work, you live your work. You are your work.” He shook his head as he considered this. “I might as well have been listening to you sing.”
“Why…thank you. That’s quite a compliment.” He’s trying to get hired, she thought.
“You make even the inconvenience sound romantic.”
“It can be a pretty strenuous routine for someone who ‘doesn’t need the money.’”
“You think I can’t pull my weight?” he asked. “Just give me a go. I’m not over the hill yet.”
He hasn’t even seen the hill, she thought. How would the simpler people of Grace Valley view the pleats in his pants and the tassels on his shoes? He might be too much for them. “Maybe we should have a trial run?” she suggested. “A three-month contract?”
“How about six? I grow on people.”
“Well…I’d like to—”
“This is your clinic. I’m not going to hang around if you don’t want me, but I’m no one-night stand. I’d like to start off by feeling—”
He was cut off as the door flew open and Charlotte filled the frame. “Julianna Dickson just called and said she’s feeling strange.”
June popped to her feet. “Damn!” She tugged off her white coat.
“I told her to stand on her head, pant through the mouth like a puppy and keep her legs closed,” the nurse continued.
“Good. Get me a couple bags of O-neg!”
“Jessie’s settin’ you up.”
“Come on, Dr. Stone,” June said. “This should be right up your alley. Julianna is on baby number five, and between my dad and me, we’ve never witnessed a birth.” She grabbed her bag and headed for the back door. She glanced at his fancy, shiny shoes as she kicked off her clogs and stepped into her boots. “I don’t suppose you have any old shoes in your car?”
“No, why?”
“It’s been a very wet spring. Some of the driveways around here don’t qualify as driveways anymore.” Jessica ran down the clinic hall with a small cooler containing two bags of blood. June grabbed the handle and bolted for her Jeep. To her surprise and approval, Dr. Stone kept up with her and jumped into the passenger seat. June peeled out.
“I was going to get ahead of her this time,” she told him as they barreled down the road. “Get her in the hospital and induce labor. She’s about three weeks early.”
“Does she usually hemorrhage?”
“She has twice.”
“What about paramedics?”
“That’s the other thing about small towns. We’re very spread out. Plus Grace Valley sits on the juncture of three counties—you’re going to have to get your degree in geography before you go out on house calls. You don’t want to go out to a farm or logging site and waste a lot of time calling the wrong rescue team or police department.”
She drove with one hand and picked up the mike of her radio. “Charlotte, you there?”
“Right here,” it crackled back.
“I want you to stand by for a call for the ambulance. I’m on the beeper, but I saw my dad’s truck at the café if you have anything special.”
“He’s already here. Saw you speed out of town and couldn’t stand to mind his own affairs.”
“You tell him his meat loaf is riding on Julianna’s efficiency.”
June replaced the mike and said to John, “We all have pagers and cell phones, but with the tall trees and mountains, it’s easy to be out of range. The radio is the best emergency tool we have. If you decide to work here, you’ll have to get one.”
“Don’t you have a midwife around here?”
“No, but we could sure use one. We have an unlicensed woman down in Colby. She does a pretty good job and takes care of a lot of women, but I have to work with her on the sly or the state board will get all up in arms. Honestly, they do so little to help us function out here. All we really want is the best medical care available, and if that’s an unlicensed midwife, it’s better than a squat in the fields. But the city docs are regulation crazy.”
He laughed. “Those doggone city
“Why…thank you. That’s quite a compliment.” He’s trying to get hired, she thought.
“You make even the inconvenience sound romantic.”
“It can be a pretty strenuous routine for someone who ‘doesn’t need the money.’”
“You think I can’t pull my weight?” he asked. “Just give me a go. I’m not over the hill yet.”
He hasn’t even seen the hill, she thought. How would the simpler people of Grace Valley view the pleats in his pants and the tassels on his shoes? He might be too much for them. “Maybe we should have a trial run?” she suggested. “A three-month contract?”
“How about six? I grow on people.”
“Well…I’d like to—”
“This is your clinic. I’m not going to hang around if you don’t want me, but I’m no one-night stand. I’d like to start off by feeling—”
He was cut off as the door flew open and Charlotte filled the frame. “Julianna Dickson just called and said she’s feeling strange.”
June popped to her feet. “Damn!” She tugged off her white coat.
“I told her to stand on her head, pant through the mouth like a puppy and keep her legs closed,” the nurse continued.
“Good. Get me a couple bags of O-neg!”
“Jessie’s settin’ you up.”
“Come on, Dr. Stone,” June said. “This should be right up your alley. Julianna is on baby number five, and between my dad and me, we’ve never witnessed a birth.” She grabbed her bag and headed for the back door. She glanced at his fancy, shiny shoes as she kicked off her clogs and stepped into her boots. “I don’t suppose you have any old shoes in your car?”
“No, why?”
“It’s been a very wet spring. Some of the driveways around here don’t qualify as driveways anymore.” Jessica ran down the clinic hall with a small cooler containing two bags of blood. June grabbed the handle and bolted for her Jeep. To her surprise and approval, Dr. Stone kept up with her and jumped into the passenger seat. June peeled out.
“I was going to get ahead of her this time,” she told him as they barreled down the road. “Get her in the hospital and induce labor. She’s about three weeks early.”
“Does she usually hemorrhage?”
“She has twice.”
“What about paramedics?”
“That’s the other thing about small towns. We’re very spread out. Plus Grace Valley sits on the juncture of three counties—you’re going to have to get your degree in geography before you go out on house calls. You don’t want to go out to a farm or logging site and waste a lot of time calling the wrong rescue team or police department.”
She drove with one hand and picked up the mike of her radio. “Charlotte, you there?”
“Right here,” it crackled back.
“I want you to stand by for a call for the ambulance. I’m on the beeper, but I saw my dad’s truck at the café if you have anything special.”
“He’s already here. Saw you speed out of town and couldn’t stand to mind his own affairs.”
“You tell him his meat loaf is riding on Julianna’s efficiency.”
June replaced the mike and said to John, “We all have pagers and cell phones, but with the tall trees and mountains, it’s easy to be out of range. The radio is the best emergency tool we have. If you decide to work here, you’ll have to get one.”
“Don’t you have a midwife around here?”
“No, but we could sure use one. We have an unlicensed woman down in Colby. She does a pretty good job and takes care of a lot of women, but I have to work with her on the sly or the state board will get all up in arms. Honestly, they do so little to help us function out here. All we really want is the best medical care available, and if that’s an unlicensed midwife, it’s better than a squat in the fields. But the city docs are regulation crazy.”
He laughed. “Those doggone city
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