Springtime at Hope Cottage

by Annie Rains

  Alex had set him up with Sophie Daniels, the sister of one of the station’s police officers, a couple of months back. Sophie was the owner of a boutique on Main Street and was not only successful but also pretty and sweet natured. That date had gone well enough but there was no chemistry between them. To be fair, it was his first date since Renee, and he’d felt a little guilty the entire time. Then the speech therapist he sometimes worked with had set him up with one of her friends last month. That one had been a disaster of royal proportions, and he’d sworn off dating for a while after that.

  But this was nice. Not that being here with Josie was a date by any means. She was still kind of his patient. And his renter.

  And the woman of my fantasies. At least his recent ones.

  Josie set her fork down and sat back, pulling her hands to her stomach. “I’m done. I can’t eat another bite but it was delicious. Thank you.”

  “Knee’s okay?” he asked.

  She nodded. “I’m even thinking I’ll test it out on the bike tomorrow, if you think it’s ready.”

  “Should be fine. If it starts to hurt, just get off and walk. You can call me, and I’ll come get you if necessary.”

  “I’d hate to interrupt you from anything. I’m sure it’ll hold up. I might even swing in to Dawanda’s Fudge Shop and get a cappuccino reading. Kaitlyn told me I needed to while I was here.”

  Tuck groaned. “Are you sure you want to do that?”

  “I don’t know. It might be a nice element for my article. What’s more personal than someone reading my fortune?”

  Tuck frowned. “I have no idea. Truthfully, I don’t buy into that stuff.”

  “No?”

  He shook his head. “Someone I used to know had her fortune read by Dawanda once. The cappuccino told Dawanda a bunch of stuff that never happened.” He looked up. “That person died young so I can say with all certainty that it never will.”

  He looked away and took a breath. The memory of Renee always seemed to knock the air right out of him. “Anyway,” he said, forcing a shift in his tone of voice to lighten things up, even though his heart felt heavy again, weighed down by the grief that was always a memory away. “Just take whatever Dawanda tells you with a grain of salt.”

  “Noted.” Josie pushed back from the table and stood. “Let me help you clean up before I go back to my apartment.”

  A few minutes earlier and he probably would’ve agreed just to be able to spend more time with her. Now, he just wanted to be alone. “Not necessary. I’ve got it. I’ll see you tomorrow.”

  “Oh. Okay.” She looked disappointed for a moment. “See you,” she said softly, turning to head down the deck steps.

  He watched her for a moment and then called after her. “Let me know if there’s a big, hairy spider blocking your door.”

  Her laugh lifted his spirit and stirred a longing inside him to pull her back onto the deck and into his arms. He’d been alone long enough, hadn’t he?

  Instead of stopping her, he watched her walk away.

  * * *

  On Monday morning, Tuck saw Josie hop on her borrowed bike and set off. She’d been quiet for most of the weekend after their dinner together. He’d barely seen her but he’d known she was up there. His one-track mind hadn’t let him forget.

  Tuck refocused on his patient, who usually did his therapy here at the creek. Jeffrey Simmons was recovering from a stroke that had affected his left side. Since Jeffrey liked to fish, Tuck usually had him walk down the creek to their “spot” and then pull out his pole, bait the line—which wasn’t easy because Jeffrey’s fine motor control still wasn’t great—and toss it into the water.

  “Think I got one!” Jeffrey slurred, a remnant of his stroke. “Yoo-hoo. Earth to my PT. Said I got one.”

  Tuck pulled his gaze from watching Josie pedaling off down the road on her bike, telling himself it was just because he was concerned about her form and the possibility of her reinjuring her right knee. “Sorry, Jeffrey.”

  “I can’t reel this one in on my own, boss. Think it’s the big one.” Jeffrey chuckled.

  He probably wasn’t right about that. Jeffrey’s muscles were still weak. That, along with his balance, was what Tuck was focusing on. Even a small fish, like the one they eventually pulled from the water, probably felt like a monster to the expert angler these days.

  “That thing is what caused all that commotion?” Jeffrey squinted at the fish, barely the size of Tuck’s hand.

