A Few Interviews
G race came home to a quiet house. Her parents were working on Mom’s story in progress.
She flipped through the mail that had come that day. Bills, more bills, and a card from a realtor selling houses in the town Katie and Arthur lived in. Why were realtors in Katie and Arthur’s town sending advertisements to Fraser’s Mill?
Grace had to get work done, but euchre night had left her oddly tense. She would do something fun for a while, then work on National Board stuff. She grabbed two oatmeal cookies from the kitchen and went upstairs.
Mom made the cookies. The gingersnaps and apple crisp Grace had made before burning her hand had sold so well that Mom had set aside some of her limited free time for baking things for the store. She’d made extra for the family, too.
On the computer, Grace scrolled down the town social media page looking for the posts Natalie said Hannah had put up. A long way down the page, she found Hannah’s post advertising her video channel and social media account. She clicked on the link to the video channel.
The newest videos were shot in Fraser’s Mill and had titles like “Going Fishing for the First Time Ever!” and “Tour of Historic Fraser’s Water-Powered Sawmill.” Some were fashion-focused like “What I Wore for a Week in a Small Town” and “Roundup of This Summer’s Best Sunglasses.” Hannah had a lot of subscribers. At least, it looked like a lot of subscribers to Grace. She didn’t know what success looked like for an influencer.
The thumbnail of one of the more recent videos featured Hannah with Doc. Its title read, “Meet Doc: An Interview with Fraser’s Mill’s Young Resident Doctor.”
Clicking into the video felt like snooping, as though she were spying on Hannah and Doc. But this was a public channel, and Hannah had advertised it to the whole town. Grace had the right to watch the videos on it. Besides, maybe understanding Doc and Hannah better would help her feel more charitable toward them.
The video was shot in Doc’s exam room. Doc and Hannah sat in chairs turned half toward each other. Doc wore his white lab coat with a stethoscope around his neck. He looked at ease, sitting back in his chair with one leg crossed in guy-fashion. Hannah wore a white tank top, white jeans, gold jewelry, and sunglasses on top of her head. She seemed extra smiley.
“Hello, Internet,” Hannah addressed the viewers. “Today, in my ongoing series ‘Summer in Small-Town Michigan,’ I’m going to interview one of the important citizens of Fraser’s Mill: Dr. James Johnson, known to the people around here as ‘Doc.’”
Doc chuckled. “That, or ‘the young doc,’” he said. “My uncle just retired in January after running this practice for forty years. He’s the only doctor most of the townspeople remember seeing.”
Hannah asked Doc about his day-to-day life as a doctor. He said it was quite different from practicing medicine in the city.
“For one thing, you have to learn to be a jack of all trades,” he said. “During my residency, when a patient came in with a problem, I’d often refer him to a specialist. Around here, it’s a long drive for most people to see a specialist or even to get to the hospital. I’ve got to fix whatever problems they have the best I can.”
“So what kinds of things do you do?”
“It depends on the day. There are usually a few routine checkups—a lot of older folks, especially. And people come in with accidents—broken bones, cuts, burns. I’m kind of a one-man emergency room.”
“Wow! So if somebody has a heart attack, they call you instead of an ambulance?”
“Yup. The closest hospital is in Manistee or Cadillac. If they call an ambulance, it’ll take a while. If they call me, I can usually get there in five minutes or less.”
“That must put a lot of pressure on you,” Hannah said. “Having so many people’s lives depend on you like that. Is it stressful?”
“Well, you know, it depends how you look at it. When there’s an emergency, you need a doctor in the right place at the right time. I’m glad I’m close and able to help. But in the moment, it’s terrifying.” He chuckled. “You get a call that somebody’s cut his hand open with a chainsaw, or a woman’s having a baby and can’t get to the hospital, and you’re the only one around. And you just have to say, ‘Okay, I’ll be there in five.’”
“Wow!” Hannah’s eyes grew wide. “So you’ve delivered babies?”
“A few.” Doc grinned. “I got asked to be the godfather of one of them.”
Hannah laughed. “That’s fantastic. So when you’re not delivering babies and acting as an ER doctor, what other kinds of things do you do?”
“Well, I see a lot of people with colds, flu, stomach bugs—especially kids. Some of that’s slowed down now because it’s summer. But in summer people get heat stroke and work injuries. There’s always something.” Doc chuckled. “Once, somebody brought in a sick dog. He didn’t want to drive all the way into Cadillac to find a vet.”
“What did you do?”
“I looked up the dog’s symptoms, but I couldn’t figure out what the heck was wrong. So I told the guy he’d better just take it to the vet. He said he’d lost faith in me as a doctor—I couldn’t even cure a dog!”
