Winter Promise

by Martha Rogers

  CHAPTER SIXTEEN

  ELLIOT GRABBED HIS bag and followed Henry. What had happened now? Just when one thing healed, something else happened. Wilder ran so fast ahead of him that Elliot had no time to question the reporter further.

  One block from the infirmary Elliot found Annie lying in the middle of the street. A man stood nearby trying to control his horse hitched to a buggy. Aunt Mae, Mr. Fuller, and several others stood around her with Mrs. Bennett kneeling at Annie’s side.

  “Let me see to her.” He shoved aside Mr. Fuller and crouched beside her while the others stood back. Annie’s pale face stared back at him, her eyes closed. He ran his hands over her head with as gentle a movement as possible and discovered a knot at the base of the skull and then spotted a bruise above her left temple.

  He glanced up at the crowd. “How did this happen?”

  Aunt Mae said, “I . . . I don’t know. Please help her, Elliot. She looks so pale.”

  Henry leaned over Elliot. “I saw it happen. I was going to meet her, and she stepped off the boardwalk into the street just as that man came around the corner in his buggy. She screamed and frightened the horse.”

  Mrs. Bennett wrung her hands together. “I had come out of my shop and was walking a ways behind her. I could tell she wasn’t looking and hollered at her. That’s when she stopped and looked up to see the horse.”

  The man driving the buggy wrapped the reins around the hitching post and hurried over to the scene. “I didn’t see her until it was too late to stop. Please tell me she’ll be all right.”

  Elliot continued to check Annie as he listened to explanations. He breathed in relief when he found no broken bones. Blood on a rock in the road explained the cut and knot on the back of the head. Her pulse was thready and her breathing shallow. He needed to get her inside where he could examine her further. Satisfied that nothing was broken, he scooped her up in his arms and headed for the infirmary without waiting to send someone for a stretcher. He didn’t want to waste any more time.

  Henry trailed behind him. “Is she gonna be all right, Doc Elliot?”

  “As right as I can make her, Henry.” Looked like there was more to Henry’s feelings for Miss Annie than anyone had thought. The only wound to give her trouble might be the cut on her head.

  As he entered the building, he hollered for his uncle to come down then headed for the examination room and laid her on the table. Aunt Mae, Mrs. Bennett, and Henry Wilder gathered in the waiting area.

  Doc rushed in, followed by Kate. He washed his hands and peered at Elliot. “What do we have here, son?”

  “She was hit by a horse.” Elliot wiped at the blood on her head. “This is what concerned me, but with the blood washed away, it doesn’t appear to be so bad. The knot on the back of her head could be the cause for her unconsciousness.”

  Kate donned an apron and came around to stand across from the doctors. “What do I need to do?”

  Elliot cleansed the remaining blood from the back of her head with gentle strokes. “We’ll take care of this first. Doesn’t look like it’ll need stitches because the cut is superficial. After that, we’ll step outside and let you loosen her clothing, and then we’ll put her in one of the rooms.” Scalp wounds tended to bleed more even when they were as minor as this one. Her not waking up concerned him more than the cut.

  After the cut had been treated, Elliot and his uncle left to join those waiting. Henry grabbed Elliot’s arm again. “She’s going to be all right, isn’t she?”

  “She has a cut on the back of her head, along with a bump that knocked her unconscious. We’ll keep a close eye on her here.”

  Suddenly images from the hospital in Cleveland flooded his mind. He turned and headed into his office and closed the door. Cold sweat covered his forehead, and his hands shook. This couldn’t be happening again. All the horror of that night washed over him. He couldn’t do this.

  The door opened and closed behind him, then an arm circled his shoulders. “I know what you’re thinking, Elliot. This isn’t like Angela at all. Annie will wake up soon and be fine.”

