The following week, Stephen and Hope barely spoke at work. They continued in an unspoken truce, each giving the other space to do their work.

Hope felt confused and sad. She had thought that she and Stephen had actually been developing a strong friendship, and maybe even the basis for something more. Although her sisters sometimes gossiped about the young men in town, she had never considered that she would be courted or one day marry like some of the older girls had. For the first time in her life, she’d begun to imagine what life would be like as someone’s wife—and more specifically, as Stephen’s wife.

On the other hand, she also enjoyed the peace and quiet that came along with Stephen’s silence. She was able to get her cleaning, filing, and accounting done without Stephen interrupting her and asking her questions about the way things worked. For a seemingly intelligent man, he sure had a lot of questions. Hope thought maybe the schools in Seattle weren’t as thorough as the ones she had attended.

“Hope Sanders! Aren’t you looking fine today!” Hope heard a loud, cheerful voice call out. She turned around from her filing and stifled a groan.

Abner—who was known around town for taking out a different girl every night of the week—had entered the office and was staring at her with a smile on his face, his hands shoved in his pockets. “I didn’t know you were working with Dr. Harvey.”

“You’re not on the schedule.” Hope did not enjoy Abner’s company and wanted to get him out of her sight as soon as possible.

“That’s because I came to see you.” Abner flashed his white teeth. Hope knew that his smile was the reason girls kept agreeing to go out with him, but she wasn’t about to fall for his nonsense.

“You just said you didn’t know I worked here.” Hope turned back to her filing cabinet and continued to put away the papers she had been working with.

“I meant, now that I’m here, I’m very glad you’re here,” Abner tried again to convince her that she was the reason he was there.

Hope wasn’t having any of it. “Why are you here?”

Abner looked embarrassed. “I have a delicate matter I’d like to see Dr. Harvey about.”

Hope did not care to find out what his medical issue was. “You’ll need to come back tomorrow. She doesn’t have any openings this afternoon.”

“I don’t know if I can wait until tomorrow.” Abner grimaced.

Hope had an idea. “One moment.” She walked to the back of the building and rapped on the office door.

“Come in!” Stephen called.

“Would you be able to see a patient today? He’s telling me it’s a bit urgent. And he said it’s delicate,” Hope added.

Stephen looked at the clock on the wall. “I can see him quickly, before Dr. Harvey gets back for her one o’clock patient.”

“Thank you.” Hope turned and headed back to Abner. “You can go into the exam room.”

“Dr. Harvey can see me?” Abner asked, looking excited.

“She’s not here. Her nephew, Dr. Stephen Bennett, can see you.”

Abner’s face fell. “I prefer Dr. Harvey,” he grumbled.

“Abner, you’re not in a position to complain. You’re very lucky the doctor is willing to fit you in,” Hope told him.

Abner muttered something under his breath as he went into the exam room, hands still stuffed in his pockets.

Stephen walked into the exam room and shut the door behind him, and Hope thanked her lucky stars that Abner was out of her hair for a while. The man was downright annoying. She was pretty sure he had tried to go out with each and every one of her older sisters at some point in time.

Inside the room, Stephen looked at the man in front of him. “I’m Dr. Bennett. What seems to be your trouble today?”

Abner seemed a bit sheepish. “I can wait for Dr. Harvey to get back…”

“No, don’t worry about that. I’m perfectly capable of helping. What made you come in today?” Stephen assured him.

“Everything I tell you is confidential, right?” Abner asked nervously.

Stephen nodded.

Abner looked at the door. “So you won’t tell anyone about this?”

“Correct,” Stephen said.

Abner sighed and pulled one his right hand out of his pocket. It was stuck inside a jar of honey. “I somehow managed to get my hand stuck, and I can’t for the life of me get it out.”

Stephen fought the urge to break into uncontrollable laughter. “And you thought a doctor would be able to help you?”

Abner frowned. “I thought you’d at least know what to do! My stupid sister only made fun of me, and I knew I couldn’t show my face at work like this.”

