“Are you sure he’s going to be okay?” June had asked.
“I believe so. I’ll sit with him until he wakes up,” Lorna had told her. She’d snagged a chair and pulled it over to his bedside. She sat down and picked up Brian’s hand, clasping it with her own. The man had lost something precious and not only was he grieving, but the dark circles beneath his eyes told Lorna he hadn’t been sleeping well. Grief and exhaustion had simply overwhelmed his fragile body.
Long moments later, Brian began to stir; he opened his eyes and looked around. Lorna remained silent until he turned his head and saw her sitting there. “Hi,” she said gently.
“Hello,” he answered back.
“You collapsed at the gravesite,” she told him quietly. “Do you hurt anywhere?”
“No,” Brian told her. “I feel fine.”
Lorna nodded and then took his pulse once more. “Well, your heart seems to be fine. When you collapsed, you gripped your chest. Do you recall having any pain there?”
“Not at all. My heart was simply breaking in two. A father shouldn’t have to bury his son,” Brian replied sorrowfully. He gave her a sad smile and she nodded.
“I agree, however, this world is never fair.” A daughter shouldn’t have to bury her father years too soon, she thought. She patted his hand and then suggested softly, “Why don’t you try to get some rest?”
Brian nodded sadly and closed his eyes, shutting out the look of utter sorrow. When June and Darren checked in on him several minutes later, Lorna assured them that he was fine, offering to sit with him until he awakened again – even if that wasn’t until the morning. They both offered to take a turn sitting by his bedside, but Lorna explained that she wanted to be there when he woke up to evaluate his condition.
A reluctant Darren and June had agreed, provided she promised to get them if his condition changed. Lorna promised and she found herself dozing in and out throughout the long night, comforting Brian with a compassionate word the few times he stirred. A new day was dawning before he awakened again, appearing to have slept long enough.
“Good morning,” she told him softly.
“Have you been taking care of me?” Brian asked.
Lorna nodded. “I have, although I’ve mostly just been sitting here waiting for you to wake up. I worked as a nurse during the Civil War for a while, until…”
“Until?” Brian asked.
Lorna shook her head. “It doesn’t matter. I’m only glad I was able to help you right away.”
“As am I.” Brian turned his eyes away for a long moment before saying quietly, “Mark would have adored you. No wonder he kept your letters a secret. He didn’t want to share you with anyone.”
“Thank you. I wish I could have met him.”
Brian patted her hand and nodded. “I wish that as well. He was so full of life, and whenever he saw a problem, he tried to fix it. The townsfolk will miss him almost as much as we will here at the ranch. He was very active in the Virginia City founders’ group.”
“It sounds like his shoes will be hard to fill,” Lorna stated quietly.
“That is true. But, enough of those thoughts. Now we have to deal with the future. Your future, to be precise.”
“I’ll be out of here as soon as someone can drive me back to town,” Lorna told him.
“Nonsense, child. Mark obviously intended to make you a part of our family, and I intend to honor that wish. I hope you’ll stay on at the ranch.”
“What? Mr. Wilson, I couldn’t…” Lorna was completely taken aback by Brian’s offer. She looked into the older man’s eyes and could see the sincerity shining there. There was hope hidden in their depths and she felt her resolve to say no weakening.
He clasped her hands as he waited for her reply, but just as she opened her mouth to give it to him, Darren walked into the room. He glanced at their clasped hands and then walked to the opposite side of the bed, keeping his eyes away from Lorna’s as he greeted her. “How’s he doing?”
“Good,” she replied, wondering at the aloofness she was sensing.
“Pa, how are you feeling? Do you want me to call for Doc Ellsworth?” Darren asked his father.
Brian released Lorna’s hands and patted Darren’s. “No need. Lorna here is taking excellent care of me. She says I’m going to be just fine.”
Lorna watched as uncertainty flashed across Darren’s face. She was immediately reminded of the last time she’d seen that look on a man’s face.
Darren must be just like those other men who rejected me when I first applied to become a nurse in the war. They used every excuse they could come up with – my looks, my age – but those had nothing to do with whether or not I could do the job. One of them even complained that I wasn’t a man and he only wanted male nurses working under him.
Lorna felt herself getting angry as memories swamped her.
Everyone denied my application until I came to Vincent’s tent. He thought himself so superior when we first met – looking down his nose at all of the female nurses, as if we couldn’t possibly ever measure up to his standards.
I did my best to prove myself. I just didn’t expect my father to become one of my patients. And then when Vincent took me under his wing, I thought he might have changed his opinion about me.
She paused for a moment, thinking back to the last night she’d been working late in the tents.
