Candy and Neil were driving in the direction of where the girl's finger was pointing. She had a new idea and wanted to introduce her fiancé to "a very good man".
"It looks like Madam Elroy is starting to lose marbles," Daniel started a new topic to discuss.
Miss White uttered a surprised outcry.
"Can you imagine what she told me yesterday?" Neil turned the steering wheel, smartly driving into a curve. "She says we're all crazy, that we don't want to live beside her. She's like: the Andree family and the Legan family have always lived nearby! She's either crazy, or she must be up to something."
"Maybe she's just very lonely?" Candy asked.
"Lonely! That's ridiculous. She's always loved solitude. When everyone was having fun, she would always sit somewhere in the distance, like an old crow, don't you remember?"
"Neil, you can't be so cruel-hearted. I'll talk to her."
"It's a bad idea, Candy. Just think of it, she hates you!"
"She just doesn't like me much. Because I don't comply with the rules. But not reckoning with her at all… is bad."
"You want to live next to Aunt Elroy? Next to my mother?"
"At least I've got to talk to them."
Legan rolled his eyes, as though calling to supreme forces.
"Talk to my mother! Great idea! Maybe you will also ask for Eliza's blessing?"
The girl laughed.
"I'll just talk to those who want it. To Madam Elroy, for instance. Intimidating and breaking the bonds with them is not good…"
"I know very well how they treat you, and that's why I want to protect you from them. Protect us."
"You shouldn't expect only bad things from people. They can change."
"You're incorrigible," Neil turned again, obeying his darling's finger.
"So are you. Here we are!"
Yes, it was it – that hole where Candy used to work, "Happy Clinic". Why are they here?
Legan stopped the car and looked around apprehensively. Hardly a prestige neighborhood.
"Let's go," Candy smiled and took his hand. He could follow her anywhere, as long as he could feel the warmth of her palm. Even to hell.
Doctor Martin was having a lunch-break, which had almost shifted to evening, because he had a lot of patients to see. Now it was a moment of bliss, when he could finally have a glass of whis—
"Doctor, again?!"
The man flung his arms up in surprise, and the glass sonorously broke to pieces.
"Candy! You scared me so much! Look what you've done…" Then Martin realized it was her – Candy, and cried with joy: "Candy!"
"Doctor Martin!" the girl heartily hugged the short man with the moustache. Neil stamped his feet for a while, trying to look unruffled.
"How is it going, Candy?" The doctor asked, slightly moving Miss White away and examining her face. "Why aren't you at work now?"
"Wait a minute, mister Martin…" Miss White shook her head, trying to gather her thoughts under the barrage of questions. Then she took Legan's arm and pulled him closer. "Doctor, I wanted to tell you some joyful news…" Her eyes shone. "I… I'm getting married! This is my fiancé… Daniel…"
Neil reached his hand out, and a slightly puzzled doctor pressed it warmly.
"Daniel Legan," the freckled nurse finished her speech. "We would like to invite you to our engage—"
"Is this the guy that you leaped into the lake from?" the man suddenly remembered. "A-ha-ha-ha!" he roared with laughter.
Neil frowned.
"Doctor… Doctor…" Candy tried to appeal to him, but Martin could not stop.
"My God… Ho-ho-ho! Who can understand a woman… A-ha-ha-ha! Oh, boy, Candy! Ha-ha-ha!"
"Doctor Martin," the girl made another attempt to stop his laughter, but Neil put his hand on her shoulder.
"Come on, Candy, let him laugh. It's really funny."
However careless he might have wanted to seem, there was some sadness in his voice. The doctor stopped laughing at once.
"I didn't want to offend you, lad!" he smiled and smacked Candy's favorite on the shoulder. "I'm very happy for you, and of course I'll come. Our little Candy deserves happiness more than anyone else."
"Great!" Miss White was filled with enthusiasm. "But there's one more thing. I have a proposal for you. Let's sit down."
Martin looked at Legan, but having seen his confused look realized that he was not aware of his fiancée's idea either. Laughter started to choke the good-natured man again, but he suppressed it.
The three sat at a small table, and the men expectantly looked at the girl.
"So," Candy put her hands on the table, "the thing is… I don't work at Saint John's Hospital anymore."
"Were you fired again?" the doctor fell about laughing. "O-ho-ho-ho! My God… A-ha-ha-ha! What have you done, Candy?"
"This is my fault," her fiancé chimed in. "They didn't want to keep her because she's getting married and won't need a salary anymore."
"A very silly thing to do," Martin noted. "Candy is a great nurse!"
He kept silent for a while, and then added, like it was an afterthought.
"If you want to work, you can come back to me. You were so great! I can't manage it all alone."
"Thank you, doctor Martin!" Candy beamed. "I have a nice idea. We can all – together – make this clinic… big. And everyone who comes here will get free medical treatment. Our future family will help with the equipment and the improvements…"
The doctor shifted his gaze from the girl's inspired eyes to the arrogant face of Legans' offspring, but, to his surprise, Daniel approved of his fiancée's project.
"So that's the idea that you had!" he said. "It might be possible, if the clinic owner agrees. Thus, we will give money to real charity, and the doctor and the nurses will get a salary."
"Of course, the doctor agrees!" Martin laughed. "But on one condition: if at least for several times a week the best nurse in the world will help me."
"Who's that nurse?" Legan raised his eyebrows in assumed surprise.
So he has a sense of humor, too!
Martin was choked by laughter when he saw the look that Candice White gave to the man of her choice.
"The best nurse…" the doctor said emphatically, "is, no doubt, Candy! By the way, that calls for a drink!"
But future Mrs. Legan was inexorable. The doctor never got to taste whiskey on that day.