It hadn’t taken very long to care for the animal, but the brief interlude had been surprisingly restful. There was something so calming about animals, Wyatt mused. Much more so than people, he thought before reminding himself that he would still like to have an actual person around. Family, while quite able to make you a little crazy at times, was really at the heart of all that is good in life. And he didn’t have any. You could hardly count third cousins out East. Although, he would take even them at this point, since he was beginning to annoy himself with his lonely whining. Hopefully a good night’s sleep would put an end to his whiney ramblings.
He finally made his way into the house, taking his boots off at the door, as though he could still hear Patricia’s command to do so.
What was it about today that made her so tenaciously stuck in his thoughts? He passed her favorite watercolor on the way to the kitchen. Is it any wonder, since her marks were still everywhere in his life? The painting of the small child reminded him of the little girl he had seen that day. Patricia would have loved her. If only he had been able to convince her to adopt.
With a sigh, Wyatt pushed away thoughts of his wife and proceeded to conclude his long day with an egg sandwich then climbed into bed. Morning was sure to come quickly with another long day to follow.
~~~
The following afternoon, Wyatt was surprised to run into his mystery woman when he stopped in to check on old Mrs. Jenkins.
“I’m sorry if I’ve arrived at an inconvenient time, Mrs. Jenkins. I’m happy, though, to see that you have a visitor.”
“Isn’t it something, Dr. Jeffries? My daughter-in-law has hired this lovely young lady to make me a new dress. Sue thinks it will make me feel better. I don’t know what goes through that woman’s head sometimes,” the cranky old lady chuckled. “As if new clothes can make me forget about these terrible sores. But having Katie here visiting me sure isn’t a hardship.”
Wyatt couldn’t do anything but grin, which brought a wicked twinkle into the old woman’s eyes. “Have you had the pleasure of meeting the town’s new seamstress, doctor?”
“No, ma’am, I have not,” he replied, taking the opportunity to shake the pretty brunette’s hand. “Doctor Jeffries, at your service, ma’am.”
He almost laughed over the comical look on the young woman’s face. She had avoided introducing herself when they had first encountered one another. He wondered how she would handle Mrs. Jenkins’ introduction. He wasn’t left in suspense.
While offering him the briefest smile, she actually dipped into a slight curtsy, much to his surprise. “How do you do, doctor?”
Mrs. Jenkins took exception to her lack of elaboration. “Tell the man your name, girl. You couldn’t do any better than snapping up the handsome single doctor.” She cackled while the seamstress’ face flamed.
“My name is Mrs. Kate Carter.”
“Never mind with the Mrs., Kate, you know you’re a widow. What you need is a fine, young husband to look after you,” the older woman declared. “None better than our handsome doctor.”
Wyatt wasn’t sure how to put the poor woman at ease. Her face was so red, he worried for her health. But he knew from experience there was little one could do to stop Mrs. Jenkins when she was on a roll. He had thought Mrs. Carter timid, so he was surprised when she spoke up.
“Actually, Mrs. Jenkins, I do not need a husband to look after me. I am quite capable of taking care of myself and my new daughter on my own. I have had the experience of being married. I can assure you that I do not care to repeat it.” Wyatt was affronted by her vehemence but had to smile when he observed her struggle to control the strength of her reaction. She must have realized it would not do to offend her client. She offered the old woman a sweet smile while she laid her hand gently on her arm. Wyatt wished he could feel that pleasant pressure himself, despite her declaration of having no wish to remarry.
“It is kind of you to be concerned about me and Annie, though, Mrs. Jenkins. Thank you for that.” She cast a quick glance in Wyatt’s direction. He would have never noticed if he hadn’t been watching her so closely. He wished fervently that he didn’t find her quite so charming. The lady continued talking.
“Now Mrs. Jenkins, since the doctor is here, would you prefer I come back some other time? I have no wish to invade your privacy.”
“Never mind about my privacy. If you’re going to be taking my measurements, you’ll be seeing everything the doctor needs to look at anyway. We can kill two birds with one stone. Works out pretty convenient for me, I’d say.”