I honestly thought he’d come to check on me. I must have looked like a fool, allowing myself to get cornered in the supply tent. When Vincent followed me, I thought maybe he was going to help me restock the medical supplies before the morning shift started. I didn’t realize what the look in his eyes meant.
She shivered at the memory. Vincent had crowded her space, his eyes roving over her body, and she’d felt her skin crawl…
“Dr. Crockett, what are you doing?” He had begun touching Lorna’s hair and she’d felt so uncomfortable.
“Lorna, you’re a beautiful woman. Too beautiful to be doing this sort of work.”
“Dr. Crockett, please stop touching me.”
“Now, don’t be like that. You and I could have some fun together…”
Lorna had pulled away, angry that this man whom she’d respected had treated her so disrespectfully.
“I need to get back to work.”
Dr. Crockett had grabbed her arm, squeezing tightly when she attempted to pull it away. “You don’t want to act like that. Your beauty is definitely going to get you into trouble sooner or later. Trust me, you should be nice to me and I’ll make sure that never happens.”
Lorna could still recall the sound of his laughter when she’d spun around to leave, only to realize she had backed herself into a corner with no way of escape. The doctor hadn’t pressed her any more that night, but she could still hear his mocking words and see him winking at her as he’d sauntered away, his hands tucked into his pockets as if nothing untoward had just taken place.
I still feel dirty. Violated. He threatened to ruin my career.
Lorna was pulled back into the present when June walked into the room with a bright smile for everyone. “Breakfast is ready.”
Lorna gave her a relieved smile. The awkward tension that had been expanding in the room since Darren’s arrival was almost too much to bear.
“Thank you, June. Mr. Wilson, do you feel up to going to the table, or would you like me to bring you a tray here?” Lorna asked the elderly man.
“I’m more than capable of eating at the table,” Brian informed them all.
Lorna and Darren spoke at the same time.
“Pa, I don’t think that’s a good idea,” Darren told him.
“Mr. Wilson, I really think you should take it easy.”
Brian chuckled. “Is this how it’s going to be with you living here? Always looking out for my welfare?” he asked Lorna.
She ignored the glare and frown Darren sent her way upon hearing this latest news. Lorna smiled at Brian and then told him softly, “I don’t want you
to faint again. It’s been a very stressful few days for you.”
“Lucky for me, you’re going to be sticking around for quite some time. You can keep an eye on me so that this doesn’t happen again,” Brian said to Lorna. He then turned to Darren and stated, “I’ve asked Lorna to stay here. This is where she would have made her home, had Mark picked her up at the train station.”
Lorna watched as Darren opened his mouth to argue against her staying at the ranch, then shook his head and closed his expression down. He wasn’t happy and Lorna couldn’t even begin to imagine why.
“Darren, have you nothing to say?” Brian asked.
“No. We need to head out,” Darren told the room, then walked out without another word.
It was obvious he wasn’t happy with her being on the ranch, but she felt a connection to Mr. Wilson and since she had nowhere else to go, she was going to take him up on his very generous offer. After all, this was where she’d been planning to start her new life. The handsome Darren would just have to get used to her presence. She was in Virginia City now, and she planned to remain.
Chapter 6
Breakfast was a strange affair for Darren. Once his father was settled at the head of the table, with Lorna seated beside him to assist if necessary, Darren found himself drawn to her calm presence. He’d sensed a sadness in her the day before, but he hadn’t gotten a chance to ask her about it – not with his Pa collapsing at the gravesite. Lorna had dealt with the situation in a very calm and efficient manner.
He couldn’t help but wonder what her story was, and why a beautiful young woman such as herself had taken to becoming a mail-order bride to gain a husband and the prospect of a family. It was clear that she had some medical training and he wondered why she’d abandoned that to travel West.
June and Brian had embraced Lorna as if she truly were family, but no one had even asked for proof that she was actually a mail-order bride here to marry his late brother. It had been taken for granted that she was telling them the truth. His Pa and June might be trusting, but Darren couldn’t ignore his skepticism.
Not that Mark would have been disappointed, had he lived long enough to see her. Lorna truly was lovely, but that made the mail-order bride explanation even harder to swallow.
Her beauty, coupled with Mark’s silence on the subject of his acquiring a mail-order bride, bothered Darren more than anything else. He’d thought he and Mark were close, but once again he’d been shown that Mark was much more complex than Darren had given him credit for.
Darren put his fork down, ready to excuse himself from the table, but June stopped him the minute he pushed back from the table.
“Darren, where are you going?”
“I’ve got a few errands to run in town,” Darren said to the room in general.
June smiled and then tipped her head at Lorna. “Good, you’ll take Lorna with you.”