“Well, I’ll see what I can do.” Stephen rolled up the sleeves of Abner’s shirt. Life in Nowhere was certainly interesting. You never know who would turn up and what kind of shape they would be in.

Stephen stared at the jar and the angle Abner’s hand was in.

Abner felt anxious. He didn’t like the way the doctor was looking at his hand. “You know Hope out front?”

Stephen nodded.

“I’ll be taking her out this weekend,” Abner boasted.

“Excuse me?” Stephen tried to hide his shock and keep a professional expression on his face.

“One of the prettiest girls in town, but she’s only got eyes for me. She’s always fancied me, to tell the truth. All of her sisters have, when I think about it.” Abner kept talking to distract himself from the pain he knew he was going to experience.

“I didn’t realize that. The Sanders women are certainly wonderful young women.” Stephen didn’t know what to say. He tried to focus on the problem in front of him: Abner and his jar of honey.

“Wonderful looking, I’ll give you that,” Abner said appreciatively.

Stephen could not understand what Hope saw in the man in front of him. Although Stephen had just met Abner, he seemed like a brute who wasn’t very intelligent, and certainly not deserving of someone as beautiful and smart as Hope. He cleared his throat and put both hands on Abner’s arm.

“Abner, I’d like you to count to three,” Stephen said. “One—” Instead of waiting for three, Stephen yanked Abner’s arm hard toward the window. The jar flew off Abner’s hand and smashed to the floor. Honey oozed everywhere.

“OUCH!” Abner screamed. He put his hand in his mouth and began sucking on it.

Stephen was in disbelief that this childish man was a potential suitor to Hope. He had to remind himself that he had no claim on the woman. She had made that perfectly clear at the house. She only thought of him as a nuisance.

“Well, you’re all set. But now you’ve got honey all over the floor.” Stephen said pointedly. He assumed Abner would at least clean up the broken glass and honey for his trouble.

Abner stopped nursing his hand and smiled. “Thank you, Doctor. I’ll need both my hands this weekend, if you know what I mean!”

Stephen was horrified. He knew Abner had been joking, but he didn’t find his sense of humor funny. Before he could respond, Abner had jumped off the exam table and ran out the door. Stephen shook his head and went out to get the broom and a mop.

Though he knew Hope probably had her own way of cleaning the floor, he didn’t want to trouble her with Abner’s mess. He also knew that if she came into the exam room, she’d have plenty of questions about what a jar of honey was doing on the floor. Even though he strongly disliked the immature young man he’d just met, he couldn’t break his sworn oath as a doctor and tell Hope what had gone on in the exam room.

In the front office, Abner came up to Hope’s desk and tapped on it with his newly-freed hand. “I’m going to take you out this weekend, Hope.”

Hope stared at Abner with distaste on her face. “No, you are not.”

Abner looked crestfallen. “You’d be lucky to go out with me, Hope, and you know it. I’ve seen the way you look at me in church.”

“I’ve never seen you in church, Abner,” Hope said truthfully.

“You should reconsider. Lots of girls are dying to get a date with me.”

“You should go out with them, then. I’m not interested.” Hope sighed.

Just then, Stephen came out of the exam room and saw Abner leaning in next to Hope.

“You can bill Abner for the normal amount, Hope,” Stephen instructed.

“Put it on my father’s account. I’ll see you on Sunday, Hope!” Abner called as he walked out the door, and Hope shook her head, smiling. Some men would never learn.

Stephen frowned. The more he learned about this man, the less he liked him. “He’s certainly interesting.”

“That’s just Abner,” Hope said matter-of-factly. “He’s always been like that.” She returned to her pile of papers to file.

Stephen went back into his office and stayed there between visits for the rest of the afternoon. He wondered if Cletus and Edna Petunia approved of this Abner fellow. From what he had experienced so far, they seemed like kind and smart people who only wanted the best for their girls. They had their quirks, of course, but at the end of the day, it was important to them to keep their girls safe and happy. He couldn’t imagine them being comfortable with that idiot dating Hope.

Hope deserved a man who was so much better than Abner. But it wasn’t his place to tell her that. He hoped she’d figure it out on her own—and soon.