* * *

  —

  When Claudia woke the next morning the familiar lump of pain formed in her throat at the memory of her encounter with Seth. For a while she tried to force herself to return to the black cloud of mindless sleep, but to no avail.

  She dressed and stared miserably out the window. The winds were blustery, but nothing compared to yesterday’s gales. Seth would have returned to Kotzebue. Her world had died, but Nome lived. The city appeared calm; people were walking, laughing, and talking. She wondered if she would ever laugh again. What had gone wrong? Hadn’t she trusted God, trusted in Seth’s love? How could her world dissolve like this? The tightness in her throat grew and grew.

  The small room became her prison. She waited an impatient hour, wondering what she should do, until further lingering became intolerable. Since she was here, she might as well explore the city Seth loved.

  The people were friendly, everyone offering an easy smile and a cheery good morning as she passed. There weren’t any large stores, nothing to compare with Seattle. She strolled down the sidewalk, not caring where her feet took her. Suddenly she saw a sign proclaiming Arctic Barge Company—Seth’s business. A wave of fresh pain swamped her, destroying her fragile composure, and she turned and briskly walked in the opposite direction. Ahead, she spotted a picturesque white church with a bell in its steeple. She was hopeful that she would find peace inside.

  The interior was dark as she slipped quietly into the back pew. Thanksgiving would be here at the end of the month—a time for sharing God’s goodness with family and friends. She was trapped in Nome with neither. When she’d left Seattle, her heart had nearly burst with praise for God. Now it was ready to burst with the pain of Seth’s rejection.

  She didn’t mean to cry, but there was something so peaceful and restful about the quiet church. A tear slipped from the corner of her eye, and she wiped it aside. She’d left Seattle so sure of Seth’s love, filled with the joy of her newfound discovery that she loved him, too, and was ready to be his wife. She’d come in faith. And this was where faith had led her. To an empty church, with a heart burdened by bitter memories.

  She’d painted herself into a dark corner. She’d lost her apartment. In the few days between her decision and her flight, Ashley had already found herself a cheaper place and a new roommate. If she did return to school, she would be forced to repeat the courses she’d already taken—not that there was any guarantee she would even be admitted back into the program. Every possession she owned that wasn’t in her suitcases had been carefully packed and loaded onto a barge that wouldn’t arrive in Nome for months.

  She poured out her feelings in silent prayer. She still couldn’t believe that she had come here following what she thought was God’s plan, and now it seemed she had made a terrible mistake. Lifting the Bible from the pew, she sat and read, desperately seeking guidance, until she caught a movement from the corner of her eye. A stocky middle-aged man was approaching.

  “Can I help you?” he asked her softly.

  She looked up blankly.

  He must have read the confusion in her eyes. “I’m Paul Reeder, the pastor,” he said, and sat beside her.

  She held out her hand and smiled weakly. “Claudia Masters.”

  “Your first visit to Nome?” His voice was gentle and inquiring.

  “Yes, how’d you know?” she couldn’t help but wonder aloud.

  He grinned, and his brown eyes sparkled. “Easy. I know everyone in town, so either you’re a visitor or I’ve fallen down in my duties.”

  She nodded and hung her head at the thought of why she had come to Nome.

  “Is there something I can do for you, child?” he asked kindly.

  “I don’t think there’s much anyone can do for me anymore.” Her voice shook slightly, and she lowered her lashes in an effort to conceal the desperation in her eyes.

  “Things are rarely as difficult as they seem. Remember, God doesn’t close a door without opening a window.”

  She attempted a smile. “I guess I need someone to point to the window.”

  “Would you feel better if you confided in someone?” he urged gently.

  She didn’t feel up to explanations but knew she should say something. “I quit school and moved to Alaska expecting…a job.” The pastor was sure to know Seth, and she didn’t want to involve this caring man in the mess of her relationship. “I…I assumed wrong…and now…”

  “You need a job and place to live,” he concluded for her. A light gleamed in the clear depths of his eyes. “There’s an apartment for rent near here. Since it belongs to the church, the rent is reasonable. As for your other problem…” He paused thoughtfully. “Do you have any specific skills?”

