The Doctor's Wife Page 6

  “I ate before you got here,” she replied. And she had. She had been delighted to taste the savory meal she’d been able to prepare with the wealth of ingredients in his kitchen and the well-stocked pantry.

  “You know, you don’t have to eat alone like you’re a servant.” He seated himself.

  “I am a servant.”

  “But there are just the two of us. We might as well take our supper together.”

  “If that’s what you want.”

  “I do.”

  She nodded. “If you’ll excuse me now, I’m going to get my things ready.”

  “Take them to the porch. I set some crates there for you, and I’ve arranged for the Jenkins boy to bring a wagon and carry them to the boardinghouse.”

  She had made a couple of trips back to the Arcade for more of her belongings, so it would have taken her more than one trip by herself. “That’s very thoughtful of you. Thank you.”

  “Nate and I will ride along to get you settled.”

  “You don’t have to do that.”

  “Don’t you want us to?”

  She didn’t know how to behave around him. She didn’t know where to look or what to say. His presence made her uncomfortable, but she couldn’t admit that openly. It wasn’t that she minded his company…it was just that he set her on edge so and she feared saying the wrong thing or giving herself away. “No. Yes,” she said, not wanting to insult the man who’d been so kind to her. “That will be fine.”

  He forked a bite of dressing into his mouth. “Mmm. This is good.”

  She scurried from the room.

  She had her belongings packed and waiting on the porch when a young man arrived with a horse and wagon.

  “This all of it?” he asked.

  “I have a few more things at the Arcade’s dormitory.”

  Caleb exited the house with Nate on one arm. “We’ll drop by the hotel on our way to Mrs. Ned’s.” He pulled the door closed, handed Nate to Ellie and helped the boy load a few bags and crates.

  At the dormitory, Ellie left Caleb and J. J. Jenkins in the courting room with Nate and went upstairs to pack the rest of her meager possessions. Goldie greeted her with a hug.

  Ellie endured the embrace, then gave her a heartfelt smile.

  “I’ve missed you, Ellie. How are you doing with the doctor’s baby?”

  “We get along just fine. He’s a pleasure to care for.”

  “How is your arm?”

  She moved to the chest that held the last of her clothing. “It’s a complete nuisance, that’s what. It doesn’t hurt much anymore, but I want to rip this cast off so I can do more. And in the heat of the kitchen, it itches something fierce.”

  “Where are you taking your things?”

  “The doctor got me a room at Mrs. Ned’s boardinghouse.”

  “My cousin stayed there for a few months. It’s clean and quiet. You’ll like it. Let me help you with those.” Goldie gathered the clothes Ellie had piled on the bed and carried them downstairs.

  A bevy of young women had gathered around the doctor, all pretending to talk to the baby. J.J. stood in the throng of females, his narrow face scarlet. He grabbed the stack from Goldie and shot out the door.

  It took Caleb a few more minutes to politely disentangle himself and his son and follow Ellie outside.

  Mrs. Ned’s was as clean as her friend had predicted. Ellie used the key Caleb had given her and opened the door to her room on the third floor.

  The space was rectangular, with the bed and bureau at one end and a scarred desk at the other. The ceiling was slanted all along the outside wall, so that a person couldn’t stand to their full height except where the window had been set into a dormer. A cushioned bench offered enough room to sit and space beneath for storage. Braided rugs and a faded quilt made the room seem comfortable and homey.

  Caleb set her belongings inside the door. “Will this be all right?”

  A bed with clean linens and all this space just to herself. What wouldn’t be all right? “It’s nice,” she replied.

  “It’s not too far for you to walk over in the morning,” he said, while J.J. made a stack of the crates. “That’s one of the reasons I chose this location.”

  “I’ll enjoy the walk,” she replied to assure him.

  J.J. went back to the wagon to wait for Caleb.

  The doctor glanced around. “If you need anything…”

  “I don’t need anything.”

