Page 17 of A Forgotten Heart
“Or the time we went caroling. I’ll never forget it.”
Her shoulders hitched and his stomach dropped. What had he said to upset her so? He opened his mouth to ask, but she inserted, “How about anything since school?”
Everything after school stayed behind a thick curtain. Was he even out of school? The harder he tried to think, the more his head pounded.
Maybe that was why he couldn’t remember what’d happened this morning. Or yesterday.
At least he remembered the important things.
“Elsie.” Nick waited until he captured her gaze with his. “You are the one thing I would never forget.”
Her mouth pinched, and she turned away. “Nick, please just rest.”
He couldn’t understand why she was holding herself distant. The pounding in his head got worse. “My brain may be bruised, but it doesn’t change how I love you.”
Her gaze flicked to his face, shadows in their depths, but he could no longer keep his eyes open, and he slipped into darkness again.
Chapter 4
You are the one thing I would never forget.
Nick’s words rattled inside Elsie’s brain long after he’d fallen asleep. His tenderness had taken her off guard, and she was still shaken.
How much longer would this storm last? They’d already been trapped overnight. It was now morning. At least, she thought it was morning. The hours were starting to run together, and the heavy clouds made it difficult to tell.
She sat in her chair and watched him sleep. Gone were the fury and disdain he’d shown yesterday. If she didn’t know better, she could almost believe he’d meant those words.
She was going to drive herself crazy.
He didn’t love her. He didn’t.
The storm beat against the walls. Instead of lifting, it seemed to have intensified. Low, thick clouds darkened the midday sun.
The walls shrank in around her.
Why had Nick acted so nice when he’d woken up? Like he wanted her there. It muddled her head.
Her heart couldn’t handle this. Especially when she knew what was coming. He would wake up, take one look at her, and demand she leave.
She tried to steel herself. Think of something else. Her reputation was on the line. No one but the doctor knew she was stranded with Nick. If the school board found out she’d stayed with an unwed man during the storm overnight, she could lose her position.
The schoolteacher contract she’d signed made it clear that her life must be above reproach. Staying overnight with Nick? It wouldn’t matter that he was injured and unconscious. People would talk.
She shivered as cold air seeped in from the corners of the room.
Somehow, she must find someone else to take over as Nick’s caregiver.
On the wings of that thought, her stomach released a loud growl. How long had it been since she’d eaten? And what about Nick? He’d been asleep for hours and might wake up hungry. Was there any food to be found?
She got up to look, tiptoeing out of the room. Her footsteps echoed down the empty hall toward the small room in the back of the clinic.
This room had a water pump to the left and a set of cabinets along the far wall. In the corner stood the cast-iron stove. The only stove in the clinic. And rather small for the size of the space.
She hurried to the cupboard and swung open the door. Glass jars containing herbs and tinctures sat inside. She closed it and opened the next. Bandages. Only more of the same. As well as the next and then the next.
Nothing to fill their stomachs.
A chill passed over her. Rubbing her arms, she moved to the tinder box to add a log to the stove. She hesitated. The box was running low as well. It wouldn’t be long and they’d need more wood.