  “No, not really.” Her tone was despairing. “I’m in medical school, but other than that—”

  “My dear girl!” Pastor Reeder beamed in excitement. “You are the answer to our prayers. Nome desperately needs medical assistants. We’ve advertised for months for another doctor—”

  “Oh, no, please understand,” Claudia said, “I’m not a doctor. All I have is the book knowledge so far.”

  Disregarding her objections, Pastor Reeder stood and anxiously moved into the wide aisle. “There’s someone you must meet.”

  A worried frown marred Claudia’s smooth brow. She licked her dry lips and followed the pastor as he pulled on his coat and strode briskly from the church and out to the street.

  They stopped a block or two later. “While we’re here, I’ll show you the apartment.” He unlocked the door to a small house, and Claudia stepped inside.

  “Tiny” wasn’t the word for the apartment. It was the most compact space Claudia had ever seen: living room with a sleeper sofa, miniature kitchen, and a very small bathroom.

  “It’s perfect,” she stated positively. Perfect if she didn’t have to return to Seattle and face Cooper. Perfect if she could show Seth she wasn’t like a wave tossed to and fro by the sea. She had made her decision and was here to stay, with or without him. She had responded in faith; God was her guide.

  “The apartment isn’t on the sewer,” the pastor added. “I hope that won’t inconvenience you.”

  “Of course not.” She smiled. It didn’t matter to her if she had a septic tank.

  He nodded approvingly. “I’ll arrange for water delivery, then.”

  She didn’t understand but let the comment pass as he showed her out and locked the door behind them.

  He led her down the street. “I’m taking you to meet a friend of mine, Dr. Jim Coleman. I’m sure Jim will share my enthusiasm when I tell him about your medical background.”

  “Shouldn’t I sign something and make a deposit on the apartment first?”

  Pastor Reeder’s eyes twinkled. “We’ll settle that later. Thanksgiving has arrived early in Nome. I can’t see going through the rigmarole of deposits when God Himself has sent you to us.” He handed her the key and smiled contentedly.

  The doctor’s waiting room was crowded with people when Claudia and Pastor Reeder entered. Every chair was taken, and small children played on the floor.

  The receptionist greeted them warmly. “Good morning, Pastor. What can I do for you? Not another emergency, I hope.”

  “Quite the opposite. Tell Jim I’d like to see him, right away, if possible. I promise to take only a few minutes of his time.”

  They were ushered into a private office and sat down to wait. The large desk was covered with correspondence, magazines, and medical journals. A pair of glasses had been carelessly tossed on top of the pile.

  The young doctor who entered the room fifteen minutes later eyed Claudia skeptically, his dark eyes narrowing.

  Eagerly Paul Reeder stood and beamed a smile toward Claudia. “Jim, I’d like to introduce you to God’s Thanksgiving present to you. This is Claudia Masters.”

  She stood and extended her hand. The smile on her face died as she noted the frown that flitted across the doctor’s face.

  His handshake was barely civil. “Listen, Paul, I don’t have the time for your matchmaking efforts today. There are fifteen people in my waiting room and the hospital just phoned. Mary Fulton’s in labor.”

  Her eyes snapped with blue sparks at his assumption and his dismissive tone. “Let me assure you, Dr. Coleman, that you are the last man I’d care to be matched with!”

  A wild light flashed in Jim’s eyes and it looked as if he would have snapped out a reply if Pastor Reeder hadn’t scrambled to his feet to intervene.

  “I’ll not have you insulting the woman the good Lord sent to help you. And you, Claudia”—he turned to her, waving his finger—“don’t be offended. Jim made an honest mistake. He’s simply overworked and stressed.”

  Confusion and embarrassment played rapidly over the physician’s face. “The Lord sent her?” he repeated. “You’re a nurse?”

