How the Heart Runs

by Anne Marie Rodgers

  “I would appreciate that.” Emmaline took a deep breath and smiled. “You were telling me you have your own studio. I’m impressed.”

  “It’s actually just a room in our house,” Kate hastened to explain.

  “It’s still a studio, no matter where it’s located.” Emmaline sighed. “I have to confess I’ve been missing the bustle of the city and all the myriad events to be found there. And, of course, I don’t know anyone here, so it’s been quite lonely.”

  “I know just how you feel. I missed the cultural amenities San Antonio had to offer when we first moved here. But I’ve grown to embrace small-town life.”

  “Perhaps I’ll find it pleasant,” Emmaline murmured. She suddenly looked tired and dispirited.

  Kate was sorry they had talked about their former homes. Emmaline clearly wasn’t as enamored of Copper Mill as Kate had become. She suspected it was difficult for Emmaline to reach out and make friends. She seemed friendly one-on-one, but Kate recalled how solitary she had looked at the Bristol. In a crowd, she’d bet Emmaline was rather shy.

  “I’m going to have to leave soon,” Kate told Emmaline, who pulled a blanket up to her neck. “My husband is visiting with one of our parishioners, and I imagine he’ll be waiting for me.”

  Emmaline nodded with an air of resignation. “I’m sure you have a million things to do. Thank you so much for stopping by.”

  “I’ll see you soon,” Kate promised. She shifted her handbag higher on her shoulder, then she took Emmaline’s hand between both of hers and pressed lightly. “Do you have any idea when you’ll be released? Will it be as soon as tomorrow?”

  Emmaline shook her head. “I assumed tomorrow, but I don’t know for sure. They didn’t specify a time.”

  Kate nodded. “All right. Why don’t you call me as soon as you find out when you can leave, and I’ll just run right over. I don’t have a lot on my calendar this week, so it should be no problem at all.”

  “Thank you,” Emmaline said quietly, squeezing Kate’s hands before releasing them. “You’re a thoughtful person.”

  Kate smiled. “I’m pleased to have met you, Emmaline, and happy to help. Would you like me to pray with you?”

  Emmaline seemed to shrink back in the bed. “Well, I suppose it couldn’t hurt...”

  Kate waited.

  Finally, the other woman said, “I guess I need all the help I can get.”

  Kate smiled, then took Emmaline’s hand and bowed her head. “Heavenly Father, please be with Emmaline during this difficult time. Fill her with your strength and heal her illness.” She felt Emmaline’s hand jerk and took a firmer grip. “In your name we pray, amen.”

  Kate squeezed Emmaline’s hand and smiled as she opened her eyes. She was dismayed to see that Emmaline’s lower lip was trembling.

  But before Kate could attempt to comfort her new friend, Emmaline took a deep breath and said, “Thank you, Kate. I’ll call you as soon as I find out when I’ll be released.”

  “Sounds like a plan.” After a final farewell, she began to slip out of the enclosed area.

  “Kate?”

  She turned back. “Yes?”

  “Please don’t mention anything I said about Dr. McLaughlin. Even though I found his manner quite unfriendly and I felt he was rushing through my concerns, I wouldn’t want to be labeled a complainer or troublemaker.”

  Chapter Three

  Emmaline’s odd words rang in Kate’s head as she pushed aside the curtain and left the treatment cubicle. Dr. McLaughlin unfriendly?

  The doctor in question stood in the hallway, chart in hand. A young mother with a toddler in her arms was smiling up at him.

  “Thank you again,” she said. “I’m so glad the bone wasn’t broken.”

  “Me too,” the doctor said. He tousled the young toddler’s hair. “You be careful next time you’re going down the stairs, champ.”

  Kate had always been impressed by Dr. McLaughlin’s gentle manner and the warmth radiating from him. It was hard to imagine him not being kind or thorough with a patient, despite what Emmaline had said. As for Emmaline’s comment that the doctor had kept her waiting, if a patient came in with critical injuries that needed immediate care, it was simply the nature of an ER that those with less urgent problems would wait. Even so, Kate was positive that none of the Pine Ridge staff would allow a patient to be neglected.

