Summer at Fraser’s Mill

On the Waterfront

T he Chevelle’s back seat and trunk were brimful with float-making supplies, and it was almost nine, as Grace had anticipated.

“Where do you want to go?” Grace asked. “Pretty much everything is closed now except fast food. It might be better to go back to town and stop at the diner.”

Doc shook his head. “There’s a place down by the lake that stays open until ten. It’s right on the water, and you can sit outside if you want. Wanna try it?”

He was asking her, not telling her, which she appreciated. And it sounded better than fast food. “Sure.”

They drove down to the restaurant, a small place Grace had passed many times on her way in and out of town. California had many small waterfront restaurants like that. They nearly all served seafood.

“Is this a seafood restaurant?” she asked. If Doc tried to get her to eat oysters, she’d make a run for it and call Mom to get her.

“Well, I think they have seafood, if that’s what you like,” Doc said. “But it’s an American restaurant. Diner food. I like it because it’s on the lake.”

She could handle diner food.

They went into the restaurant. The hostess, a cheery girl with dark hair in a ponytail, greeted them. “Indoors or outdoors?”

Doc looked at Grace.

The evening air wasn’t too cold. “How about outdoors?” Grace asked.

“Follow me,” the hostess said. She led them through a set of glass doors and onto a deck with Christmas lights on the railing and small trees all around. She put them at a table for two.

The sun was nearly setting, painting the sky in glorious colors and turning the rippling water to gold. The air was clean, Grace was finally off her feet, and they were going to eat.

“How do you like it?” Doc asked.

“It’s beautiful,” Grace said. “I can’t believe I’ve never eaten here before.”

“It’s worth it just for the view.” Doc’s smiling eyes reflected the glow of the evening light. “I’ve only been here once myself.”

The waitress brought them menus. Grace looked at hers. She wasn’t getting any weird appetizers, thank you very much. No strange food choices. She would make her own decisions. She almost felt like breakfast food. It had been a long day, and she didn’t feel like a burger or anything like that right now. She really wanted a waffle. And maybe chicken tenders. But she always felt silly ordering things like that. Probably Doc would get the slow-roasted prime rib, at tremendous expense. Doctors usually had money.

What did she care what Doc thought? She would get what she wanted. He could get the prime rib if he wanted to.

“Looks like they have breakfast all day,” Doc said. “You know what, it’s been a long day. I’m gonna get chicken tenders and a waffle.”

Grace burst out laughing.

“What’s so funny?” Doc looked up from his menu.

“That’s what I was gonna get,” Grace said. “This late at night, I’d rather get breakfast food.”

“Great minds,” Doc said.

He kept overturning Grace’s assumptions about him. The mental image she’d formed of him was significantly different from the man in real life.

He folded up his menu. “Speaking of great minds, I hear you’re quite the teacher.”

“Who’d you hear that from? My dad?”

Doc grinned. “Maybe,” he said. “But just because your dad says it doesn’t mean it isn’t true.”

“Well, thanks,” Grace said. “It’s a good school, and I’ve got great kids to work with. And the other teachers are nice too. Although I don’t know most of them very well.”

Doc’s face was thoughtful. “One of the most important things about a job is the people you have around you. I’d take a tough job, with a good community, over an easier job without a good community.”

“Is that why you took the job in Fraser’s Mill?” Grace asked.

She had been wondering, ever since seeing Hannah’s video interview with Doc, why he had chosen to move to the middle of nowhere. He could have made more money and had a better career trajectory elsewhere.

Doc nodded. “I did my residency in New York,” he said. “Everything was impersonal. There were so many patients I couldn’t possibly keep track of them. The medical staff kept changing too. I wanted to live somewhere where I could have an actual relationship with my patients. Besides, I like the country.” He motioned to the lake. “You don’t have views like this in the city.”

Grace laughed. “I suppose you don’t.” Her apartment in California looked out toward a gray apartment building and some dusty streets. Her school building looked out over a shopping center. But it wasn’t as though California wasn’t beautiful—you just had to get out of the city to see the beautiful part.

The waitress came back with two glasses of water. “Are you ready to order?”

“I think so,” Grace said.

The waitress produced a pen and pad. “Go ahead.”

“I’d like a waffle and some chicken tenders, please.”

The waitress wrote on her pad and looked at Doc.

“I’ll have the same thing,” Doc said. “Thank you.”

The waitress took their menus and bustled off, leaving Grace and Doc sitting there at the table. No menus to hide behind. No other people. Nothing to do but talk to each other.

