“Alice. I’m…”
Afraid.
“If the answer is no, then you’re no worse off than before.” Without waiting for an answer, Alice pressed on. “You can rest assured by my husband’s opinion…one way or another.”
“You’re right,” Lily reluctantly agreed.
“Then come with me.” Alice took Lily’s hand. “When I left home, no one was there to see the doctor. But that can change at any moment. Let’s not wait.”
“But your dress!”
“I can shop another time. This is too important.”
Lily allowed the woman’s determination to pull her from the store.
They walked down the dirt street, lifting their hems out of the mud and skirting puddles left by a recent rain. Alice held a running commentary about the different businesses and the townsfolk who ran them. Lily barely paid attention, so focused was she on her hopes and fears about what the doctor might find.
“There’s some talk of putting in boardwalks, and I certainly wish that would come to fruition.”
Lily allowed herself to be distracted. “Why haven’t they before?”
Alice shrugged. “Unlike many frontier towns, we don’t have our buildings crammed side-by-side. Because the buildings are so spread out, it will take a lot of work and expense to make boardwalks. Of course, there are some, like our banker, who’d like us to put down stone for the whole street.” Her hand waved along the hard-packed dirt. “Not that he’s going to pay for it, though I suspect he could pave the whole town if he wanted, not just the main street.”
“I met Mr. Livingston at the ice cream social.”
“Did you, lass? And what did you think of our fine banker?”
Her thoughts flashed to his manner and how he’d steered her outside. “Too autocratic for my taste.”
Alice laughed. “That’s our Mr. Livingston.”
They reached a pleasant house surrounded by a white picket fence covered in rose bushes, the comfortable-looking place that she’d admired on the ride to town with Tyler. She wondered what color the roses would bloom. “You have a beautiful home.”
“It suits us.” Alice gestured to a path down the side of the house. “The doctor’s office is around the back.” She led Lily along the side to double white doors with the words
Doctor’s Office
painted in black letters across the top.
They stepped inside and through a second set of doors to a broad hallway with a long cushioned bench spanning either side. A door to the right stood open, and Lily followed Alice inside.
Two narrow raised beds with clean sheets draped over the top stood on either side of an instrument table in the middle of the room. Chintz curtains framed a high, narrow window, which let in light, but preserved privacy. The front of the room held shelves containing jars and medicine bottles, various size basins, and more medical equipment. Some clusters of dried herbs sent a medicinal scent into the air.
The doctor sat at a desk in the corner, reading. Lily guessed him to be in his late thirties. He wore a black coat and a blue shirt and was also redheaded like his wife. He looked up and smiled at them. “Who have you brought me, my dear?” he said, his brogue thick and rich.
“This is Lily Maxwell.” Alice quickly sketched in the details Lily had shared.
Doctor Cameron studied her, his expression drawn into serious lines. “So you’d like a second opinion, then, Miss Maxwell?”
Lily nodded.
“You realize you’ll have to disrobe for me to examine you?”
“I lost my modesty after the accident. The doctor…”
“I understand.” With a wave, Dr. Cameron gestured toward the door. “I will leave you in my wife’s capable hands. She’ll help you put on a robe.” He left the room.
Lily smiled at Alice. “I like him. He’s so different from my doctor in Chicago.”
Alice’s eyes brightened. “He’s as good or better than ana you’d find in the big city. Of course, I’m prejudiced.” She started chatting about her husband while she helped Lily undress. Then Alice wrapped her in a cotton robe and asked her to lie on the raised bed.
“Ready?” Doctor Cameron tapped on the door and entered.
Lily focused on the ceiling while he probed with gentle fingers around her hip, pelvis, and leg. Then he had her stand, and he examined her thoroughly again and watched her while she walked back and forth.
Finally, the doctor finished with the physical examination. He closed her wrap and straightened. “Are your parents big people? Hefty?
“No.”
“Very tall?”
Lily shook her head.
“Do you have siblings?”