  As the doctor turned and began to walk away from his young patient, Kate stopped him. “Dr. McLaughlin?”

  The physician turned. “Hello, Kate. Done visiting for the day?”

  Kate nodded. “Yes. Emmaline told me she needs to have some tests done, but I have a question for you. Will she be okay living alone?”

  The handsome doctor’s expression became shuttered, and Kate immediately feared the worst. “That depends on the results of the tests she has scheduled.” He crossed his arms, looking pointedly at his watch.

  “Is Emmaline suffering from heart disease?”

  “Kate. You know I can’t discuss a patient’s medical condition with you without permission from the patient.” His face was sober. He glanced over at the desk momentarily as if he was eager to move on.

  “I understand.” Kate was crestfallen. “But could you perhaps just indicate whether she is going to need additional treatment?”

  The doctor hesitated. He looked away, and Kate thought he appeared to be weighing how much he could say to her. Finally he blew out a deep breath and rubbed the back of his neck. Lifting his gaze to Kate’s, he said, “I think it’s safe to say that unless something completely unexpected shows up on the tests, Ms. Ashford is going to be just fine.”

  “That’s a relief to hear. I’ll pray that those test results are all good.”

  “I suspect your prayers are going to be answered,” he said austerely.

  Before Kate could respond, Dr. McLaughlin was paged over the speaker system.

  “That’s for me. I have to go.” He turned on his heel and strode away down the hall. The relief in his voice was clear, and Kate felt certain he was glad to be finished with the conversation. She stared after the doctor, wondering what on earth was troubling him.

  KATE LEFT THE RESTRICTED AREA of the ER, and walked toward the interior of the hospital. As she turned down the hallway on which the surgical patients stayed, she saw Paul walking toward her.

  “How’s Ms. Ashford doing?” he asked, taking Kate’s hand as they started back down the hallway.

  “I’m really not sure. They’re keeping her until at least tomorrow to run some tests.” Kate shook her head. “The poor woman seems to be alone in the world.” She looked up at him. “How’s Stephanie?”

  Paul sighed. “Can we chat about it over a very, very late lunch? I’m starving!”

  “Me too. Do you want to go back to the Bristol?”

  Paul shook his head. “Let’s save that for another day. I’d settle for the food in the hospital cafeteria at this point.”

  Kate laughed as they turned toward the main wing of the hospital. “You are hungry! The cafeteria it is.”

  DRIVING HOME AFTER THEIR MEAL in the less-than-fine-dining atmosphere of the hospital cafeteria, Paul said, “This certainly was an unexpected detour in our day, wasn’t it?”

  “In Emmaline Ashford’s day too,” Kate said. “I felt so bad for her, Paul.”

  Thinking back over the incident reminded Kate of her strange encounter with Dr. McLaughlin. She recounted the conversation to Paul. “He wasn’t his usual friendly self. In fact, he seemed irritated. And I had the strongest feeling that he would have told me more if he hadn’t been bound by doctor-patient privilege.”

  As Paul pulled the car to a stop in the garage, he chuckled. “You see intrigue everywhere you go, my dear wife. Perhaps he was simply being ethical as the law demands.”

  “I don’t think so,” Kate said decisively, recalling the doctor’s manner, which contrasted with his normal friendliness. “Something in the way he was acting makes me sure he was hiding somethin
g. Something more than just Ms. Ashford’s medical condition.”

  “What exactly did Ms. Ashford say had happened to her?” Paul asked, unlocking the door from the garage into the large living room and stepping aside for Kate to precede him.

  “She didn’t,” Kate said, frowning. “She didn’t seem to want to discuss it, and I didn’t feel it was appropriate to grill her at that point.”

  “Meaning you might reserve the grilling for another day?” His blue eyes twinkled with humor.

  Kate punched her teasing spouse lightly in the arm. “Very funny.”

  The telephone rang, interrupting their banter. Kate reached for the phone on the kitchen counter and greeted the caller. “Hello? Oh, hi, Livvy!”

  She wandered over to a chair at the oak dining table and sat down, nodding absently when Paul pantomimed that he was going to change clothes and go running. Livvy Jenner was the town’s librarian and Kate’s closest friend in Copper Mill. She was also the person, besides Paul, whom Kate turned to most for help unraveling a mystery.

