Return of the Cowboy Doctor by Lacy Williams

Author:Lacy Williams
Language: eng
Format: epub
Publisher: Harlequin
Published: 2013-10-14T16:00:00+00:00

Chapter Nine

“Here’s some milk that Mrs. Fishbourne just dropped off.” Hattie passed the full jug to Maxwell, who nodded and took it from her, not giving her a verbal reply as he turned to take it to the table along the back wall.

His reserved manner unnerved her. Ever since he’d returned from his rest around lunchtime, he’d seemed quieter, more hesitant around her, although he’d worked hard all afternoon with hydrating the patients and changing linens.

Oh, he was as professional as he’d ever been, but the easy, more conversational manner he’d shown, the warm smiles he’d shared with her last night had disappeared.

He was putting distance between them. After the emotional moments yesterday following Bobby’s small improvement and his understanding of her condition, she’d expected something different.

Could his manner be attributed to the exhaustion and strain they were both under? Or had she done something this morning to offend him? Could it be because she hadn’t wanted her mama to know that she’d had to ask for help?

Her parents believed her condition meant she shouldn’t be a doctor. Did Maxwell now think the same way?

* * *

Evening was falling and Maxwell stood outside the church, leaning back against the building with his hands pressed over his eyes.

He’d woken from a few hours of broken sleep more convinced than ever that he should pull back from Hattie. But keeping his distance from her all afternoon hadn’t been easy, and seeing the confusion in her eyes as the afternoon wore on made him feel like a heel.

Wasn’t it better to hold himself back, to keep what had happened with both of the girls he’d cared about in Denver from happening again? He’d thought his feelings for them had been reciprocated, but both women had found him lacking. With Elizabeth, it had hurt even more because he’d believed he had loved her enough to want marriage. But when they’d spoken of future plans and Maxwell had revealed he wanted to move back to Bear Creek or a similar small town, she had quickly broken things off.

He knew the need for doctors in small towns. Before Doc Powell’s arrival, Bear Creek had been without a doctor for several years after the previous doc had retired. Maxwell had seen folks suffering firsthand without proper medical care.

He’d thought if Elizabeth really loved him, she would be willing to go with him, even to a small town. But she hadn’t loved him enough. Just as his birth ma had told him over and over again. With his record of women leaving him, how could he doubt it was true?

He knew better than to think that Hattie could develop true feelings for him. So wasn’t it better to guard his heart and keep from feeling the awful things he had when Elizabeth had left him?

What if the things he felt for Hattie, what she was willing to share with him, weren’t real anyway, just emotions forced by their proximity?

The sound of a wagon creaking and a horse’s soft blow brought him upright and out of his morose thoughts.

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