“Two sisters.”
Why is he asking me these questions?
“Are they about your height and weight?”
“Yes, we all look very much alike.”
“How about your grandparents?”
“We run short and wiry in our family, although my sister Sophia has more of a figure than I do.”
He stroked his chin. “Do you have a man in mind for your husband?”
Her cheeks heated. Lily nodded, unable to meet his eyes.
“I know you’ve been staying at Green Valley Ranch. Is Tyler Dunn the number one candidate?”
“Yes.”
Except I’ve already turned him down, driven him away from me.
The doctor looked thoughtful. “Good. He’s na a big man. Nor were his parents or the one grandfather I knew.”
Lily wasn’t sure where Dr. Cameron was going with his questioning.
“I can see and feel the damage to your hip and leg, but your pelvis was na injured. I see no reason why you should na deliver safely. Especially if I’m your attending physician.”
Lily sucked in a breath, unable to believe what she was hearing.
He held up a hand. “Of course, it’s a risk. But then again, for a woman—” he shot a concerned glance at his wife “—childbearing is always risky. I’ll tell you that after Mrs. Cameron safely delivers our babe, I will sink to my knees and say a prayer of gratitude to the good Lord.”
His wife gave him a misty smile.
“Unless, of course,” he teased, “I faint dead away. In which case, I’ll pray flat on my back when I come to.”
At that image, Lily laughed aloud.
Alice gave him a playful smack on the arm.
Hands gripping his jacket lapels, Dr. Cameron turned back to Lily. “I would na like you to carry a big baby. But given your family, and Tyler’s family…the odds are in your favor.”
Lily listened with growing wonder.
Can what he says be true?
“Really?” Her disbelief must have shown on her face.
Dr. Cameron grinned, looking like a mischievous schoolboy. “I do like proving my colleagues wrong.” His brogue deepened. “But at least the man wasn’t a quack. He did a good job on your hip and leg, given the severity of the breaks. In the hands of an incompetent doctor, you’d be bed-ridden, if you were alive at all.”
She’d never thought to feel grateful to Dr. Hamb. Her memory of him was too closely involved with the pain she’d suffered, the lack of dignity about her treatment, the confinement to her bed for months, and the agonizing recovery when she began to walk again.
Dr. Cameron held up an admonishing finger. “With the risks, I suggest only one babe. If all goes well, perhaps another. Two at the most. No more. With several years between them.”
Two children sounded like riches beyond measure. Lily’s heart swelled with happiness.
“If you wed Mr. Dunn, I’ll have a talk with you both. There are ways to reduce the chances of conception.”
There are?
Lily had never heard of such a thing. “Thank you, Dr. Cameron. You’ve given me news that has changed my life.” Unable to hide her happy smile, she turned to the doctor’s wife. “Alice.” Lily clasped the woman’s hand with both of hers. “I’ll never forget your kindness. I thank you with all my heart for encouraging me to see the doctor.”
Alice laughed and tucked her hand around her husband’s arm. “Coerced you, I should say.”
An amused expression crossed Dr. Cameron’s face, and he shook his head at her.
Definitely not the picture of a dignified doctor.
With her other hand, Alice made a little shooing motion. “I’d ask you to stay for tea and visit. But I think there’s a certain man you need to find, eh?”
Lily laughed. “Oh, most certainly. Hopefully, we can visit in the future.”
“I have na doubt about that, dearie.”
She thanked them both again, told the doctor she’d pay his bill when next she came to town, and hurried out the door as fast as politeness and her limp would allow.
~ ~ ~
Earlier that same day, Tyler finished shoeing Domino. Although he’d meant to be gone from the house early, and thus miss seeing Lily, his horse had other plans. Tyler had saddled up and ridden out half a mile, shivering in the gray light of dawn, before realizing Domino’s gait was off.
