Be My Texas Valentine (36 page)

“I’m afraid she’s overdone herself again.” Angelina stood and dusted the wrinkles from her skirt. “I’ll go on home and prepare her some chamomile tea. That always strengthens her.”

“Let me get a buggy for you.” Noah decided that was the least he could do for her since she’d waited so long.

“No, I’ll walk. If I ride, I wouldn’t be able to lift the wheelchair if I find her along the way home. If I’m walking, I can at least push her home if she’s too tired to roll it herself.”

Noah watched her walk away, his respect for Angelina Brown deeper than before. She loved her sister. Choosing to walk just now said it louder than any words ever could.

He hurried in the opposite direction, heading for the mercantile a couple of streets away. Looking through every business window that showed activity inside, he saw no one who looked remotely as if they were wheelchair level. No sign of her along the sidewalks. It took him less than ten minutes to get to Kimble’s Mercantile. As he stepped inside, he saw her dozing in her chair near the pot-bellied stove that stood in one corner of the store. Coffee wafted from a blue-speckled pot on one of the burners.

Noah wished his boots didn’t cause the slats of the floorboards to creak as he walked through the aisles toward her. Instead of waking her, he simply sat in one of the chairs near the stove that the owner provided for customers who whittled or shared stories while they drank coffee.

Mrs. Kimble, a big German woman who looked like a blond-braided Viking of long ago, came in from a back room, saw him, and held a pudgy finger up to her lips to signal silence.

He nodded and folded his arms into each other, crossed his long legs out in front of him. A board creaked beneath his boot. Mrs. Kimble frowned. JoEmma stirred and her head lifted as her eyes blinked open. It took her a minute to focus on him next to her. When she did, her eyes widened in apology.
Brown. They are more brown than hazel
, he decided.

“I’m sorry. I must have dozed off.” She glanced at the store owner. “Did we finish the pots?”

“
Ja
, you finished enough. Now you go home and rest yourself,
liebling
.”

“I’m taking you home.” Noah stood and grabbed the back handles to her wheelchair.

“I can make it there by myself, thank you.” Her cheeks stained crimson, making her look even paler. Her fingers flexed and she rubbed her palms together. “I’m okay now.”

“Are you trying to tell a doctor his business?” Noah could see that she wasn’t up to the long roll of the chair across the roadway. Her hands were obviously sore. Why wasn’t she wearing gloves? “I promised your sister that I would make sure you got home, and I keep my promises.”

JoEmma gripped the chair as if she were preparing herself for a wild ride.

“Relax,” he said as he bent to whisper the word in her ear. She smelled of the earth and honeysuckle she’d been planting in the pots and something he couldn’t quite define. The blend of aromas appealed to him and he knew that he wouldn’t think of JoEmma Brown ever again without recalling the fragrance.

“Ready?” he asked. “Is there anything else you need to take with you?”

“Just me.”

Mrs. Kimble waved her out. “Don’t let your young man keep you out too long.”

“Oh, but he’s not my ...” JoEmma’s words trailed off behind them as Noah rolled her out of the mercantile and down the sidewalk.

“People always assume we’re together, don’t they?” Noah teased, recalling how his childhood buddies had taunted him for helping her home that day she’d skinned her knee. He’d fought a couple of them for saying she’d fallen on purpose just to get his attention. From that point on, the boys thought of her as his girl and watched what they said about her. He decided to be truthful with her now. “You know Mrs. Lassiter is trying to get me interested in one of you Browns as a bride.”

JoEmma’s shoulders stiffened, but her words were gentle. “Angelina would have no problem with that. In fact, I’d say that would please her greatly. She’d be a wonderful wife.”

“I’m sure she will be one day.” Though Noah admired JoEmma for trying to help her sister’s cause, he wondered why the younger Brown didn’t seem interested in him for herself. He’d always thought JoEmma liked being around him. At least, he’d always felt extremely comfortable with her. Did vanity spur his question even now? “What about you? Have you ever thought about marrying, Miss Brown?”

“If I’m going to take care of Gabby and Amigo, you need to feel comfortable in calling me JoEmma. No formal name for me, please. We’ve known each other too long for that.”

“Yes, we have, and maybe you’ll dispense with the Dr. Powell business. I’m just Noah.”

