ROMANCE: Badass Boss (Billionaire Alpha Bad Boy Romance) (Western Mail Order Bride Calendar Contemporary)

by Susan Fleming

  Chapter 4

  They Will Rest From Their Labor

  Nathaniel leapt down from the horse and headed for the cabin door, leaving the Doc. to help himself down. Opening the door, Nathaniel ran to Abigail’s side, clutching her hand in his.

  “Abigail?” Her skin was now whiter than white and so damp with sweat that she had drenched the bed sheets.

  “Abigail? Can you hear me?” Nathaniel shook her gently as he squeezed her hand in his. She didn’t respond, her shallow breathing becoming more labored by the second.

  “Abigail, the Doc. is here, he’s going to fix you right up, don’t you worry. Just hang on. Hang on for me!” Nathaniel moved to the side, still clutching Abigail’s hand as the Doc. moved in with his bag in hand.

  “Nathaniel, the poison has already begun to take effect.” Doc. Jacobson looked at Nathaniel doubtfully. Nathaniel clenched his jaw and his nostrils flared. Doc. Jacobson knew that he had no choice but to do something for Abigail, even if it didn’t work, he had to let Nathaniel know that he had tried.

  Doc. Jacobson unclipped his bag and reached inside. A few moments later he pulled out a large blade.”

  “Show me where she was bitten.” He said. Nathaniel lifted Abigail’s dress to her knees giving the Doc. a glance at the tourniquet.

  “It was on her left calf, here. I didn’t take off her boots.” The Doc. nodded, perhaps the girl had a chance after all. He carefully began to unlace her left boot. Underneath the boot, the Doc. found no sock, just a swelling calf with a large purple blemish which appeared to be growing before his eyes.

  “Turn away.” Doc. Jacobson instructed Nathaniel. Nathaniel shook his head. The Doc. sighed in frustration as he took the knife and cut a large ‘X’ into Abigail’s leg. The wound bubbled with a mixture of blood and clear fluid and wiping it once on the bedsheet, the Doc. bent down and put his mouth on the wound. Nathaniel felt his stomach turn as he watched the Doc. Suck at the wound before turning and spitting the fluid on to the cabin floor. He repeated the process four times, each time the fluid that he spat on to the floor became redder. When he had sucked the wound for the fourth time, the Doc. reached into his pocket, pulled out his handkerchief and wiped his mouth.

  “Will she be okay, Doc.?” Nathaniel asked hopefully. The Doc. shook his head.

  “There is no telling just yet. She is a strong woman but I have never seen anyone survive a bite with treatment this long after a bite.” The Doc. looked down at the belt still wrapped tightly around Abigail’s leg. “But you may just have made the difference.” He reached over and slowly loosened the belt before sliding it off her leg completely.

  “What do we do now?” Nathaniel asked.

  “I must clean the wound and the rest is in the Lord’s hands.” Setting the belt on the end of the bed, the Doc. rummaged through his bag again. This time he pulled out a small amber bottle and a piece of white cloth. He found himself thanking God that Abigail was unconscious as he dabbed the top of the opened bottle with the cloth and then held it to her wounded leg. Abigail flinched.

  “Mmmm…” She threw her arm across her forehead as she moaned. Nathaniel squeezed her other hand in his.

  “It’s okay, Abigail. I’m right here with you.”

  “Mmmm…” She moaned and then fell limp. Doc. Jacobson put his fingers to her throat and then nodded. Nathaniel heaved a sigh of relief.

  “She’ll need to rest. Plenty of water and broth. I’ll leave you a salve to put on the wound twice daily. If you have any horehound, make her a tea and feed it to her as often as you can.” Nathaniel nodded.

  “Thank you Doc. Would you please inform my mother and father that I will be staying with Miss. Abbott for a while until she is recovered?” The Doc. nodded.

  “Your father will be shorthanded, you know.” Nathaniel shook his head.

  “I will come to town each day while she sleeps. My father cannot manage the land alone and my family cannot be without the money the land brings.” Doc. Jacobson nodded. Putting the amber bottle back into his bag along with the knife he had used to cut Abigail’s leg, the Doc. fumbled around again. Eventually he pulled out a small pot and handed it to Nathaniel.

  “Put this salve on her wound twice a day, it will draw out any remaining venom from her blood.” Nathaniel nodded and unscrewing the lid he smelled the salve. It was the most diabolical thing that he had ever smelled before and he quickly put the lid back on it. “If you need more just call in on me in the surgery and I will mix it up for you.” Nathaniel nodded again. “Now, I take it that you would like me to return Mr. Hardy’s horse?”

  “Please. If he is upset that we took her please tell him that I will pay him what I can for her service.” The Doc. nodded and lifting his hat off his head, he bid Nathaniel adieu.

  After Doc. Jacobson had left, Nathaniel added another small piece of wood to the stove fire. The small pile beside it would never last the night if he wasn’t careful to manage it well. He didn’t much care to head out to the back of the house as the sun was falling however, there had been too many coyotes milling around as of late. Normally such a thing wouldn’t have deterred him, but now with Abigail to care for he couldn’t take the risk of an attack.