  “Hey,” Livvy said by way of greeting. “How was your meal at the Bristol today? Amazing as always?”

  “I don’t know,” Kate said, “since I didn’t get a chance to eat it. I had a sandwich and soup at the hospital cafeteria instead.”

  “The hospital cafeteria! Are you all right? Did something happen to Paul?”

  “Paul and I are both fine, but I had quite an experience.” Kate went on to tell her friend about the woman who had landed in her lap and the subsequent chain of events.

  “Oh, poor soul,” Livvy said. “Did she have a heart attack?”

  “I don’t know. The EMTs took her to the hospital, and Paul and I followed her over. Then I visited with her in the emergency room for a little while,” Kate said, abbreviating a bit.

  “How traumatic!” Livvy said sympathetically. “I hope she’s okay. I just read an article the other day about women’s heart health. Heart disease kills six times as many women as breast cancer does each year,” she said. As Kate often did, she marveled at Livvy’s ability to retain statistics. “And more women than men die annually of heart disease, despite the fact that it’s known as a killer of men. I find that appalling.”

  “So do I. But I don’t know for sure that Emmaline suffered a heart attack. She was very vague about exactly what’s wrong with her. And Livvy, you should have seen Dr. McLaughlin! I’ve never known him to act so strangely.”

  “Strangely, how?”

  Kate considered the question. “For starters, the two of them didn’t seem to like each other.” Although Kate had promised not to reveal Emmaline’s concerns about Dr. McLaughlin, she didn’t believe that was breaking her pledge. “And he was almost unfriendly, Livvy, when I tried to talk to him. It wasn’t just guarding his patient’s privacy. It felt as if he was irritated or annoyed.”

  “That’s very odd.”

  “It was,” Kate agreed. “Emmaline wasn’t forthcoming at all about her illness.”

  “Maybe she’s just a very private person.”

  “That’s what I told myself. But I don’t think that’s all it was.”

  The line was silent for a moment while Livvy considered Kate’s statement. Finally, she said, “I don’t discount your sixth sense.”

  “Paul does. He says I’m probably imagining a mystery that doesn’t exist.”

  “He’s a man,” Livvy said. “They don’t operate intuitively like women do. If you think there’s something going on, I believe you.”

  “I guess time will tell.” Kate chuckled. “Or perhaps I should say maybe Emmaline will.”

  “Emmaline is such a pretty, old-fashioned name.”

  “It is, isn’t it? I found out she’s from Philadelphia when I told her Andrew lives there.”

  “Philadelphia! Small world. Did you ask her if she knew him?”

  “Not yet,” Kate said. “But Philadelphia’s a pretty big city. I’d be surprised if they knew each other. Oh, and guess what? She lives in a home that belonged to her grandmother right here in Copper Mill.”

  “Oh?” Livvy sounded even more interested. She had grown up in the area, and there was rarely a person in town she didn’t know, or at least know of. “What was her grandmother’s name?”

  “Oh...she told me, but I can’t recall it. I should be able to tell you where the house is soon. I offered to take her home when she’s discharged from the hospital.”

  “That’s kind of you.” Livvy paused. “You’re going to try to find out more about her, aren’t you, Sherlock?”

  “Perhaps, Dr. Watson.”

  “I knew it!”

  Both women chuckled at their standing joke.

  “I’m glad you called,” Kate said. “I was planning to call you, but you beat me to it.”

  “To tell me about your exciting afternoon?”

  “No. Well, not entirely. I was wondering whether you would like to take a meal to Emmaline. As a sort of belated welcome to the community.”

  “I’d be happy to. Just let me know when she’s home from the hospital. I can visit with her for a while too. If she lives alone, she’ll probably be happy to see a new friendly face.”

  “I’m sure she would.” Kate had known her friend would come through. Livvy was just that kind of person. “By the way, Paul also saw Stephanie Miller while we were at the hospital. Her appendix ruptured.”

  “Yes, I heard,” Livvy said in a sympathetic tone. “How is she going to manage with three small children? Her kids aren’t even in school yet, are they?”

