The windows had been repaired and a new garage built, and it still looked like a hippie compound, but more classy.
Blue climbed into her brother’s rental sedan, and they drove out the drive. At the end was a small stall where they sold what they harvested or created. Anything from diaper rash cream to face oils.
I can’t be pregnant.
The drive wasn’t a long one, and soon they were pulling into the main street, and the panic inside Blue was almost choking her.
“This place never changes,” Finch said, his eyes moving from left to right. It was an eclectic mix. Storefronts were painted different colors, some with hanging baskets, others with goods on tables outside. “Morning, Shelly,” he added looking at her statue.
Blue remembered how once she’d been in the dentist’s chair and had to dance with a numb mouth and cotton rolls stuffed in her cheeks.
There was no reason good enough not to participate.
“I come back here, and it’s like a time warp.”
“Not true. We have new stores. Like Ryder’s cafe and the Indian restaurant.” Blue wasn’t sure why she was protesting because she felt exactly the same about Lyntacky when she came home from New York.
“Where am I driving you to?”
“The pharmacy.”
“For what?” Finch demanded.
“You don’t ask a woman questions like that,” Blue said quickly.
Her brother shot her a look before pulling into a parking space outside the pharmacy.
“I won’t be long.”
“Can you get me some men’s deodorant? Not the smelly stuff.”
“You didn’t pass, like, a gazillion pharmacies on your way to Lyntacky?” If she was arguing with him, she wasn’t thinking about the possibilities of the test she was about to buy.
“Just get the damn stuff, will you, or I will.”
Blue got out after a loud sigh. She didn’t want him following her inside.
“Hey, there, Blue. Good to see you again.”
“Thanks, Dr. Hannah.”
The woman walking toward her was absolutely the last one she wanted to see right about now.
“I’ve been thinking that maybe you could have duplicate medical files sent to me here in Lyntacky, just in case you get sick when you visit Meadow and Hamish.”
The woman had been treating the sick in Lyntacky since Blue was a child, and Dr. Hannah knew everything about everyone in town. As long as Blue’d known her, she’d never changed her style. Knitted cardigan, swapped out for a short-sleeved knitted jumper in the summer, and a plaid skirt. The woman was short and round and strong-minded. Few were keen to cross her.
“Did you see who was in the car? It’s Finch. I’m sure he’d love a catch-up with you, Doc,” Blue said, pointing to her brother. He in turn held up a hand, and then with the other, he flipped her the bird, clearly having heard her conversation with the doctor.
“Finch, lovely. I need to chat with him about the same thing I discussed with you.”
It was only as she walked in through the open door that she realized her error. Blue knew so many people in this town that the news would be around town by nightfall if the wrong person saw her buying a pregnancy test.
“Hi, Blue. How long are you back for this time?”
“Hi, LouJean, and I’m not sure at this stage.”
The woman walked most mornings with Bart, was always immaculate, and her clothes often had a square-dancing theme.
