” Sage said. “How long?”

  “A few hours. The last one took ten hours of labor. I thought I was okay.” She stiffened and started to pant again. When the contraction eased, she said, “I don’t want to have this baby in the middle of the street.”

  “Not happening,” Doc’s voice rose over the clank of the gurney he and Katie pushed in front of them. “I told you to take it easy. Where’s Bobby?” Doc put the brakes on the gurney, and he helped Sage get Louise onto the bed before the next pain ripped through her.

  “He’s at the shop. Hoo hoo hoo hoo,” she breathed.

  Doc turned to Katie. “Ben in the back?” She nodded. “Send him down the street to get Bobby. Tell him his daughter is on her way. He’s got about five minutes before she arrives.”

  Katie took off like a bullet shot from a pistol.

  “Five minutes?” Sage said. “How do you know?”

  Doc unlocked the gurney and started to push the grunting woman toward the clinic.

  “Louise is quick once her water breaks. Usually takes ten minutes or so. I’m thinking she’s been here with you for about five.” He nodded toward the door. “We’ll be lucky to get her into the room.”

  Sage held the door open while Doc pushed the gurney through.

  Louise rose up on the bed, her face pinched and red.

  “Not yet, Louise.”

  “I can’t wait,” she screamed.

  They rushed her down the hallway and into the examination room. Doc threw a pair of gloves at Sage and snapped a pair on himself. She went to the sink to wash up, but the minute Doc pushed Louise’s dress out of the way and pulled her underwear off, a crown of black hair told Sage she didn’t have time to do much.

  “It’s time,” Doc called.

  Sage’s training kicked into gear. She’d assisted in the delivery of hundreds of babies when she worked in labor and delivery. She offered words of encouragement and coached in the breathing process.

  She fished through the cabinets for the supplies they needed to bring a baby into the world. Bulb suction. Clamps. Sterilized scissors. Sutures. Warm blankets. She gloved up just in time to play catch.

  On the next contraction, Louise pushed and that head of black hair turned into a beautiful baby. Sage had missed the miracle of life. To bring a baby into the world was a completely different feeling than holding the hand of someone leaving it. Both were heartfelt. Both were important. But Sage would take this over death any day.

  Doc laid the screaming pink bundle on Louise’s sheet-covered chest. While he clamped and cut the cord, Sage wiped down the baby, spoke to Louise and told her how well she had done and how beautiful her daughter was.

  In the hallway, there was a rumble of mixed voices, Katie, Ben, and Bobby. But the loudest voice was Bobby’s, calling out for his wife. When he burst through the door, Sage watched the big, tough-looking man fall to his knees and cry.

  Doc wrapped up the little girl and handed her to her father. Bobby looked at the baby as if he’d seen heaven. Then he leaned over and kissed his wife.

  Sage’s heart squeezed at the scene unfolding before her. Would she ever have a child? A man who looked at her like she hung the moon? She thought about Cannon and realized she wanted this exact scene with him.

  “What were you thinking?” he asked his wife. His voice was soft but questioning.

  Louise turned a loving smile to her husband. “I had to fulfill Bea’s wish. She wanted me to deliver pecans and brown sugar to the bakery today.”

  At that, Sage laughed. “Was that a pink letter wish?”

  The Williamses turned to her like they just noticed she was there. They both nodded. “We were the last delivery.”

  “That was quite a delivery,” Sage said. “What are you going to call this little girl?”

  Doc had pulled a scale from the cupboard. He took the little bundle and unwrapped her. “At eight pounds, five ounces, she isn’t that little.”

  Louise looked at her husband. There was a silent message exchanged between the two. He nodded, and she smiled. “Her name is Beatrice Olivia Williams.”

  “God help us,” Doc said.

  An hour later, after everyone had gone, an ambulance from Copper Creek picked up Louise and little Bea. Mother and daughter looked healthy, but Doc thought a night of observation in a proper hospital would be wise.

  Sage returned home to find fifty dollars on the table. The battered woman was gone. In the basket that caught the mail was an envelope from the developer she’d called the day she arrived in town.

  Inside was a letter, thanking her for her interest in selling the property. They weren’t interested in the house but would like to discuss purchasing the land.

  Sage walked into the kitchen and put the letter in the catchall drawer. Tomorrow, she’d contact the company and tell them she wasn’t interested in their offer. She knew without a doubt that Bea would never sell this house to a developer. No amount of money could replace what Aspen Cove had given her. There w
asn’t a price for hope or love or community.

  She had to keep the bed and breakfast open to offer shelter to battered women, a place for the fishermen arriving this week, and for noisy newlyweds.

  Chapter Thirty

  Cannon tiptoed down the hallway to Sage’s room and sat on the edge of her bed. Tucked under the covers, she looked so small and vulnerable. A bare shoulder peeked out of the blankets. Soft pale skin picked up the light of the moon shining on her through the gap in the blinds. Wild red hair fanned across the pillow. Pink lips puckered, as if waiting for a kiss.

  There was nothing he’d rather do than strip down and slide between the sheets with her, but he couldn’t. Tomorrow was the anniversary of his mother’s death. Although his father was doing well, he didn’t want to leave him alone, in case he had a setback. And yet, he couldn’t go to sleep without one last look at Sage.

  Weeks ago, Doc said there would be change in Aspen Cove, but Cannon didn’t dare hope that a woman could change everything about his life. Make it different. Better. She’d arrived and disrupted his status quo, making him realize it had been status woe.

  He’d moved along day to day. His pattern had been to hang on and make it to the next breath. He didn’t plan for the future. He lived minute by minute. He couldn’t afford to risk the disappointment of thinking about tomorrow, but Sage changed everything.

  The woman lying in front of him made him look forward to the next day and next week and next year. He could see a future beyond his exhale.

  Caring for Sage put him at risk. That was the scariest revelation of all, because like it or hate it, he was exactly like his father, minus the alcoholism.

  When it came to love, his dad was all in. He had loved Cannon’s mom without reservation. Ben Bishop’s entire life had been consumed by that love. When she died, so did he. He had become the walking dead.

  Since then, Cannon held back. He didn’t want to risk everything by allowing someone to become the center of his universe, and yet, here was Sage. She’d wheedled her way into his life, and then his heart.