“Absolutely,” Roxie agreed. “Also, it’s not like I have anything better to do. This is the most exciting thing that’s happened to me all week. Another reason I like it better here. Working SWAT in New York was not relaxing. I like the fact that the most workout my heart gets is when I do cardio.” She sat up. “Is that what we’re looking for?”

There was a dock up ahead, another flat-bottom boat moored to the side. The Petrie family relied heavily on boats.

“Yes, it is, and it looks like we won’t have to go looking for the house. Hello, Mrs. Petrie.”

A stern-looking woman stood on the dock, a shotgun by her side.

It was a testament to how she’d settled in that Roxie didn’t put a hand on her gun. It had been a habit he’d had to rid himself of when he’d come home. Out here, shotguns were a necessity of daily life.

“Sheriff. Deputy. What can I do for you?” Mrs. Petrie had steel-gray hair and a look that could freeze the balls off a man at forty paces.

He had to handle this properly. “I wanted to come out and check on your daughter-in-law. I heard she took a pretty hard fall.”

He couldn’t come out and ask the woman if her son was abusive.

Lorna Petrie frowned. “That girl is always falling or walking into something. She’s fine. We sent her to see Doc yesterday. He knows how clumsy she can be.”

“Didn’t you hear? Doc retired.” Roxie stepped out of the boat and tied it off with an expert hand. She’d learned how to handle a boat. It was required training out here. “We have a new person running the clinic.”

“Mabel?” Lorna turned on her heels and started back up toward the house. “She’s the only one left with any kind of medical training. I might as well send her to Miss Marcelle and see if her hoodoo can fix the problem.”

Armie stepped off carefully and followed behind. It was interesting that Carrie hadn’t mentioned she’d seen the new nurse practitioner. “No need. We’ve got a nurse practitioner working under Doc’s supervision.” A lie, but he would keep it up or they could lose their only clinic. “Her name’s Lila Daley. She’s from Dallas. She used to work at a big trauma center there. I think she can certainly handle Carrie’s mishaps.”

Carrie was younger than he was. Considerably. He’d never thought about it, but she was a lot younger than Bobby, too. They’d married before he’d come back to Papillon.

“There’s some city girl running the clinic now?” Lorna asked.