Christmas at Saltwater Cove: a Westcott Bay novella Read online

  That would be fair. She closed her eyes. This was exactly the sort of thing that her ex-husband would get upset about. Linda wasn’t even Sandy’s patient, yet here she was getting crazed, trying to figure out what was going on.

  When it was her actual patients who were sick, and when they were children…there was nothing that Sandy wouldn’t do to save them.

  A twelve hour surgery? No problem. A forty-eight hour shift? Fine. A weekend spent scouring articles about experimental surgical techniques or medications?

  A perfect use of time.

  Medicine was her little corner of the world, the sliver where she could actually do something. There were a lot of things that made Sandy despair, but being able to put all of her heart and time into helping one patient set everything right again.

  And that was that. Sandy was grateful for the life that she had and what she was able to do with it. And as nice as it was spending time with Jack over the past few weeks, it was a fantasy to think it could continue.

  Maybe some people could have it all, but not her. She was happy she could at least have her career. It took her a long time to make peace with it, but she was okay with it now. She couldn’t hold it against Jack for having the same realization – hopefully he at least stopped at the hospital on his way out.

  After some time, the drunkard awoke and Sandy tried to start a conversation with him. She was bored and wanted to do something to pass the time.

  He wasn’t interested in talking, though. At first he grunted responses at her, but when she started chatting more, he very loudly told her to “shut it.”

  Not long after being rejected by him, the deputy who brought her in came back and opened the cell door.

  “Dr. Randall?”

  She stood up. “Yes?”

  “You can come with me. I’m very sorry about this misunderstanding.”

  “Oh! I’m very sorry as well.”

  Maybe she was getting out for good behavior?

  “I talked to Chief Hank and he let me know everything that I need to know. He also gave me quite an earful for almost arresting his future sister-in-law.”

  Sandy laughed, accepting her purse from the deputy. “Oh that’s right. I didn’t even think of name dropping my future brother-in-law.”

  “He also said that he’s never leaving the country again because we’re letting the island fall apart in his absence.”

  “Understandable,” Sandy said.

  “Do you need help getting home or anything?”

  “Ah – no, I think I’ll call my niece. But thank you.”

  “Please send Margie my best!”

  “I will. Thanks again!”

  Sandy stepped outside and took a deep breath. Freedom!

  A car honked at her from across the parking lot. She squinted, trying to block her eyes from the sun and see who it was.

  The door opened and out came Jack. Her heart jumped. Part of her really did believe that she’d never see him again.

  “Hey!” he yelled.

  “Hi there.” She started walking toward him.

  “I can’t believe that worked.”

  “What worked?”

  He motioned toward the jail. “I talked to Margie, and she talked to the Chief Deputy Sheriff – who she’s apparently dating?”

  “Engaged to,” Sandy said with a smile.

  He laughed. “Oh. Small town, huh?”

  “The smallest.”

  “I’m really sorry about leaving you behind, but – ”

  “No,” she held up a hand. “I’m sorry that I dragged you into this.”

  “I was happy to help. I got to the hospital as fast as I could, and after doing my best impression of a crazy person, babbling about botulism – ”

  Sandy interrupted. “Right, as I hoped you would.”

  He smiled. “Yes, just as planned. And after a while, they decided not to admit me for a mental breakdown, and I got to explain everything to the doctor.”

  “Oh! You got to talk directly to her? That’s great.”

  He nodded. “Yeah. And she thanked me and said she was going to make some calls.”

  Sandy shifted her weight. “Well – I’m sorry you had to be involved, but thank you for doing that. You might have saved their lives. And I don’t want to take up any more of your time, so I’m going to give Jade a call and she can pick me up.”

  “Oh.” He looked at her for a moment. “I really didn’t mind – any of it. Even the almost getting arrested part.”

  “You’re too kind, but I know that my…” She paused for a moment, struggling to put her thoughts into words. “My hyper-focus can be a problem. It’s just how I am.”

  “I know. It’s great.” He pulled his hands out of his pockets and let out a sigh. “To be honest, over the last two weeks with you, I’ve been having the time of my life.”

  She laughed. “Yeah, good one.”

  He took a step closer. “I’m not kidding. I would get arrested with you ten times over if that meant we could spend more time together. You’re just…incredible. You’re passionate, smart and beautiful and really cool about breaking the law.”

  She stared up at him and for the first time, words failed her. She thought she could handle anything that life threw at her – but apparently, not this. “I…was not expecting that. I was sure you’d think I was insane.”

  A strand of hair blew in front of her eyes and he gently brushed it away. “No Sandy – you’re a lot of things, but that’s not on the list.”

  Her skin rippled with goosebumps from his touch. “Jack – you’re wonderful, really wonderful. But I don’t think you understand.”

  “Oh?” he said, cocking his head to the side.

  Why did he do that? It was oddly adorable, like he was an overgrown puppy.

  Sandy shook her head, breaking the spell. “This isn’t a one-off thing. I mean – it’s the first time I’ve almost gotten arrested, but this is my whole life. Being a doctor – this is what I do. I don’t think that – no, I know that there’s no room for anything else. This is all I have.”