  On the front porch beside the door, Nathaniel had dropped the burlap sack off his belt loop before he had rushed in to town. Rather than let the raccoon serve as bait for something larger, he went out to the porch and fetched it in.

  Although skilled with land and with trapping, Nathaniel had never skinned nor gutted an animal in his life. As ‘woman’s work’ it had always been his mother who had prepared their catches for the meal. Still, he pulled his hunting knife from his boot and with two large bowls in front of him, he began to prepare the raccoon.

  Chapter 5

  When They Drink Deadly Poison

  Abigail Abbott slept through the night fitfully. Nathaniel had propped himself up against the front wall of the cabin so that he could be close at hand should she need anything. By the time morning came, he was both sore and tired but determined that he would make this new schedule work for the sake of Abigail.

  “Abigail?” Nathaniel whispered. She didn’t stir. He decided to let her rest while he searched through the various pots in the kitchen for some horehound. After finding what he was looking for he sprinkled some into a cup and put some water on the boil. He knew that he would have to get back into town soon, but first he had to make sure that Abigail had been taken care of.

  When the tea had steeped he brought it, along with another cup of just water, to Abigail’s bedside.

  “Abigail?” Setting the cups on a small table behind the head of the bed, he shook her gently. “Abigail, you must wake up.”

  “Mmmm…” She groaned and her forehead wrinkled.

  “I know it’s painful. I need you to wake up and take your tea. The Doc. said it would help.”

  “Mmmm mmmm.” She shook her head. Nathaniel could see that this wasn’t going to be as easy as he had expected. Perching on the edge of the bed he placed his hands under her armpits and with one big heave he lifted her to a sitting position.

  “You must. There is no choice.” The wrinkles in her forehead got deeper as she frowned harder and then she cracked her eyes open.

  “Mmmm” she groaned again. Nathaniel chuckled at her as she pressed her lips together in refusal.

  “We can do this the hard way Miss. Abigail, or we can do it the easy way.” He reached over and picked up the cup of horehound tea. “Your choice…” He offered her the cup and with a look of pure hatred for him, she took it. “Good. Now I need to dress your wound while you sip on that.” Abigail frowned and then looked down at her leg. Her eyes widened with surprise as she saw the large ‘X’ cut into her leg. “The Doc. had to get the poison out.” Nathaniel said as he took the salve off the small table behind the bed. “This will draw out any remaining venom, it’s to be applied twice daily so I will do it once now and once when I return from father’s farm.”

  “You don�
��t have to take care of me. I’m not a child.” Abigail said stubbornly. Nathaniel unscrewed the cap of the salve and stuck his finger into the jar.

  “You might not be a child, but you need someone to take care of you. So what I need you to do is to stop being so hardheaded and to let me do that.” Abigail flinched as Nathaniel reached down and rubbed the salve on to the open wound on her leg.

  “Ouch!” Nathaniel looked up apologetically before putting more salve on her wound. “For the love of everything holy Nathaniel Hendricks!” She jerked her leg and Nathaniel pulled back.

  “There, you’re done.” Abigail glared at him, the wound on her leg throbbing. “Now, I must go into town to help my father, but I will be back in a few hours to check on you. Until then you should drink your tea and I have left you a cup of water on the table as well. You are not to get out of bed, do you understand me?” Abigail clenched her jaw, she hated nothing worse than being told not to do something. “Miss. Abigail?” She nodded reluctantly. “Is there anything else that I can get for you before I leave?” Nathaniel stood up from the bed. Abigail looked at him and opened her mouth before closing it again. “What is it?”

  “I need…” Her voice grew quiet and her cheeks blushed. “Umm…I…umm…” Nathaniel had never seen Abigail speechless before and he found the novelty entertaining.

  “Yes?” He asked expectantly.

  “I have to use the facilities.” She finally blurted out in a hushed voice. Nathaniel nodded.

  “There is a pan under the bed.” Abigail wrinkled her nose. She had cleaned plenty of bed pans when her father was ill but the thought of using one herself made her feel queasy.

  “You are not to get out of bed under any circumstances.” Abigail sighed. “I will empty the pan when I return to check on you. Until then you should have everything that you need.” Nathaniel waited for her to nod in affirmation and then with one last warning glance at Abigail, he left for Bodie.

  Chapter 6

  For the Lord Shall Renew Their Strength

  Days turned into weeks and weeks turned into months as Abigail Abbott recovered from the bite of the rattlesnake. It was over this time that she and Nathaniel began to know each other a little better. When the day came that Abigail was finally able to walk well and return to tending to her duties, she was almost sad to see Nathaniel go.

  “I think perhaps you are strong enough now to be without me here.” Nathaniel said as they sat at the kitchen table. Abigail sipped on her horehound tea.

  “Perhaps just one more week?” she said as she placed her cup down. Nathaniel looked at her with kindness in his eyes.

  “Miss. Abigail, we both know that the people in Bodie have been talking. It does not do for an unmarried man and an unmarried woman to bed in the same home. It is for the best that I return to my father’s farm lest your reputation as an honest woman be ruined.” Abigail nodded.