Hannah laughed. “What a bad review for your practice! But I’m sure you get plenty of good reviews as well.”
Doc chuckled. “It all depends what the town gossip says about you. If it’s good, you’re in good shape. If it’s bad, you’d better find another town.”
“So what does the town gossip say about you?”
“You’d better interview the town for that one.”
“Fair enough.” Hannah flipped her hair back. “Now, here’s something the viewers are probably curious about: what kinds of things do you do on your time off?”
“I play golf now and again,” Doc said. “I like tinkering with cars, and you may be surprised to hear this, but I sing in the church choir.”
Hannah giggled. “Would you believe that? He literally sits next to me at choir practice,” she said to the camera. “Do you travel much?” she asked Doc.
Doc shook his head. “Not much since I got here. There’s always a lot going on around town, and I’ve got to keep my phone on in case somebody needs emergency help. I did visit my parents in April—I got a friend from Cadillac to take over the clinic for a few days.”
Hannah shook her head. “You’re one of the hardest-working people I’ve ever met. So I’ve got to ask: why did you come to a small town to practice medicine? I hear you had big prospects in New York City.”
“Well, I could ask you the same thing,” Doc said. “What’s an Internet sensation from Chicago doing in a small town all summer?”
Hannah laughed. “How many twenty-somethings do you know that have access to a vacation cottage in a place as pretty as this? I thought it would provide a unique setting for a new video series.” She turned to the camera. “Well, that’s all the time we have—Doc has somebody coming in for an appointment.” She turned back to Doc. “Thank you so much for the interview.”
Doc held out his hand for a handshake. “Thanks for having me.”
“I’ll see you later for our tennis match.”
Doc grinned. “Sure. You don’t stand a chance.”
Hannah turned to the camera. “You hear what he thinks about my tennis playing? I might have to video the match so you can see how I do for yourselves.”
Hannah ended with an advertising pitch for a brand of vitamins. Grace turned the video off.
Well, that was interesting. The video made Grace wonder, as Hannah had asked (and Doc hadn’t answered), why would a young doctor with good prospects want to bury himself in the hard work and obscurity of a small town? If she were in his place, she wouldn’t dream of doing it.
Hard work reminded Grace of National Board prep. She ought to stop watching videos and do something important.
A car crunched on gravel outside Grace’s window, and she peered out. A big white pickup truck was pulling in. Was that Alex? What was she doing over here at this time of night? Grace hurried downstairs.
It was Alex, holding a large empty pan. “My mom borrowed this from your mom. She sent me to bring it back.”
“Oh, thanks.” Grace took the pan. “Wanna come in? I could make tea or cocoa or something.”
She wouldn’t get any National Board prep done, but spending time with Alex was important too.
“Sure, thanks,” Alex said. She came in, wiping her boots on the mat.
“Do you want tea or cocoa?” Grace asked.
“Do you have oolong tea?”
“I’ll check.”
They did have oolong tea, in a tin with such a tight-fitting lid that Grace couldn’t get it off. After a lot of prying, and help from Alex, Grace managed to open the tin. She heated water in the kettle.
The teacups were in the back of the cupboard, and Grace had to stand on tiptoe and rearrange things to get to them.
“Hey Grace,” Alex said. “Can I ask you for some advice? It’s about Charlie.”
“Aha!” Grace emerged from the cupboard. “You told me you two were just friends. Is there something more going on?”
“Well—maybe, but maybe not.” Alex opened a drawer. “Where do you keep the silverware?”
Grace showed her the right drawer. “So what’s going on?”
Alex sighed. “I can’t tell. That’s the problem. We’ve known each other for years, and he’s always been a friendly guy. But a while ago I started thinking he might like me. For one thing, he started making gluten-free cookies for the diner all the time. He never did that before, even though there are plenty of diner customers who can’t eat gluten.”
“Uh-huh,” Grace said. “That sounds like it could be a sign that he likes you.” The tea kettle whistled. She took it off the heat.
“And it’s not just that. He’s started hanging around after choir practice and talking to me. He didn’t used to do that. And you know the other day, when he gave us both milkshakes on the house? That wasn’t the first time he did that for me. It was the fifth or sixth time.”
Grace poured hot water into the teacups. “That sounds pretty obvious,” she said. “I can see somebody giving a milkshake on the house once or twice. But any more than that, and he definitely likes you.”
“Yeah, that’s what I thought too.”
“And you like him, right?” Grace sat down with her tea and pushed the other teacup toward Alex.
“Yeah, I do,” Alex said. She sank down in a chair. “To tell you the truth, I’ve liked him for a while. But the problem is, he never says anything. That’s why I told you the other day that we’re just friends. It’s true. He’s never asked me out. I’m starting to think he’s never gonna do anything, and he’s just going to be weirdly extra-friendly forever.”
