Rocky Mountain Reunion. Tina Radcliffe

ever divorce a man like that?”

      “Annulment. Not divorce. I was eighteen years old. A baby for goodness’ sake. And we were married for all of five hours before Aunt Lily put an end to my childish plan.”

      “F-five hours?” Juanita sputtered, her eyes round.

      “That was what? Ten? Eleven years ago? I remember Lily back then.”

      “Back then?” Juanita commented.

      “Oh, you’re new to the valley. But I can tell you that Lily Gray was an important name around this area for years. A prominent real-estate developer and a very intimidating woman, as well,” Marta said. “When Lily Gray said jump, people jumped.”

      “That was her public persona. She’s always been a marshmallow to me,” Anne said.

      “Still, I can’t imagine having her as your guardian,” the older nurse continued. “It certainly explains a lot.”

      “What’s that supposed to mean?”

      Juanita and Marta exchanged knowing glances.

      “Stop that, you two. Aunt Lil always did what she thought was best for me. I ran away to get married. She stopped me from making a huge mistake. How can I fault her for that?”

      Marta shook her head. “Yet in all this time you’ve never mentioned your marriage. It must still be a sensitive subject.”

      “No. That’s not it,” Anne quickly denied. “I’m simply a private person. You know that.”

      Marta gave her a slow appraisal as she shook her head. “Hmm. I thought I knew you. But now I’m guessing maybe I don’t. Never in a million years would I have pegged you for an impulsive act like running away to get married.”

      “Why not?”

      Juanita snorted and wagged her index finger in the air. “Honey, I may only have arrived in town a few years ago, but even I know that Anne Matson doesn’t do impulsive.”

      Though she searched for a response, Anne found none. Fine. Juanita was right. No matter how you looked at it, the facts were unchanged. She didn’t do impulsive.

      Indignation at the assessment had her narrowing her eyes at her coworkers and friends. “Look, I’d appreciate it if we could please keep this out of the Paradise grapevine.”

      “Of course,” Marta said with her hand on her heart and a nod to Juanita. “We know the rules. What happens in the ER...”

      “Stays in the ER,” Juanita said solemnly as she placed her hand over her own heart.

      The desk phone rang and Juanita scooped up the receiver. She smoothly rolled her desk chair backward to grab an empty chart and pull a paper off the fax machine. “Yes, sir. We’ve got it.” Hanging up the phone she looked to Anne. “Cardiac patient on his way. Wife is driving him in. Sudden onset of chest pain. That was his primary care doc from Denver. He instructed them to come in immediately. He’s faxed over the history. Wife has a list of medications with her.”

      Marta peeked at Anne from over the top of her half-glasses. “We’ll finish this conversation later.”

      Anne shook her head. Oh, no, they wouldn’t. Not if she could help it.

      The ER doors whooshed open and a middle-aged couple walked in. An orderly grabbed a wheelchair and assisted the patient into the seat as Juanita spoke to the wife.

      “Exam room four,” Anne called to the ER staff.

      “CBC. Chem seven, cardiac enzymes, EKG and a chest X-ray. Get Cardiac down here to consult, please,” Dr. Nelson directed as he moved toward the wheelchair.

      “Anne.”

      Anne whirled around in time to see Sheriff Sam Lawson push through the glass doors. She looked back at the desk. “Marta, can you handle the cardiac patient? Sam’s here.”

      Marta’s gaze moved to the emergency room doorway. “Sure. Oh, by the way, the staffing agency called. Your aunt is threatening to fire another caregiver.”

      Anne groaned as she walked away. “Of course, she is.” No day would be complete without her great-aunt being front and center on the agenda. “Tell them to ignore her threats. I do the hiring and firing.”

      Turning back to the sheriff, she smiled at her longtime friend and shook her head. Life would be a lot simpler if she could have fallen in love with someone safe like Sam. Instead her fickle heart had refused to be wooed by anyone since she and Matt had parted.

      “Another fun day in Paradise?” Sam asked as he removed his tan Stetson.

      “The usual.”

      “I find that Thursdays generally require extra prayer.”

      “Thursdays? Hmm, I had no idea. Why is that?”

      “Everyone is in a rush to get to the weekend.” He glanced around at the busy room. “How are thing here? I heard there was an accident at Paradise Lake.”

      “There was. We received both patients about an hour ago and their status has been upgraded. One will most likely be discharged in a few hours and the other in twenty-four to forty-eight.”

      “And your aunt?”

      “You heard Juanita?”

      Sam nodded his head in affirmation.

      “That’s just Lily’s usual ‘off with their heads routine.’”

      “Is her condition deteriorating?”

      “Yes. She’s more and more forgetful and she’s taken to hiding things. Random things at that.”

      “Such as?”

      “Yesterday I found the salt-and-pepper shakers under the couch cushions.”

      He chuckled. “That’s not so bad.”

      “It depends on how much I need salt and pepper. The good news is that today she’s in rare form and back to ruling the monarchy.”

      “I can stop by and check on her.”

      “Would you? She likes you. She seems somehow calmer when you’re around.”

      He nodded toward the badge on his tan uniform shirt. “It’s the badge. Seems to orient people.” He grinned. “And no problem. Happy to do it.”

      “Thank you, so much. Key’s under the mat if you should need it.”

      “Under the mat. Hmm. Well, since we’re friends, I’ll save my lecture on commonsense household security for another time.”

      “I appreciate that, too.” Anne glanced out the door. “I thought you had something for me.”

      “I do. In my patrol car. Got a spare wheelchair?” he asked as he pulled a notebook from his starched uniform pocket.

      “Are you transporting patients now?” Anne asked.

      “This one was sleeping on a park bench outside the Paradise library. The librarian called me.” He shrugged. “Since both ambulances were tied up and it’s only three blocks, I brought her in.”

      Anne quirked a brow and looked past him to the parking lot. “What’s the situation?”

      “I’m not sure. Caucasian female. Around nine or ten years old. Can’t put my finger on it, but she’s lethargic and she smells funny.”

      “Drugs or alcohol?”

      “She’s a baby, and this is Paradise,” Sam objected.

      “Yes, and in a perfect world I wouldn’t be asking you that. You’re much too nice to be sheriff. You’ve got to get a little more cynical, like me.”

      “My deputy would argue that point with you. He says I need to lighten up.”