The Marshal Takes A Bride

by Sylvia McDaniel

  The marshal nodded. “I understand. Like I said, the man may be getting married”

  “Keep me in mind,” Tucker said. “I’d like a different opportunity.”

  “I will.”

  A deputy suddenly burst into Tucker’s office, interrupting their conversation. “Marshal, come quick, there’s been an accident”

  Tucker stood and grabbed his hat “What kind of accident?”

  “It’s the doctor!”

  His heart skipped a beat as the image of Sarah splayed on the ground and bleeding came to mind. A shudder passed through him, and his legs felt leaden.

  “What happened?” he asked, moving toward the door.

  “Some rowdy cowboy shot off his pistol, and the doctor’s horse got spooked. Dragged the poor doctor for over a block before the man’s boot came off and released him from the stirrup. He’s hurt bad.”

  “Doc Wilson?”

  “Who else?” the deputy asked.

  Tucker ignored the man’s question. Relief that Sarah was unharmed went through him, and just as quickly he wanted to kick himself for jumping to the conclusion that she had been hurt.

  “Excuse me, Marshal McCoy, while I take care of business.”

  The marshal stood and nodded. “I’ve got to go anyway. We’ll get together for that beer before I leave town.”

  “Good to see you,” Tucker said, and hurried out the door to his office, walking briskly. He stopped outside the door of the jail and gave directions to his deputy. “Run down to the El Paso Hotel and tell Dr. Sarah James that I need her. Ask her to bring her medical bag.”

  “Sure thing, Marshal. The accident is one block over on Main Street in front of the Red Slipper Saloon. When I left, a crowd was gathering, and Charlie stayed with him.”

  Tucker sprinted the short distance to where the accident had occurred. When he arrived, Tucker knew the doctor was hurt badly as he lay unconscious, his leg twisted at an odd angle. Suddenly he was afraid for the man. What if he didn’t live?

  The town needed a doctor, and Doc Wilson was the only one they had. Who was going to deliver Rose’s baby if Doc Wilson died?

  Tucker pushed the thought out of his mind while he began clearing the people from around the older man. “Everyone step back and give the man some breathing room. We’ve got a doctor on the way.”

  “Who?” a man yelled from the crowd. “We don’t have another doc in town.”

  “Just step back,” Tucker said firmly.

  He glanced down the street and saw his deputy hurrying alongside Sarah, her black bag in hand. She was brisk and businesslike as she walked quickly down the street. She didn’t look like a doctor, but more like a refined lady, her blond hair swept off her neck with tendrils softly curling around her face.

  Tucker made room for her to come through the growing crowd, and she rushed past him to the prostrate doctor. She knelt beside the man, her full skirt flowing around her. She picked up his wrist and checked for a pulse.

  Softly she called, “Doc, can you hear me?”

  Receiving no response, she opened her bag, reached in and pulled out a vial of smelling salts. Quickly she passed the ammonia beneath the doc’s nose.

  He coughed and sputtered, but his eyes opened. “What in the hell? Where am I?”

  She laid her hand on his shoulder and warned him, “Lie back, Doctor. Don’t try to move. You’ve been hurt.”

  With a groan he laid his head back in the dusty street.

  “Can you tell me where it hurts?” she asked. “My head is splitting,” he said, shutting his eyes against the bright afternoon sun.

  Quickly she checked for broken bones, frowning when she came to his leg.

  “You’ve taken a nasty fall. I know your leg is broken, probably several ribs, and I’m worried you may have internal injuries.”

  She stood and walked over to Tucker. “I need a stretcher to carry him back to his office.” She looked back at the doctor. “Your office is where you still keep your hospitalized patients?”

  He nodded slowly.

  “Okay, I’m going to need a wagon to take him to the hospital.”

  The doctor moaned, then turned and retched in the street losing the contents of his stomach.

  Sarah hurried back to her patient and tried to make him more comfortable. She glanced up at Tucker. “Now. Get moving. We need to move him inside and get him as comfortable as possible.”