Grace was familiar with that situation. Sometimes you couldn’t tell if the guy needed an extra push or if he wasn’t interested enough to ask the girl out.
“I’ve watched a bunch of videos online on how to tell if a guy likes you,” Alex said, “but none of them say what to do if he acts like he likes you, but never asks you out. It’s so frustrating.” She gestured with tightly-curled hands.
“Hmm.” Grace tapped a finger on her teacup. “Well, in my opinion, he’s absolutely acting like he likes you. Maybe he can’t tell if you like him.”
“Well, I’m not gonna go up to him and tell him,” Alex said. “I mean, I hang out with him and we talk all the time, and I don’t refuse all those free milkshakes. What more can I do?”
“Alex, I’m probably the worst person to ask about how to catch a man,” Grace said. “I’ve been single for ages.”
“Just because somebody’s single doesn’t mean they don’t know anything about relationships,” Alex said. “Besides, I know you won’t tell people, and I don’t want this told all over town in case it gets back to Charlie.”
Alex was right—you had to pick your confidantes carefully. It was nice to be trusted, even if Grace wasn’t sure she’d be much help.
“Maybe you could bake him cookies or something,” Grace suggested. “Not for the diner or the choir, just for him. That should give him the idea that you’re interested, but I don’t think it seems too pushy.”
Alex brightened. “That sounds like a good idea. What kind of cookies?”
“Oh, I don’t know—any kind you want, I guess.”
Alex raised her teacup. “I’ll do it. I’ll bake cookies tonight and give them to him tomorrow after Mass.”
“Tonight? Alex, it’s nine P.M.! Isn’t that late for you already?”
“It doesn’t take too long to make one pan of cookies,” Alex said. “And tomorrow’s Sunday so Mass isn’t until noon, and Sam’s going to feed the stock. I can sleep in.”
Alex must really like Charlie to disrupt her early-bird schedule for him like this. Grace laughed. “Well, good luck,” she said. “Don’t burn yourself or anything. You don’t want to get your hand all bandaged up like mine.”
“I’ll be careful,” Alex promised. “You know how I said I was gonna find somebody to set you up with? Wanna hear who would be a good match for you?” Her eyes gleamed.
“In this town? You’re not trying to set me up with Sam, are you?”
Alex shook her head. “Sam’s got a girlfriend. Besides, I know better than to try to match you up with him. I was thinking of Doc.”
Grace’s pulse thumped oddly, and she stared at Alex.
“ Doc? Alex, you’ve gotta be out of your mind. Why in the world would you think that?”
If she had a list of people who drove her crazy, Doc would be at the top of the list. They wouldn’t get along in a million years.
“I saw you talking at euchre this afternoon,” Alex said.
“For like three seconds,” Grace exclaimed. “It was a fluke. We don’t get along at all . The first time I saw him, I thought he was stealing my mom’s car. It all went downhill from there. I run into him all the time, because he lives next door, and we always get into arguments. We would be terrible together. We would fight all the time.”
“Oh, I don’t know,” Alex said. “You both have strong personalities, that’s all. I think people with strong personalities work well with other strong personalities. You don’t want to find a guy who’s a total doormat. Besides, I think you and Doc are cute together.”
“Cute together? More like a train wreck,” Grace said. “Besides, I’m positive he and Hannah are an item. They play tennis together and text each other, and Hannah did a special interview with him for her video channel. Not to mention she basically warned me away from him during choir practice on Wednesday.”
Alex still wasn’t crushed. “She may like him, but if they were together, I think Hannah would have broadcasted it all over town. I don’t think they’re dating.”
“Well, I do,” Grace said. “And even if they weren’t, Doc doesn’t like me, and I don’t like him. So it doesn’t matter.”
Alex sipped her tea.
“Besides,” Grace said, “there’s this guy from California—Lucas—that I went out with once before I got here. We’ve been emailing back and forth, and we seem to have a lot in common. I want to get to know him better and see if we’d be a good fit.”
“Ooh!” Alex sat up straighter. “So that’s what you’ve been hiding. Do you like him?”
“Well,” Grace said, “he’s friendly, and smart, and good-looking—”
Alex shook her head. “I asked if you like him.”
“Don’t you have cookies to bake?” Grace asked. “If you don’t hurry up and get started, you’re gonna still be baking at three A.M.”
“I’m going, I’m going.” Alex drained her teacup and started for the door. “I still stand by what I said about you and Doc.”
“Alex Santiago Martin, you’re gonna go down in history as the world’s worst matchmaker.”
“I haven’t been proven wrong yet,” Alex said as she slipped out the door.