“Quite a bit of drainage going on there,” he said, then put the stethoscope on her back. “Take a deep breath and let it out slowly. Again. One more time. Lungs are good. I think you’ve got a good old common cold. You just have to let it run its course. I want you to take a vitamin C every day, and a Tylenol every four hours to help with the achy feeling. If you aren’t feeling a bit better in forty-eight hours, call me, and Addy and I will check on you again.”

“I’m so relieved that I don’t have to leave Fifi,” Gracie sighed. “Her sweet little baby girls are too young to be left without a mother.”

“Okay, then, call if you need us again.” Addy patted Gracie on the back. “I’m sure you’ll feel better in a couple of days. We send out bills at the end of the month, but if you want to pay us today, then…” She told her the amount.

Gracie looked at her like she was crazy for just a moment, then shuffled over to a desk covered with figurines and wrote out a check. “I wasn’t thinking about you charging since you don’t have a real clinic.”

“But he is a real doctor, and you didn’t have to get out and drive to Bonham to the emergency room where they would have charged you twice this amount. You did say the clinic here in town couldn’t see you until Monday, right?” Addy asked.

“I expect you are right,” Gracie said. “I remember when doctors used to come to the house all the time.”

“Take care of yourself. Lots of liquids and rest,” Addie said.

Gracie waved them away with a dirty look.

When they reached the SUV, Addy fastened her seat belt and asked, “Now that emergency is over, what is this thing you were talking about with Stevie? Are y’all more than friends?”

“I’m not real sure what we are right now,” Cody said. “We flirt. We’re comfortable around each other, but there’s a sizzle there too. What does all that mean?”

“That the two of you are very attracted to each other,” Addy said with a smile.

*  *  *

Glen Watson was one of those old farmers who wore bibbed overalls, chambray shirts buttoned all the way up to the top, and a straw cowboy hat no matter what the season was, and who always had a smile. And he never left her side when Stevie was taking care of his livestock.

“Want to come in for a cup of coffee or a piece of pie?” he asked when Stevie had finished checking his milk cow and vaccinating her.

“Thank you, but I’d better be getting on back to the ranch,” she answered. “You tell Linda I said hello.”