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He’d have preferred to give his wife a Xanax or a Valium. Or a Klonopin or an Ativan. Or maybe something a little stronger. But Marge wasn’t one for popping pills. She preferred a more naturalistic approach. She believed in homeopathy, Bach Flower Remedies and aromatherapy. Every morning she did her yoga exercises, and from time to time she visited a reflexologist, a shiatsu guy and an acupuncturist. She’d recently even taken up mindfulness.

All in all, she was a doctor’s worst nightmare. Then again, she was also his wife, and he loved her, so whatever she did was just fine by him. As long as it didn’t endanger her health or her overall wellbeing, which of course these placebo methods wouldn’t.

And Tex had just gotten up from his desk and picked his jacket from the coatrack in the corner of his office when a knock on the door surprised him. He’d had to make do today without Grandma Muffin at the receptionist’s desk. The old lady had gotten it into her head that she wanted to become a detective and her first case was Chris Ackerman’s murder.

Tex strode over to the door and opened it. To his even greater surprise he found Chase Kingsley standing on the mat. The stalwart detective eyed him apologetically.

“Tex,” he said. “I hope I’m not intruding. I saw there were no patients so I figured…”

“Yeah, no, come on in, Chase,” said Tex, jovially clapping the other man on the back. “So what can I do for you?” he asked once they were both seated. “Something ailing you?”

“Physically I’m in fine fettle,” said Chase surprisingly. “It’s actually your daughter I wanted to talk to you about.”

Tex drew both eyebrows up into his white fringe. A man with a great head of hair, he was the epitome of the country doctor. Hale and hearty and bluff, he was both kindly and knowledgeable. On top of that he genuinely liked his fellow man and woman and was always ready to do his little bit to improve their lot in life—be it medically or otherwise.

Chase’s response threw him for a loop, though. He’d always viewed Chase as the perfect son-in-law and the perfect mate for his daughter. In fact he’d been thanking his lucky stars on a daily basis ever since Chase had entered their lives. And now this?

“Odelia? Is there something wrong with my daughter, Chase?”

“Oh, no. Nothing is wrong, sir. Nothing at all. It’s just that…” Chase rubbed his square jaw, looking sheepish. “The thing is…” He cleared his throat. “The fact of the matter is, sir…”

“Oh, please cut the ‘sir’ thing, son. We’ve known each other long enough now for you to call me by my Christian name.”

“Yes, Tex,” said Chase dutifully.

Tex waited patiently. He’d had patients who were so reluctant to talk about their ailments that it took him almost the entire allotted time to drag it out of them. Chase looked like he was going to need even more than that. “So? Just spit it out, son,” he said finally when no more information seemed forthcoming.

Chase steeled himself.“I’m just going to come out and say it, sir—Tex. The thing is, I like your daughter a lot… Tex. In fact I love her. Love her a whole damn lot. And what I wanted to ask you, sir, is this…” He cleared his throat noisily. If he’d had a hat, he would have turned it over nervously between his fidgety fingers.

Oh, darn it, Tex thought. This was it, wasn’t it? This was that scene you saw in the movies. Where the future son-in-law asked his future fatherin-law for the hand of his daughter in marriage. The fresh-faced freckled youth would preface his remarks with a few well-meant ‘gee whizes’ and ‘oh, gollys’ and pepper them with a few ‘aw, shucks’ when finally his future dad-in-law gave his blessing. At which point cigars would be brought out and both men would smoke a fat gasper while gazing fondly off into the horizon.

Tex rearranged his avuncular face into an expression of solemnity befitting the occasion.“Ye-es,” he said slowly, knitting his fingers on his desk’s blotter.

“The thing is, sir—Tex…” Chase halted, then started again. “The thing is that Odelia and I were moving in a direction I thought… And then her grandmother moved in and…”

Tex nodded. He knew exactly where Chase was coming from. Marge’s mother had been the bane of his existence for many, many years. In fact she was the one person who sometimes made him doubt his calling as a man devoted to stop people from dying.

“And now I don’t know how to proceed,” Chase said, lifting his arms in a gesture of confusion.

Tex finally saw all. This man hadn’t come here to ask for his blessing. He’d come to seek some fatherly advice on how to woo Odelia. Grandma Muffin’s shenanigans had torn these two lovebirds asunder and now it was up to Tex to put them together again. Chase’s dad had died years ago, so he had no other father figure to turn to other than Tex. And Tex was happy to take on the role—in fact he was honored—even touched to the verge of tears.

“Chase,” he said in his warmest, most gregarious manner, “I’m going to let you in on a little secret.”