Summer at Fraser’s Mill

Aftermath

G race had to talk about Lucas to somebody, and she couldn’t rant to Mom in the grocery store with the customers listening. Dad wasn’t home—he had a checkers tournament at the fire hall. Where was Alex? Probably hanging out with Charlie somewhere. Grace sat down in a rocking chair on the porch and rocked back and forth, thinking.

Alex came up the street, walking briskly despite the heat. Charlie was nowhere in sight. That was convenient. Grace bounced off the porch and hailed her.

“Alex! The wildest thing just happened, and I’m furious about it. Do you have time to listen to a rant?”

“Whoa, slow down.” Alex threw up her hands. “What’s going on? Are you okay?”

“I’m okay, but I’m just clean mad!” Grace said. “It’s about Lucas. The guy from California.”

“The guy you were meeting today?” Alex asked. “What happened?”

“Everything was horrible,” Grace said. “I don’t want to tell the whole thing standing out here in the sun. Let’s go sit on the porch.”

Alex sat down in a rocking chair. Grace sank into another one.

She explained about Lucas inviting himself to Fraser’s Mill. “As soon as he mentioned coming, I didn’t want him to,” she said, “but I didn’t know what to do. It seemed unfriendly to tell him no. I didn’t want to alienate one of the few coworkers I knew back in California. Although now I’ve managed to alienate him anyway.”

“What happened?” Alex asked.

Grace filled her in on her time with Lucas at the tavern and the ice cream stand. “I figured I’d go to work and he’d leave. But he said he wanted to take me out to dinner in Cadillac and see the fireworks there. Then—get this—then he said it wasn’t as exciting as he had hoped for our first big holiday together. He thought we’d been dating all summer!”

“What in the world?” Alex’s eyes widened. “He thought you were in a relationship? Did he ever ask to be your boyfriend?”

“No, he didn’t! Nothing like that. But then today he said he had understood we were seeing each other exclusively.”

“Wow!”

“I went out to dinner with him once in California. Only once! I would have been okay with going on a second date, but he asked me again when I was getting ready to leave for Michigan. Then after I left he started emailing me. So we’ve been sending emails back and forth for a few weeks. But I was just trying to get to know him better as a friend while I figured out my feelings. I did think, at the beginning, that we could be right for each other.”

“Uh-huh.” Alex leaned forward. “And then he asked to visit? Did he fly out here from California just to see you?”

“No, he was in the area,” Grace said. “His grandma lives around here. So he asked if he could meet up with me while he was here. I didn’t want to say no, because I thought it would seem unfriendly. But I guess when I agreed to meet up with him he took it as more confirmation that I was interested in him.”

“Yeah, I can see that.”

“I was so floored when he said we were dating. I didn’t know what to say! We never had even one conversation about being in a relationship. I tried to explain that, and he got mad. He said I was leading him on all summer. And then—you won’t believe this—he said, ‘You’re what, twenty-eight? You don’t have a lot of time left to be that picky.’”

“Oh my goodness!” Alex exclaimed. “That’s one of the rudest things I’ve ever heard.”

“I was so mad! I basically told him I’d rather be single forever than be with a guy like him. Then I walked away.”

“Good for you,” Alex said. “Where is he now?”

“I think he’s gone. Probably left town in a huff.” Grace sank against the back of her chair. “Alex, do you think I led him on? I wasn’t trying to, but now I’m not sure. Maybe I took too long to make up my mind about him. Do you think I should have replied to all those emails?”

“Oh…I don’t know.” Alex rocked her chair back and forth. “If somebody I worked with sent me an email I’d probably reply too, whether I was interested in him or not. Emailing somebody doesn’t mean you’re automatically in a relationship.”

Grace groaned. “Who knows what he’s been telling people back in California about our so-called ‘relationship.’ It’s gonna be so awkward when I get back.”

“Well, it probably won’t be awkward for too long. Even if he told a bunch of people you were dating, people forget about that kind of thing pretty quickly.”

“I hope so.” Grace sighed. “We don’t have the same break room at the school. Hopefully we won’t have to interact too much.”

“Yeah,” Alex said. “I bet he doesn’t want to be around you any more than you want to be around him.”

“You’re probably right.”

“It’s too bad you missed all the fun at the fire hall,” Alex said. “Charlie and Doc and I had lunch together. Doc asked where you were. He must have missed you.” She smiled meaningly.