Wyatt suppressed his grin at Mrs. Carter’s obvious discomfort. She tried to hide it with brisk speech while she stood.
“Very well, Mrs. Jenkins. Since we no doubt do not wish to preoccupy the busy doctor, shall I help you undress?”
“You’re a good girl, aren’t you, Kate? Even if you have strange notions.” The old woman cackled again as the color rose in the seamstress’ cheeks anew. “Pull me to my feet, and we’ll get this over with.”
Mrs. Carter made short work of getting Mrs. Jenkins on her feet and her dress removed, leaving the older woman in a loose shift. The younger woman then looked quite uncomfortable as to what to do with herself. Mrs. Jenkins solved that.
“Make yourself useful, girl, and put the kettle on to boil. We can offer the doctor a cup of tea before he leaves.”
Wyatt was torn between his desire to spend more time with the woman and wanting to put her at ease from her obvious reluctance to spend time with him. He stifled his grin and waited to see what she would do.
Her color remained high, but she did nothing besides offering the old woman a brief nod and hurrying to the stove. It was obvious she was relieved to be away from the doctor’s examination. Wyatt wondered if she had an equal distaste for doctors as her daughter expressed. Or if it was just one particular doctor who made her uncomfortable.
He grinned when his eyes encountered Mrs. Jenkins’ shrewd gaze. She surprised him by not saying anything, containing herself to a suggestive wiggle of her eyebrows. Wyatt winked at her but merely murmured his instructions regarding his examination. He was relieved to see that the salve he had left for her was obviously having an effect, since he was only able to apply, at best, half his attention to the matter at hand. The rest of his attention was listening for Mrs. Carter’s activities in the kitchen area.
The doctor heartily wished he could watch the young woman. There was nothing more beautiful, in his opinion, than a woman bustling about the kitchen. That is where he longed for a woman of his own, in his lonely home, keeping his kitchen smelling delicious. Obviously the widowed seamstress would disagree with his viewpoint.
Wyatt finished his examination of Mrs. Jenkins just as the kettle whistled. He was surprised to see that the seamstress had placed some cookies on a plate and arranged all the fixings for tea on a tray, even though it had been obvious she didn’t want to prolong her time with him. He admired her gumption, even though he disagreed with her philosophy.
~~~
Katie wholeheartedly wished the doctor had timed his visit differently. If only he were old. Or ugly. Or married. Or any number of things, really. It was strange that she had encountered him, already, a number of times. There were many townspeople she had yet to meet. Ones who could be potential clients. Not handsome, single doctors who were of no use to her. She had absolutely no interest in feeling any sort of attraction to the man.
She had learned early in life that wishing things certainly did not make them happen, so she had taken a deep breath and set to the task Mrs. Jenkins had assigned her. If she made quick work of it, hopefully the doctor would move along to his next patient and she could get her client sorted in time to collect Annie from school. The poor dear had been so apprehensive about her first day, Katie certainly didn’t want to be late.
“Thank you, dear,” Mrs. Jenkins smiled at her as she poured her a cup of tea. “You did a good job in my kitchen, despite your independent ideas of having a career
.”
Katie laughed. She wasn’t offended by the old woman’s words. She knew her refusal to remarry was a little unusual, but this was 1854 for heaven’s sake. It was perfectly acceptable for a woman to be independent and rely on herself rather than a husband.
“I consider that high praise coming from you, Mrs. Jenkins, thank you.” With no desire to talk about herself and even less to show any interest in the doctor, Katie turned the subject. “Have you always lived her in Bucklin?”
“No. My dearly departed Mr. Jenkins brought me out here from the East when we married.”
“Was it a big adjustment for you?”
“Probably not as much as an adjustment as you’ll be going through being from the big city. I grew up on a farm, so it wasn’t so different. But of course, Bucklin barely existed when I arrived, so we had to make do with no stores and no train. I came by stagecoach. It took days on end. Not like it is with the train now. We’ve become so modern.”