  When Elliot didn’t respond, his uncle turned him around to be face-to-face. “It’s time to forget what happened and move ahead. Annie will be fine.” Elliot didn’t want to look ahead, but he couldn’t deny Annie proper treatment. He slipped from his uncle’s grasp. “I need to get back and check on her. She should wake up soon. It won’t be good if she goes into a coma.” Elliot strode from his office and back across the waiting area. No one stopped him with questions, but the crowd had grown considerably. She may not have been in town long, but in that time Annie had sure made many friends.

  At the same time he reached for the doorknob, Kate opened it from the other side. A grin split her face. “She’s awake. Groggy, but awake.”

  Thank You, Lord. Elliot shook his head. Where had that come from? He hadn’t been praying. No matter. She was awake, and that was good news.

  Annie turned confused eyes in his direction. “Kate says I was hit by a horse.” She rubbed her forehead. “Feels more like a raging bull to me, but I remember that horse and buggy now.”

  The laughter from those around her brought relief to Elliot’s soul. “I’m not surprised, but you should be fine now.

  Annie lifted her hands to her head. “My head hurts, but then it always does after I’ve fainted. That horse scared the living daylights out of me.”

  “That’s to be expected at first, but it should go away.”

  Annie bit her lip and frowned. “Does that mean I have to stay here in the infirmary? I have the café to take care of.”

  “No, you’ll be able to leave as soon as you can stand and not be dizzy. Kate will finish up with the bandage here, and then we’ll see.”

  “But what about my kitchen? We’re serving the noon meal now, and I gotta be there.”

  Aunt Mae threw her hands in the air then grabbed her apron. “Land sakes, I clean forgot. We have people waiting at the boardinghouse for their meal.” She raced from the room and almost knocked over Abigail at the door.

  Elliot shook his head. The infirmary was more like a train station with all the comings and goings. Abigail stepped into the room, and his hand shook like a schoolboy reciting a poem for the first time. He shoved it into his pocket.

  Kate patted Annie’s arm. “I’ll send someone to check on things there. You have two people helping to serve and a good extra cook, so it should be OK for one meal.”

  Abigail stood beside Kate. “Annie, I just heard about your accident. I’ll go check on the café for you. Don’t you worry about it. Let the doctors take care of you first.”

  Annie blinked her eyes as a tear slipped down her cheek. “I can’t believe how people step in and help others in this town. I’ve only been here a month or so, and everyone’s been so kind.”

  Kate grinned. “That’s Porterfield for you. Now let me help you get settled and comfortable since you’re going to be here for a little while longer.”

  Elliot left the room to let Kate take care of Annie. Abigail grabbed Henry’s arm. “You come with me. We can help Annie more at the café than we can here.”

  Elliot’s gaze followed Abigail out the door. Everything about her was good and kind, just as Angela had been.

  He spotted his uncle in the corner. He wore a grin that niggled its way under Elliot’s skin. No matter what ideas Doc might hatch, Abigail was not the girl of his future.

  Abigail marched down to Annie’s Kitchen with Henry in tow. What he could do she wasn’t sure, but she’d find some way to put him to use. She remembered the one time she’d fallen and hit her head back in Connecticut. Annie would have a stupendous headache and be dizzy for a while, but she’d be back in her kitchen before most folks missed her.

  When she entered the café, several people asked about Annie and if what they’d heard was true. Abigail assured them that Annie would be fine and headed for the kitchen. There she found a burly man in an apron removing cornbread and rolls from the ove
n. Delicious odors of cooked food filled the air.

  The man turned when he set the breads on the counter. “What happened to Miss Annie? She did all the cooking this morning and then went to meet Mr. Wilder and hasn’t come back.”

  Abigail grabbed an apron and tied it on, all the while explaining about Annie’s accident. “She’ll be fine, but she has to rest awhile to make sure she’s really all right. I’ve come to help.”

  “I’m glad to hear she’ll be back.” He reached for a pot of stew and began filling two bowls. “My name’s Buster, and I’m Annie’s brother. She and I grew up cooking together. The food’s all done, but the girls need help with serving it.”

  “I can do that.” She turned on her heel and went in search of the two women who usually served the meals. All the tables were full, and the women hustled back and forth trying to take care of them all. “Hi, what can I do to help?”