“Oh, good grief,” Grace said. “Well, I sure wish I’d been at the hall with you guys instead of at the tavern with Lucas. What else is going on this afternoon? I have to work at the store from five to seven, so I’ll probably miss most of it, unfortunately.”

“There’s not much going on right now,” Alex said. “Tonight Sam’s gonna grill hamburgers and stuff down at the farm. His girlfriend’s gonna be there, and Charlie’s coming. You and your family should come. We’ve got lots of food.”

“That sounds like fun,” Grace said. “I’ll ask my parents if they want to come. I can’t get there until after seven though.”

“That’s fine. There should still be plenty of food left.”

“Yay! Thanks a lot.”

Alex got up from the rocking chair and stretched. “I should probably get back to the farm and see if my mom and Sam want any help with dinner.”

After Alex left, Grace went a few minutes early to help in the store. She didn’t have anything else to do, anyway.

Lucas had probably left town by now. It seemed unlikely he would hang around after Grace’s rejection. Good thing he had come to Michigan to visit his grandmother, because if he had come all the way out just to see Grace, he would probably be a lot more upset right now.

§

Dad was gung-ho to go to the Martins’ farm for dinner, and Mom said she had spent a decent amount of her day cooped up in the store and didn’t intend to be cooped up anymore. So when Grace got off work they loaded up in the car—bringing Dad’s knee scooter and crutches so he could use either—and drove down to the farm.

The Martin family had invited quite a few people. Sam was grilling in front of the house, and a bonfire burned out back. A few people were playing volleyball. Grace wasn’t good at volleyball, so she hung out with Alex and with Sam’s girlfriend Nadia from Traverse City. Nadia was friendly and smiley, and Grace could see why Sam liked her.

Doc wasn’t there. Alex said she’d invited him, but he must have been too busy to come. That was a bummer. It would have been fun to hang out with him by the bonfire. Well, hopefully Grace would see him back in town later that evening.

When it got dark, everyone piled into cars and went back into town to watch the fireworks display in the park. By this time the mosquitos had come out. Grace slapped at them, wishing she had worn long pants and long sleeves, but she didn’t want to go change and miss the rest of the fireworks.

Hannah was there with her phone, getting footage of the fireworks. Doc was nowhere in sight. Maybe he had had to deal with a medical emergency. He usually made a point of attending town events if he could.

Grace had less than two weeks left before she flew back to California. That didn’t leave a lot of time to hang out with Doc. It was a shame that he and Grace hadn’t really seen each other on the Fourth when they had spent so much time prepping for it. Well, at least they had had the fun of making the float.

§

Grace was working the morning shift the next day when Sam came in with a crate of vegetables. It was Alex’s turn to run the stand at the farmer’s market, so Sam filled in for her deliveries.

“Hey, Grace,” Sam called across the store. “Are you gonna get people to take apart that float? I need that trailer on Thursday, and it’s a lot to take apart by myself.”

Grace had forgotten about the float. That was the Martins’ farm trailer—of course they would need it back. “Sam, I’m so sorry,” she said. “I forgot all about it. I’ll figure something out today—maybe I can get people to help this evening.”

There was a lot to do in the store too. The Fourth had been busy, and Grace had a lot of cleaning and restocking to finish.

It was hard to tell at this point how the dollar store would affect the grocery store’s business in the long run. Sales had dipped noticeably the week the dollar store opened. The totals for Fourth of July weekend were lower than last year, but Dad wasn’t convinced the dollar store had caused that. Fourth of July sales fluctuated from year to year anyway. In a week or so, they might have a better idea of how things were going. Grace hoped the parade float and flyers would bring in more business. At least people had noticed the float—several people had told her they liked it.

She got off work at five and planned to find people to take apart the float. Alex was out of the question, since she wouldn’t be back from the farmer’s market until late and would probably be exhausted. Grace decided to try Doc first.

The clinic closed at five. This was about the time Doc usually came over to the store to get dinner, but so far he hadn’t appeared. Where on earth could he be? She hadn’t seen him much since the float-making. It would be fun to hang out with him again. She could see if he was at the clinic.

The clinic door was unlocked. Grace walked in and found an empty waiting room.

“Doc?” she called.

No answer. Maybe he was upstairs. Maybe he wasn’t home and had left his house unlocked. Grace was beginning to feel like a burglar.

“Doc?” she called again.

“Come in,” Doc’s voice said from behind a door.

Grace opened the door and popped her head in. If he was busy she’d go away and come back later.

Doc was sitting at a desk covered with paperwork and mugs, his laptop in front of him, his lab coat on, his hair tousled. Grace’s pulse quickened inexplicably. Well, Alex would have had an explanation. But Alex wasn’t here.