Doc leaned forward, his elbows on the table. “So what do you like about California?”

It was refreshing how genuine his interest seemed. “Um,” Grace said. “Well, I moved there for the school job. After college I worked in Florida for a while—I had a job at the college where I graduated—and some people came to the campus interviewing for a teacher position in Los Angeles. I did an interview, and they offered me the job. So I moved out to L.A., and I’m rooming with a friend of mine from college.”

Doc nodded. “Rooming with friends is good.”

“The only thing is, I don’t see her that much,” Grace said. “She’s studying to be a nurse and works all the time, and she’s also seeing a guy. So she’s not at the apartment very much.”

Doc’s brow furrowed. “That happened to me in New York. I had a roommate, but he was never there.”

“I guess a lot of people are pretty busy these days.”

“Must be.” Doc raised an eyebrow. “You still haven’t told me what you like about California.”

“Well,” Grace said. “I mostly moved there because of the school, not the state—the prices are outrageous, and the policies are worse. But it’s nice that it’s warm and sunny most of the time.”

“And you’ve got the beach nearby,” Doc said. “Although you’ve got good beaches in Michigan too. They’re not so darn crowded as they are out East.”

“I’ve gotta admit, I haven’t even been to the beach a lot in California,” Grace said. “I’ve been a few times in the summers. But usually my schedule is too tight for that.”

“I get that,” Doc said. “When I started my residency I didn’t do anything else for three months except Sunday Mass and grocery shopping. When I wasn’t at work, I was studying for in-training exams. I used to work out at the gym reading textbooks on the stationary bike.”

Grace laughed. “That sounds like me. Except I can’t read books while I run.”

Doc’s phone dinged. “Excuse me,” he said. “I’d better make sure that isn’t an emergency.”

“No problem,” Grace said.

Why had she spent so much time this summer assuming she and Doc wouldn’t get along? He was friendly and relaxed, and he seemed to be an understanding person. With his background in medical school, he might even relate to all the busyness of being a teacher and getting ready to be an NBCT.

Doc put his phone back in his pocket. “Sorry about that,” he said. “Not an emergency. One of my patients wanted to see if he could get an appointment tomorrow.”

“Don’t worry,” Grace said. “I was just thinking, you and I both have pretty busy jobs. This fall’s going to be crazy because I’m getting ready for National Board teacher certification. Have you heard of that?”

“If I did, I’ve forgotten,” Doc said. “What’s it like?”

“Well, according to a bunch of teachers online, it’s the hardest thing they’ve ever done,” Grace said. “But a lot of them said it was the best thing they’ve done for their teaching career, too.”

She told Doc about the process, with the portfolio of class work and the exam at the end of the year. “The more I read about it, the more intimidated I get,” she said. “But I know I should be able to get through it, if I put in the work.”

“Sounds like something worth working towards,” Doc said. “You’ll be great. The best teacher in the West.”

Grace smiled. “Thanks,” she said. “I’m terrified. But I’ve wanted this for a long time. Teaching is really important to me. Getting kids to appreciate good literature—opening their minds to great thinkers from the past—is so crucial, especially nowadays when they’re getting so much of their influence from the internet. Up to this point, I’ve tried my best, but I always felt inadequate compared to the other teachers. I think the National Board certification process will really help me fill in the gaps. My dream is to learn enough to be able to help other teachers with their classes too.”

“Sounds like a good dream to have,” Doc said. “To find your way to make a difference in the world, and then go after it as hard as you can—that’s important. That’s how I feel about my job.”

“Did you always know you wanted to be a doctor?”

“I had a few different ideas when I was growing up. I coulda been a contender.” Doc smirked. “But my uncle was a doctor, and he had all these stories about the people he helped. I wanted to do that too. So I did pre-med in college and then went into medical school. After my residency in New York, I came straight out here to take over my uncle’s practice.”

“Do you think you’ll be here permanently?”

Doc smiled. “I like it here,” he said. “Everybody ought to have a place that feels like home. Fraser’s Mill is it for me.”

Wow. Fresh out of his residency, in his early thirties, handsome and well-spoken, Doc could have done well anywhere. But he chose to stay here and care for people like Grace’s parents, simply because he liked the little town and its people. That made such a difference to the people who lived in Fraser’s Mill. He must be quite the guy. Grace understood a little more why so many of the girls in town seemed to swoon over him.

“Is it weird having your patients be your neighbors?” Grace asked.