  Caleb studied her wide violet eyes for confirmation of that statement. The girl’s behavior was odd, to say the least. Her words were meant to give the impression of confidence and independence, but her expressions and the sorrowful look in her eyes implied differently. On the one hand he wished he understood the pain behind her careful control and brave demeanor, but on the other, he worried that it might be something he couldn’t help her resolve.

  He felt as though he was deserting her by leaving her here alone. He wouldn’t have wanted his sister or his wife to stay alone in a boardinghouse, no matter how reputable. But he couldn’t have Ellie staying in his home, and there hadn’t been time to make arrangements with a family in town. She would be perfectly safe here. There was no choice.

  But it took all his discipline to take Nate from her arms and walk back to the door. “Don’t use that arm now.”

  “I won’t.”

  At least she’d had female companionship at the dormitory, he thought, worrying now about the wisdom of leaving her here. “Mrs. Ned is on the main floor should you have any problems or questions.”

  “I’ll be just fine. I’ll see you in the morning.”

  “Yes.” He left, closing the door behind him. He looked down at Nate, who blinked up at him. “You having trouble with this too, son?” On his way down the hall he glanced at the other doors, wondering who stayed behind them. There’d been only women in her previous quarters. Here there were men, and Ellie had no one to protect her.

  He had known Mrs. Ned for years, he assured himself. Her boarders would all be respectable citizens. He had no grounds to worry.

  It was just that Ellie seemed so vulnerable and so alone in the world. Seeing all of her possessions in only a few bags and crates had emphasized her fragility. Material belongings were no indication of a person’s worth, he reminded himself, and her lack of personal items reduced their importance even more. She’d been doing just fine on her own until she’d broken her arm.

  Her quiet strength and determination impressed Caleb. But the sadness that seemed to come from deep within her disturbed him. Why was someone so young so incredibly sad? He sensed the very edge of a darkness so bleak he couldn’t imagine its source.

  He’d seen her smile only once and that had been at Nate. She intrigued him, that was certain, and he was drawn to her in a way he didn’t understand. Perhaps it was just his doctor’s instinct to comfort and heal.

  But he had a feeling that the comfort and healing Ellie needed was something he’d had no training for.

  Ellie filled the drawers and tidied the room in which she would be staying. She would have to spend part of her earnings on having her laundry sent out now. At the dormitory, the girls all sent their clothing to the hotel laundry, and it was returned clean and pressed.

  She needed to wash up before bed, so she took the heavy pitcher and carried it down the stairs, searching out the kitchen. An enormous kettle of warm water stood on the back of the stove. She scooped the pitcher full and made her way through the strange rooms and back to her new sanctuary. There was no straight-backed chair to wedge beneath the knob, but she locked the door and tested it.

  After donning a nightgown, she blew out the lamp, opened the window and lay down on the bed. Sounds drifted through the walls, voices and doors closing. The roof creaked overhead.

  Moonlight streaming through the window reflected a rectangle on the ceiling. She would get used to this place, just as she had the dormitory, and here she was blessedly alone.

  This was going to work
out fine. The doctor was paying her a handsome wage for tasks she could easily handle. She didn’t have to deal with customers, and she had only one employer who seemed more than generous.

  Ellie fought down the discomfort that thought brought. This job was too good to be true.

  But she was not the same person she had been. She was not young or helpless. She was making decisions about her life and choosing her future. Her independence and control over her own life meant everything.

  But Dr. Chaney was a man, that irritating little voice in her head taunted. What would he want in return?

  Chapter Five

  A clap of thunder yanked Ellie from the bed. Her first chaotic thought was to check the door. She stumbled forward and tested the lock. Secure. She was safe. She composed herself and her heart rate settled back to normal.

  The overcast sky made it difficult to tell the hour, but she guessed it wasn’t too early to get up and start the day. Lighting a lamp, she washed and dressed.

  At the bottom of the stairs, a smiling white-haired woman greeted her. “Miss Parrish. How lovely to meet you. I’m Mrs. Ned.”

  Ellie smiled hesitantly and said, “Hi.”

  “Is your room all right? I assured the young doctor you would be comfortable here.”