“Agreed.”

“So answer my question. Will you ever marry, JoEmma? I’ve never known you to have a particular beau. But, of course, I was gone those years at college.”

“I had a beau or two until I took the fever, then afterward I wasn’t sure how this would affect me. So I found interest in other things like animals and flowers and things I could do at a new eye level once my health put me in the chair. I didn’t want to be a burden to a husband. What I can and cannot do is limited, and I wouldn’t want to stifle a man’s life in any way. Especially an active man who would be slowed down by the things I can’t do, and he might feel obligated to do for me.”

“I don’t recall a time when I haven’t seen you working,” Noah countered. “You’re one of the most active women I know, despite your infirmity.”

“Thank you. I try to be.” She sounded pleased for a moment before adding, “But just a moment ago, you saw. Every once in a while I just have to turn off for a few minutes, like I’m a light that can be blown out for the night and lit back up in the morning. What if I have no fire at a critical moment when I need it?”

He knew exactly what she meant. That critical moment had happened once to him and he had been as healthy as an ox. But all the fire had gone out of him and he’d given in to pure exhaustion. Not exhaustion of the body. Exhaustion of arguing with a woman about what was best for her. A woman who ultimately lost her brave battle for life because he’d given in and listened to her instead of his better judgment. And because of that, he’d lost his patient and his father’s respect.

“You try to forgive yourself if that happens and become more diligent at learning how not to allow yourself that weakness again,” he whispered, lost in the sad memory.

A calloused palm reached up and touched Noah’s hand. “You do understand.”

Those three words bound him to JoEmma as surely as if they’d shared volumes. She had spoken in a language that had touched his heart and made him want to spend more time with her. Made him want to deepen their conversation. She talked with depth, not the shallow talk of others.

It was then he made up his mind that he would attend the Valentine’s dance and exactly whom he meant to escort. But first, he would prove she was no burden to anyone. Not even to herself.

He would find out if there was a chance to heal what ailed JoEmma Brown. If not her body, then her spirit.

Chapter 6

When Noah reached his office and started to move past, JoEmma signaled him to stop. “Please don’t take me home yet.”

He halted his pushing, then gently turned the chair halfway around. Coming in front of the chair to face her, he bent so that their eyes met at the same level. He had positioned her so that she wouldn’t be facing the setting sun and she wouldn’t be staring up to see him in shadow. His consideration pleased her.

“I promised your sister that I’d bring you right home when I found you. She’ll be worried.”

“I won’t take long, I promise. I would just like to say good-bye to Gabby,” she whispered. “Not good-bye exactly, but ... well ... you know what I mean.”

Understanding shone in the depths of his eyes. “I felt the same thing earlier today about Amigo. Really, JoEmma, if you want to change your mind, we’ll take the birds back to your house.”

“No, this is best for them. I’ll just miss seeing her whenever the mood strikes me. We shared a lot of nights visiting with each other,” JoEmma said softly, rolling her chair a few inches closer to the front door of his office. “Shall we?”

Noah opened the door and immediately took back command of the pushing. “This will allow me to take a look at your hands while I’m here. I have some salve that I think will help.”

She let her palms rest in her lap, not sure quite what to do with them. He’d obviously noticed the calluses and, being a healer, wanted to help with her pain. Still, she wondered what else he’d taken the time to notice about her. She was no longer a girl with pigtails and skinned knees. Did he find her at all interesting? Pretty?

As he rolled her into his waiting room, JoEmma instantly saw where he kept the birdcage and gave a little whistle.

“Says-a-me. Says-a-me. Open up.” Gabby flew to the cage door. Amigo made little kissing noises.

“There you are, Funny Feathers.” JoEmma appreciated when Noah immediately rolled her toward the cage, took it down from the hook, and set it on the table next to the settee.

“We’ll find somewhere else to hang the cage so you can reach it.” Noah sat on the settee to watch her watch the birds.

It was only then that she realized he must be really tired from seeing patients all afternoon then looking for her and rolling her home. “Thanks for everything, Noah. For finding Gabby and giving her a good home. For helping me and Angelina.”

“My pleasure. I hope this will allow us some time to catch up with each other after all these years. I’ve been so busy and you’ve been ...” His words trailed off.