Doc’s eyebrows went up when he saw Grace. “Are you okay? That’s quite a sunburn.”

“Oh, I forgot about that,” Grace said. “I didn’t come about that. I already put aloe on it last night.”

“Then how can I help you?” he asked, instead of making a joke like she expected. He was frowning. Maybe he’d had a bad day.

“Well, I was wondering if you’d like to help take apart the float we made for the Fourth,” Grace said. “Sam needs that trailer on Thursday, so I thought I’d get a group to take it apart sometime in the next couple days.”

She had been expecting Doc to perk up, since he had been so excited about the float before. To her surprise he shook his head. “Sorry, Grace. I don’t think I can help this time. I’m really behind on my patient charts.”

Was something wrong? “What’s going on?” Grace asked. She came closer to the desk.

“Just work,” Doc said. “I didn’t get anything done over the weekend or the Fourth.”

He wasn’t looking at her, flipping through papers on his desk. Maybe he had gotten himself buried under a pile of paperwork. Grace knew that feeling well enough from her school grading.

“Is there any way I can help?” she asked. “I’m pretty good at paperwork.”

He shook his head. “Confidential patient records,” he said flatly. “Thanks anyway. I hope you find people to take apart the float.”

Grace stepped back, a cold sensation hitting her in the pit of her stomach. This didn’t seem like Doc. She’d seen him when he was tired and overworked. He’d been cheerful then.

“What’s the matter?” she asked. “Is something wrong? I haven’t seen you much the last couple days.”

He shook his head again. “I’ve been busy. I’m sure you’ve been too, showing your friend from California around.”

Lucas. Maybe Doc had noticed Hannah talking to Lucas. Maybe he thought Hannah and Lucas had been flirting and was upset about it.

“He’s gone back to L.A.,” Grace said. “Doc, are you all right?”

He looked up at her, his blue eyes tense. “I’m all right,” he said. “I’ve just gotta get this work done. You’d better find some other people to take apart your float.”

“I will. But are you sure you’re okay? You don’t seem okay,” Grace said. “If you’ve got a problem, I’m a pretty good listener.”

She wasn’t about to ask outright about Hannah. Doc hadn’t opened up to her about his love life, and now didn’t seem like a good time to bring it up.

Doc’s eyebrows drew together. “Why do you care? We barely know each other. I’m just the guy who comes along to help whenever you’re in a jam!”

Grace’s mouth fell open. He wasn’t upset with Hannah or Lucas—he was upset with her. That was how he felt about her? She was a damsel in distress, and he was sick of rescuing her? In one second, all her opinions of Doc flew out the window.

“Well, I didn’t know I was a bother to you!” Grace burst out. “I thought we were becoming friends. I didn’t know you were gonna resent helping me.”

“I don’t resent helping you,” Doc exclaimed. “I just think—”

“You certainly sound like you resent it,” Grace said. “You offered to help—I never expected or forced you to. I didn’t make you drive me around when my car broke down. I didn’t make you work on that float all Saturday morning. That was your choice!”

“Yeah, that’s right,” Doc said. “And this is my choice right now: I’m gonna sit here and work on my paperwork!”

“Fine! I’ll go find other people to take apart the float.”

“Good!” Doc turned back to his papers.

“Fine!” Grace marched toward the door. “Why don’t you just send me a bill for all the times you helped me out, and we’ll be square?”

“Grace, wait—” Doc’s voice came after her.

She slammed the door behind her.

Back home, she flung herself face-down on her bed and cried. If Doc didn’t want to help her, he shouldn’t have offered to help. Did he expect her to read his mind? It was mortifying that he thought of her as somebody who was always looking for someone to make her life easier. She was a hard-working, independent woman. She didn’t normally run around begging for help. All those things he had helped her with were things that didn’t usually happen.

And Alex had thought he liked her! He had just been trying to be kind and helpful, the same way he treated the patients who came to the doctor’s office. He wasn’t interested in her, he was just a nice guy—one who apparently regretted being nice to her now.

From now on, Grace would leave him alone. He could do all the doctor work he wanted. She wouldn’t get in his way.

Maybe this town wasn’t as friendly as Grace had thought. She still had to find people to take the float apart, but after that, she was going to focus on the store and getting ready to go back to California where she belonged. Dad’s cast came off tomorrow, and her flight to L.A. was on the 16 th . That didn’t leave much time to help her parents save the store.