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population in Granite Point. Patience found that at least some of her remedies worked just as well on their pets.
    â€œI guess you’ve got something for mine?” Mrs. Avery held up a hand crooked by arthritis.
    â€œYou know I do,” Patience answered. “You only have to ask.”
    Mrs. Avery shook her head. “I’m seeing that new doctor tomorrow. Wouldn’t want him to feel unwelcome.”
    Patience sat up taller and stilled the swing. Unwelcome, she thought, I ’ll give you unwelcome. But all she said was, “I hear he’s a bit stiff.”
    â€œReally?” Mrs. Avery said, gathering Beanie closer. “I hear he’s quite a catch.” She smiled and tilted her head toward Patience. “He won’t be single long,” she warned.
    â€œThanks for the tip,” Patience said with the bite of frost in her voice. “I’ll pass it on to my sisters.”
    Mrs. Avery moved off, and Patience suddenly found the porch too exposed. Her irritation was fizzing around her along with the gnats. Patience stood quickly, sending the swing into the side of the house with a smack. She didn’t want to believe that jealousy had any part in the anxiety that gripped her like a cramp. But, to be honest, Patience hadn’t been challenged in at least five years, and she didn’t like the feeling. She poured the now-warm beer into the sink and went up to see Nettie.
    â€œHow are you, Nettie-Pot?” Patience said as she opened the door.
    Sorrel was sitting in the chaise by the window, her long legs tucked up. She turned to Patience, her eyes still holding a hint of hardness.
    â€œOh.” Patience stepped back. “You already have a nurse.”
    â€œCome on,” Sorrel sighed. “Don’t be such a bitch.” It was not lost on Sorrel these days that she had outlived Marigold by some years now. She’d found herself more and more aware of how fragile everything was and if Nettie needed Dr. Carlyle to keep her healthy, to keep her here, Sorrel wasn’t complaining. In fact, she found herself tense and watchful, so she lingered as Nettie settled in for the night.
    Patience crossed to the bed and lay back, her legs dangling over its foot.
    â€œI am not a bitch, Sorrel. Thanks for your support, though.” Her voice dropped. “Ass.”
    â€œHeard that,” Sorrel said from her spot.
    Nettie watched her sisters, her chapped lips pulled down in a frown. Her hair seemed alight in the dim bedroom as if her nerves had shot sparks right out of her head. And she was nervous. She knew she’d been caught out by Patience, which unsettled everyone. Now, just being in bed, her pajamas damp with breaking fever, made her a wreck.
    â€œPlease don’t fight,” she said. “This is my fault, I panicked. Henry needn’t ever come back.”
    â€œHenry?” both sisters said.
    â€œDr. Carlyle, jeez!” Nettie all but shrieked. “He’s just young and cute, you know, like our age. It’s weird calling him ‘Doctor’ after all the years with old Dr. Higgins.”
    Sorrel leaned back in the chaise and took a long look at Patience.
    â€œWhat do you think, P?” she asked, their spat forgotten.“Does young—like us— Dr. Carlyle”— she looked at Nettie—“seem like someone to keep tabs on?”
    â€œWell, you guys aren’t so young.” The Sisters harrumphed. “Kidding,” Patience said and patted Nettie’s foot under the covers. “He didn’t do it for me. His jaw’s horribly square, and his eyelashes are way too long for a guy.”
    â€œHa!” Nettie said, pointing at Patience. “You saw the lashes too!”
    â€œPlease, no man needs lashes like that.” Patience sat up. “And another thing, what was all that stuck-up crap about my remedies?” She slid her voice into a soft growl on the word “remedies.” Henry