“What is a young female doctor doing in a town like this?”
“I am glad you asked.” Manuel crunched into the slightly burnt toast with strong white teeth, chewed and swallowed before continuing. “Apparently she has no family and had taken up some medical student who was going to the same school she was attending. Plans were in place for them to get married when she discovered quite by accident that the guy swings the other way.”
Mason looked at him with a frown.
“He preferred males….”
“Oh.” Mason scooped up eggs into his mouth. “But she didn’t know that?” he asked around the food in his mouth.
“Apparently not! She packed up her things and high-tailed it out of town and never once looked back. Mystic rivers offered the kind of anonymity that she needed to lick her wounds and broken heart.”
Mason did not have to ask his uncle where he had gotten his information or if it was accurate. Manuel Remington was in charge of their PI team and made sure to get the scoop on all the people that they would be dealing with. He was very thorough and demanded the best service and did not leave all the work to their PI team. They always liked to know who they were getting in bed with so to speak.
“That piece of property is on the edge of town and is perfect for the hotel.”
Manuel cleaned his plate and belched gustily before getting up to pour some more coffee. Taking his seat on the stool, he cradled the cup in his palms before looking at his nephew. “I know. I have asked the men to scout around to see if there was anything that comes close to that piece of land but nothing.”
“What’s her objection?”
“According to Byron, she said that her patients are usually on foot and the location is perfect for them. She said she has no interest in selling the place.”
“Offer her more money.”
“She doesn’t exactly need the money. She got the insurance from both her parents’ deaths and before that she was not exactly in need. She is just doing this doctor thing out of the goodness of her heart and treating patients who cannot afford to pay her for her services. Offering her more money is not going to work.”
“We do not know until we try,” Mason insisted as he went to get some more coffee. He was starting to feel like a human being again after his second cup and the food had not been that bad. He and his uncle had been in some pretty rough areas when they were taking over buildings and investing in areas. Once they had found themselves into the almost desert type town of Mississippi and had bunked in a trailer that had given the word ‘discomfort’ a whole new meaning! He came back with his coffee and straddled the high back stool, his blue eyes gazing at the man seated across from him. “People always want more money.”
“Your cynicism is showing.” Manuel told him dryly. “I am telling you that this doc is not willing to accept more. You always have a way of charming the ladies. Try and get under her skirt or her lab coat until she agrees to the sale of the property.”
Mason gave him a mild look, not in the least bit offended by the coarseness of the conversation.
“You know as well as I do that I do not mix business with pleasure.”
“There are always exceptions.” His uncle insisted. “And by the way, I did the preparing of the meal, so the washing up is all yours.”
“I hate that part.” Mason muttered.
“Then maybe you should learn to cook.”
“Scrambling a couple of eggs and popping bread into the toaster does not exactly require culinary skills.”
“And yet you can’t do even that. I am going to go take a look around the grounds. Join me when you are finished with the housework.” With a sly grin, he turned and walked out of the kitchen.
Mason finished the coffee and went to turn off the coffee pot before standing at the sink, staring at the few dirty dishes. He had been brought up in a wealthy household but had not been waited on hands and feet by maids as some of his other friends had been. From the moment he was able to handle work, his father had insisted on him helping out at the company and his mother had told him firmly that he was not going to be one of those idle rich boys who went around creating mayhem and not doing anything. But he had drawn the line at kitchen duties. He had a housekeeper where he had been living before and she did all the work, keeping his food in a warmer until he got home. All he had to do was take it out and have the meal. The table had always been set for him and he would dump the dirty dishes into the sink for when she got there the next morning.
With a wry smile, he reached for the washing liquid and sponge and started to wash.
*****
Jennifer stood in front of the full-length mirror and stared at her reflection for a full five minutes as she critically dissected each and every feature. She did it every now and then as if trying to discover why the only relationship she had ever been in had ended so disastrously. She was a size twenty African American woman, the solid frame sitting well with her 5’7” height, but that had never bothered her when she was growing up. It had bothered her less when she realized that society was now recognizing the differences in body shapes and plus sized women were entering the world of modeling and making strides at it. She had been approached by scouts when she was in med school and had been told that her flawless complexion, large dark eyes and acres of hairs tumbling down her back could put her on the covers of several magazines, but she hadn’t wanted that for herself. She had had it all planned. Finish med school and get a position in a teaching hospital and then get married. She could also decide if she wanted to specialize right after marriage. But then she had to think about children, and she would not allow her career to jeopardize that. So, they would have the kids, two maybe or three because she happened to love kids and being an only child had been a source of regret for her. There would definitely be kids and she would not allow anything to get in the way of that. But it had turned out so wrong! She blinked and turned away from the mirror as if she could blot out the memories that seemed to flood into her mind whenever she was by herself and had nothing to do.
With a firming of her lips, she went straight to the kitchen to fix herself a pot of tea and maybe some eggs. She had enough food to feed a small army and was going to have to tell her patients not to bring anymore for now. She never had to do any grocery shopping because people were always bringing her things. She did not mind them not having the money to pay the bill and had never turned back anyone from her clinic who really needed her help. Putting the kettle on, she opened the doors of the fridge and took out the tray of eggs that one of her patient’s had brought her just a few days ago. She had thought about going for a run, but the day was too hot and the humidity astounding, causing the AC to be working overtime. Mystic Rivers had extremes when it came to the weather. There was the frigid cold with snow coming down as early as the first part of December and the winter dragging on until the end of April with only the month of May for Spring to make its appearance. Then by the end of June, the blast of heat and humidity was followed by the frequent thunderstorms. She had yet to get used to the variance of the weather but was slowly acclimatizing. She stayed in during the brutal heat of the afternoon and had been snowed in for almost a week in January since she had been living here. To her shocked surprise, she had woken up to see men with shovels digging at the snow until it had made dazzling white walls on either side of the building, making it possible for her patients to come back to the clinic. She had tried to pay them, but they had told her that they only wanted some hot cocoa if she had it. She had put on a big pot and handed cups out along with some doughnuts she had found in her bread box. The people here were overwhelmingly friendly and seemed to take the term ‘neighbor’ to a whole different level.