  “Yep. Too small to keep. We’ll toss her back and let her fatten up some more,” Tuck said.

  Jeffrey nodded. “Good idea. Then I need some help sitting in that chair over there. Catching that sucker drained every drop of energy I had.”

  Tuck released the tiny fish back into the murky creek water and then assisted Jeffrey to the chair that Tuck kept set up for just this reason. “Easy does it. Keep your control all the way down.”

  Not heeding Tuck’s advice, Jeffrey plopped down into the seat like a dead weight.

  “We’re going to have to work on that landing, Jeffrey.” Tuck pulled up a chair beside him. “But first rest. Are you doing your stretches and exercises at home?”

  “Every morning after my first cup of coffee. Janet sees to it.”

  “Good woman.”

  “I’ve been singing your praises all over town too. I thought my fishing days were over till I met you.” Jeffrey smiled as he stared ahead. “I actually look forward to these sessions, which is more than I can say for a friend of mine who goes to some clinic up on the mountain.”

  “I’m glad you’re happy with your improvement.”

  “I saw that you have a lady friend living here now,” Jeffrey said.

  Tuck shifted and directed his gaze to the steady flow of the creek’s water. Anytime Tuck so much as spoke to another woman, people wondered if he was finally moving on. The attention made him a little bit uncomfortable. He felt like he was under a microscope or the subject of some romantic movie that everyone in town was tuned in to. “She’s a renter in my garage apartment,” Tuck explained. “She’s only here for a couple of weeks.”

  “Ah, too bad. She was a looker from what I saw.”

  Tuck stood and patted Jeffrey’s back. “If you have enough energy to talk about pretty women, then you have enough to keep working. Let’s practice sitting without falling. What do you say?”

  Jeffrey grunted. “You’re as bad as the drill sergeant I had in boot camp. That’s what I say.”

  “Then I’m doing my job correctly.” Tuck offered a hand and helped Jeffrey to his feet. They did several rounds of standing and sitting and then walked back to Jeffrey’s car, where Janet Simmons was waiting.

  “Of all the fish in the sea, she is my perfect catch,” Jeffrey said as his wife kissed his cheek.

  “Nuh-uh. I caught you. Not the other way around.”

  Tuck loved the older couple. They had four grown children in town. By this stage in his life, Tuck would have imagined he’d have the start of what Janet and Jeffrey now had. Of what Tuck’s parents had. Family was the most important thing. That’s the mind-set that had been drilled into him since he was a child. But instead of having his own family, he had a dead wife and a dog. How was that for trampled expectations?

  “Thanks, Doc,” Jeffrey called out the window.

  Tuck had explained many times to Mr. Simmons that he wasn’t even close to being a medical doctor but Jeffrey insisted on using the nickname anyway.

  “Good luck with your new lady friend,” he called as the car started rolling forward.

  Tuck blinked. He’d also made it clear to Jeffrey that Josie was just a renter. Evidently the old man didn’t accept that explanation either. Janet and Jeffrey Simmons were central to the town’s gossip vines so that didn’t bode well for lying low.

  Shadow barked.

  “Exactly,” Tuck said, looking down. “By the end of the day, I’ll be married to Josie with twins on the way.”

  On a sigh, he grabbed th
e keys to his Jeep. His next appointment was taking place downtown. Claire Donovan was a late-twentysomething event planner who had a reputation for being smart, professional, and a bit of a shopaholic. Tuck didn’t usually look forward to this weekly appointment but today he kind of did. Maybe he’d see Josie while he was out.

  Woof.

  Tuck looked down. He swore the dog could hear his thoughts sometimes. “I know, I know. She’s all wrong for me.” But that didn’t change the fact that he still wanted to see her.

  CHAPTER EIGHT

  Josie couldn’t remember the last time she’d been on a bicycle. Maybe when she was twelve?

  She felt foolish and free at the same time as she breezed down Main Street. Just like riding a bike is what people liked to say about everything. Well they, whoever they were, were right. She’d mounted the Schwinn and taken off as if this were her normal form of transportation. Maybe when she got back to the city, it could be.

