WISDOM. Thatâs the Whidbey Island Sexual Definition Management clinic. But he never actually said ifââ She thought some more. âYou know, I donât remember Sandra talking about surgery.â Another thought. âMostly she seemed content moving ahead slowly.â
âYou have to have surgery, donât you?â Kyra asked. âLop off the penis and all that?â
Noel shrivelled a little.
âAs far as I know,â Ursula agreed. âBut surgery usually comes well after the hormones.â
âWhereâs this clinic?â
âOh right here in town. Just up the hill, in fact.â She spotted Brady. âOver here!â
Brady crossed Sixth with a puzzled expression.
âGet in.â Ursula opened the door. âWeâre going to feed Sandraâs cats.â
âHi,â Kyra said. âWe met this morning.â
âOh?â Sudden recognition. âRight.â She grinned. âHi.â
âMy partner, Noel Franklin.â Check out this WISDOM clinic? In fact, no need. As Noel had noted, theyâd done their job.
âHi.â Noel smiled.
Brady smiled in return, climbed in beside Ursula and closed the door. âA drive in the country, how nice.â Brady and Ursula kissed hello.
Noel, noting the kiss, felt a chill loneliness shake him. It passed.
Kyra headed out toward highway 20.
âWeâre going down the Island nearly to Clinton,â Ursula, head navigator, said. âHow was work, lovey?â This to Brady.
âAnother day, another dollar.â
âIs the sheriff always that cranky?â Kyra asked.
âYou should see him when he really gets a bee in his bonnet.â
Does Brady need to talk in clichés? Noel unfolded the map of Whidbey Island.
After a few milesâGod, how Noel hated miles, they were so much longer than kilometersâhighway 20 morphed into 525. It was a pretty island, gently rolling land cleared for farming. Many fields were muddy, as suited March; some were bright green, also appropriate for March. Kyra asked the two women how they liked Whidbey.
âA lot,â said Ursula. âEvery time we go away we canât wait to get back.â
âDo you usually take the ferry off?â
âDepends where weâre going,â Brady said. âIf itâs Seattle we take the ferry, if itâs north we take the bridge.â
Impeccable logic, thought Noel.
âWhatâs best about the island?â Kyra continued.
âWell, the size,â Ursula replied. âItâs big enough so we can get most of what we need, and small enough to be laid back and friendly and still sort of countrified.â
âHowâd you get here?â Kyra asked.
Ursula grew up in Seattle, really liked it. âBut it just got too frantic, and the prices?â
âThe Microsoft effect?â posited Noel.
âBoeing, Microsoft, all of them.â
âAnd me,â Brady chipped in, âI met Ursula at a friendâs party and it was love at first sight. Head over heels. We moved here quick as a flash.â
âWe concentrate our investigations on islands,â Kyra offered as explanation for her questions. âHow would you compare Whidbey to the other San Juans?â
âNo idea,â said Brady, and simultaneously, âDonât know,â from Ursula.
âWeâve never lived on another island,â Brady added.
âAnd weâre really not curious, âcause Whidbey is wonderful,â Ursula finished.
âFeels like a big island.â Noel glanced from the map to his watch. âWeâve been driving for twenty minutes. Why did Sandro live so far away? Working at the hospital, courses in Oak Harbor?â
âShe moved after she took leave from the hospital,â Ursula said. âThe house belongs to one of the nurses, heâs in Rwanda for a year. Sandra got cheap rent by caretaking.â
âI
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