  The older of the two brushed her hair back with her wrist. “Take those tables over there by the wall. See what they want, then go to the kitchen and order it. That’s all.” She turned to pour iced tea into a diner’s glass.

  That was all? It couldn’t be too hard to do that. The younger woman smirked and handed Abigail a pad and pencil. She recognized the woman as Buster’s wife. She’d been in to the library once or twice.

  She headed for the tables in the corner with a smile on her face. This would be fun.

  After she wrote down her first order, a man at another table called to her. Undecided about whether to take the order to the kitchen or answer the man, Abigail stood there until Lorraine Bradley, Buster’s wife, jerked her head toward the customer. That must mean to take care of him first.

  On her return trip with glasses of water and sweet tea on a tray, she stumbled and almost dropped the tray. One glass did tip over and spilled right into a man’s lap. He jumped up and began brushing at his clothes with his napkin.

  “Clumsy woman! See what you’ve done!”

  Abigail’s cheeks burned as she mopped up the water after setting the other glasses on a table. The heat of the man’s glare bore down on her back. At least it’d been cold water and not hot coffee.

  She stood and looked down at the man. “I’m truly sorry, and for my clumsiness, your meal is on the house.” Paying for his meal was the least she could do for the inconvenience she had caused.

  After what Abigail believed must be umpteen million trips back and forth from the tables to the kitchen, her ideas about this job changed completely. Her feet ached to the bone, as did her back, but at least she hadn’t dropped any food on people. She stared at the other two waitresses and marveled at the fact they could still scurry around as fast as they did. How did those two do this every day? She’d be finding a new line of work right away.

  Abigail plopped down in a chair and fanned her face with her apron. “Now that was a job. I’m so tired I can hardly move.”

  Henry jumped up. “Now’s the time I can help. You stay right there, and I’ll take care of cleaning off these tables.”

  Buster leaned on the door frame leading to the kitchen. “You did better than I thought you would, missy. My wife says you worked as hard as they did. We do thank you for that and for paying for Hugh Daley’s meal.”

  “You’re welcome, and I sure have more appreciation for what it takes to run a café.” Annie’s closed after lunch every day and didn’t open again until the next morning for breakfast, but that was still a lot of work. She much preferred library work, that was for sure.

  Abigail studied her wrist while the others cleared the tables. Thankfully it hadn’t bothered her at all while she worked. But then she’d been too busy to really notice.

  She sat up straight. No more daydreaming. She had work to do and couldn’t afford to waste time building castles in the air.

  Henry finished his duties at the kitchen and hurried back toward the infirmary to check on Annie. That woman meant more to him then he’d ever admit to anyone but God. He’d never figured on finding love at his age, but then Annie had moved into town with her brother and his wife and opened up that café. One meal there, and Henry was hooked. To have a woman like Annie cooking for him and taking care of him the rest of his life had more appeal than he could ever have imagined.

  He remembered the look in Doc Elliot’s eyes when he talked with Abigail in the infirmary a little while ago. His eyes showed much more interest than a friend. Something was going on between the doc and Miss Monroe. She’d had two injuries Elliot had treated, and the two had been together rather frequently because of them. There might be a story there. After all, women were not that numerous, and anytime a man and woman in Porterfield came together, a love story had to be in the making.

  Then he stopped and lifted his head in laughter. Wasn’t he making one of those love stories now? He and Annie would be the talk of the town, but he didn’t care. He was falling in love, and that was better than getting the scoop on any story, no matter how big.

  Then his thoughts sobered to what his editor wanted. He’d told Henry to keep digging and get the facts behind Doc Elliot’s move to Porterfield. Successful doctors in a large city didn’t usually move to a small town without a good reason, and it was up to Henry to find that reason and write the story. So far, his contacts in Cleveland had given him only the bit of information that Dr. Elliot Jensen had been an up-and-coming doctor at a major hospital then suddenly had quit and moved away.