“What?” Darren asked, shaking his head. He wanted to put some distance between himself and the young woman, not spend the rest of the day with her. “That’s not really a good idea.”
“I really don’t think that’s a good idea,” Lorna murmured.
“It’s a perfectly good idea,” June said in a voice that brooked no argument. “It will be good for Lorna to see the town and I have a list of goods that she can collect for me.”
Darren glanced toward Lorna, who had her eyes cast downward, ensuring she wouldn’t meet his gaze. He could already list half a dozen reasons why taking the young woman into town with him was a bad idea, but he also recognized the look in his aunt’s eyes, and she was going to have her way in this. After yesterday, he just wasn’t up to fighting with her.
Sighing, he nodded. “Fine. I’d like to leave right away.”
Lorna nodded without meeting Darren’s eyes and he shook his head as he left the table. “I’ll be outside,” he said.
He hitched up the team to the wagon and was just getting ready to go looking for his unwanted companion when June escorted her out of the house. June was going over the list of items, which she tucked into Lorna’s hand, offering Darren a smile.
“She’s got the list,” June told him. “She might need help finding—”
Darren stopped his aunt. “I’ll make sure she gets everything on the list.”
June nodded and then stepped back and smiled. “Have a nice time.”
Lorna approached the wagon and Darren held her hand and elbow as she stepped on the box he’d placed on the ground and then climbed into the buckboard. He put the box in the wagon and then strolled around and climbed up in one smooth move. He noticed that Lorna had her hands clasped tightly in her lap and she still hadn’t looked at him.
He nodded at his aunt and then slapped the reins lightly on the horses’ rumps, getting them moving. They headed toward town and had gone almost a mile before he decided Lorna had been quiet long enough.
“Do you know which stores you need to visit?” he inquired politely. It seemed his father was intent on having the young woman stay with them for the time being, and Darren figured he might as well get to know her.
If there came a time when he felt she needed to leave the ranch, he needed to be able to tell his father and Aunt June his reasoning and gain their support. In order to do that, he needed to know more about this young woman.
She glanced up at him and nodded. “I think so.”
“Shopping in Virginia City is probably vastly different from what you’re used to,” he added, trying to draw her out to talk about her past.
She shrugged and murmured quietly, “I’m sure it is. I can deal with it.”
Darren frowned when she kept her face turned away from him. He sensed a sadness in her, but he didn’t know her well enough to even hazard a guess at the reason behind it. Surely, she wasn’t mourning his late brother; she hadn’t even known the man.
“So, how long was your trip out here?” he asked, trying to draw her into a conversation of some sort.
“Too long,” she murmured, her voice so quiet it was barely audible.
“Did anything exciting happen along the way?” he asked, directing the horses around a dip in the trail. On horseback, the small dip would hardly be noticeable, but in the wagon, going over a dip that size too fast could result in a broken wheel or even axle. Neither options were ones he wanted to deal with today.
“I don’t believe so.” She shifted on the seat and then lapsed into silence once more.
Darren allowed this, glancing at her from time to time as Lorna once again averted her eyes to the landscape. They were on the outskirts of the town before he spoke again.
“I have some business to see to. I should be finished by noon. That should give you enough time to gather June’s supplies.”
Lorna nodded and then replied, “That should be plenty of time. Where shall I meet you?”
“I’ll find you. Virginia City isn’t that big.”
Lorna nodded and Darren turned his attention to parking the wagon at the livery. He jumped down and then came around to give Lorna a hand as she climbed down. She stepped away from him once her feet were on the ground and made a point of dusting off her skirt.
“Thank you,” she murmured, then pointed to the left. “The mercantile is that way?”
Darren nodded and watched her as she took off in that direction, keeping her head down as she passed people. He blew out a breath and then headed across the street to the sheriff’s office.
He stepped inside and nodded at the man sitting behind the wooden desk. “Sheriff Chisholm.”
“Darren? I didn’t expect to see you back in town so soon.”
Darren nodded and then got right to the point. “What are you intending to do about the outlaw gang that has been infiltrating Virginia City these last few months? I heard they were riding through town shooting their guns off yesterday. Does someone else have to get injured or killed before you do something?” His voice was irritated, but he didn’t apologize.
Just talking about the outlaw
s brought back memories of his brother. Mark should have been the one standing here, not him. Mark had always been able to convince the aging sheriff to take action. Darren didn’t have the same rapport with the stubborn old man.
Sheriff Chisholm shook his head and started to speak, but the sound of gunshots coming from the street caused both men to turn toward the door. Darren turned to look at the sheriff, who was acting very jittery all of a sudden and bumbling around as he tried to find his gun.
“You going to go check that out?” Darren inquired.
A Bride to Heal His Broken Heart Page 4