  Sadly Claudia shook her head. “Medical student. Ex-medical student,” she corrected. “I don’t know if I’ll be much help. I don’t have much practical experience.”

  “If you work with me, you’ll gain that fast enough.” He looked at her as if she had suddenly descended from heaven. “I’ve been urgently looking for someone to work on an emergency medical team. With your background and a few months of on-the-job training, you can take the paramedic test and easily qualify. What do you say, Claudia? Can we start again?” His boyish grin offered reassurance.

  She smiled reluctantly, not knowing what to say. Only minutes before she’d claimed to be following God, responding to faith. Did He always move so quickly? “Why not?” she said with a laugh.

  “Can you start tomorrow?”

  “Sure,” she confirmed, grateful that she would be kept so busy she wouldn’t have time to remember that the reason she had come to Nome had nothing to do with paramedic training.

  A message was waiting for her when she returned to the hotel. It gave a phone number and name, with information for upcoming flights leaving Nome for Anchorage. Crumpling the paper, Claudia checked out of the hotel.

  She spent the rest of the afternoon unpacking and settling into the tiny apartment. If only Cooper could see her now!

  Hunger pangs interrupted her work, and she realized she hadn’t eaten all day. Just as she was beginning to wonder about dinner, there was a knock on the door. Her immediate thought was that Seth had somehow learned she hadn’t returned to Seattle. Though that was unlikely, she realized, since Seth was no doubt back in Kotzebue by now.

  Opening the door, she found a petite blonde with warm blue eyes and a friendly smile. “Welcome to Nome! I’m Barbara Reeder,” she said, and handed Claudia a warm plate covered with aluminum foil. “Dad’s been talking about his miracle ever since I walked in the door this afternoon, and I decided to meet this Joan of Arc myself.” Her laugh was free and easy.

  Claudia liked her immediately. Barbara’s personality was similar to Ashley’s, and she soon fell into easy conversation with the pastor’s daughter. She let Barbara do most of the talking. She learned that the woman was close to her own age, worked as a legal assistant and was engaged to a man named Teddy. Claudia felt she needed a friend, someone bright and cheerful to lift her spirits from a tangled web of self-pity, and Barbara seemed like the answer to a prayer.

  “Barbara, while you’re here, would you mind explaining about the bathroom?” She had been shocked to discover the room was missing the most important fixture.

  Barbara’s eyes widened. “You mean Dad didn’t explain that you aren’t on the sewer?”

  “Yes, but—”

  “Only houses on the sewers have flush toilets, plumbing, and the rest. You, my newfound friend, have your very own ‘honey bucket.’ It’s like having an indoor outhouse. When you need to use it, just open the door in the wall, pull it inside and—voilà.”

  Claudia looked up shocked. “Yes, but—”

  “You’ll need to get yourself a fuzzy cover, because the seat is freezing. When you’re through, open the door, push it back outside and it’ll freeze almost immediately.”

  “Yes, but—”

  “Oh, and the water is delivered on Monday, Wednesday, and Friday. Garbage is picked up once a week, but be sure and keep it inside the house, because feral dogs will get into it if it’s outside.”

  “Yes, but—”

  “And I don’t suppose Dad explained about ordering food, either. Don’t worry, I’ll get you the catalog, and you’ll have plenty of time to decide what you need. Grocery prices are sometimes as much as four times higher than Seattle, so we order the nonperishables once a year. The barge from Seattle arrives before winter.”

  Claudia breathed in deeply. The concepts of honey buckets, no plumbing, and feral dogs were almost too much to grasp in one lump. This lifestyle was primitive compared to the way things were in Seattle. But she would grow stronger from the challenges, grow—or falter and break.

  Concern clouded Barbara’s countenance. “Have I discouraged you?”

  Pride and inner strength shimmered in Claudia’s eyes. “No, Nome is where I belong,” she stated firmly.

