Page 19 of Love's Cure

Crystal took a deep, satisfying sip and watched as a young couple pulled their motorboat up to the dock, tied it to a bollard, and started to walk along the rocking dock to the restaurant.

The young woman, obviously a novice, was wearing high heels, and as a wave moved the dock under her feet, she teetered for a moment and then fell on her knees.

When she stood, blood was running down her legs. The man with her observed the accident helplessly and then gazed around for help.

Emmett was out of his chair in a flash. Carrying his clean white linen napkin, he hurried to them.

“Hey, let me give you a hand,” Crystal heard him say. “You took a hard tumble. Looks like you’ve got a couple of nasty scrapes.”

“Thanks,” the man said. “I’m not handy with these kinds of things. Here’s some water to help clean it up. I really appreciate your help.”

“No worries. I’m used to dealing with scrapes like this.” In a matter of minutes, Emmett cleaned around the wounds and then told the manager who’d come to check on them that they needed some bandages and first aid ointment.

“Thank you,” the young woman told Emmett as he quickly dabbed on the ointment and bandaged the deepest cuts.

“You’re welcome. It could’ve been worse. You could have broken a hand or an arm with the way you fell. These cuts should heal quickly. Next time, you might not want to wear heels to go boating,” said Emmett kindly.

After accepting their thanks, Emmett returned to their table.

“Sorry to leave you,” Emmett said. “I could see that accident just waiting to happen.”

“I know you love your profession. You did an excellent job very quickly,” Crystal said with approval.

He gave her a shy smile. “I like being able to help in a situation like that.”

Their meal came shortly after he returned from washing his hands, and they both sat back and tasted the hot chowder.

“M-m-m. Helena was right. It’s some of the best chowder I’ve ever had,” said Emmett. “This is turning into a day to remember for many reasons. I’m glad we decided to do this trip.”

“Me, too,” said Crystal. She was finding it a convenient way to get to know Emmett better, and she liked what she saw.

When it came time to leave, Emmett asked for the check. The waitress said, “I’ll be right back.”

A moment later, she returned with the manager of the restaurant, who introduced himself as Kevin Archer. “Your lunch is on us. I appreciate your quick response to the young woman in distress after falling on our dock. Having the dock available to boaters is important to us, and we want to be able to keep our water access to the restaurant without complaints. Some think it’s too dangerous.”

“Thanks,” said Emmett. “I was happy to be of assistance.”

After the manager walked away, Crystal said, “Nice job, doctor.”

He grinned. “Hey, we got a free meal out of it. We should’ve ordered the ice cream pie.”

Crystal laughed and got to her feet. “Let’s check out Kittery and the Portsmouth Naval Shipyard. I’ll have you know that Kittery is the oldest incorporated town in Maine, and I read that the shipyard was the first federal navy yard.”

“Ah, you’ve been reading up on information for this trip,” teased Emmett.

“You caught me. But once I started, I couldn’t stop. This area is full of interesting history.”

They left the restaurant and returned to the parking garage.

“Where do we go from here?” Emmett asked.

“We cross Memorial Bridge and presto, we’re in Maine. Beyond that, we can get on Route One which is where all the outlet stores are. Kittery is famous for them. I couldn’t even count them. Do you need to get anything for your house? They have kitchen supply and furniture stores there.”

Emmett hesitated and then said, “Tell you what, I need to do that. While I was gone from Lilac Lake after accepting the job and purchasing the house, Martha had movers come in and pack up almost all of the kitchen. And I kept some furniture, but the rest was given away.”

“Whitney and I will help you with the furnishings after the renovation is done. But you can get new kitchen supplies anytime and set them aside until the kitchen is completed. Why don’t we take advantage of being here and just look around for them?”

“Okay. Let’s do that right now so we can get back to Lilac Lake at a decent time. No emergencies yet, but I’ll feel better if I’m available to patients this evening.”

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