Buffalo Valley Read Free Page A

taken her advice; nearly six years ago she’d enrolled at the University of North Dakota in Grand Forks. Now she was about to finish her internshipwith Knight’s Pharmacy and achieve her Pharm.D and become a Doctor of Pharmacy. The last few years had been bleak financially, but the reward would be worth all the sacrifices.
    After her divorce, she’d moved back in with her parents. She felt deeply grateful for their generosity but she was twenty-seven years old and longed for more independence and a home of her own. Well, it would happen eventually; she’d just have to wait.
    Meanwhile, working side by side with Hassie, Carrie had learned a great deal. When it came time for the older woman to retire, Carrie would be willing and able to assume her role in the pharmacy and in the town. People knew and trusted her. Already they approached her with their troubles and concerns as naturally as they did Hassie. Alec’s infidelity had reinforced the importance of trust and honor for Carrie. Those were precepts she lived by. The people of Buffalo Valley knew she would keep their problems to herself.
    The town was a success story in an area where there’d been few. The Hendrickson farm, like many others, had fallen victim to low crop prices. Unable to make a living farming the land that had supported them for three generations, her father had leased theacreage to his older sons and moved into town. Together with Carrie’s two younger brothers, he’d opened a hardware store.
    For as long as she could remember, Knight’s Pharmacy had been the very heart of this town. Hassie was getting on in years and probably should’ve retired long ago. She wouldn’t, though, not while the community still needed her, not only to dispense prescriptions and basic medical advice but also to be their counselor and confidante.
    Carrie knew she could never replace Hassie, because that would be impossible. But she’d always been good at chemistry and math, and had done well at her pharmaceutical studies. She also cared about the town and had an intense interest in people. Hassie had often told her she was naturally intuitive and sensitive toward others; Carrie was pleased by that, although her intuition had been notably absent during her ex-husband’s affair. Hassie said she was exactly the pharmacist Buffalo Valley needed and had given her the faith in herself to believe she could complete the six years of schooling required to obtain her license.
    â€œI’ll get my coat and hat and be right back,” she told Vaughn after calling Leta. Hassie’s friend worked atthe pharmacy part-time and was as eager as Carrie to make sure that Hassie met Vaughn.
    â€œYou’re certain this isn’t an imposition?”
    â€œAbsolutely certain,” she told him.
    Leta arrived promptly and after making swift introductions, Carrie removed the white pharmacist’s jacket and put on her long wool coat.
    â€œWhat would you like to see first?” she asked when she rejoined him.
    â€œWhatever you’d like to show me.”
    â€œThen let’s go to the City Park.” Although there were a number of places she wanted to take him, the park seemed the best place to start. As they left the pharmacy, Carrie noticed it had stopped snowing, but she suspected the temperature had dropped several degrees. She led him across the street and then down a block, past the quilt store and several others.
    â€œI know Hassie would want you to see the War Memorial,” she said, glancing up at Vaughn. Now that she stood beside him, she was surprised to see how tall he was—possibly six-two. All four of her brothers were six feet, but Carrie took after her mother’s side of the family and was small-boned and petite. His dark good looks didn’t escape her notice, either.
    â€œFirst came the park,” she explained, walkingbriskly to ward off the cold. Carrie loved the City Park and everything it