  “Yes. The room is nice.”

  “Good. Well, come have some breakfast and meet the other boarders.”

  In Ellie’s mind, the wisdom of walking into a room full of strangers rated right up there with knocking down a beehive with a stick or rolling naked in poison oak. She never knew what to say or do in front of people, and she always feared someone would know her from her life in Florence.

  Ellie drew a breath. She had bolstered her courage to work in the hotel dining room, and she could do this, too.

  Mrs. Ned led her into a room where half a dozen people sat around a table. Each one turned their head to see her. The four men stood, and Ellie wished they hadn’t.

  Her landlady introduced the gathering in seating order. “This is Mr. Hershey, Mr. Davis, Miss Shaw, Mr. Cassidy, Mr. Montgomery and Mrs. Henderson. Ladies and gentlemen, this is our new boarder, Miss Parrish. Have a seat over here, dear.”

  Wishing she’d been able to slip out without being embarrassingly displayed, Ellie took the proffered chair and the men once again sat. Having them at eye level eased her dismay marginally. Now the questions would start. She braced herself.

  “It seems you’ve had an accident,” commented Mr. Davis, a short fellow with a ruddy complexion.

  “Yes, I took a fall at the depot,” she replied.

  Mrs. Henderson, a petite woman with a streak of white through her black hair, clucked sympathetically. “How dreadful.”

  “Have you been in Newton long?” Miss Shaw asked.

  Ellie fielded their questions and ate a few bites of the breakfast she would never remember afterward, then hurriedly excused herself to get to work.

  “Where’s your umbrella, dear?” Mrs. Ned called after her.

  Ellie paused in the hallway momentarily. “I lost it.”

  “Take mine,” the woman said with a nonchalant swish of her hand. “It’s in the stand there by the door.”

  Ellie escaped out onto the porch without stopping for the umbrella. Lightning zigzagged across the dismal sky, eerily illuminating the morning, and the following thunder spooked a horse in the street.

  The quavering voice that calmed the animal sounded familiar, and Ellie stared through the downpour to see the young man who’d helped her move the day before waiting in a buggy.

  “Wait, Miss Parrish!” J.J. called. “The doc sent me to fetch you.” He ran toward her with an umbrella and held it above her head.

  She plucked the hem of her skirt above the mud and darted to the waiting buggy, climbing up into the dry safety of the leather seat before replying. “He did?”

  “Yes’m,” he said, coming around to the other side. “I been waitin’ here for nigh half an hour ’cause he wanted to be sure I didn’t miss you. ‘Don’t let her walk in the rain,’ he said. When it rains I always go get the doc and take ’im to his office. Good thing he just told me yesterday that from here on I was to come get you first.”

  Nothing like this had ever happened to her before, and Ellie didn’t quite know what to make of Caleb’s arrangements. That he should be concerned over her walking in the rain touched her unexplainably. Mrs. Ned appeared in the doorway to wave her off as the horse pulled the buggy away from the boardinghouse and down the puddled street. Ellie gave a self-conscious wave.

  The humid air wasn’t what brought a new and never before experienced warmth to her chest. She felt like a princess riding in an elegant carriage. Ellie racked her memory for a time someone had done something thoughtful for her. Something just to make her life easier. Something nice.

  There had been one instance. The time Mrs. Conner had sewn her the blue dress. She tamped that thought down firmly and savored every second of the ride.

  J.J. reined in before Caleb’s house. “Take this,” he said, handing her the umbrella.

  Ellie knew she wouldn’t melt if she got a little wet, but she accepted it and looked it over.

  “Here.” He moved a lever and the contraption sprang out, sending raindrops flying.

  Ellie held it over her head, thanked him and hurried up to the house and into the foyer, then wondered what to do with the dripping thing. She placed it open and upside down on the braided rug.

  Just then Caleb galloped down the open stairway, his shiny boots loud on the polished wood. Bouncing on his arm, Nate laughed out loud and, at the sound, Caleb laughed, too.

  “Did you hear that, Ellie?” he asked.

  She nodded.