  Tucker, who until that moment had been staring at Sarah, amazed as she went about taking care of the doctor, turned and yelled orders to his deputy. “Run down to the doc’s and get that stretcher I know he uses. Charlie, can we borrow your wagon?”

  “Sure!”

  In a matter of minutes, the wagon was in place, and the deputy arrived with the stretcher. With care they lifted the doctor and placed him on the litter, then loaded the injured doctor into the wagon, while Sarah climbed up beside the man.

  “Is he going to make it, Sarah?” Tucker asked quietly, so his friend couldn’t hear his question.

  “I don’t know yet. He’s got a concussion, a broken leg and possibly some internal injuries. Not to mention the scrapes and bruises. We’ll know more in the next twenty-four hours. Do me a favor and tell my grandfather I’m at Doc Wilson’s if he needs me.”

  “What about Lucas? Who’s watching him?” Tucker asked.

  She turned and gazed at him, her blue eyes luminous in the bright sunshine. She swallowed. “Grandfather is with him. I left them playing on the floor.”

  “Okay. I’ll check on you later.”

  “Fine.” She glanced up at Charlie, who was sitting in the driver’s seat. “Let’s go.”

  Tucker stood back from the wagon and watched as it rolled down the street. Now that their only resident doctor was hurt, what would the town do if Doc Wilson died? What would they do if Sarah left?

  Thank God she was here. His mother had tricked Sarah into coming home; now if only they could somehow convince her to stay. But would she, considering their past?

  ***

  Two days later Tucker walked into the doctor’s infirmary, his hat in his hand, and found Sarah sitting at the desk.

  “Hello,” she said, as she glanced up from the notes she was making.

  “Good morning,” he said, noticing the way the blue dress she wore heightened the color of her eyes, reminding him of the lavender growing in his mother’s garden. Sarah’s eyes were not only beautiful in color, but they were warm, expressive and, most of the time, friendly. “How are you?”

  “Fine. Other than using outdated equipment, the doctor has a nice practice here.” She laid the ink quill down and looked up at him. “If you want to see the doctor, he’s resting. I’ve set his leg and it should heal, but I’m still concerned about him. He’s still dizzy, and he broke two ribs, so I had to put a binding around his chest. He’s pretty banged up.”

  “How soon before he can see patients again?” Tucker asked.

  “As his physician I don’t want him working for six to eight weeks, longer if there are internal injuries.”

  Tucker walked around the room, glancing at all the cabinets, the examining table and the different tools lying out. “He’s the only doctor we have in town.”

  “That’s what he told me.” She pushed back away from the desk and watched him as he strolled around the room. The feel of her eyes on him was pleasant.

  “You know, he was thinking of retiring and now this happens.” Tucker held his hat in his hands and twirled it around. “It just doesn’t seem fair for him to be so hurt”

  “Life isn’t always fair,” Sarah replied calmly.

  The words he had to say wanted to come tumbling out but he knew he had to move slowly or Sarah was likely to bolt and he needed her to stay in Fort Worth.

  “We need a doctor in this town, Sarah. You’re the only one we’ve got right now, and you’re just visiting.”

  Her eyes grew large, and her face tensed. “Don’t ask me to stay, Tucker. You know I have my own patient
s back in Tombstone. The man sitting in for me is new to the town.”

  Tucker walked to where she sat, forcing her to look up at him. “What about the people you love? The friends you grew up with? What about my sister-in- law? Her baby is due in the next few weeks.”

  “Your sister-in-law can get a midwife. I’m concerned, but I can’t stay.”

  “Why not, Sarah?” he asked. “Your husband is dead. Your grandfather is older. He could need medical attention.”

  Tucker felt like a hypocrite; hadn’t he yelled at his mother for using this same tactic? Yet he wanted Sarah to stay. Needed her to remain in Fort Worth for the town, not himself.

  “Your son is not old enough to care whether you’re here or in Tombstone. Why can’t you help us? At least until we find another doctor.”

  “I ... I just can’t.”