Katie had to laugh again. Mrs. Jenkins was quite right. Bucklin, Missouri was nothing like New York City. If she thought this was modern, Katie shuddered to think what it was like when Mrs. Jenkins first arrived. But she couldn’t say that.
“It must have been so exciting to see the changes.”
“I don’t know about exciting, but I guess it’s been interesting,” was all the cranky woman would allow.
Finally, politeness would not allow Katie to ignore the doctor any longer. She would have to talk to him.
“Have you always lived in Bucklin, Doctor Jenkins?”
“No, ma’am. I grew up not far from where Mrs. Jenkins is from, in fact. Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania. Have you ever been there?”
Katie just shook her head. “I’ve never been anywhere but New York until coming here.”
“This is quite a change for you, then, isn’t it?”
She couldn’t tell if it was censure or admiration in his voice. She felt her chin rising.
“I am quite convinced that experiencing new things causes character growth.” Katie didn’t want to feel charmed when he grinned at her and nodded his agreement. She turned her face away, not wanting to admire how handsome he was. She ignored the flutter of attraction in her belly.
Her eyes encountered Mrs. Jenkins’ shrewd gaze and she couldn’t prevent her mouth from returning the old lady’s crooked smile.
Chapter Six
K atie needed to extricate herself from the awkward encounter but wasn’t sure how she would accomplish it. The doctor looked unfortunately comfortable in Mrs. Jenkins’ lacy room with a cup of tea in his large hand and a plate of cookies balanced on his knee.
She had hoped to get Mrs. Jenkins’ measurements done, but to do so, she would have to wait for the doctor to leave. While he obviously didn’t mind the sight of the old woman in her shift, it just didn’t strike Katie as seemly. She felt a sigh rising up from her toes and tried to stifle it.
She must not have been successful as Katie could feel the doctor’s eyes upon her, speculating. He tossed back the rest of his tea, placed the cup on the nearest table, grabbed another cookie from the plate, and got to his feet.
“Thank you for the tea, ladies. It has been a pleasure, but I ought to be on my way. I have more patients to visit before the sun sets.”
Katie felt her cheeks warm at the thought that he might be leaving to make her more comfortable. Why would the man do that? She had never experienced any man putting a woman’s feelings before their own. She must be mistaken and he had caught sight of the clock and realized he ought to be going. Katie offered him a cool, polite smile as he came to shake her hand.
“It was a pleasure meeting you, Mrs. Carter. I’m certain our paths will cross again shortly.”
Katie merely nodded. She couldn’t say it was a pleasure, and he was probably correct. In such a small town, it was inevitable that they would meet on occasion.
He took his leave of Mrs. Jenkins and then left with only the slightest backward glance.
“You certainly know how to rid the room of an eligible gentleman,” Mrs. Jenkins observed drily.
Katie hoped her face projected the innocence that she felt. “I didn’t say a single word to send him on his way.”
Mrs. Jenkins harrumphed. “Well you certainly didn’t say a single word to make him stay, either, did you?”
Katie had to laugh but persisted in her claim of innocence. “The man is a doctor and ought to be seeing to his patients rather than dallying with us.”
“He wasn’t dallying. It’s good for my health to be able to feast my eyes on such a fine specimen of a man.”
Katie laughed again. “Why, Mrs. Jenkins, that sounded almost poetic. Are you sweet on the doctor?”
Now the older woman guffawed. “He could be my grandson.”
“Hardly that, Mrs. Jenkins.”
“Well I am certainly at least old enough to be the man’s mother. I am most certainly not sweet on him,” she protested, but then had to add, “But I cannot claim to mind the man’s company.” Her gaze again turned shrewd. “Which is why I cannot fathom why you wouldn’t want the man to stick around. You won’t do any better than him in these parts.”
Katie merely offered a smile in return. “Well, then it’s a good thing that I am not in any need of a man or a doctor.” She then turned the subject. “Now shall we get on with our plans? Your daughter-in-law mentioned that you could use a couple of new day dresses. I must tell you that the selection at the mercantile, while limited, is of good quality. I will have no problem making you what you’d like. Did you have any particular colors in mind?”