“Housebound basically,” she interjected, rather than saying what she was really thinking, which was she’d deliberately isolated herself from activities that might make her feel awkward or required too much stamina.

“I was going to say, you’ve been just as busy with all your projects. Would you like something to drink?” He started to rise but she waved away his effort.

“No thanks. If Angelina’s worried about me, she’ll have something waiting on me so I best not stay too long.”

He nodded. “You know your sister well. She’s brewing up something even as we speak.”

“Of that I’m certain.” JoEmma laughed, not meaning anything that had to do with something to drink.

“She and some of the other townswomen are full of plans for Miss Whitaker’s party, from what I could tell this afternoon. I believe they had a gathering of the minds about it here in the waiting room.” Noah explained some of what had transpired.

What had Angelina done? Made sure every woman in town knew she was going to the doctor’s office? JoEmma regretted even more that she hadn’t gotten here any sooner. No telling what was hatched among the hens.

“Don’t look so fretful,” he teased. “I still have my bachelor status and it’s almost sundown, although I’m not sure if it can survive everybody’s matchmaking efforts. Mrs. Lassiter can be quite persistent when she sets her mind to something.”

“Is that why she didn’t bring Gabby home when she found her here? She was playing matchmaker?” JoEmma smiled at the two lovebirds. Amigo was a cutie and the pair looked so sweet together.

Noah exhaled a deep breath, then laughed. “Remember that you said it. I didn’t.” He picked up the cage and started to unlatch its door, but JoEmma reached out to stop him.

“I wouldn’t. At least unless you lock your front door and make sure there is no window open. Gabby might try to escape again.”

“You think so?” Noah stood and moved to lock the office door. “I don’t usually keep that locked. Amigo doesn’t seem to want to explore anywhere but here. Still, I’m not sure my bedroom window isn’t open. I’ll check. Or if you’d like to go with me, you can see if I need to move anything out of the hallway to give you access to the kitchen, where I keep their food and trays. I’ll be just a minute with the window.”

JoEmma eyed the birds to make sure that the cage was soundly stationed on the table before she swung her chair around and rolled after him. She got a great look at his lanky height and broad shoulders, admiring his solid stride and easy movement. Noah Brown was a man at his physical best and that made him more attractive to her than all his degrees hanging on the wall above her. He was a smart, healthy man full of life and kind spirit. Seeing such virility made her wish that her heart were stronger, her legs more stable. That she could be a helpmate to him and something much more.

He went through a closed door at the end of the hall. Just as she reached the kitchen, she heard a window slam shut. When he appeared behind her, he gave her a quick inventory of what he kept for the birds and where, how he shared the excess with a neighborhood cat, and that, after tonight, he would start hanging the birdcage in his bedroom.

“It’s the only room that people other than me won’t be going in and out of,” Noah explained, “so I think that’s the wisest place to put Gabby to get her comfortable here, don’t you? At least until she feels at home and doesn’t want to escape.”

His private quarters? The thought sent all kinds of images racing through JoEmma’s mind, and she hoped her cheeks weren’t as red hot above the skin as they felt below. Images of her and Noah in each other’s arms, their legs tangled together. Of his hair all mussed and those broad shoulders lending her a warm place to cuddle, just as Amigo had cuddled underneath Gabby’s wing.

“Will the bed be any trouble for me?” she asked, trying to put her thoughts back into a more proper frame. That didn’t come out the way she meant it! “I mean, will I fit? My wheelchair. Will my
wheelchair
fit?”

“No problem. I don’t have much in there but an armoire and a bed. I’d show you it now, but it’s not presentable at the moment. How about you let me look at those hands for the time being?”

JoEmma allowed him to roll her to his examination room, where he stopped long enough to light a lamp to help with the waning daylight. “They’ll be okay. I have some liniment at home that your father gave me.”

“My father? Does he still see you as a patient?”

She heard some emotion in Noah’s voice but couldn’t quite discern what it was. Hannah occasionally mentioned that the two Powell men were having some kind of battle of wills, but she never really discussed more than her frustration at them both. JoEmma didn’t know why father and son were angry with each other. “Since he took care of me during my scarlet fever scare, he’s always made a point to look in on me. I think he’s really using his visits more as an excuse to spend time with Hannah. The two of them should marry, don’t you think?”