Page 50 of A Rugged Beauty
If he didn't handle this correctly, if the wagon train split, there was a chance more folks would die out here.
He had a responsibility to the company.
And a responsibility to Abigail.
She'd be affected if people speculated about their relationship, about what might've happened between them during those days they were alone together. He couldn’t damage her prospects for a good marriage in Oregon.
Something inside of him revolted at the idea of her married to another man. Yet she would never have that chance if he let the rumors fly. She’d be ruined.
But if he agreed to a foolhardy marriage, he’d ruin himself.
Ten
"Your patient needsto drink fresh milk every day," Doc said.
Maddie Fairfax looked up from where she knelt in a patch of what looked like green weeds, a flash of surprise and... dismay crossing her expressive features.
Good. Then they were both dismayed. He didn't want to be out here having this conversation.
He'd followed her from camp, keeping his distance. When she'd disappeared in the woods, he'd walked faster. For a moment he worried he'd lost her completely. Like she was some kind of wood sprite sent to steal him away from the caravan.
"Are you speaking of Mrs. Bouye? Where do you suggest she finds a milk cow?" She gestured expansively to the woods and prairie surrounding them, almost knocking over the woven basket at her side.
She did not ask how he'd found out that her eight-months pregnant patient was complaining of her teeth aching. Which meant he didn't have to tell her that he was constantly spying, listening for hints of conversations that mentioned her.
It wasn't about her at all. It was about the folks on this wagon train receiving adequate medical care. Where did he expect this woman to find a cow? Her question prodded him.
"We're nearing the fort in a day or two," he reminded Maddie, who'd gone back to threading her delicate fingers through the fronds of a green fern before she plucked something from its base. "Your patient should purchase a milk cow there."
"She and her husband don't have the money for that," she muttered as she kept on with her task. "These herbs will help."
"The herbs are not enough," he ground out.
She slowly rose to her feet, the movement graceful. He wanted to look away.
He wanted to watch her forever.
Her eyes flashed at him before he'd even blinked. "You can't fix everything. Not out here. Surely you know that.”
“Of course I do.” Doc was peripherally aware of a young voice calling out, "Doc!" but he couldn't seem to break the stare he was caught in.
Maddie was pink-cheeked, determination narrowing her eyes. A fire inside her that somehow matched his own. As he witnessed her temper spark, he couldn't keep his eyes from dropping to the stubborn set of her lips.
His chest felt tight, like he suffered from a breathing complaint and couldn’t catch his breath.
She was?—
"Doc!" The young voice was closer now. Maddie was the one who broke the stare first, her attention moving behind Doc.
Blood pounded in his temples as he turned, now aware of someone crashing through the undergrowth.
Young Alex appeared, red-faced and out of breath.
Doc was both relieved and angry at the interruption. He meant to convince Maddie that her care for the pregnant woman waswrong?—
"I need ya," Alex gasped as he ran up. "You put in those stitches an' your bandage ain't broke—" The boy broke off his rattled sentence to gulp in a breath. He must've run all the way out here.
Doc was aware that Maddie had knelt back on the ground, foraging again.