  The gears were well-oiled, and they moved effortlessly, not requiring her knees to push too hard. The back of the bicycle had a wire basket, reminding her of the Wizard of Oz. Instead of Toto, she’d placed her carrier bag with her laptop and her purse inside. This would be great for her article. She’d traded the subway for a bike and was making her way past scenic buildings, all of which were only one or two stories high.

  She passed a business called Blushing Brides and then the Sweetwater Café. She’d be stopping there in a bit for that addictive coffee that Mitch had told her about. Next was a post office. From her brief glance through the plate glass window, Josie saw that there were only two people in line. That would be an anomaly in the city.

  Josie slowed her bike and parked it in a freestanding rack for public use. She didn’t have a lock but she doubted one was needed here, even though Kaitlyn had told her about a crime spree that had taken place this past Christmas. A teenaged boy had robbed several of these downtown shops to help his mom, who was battling cancer.

  Josie draped her messenger bag over her shoulder along with her purse. Maybe she could interview that mom while she was here. It had all the makings of a great story, although not the kind that Bart was looking for. But maybe the kind that her next employer would like.

  A door swung open to her left, and Josie paused to let a woman with a large bouquet of flowers pass. Josie turned to the store window of Little Shop of Flowers. When Kaitlyn was giving Josie a driving tour of Sweetwater Springs last week she had mentioned that Tuck’s sister owned this place.

  The front entrance door opened again, and a beautiful woman with long, brown hair came out holding a large evergreen wreath. When she saw Josie, she smiled brightly. She looked a lot like Tuck with her dark hair and high cheekbones.

  “Hi,” the woman said.

  Josie realized she was staring. She blinked and forced a smile. “Hi. Sorry. I was just, um, admiring your shop window.”

  “Oh.” Tuck’s sister nodded. “Thank you. I’m working on it for all the tourists coming in for the Sweetwater Springs Festival.” She held up the wreath. “Thus the new wreath.”

  “It’s beautiful. Did you make it?” Josie asked.

  “Yep. I make all the arrangements.” The woman shifted the wreath to one hand and held out her other. “I’m Halona Locklear.”

  “Josie Kellum.”

  “Nice to meet you, Josie. I haven’t seen you around here before. Are you here for the festival too?”

  Josie shrugged. “Not really. I’m a friend of Kaitlyn Russo’s. I was just planning a short visit but now I’ll be staying a little longer than expected.”

  Halona’s eyes narrowed. “Wait. Are you the one staying with my brother?”

  Josie swallowed, wondering if being here made her look like a stalker. She hadn’t intended to be standing outside the florist shop. “I am,” she admitted.

  “Well, what a coincidence. I was hoping to stop by his home and introduce myself to you but now I don’t have to.”

  Josie smiled. “That’s so nice of you.”

  “Well, I know my brother can be lacking in good host skills.”

  “Actually, he’s done well so far. He even made me dinner last night.”

  Halona’s mouth fell open. “He what?”

  Josie shrugged, feeling her cheeks warm. “I mean, I didn’t have any food in the apartment so I guess he felt sorry for me. But he was the perfect host.”

  “Wow. Well, that’s good to know. Feel free to step inside and look around the shop if you want. I’m just going to hang this wreath and then I’ll be right in.”

  “I’d love to.” Stepping inside, Josie found herself breathing in the intoxicating scent of fresh flowers of every type. There were flowers everywhere. An explosion of beautiful color made her freeze and just stare. She’d always been a lover of words. That’s why she’d gone into journalism. But there were no words to describe just how breathtaking the inside of Little Shop of Flowers was.

  A jingle bell rang above the door, and Halona reappeared. “What do you think?”

  “I think it’s incredible in here.”

  Halona shrugged slightly and looked around too. “I’ve always loved flowers. Don’t tell anyone but I used to steal our neighbor Mr. Jenson’s flowers growing up. He had a pretty little flower bed, and I’d sneak into his yard and pick them.” She giggled as she crossed the room toward the front counter. “Mr. Jenson is fairly old now. I still think he blames all those missing flowers on the deer.” She made a gesture like she was zipping her lips. “I believe in honesty but that’s one secret I’m taking with me to my grave. Mr. Jenson is known for his temper, and I don’t want to be on his bad side.”

