Wife on His Doorstep

by Patricia Johns

  She nodded then grimaced at the movement.

  “A simple ja would do,” he said gently. “You mustn’t move or you might injure yourself further.”

  “I’m fine.”

  “Let’s let the doctor decide that, hmm?”

  Releasing the reins, Lucy closed her eyes as she sensed him leave her. She felt her rising panic again when he didn’t immediately return. “Gabriel?”

  “I’m here.” His head popped up on her side. “Took care of Blackie.” He frowned as his gaze settled on her forehead. “I was on my way home from the lumberyard. I’m going to shore up the buggy on this side with a two-by-six I have in the back of my buggy. It should just about be long enough.”

  Gabriel disappeared from sight. Lucy took a calming breath and shut her eyes. When she could see him, she felt better. She gasped, startled, and opened her eyes to find him leaning inside the buggy, his head close to her. “I’m going to wedge the board between your buggy and the ground,” he said softly. “It hasn’t rained all week. The dirt should be hard enough to hold the weight.” He studied her with a frown. “Lucy, are you with me?”

  She met his worried gaze. “Ja, I’m here.”

  He smiled. “Give me a minute. The carriage may shift a bit. Don’t panic. Ja?”

  “I understand.”

  “Gut girl,” he praised.

  The buggy shifted, and Lucy instinctively grabbed onto the edge of the seat with both hands. She gasped as pain surged through her right wrist. She fought back tears but held on.

  He rose to his feet, peered in at her. “That should hold but it’s best if I bring you out the opposite side.”

  The street side, Lucy thought. The sound of an engine broke the silence. She tensed, locking gazes with Gabriel before he turned to face the approaching vehicle. She detected a harsh, high-pitched sound as if the vehicle was braking hard, and she closed her eyes and prayed. Please, Lord, save us. Gabriel was in as much danger as she if her buggy was hit again.

  When she opened her eyes, Gabriel was walking away until she could no longer see him. The sound of male voices rumbled in her ears before he returned with an Englisher.

  “Don’t you worry, miss. We’ll get you out in a sec.” The man was big, gruff and tattooed. He wore a baseball cap with the brim turned backward, a dark T-shirt and jeans. His appearance should have frightened her, but as he smiled at her, she wasn’t afraid. “Bert Hadden, miss,” he introduced himself as he stood beside Gabriel.

  Her attention shifted to Gabriel, who captured her gaze reassuringly. “Gabriel,” she whispered.

  “I’ve got you, Lucy,” he assured her. “Bert is going to give us some help. He’s called someone with a horse trailer to take care of Blackie for us.”

  “My brother-in-law,” Bert explained. “He and I own a farm less than a mile from here.” He grinned, displaying stained, uneven teeth, but there was something about him that convinced her he was harmless. “How did this happen?” he asked as Gabriel skirted her vehicle to the other side.

  “Blackie got spooked after a car hit the back end of my buggy.”

  “And the driver didn’t stop?”

  “Nay. He kept going.”

  “Can you give a description? We need to tell the police.”

  “She will when she’s ready,” Gabriel said. “If she remembers what the car looked like.” He unlatched the door. “Bert, make sure the buggy is braced well. I’ve got another two-by-six if we need it.”

  “Right.” Bert grinned at her.

  Gabriel slowly climbed into the buggy. The vehicle shifted under his weight, and Lucy inhaled sharply. “Bert?” he called.

  “It’s fine, Gabe. The board—she’s gonna hold.” Bert propped his body against the outer wall of the buggy to further brace it.

  “Lucy, slide my way if you can,” Gabriel urged with one hand extended toward her.

  Through every inch she slid her sore body, she fought back tears.

  “Stop,” he said gently. “Rest easy now. ’Tis oll recht. I’ve got you.” He carefully maneuvered closer then paused as if to gauge the seriousness of her injuries. He gave a nod, apparently satisfied that he could move her. “Lucy, lean toward me a little.”

  She did as he asked. The vehicle rocked a bit. “It’s okay,” Bert called out. “She’s holding steady.”

  With her gaze focused on Gabriel, Lucy pushed up with her hands to stand, then cried out when a sharp pain in her wrist stopped her. “I’m oll recht,” she assured him. “Just give me a minute.”

  “Need help?” Bert asked, his head appearing briefly in the window on Lucy’s other side.

  “We’re fine,” Gabriel assured him.

  Using only her left hand, Lucy managed to move a few inches closer to Gabriel. She started to rise and nearly fell back onto the seat, but he reached out to steady her.

  “I have you.” He slipped his arms around then beneath her and lifted her.

  “You okay in there?” Bert asked.

  “All gut. Coming out now.” Cradling her against his chest, Gabriel turned and, clearly mindful of her injuries, carried her slowly to the street side of the buggy.

  Bert was there as Gabriel was ready to step down with her in his arms. “I can take her.”

  Gabriel shook his head. “I’ve got her.” She heard his sharp intake of breath and saw him grimace as he stepped down, still carrying her weight. Bert reached out to steady him. With the man’s help, Gabriel lowered her to the ground.

  “I called 9-1-1,” Bert said gruffly.

  Flashing lights in the distance with a short burst of a siren drew her attention. The emergency vehicle pulled up and parked in front of Lucy’s buggy. Two paramedics got out and ran in their direction with a medical bag. Lucy was unsteady on her feet, and Gabriel held her up with his arm around her. “You should sit,” he said worriedly.

  She met his gaze. “I’ll be oll recht.”

  “I know you will,” he whispered in her ear, and his breath against it made her shiver.

  “Ma’am, we need to examine you. You need to sit or lie down.”

