Ach, it didn’t bear thinking about for too long. He was unpublished and he was single. So what? That meant he was free. Untethered. And now that he was here, running a pub with Conor and Shay, he had something positive to focus on.
So, no drama from now on. Here, in Liberty, they could all finally live a quiet, good, life.
Finn finally managed to get back into his story when he became aware of a looming presence over by the door. He looked up from his book and saw Haze.
‘Good evening, one and all!’ Haze said, spreading his arms wide dramatically. He was wearing a purple flannel shirt and yellow chinos. OK, yeah, so maybe there would always be atinybit of drama in Liberty when Haze was around. But a tiny bit was manageable.
The Littles looked up from their game of Connect Four, and wished Haze a good evening. Well, Billie just stuck out her tongue at him, but that was allowed, since she was his younger sister. Nobody else would act like that around the founder of Liberty — even though Haze kind of loved it.
‘I bring exciting news!’ Haze said. ‘Allow me to introduce Liberty’s new doctor!’ Haze made a drum roll noise with his tongue, and then he stepped aside, revealing a small, shy-looking young woman who had been hiding behind him. Her hair was shoulder-length and honey-colored. Her eyes green and wide. Her cheeks blazing red with embarrassment.
At the sight of her, Finn’s heart leaped up into his throat.
She couldn’t be.
It was just a coincidence.
But…
God feckin’ dammit, she looked a lot like…
No, itwasher. There was no doubt about it. It was Tammy.
The girl who had torn his heart to shreds over a decade ago.
CHAPTER 2
Tammy shivered under her thin blankets.
It was time to get up, to start work at the surgery, but she couldn’t seem to get herself out of bed. It’s not like she wasn’t used to cold winters. Back in Connecticut, the winters were much colder than this. But, back home, she had radiators. And hot water. And about a zillion other home comforts that were sadly lacking here.
She had arrived in Liberty yesterday afternoon, and she had almost turned back and caught the next flight home immediately.
When she spoke to Haze on the phone last week, he had prepared her by telling her that Liberty wasn’t exactly a finished product. Apparently, less than a year ago, Haze had bought an abandoned silver mining town, and he was still in the process of setting up the place. Slowly, the infrastructure was being laid down. Houses were getting electricity and water, and the ghost town was being resuscitated. But it was clear, when Tammy arrived, just how much work there was left to do.
Someone more adventurous than Tammy might have been excited by this place. But it was pretty much Tammy’s worst nightmare. This place was so historic and so basic it made her old family home look like a flashy Las Vegas casino. The floorboards creaked. The walls were flimsy. The wind whistled around the empty mine up near the mountains.
The one saving grace for Tammy was that it was good to be out in the country. The valley was lush and green. Central Texas was nothing like the dusty place she had been imagining. It was a beautiful setting… for a short break. Yes, a week in a luxury cabin somewhere like this would be heaven.
Still, her place had electricity and basic plumbing, at least. According to Haze, that was more than most of the houses in Liberty. And he assured her that she was next on the list for a boiler, too. And then, maybe, if she was really lucky, one day she’d get heaters.Pah!
She got out of bed with a sigh.
She only needed to work here a short while. Long enough to get some experience, to get a decent reference from Haze, and then she could go somewhere much fancier. She’d always liked the sound of Florida. A nice little gated community somewhere. Maybe a retirement village, full of kindly old people who didn’t have any wild ideas about transforming ghost towns.
A year, max. Maybe even six months would do it. Then she’d start applying for new jobs and find somewhere that suited her.
She had a quick wash at the basin — no way she was getting into a freezing cold tub without any hot water — and then she got herself dressed. A professional-looking outfit for Day One. Green sweater. Brown skirt. Brown tights. Sort of… tree-like.
Honestly, Tammy had never been very good at ‘adult clothes’. She always felt like a kid playing dress-up when she tried to wear something sophisticated. She often wondered, if her mom was still alive, if she could have gotten some good fashion advice from her. Without a strong female role model in her life, it was hard to find a good influence.
She grabbed a breakfast bar from her kitchen counter and ate it while dancing around the kitchen, trying to keep warm. The kitchen didn’t have a stove in it yet, but Haze had been kind enough to supply a microwave, and a few pantry items to keep her going. This breakfast bar was packed with peanuts and chocolate. Itfelthealthy even though it probably wasn’t.
Next, she went through a door at the back of her kitchen that led to the surgery reception. This part of the house reminded her a lot of her family home. Unfortunately, the surgery here was a piece of crap. The reception area was bare — not even any art hanging on the walls. No magazines for patients to look at. No fish tank to help keep them calm. Haze promised her last night that he was in the middle of some serious surgery upgrades. But in the meantime, Tammy had only the basics. And barely any of those.
She sighed, looking at the receptionist's desk for the surgery, wondering if she was meant to man this desk in-between patients. There wasn’t even a computer on the desk – just a diary and pen. When she opened it up and found today’s date, someone had written in a couple appointments for her. First up, at 9 a.m., was Billie.
No sooner had she seen that in the diary, than there was a knock at the door.