With relief, Katie was finally able to turn the older woman’s attention away from the doctor and onto the matter at hand. Without too much more difficulty she had her measurements, color selections, and style determined. Katie promised to have the dresses ready within a week.
“Are you certain you can work that fast, girl? That seems like a rather optimistic estimate.”
“Oh, no, Mrs. Jenkins, I am certain to be finished by then. As you can imagine, since I’m new in town, I don’t have too many contracts arranged as yet. So your order will take priority.”
The older woman harrumphed again but seemed quite pleased at the thought of being anyone’s priority. “You make sure you allow enough time to chase after other clients though, too, young lady.”
Katie grinned. “It is kind of you to concern yourself. I will have a care. Now I must be going. It has been a pleasure, Mrs. Jenkins, but now I am off to collect Annie from school. It was her first day today.”
“Well why didn’t you say so? Get on with you, and take good care of that little one of yours.”
Katie smiled at the woman’s changeable demeanor. “Good day, Mrs. Jenkins. I will see you again soon.”
She then hurried to the school, hoping she’d make it on time. She had made quick work of gathering her things and taking her leave. With only one wrong turn, she arrived at the school breathless and only a minute or two late. But it was long enough to have worried the little girl.
Katie couldn’t bear the stricken look in Annie’s eyes. “I am so sorry, Annie. I got turned around on my way here and had to ask for help to find the school.” The little girl looked confused, and Katie offered her a twisted smile. “That’s the problem with us both being new to town. I wasn’t completely certain how to find you. But here we are, safe and sound. No harm done, right?”
The little girl still looked concerned but she answered Katie with a nod. Katie’s heart sank a little further. It was going to be difficult to entrap the child’s heart with her own. She had faced so much loss in her short life; Katie couldn’t really blame her for being skeptical about her adoptive mother’s intentions. Katie tried not to allow it to hurt her feelings; she was the adult in the situation after all. But she had her own losses to deal with and she couldn’t help wishing they both had an easier life to deal with. With a shake of her head, she gripped her satchel of supplies she had been showing Mrs. Jenkins a
little tighter and determined to overcome this little setback with her new daughter.
“So how did your first day of school go, anyway? What do you think of the teacher? Are there many children your age?”
Annie was reluctant to volunteer much information, but she did answer Katie’s questions. “It was all right. Mr Jones, the teacher, seems nice enough. There are three others my age, and another boy a year older but doing the same schoolwork as us. He was late starting school.”
“Do you know why?”
Annie shrugged. “I don’t think they lived here before.”
“So, you aren’t the only new one in the class. That’s good, right?”
Annie shrugged again.
“Do you like school, Annie? Are you going to be able to bear going there every day?”
They were walking slowly home, and Katie thought Annie wasn’t going to answer her last questions, so long was her silence. Finally the little girl looked up at her.
“I like to learn. But I worried about you all day.”
Katie’s heart dropped. “Oh, honey, it’s not your job to worry about me. It’s my job to worry about you.” She pulled the child into her side with her free arm. “You needn’t be worried about anything anymore. You’ve got me. And even Miss Melly. It’s your job to be a little girl and have fun, not to worry about the adults.”
“But what if something happened to you, and you didn’t show up?”
Katie kept her arm tightly around the little girl. Dropping her satchel, she crouched down to be on eye level with her.
“Annie, my dear, I cannot promise that nothing bad will ever again happen in your life, but we aren’t in New York anymore. The air is clean and healthy here. I’m strong and healthy. You’re young and healthy. I’m quite certain we are going to be perfectly fine here together. But you’re right, since I am on my own as the adult in our relationship, I ought to make some legal arrangements for someone to care for you if something did happen to me. But I can promise you this, I will do everything in my power to make sure nothing does happen to me, all right? And I promise not to be late again for picking you up from the school.”
Orphan Train Series Boxed Set: Books 1 - 4 Page 20
