Page 34 of Healing Hazel

Seeing him, Miss Thornton shifted, moving as if she would stand.

“Don’t rise.” Jim stretched out his hand.

She stilled, watching as he drew closer.

A shadow fell across her face, but her eyes reflected the moonlight.

“May I?” He motioned to the spot next to her on the bench.

“Of course, Dr. Jackson.”

Her tone was even, not betraying her feelings, which he imagined must be anything but peaceful. She slid a bit to the side.

Jim sat. He stretched his legs in front of him and leaned his head back to look at the stars. He pondered how to begin, not wanting to dislodge any emotions she might be holding in check. After a moment, he decided upon a safe course.

“I found this and assumed it belonged to you.” He took the picture from his pocket, feeling a stab of regret as he handed it to her. His bedside table would be sadly lacking without it.

“Oh, thank you.” She took it, holding it with both hands in her lap. “I must have left it behind when I brought it to show Nella—Miss Westbrook.” She tipped the picture so the moon lit the image within the frame. “It is for my father. A Christmas gift.”

Her father.The wave of relief that crashed over him rendered him speechless.

She glanced at him, sliding the picture into her apron pocket.

“You were traveling to London to see your father?” Jim had never asked the reason for Miss Thornton’s journey, nor had he inquired about the destination. In fact, he didn’t know where she was traveling from either. Why had he not thought to ask before now?

“It is a rather complicated story,” she said. “I left London at the beginning of December to join my father in the Canary Islands for Christmas. The officers have a private villa there, you see, for such familial visits.” She folded her hands together. “When Nella and I arrived in Cádiz, Captain Bryant met us at the station. Apparently there was an emergency in the Gold Coast—that is where Father is stationed—and he was not able to meet us after all. He couldn’t be spared.”

Although she tried to hide it, Jim could hear the disappointment in her voice.

“The captain was traveling home to Northumberland on leave, and he accompanied us on our return journey.”

She had traveled nearly fifteen hundred miles, only to have to turn around and go home? Jim was indignant on her behalf. How could a man expect his daughter to travel through a war zone, not bother to meet her when she arrived, and send her back with a stranger to accompany her? The entire journey would have taken weeks. His initial assessment of Miss Thornton in her fancy gown felt cruel now. She was just a young lady hoping to spend a holiday with her father. Her plans had been disrupted long before the dynamite. “That must have been a disappointment.”

“It was.”

Jim waited, unsure of what to say next. He wished she would continue her sentence, tell him that while it was initially a disappointment, the unexpected destination and their resulting acquaintance had more than made up for it. But she didn’t say that.

“I sent Mikel’s father away,” he said.

“That wasn’t necessary,” she replied. “The poor man is only angry because he worries about his son. It must have been frightening to see the same soldiers who nearly killed Mikel in the very hospital where he was being treated, and then for his caregiver to speak to his enemies in their own language... I understand why he acted how he did.”

Jim was again impressed by the depth of her compassion, even for a person who had, not an hour earlier, screamed obscenities and threats. “The hospital must be a safe place,” he said. “For everyone.”

She nodded her understanding.

After a moment of silence, Miss Thornton turned toward him, her knees nearly bumping into his as she did. “Dr. Jackson, before, the way I spoke to you in your office... I shouldn’t have said what I did. I should have known you wouldn’t just leave a baby behind. I was just impatient, I suppose. And stubborn. I apologize—for all of it. But especially for how I spoke to you.”

Jim was surprised. Had this been weighing on her mind all this time? He considered her words. “Impatient?” He raised his brows in an exaggerated tease. “Is that your justification for racing alone into a building that could have at any moment fallen down your head?”

She smiled the slightest bit. “I did confess to being stubborn as well.”

“One might sayrecklessis a more appropriate description.”

She tipped her head, studying him, and seeing that he wasn’t reprimanding her, the smile remained. “Perhaps we could compromise...dedicated?”

Jim laughed. “I can agree to that.” He held out a hand to shake.

Miss Thornton took it. Her hands were small with delicate bones, and her skin was soft. She gave a shake, bowing her head as she did so, as if to seal the deal, and returned her hand to her lap.

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