“Not as weird as you might think,” Doc said. “Medical privacy can be a problem in a small town, because everybody knows everybody else’s business, but I like knowing my patients outside of the office. It’s like taking care of a big family.” He took a drink of water. “What’s weird is being a doctor in the city. If you see one of your patients out in public you can’t even go over and say hi, because it violates patient privacy.”

“I would never have thought of that.”

Doc nodded. “Another reason I like living here. You can say hello to your neighbors, and it doesn’t have anything to do with the fact that you’re their doctor.”

The waitress returned with the food, which steamed on hot plates and smelled amazing. Grace launched into her waffle the minute she and Doc had finished saying grace.

“So,” Doc said, when the food on both his plate and Grace’s had diminished significantly, “how did you get roped into this float-making business? Does the store do a float every year?”

Grace shook her head. “This is the first time,” she said. “My dad’s done floats before, when he was a boy, so he helped me think of ideas. We’re hoping to raise awareness for the store. We could use all the extra customers we can get with the new dollar store in town.”

“Ah.” Doc raised an eyebrow. “Competition.”

Grace nodded. “It’s a problem all over the country. Dollar stores come in, and the local stores go out of business. I’m not gonna let it happen here.”

She told Doc about the videos she had seen, about the grocery store owners whose stores had been closed down, and about the zoning in Maple City which had prevented a dollar store from moving in there. Doc listened intently.

“I know one thing,” he said. “Fraser’s Mill can’t afford to lose its only grocery store. You oughtta get the town involved to help keep the store going. Nobody realizes the dollar store is going to hurt your business.”

“What would I do?” Grace asked.

“Get the word out any way you can,” Doc said. “Social media. Flyers. Word of mouth.”

“Do you think the people in town will care enough to do something about it?”

“If they understand the situation, a lot of them will,” Doc said. “These people are your friends and neighbors. They don’t want your parents to go out of business. They don’t want to drive into Cadillac for all their groceries, either.”

Doc was a big voice in the community. He would be a good person to have on her side.

“Hey, your food’s getting cold,” Doc said. “You’ve been talking this whole time and forgetting to eat.”

“Oh.” Grace looked down at her half-full plate. “I guess I got carried away.”

Doc smiled. Grace started in again on her chicken.

It was dark when they left the restaurant and started back toward Fraser’s Mill. Doc’s driving was swift but not anxiety-inducing.

“What time are you building the float on Saturday?” Doc asked.

“I’ll text Alex and ask when a good time is.” Grace pulled out her phone.

“You can text me when you find out,” Doc said. “You can have my number, as long as you don’t use it to sell me car insurance or tropical vacations.”

“Gee, I was just gonna ask if you wanted to buy a timeshare in Maui.”

They got back to Fraser’s Mill so late that a number of the houses were already dark. It was nearly eleven when Doc pulled into his driveway.

“I’ve gotta put all the supplies we bought in the garage,” Grace said.

Doc jumped out of the car. “You open the garage. I’ll start bringing them in.”

It took a few trips to stow everything away.

“Text me when you hear back from Alex,” Doc said as Grace locked the garage. He looked especially tall in the dim light of the driveway.

“Sure,” Grace said.

“See you around.” Doc headed for his house, his hands in his pockets, whistling a tune.

She hadn’t thanked him, and he had driven her all around and helped her all evening. “Wait,” Grace said, starting after him.

Doc stopped whistling and turned around. “What?”

“I haven’t thanked you. You came all the way out to Cadillac to wait for the tow truck with me, and you took me to all those stores and that restaurant. You didn’t have to do any of that. It was very kind of you. Thank you.”

“You’re welcome.” Doc’s face, as much as she could see of it in this light, was serious. “What you’re doing for your parents is a good thing, Grace. You’re a good daughter.”

“Thanks. They’re good parents.”

“And they raised a darn impressive woman. Of course,” a teasing note came into his voice, “she can’t look at a car without it breaking down.”

“Oh yeah? Want me to go over there and look real hard at your car?”

Doc laughed. “You’d better get inside, or your parents will think you’re getting mugged out here.”

“Mugged? In Fraser’s Mill?” Grace started toward the house. “Goodnight, Doc,” she called over her shoulder.

He was still standing there, his hands in his pockets. “Goodnight, Grace.”

§

Grace went up to the porch. Was it really the same evening she had set out to buy supplies for the float? Her parents’ kitchen was dark, but the living room light was on. Mom and Dad must be waiting up for her. Grace let herself in the front door.

