Secrets of Forever

by Marie Ferrarella

  * * *

  When Ellie walked into the medical clinic, the reception area was crowded as usual. But the moment she crossed the threshold, Debi was instantly on her feet.

  “Come on in, Ellie,” she said by way of a greeting. “The doctor’s been waiting for you. He’s with a patient,” she told the younger woman. “But he asked that you wait for him.”

  Ellie glanced at her watch, a graduation gift from her grandfather. Because he was short-handed, she knew that Eduardo wanted her back as soon as possible, and she had that freight run to make at one. She’d promised to pick up supplies for Jonathan Webber.

  This might be cutting it close. “I can come back later if that’s convenient—” Ellie began.

  Debi was quick to interrupt her. “Dr. Dan really wants to talk to you.”

  Always accommodating, Ellie nodded. “All right, then I guess I can stay for a few minutes,” she conceded. Looking around, she found an empty seat in the waiting area and sat beside Emma Hutchinson, a retired schoolteacher.

  “You know,” Emma confided to her new seatmate as if they were in the middle of a conversation, “for a sleepy little town, this place has got more commotion going on lately than a bustling metropolis.”

  Ellie did her best to hide the smile that statement generated. By no stretch of the imagination could Forever, Texas, be described as bustling—at least not in the present century. But Ellie saw no reason to antagonize the grandmother of four by pointing that simple fact out.

  Instead she nodded. “I guess it seems that way some days. Especially if you’re sitting in the middle of the medical clinic,” she added, looking up at Debi. Only halfway into the morning and the head nurse already looked as if she was on the verge of being worn out.

  Apparently, Debi had overheard the comment. “You can say that again,” she murmured. The sound of an examination room door opening behind her had the nurse looking to her left. “The doctor’ll see you now, Ellie.” She promptly added, “Exam room three.”

  Rising, Ellie hurried around the wide reception desk and to the rear of the clinic.

  The door to exam room three was standing open and Dan was just coming out to meet her when Ellie reached the hallway.

  “Hello, Ellie,” Dan greeted the young pilot. “Thanks for coming in so quickly.” He stood back so that Ellie could enter. “Why don’t you come in and take a seat?” he suggested.

  Ellie crossed the threshold, still not sure just what to think about the unexpected invitation. “Should I be worried?”

  The question caught him by surprise. “What? No, why would you ask that?”

  Ellie could see no reason why the doctor would ask her to come in—except for one. “Well, I was just here for my annual exam and you gave me a clean bill of health, but maybe there’s something that you took a second look at and realized—”

  “You’re fine,” Dan assured her quickly, not wanting her to labor under the wrong impression. “As it turns out,” he said, getting right to the point, “I need your help. Specifically, I need to hire you to make a pickup.”

  The look of relief on her face was instantaneous. She was so busy trying to build up her business and also trying to help her grandfather, she didn’t have time to deal with any health issues.

  “Supplies or medications?” Ellie asked since the bulk of her flights had to do with transporting freight.

  “Neither,” Dan told her. “You’ll be picking up and flying in a person.”

  “Oh?”

  Rather than satisfy her curiosity, it just managed to raise it. She had never known the doctor—or his wife, for that matter—to have anyone come out for a visit. First time for everything.

  Dan could see that Ellie was dying to ask questions. “Let me start at the beginning,” he told her. “I’m sure you’ve heard about Miss Joan and the chest pains she’s been having.” He knew for a fact that after that first time at the diner, it had become the main topic of conversation whenever the woman was out of earshot. Everyone was concerned.

  Never one to take stock of gossip, Ellie was still aware of it. She nodded. “Miss Joan should really listen to you. She’s not a kid anymore and she shouldn’t just play fast and loose with her health like that.”

  Dan laughed softly. “The rest of the town agrees with you, but that’s not why I’m asking for your help.”

