Read Deep in the Valley for Free Online Page B

closed and draped an elbow out the open window. “You can go in and ask Charlotte, or you can come back later. I have errands.”
    At that moment Charlotte came out of the clinic, her purse hanging from her arm, and caught the tail end of what June said.
    “Come back later,” she told the pastor.
    “I could…ah…maybe little Jessie could—”
    “Jessie isn’t allowed to hand out medicines, Pastor. Better not—”
    “I’ll just go see how she’s doing…haven’t seen her in—”
    “No!” both women barked, and his palms went up as if to ward off their protests. He slowly turned and made his way back across the street. June and Charlotte made eye contact briefly, but neither moved out of the clinic parking lot until he was all the way across the street, safely ensconced in his church. And then Charlotte did something rare. She turned around and locked the back door. Anyone who walked in the front door of the clinic, where Jessica would probably be sitting at the reception desk, would be in full view of the street, the café and the church.
    June and the nurse made eye contact again and both nodded in agreement.
    Pastor Wickham and his family had been in the valley less than a year, and his reputation was getting worse by the day. This seemed to greatly amuse the old men at the café, but June thought that several women, and she for one, were getting just a little tired of it.
     
    Charlotte routinely went home for lunch, where she could eat with Bud, and they could both smoke in peace. If June was gone, which she almost always was, that left Jessica alone in the clinic to answer phones and eat her packed lunch.
    This was very much to her liking. If anyone knew how she occupied herself, they might think more than her hair was strange. She would go into June’s office and find a medical book, usually Gray’s Anatomy but sometimes Disease and Microbiology. She spent about forty-five minutes reading and looking at pictures while she slowly nibbled away at her peanut butter and pickle sandwich.
    No one knew. Since Jessica had dropped out of high school and had no diploma, she was sure the fact that she read complicated science textbooks with lunch would only make people laugh. Her father understood that it wasn’t a dislike of school, per se, that had caused her to drop out, but feeling so out of place.
    Here, in June’s clinic, Jessica felt at home.
     
    The bakery was operated by Burt Crandall and his wife, Syl. When Burt had returned to Grace Valley after the Korean War, he’d wanted a business of his own so he could stay. Since he didn’t farm or fish, he knew he’d have to be a merchant of some kind or else leave for a town with some industry. He’d wanted the gas station, but it wasn’t for sale, so he opened a bakery, without having the first idea how to bake. But you’d never know it from tasting. Burt supplied everyone in town, including the café and the Vine & Ivy, and a good many eateries in surrounding towns.
    The bell jangled as she walked in.
    “Hey there, June. I heard you flashed some little old mountain people this morning,” Burt remarked, a wide grin on his face.
    “You know me,” she said wearily. “Just can’t keep my clothes on.”
    He laughed happily, a high-pitched giggle, really. His teeth were too big for his mouth and his good nature brought them into frequent prominence. He wasthin all over except for his round paunch, like a barrel on legs.
    His wife, however, was built like a little beach ball—five feet tall and round as an apple. Right on cue, Syl came through the swinging door from the back. She carried a large tray full of fresh cookies. “Burt, leave that girl alone. June, you just pay him no attention. And take some cookies while they’re warm.” That said, Syl went back to the ovens.
    “Give me four scones and hold the bullshit,” June said to Burt.
    “Oh, you going out to Myrna’s? Tell her I baked these special for her. You know, June, you ought to have