AllFreeNovel
Share Us
“How’s Nito? Doc Harper said he almost ripped his arm off.” Norrie grinned. “He’s so dramatic.”
Demi chuckled before answering. “Damn wolf has no patience with injuries. Couldn’t even keep him inside. As far as I could tell, the stitches are holding, but when I saw him this morning, he’d lost the bandage. I fed him his medicine in bacon so that’s something.”
Norrie giggled. “He’s a male wolf. What can I say? He’s born stubborn. Now, I want to hear about how Rudy is doing. The doc stopped by earlier, but she didn’t have much of an update. You know that woman drives me crazy. She’s so damn aloof. Kinda bordering on being unfriendly. Can’t pull two words from her if you tried.”
“I’ve never met her. What’s she like?”
“Open for business only. Otherwise closed. Nobody home.”
Laughing, Demi teased. “Is that your way of saying she’s a bit standoffish?”
“Worse. Sometimes, she’s downright rude.”
Demi checked Norrie’s expression and knew instantly she was being serious. Wait, she also saw hurt lurking in her eyes. Wanting to make her friend feel better, she added, “The woman can’t be that bad. Didn’t she arrive around the same time I got here? By now, she must have had lots of patients.”
“Sure. But when we all invited her to visit, you know, holding out a hand of friendship, she turned her back and gruffly informed us that she’d be too busy getting settled in at the clinic.”
“She said that… to you? I can’t imagine anyone snubbing your kindness.”
Norrie leaned in closer and whispered. “I think she’s worse with me. Others rave about her thoughtfulness, says she’s so much better than the old drunk we used to have here. Guess that’s true because anyone has to be better than that old moron but so far, it hasn’t been my experience. I get the feeling that she only comes into the store when she has to. In fact, most often she leaves a list for me to fill and just stops in to make a pickup, pay for what she’s bought, and skedaddles.”
“Well, we’re heading back to the hospital soon, so I’ll keep my eyes open for this strange alien being and report back with my verdict.”
Chuckling, Norrie hugged Demi. “I’m so glad you’re normal. Life has been a lot more fun since you arrived.”
“Sure, cause you got someone to drink with now.”
“That too. By the way, we’re having a Christmas dance at the Glacier Inn on the weekend. I wanted to invite you and Whit to stay with me so you could come to the party and not have to head home the same night.”
“We kinda talked about it last week before the blizzard troubles. Sure, we both thought it would be fun. Let me know what I can bring.”
“Those damn snickerdoodles. And make lots. Everyone loves them.”
Feeling secretly pleased, Demi agreed. “Will do.”
Whit entered the store, shook off the snow at the door, and sidled up to the women, asking, “Will do what?”
“Norrie asked us to come and stay with her for the Christmas Dance.”
Whit put his arm around Norrie and pulled her in close. “Of course, we will. Wouldn’t miss a chance to stay with my second favorite girl.”
Norrie smacked his arm, laughing. “Sure, I’m always the second choice.”
Demi grinned at their shenanigans and left them catching up while she headed to the café to buy the food she’d promised to bring for Glen.
Soon, Whit met up with her, and they headed back to the hospital. There, they found Glen beside Rudy who was half-sitting, leaning against the pillows. He looked quite strong, even alert, and seemed happy to be alive. “Hey, Whit. Thanks, man, for getting me to the hospital. Glen told me about the trip in. I don’t remember any of it.”
“Best you didn’t, or you’d have wet yourself. I gotta say, it sure as hell wasn’t nice out there. If it hadn’t been for Glen, I’d have left you behind.”
Rudy chuckled as if Whit made a joke.
“No, don’t laugh. I meant that literally. We lost you for a while, until he realized the sled’s rope had been cut.” Whit pointed to Glen. “This idiot jumped off the machine. I wouldn’t have known you were gone if he hadn’t shouted before he did the dive. The bloody blizzard made vision impossible.”
Glen grinned. “And I only knew because of the difference in the weight on the rope. When I looked back, the sled had been cut loose, and you were gone.”
Interested, Demi piped up. “How did you get him hooked back on?”
A silence followed where Demi saw Glen look at Whit, urging him to speak up.