  She looked at him and watched as her words registered on his face. He frowned for a moment, then his expression softened.

  “That can’t be true. Because I’m completely taken with you, so now you have that to deal with, too.”

  She was about to respond when he leaned in, slowly, and kissed her.

  Despite her shock at the moment, something stopped her from jumping away – something inside of her told her to enjoy this moment.

  When he pulled away, she looked at him. “So…is this your way of telling me that you don’t mind giving me a ride?”

  He laughed. “Yes. This is my way of telling you that you can have pretty much anything you want from me.”

  Well. That was quite a statement. He continued to surprise her. When she thought he’d run for the hills, he stayed. Instead of ditching her for being intense to the brink of derangement, he joined her. Could it be possible that, after all of these years, she was wrong about him? That she was wrong about her own luck in love, too?

  She thought about reaching out to hold his hand but stopped herself. Best to take things slowly. “Let’s start with dinner tonight, maybe?”

  “You’ve got it.”

  Chapter 14

  Her famous herb-crusted roast beef would be ready to come out of the oven in twenty minutes and there was still no sign of Sandy. Margie stood in the kitchen with her hands on her hips and debated what to do.

  On the one hand, she didn’t want to disturb her sister – she was clearly off having the time of her life with Jack. But on the other hand, it was unconscionable for her to miss Christmas dinner, especially since all of the kids were here!

  Jade had been over for days, helping with the prep and trying to learn some of the family recipes. Margie’s eldest, Tiffany, arrived from Chicago yesterday and Connor, her youngest, arrived that morning.

  Her house was filled with good smells, laughter, cookies, and love.
And her sister was going to miss it!

  “Do you need help with anything else?” asked Jade, popping her head into the kitchen.

  Margie smiled and shook her head. “No sweetie – we’ll be eating soon if you want to let everyone know.”

  “What about Aunt Sandy?”

  “I was hoping that she’d make it…but I don’t want to bother her.”

  A smile spread across Jade’s face. “I can’t believe that your plan with Jack worked. Though I don’t think Tiffany or Connor will believe any of it until they see him walk through the door.”

  “Well in that case,” she said, reaching for her phone, “we’d better give her a call.”

  The call went unanswered, so Margie left a brief but cheerful voicemail reminding her sister that her presence was requested for dinner and secret Santa activities.

  She busied herself with getting everything to the table, the last of which being the roast beef. Dinner looked quite lovely – she’d even had time to bake some fresh bread rolls, the smell now pulling everyone to the table.

  They weren’t exactly fresh – she and Jade made them the previous week and froze a batch. Margie was able to pop them into the oven and bake them to perfection. These were the sort of little tricks that Jade really liked and Margie was happy to pass on to her.

  Just as Margie was about to sit down for dinner, the front door opened. She dropped what she was doing and rushed to greet her guests.

  “Hey sis!” she yelled. “Perfect timing. Merry Christmas!”

  “Merry Christmas! I’m so sorry that we’re late,” Sandy said. “We really lost track of the time.”

  Jack nodded. “Very sorry – I hope that our holiday berry meringue wreath is enough to make up for our rudeness.”

  Margie accepted the plate from him and pointed above their heads. “Oh no, you’re not getting off that easy.”

  They both looked up to see what Margie was pointing at – mistletoe.

  Sandy groaned. “That wasn’t there this morning. Did you booby-trap this entire house with mistletoe?”

  “Of course! And Connor helped.”

  Connor yelled, “Sorry Aunt Sandy, she made me!” from the table.

  Sandy and Jack looked at each other before Sandy gave Jack a peck on the cheek.

  “That was pathetic, but I’ll take it,” said Margie, allowing them to pass.

  All three kids were already sitting at the table and waiting to meet the mysterious Jack.

  “Jack, I’d like you to meet my children – Tiffany and Connor. And you already know Jade.”

  “Nice to meet you all,” he said with a smile.

  “Hey guys!” Sandy said, going over to hug them all. “Merry Christmas!”

  Margie stood at the table and smiled at the scene unfolding in front of her before coming to her senses.

  “All right everyone, let’s eat before everything gets cold!” she said, passing around the green bean casserole.

  Tiffany had about a hundred questions for Sandy – all about the botulism cases, how Sandy figured it out, and of course, Sandy’s untimely arrest. Sandy was more than happy to recount it all from the beginning – with Jack’s help, of course.

  Margie looked on, enjoying hearing the story again. What she enjoyed most was watching Jack as Sandy spoke – he seemed to watch her with such an awe in his eyes. He was truly lovestruck and it made Margie feel absolutely giddy.

  Tiffany, however, focused on the botulism. The antitoxin had to be flown to the hospital, which made for a rather dramatic end to the story. Both Linda and David received it, and since David wasn’t as far along in his illness, he started to get better almost immediately. Within two days, he was back to normal.

  Linda was a different story – the antitoxin worked for her too, but it was much slower. She was finally off of the ventilator and starting to move with the help of her physical therapists. She actually called Margie on Christmas Eve to say that she was thankful that she’d come to the Christmas party. “Thank your sister,” she said, “for saving our lives.”