  “I know that you are right, Nathaniel and I know that the Lord would not wish for us to dishonor the sanctity of marriage…but I am afraid that without you here I might not be able to manage alone.” Nathaniel smiled.

  “Do you remember the day that I came up here? The day that you were bitten?” Abigail nodded slowly.

  “I think so…”

  “That day you were the most steadfast woman that I know. When I offered to help you with your chores, you would only accept my help in return for your own assistance with my dusty lungs. You are not a woman who needs assistance, Miss. Abigail.” Abigail nodded and picked up her cup of tea, holding it between her hands. She looked down into her mug in silence for a few moments.

  “But perhaps, Nathaniel, I am a woman who needs company…” She lifted her head, her cheeks colored pink. Nathaniel nodded.

  “I think we all need company, Miss. Abigail. I would be happy to visit you after my work is complete at the farm, but I must return home after I do.” Abigail smiled at him.

  “I would like that.”

  That night as Abigail lay in her small iron framed bed against the wall of the cabin, she strained her eyes through the darkness. Against the wall she could make out the silhouette of Nathaniel as he slept at the foot of her bed. It had been too late for him to make the trek back in to Bodie without the risk of attack from wild animals, so he had agreed to stay until the morning came.

  Abigail listened to the rhythmic inhale and exhale of his breathing as she stared at him. She didn’t want him to leave, she didn’t want to live alone again.

  The past few months, as sick as she had been, had been joyful in his company. She had once again felt the warmth of having someone to care for and someone to share the burden of her father’s land. But she had asked him to stay and he had told her that he could not, what more could she do? As she listened to him breathing she imagined being blessed with that sound for all the days of her life.

  Never had Abigail given thought to the idea of marriage before she had become ill. Certainly it was something for the other women of the village, but Abigail had spent all of her life caring for her father. After he had died, she had no idea how to procure a husband of her own and as a result she had hardened herself to the idea. She had taught herself to be the man and the woman of the home and she had worked hard to maintain her estate. Now that she had had a taste of what domestic life could be however, she found her heart longing for the constant of that companionship.

  As her eyes slowly began to close, Abigail found herself imagining a life with Nathaniel by her side. A life in the small cabin. A life where she would never have to be the man of the house again.

  When the sun rose in the morning, Nathaniel was already pulling on his boots to head back in to Bodie. As Abigail sat up in bed she saw him walking for the door.

  “Goodbye Nathaniel.” He turned, startled by her voice.

  “I thought I should get an early start. I will come to see you when I have finished work.” He assured her. Abigail smiled softly.

  “I will look forward to it.” Nathaniel opened the front door. “Nathaniel?” He looked back at her. “Would you like to have dinner with me tonight?” Abigail could feel herself blushing, it just wasn’t proper for a woman to have to ask a man to dinner.

  “That would be nice, Abigail.” He nodded and walked out of the door closing it behind him. Abigail sat in bed smiling, for once he had called her Abigail instead of Miss. Abigail. He had done it while she had been sick, she remembered hearing his voice through the feverish haze. She much preferred the informality of being Abigail. When he called her Miss. It made her feel like a teacher rather than a friend. Over the months, Nathaniel had most definitely become a friend and she hoped that she had become one to him too…perhaps even more.

  After getting herself dressed, Abigail set about her chores, all the while thinking about Nathaniel. As she collected the eggs from the chicken coop she thought of the pie crust that she could make with them. As she chopped wood for the wood burning stove, she thought of the pie she would cook with it. As she checked the traps for game, she thought of the luscious filling she would put in that pie.

  The contents of the traps yielded two rabbits, enough to fill a rather large pie which would feed both of them for a couple of days. Abigail smiled to herself at the thought of being able to lure Nathaniel back with a second dinner from the pie. She would mention to him that if he did not return, then the pie would only go to waste. Then she frowned.

  A God fearing woman would never be so manipulative. What was happening to her? Abigail wondered if perhaps such manipulation done out of love was as frowned up as any other type of manipulation. When she had trouble answering the question for herself she decided that it probably was, and that she should refrain from offering Nathaniel a second night of pie.

  Chapter 7

  Two Are Better Than One

  The knock at the door startled Abigail Abbott as she was setting out spoons on the table. She had been expecting Nathaniel, but the house had been so silent when he had knocked that the knock had seemed much loud
er than it actually was.

  Abigail brushed her palms over the front of her apron, straightening it before she opened the front door. When she saw Nathaniel she smiled and invited him in. It had felt as though he had been gone for weeks.

  “Tell me, Nathaniel, how was your day?” Abigail went to the stove and took the rabbit pie from it. As Nathaniel sat down at the table, she placed the pie in the center of it and took the lid off the pot.

  “Oh that smells delicious!” Nathaniel exclaimed, his eyes glistening. Abigail smiled as she fetched a large spoon and began to spoon the pie on to the two plates. “Thank you, Abigail.” Nathaniel watched her spoon out the food.

  “Work was just fine. Plenty of potatoes this year…like every other year!” Nathaniel chuckled and Abigail joined him in his laughter. “Still, no crop is a bad crop as long as there is edible yield.” Abigail nodded in agreement as she sat down across from Nathaniel.