  Ellie put two and two together. “Let me guess. You want to kidnap Miss Joan and have me fly her to the hospital in Houston so she can be seen by a specialist.” She rolled the idea over as she said it and nodded. “I’m your woman.”

  He laughed out loud at the scenario, although he wasn’t surprised that it had crossed the young pilot’s mind. “Well, I’m glad you’re on board, but, as it turns out, a cardiologist friend of mine agreed to come out here to exam Miss Joan. He’s flying in from New York City tomorrow.”

  Ellie took the information in stride. Now that she thought about it, she was not surprised that the doctor had that kind of pull. “Does Miss Joan know?”

  Dan smiled. He was not looking forward to that confrontation, but he was hoping the woman would be reasonable once Neil arrived. “She will.”

  “So...no,” Ellie concluded. This should be good, she thought. “Should I be getting ready to hold Miss Joan down once this doctor walks into her diner?”

  “No,” Dan laughed. “That’s not why I need your services. Like I said, my friend will be flying in to Houston,” he told her. “I need you to pick him up at the airport and fly him to Forever.”

  That sounded simple enough. “I’d be more than happy to,” she told him. “But if you don’t mind my asking, why isn’t your friend renting a car and driving here?” she asked. “That would probably be simpler and that’s what most people would do when they make a cross-country trip.”

  “The problem is Neil doesn’t drive,” Dan told her.

  That really surprised her. Ellie could remember hounding her grandfather to teach her how to drive from the moment she could get behind the steering wheel and reach a gas pedal—with a little help. She had borrowed her late father’s boots so that when she stretched, she could press down the pedal. Learning how to drive hadn’t been just a rite of passage, it had been a symbol of independence.

  “You’re kidding,” she said. “How has your friend been getting around up until now?”

  “He lives in New York. Always has,” Dan told her. “The city’s blessed with a hell of a lot of public transportation and Neil never found the need or desire to learn how to drive anything except a hard bargain,” he quipped. “Anyway, I’m getting sidetracked and I can tell from the sound of her voice that Mrs. Hutchinson is getting anxious,” he said, referring to the patient he could hear voicing her impatience in the waiting room. “Can you pick up my friend?” he asked Ellie. “He’s arriving at the Houston airport tomorrow. Are you free?”

  “For you, Dr. Dan?” Ellie asked with a smile. “Always. I’ll need all the particulars—his time of arrival and his flight number. Oh—” she’d thought of something else “—if you have a recent picture of the man, that’ll be useful.”

  Nodding, Dan had already gotten all that. He reached into his lab coat pocket for the information. “He’s flying out of JFK tomorrow morning at nine—New York time,” he told her, producing the flight number. “And this is fairly recent photo of Neil.” Dan held up his cell phone.

  Ellie looked at the image on the doctor’s phone. That was one good-looking man, she couldn’t help thinking.

  “Is he bringing his wife?” she asked. Because if he was, that would mean she’d need to prepare two seats on her plane.

  Dan thought of the breakup Neil had told him about. “No, Neil’s not married.”

  “Really?” she asked, taking a second look at the picture on the doctor’s phone.

  He decided to share the information with Ellie. At this point, he didn�
��t think Neil would mind.

  “He was engaged for a while, but that seems to be a thing of the past. I’m just lucky he’s willing to come out here because Miss Joan really does need to be seen by a specialist. No one seems able to budge her or talk sense into her. Lord knows we’ve all tried. Harry and his grandson are really worried about her.”

  Dan shook his head as he approached the exam room door. “She didn’t even want to come to see me,” he confessed. “Cash threatened to carry her here if she didn’t come in on her own power. I’m sure she only agreed to see my friend because Miss Joan is certain he wouldn’t come all this way to make a house call.”

  “House call?” Ellie repeated, slightly confused by the term.

  “That’s what they used to call it back in the old days. Before my time,” he added in case Ellie was wondering just how old the term was.

  She begged to differ with the doctor. “Oh, I don’t know about that. When Pop had that appendicitis attack, you came out to see him in the middle of the night.”