  Margie promised to relay the message – and reminded Linda that she should give up her new hobby of canning. Linda had no protests about that.

  Jack jumped in, giving a rather animated version of how Sandy’s confrontation went with the grumpy neighbor. All of the kids were laughing – and now they couldn’t accuse their old mom of making up a story about this Christmas matchmaking gone right.

  Margie sat for a moment and enjoyed the feeling of her heart swelling with happiness. The year prior, she was in a much different place – trying to host a disastrous Christmas in her tiny one-bedroom apartment.

  And now? It felt like her entire life had turned around. And it seemed like Sandy’s life might be undergoing a similar transformation.

  Margie took a sip of cider and ripped open a bread roll. Yes, compared to last year, this Christmas was a raging success.

  Epilogue

  It was the weekend before Halloween and Sandy was on call for another five days; though Friday night had been quiet, she expected things to get progressively more exciting as they got closer to the holiday.

  She had one surgery Saturday morning and then made her rounds with the team. She was about to go back to her office and finish up some notes when she received a message on her pager.

  She smiled when she saw the number – it was Jack’s. Ever since she’d taught him how the pager worked, he liked to ping it every now and again.

  She pulled out her cell phone and gave him a call.

  “Wow that was fast!” he laughed.

  “Well yes,” she said. “You do understand the purpose of the pager, right?”

  “Yes, very well. This is a stat message. I needed you to know that I’m parked outside of the hospital – if you and your crew would like a free lunch.”

  “You know that I can’t resist tacos. I’ll be out soon – and I’ll put out the invitation.”

  “Can’t wait to see your beautiful face!”

  She shook her head and ended the call. They’d been dating for months and he still liked to sneak things in that he knew would embarrass her. She wasn’t really embarrassed – no one else heard – but it was enough to make her turn the volume down on her phone.

  Not that it mattered. All of her coworkers – from the other surgeons, to the nurse practitioners and nurses, to the pharmacists and the medical assistants and nurses aides – everyone knew Jack and adored him.

  After their rendezvous on San Juan Island at Christmas time, Jack decided to move out to Boston and rent an apartment. He reasoned it was only a half hour drive from Helen, that it’d be a better market for his future restaurant and…he wanted to be close to Sandy.

  Sandy was a bit surprised by this, but as Margie reasoned, there was no point in trying to stop him. Margie said she should just enjoy it and not worry so much.

  And as for the fact that they were crazy about each other and spent almost all of their free time together? Well, that was just a happy byproduct.

  When Sandy was at work, Jack explored the local culinary culture and got ideas for what sort of project he wanted to do next. Ultimately, he got the idea to buy a food truck and run a small restaurant out of it. He came up with a number of signature dishes and his popularity boomed.

  It was perfect for him at this stage in his life – he set his own hours and could spend the days parked outside of the hospital while Sandy worked longer shifts. He wasn’t looking to expand – not yet. He really enjoy the flexibility of being able to spend time with Sandy and Helen.

  He insisted that Sandy meet Helen – and his new granddaughter! Sandy felt nervous about it, but it all went exceedingly well. Helen and her husband Phil were enormously kind and welcomed her as if she were part of the family. It was really a brave new world for Sandy and she was glad to have Jack by her side.

  After alerting the rest of the team about Jack’s generous offer for a free lunch, Sandy took the elevator down and went through the lobby to find Ja
ck’s truck parked just across the street.

  A line was already forming – he was just too good at what he did. And he spent a lot of time hanging around this hospital, so people quickly came to know and love his creations.

  Sandy dutifully waited in line, not wishing to anger any of the paying customers by jumping ahead. When it was finally her turn to order, she stepped up and gently tapped three times on the window.

  “Dr. Randall!” He exclaimed, a smile spreading across his face. “What an absolute delight to see you. What can I get for you today?”

  “Hm, I think I’m in the mood for a chorizo chicken taco and a side of chips and guacamole.”

  “Did you catch that Robin?” He yelled over his shoulder. “Can you take care of that while I take a break?”

  The young woman nodded. “Of course!”

  “Thanks Robin,” said Sandy. “How’s school going?”

  “Oh it’s good, really good! Thank you.”

  Robin was going to college as a premed major – Sandy sat down with her a few weeks prior to talk to her about the options in medicine and some of the various specialties. She was a bright girl – Sandy was confident that she would do well.

  Jack hopped out of the truck and gave Sandy a kiss before they walked over to a nearby bench.

  “You guys are popular today,” said Sandy. “I hope you can handle the influx of hospital employees that are about to come pouring through those front doors.”

  He laughed. “We’re ready. I’ve got to show my appreciation to the staff.”

  Sandy looked up, just as a group of seven people walked out of the hospital and over to the truck. “I can confidently say that they feel very appreciated every time you stop by.”

  “And how do you feel when I stop by?”

  She smiled. “Happy, I suppose.”

  “You suppose?”

  “Fine – I feel happy.”

  “Good. And do you also feel full? Of tacos?”

  “Yes,” she said with a laugh. “I definitely feel full. And a bit, I guess, loved.”