  Abigail’s story had been interesting but not headline news. She came from a family who loved her and provided well for her means. She had followed her brother to Texas and spent her inheritance from her grandparents to open a library for the town. That was the only thing to make her story worth noting, and it had endeared her to the people of Porterfield. He’d taken note of the way the deputy treated Abigail as well as the way Doc Elliot looked at her. Now there lay a good story. It’d be most interesting to see which one of the gentlemen would finally win the lovely Miss Monroe’s hand.

  CHAPTER SEVENTEEN

  ABIGAIL STUDIED HER wrist again. It’d been only three days since Elliot removed the cast, and the skin had returned to its normal color. She flexed it and moved it in circles. Perfect. No pain and no ache. The party this evening out at Sarah and Donavan’s ranch should be fun, as she’d be able to dance and take part much better than the last social event she’d attended.

  When Daniel arrived to pick her up, he wore denim pants and a striped shirt like most of the other men in town. He had slipped right into the role of a Texas lawyer, and except for his ever-present Yankee accent, one wouldn’t know he wasn’t a native.

  “I stopped by to let you know Cory is coming to get you and take you on out to Sarah’s. Doc Jensen needs Kate at the infirmary, so we’ll be going out a little later.”

  Abigail’s heart jumped. “Oh, I’m sorry. I mean, I’m sorry that Kate has to stay, not that Cory is taking me.”

  Daniel only grinned and then flicked the brim of his hat. She had to be more careful around her brother, or he’d really start getting ideas about her and Cory.

  Five minutes later she sat on the front porch and spotted Cory coming down the street on his horse. Was he expecting her to ride out to Sarah’s on a horse too? Not in this dress she wouldn’t.

  Cory swung down from his horse. “Let me take him into the barn and unsaddle him, then I’ll bring the buggy around. Daniel said he’d hitch up Danny Boy for me.” He disappeared around the side of the house.

  Well, that settled one question. She decided to stroll out to the barn and meet him instead of waiting for him to come back. She stood to the side while he tended his horse.

  “I’m glad Annie is able to take care of feeding the boarders for Aunt Mae,” Abigail commented.

  “Do you think she’s really up to it? That was a nasty spill she had the other day.” Cory headed her way with Danny Boy in tow.

  “Horsefeathers, you know she is. You make a bump on the head sound like a major incident. Besides, Annie’s healthy as
your horse.”

  Cory’s laugh rang out. “Listen to you. You’ve picked up Texas vocabulary quicker than your brother did.” He reached for her hand. “Your buggy awaits, Miss Monroe.” Again he grinned and winked at her.

  What was she going to do with him? All that teasing and nary a word about courting her. Men in Texas sure had some strange ways of showing women they cared, that is, if Cory did. She let him assist her up onto the seat, and her heart did a flutter step when he came around and joined her on the seat.

  Cory clicked the reins, and they headed out. She prayed Cory didn’t see her as just some clumsy Eastern girl he could tease. She valued her independence, but it seemed like ever since she’d been here, things had happened to make her dependent on others for help, and that didn’t sit well with her at all. Her main reason for coming in the first place had been to prove she could make a life on her own. If she’d wanted others to look after her and take care of her needs, she’d be Mrs. Wentworth now and living in Boston.

  She turned her head to stare at Cory. What a handsome profile. “Did you see the look on Mr. Fuller’s face at noon today when Aunt Mae invited him to the party tonight?” The picture of the man tickled her soul. A slight scar graced his head where Elliot had taken stitches in it a few months ago. The fringe of hair encircling his bald head sported more gray than dark brown, but his blue eyes sparkled with enthusiasm at Aunt Mae’s invitation.

  “Yes, I did, and Aunt Mae’s face showed more happiness in it than I’ve seen in a long time. I think those two may have been made for each other.”

  A sigh escaped Abigail’s lips. Everyone in town lately was pairing up. Even Philip Dawes’s mail-order bride was due to arrive soon. Annie and Henry and Aunt Mae and Mr. Fuller proved that love knew no age boundaries. She had begun to wish such love would happen to her.