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“I’m actually not here for myself, doctor, but for her. You see, Evelina has recently received a great shock, and she’s not been feeling well.”

“Oh,” he said, concern making him frown. “What happened?”

“Well, the man she was seeing has betrayed her in the most awful way possible. He really did a number on her, and she’s been in a terrible state ever since she found out…”

“Found out what?”

“Well, he disappeared, you see. They were dating and things were going really well, and then suddenly he didn’t show up for one of their dates and he hasn’t been answering her calls.” She threw up her hands. “He simply vanished from the face of the earth. Gone without a trace. Obviously she’s taken it very badly. She thought he was the one, you see.”

“I see,” said Tex, nodding and wondering why this should concern him. He was, after all, the town physician and not the town’s matchmaker.

“So now I was thinking…”

“Yes?” said Tex, his demeanor more kindly than his thoughts. He didn’t mind when patients brought their stories of life’s little vicissitudes to his door, but often felt that they attributed qualities to him he simply did not possess. He could mend broken bones, but unfortunately the healing of broken hearts was beyond his professional capabilities.

“The thing is,” said the woman, starting again as she seemed to be having trouble getting the words out, “well, I actually feel that I’m to blame, Doctor Poole. It was me who brought the two of them together, you see. Evelina had been single for far too long, and so when I saw an opportunity to set her up with a man I thought was considerate, kind and potentially a wonderful partner, I didn’t hesitate. I made his acquaintance standing in line at the General Store, and when he told me he was single, I thought he’d be perfect for my sister. And now I feel absolutely terrible about what happened.”

“I understand,” Tex said, still not quite catching on. “Do you want me to pay your sister a visit? Perhaps give her something to dull the pain?” He could think of a couple of things that would relieve some of that anxiety, if that’s what Mrs. Bezel was after.

“Doctor Poole,” said the woman, adjusting her position on the chair, “you should know that Evelina speaks very highly of you. In fact she’s told me on numerous occasions how much she has come to rely on you.”

“She does, does she?”

“Yes, so I just thought… I just figured… well, I hoped…” A blush had settled on the woman’s cheeks, and Tex was more in the dark now than ever.

“I could always give her a mild sedative,” he suggested. “Something to make her sleep a little better? Nothing too strong, of course.”

“I was actually thinking more along the lines of…” Emma Bezel seemed to steel herself, then blurted out, “Doctor Poole, I would like you to date my sister.”

“What?!”

“At least take her out a couple of times.”

“But…”

“Make her feel that she’s still desirable, you know.”

“But, Mrs. Bezel!” said Tex. Whatever he’d been expecting, it most certainly wasn’t this! “I’m a married man,” he said, for good measure displaying his wedding ring.

“I know,” said Mrs. Bezel, nodding as she took in the gold band, “and I don’t want you to get the wrong idea. I don’t want you and my sister to actually become a couple or anything. I just want her to go out a couple of times with a good man. A man she respects, and a man I can trust not to break her heart like the previous fellow did.”

“Surely you can’t be serious,” said Tex, taken aback by this extraordinary suggestion.

“I know it’s a little unorthodox, perhaps, but…”

“Unorthodox! It’s unethical, Mrs. Bezel, not to mention my wife would probably kill me if I started dating a patient.”

“She wouldn’t have to know, Doctor Poole,” said Mrs. Bezel with a hopeful look. She’d scooted to the tip of her chair and was now pleading with a passion that became her. Her blue eyes were ablaze, and her cheeks were flushed. “You can take her on a few dates—two or three perhaps, and then you simply let her down easy. You could take her to dinner in Happy Bays, where people don’t know you so there won’t be any gossip.”

Tex was shaking his head throughout.“My dear Mrs. Bezel, I can tell that you love your sister dearly, for you to come up with a solution like this, but I can assure you—”

“I’ll pay you!” suddenly the woman said, and took out her purse.

“Oh, no, please,” said Tex. This was simply too much.

“How much do you want? I have money. I can pay you… a thousand?”

“Please, Mrs. Bezel.”

“Two thousand? I’ll pay youten thousand… per date. Let’s say three dates at ten thousand each, that’s thirty thousand. Even you wouldn’t say no to that kind of money, would you, Doctor Poole?”

“But, Mrs. Bezel!”

“Please,” said the woman, folding her hands now in a gesture of supplication. “I’m desperate. Evelina isn’t eating, she isn’t sleeping, she’s been crying non-stop since that awful man stood her up. I’m afraid that if this continues she will harm herself.”

“Have you considered taking her to see a professional?”

“I thought I was doing that right now?”