  “No, they aren’t. Her husband and his mother are going to care for them most of the time, but they need help two afternoons a week. Paul volunteered me for Tuesday afternoon, so that’s already covered. I also need to call Millie to add them to the prayer chain and the Faith Freezer roster.”

  “I bet Marissa Harris would help.” Livvy reeled off several more names in succession. “And Abby Pippins. You could ask her to announce it at the Friendship Club.”

  Kate scribbled down the names. “I’ll set up a babysitting schedule.”

  “I can mention it whenever I see folks at the library,” Livvy volunteered. “I feel bad that I can’t help with the babysitting.” Livvy’s full-time job at the library precluded other daytime commitments.

  “Oh, Livvy, you’re a treasure. Thank you so much!” Kate sent a silent prayer of thanks winging toward God.

  After the two friends concluded their conversation, Kate got the Faith Briar Church directory and settled in her rocker in the living room. She decided she might as well start making some calls to line up babysitters for the Miller family.

  She called Renee Lambert first. Kate knew Renee would be upset if she wasn’t invited to help, mostly because Renee enjoyed knowing the scoop on any happenings in the community.

  Renee greeted Kate with enthusiasm the moment Kate identified herself. “You were still at the Bristol when a woman fell ill, weren’t you? Tell me exactly what happened.”

  Kate grinned to herself. Renee and her mother must have left only moments before Emmaline’s attack. Clearly, it was killing Renee that she had missed the excitement. Kate was certain Renee was wishing she had still been at the restaurant.

  A member of the church board, Renee considered herself exempt from keeping news about her fellow parishioners confidential. Paul sometimes said that he suspected Renee believed she was the only person qualified to make decisions for the church. The same could be said for her view of the entire town.

  Kate gave Renee a very brief recap of her lunch experience. She had no desire to pass on gossip, although she recognized that a collapse such as Emmaline’s in a public place was bound to elicit some curiosity and concern.

  “So she had a heart attack?” Trust Renee to seize on the information Kate hadn’t volunteered.

  “I don’t know. I imagine Ms. Ashford will tell us if she wants us to know.” She went on to tell Renee about the babysitting for the Miller family and asked Renee if she would like
to be included.

  “Add me to your list,” Renee said. “And since I’ll be delivering a meal to the Millers through Faith Freezer, I could take one to the other lady, Ms. Ashford. I could welcome her to Copper Mill.”

  “You could,” Kate affirmed, though she suspected that curiosity motivated the offer as much as kindness. She was a little alarmed at the idea of Renee foisting herself on Emmaline Ashford. But who knew? Perhaps the two women were friends just waiting to find each other.

  Setting down the receiver after the conversation concluded, Kate couldn’t help but recall Renee’s question: So she had a heart attack?

  Kate certainly hoped if that was the case, Emmaline would take proper care of herself and find someone to confide in. Living alone in a new community with a possible heart condition seemed rather foolhardy.

  Chapter Four

  The following morning, Kate arose before six. Feeling chilled, she drew on a warm dressing gown and went to the kitchen to start her coffee.

  While the coffee was brewing, she stood at the sink and looked out the window. The day was as dreary as any Kate had seen so far that autumn. It had rained during the night, and as the sky began to lighten, no sunshine appeared to banish the gloomy gray.

  Paul came into the kitchen a few minutes later, carrying his running shoes and yawning.

  “Good morning.” Kate walked across the kitchen and kissed him on the cheek. “You’re going running this early?”

  Caught in midyawn, he nodded as he rolled his eyes. “Eli wants to get started right away.”

  “You might want to take your waterproof jacket. It isn’t raining anymore, but it looks as if it could start again.”

  “Thanks, mother hen. I will.” Paul poured himself a glass of orange juice and washed down his vitamin supplements as well as the antihistamine he took for his seasonal allergies. “Miss me while I’m gone,” he ordered.

  “I’m on it.” Kate blew him a kiss as he vanished out the front door. “Say good morning to Eli for me.”

  Returning to the kitchen, she grabbed a mug of coffee and settled herself in her rocking chair. She had begun a new devotional series recently, and she opened the devotional book, her Bible, and a journal she occasionally used to record her faith journey. This was her favorite time of day, these quiet early mornings spent in prayer and studying God’s Word.