  Her facial expression was blank as if there were no emotion, and he knew something was wrong. He walked across the room and placed an arm against the window frame, leaning to gaze out into the street, not really seeing the people pass by.

  She was going to leave because of him. Something was eating at her and though he wasn’t sure what, he had a pretty good idea. He turned and stared at her.

  “Is it because of that night we shared together?” He paused. “You won’t stay in Fort Worth because of me.”

  “What night are you referring to?” she asked, as though she didn’t know what he was alluding to.

  “I never meant to hurt you that night,” he said, twirling his hat nervously in his hands. “It just happened.”

  She shrugged and tried to pretend indifference. “I don’t regret that night.”

  How could she ever regret that night? That was the night her son had been conceived, and she loved Lucas more than she thought possible. Yet because Tucker had walked away without saying good-bye that night, she’d come to the conclusion that he had never cared for her.

  He stared, disbelief all over his face. “You aren’t mad?”

  “No. That happened almost three years ago. It’s in the past. I got over you, Tucker.”

  Inside she cringed. She had gotten over him, and if she repeated the phrase enough, maybe she would believe it. But for her son, she could do just about anything.

  He gazed at her. “You did, huh?”

  “Yes,” she said, unable to meet his gaze. The memory of his big, strong hands caressing her breasts had her jumping up out of her chair. She wandered around the room, picking up objects and setting them down again.

  “Is that why you married your husband so quick?”

  She frowned. She didn’t need him checking dates and figures. If he started counting days and months, he could possibly realize that Lucas was his son. And that was her biggest fear of staying in Fort Worth.

  Her fear of Tucker finding out that Lucas was his son made her want to pack her bags and catch the next stage out of town. The fear of someone recognizing Lucas as Tucker’s son, the fear that her son would somehow be hurt if this knowledge ever came out, woke her in the middle of the night and left her sleepless.

  Tucker wouldn’t take the news kindly regarding the fact that he had a son, and she didn’t need his family interfering in Lucas’s life in the next few weeks while she visited.

  No, Doc Wilson’s patients were easy enough to handle, but her concerns of being near Tucker and the secret of Lucas’s birth made her nervous.

  She certainly didn’t need Tucker worrying about dates or why she had married so hurriedly.

  “Yes, I met and married my husband quick, but what concern is that of yours?” She stood. “Frankly, it’s none of your business what I do. I moved on with my life and put thoughts of you behind me.”

  He was quiet as he stared at her from the window. Tucker was so devilishly handsome that just looking at him filled her with wanting. When he had left her in Tombstone, it had nearly devastated her. Now here they were three years later in almost the same situation. But instead of him being hurt, Doc Wilson needed medical care, and this time Tucker needed her for the town they had both grown up in.

  “Then, why won’t you stay?” he asked, his voice earnest, almost pleading.

  “I wanted to visit my grandfather, spend time with him and my son, not work,” she said, looking into eyes the color of an oak leaf in fall. It wasn’t a complete lie.

  “Look, why don’t you help until we find someone else? I’ll get started right now putting ads in other cities’ newspapers that we need a medical doctor. It shouldn’t take but a couple of weeks; then you could spend the rest of your time here visiting your grandfather,” he said, his words rushing out.

  “At least be realistic. It’s going to take more than a few weeks. It will probably take at least two months, if not longer.”

  “But the doctor could be healed by then,” he pointed out.

  Oh, God, she wanted to stay, the magnetic pull of being with Tucker almost irresistible. She didn’t want to stay, the memory of Tucker’s desertion still a painful wound. But most of all she wanted to protect Lucas.

  She worried her bottom lip. Yet how could she leave family and friends without a medical doctor? Did she really have any choice?

  But who was going to protect her heart?

  “Okay. I’ll stay for two months. By that time either Doc Wilson will be healed enough he can take over or you better have found another doctor for the community.”

  Tucker smiled, took two steps and pulled her to him. He lifted her off the floor and spun her around, holding her in his arms. Shocked, Sarah smiled, her face tight as an uncomfortable feeling filled her at his touch. She had steeled herself not to let him past her guard, but when he touched her, it was difficult at best.