Sure enough, her parents were still awake, sitting in the living room in their pajamas, reading books on the loveseat.

“Hi, Gracie,” Dad said. “How’d it go?”

Grace kicked off her shoes by the door and flopped onto the couch. “It was good, actually,” she said. “We got everything we needed for the float—except we’ve still got to dig up some cardboard boxes from somewhere—and Doc’s gonna get together some people to help build the float on Saturday. After we got done with all the shopping we stopped at a restaurant in Cadillac, one of those places right on the water, and we both got chicken and waffles.”

“You went to a restaurant with Doc?” Mom asked. “I didn’t even know you two were friends.”

“We weren’t,” Grace said. “But I think we are now. It’s a long story.”

She couldn’t explain, even to herself, the shift in her feelings about Doc. Somehow, she’d gone from feeling irritated toward him showing up to really enjoying hanging out with him. Gratitude for him picking her up, appreciation for his help, and surprise at his sympathetic understanding swirled together in her mind.

“Well, the van got to the garage,” Dad said. “Ed called me when it got in. The muffler and tailpipe broke off when the guy was backing the van off the tow truck. Nothing he could have done about that. It’s gonna need a new muffler, exhaust pipe, and tailpipe. That’ll set us back quite a bit.”

“Dad, I’m so sorry,” Grace said. “I didn’t have any idea there was something wrong with the van.”

“It’s not your fault,” her mother cut in. “If your father’s going to insist on keeping that old thing, he has to take full responsibility for the way it’s falling apart.”

Dad chuckled. “Your mother’s right. It’s not your fault. The same thing would have happened to the next person to drive it.”

Mom got up from the loveseat. “Well, we’d all better get some sleep,” she said. “I’m opening the store tomorrow. Grace, you don’t need to come in early. I need you to close the store, and I’m sorry, but I need you to make dinner too. It’s Imelda Martin’s birthday, and she’s having dinner with a few of the ladies at the diner.”

“Sure, Mom, no problem,” Grace said. “Dinner will be a little late if I’ve got to close the store at seven and then start cooking. Dad, you might want to eat a snack.”

“I’ll eat an apple,” Dad said. “Don’t worry, I won’t starve.”

Upstairs, after she brushed her teeth, Grace checked her phone. Alex had replied about the float building: “Ten A.M. on Saturday would be great!” Grace texted the information to Doc.

Lucas had also sent an email.

“Grace, I’ve got great news!” the email read. “This Sunday is my grandma’s birthday, and I’m flying in to see her. We’re having a big family reunion. I’ll be flying in and out of Traverse City. If you’re free this weekend or the Fourth of July, we should meet up. I can drive down to Fraser’s Mill, and we can get lunch or something. Saturday or Monday would be great.”

Oh, boy. When Grace had envisioned going out with Lucas again, she never thought of him coming to Fraser’s Mill. She had always connected him with California. From the sinking feeling in her stomach, one thing was evident: she didn’t want him to come.

Lucas’s interest in her was flattering. And, no doubt, he was an eligible match on the surface. But something was missing.

Grace had seen the way Alex’s eyes lit up when she talked about Charlie. Those two seemed so comfortable together and like they had a lot of fun being around each other. Whatever Alex and Charlie had, Grace didn’t have that with Lucas. If anything, Lucas made her feel uncomfortable, like she couldn’t be herself.

At the same time, what could she say to dissuade him from coming to Fraser’s Mill? She couldn’t think of a way to uninvite him that wouldn’t hurt his feelings. Plus, he was a part of her regular life back in California and one of the only coworkers she’d spent any time with. Even if she wasn’t interested in him romantically, it seemed like the friendly thing to do to meet up with him when he was in the area.

But of all possible weekends, this was the worst. Grace had so much to do. She’d be busy on Saturday building the float. Monday was the Fourth of July. Maybe she had a way to get out of the whole thing. She had too many conflicts. Grace emailed Lucas back, explaining about the float-building on Saturday and the parade on Monday.

He must have checked his email immediately, because she got a reply at once: “What if I come to the parade, and then we get lunch when you’re done? It could be fun to see the Fourth of July in a small town.”

Rats. There was no real reason why she couldn’t have lunch with him. She was out of excuses. But she got the feeling the Fourth of July wouldn’t be nearly as fun if she had to spend the afternoon showing Lucas around.

She sent Lucas a reply: “OK, after the parade would work.”