Pickin Clover by Bobby Hutchinson Read Free Book Online Page B

reported. “They feel that things have reached the stage where the yard is a fire hazard as well as a potential breeding ground for rats, and they claim that’s lowering their own property values. Several of them have indicated that unless the yard is cleaned up promptly, they’ll take legal action. I wanted to notify you first and see if something could be done before that happens.”
    Michael looked at the framed pastoral print on his office wall and wondered what the hell else could possibly go wrong in his life today.
    “I appreciate your call, Garth, and I promise you I’ll take care of this right away,” he said with far more confidence than he felt.
    Polly and Norah had been trying for months to get Isabelle to do something about her yard, to no avail. “Assure the neighbors that the garbage will be gone within a week.” He hung up and expelled a long, weary breath. Exactly how was he going to manage that? He’d have to talk to Polly to figure out a course of action. She’d be mortified when she heard about the petition.
    The police constable was next on his list, and Michael dialed the number, relieved to hear that Constable Roper was out for the morning and would return the call that afternoon. This would give Michael more time to fully assess what Raymond had stolen.
    In rapid and efficient order, Michael dealt with the three patient calls. He’d just finished when Valerie tapped on his door and announced that Mrs. Nikols was waiting in examining room one. Valerie silently pointed at the untouched muffin, and Michael quickly devoured it and gulped the now-lukewarm coffee before he hurried in to the new mother and the baby he’d delivered just days before.
    This was the part of his workday he liked best, office hours with one patient after another requiring his full attention and no time lapses in which to think. Today, however, keeping his mind on his patients was difficult.
    He worked steadily, and at twelve-thirty there was a short lull. He hastily ate the sandwich and fruit Valerie put in front of him, then dialed home. Polly often slept past noon, drugged by the sleeping meds she’d become reliant upon. He’d tried to wean her off them, but it hadn’t worked.
    She picked up on the third ring, and she sounded wide-awake. “I’m just reading this article in the paper about Raymond,” she said as soon as she knew it was Michael. “It says here that some of his clients have nothing left, that he stole all their investments.” Her voice telegraphed her anxiety. “Did that happen to us, Michael?”
    He knew he ought to say yes. Instead, he reassured her. “We did lose a substantial portion of our portfolio, but there’s no major damage done, Polly. I figure I can make up the shortfall in no time.”
    And maybe what he was saying wasn’t way off the truth. As far as their day-by-day expenses went, he could certainly earn enough to pay what was owed. But now they had no comfortable cushion behind them, no investments to rely on should an emergency arise.
    Another emergency, he thought bleakly. He was relieved when Polly shifted the focus of the conversation away from their situation. “Why would Raymond Stokes do a thing like this, Michael? Apparently he even took his wife’s money,” she was saying in a scandalized tone. “It says here that all she’s got left is their house, and Raymond even had a large mortgage on that. It must be terribly hurtful for her, his going off with another woman. How could he do those things to the person he was married to?”
    It wasn’t just a rhetorical question. Polly was honestly puzzled.
    “I guess we never really know anyone all that well, Pol.” Michael saw her in his mind’s eye, sitting on a stool at the kitchen counter, wrapped in her white velour robe, coffee and newspaper close at hand. He adjusted the image to include the new hairdo, and felt a pang of regret.
    Even the ones we think we know best, he added to himself. “I thought Raymond and I