Deep in the Valley by Robyn Carr Page B

policeman in Redding, and Stuart Silva, the baby, joined the navy and went career, but he was still in California. None of the kids really wanted the farm, which was a source of some disappointment for Mikos, but he was quick to say he had chosen a path unlike his own father’s, and no one had complained over him.
    It was possible Mikos was the sweetest, kindest man in the valley. He visited neighbors, took in sick animals, gave food baskets to poor families, wrote letters tolonely soldiers abroad. He was perpetually happy and generous. But a year ago he’d lost Mrs. Silva and since then, his very closest friends, like June and Elmer, could see that he was suffering more than grief. His health was failing. He was giving up.
    He was seventy-eight and had worked hard all his life. He bore no ill will to the medical people who had been unable to save his wife from the scourge of cancer, but he wasn’t likely to take his own complaints to doctors, even though they were lifelong friends.
    June had noticed on a recent visit that Mikos seemed a little short of breath, had a grayish pallor, and that his hands appeared swollen. So she had taken to stopping by more frequently, but the most he would allow was to have his blood pressure checked. It was high. She gave him medication, but it was obvious he wasn’t taking it.
    She drove by his farm on the way home from the clinic and found him sitting on the porch. His collie, Sadie Five, stood beside his chair. She went to the porch edge and wagged, welcoming June. She was Mikos’s fifth collie.
    “I’m sorry you go to such trouble, but I’m always happy to see you,” Mikos said.
    “I’m happy to always see you, too. And Sadie.” June had left her bag in the Jeep; some things were better treated with kindness and respect than with tools and drugs. “My father is always telling me I need a dog.”
    “He’s right, of course. We all need dogs. I have such trouble understanding people who go through life without them—except maybe busy people like you. I think you wonder what would I do with a dog?”
    “That’s right, I do.”
    “Ah, but the more accurate question is what would a dog do with you?”
    “And the answer?” June urged.
    “She would take very good care of you, I’m sure.”
    Mikos sat in an old metal chair that squeaked when he moved. His legs were so short, his feet barely touched the porch floor. He might be all of five foot four, but the arms and shoulders on this little farmer were broad and hard and bore the strength of three men.
    Beside him was a small table, a pitcher of tea, an extra glass. June sat in the other chair. He poured her a glass.
    “Did you know I’d be coming?”
    “I knew someone would be coming. It might as easily have been you. So, you have a new doctor.”
    “John Stone. From the Bay Area. He has a specialty in OB-GYN as well as family medicine. The day he arrived we went out to Julianna Dickson’s house. It was quite an introduction to the town. He knows how we do things here now.” She laughed.
    “That’s been two months,” Mikos said.
    “Yes, and in that time John’s seen almost every woman in Grace Valley. He’s very handsome. Very charming.”
    Mikos laughed. “As charming as me?”
    “Not quite, but nearly.”
    “It seems like you made a good choice with him, June. The women could use another handsome, charming man around here. It’ll take some of the pressure off me.” He grinned devilishly.
    June sipped her tea. “How are you feeling?”
    “Excellent,” he said. “Maria phoned earlier today and left a message. My granddaughter Beth is having a daughter.” He clicked his teeth and shook his head. “They can take pictures of the baby inside the mother and tell what sex it is, then phone you and tell your machine about it while you plow the fields. If anyone would have told me about this fifty years ago, I’d have called him crazy!”
    “How wonderful for you! And tell Maria I send congratulations! When