  He remembered. He’d only been in town less than six months. Dan shrugged. “It’s a small town. I can’t afford to lose any patients.”

  She wasn’t buying the excuse. In her opinion, when they’d made Dr. Dan, they’d broken the mold.

  “Well, if you ask me, the town’s lucky to have you—and there’s no way we’re ready to willingly lose Miss Joan.” She followed Dan to the door. “I’ll be at the Houston airport early,” she promised. “And with any luck, I’ll give your friend Neil the smoothest ride of his life getting him here.” She paused just before leaving. “And if you have any trouble getting Miss Joan in to see your friend,” she added, “I’m sure Pop, Addie and I would be more than happy to lend you a hand getting her out of the diner and into the clinic,” she told him with a wink.

  Dan smiled at the young woman. “I’ll keep that in mind,” he told her. “Let me know what the charge is.”

  “Just pay me for the fuel and we’ll call it even,” she said. “After all, I want to do my part keeping Miss Joan going.”

  They all did, Dan thought as Ellie left.

  “Debi, send in Mrs. Hutchinson. I’m ready for her,” he called out just before he went back into the exam room.

  Chapter Four

  Eduardo made his way to the front door from the rear of the house just as Ellie was about to leave.

  “I’m glad that I caught you before you left,” he told his granddaughter.

  Stopping in her tracks, Ellie curbed the urge to ask her grandfather if whatever this was could wait. She knew that Eduardo wasn’t the type to run off at the mouth just to hear himself talk. The man was aware that she was in a hurry to get in the air, so it had to be important.

  Biting back her impatience, she turned around to face the distinguished-looking rancher. “Just barely, Pop. What do you need?” she asked, one hand on the doorknob.

  “Here, I made this for you,” Eduardo told her. He passed Ellie a large placard. Written across it in big, bold, black letters was Dr. Neil Eastwood, the name of the doctor she was to pick up at the Houston air terminal.

  Ellie looked at the sign a little uncertainly. “Um, it’s very nice, Pop.”

  Eduardo could tell, by the way his granddaughter thanked him, that she was entirely in the dark about the placard’s function. With a laugh, he proceeded to enlighten her.

  “This way, if you hold this up in front of the people getting off the New York flight, the doctor who’s coming in to see Miss Joan can find you instead of you having to spend a lot of time looking for him.” He nodded at the sign. “Something else that used to be done back in the ‘old’ days,” he told her.

  “You made this?” Ellie asked, looking the placard over.

  “Don’t look so surprised. Raising horses and granddaughters isn’t the only thing I do,” Eduardo told her.

  “A man of endless talents,” she marveled with a smile. “Thank you, Pop.” Ellie brushed a kiss against the man’s gaunt cheek. “I appreciate this. It was very thoughtful of you.”

  The rancher waved away Ellie’s words. “I just want you back sooner than later, that’s all. Now, take off—literally,” he ordered, shooing his granddaughter on her way. “And don’t forget to have a safe flight. Both ways,” Eduardo added. Saying that was a superstition of his, and even though he knew wishing her a safe flight didn’t guarantee she would have one, he didn’t want to take any chances—just in case.

  “Always.” She smiled at him. “And thanks again for the sign,” she said just before she dashed off to her makeshift airplane hanger to get into her aircraft.

  * * *

  The man really did think of everything, Ellie couldn’t help thinking as she made her way through the air terminal to where the New York passengers would be disembarking in another few minutes.

  The placard she was carrying felt a little cumbersome, but she didn’t want to risk folding it. This way, if it wasn’t creased, she felt the sign would be clearly visible when she held it up.

  Ignoring the looks several people gave her as she sashayed around, trying to avoid hitting them with the edge of the placard, she found a spot near the front of a group of people. Everyone appeared to be waiting for the disembarking passengers to emerge.

  Edging over to the middle, Ellie hoped that the sign would be clearly visible to everyone coming off flight number 324.