  Before she could answer, Gabriel lifted her up into his arms again. “Gabriel!” she gasped. Ignoring her outcry, he carried her to his buggy where he set her in the open doorway.

  He stepped back, his expression shuttered. He moved out of the way, and the female EMT took his place.

  “Can you tell me what happened?” she asked as she opened her medical bag and pulled out a stethoscope.

  “My buggy was hit by a car. I was forced off the road. The driver didn’t stop.”

  The woman nodded as she listened first to her baby bump then to her heart, and finally she placed the listening device to her neck and throat. “Your baby’s heartbeat is strong,” she said with a smile as she put her medical equipment back in her bag. “You need an ultrasound to be sure he’s fine.”

  Lucy nodded. “All right.”

  “Where do you hurt?” she asked. “You bumped your head.” She examined the injury. “A little cut. Looks like the wound bled, but bleeding’s stopped.” She checked Lucy’s eyes with a small flashlight. “Headache?”

  “A little one coming on.” Lucy saw the other paramedic talking with her rescuer. “I hit my right side. It hurts but I don’t think it’s bad. My right arm hurts, but now I think it’s my wrist that’s injured. I couldn’t use it when I tried to push myself up to stand. I had to use my left.”

  The paramedic grasped her right hand. She gently manipulated her wrist, and Lucy inhaled sharply. “Can you move your fingers?” Lucy did. “Good. Let’s check your elbow and shoulder.” A moment later she declared, “They look good, as well. You’ll need an X-ray, but nothing seems broken. You most likely have a sprained wrist. We’ll need to make sure.” The woman smiled. “You’re lucky, Lucy. I’ve been on the scene of many buggy accidents, and most ha
ve more tragic results.”

  “I know.” She recalled one such terrible accident that had killed a member of her church community back in Indiana, where she’d spent her childhood.

  Gabriel bent as if to pick her up again, but she held up her good hand. “I can stand,” she assured him. She stared at her buggy. “How bad?”

  “Broken axle,” he told her quietly. “Body is in good shape, though.”

  She met his gaze, nodded. “Could have been worse.”

  * * *

  Gabriel studied Lucy and the wild beating of his heart subsided a little. When he’d spied the damaged buggy in the ditch, he’d feared the worst. And when he saw she was pregnant, stark terror struck him.

  “You’ll see a doctor soon,” he said reassuringly. He’d worry until he knew for certain that she was all right. She looked at him, her big beautiful blue eyes filled with gratitude, and he shifted uncomfortably.

  “An ambulance is on its way,” the male paramedic said. “Lucy, you need to go to the emergency room.”

  As if summoned, flashing lights and the whine of a siren heralded the ambulance’s arrival.

  “I’d rather go to the clinic down the road. I have a doctor there. She can help me. I promise I’ll go to the hospital if she tells me to.”

  The paramedics exchanged a look.

  “We’ll take you there by ambulance,” the woman insisted. “No arguments.”

  Lucy nodded. She grabbed on to Gabriel’s arm. “Would you go with me?”

  “Do you need me to get in touch with your husband?” he asked quietly.

  She shook her head, briefly averting her gaze. “I... I’m a widow.”

  He felt a jolt; he knew what it was to be hurt and alone. “I’m sorry,” he said softly. “I’ll go if you want me to.”

  “Danki,” she whispered, her blue eyes filling with relief.

  “I’ll be right back,” he said. “Know anyone who can drive my buggy?” After only two months in New Berne, he was familiar with the medical building with doctors’ offices and an urgent care facility. He’d become a patient of a neurologist and a burn specialist because of severe injuries he’d suffered during a house fire.

  “I’ll do it. I know horses,” Bert told him. “Drive lots of wagons. I’ll be happy to drive it home for you.” He smiled. “I’ll call my nephew. He can bring me back for my pickup. And I’ll arrange for my brother-in-law to bring your horse home in his trailer. What’s the address?”

  Gabriel looked at Lucy, who gave Bert her address. He was surprised that she lived about a half mile down the road from him.

  “I don’t know how to thank you, Bert,” Lucy said.

  The gruff Englisher smiled. “You just did.” He shot Gabriel a glance. “You take care of her, and I’ll take care of everything else.”

  The ambulance driver parked and the female EMT swung open the double rear doors. Two ambulance workers pulled out a stretcher and carried it in Lucy’s direction.

  “Are you sure you want me to go with you?” Gabriel asked.

  She nodded. “Please. I don’t know what I would have done if you hadn’t stopped to help me.”

  The two paramedics helped to lower Lucy onto the stretcher. “Gabriel stays with me,” Lucy told him.

  It looked as if one of the ambulance workers would object, but then the female medic said, “He can go.” The attendants lifted Lucy into the back of the vehicle. They climbed in after her and waited for Gabriel to get in before closing the doors.

  When he woke up this morning, Gabriel never thought he’d end up rescuing a woman he’d never met and staying with her while she went to the doctor.

  For the first time in a long time, he felt almost...normal. Lucy hadn’t been repulsed by his visible burn scar, and it made him feel good.

  Copyright © 2021 by Rebecca Kertz

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  ISBN-13: 9781488071133

  Wife on His Doorstep

  Copyright © 2021 by Patricia Johns

  All rights reserved. No part of this book may be used or reproduced in any manner whatsoever without written permission except in the case of brief quotations embodied in critical articles and reviews.

  This is a work of fiction. Names, characters, places and incidents are either the product of the author’s imagination or are used fictitiously. Any resemblance to actual persons, living or dead, businesses, companies, events or locales is entirely coincidental.

  This edition published by arrangement with Harlequin Books S.A.

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