The sixth customer was the police chief. He bought a cord from Ian every winter and must trust him by now because he paid cash in advance of delivery; other customers liked to see the wood before they shelled out the money for the delivery. “Got a good supply this winter, buddy?” the chief asked, pulling off his bills. “Yes, sir. We’ll get you through. I’ll take this load right over.”
“Will you stack it up in the shed out back and put a little on the porch by the mudroom door for me?”
“You betcha. As usual,” Ian said, taking the money.
“You take care now,” the chief said. “Listen…There was this woman looking for a guy about your size, age…Aw, never mind…”
Ian smiled inwardly. No, chief, couldn’t be me, he thought. “I’ll get that wood over this morning.”
“Thanks, buddy.”
Twenty minutes later, a truck pulled up and Ian took his last order for wood, then was on his way to deliver his load to the chief. He made a stop for gas and a few supplies—broth cubes, half a roaster, an onion, some celery, a bag of frozen mixed vegetables, noodles, couple of small orange juices plus some fresh apples and oranges, coffee, bread, peanut butter and honey. He was back at the cabin before noon.
The room had chilled down because the stove hadn’t been fed, but she’d kicked off her covers and her little rump was sticking out—lavender and lace. Her face was glowing pink. He put down his groceries and fed the stove. Then he took her juice and more aspirin, waking her. He pulled the quilt over her and made her sit up.
“When are you leaving?” she asked him groggily.
“I’m back. Here, you have to take aspirin. You have a fever. Where are you sick, Marcie? Head, stomach, throat, chest? Where?”
“Ugh. I don’t know,” she said, struggling awake. “I think I’m just tired and achy. I’ll be fine.”
“Juice and aspirin,” he said, lifting her. “Come on now. You got a bug.”
“Ugh,” she said again, lifting up. “I’m sorry. I’ll be better in a little while. It’s probably just a little cold or something.” She took the aspirin—four this time—and washed it down with orange juice.
“I have to go out again, Marcie. There’s more juice on the table. You need that blue pot closer to the couch while I’m gone?”
“No,” she said, settling back against the couch. “I don’t like that pot.”
“I’m going to go see if I can get you some medicine. There’s an old doc in Virgin River—he might have some stuff on hand for cold and flu. It’ll take me almost a half hour to get there, the same coming back.”
“Virgin River,” she said dreamily, eyes closed. “Ian, they have the most beautiful Christmas tree…You should see it…”
“Yeah, right. I’ll be an hour or so. The fire should more than last, but will you try to keep the blanket on? Till I get back?”
“I’m just too warm for it…”
“You won’t be in a half hour, when that aspirin kicks in and drops your temperature. Can you just do this for me?”
Her eyes fluttered open. “I bet you’re really pissed at me right now, huh? I just wanted to find you, not make so much trouble for you.”
He brushed that wild red hair off her brow where a couple of curly red tendrils stuck to the dampness on her face. “I’m not pissed anymore, Marcie,” he said softly. “When you’re all over this flu, I’ll give you what for. How’s that?”
“Whatever. You can howl at me with that big, mean animal roar if you want to. I have a feeling you like doing that.”
He grinned in spite of himself. “I do,” he said. “I do like it.” Then he stood and said, “Stay covered and I’ll get back as soon as I can.”
When Ian pulled into town, the first thing he saw was the tree. Somehow he thought she might’ve been hallucinating from the fever, which had scared the hell out of him. But there it was—biggest damn thing he’d ever seen. The bottom third was decorated with red-white-and-blue balls, gold stars and some other stuff; the top part was still bare. He actually slowed the truck for a moment, taking it in. But what was that patriotic color scheme about? Did they do this every winter? Did they have some town kids in the war? He shook it off; he had to get something for Marcie. The old doc used to come out to his place when old Raleigh was at the end and real sick, years ago now. Ian had to use Raleigh’s ancient truck to fetch the doctor; Raleigh had never even considered a phone. And neither had Ian.