Seahill, Northern Ireland; 1997
Tabitha was the new girl in town, just around to help her sick grandmother with her bookshop. She was quiet, trying to keep out of the way of others, particularly the attention of men. She never meant to get his atten...
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17, mid-March
It was a long, cold winter. For Tabitha, all she wished for was the heating system that her parents had in New York. Her grandmother's place did have some heat, but it was an ongoing problem. They all had to use several blankets around the house, with little Issac bulked up at all times. Tabitha tried to talk to her grandmother about getting it fixed, but she refused, so they all had to suffer.
Whenever Father Foley would come he would put on the fireplace, which she was surprised still worked. If she had thought her summer attire was ridiculous, then now she looked as if she was from Alaska, donned in a thick jacket along with her other layers. At least with all the clothes they had to wear, he didn't eye her as openly.
The only place where she could wear a decent amount of clothes was the shop. Phillip wasn't as cruel and knew he needed to provide heat for her. The days were slow, seeing that no one tried to leave their house unless they needed to. Phillip saw that several prescriptions had yet to be picked up by customers. He wasn't complaining because there was space running out of his pharmacy, but rather that many of his customers were older. They needed their meds if they didn't want to be on bed rest.
Seeing the days moving slowly for him, Phillip decided to spend time devising how to make sure all the orders were fulfilled. He pondered over it day and night. It wasn't that it was important, but Phillip did care about the people of the community. Tabitha saw how troubled he was with this, and despite her full plate of problems, she wanted to help him out even a little.
One evening when she was finished with dinner and was busy with Issac, she looked at his clothes and realized that he needed a larger size. His clothes were small on him (which wasn't a problem since he was a bit smaller than most babies). While looking through Issac's clothes her mother sent for her, Tabitha found a piece of paper hidden at the bottom of the box. It was one of those dentist cards sent to remind someone to go to their appointment.
Although it wasn't much, it made her think. Phillip could create a system to call his customers and remind them about picking up their medications. It was a great plan! He seemed to be meticulous when it came to the pharmacy, so keeping track of the customer's dates wouldn't be too much to do either. Tabitha decided that the next day she would tell him about it, to see if he liked the idea or not. And besides, it would save him money than to send out paper reminders in the mail. It would also help to show that he is a caring member of the community.
She smiled, heading down into the kitchen after putting Issac to rest. She was happy to do something kind for Phillip after all the ways he's helped her out in the last few months. He was a tremendous help to her than she initially thought after confiding the truth in him. Other than one incident, Phillip made sure no one knew about his knowledge that Tabitha told him. Looking for a snack to eat, she paused, seeing a daunting figure in her kitchen. Yes, her kitchen.
For the most part, she was the one using it helps to take care of her grandmother.
