Strange Medicine (Dr. Maxwell Thornton Murder Mysteries #1)(12)

I smirked. “Yeah, and I think they all had an appointment today too.”

“You’re a popular guy.”

“That can’t be right. I’m not popular-guy material.”

He twisted his lips, looking doubtful. “I find that hard to believe. From what I gather, you were a superstar in your field.”

I looked away, heat warming my cheeks. “That was then. This is now.”

He leaned toward me, his gaze intense. “I get the feeling you’re running from something.”

I stared at him blankly.

“But it’s very obvious you don’t want to talk about it.”

“I don’t like to, no.” I avoided his gaze.

We fell silent, but I could still feel his eyes on me. I knew he wanted to ask me questions, but he didn’t. Finally I got the courage to meet his curious gaze. “Have you ever shot anyone?”

He widened his eyes, obviously shocked by my question. “Um…” He frowned and his expression became guarded. “Why are you asking me that?”

“Have you?”

He hesitated, and then he lifted his chin. “Yes.”

I swallowed. “Did… did they die?”

I could see he was as uncomfortable with my questions, but for some reason he still answered. “Yes.”

There was something about him that made me want to dig deeper. It was surprising to me. Maybe it was exhaustion from the busy day I’d had, or from being scared for hours in the pool. Perhaps it was his vulnerable expression as he shared himself and answered questions I could tell he loathed answering. Whatever the reason, he made me curious.

“Did they deserve to die?” I sounded breathless to my own ears.

He clenched his jaw, but he held my gaze. “I don’t know.” His answer surprised me, and I guess I showed it because he asked, “Do you think that should be a yes-or-no question?”

I wasn’t sure what to say.

He sighed. “The guy I shot pulled a gun on me first. He was a crook. But whether he deserved to die, I have no idea.” He hung his head. “It took me a while to accept that maybe I took a life I had no business taking. I had to come to terms with that and move on.”

I nodded, feeling his pain and confusion from across the room. “I took a life,” I whispered.

He didn’t speak. He just watched me with those warm brown eyes that seemed to hold no judgment.

I swallowed hard, but I didn’t say anything else.

“Did you mean to kill them?” His voice was hesitant.

“God, no.”

“Okay. That’s good.”

“It was a patient.”

“Oh.”

I felt breathless as I asked, “What if I never get to the acceptance stage?” The coffee maker beeped behind me, but I ignored it. “What if I get stuck and can’t get there?”

He leaned back in his chair, his expression frank. “Then only you can get you unstuck.”

Maybe I’d hoped he’d have a magical answer that would heal all my wounds. He didn’t. Of course he didn’t. But I got the feeling he understood what I was going through. And that was something. That was everything for now.





Chapter Four


Royce

It took a few days to shake off the odd intimacy I’d shared with Maxwell the night he had an intruder. He’d changed the subject after our strange conversation about death, and we’d kept the topics to lighter things. But I’d had a glimpse inside of him that I’d never expected to have. He was far more vulnerable than he’d appeared on the surface, and it made me feel strangely protective of him.

Most people in town would argue he even had a soft spot. He certainly wasn’t making tons of friends in town, and I couldn’t fault anyone for finding him rude and abrasive. He was that a lot of the time. But I didn’t even think he realized how he was being. He was a man who was very to the point. He had little skill in hiding his impatience, and he didn’t suffer fools lightly.

But he was a good doctor, and no one could say different. We all knew we were lucky to have him, even if he was prickly. Small towns often attracted lousy doctors. The best of the best rarely wanted to settle down in a tiny place where making a name for yourself was impossible.

As far as I knew no one had gone sniffing around Maxwell’s house anymore. If they had, he either hadn’t noticed or hadn’t bothered calling me. I had to admit a part of me wanted him to contact me again so we could spend more time together. I liked the idea of sitting in his kitchen talking about life.

I passed the Squeaky Wheel antique shop, noticing Ned Tinkerson was inside waving his arms as if agitated while he spoke with the owner, Hanna Montgomery. Hanna looked angry as she listened to him. I couldn’t tell if they were actually arguing or if they were just having a heated discussion. Since I didn’t have anything pressing and I was curious what Ned was so worked up about, I decided to slip in and see if there was anything I could do to help. I needed to get my housekeeper a birthday gift anyway, and Hanna always had a nice selection of gifts. So I stepped inside the shop to kill two birds with one stone.

A bell jangled on the door as I entered the cramped shop, and both of them looked over. To say they looked guilty probably wouldn’t have been an exaggeration. Ned looked extra uneasy, and he grimaced as I approached.