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Prologue

Edilean, Virginia

“I quit!” Heather said “I cannot take any more of that man’s bad temper”

She was in the outer office of Dr Reede Aldredge’sto Alice and Betsy Alice wanted to retire and she was nearly desperate for Heather, young, recently married, and new to Edilean, to take on her job But Heather was having a difficult tiue Betsy and Alice referring to it as his “perfectionis Heather to adjust “He never says a pleasant word”

“But what he does say is usually right,” Alice said, her face encouraging

“Yes, but it’s the way he says it Today I said, ‘Good ,’ he says, ‘I’m inside so hoould I know?’ And yesterday, he told Mrs Casein that her only problem was that she ate too many of her husband’s pies”

Betsy and Alice just looked at her Betsy was in her late forties and had lived in Edilean since she was six She was glad she wasn’t a nurse as Heather was Instead, she sat at the computer all day and answered the phone—and that kept her away fro Dr Reede for most of the workday

Heather understood the looks the wo her “I know, I know,” she said “That’s true about the pies, but couldn’t he at least try to be diplomatic? Hasn’t he even heard of a bedsideHe wasn’t at all sympathetic”

The toave her a look

“What?!” Heather asked, exasperated She’d moved to Edilean because her husband worked nearby and he said the sreat place to raise kids And Heather had been thrilled to get a nursing job so close to their new house But that was three weeks ago and now she didn’t know if she could stay there All this week she’d been saying she was going to quit

Betsy spoke first “Everyone in town except her husband knows that Sylvia Garland isn’t going out with the girls on Thursday nights She’s sleeping around—and Dr Reede told her so”

“What business is that of his?”

“Couess,” Alice said “Besides, he’s used to working with people who have serious problems, like elephantiasis and leprosy”

Heather had heard about Dr Reede’s work around the world, but she wasn’t going to be put off by that excuse “If he thinks that small town illnesses are beneath him, why doesn’t he leave?”

Yet again the woet other doctors to take over the practice for him”

“But doctors today want lots of money,” Betsy said “And they don’t want to live in a tiny town and have to care for locals who talk too et too many mosquito bites”

“Although he did enjoy that rescue last month,” Alice said “He had to climb down the side of a cliff”

“Great!” Heather said “If everyone jumped off the side of a mountain would that make him happy?”

For a moment Alice and Betsy seemed to consider the idea They too orn out by Dr Reede’s nev

er-ending bad teh she’d never ad early retirement

Heather dropped down onto a chair by the photocopy irlfriend? He’s a good-looking man At least I think he would be if he weren’t always frowning Has he ever smiled in his entire life?”