He dismounted and could see Domino was missing a horseshoe. Annoyed, he walked the horse back to the barn, scooping up the discarded shoe on the way. Said something, it did, for his state of mind, that he hadn’t noticed earlier. He couldn’t even hope his distraction would leave when Lily did, for she’d be taking his heart. Tyler suspected a long time would pass ’til he got over loving her.
Once he finished shoeing the horse, Tyler figured some hot coffee might clear his mind, and he headed for the house. When he entered the kitchen, the smell of fried bacon and coffee greeted him, and he had to explain to Mrs. Pendell about why he was back.
Dove, sleeping on an old blanket next to the stove, lifted her head and gave him a sleepy stare.
The housekeeper poured him some coffee. “Oliver left early for school.” She handed him the mug. “You’ve just missed Lily, who’s driven to town to ship off her drawings.”
Tyler stooped to rub Dove’s head and behind her ears.
The dog wiggled with pleasure.
As crazy as it seemed, Dove’s presence in his kitchen reassured him because that meant Lily would return to the ranch. She’d never leave her precious baby behind. It didn’t make sense that he should be glad she was continuing to stay in his home when he intended to avoid her, in fact, wanted her gone.
“Mighty quiet at supper and this morning,” Mrs. Pendell commented.
Tyler stood and took a sip of the coffee. Even the hot bitter brew couldn’t warm his insides. They’d frozen yesterday and who knew how long they’d take to thaw out.
Mrs. Pendell stirred the scrambled eggs in the frying pan.
He started to walk out the door, carrying his cup. “I’m heading out, Mrs. P. Expect I’ll be gone for two days,” he reminded the housekeeper.
Mrs. Pendell pointed a wooden spoon at the table. “Not until you’ve had breakfast, you won’t,” she said in a no-nonsense voice.
With a sigh, Tyler returned to the table and dropped into a chair. Not for the first time he wished for a housekeeper who hadn’t known him since he was in diapers. Guilt stabbed him. He shouldn’t take out his crabbiness on Mrs. Pendell, even in his thoughts.
She dished up his food. “Aaron and Hank usually patrol the remote areas. You have plenty to do here.”
Not about to discuss what happened with Lily, Tyler set to eating. The meal might as well have been sawdust for all he tasted it. Once he’d finished, Tyler handed Mrs. Pendell the plate and thanked her.
After a sideways glance at the door, she started to say something, hesitated, then shook her head.
Grateful not to talk about it, Tyler stood.
Mrs. Pendell handed him a burlap bag of provisions.
“Thank you, Mrs. P.” Tyler placed a rare kiss on the housekeeper’s cheek and, in seeing how that gesture flustered her, he almost smiled. During the walk toward the barn, his mood lifted a little. The thought of leaving Lily behind at the ranch, even though she was the one leaving them for the life of an artist, plummeted his spirits again. Confused by his fluctuating emotions, Tyler hurried to escape the vicinity of the house. He probably wouldn’t feel any better camping out, but at least he’d be away from the reminders of Lily.
I need to put as much distance as possible between me and Lily Maxwell.
CHAPTER FIFTEEN
Chico trotted into the yard, his back streaked with sweat. In her eagerness to reach the ranch, Lily had urged the Falabella to a fast pace all the way from town. She slowed the buggy and scanned the area for Tyler.
Habakkuk walked out of the barn, Patches at his side.
With a tug on the reins, Lily guided the Falabella toward him. “Habakkuk,” she called. “Has Tyler left yet?”
Habakkuk removed his hat and scratched his head. “’Bout half an hour ago.”
The dog came up to her, and she absently patted his head. “I need to go after him. Which direction did he go?”
“Can’t do that, Miss Maxwell. By now, he should be clear across the river.”
The river.
Lily shivered. But she couldn’t wait for days. What if he changed his mind about her by the time he came back? She lifted the reins, preparing to turn the horse.
Habakkuk dropped his hand on Chico’s shoulder. “Ya cain’t follow, Miss. Even at the ford, the water will be too high for this little un.”