  Josie laughed. “Well, your secret is safe with me.”

  “You’re not local. That’s why I divulged that tidbit.”

  Josie stepped closer to the counter. “What do you mean by that?”

  “Well, Sweetwater Springs is a small town, as you can see. And it’s true what they say about small towns.”

  Shaking her head, Josie asked, “What do they say?”

  “That there are no secrets. You can’t pass gas around here without someone hearing about it.”

  Josie let out a surprised laugh.

  “But the mystery of the missing flowers in Mr. Jenson’s rose garden—that is something that has evaded Sweetwater’s gossip chain.” Halona looked proud of her small accomplishment.

  They chatted for a little while longer. Josie liked Tuck’s sister. Halona was a breath of fresh air, just like the flower shop itself.

  After saying goodbye, Josie headed out of the florist shop and past the café—she’d be back in this direction in a bit—and started toward a fashion boutique she’d passed on her bicycle. She hadn’t packed nearly enough clothes for a month’s stay, not that she ever needed an excuse to shop. She may have to limit her shopping habit if she got a new job that paid less but she wasn’t going to think about that right now.

  “Welcome to Sophie’s Boutique!” a woman said from behind a rack of clothing as Josie walked in. “Let me know if you need any help.”

  “Thanks, I will.” Josie veered toward the closest rack and started browsing. She loved the smell of new clothes almost as much as flowers. She was entering a Zen state only comparable to what she achieved during writing when the boutique’s door opened and she heard a familiar deep voice.

  All the hairs on her arms stood at attention. What is Tuck doing in a women’s boutique?

  * * *

  Tuck had heard of shopping therapy before but he’d never thought it was congruent with physical therapy. Apparently it was, in Claire Donovan’s case.

  His noontime patient had insisted this was her favorite pastime, and Tuck wanted her to return to being independent at doing what she loved. Claire had taken a nasty fall last month while planning a retirement event and had fractured the tibia in her left leg. As a result, she was seeing him for her injuries. They’d done some stretches and exercises in the courtyard and would now be working on walking and
standing balance while perusing the clothing racks.

  “Hey, you two,” Sophie said, heading toward them with a sunny smile. Thankfully, she didn’t seem to hold his lack of interest, after their date a few months back, against him. When he’d run into Sophie since then, she’d made polite chitchat as always.

  “Hey, Soph,” he said.

  “Hi.” Claire held up her arms to hug the shop owner and wobbled on her right leg.

  Tuck stepped up to balance her. “No quick movements. Slow and controlled,” he advised. That had been Claire’s main issue in recovery. She was very animated, using her arms and body every time she spoke. With her injured leg, talking and walking, or even standing, was often a hazard.

  “Oops. Sorry,” Claire said sheepishly and then hugged her friend anyway. “What would I do without Tuck around?”

  Sophie looked at him curiously, and he knew exactly what she was wondering.

  “As your physical therapist,” he said. Claire wasn’t even on the market these days. She was dating Bo Matthews, and according to Claire, they were already talking marriage. “I’m hoping you’ll be strong enough to be walking in and out of these stores on your own this time next month.”

  “Oh, that’s right,” Sophie said with a nod. “You fell a few weeks ago, didn’t you?”

  “In the line of duty,” Claire said.

  “Well, then it’s my duty to give you a discount on whatever you buy today,” Sophie said. “Twenty percent off. How’s that?”

  Claire beamed. “Sounds like I’ll be taking my time on this shopping trip, Tuck.”

  Tuck swallowed a groan. Torture. A lot of his patients called him the torturer, and now he understood their pain. “I have another client at one,” he reminded her.

  “Oh, darn. Well, that gives me an hour to impulse shop.” Claire started going through the rack in front of her. As she did, Tuck glanced around the store, his gaze landing on another shopper in the corner.