  So swift that he surprised her, Caleb turned and ran back up the stairs. “Here we go again,” he said, and once again thundered down the stairs.

  Nate giggled appreciatively and Caleb laughed. Ellie watched in fascination. With emotion welling inside, she couldn’t help wondering if another little baby she remembered had ever known someone who loved her as Caleb loved this child. She hoped with all her might it was so.

  “We could play that game all day, but I have to go to work,” he said, interrupting her thoughts and handing over Nate. “He’s had his breakfast.”

  He picked up the wet umbrella and collapsed it.

  “Dr. Chaney?”

  He turned back slowly. “Yes?”

  Now that she had his attention, discomfort rattled her. He was unlike any man she’d ever known. “Thank you for sending J.J. for me.”

  “You’re welcome. And I thought you were going to call me Caleb.”

  She looked away, uncertain how to respond.

  “If it makes you uncomfortable, then call me Dr. Chaney,” he said impatiently, and stepped toward the door.

  She followed. He turned back and leaned toward her.

  She sucked in a quick breath and froze.

  He kissed Nate’s head, the warm scent of bay rum and starch stirring Ellie’s senses. For a moment, her head swam dizzily. He moved away, picking up his jacket, and she watched his broad back with suspenders crisscrossing the white shirt as he crossed the porch, opened the umbrella and climbed onto the seat of the waiting buggy.

  Ellie stared after it, her mind in a state of confusion. He created such mixed feelings within her. As a man, he was everything she’d learned to fear and loathe. As an employer, he’d proved considerate and generous. And as a father, he was more than she’d imagined a man could be. He truly loved this baby.

  Against her midriff, Nate was warm and solid. She looked down into his luminous blue eyes. In her mind, a loving parent had been only a concept until now. But now she’d seen it.

  And the reality shook her previous understanding of the world. Caleb’s goodness intensified the sordidness of her own life and enhanced each of her many inadequacies. Knowing he existed was painful and wonderful, and made not feeling anything difficult.

  He made her feel things. Deep, disturbing
, inexpressible things.

  Thunder clapped across the heavens. Nate’s eyes widened in curiosity. Ellie peered at the overcast sky and the pouring rain. So much for her trip to the library. She’d have to scan Caleb’s books once again and reread the Episcopal ladies’ cookbook. Only one more day remained until Sunday and dinner with Caleb’s family.

  Ellie enjoyed that day as well as the one that followed. Both days she prepared a supper for the doctor from the recipes in the cookbook and, still too uncomfortable to sit at the table with him, ate before he arrived home. Once she’d set his meal before him she then hurried to the boardinghouse.

  She had more time for herself with this arrangement, not like at the hotel where she’d worked until after dark every evening. With Caleb’s permission, she borrowed some of his books and read them by oil lamp in her room until her eyes got tired and the hour grew late.

  On Sunday morning, the church bells tolled, and she watched from her window as other boarders walked to morning services. Ellie had never been to church in her life and she couldn’t imagine herself among respectable citizens in a house of worship. The only church people she’d had much experience with were either condescending or pitying, and neither trait attracted her to their kind.

  She spent the morning in Mrs. Ned’s deserted kitchen, pressing her skirts and blouses.

  As she waited for the doctor to arrive, her heart hammered and she paced the wide front porch nervously.

  “Going for a ride?”

  Ellie turned to see Miss Shaw moving to sit in one of the wicker chairs. She placed a bag at her feet and took out a small wooden hoop that held partially embroidered fabric. “I’m having dinner with Dr. Chaney’s family,” she replied.

  “He do that to your arm?”

  The question confused, and then startled her. What did she mean? Did she think Caleb had hurt her? She frowned, but then sensibility returned. “Oh, you mean did he fix it! Yes, Dr. Chaney set my arm.”

  “Don’t be surprised if people wonder how well it will heal. He doesn’t have many supporters in Newton.”

  Ellie recognized the rush of anger that swept through her. “Well, that’s ridiculous. He’s completely capable and competent and thinking otherwise is foolish.”