  * * *

  —

  Jim Coleman proved to be an excellent teacher. Her admiration for him grew with every day and every patient. At the end of her first week, Claudia was exhausted. Together they had examined and treated a steady flow of the sick and injured, eating quick lunches when they got a few free minutes between patients. At the end of the ten-to-twelve-hour days, he was sometimes due to report to the hospital. She spent her evenings studying the huge pile of material he had given her to prepare for the paramedic exam that spring. She marveled at how hard he drove himself, but he explained that his work load wasn’t by choice. Few medical professionals were willing to set up practice in the frozen North.

  Barbara stopped by the apartment during Claudia’s second week with an invitation for Thanksgiving dinner. Jim had also been invited, along with Barbara’s fiancé and another couple. Claudia thanked her and accepted, but she must have appeared preoccupied, because Barbara left soon afterward.

  Claudia closed the door after her, leaning against the wood frame and swallowing back the bitter hurt. When she’d left Seattle, she’d told Ashley that she was hoping the wedding would be around Thanksgiving. Now she would be spending the day with virtual strangers.

  * * *

  —

  “Good morning, Jim,” Claudia said cheerfully the next day as she entered the office. “And you, too, Mrs. Lucy.”

  The receptionist glanced up, grinning sheepishly to herself.

  “Something funny?” Jim demanded brusquely.

  “Did either of you get a chance to read Pastor Reeder’s sign in front of the church this morning?” Mrs. Lucy asked.

  Claudia shook her head and waited.

  “What did he say this time?” Jim asked, his interest piqued.

  “The sign reads ‘God Wants Spiritual Fruit, Not Religious Nuts.’ ”

  Jim tipped his head back and chuckled, but his face soon grew serious. “I suggest we get moving,” he said. “We’ve got a full schedule.”

  He was right. The pace at which he drove himself and his staff left little time for chatting. With so many people in need of medical attention and only two doctors dividing the load, they had to work as efficiently as possible. By six Claudia had barely had time to grab a sandwich. She was bandaging a badly cut hand after Jim had stitched it when he stuck his head around the corner.

  “I want you to check the man in the first room. Let me know what you think. I’ve got a phone call waiting for me. I’ll take it in my office and join you in a few minutes.”

  A stray curl of rich auburn hair fell haphazardly across her face as she stopped outside the exam room a few minutes later, and she paused long enough to tuck it around her ear and straighten her white smock.

  Tapping lightly, her smile warm and automatic, she entered the room. “Good afternoon, my name’s—”

  Stopping short, she felt her stomach pitch wildly. Seth. His eyes were cold and hard, and his mouth tightened ominously as he asked, “What are you doing here?”

  “I work here,” Claudia returned, outwardly calm, although her heartbeat was racing frantically. She had realized it would be only a matter of time before she ran into Seth, and had in fact been mildly surprised it hadn’t happened before now. But nothing could have prepared her for the impact of seeing him again.

  His mouth tightened grimly. “Why aren’t you in Seattle?” he demanded in a low growl.

  “Because I’m here,” she countered logically. “Why should you care if I’m in Seattle or Timbuktu? As I recall, you’ve washed your hands of me.”

  Her answer didn’t please him, and he propelled himself from the examination table in one angry movement. But he couldn’t conceal a wince of pain.

  Clearly he was really hurting. “Jim asked me to look at you—now get back on the table.”

  “Jim?” Seth said derisively. “You seem to have arrived at a first-name basis pretty quickly.”

  Pinching her lips tightly together, she ignored the implication. “I’m going to examine you whether you like it or not,” she said with an authority few patients would dare to question.

  His dark eyes narrowed mutinously at her demand.

  Winning any kind of verbal contest with him had been impossible to date. She wouldn’t have been surprised if he’d limped out of the office rather than obey her demand. He might well have done exactly that if Jim Coleman hadn’t entered at that precise minute.

  “I’ve been talking to the hospital,” he remarked, handing Claudia Seth’s medical chart. Sheer reflex prevented the folder from falling as it slipped through her fingers. She caught it and glanced up guiltily.