  Unexpectedly, he reached up and pressed his lips to her cheek.

  “Thanks, Sarah!”

  “Two months, that’s all.”

  He set her back on the floor, and for a moment her knees felt as if they had turned to gel. She glanced up at him, and for a moment her heart stopped as she stared into the welcoming warmth of his brown eyes. Eyes that reminded her so much of Lucas.

  She stepped out of his arms, needing to put distance between the two of them, the imprint of his hands on her body like sunlight on skin, warm and invigorating. She had just agreed to stay here two months, and she couldn’t let herself get involved with Tucker again. There could never be anything between the two of them. Never!

  Chapter Four

  Tucker rode back to the jail, suddenly fearful of what he had just done. Having Sarah here in town for more than just a visit was going to complicate things between the two of them. Not to mention he had just given his mother all the ammunition she needed to make his life miserable.

  She was going to believe that he had asked Sarah to stay because secretly, deep down, he wanted to marry her, and Eugenia would spend the next two months doing everything in her power to unite them in wedded bliss.

  Was he crazy to give his mother this opportunity?

  But what choice did he have? Without a doctor in Fort Worth, there would be no one to supply medical attention if anyone became hurt. And what about his sisters-in-law? Didn’t his new niece or nephew deserve a doctor to take care of its arrival in the world?

  The town needed a doctor. Sarah was a beautiful doctor, who he considered to be a great friend. And it felt good to have her back home where she belonged. But friends were all they could ever be.

  If he were inclined to settle down, Sarah wouldn’t be a bad choice, but he had no intentions on tying the knot with any woman. He was a rootless man, and from what he remembered, Sarah was a forever-after kind of woman. The kind who wanted commitment, wedding rings, babies and roots. And the last time he checked, he wasn’t a damn tree.

  But how was he going to convince his mother he hadn’t asked Sarah to stay because he was in love with her? Words never seemed to have much effect on Eugenia. In fact, she gave new meaning to the expression falling on deaf ears.

  He rode his Appaloosa up to
the hitching post and saw Travis sitting there on his horse, waiting patiently for him.

  “What brings you to town?” Tucker asked. “Everything okay at home?”

  “Everyone is fine. No baby yet. Had to make a trip over to the mercantile for Rose and the ranch,” he said, stretching in the stirrups. “Rose doesn’t feel much like getting out right now. Got time to get a beer?”

  “You bet. Hell, I could drink the entire keg right now.”

  “Troubles?”

  “Just with women,” Tucker replied.

  They turned their horses and headed down the street to the Cowboy Saloon. A cold northerly wind whistled down Main Street sending a chill down Tucker’s spine.

  “Damn, but it’s been cold this year,” Tucker said, shivering in his coat “I’m ready for spring to get here.”

  “You and me both. This baby needs to get here. Rose is miserable, and I ache with sympathy every time I look at her,” Travis replied.

  “Well, when your stomach starts protruding, then I’ll get concerned,” he told his brother.

  Tucker sighed. He had done the right thing in encouraging Sarah to remain in Forth Worth. Rose and Beth needed her, but what a price to pay for his sisters-in-law and the townspeople. Putting up with his mother’s matchmaking just to keep a doctor in town didn’t seem quite fair. That was the reason he had asked her to stay, the only reason.

  They arrived at the saloon, tied their horses outside and walked into the establishment. Tucker glanced around at the patrons as they took a seat at the bar. The usual crowd of ranchers and cowboys filled the saloon. Upstairs, one of the finest brothels in town operated. Most of the time he left them alone; but occasionally the mayor and the city council would get their dander up, and he would be required to shut them down and run the girls into the city jail.

  “I heard about Doc Wilson. How’s he doing?” Travis asked, while they waited for the bartender to bring their beers.

  “Not so good. He broke two ribs, a leg and has a concussion. Sarah says he’ll be unable to work for at least two months.”

  “Hey, I’ve got a baby coming in the next month. Who’s going to deliver him?” Travis asked.