Fox and Birch by Sam Burns

Author:Sam Burns [Burns, Sam]
Language: eng
Format: epub
Published: 2018-03-07T16:00:00+00:00

Fletcher woke at his usual time Monday morning. His phone alarm wouldn’t go off for a good fifteen minutes yet, but there was already a text message from Wade.

Sheriff Green says to take another personal day.

He glared at that for a minute trying to formulate a response, but in the end, he sent the obvious question. Why?

You’re sick. Plus, he got a call from Max Smith this morning.

Well crap. He typed that but didn’t figure his partner would appreciate it, so he deleted it, sent a terse affirmative, and tossed the phone back on the nightstand. It clattered against the wood and slid all the way over to thump against the wall.

He sighed and turned onto his side, only to find himself staring into Conner’s open eyes. “Um, hi.”

“Bad news?” Conner asked. He didn’t look like he was rethinking all of his life choices, which was a surprise, given how much he’d had to drink the day before.

Fletcher shrugged, but then he figured he had nothing to lose. If Conner was going to betray him, he already had the big stuff. “Max called my boss, probably told him everything that happened. Small town, you know?”

“Are you in trouble for being nice to me?” Damn that earnest look.

“No, I’m not in trouble for being nice to you. The town is just worried is all. You may not be a bad guy, but you keep bad company, and they don’t have a reason to think you’re different from Frank and Bob.” He rested his elbow on the mattress and his chin in his palm, looking down into Conner’s concerned brown eyes. “They don’t like outsiders on a good day. When the outsiders are a threat to people they like, they can be kind of heavy handed.”

“Like the doctor making them leave their weapons in the waiting room. Bob spent the whole night ranting about it. I think he actually used the word ‘uppity.’ ” Conner’s nose scrunched up with distaste, like he was still shocked someone would use the word to describe Dr. Jha.

Fletcher wanted to reach out and smooth the crease between his brows. He was probably an idiot, but he was definitely falling in like with Conner. “Dr. Jha can defend her own honor, promise. I think she’d tell you that Bob’s opinion was beneath her concern.”

That made Conner smile. “That sounds like something she might say. She’s kind of scary. She’s the whole town’s doctor?”

Fletcher nodded. “We have a dozen nurses who specialize in different things, and Nurse Cormier and my dad in emergency services, so it’s not like we’re lacking in medical experts. But Dr. J is our only general practitioner. It’s a small town.”

“I think I saw him at the diner. That was your dad, right?”

Fletcher swallowed hard. He met Conner’s eyes. “If anyone tries to hurt my dad—”

“No! Oh my god, Fletcher, why would—no, don’t answer that. I know why you’d think that.” Conner sat up, clutching the blanket to his chest and shivering. Still, he leaned over so he was almost nose-to-nose with Fletcher.

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