Page 96 of Finding Jack
“You laugh but it’s pretty mysterious to me. I’m a suburban girl born to parents who kept a handyman on retainer. I honestly don’t think I’ve ever been inside one.”
Fifteen minutes later, I left the store as the proud owner of five iron hooks. “There was so much cool stuff in there.”
“Remind me why you got the hooks?”
“For coat hooks on our front door.”
“You don’t already have hooks?”
“Yes, but these are better hooks.”
We visited an animal feed store where Jack made me give him the Paul and Ranée update, then we wandered out of the store onto the sidewalk. I stopped short when I saw what the next business was: Mountain Truffles.
Jack glanced back at me to see why I’d stopped. He took one look at my face and burst out laughing. “I guess you want to go in?”
It was the largest business on the street. I could already feel my salivary glands preparing for nirvana. “Please tell me ‘mountain truffle’ isn’t a euphemism like cow patty.”
That made him laugh again. “No. It’s chocolate, I promise. Their specialty is berry centers made from the ones that grow wild around here.”
I grabbed his hand and tugged him toward the store. “I’m so in.”
We stepped into a lobby that was half chocolate shop, half receptionist desk. The middle-aged woman seated behind the desk looked up and smiled. “Hi, Dr. Hazlett. What brings you in today?”
I raised my hand. “We’re exploring the town. I think I just struck gold.”
“Well, there’s not much to explore in Featherton, but I can certainly make your trip in here worthwhile. Can I get you some samples?”
I looked around, not sure where to start. Jack watched me with a half-smile. “It looks like your brain is going a mile a minute. What’s going on in there?”
“I have to make the strategic choices. You can’t abuse the free sample offer, so I figure four max, and I need to decide which are the best four.”
Jack pulled me into his chest for a hug and dropped a kiss on my head. “Marie, can we get Emily here one of everything?”
I loved the feeling of being claimed like that, not in an ownership way but in a declarative way, like, “I’m with her.” But I couldn’t let him take advantage of the receptionist, so I pushed away to protest.
He tightened his arms as Marie said, “Of course, Doc. I have a grandbaby coming that I’ll get to see, thanks to you. Let me make up a box.”
This time I extricated myself so I could look at him questioningly. “What did you…”
He shook his head. “Nothing. HIPAA. Can’t talk about it. Sorry.”
Marie had no qualms about it. “I came in for a wrist sprain and he noticed something wasn’t right with my neck. Turned out I had early stage thyroid cancer which is very treatable if you catch it early enough. He called me every day until I went to the specialist in Portland. I was treated and clear within a month and it’s been two years without problems. So yes, you get one of everything.”
“Thank you,” I said, “but honestly, I’m happy to pay you.”
“The best currency around here is gossip. Why don’t you tell me how you and Dr. Hazlett met? Then I’m going to go tell everyone at Annie’s. He hasn’t let any of us fix him up since he’s been here. And believe me, we’ve all made our single daughters fake an illness to get an appointment with him.”
I grinned at Jack. “Did you know this was going on?”
“I have seen a lot of women in the 25-35 age range with vague symptoms and familiar last names.”
“Now you understand why you have to tell me,” Marie said.
“It’s not that interesting.” Jack tried to shepherd me along the length of the display case to distract me with the chocolate. Normally, this would be a smart plan. But I liked Marie, so I stepped closer to the counter where she was tucking truffles into the box.
“Did you know Jack does a little moonlighting?” I asked with a lowered voice.
“With the ski patrol? Sure, everyone knows that.”
