added, “Well, most of us anyway.”
“Sarah’s still working at the Alhambra,” Caleb said in response to Hank’s unspoken question. “My guess is that she’s helping balance the books a whole lot more than she serves drinks.”
“She always did have a knack for numbers. Couldn’t take being cooped up for very long, though.”
“Maybe I’ve got that same problem.”
“Is that what all this moping is all about?”
Hank didn’t need to be told that he’d struck a nerve. He could see that much written on Caleb’s face. Reaching out, he patted Caleb’s shoulder just roughly enough to make the chair squeak beneath him. “I don’t know how you spend so much time in this damn office without losing your mind as it is. If it’s getting to you, then why don’t you work up front for a bit.”
“I don’t think I’d be much of a replacement for Holly.”
“Not unless you sprout red hair and learn how to properly fill out a corset,” Hank said.
“Yeah, well the last thing the Flush needs is another man behind the bar.”
“Who’s to make that decision? The owner? Oh, wait a second, that’d be you.” Hank smirked when he saw Caleb chuckle at that. “Look here, now. You’ve worked hard to get this place off the ground, and I know you don’t want to give it up. I also know you deserve a change of scenery. You used to like working out front before we hired them others, so why not come back out from behind this desk for a while? It may just remind you of why you wanted to own a saloon in the first place.”
“Well, there is the tournament coming up. I guess it wouldn’t hurt for me to be up front for all of that.”
“There you go.”
Caleb nodded, feeling less like a kid that wanted to skip school and more like a man who was taking the reins back for himself. “All right, you talked me into it. When do you want me to start?”
Hank was already untying the apron from around his waist and handing it over. “How’s now strike you? I could use a breather.”
Caleb reached out for the stained apron but stopped short.
“I recognize that look,” Hank said. “Don’t go changing your mind on me so quickly, now.”
“Not changing my mind, but I do need to take care of something before starting my shift behind the bar.”
Hank smiled and leaned in to nudge Caleb in the side. “You want to head to the Alhambra and ask Sarah to find her way back here?”
“Not exactly. I need to pay another visit to my dentist.”
[13]
The stitches in Caleb’s jaw had become nothing more than a nuisance bothering the side of his tongue. Spending more than his share of time in a saloon, he was plenty used to the aches and pains that came along with a fight. On his way down Jefferson and heading toward Elm, Caleb came up with plenty to say to Dr. Holliday that had nothing at all to do with stitches.
When he reached A. M. Cochrane’s Drug Store, Caleb didn’t even bother looking at the shingle marking the dental practice upstairs. He instead climbed those stairs and walked up to the girl in the front office. As before, there was nobody else waiting to get in.
“I need to get my stitches removed,” Caleb said. “Can I do that now, or do I need to come back?”
The girl looked eager to see another human face and was already scrambling to knock on the door behind her. “Oh, there’s nobody else ahead of you. Dr. Seegar can take you right now.”
“Actually, I need to see Dr. Holliday. He’s the one that saw me before.”
The door swung open as Caleb had been talking, and Seegar stepped outside. “Dr. Holliday is no longer practicing at this location,” he announced in a dry, formal tone. “But I’d be happy to finish any work he might have started.”
Caleb didn’t try to hide the shocked expression on his face. “Doc’s not here? Where did he go?”
“I’m not certain right now. Would you like me to see to those stitches?”
Caleb nodded, wanting more than anything to get that blasted string out of him before he ripped it out himself.
Seegar led him past the little room where Caleb had met Doc the first time. Seegar’s work space wasn’t much bigger, but it was plain to see that he cared for it a lot more than Doc had tended to his own area. The chair was polished and covered with fresh linen, and each piece of equipment sparkled like it was new.
Even the air smelled cleaner as Caleb lowered himself onto a cushier chair and leaned back. “What happened to Doc?”
Collecting the tools he needed, Seegar spoke as if he was talking to himself. His voice sounded vaguely distracted as he sat down next to Caleb’s chair and reached for his instruments. “Nothing happened to him. He simply no longer works out of this office.”
“Is he all right?”
Blinking and studying Caleb’s face as if for the first time, Seegar replied, “He’s as well as he can be, considering his condition. Consumptives have a hard time of it, after all. The stresses of working in a professional capacity aren’t the best for a man like him over long periods of time.”
“So he’s taking some time off?”
Seegar chuckled and reached into Caleb’s mouth with what appeared to be a pair of thin pliers. “I guess that’s a simpler way of putting it.”
Caleb couldn’t feel much more than Seegar’s fingers against his jaw, followed by the tugging of those stitches coming loose. It was a strange mix of stinging and tickling as the stitches were slowly dragged from his jaw and dropped into a cup beside the chair. The smell of everything Caleb had eaten for the last day or two drifted into his nose.
“Wi Dog ee ack?” Caleb asked.
Without letting go of Caleb’s jaw, Seegar shook his head. “He won’t be back at this location, no. Are you a regular patient of his?”
“No. Jus un tine.”
“Wait a moment. You’re the owner of that saloon near the Alhambra, right? What is it?”
“The Nusted Lush.”
“Right, the Busted Flush. If Henry owes you any money, I might be able to settle his account.”
“No,” Caleb said as the last stitch was pulled out of his jaw. When he saw Seegar scoot back, Caleb sat up and dabbed at his chin with the napkin he’d been handed. “No, it’s nothing like that. I just need to talk to Doc about something I heard.”
“Is it important?”
“Actually, I’d like to thank him. Also, there is something he probably needs to know.”
Seegar thought about that for a moment. Although he seemed suspicious at first, he eventually eased up and said, “I understand Henry was looking at a place on the corner of Main and Lamar. It’s over the bank. Maybe you can find him there.”
Dr. Seegar didn’t feel like talking much after that. While he wasn’t rude about it, he did seem to rush Caleb out of his office as quickly as he could. The stitches had been removed without a hitch, so Caleb paid what he owed and moved along.
It was about a two-block walk for Caleb to get to Lamar. At the corner, there was a tall building holding the Dallas County Bank. Since it was such a walk from the Busted Flush, that bank wasn’t the one that Caleb frequented. As he stood on the street and looked up at the building, he started to wonder if he’d stopped at the right place.
After taking a look up and down the street, Caleb decided that he was either overlooking something, or Dr. Seegar had intentionally misled him. The Dallas County Bank was the only one on that corner, and Seegar didn’t seem like the type to lie when he was so contented to stay quiet only moments before. Caleb pulled open the door and stepped inside.
“Can I help you?” asked a bald man with a monocle dangling from a ribbon threaded through his lapel. He
