Page 11 of A Letter to Carolina
“Are you all right?” she murmured, her shoulder brushing his arm once more.
He swallowed deeply. “I’m just dandy.” He stole a glance at her. She was the most beautiful woman he had ever seen. Her brown hair fell in waves around her shoulders. She had part of it pulled back in a green ribbon that matched her skirt. Bright green eyes surrounded by thick lashes studied him intently. “Are you all right?”
Her head bobbed, the waves bouncing as she moved. “Just thinking.”
“Anything that you want to talk about?” He carefully scooted over to give a respectable amount of space between them.
She looked up at the sky as she talked. “My mama was a firm believer that either I should get married and start having babies, or I should be a nurse and resign myself that I’ll be a spinster for the rest of my life.”
Nate chuckled. “I cannot imagine you being a spinster.”
She shook her shoulders. “Well, I couldn’t be married and a nurse. Now here you are offering me both. I guess I’m having a hard time believing that’s real. I’m waiting for something or someone to wake me up and say,it’s all a dream, Carolina. Now go home.”
He understood that feeling. He started off not wanting to be the last brother to marry, then asked Marmee for help to find a local partner, and eventually wrote an ad that wasn’t posted in newspapers. With that thought, he reached into his pocket, pulling out the rumpled brown parchment paper. “Read this,” he said, handing her the note.
She stretched out the paper and tried to remove most of the wrinkles with her fingers. Lifting it up to the light from the lantern hanging on the porch post, she read the note out loud.
Nurse Wanted:
A small-town doctor seeks a nurse. Ideal candidate will have at least one year of training. Be between the ages of eighteen to twenty-four. Must learn to drive a buggy.
-How do you ask if being a wife is possible?
-Why can’t I have both?
-How much do you pay a nurse?
Carolina laughed as she read over his words, and then she reached out, her small hand resting on his forearm. “I am nineteen years old. I have completed one year of formal education, six months of practicum and the hospital attached to my school has offered me a position. There are recommendation letters in my bag as well.”
“You laughed though.” He couldn’t explain the stubbornness he was feeling. It was like how he’d felt the first time he’d approached Doc about helping at the clinic.
“Since my letter was from Emily and not from you, I’m assuming you have not seen my letter to Mrs. Fischer. In my letter seeking a match, I asked her why I couldn’t be both a wife and a nurse. Why couldn’t I work outside the home but still take care of my husband and family? How far from town are we?”
“About ten miles. I can do it in about an hour on a horse, a little longer on a buggy. With loaded wagons, when they do their supply runs, it can take a couple of hours.”
“You don’t live here at the house?” She folded her hands into her lap and Nate felt the loss of her warmth immediately.
“No. Doc is retiring out here, and I’ve taken over the apartment above the clinic. It has three bedrooms, a kitchen, and a sitting room.”
Carolina nodded, and he wondered what she was thinking. They sat in silence listening to the night birds beginning their calls. She reached over and touched his arm once more. Nate placed his hand over hers to keep it there.
“Where would I live?” she murmured.
“If we got married, you would live with me. If we don’t, I’d ask Mrs. Hardin if she has a room to rent.”
“Is that the boardinghouse?”
“No. We don’t have one of those in town. At least not yet. Mrs. Hardin owns several chaperoned apartments, and she leases rooms to women that are traveling through town. We have a diner that opens and closes depending on Mrs. Davis’s pregnancies. Right now, her mother-in-law and some of the older girls are getting ready to reopen it.”
“I could ride in from here if I learn the route. I know how to ride.”
He ran a hand through his tousled blond hair, watching as she looked at him with surprise. He had spent the last three weeks riding back and forth between town and the ranch, trying to make ends meet and keep up appearances. The thought of her joining him sparked a strange excitement in Nate, and the thought of leaving her behind on the ranch to be courted by either Beau or Jesse made his blood boil. Nate’s voice came out sharper than he intended as he asked her, “Can you shoot?”
“A gun?” Her eyes were wide; and if they were talking about something less serious than her life, he’d have kissed her then.
“Yes. We don’t get a lot of trouble, but when there is, you would have to defend yourself.”
“I heal people. I don’t kill them.”