  The sign was a really good idea, she thought again. She was only five foot four and that didn’t always make it easy for her to see people. Ellie picked up the placard and held it above her head. With any luck, the doctor would be one of the first passengers off the plane. If he wasn’t, she wasn’t all that sure just how long she could hold the sign up before her arms became really tired.

  She would have to start working her arms a little more, Ellie thought as an ache began to set in in her forearms. Taking a breath, she braced herself and continued holding the sign up above her head.

  Any minute now, she promised herself, doing her best to scan the faces of the passengers emerging out of the passageway.

  The flight appeared to be a full one. The disembarking passengers just kept coming, without giving any indication that the flood of people would stop any time soon.

  Ellie began to regret not having asked her sister to come with her. Two sets of eyes were better than one and Addie was always looking for ways to get out of working on the ranch. This time it would have been for a good cause, Ellie mused. And more than that, they could have taken turns holding up the sign, which felt as if it was getting very, very heavy.

  Several very long minutes later, Ellie began to entertain the idea that maybe this Dr. Eastwood had missed his flight. If he had, that would mean she would have to hang around the Houston airport until later today, or even that she’d possibly have to come back here tomorrow.

  Her arms were really aching now. Ellie put down the sign and scanned the handful of passengers still trickling off the New York flight. Just about ready to give up hope, she heard a deep voice from behind her say, “I’m Dr. Neil Eastwood. Are you looking for me?”

  Startled and still clutching the sign, although no longer holding it up, Ellie swung around to look at the person who had just spoken to her. She all but smacked the man in the chest with the sign bearing his name.

  He stepped back out of the way to avoid the collision just at the last minute, but she still thought that she had hit him.

  “Oh, I’m so sorry,” Ellie cried, dropping the sign. “Did I hit you?” she asked, embarrassed.

  “No, you didn’t,” Neil assured her. “Would you like to try again?” he deadpanned.

  “No. No, of course not,” she answered more seriously. “It’s just that you startled me,” she explained, struggling not to turn red. “I was watching for you, but I guess you must have gotten by me. Good thing Pop made this sign.”

  Ellie realized t
hat she was babbling, something she had a tendency to do when she was caught at a disadvantage. Now that the doctor had arrived, she folded the placard to make it easier to carry. Tucking it under her arm, she extended her hand to the tall, blond-haired man towering over her.

  “I’m sorry for the confusion,” she apologized. “I’m Ellie Montenegro. Dr. Davenport sent me to give you a ride to Forever.” Somehow, that just didn’t sound right to her ear, like something was missing. “That’s our town,” Ellie tacked on, which still only seemed to make things worse.

  The next second, she pressed her lips together. She stopped talking altogether for a moment and took in a deep, cleansing breath.

  And then she tried again. “Dr. Dan is going to be very happy to see you. On behalf of Dr. Dan, as well as the rest of our town, I’d like to thank you for doing this—for coming out to Forever to give Miss Joan that much needed heart exam. We would—all of us—” she emphasized, “be very lost without that woman and her glib tongue passing judgment on us.”

  Amused, Neil inclined his head as if there really was no need to thank him for doing any of this. After all, he was a doctor. This was what he did. Besides, it was fulfilling some inner need of his.

  “I’m way overdue for a vacation and I have to admit that Dan made this town sound very interesting.” Another word would have been “quirky” but he decided to keep that to himself.

  When the woman sent to meet him looked as if she was at a loss for a response, Neil decided that perhaps she needed to be prodded a little. So he did. “Shall we get going?” Neil suggested.

  Ellie immediately snapped to attention, embarrassed that she had somehow managed to drop the ball because she was mesmerized by his good looks.

  “Yes, of course. I’m sorry, this just threw me off a little. You’re actually my first airport pickup,” she confessed.

  Whenever she flew anyone anywhere, it usually involved dropping them off at a secluded cabin or some other inaccessible place in Texas. She didn’t do airport runs. Not until now.