Wild Oats by Pamela Morsi

Author:Pamela Morsi [Morsi, Pamela]
Language: eng
Format: mobi, epub
Tags: Romance, Western
ISBN: 9780515111859
Google: A7ffRD_XitkC
Amazon: B001KYC1U2
Goodreads: 60690
Publisher: Jove
Published: 1993-01-01T05:00:00+00:00

Amelia Sparrow stepped through her front door and tiredly hung her coat on thejack. Slowly, lethargically, she made her way to the kitchen. A tub of lye and water stood just inside the door and she removed her apron and dropped it there. Stepping to the stove, she dipped out a basin of warm water from the reservoir and thoroughly washed her face and hands. She wanted a full bath, but she'd have to rest before she had the strength to draw and heat the water for one.

Taking a clean cotton cloth from the cupboard, she dampened it in the warm water and pressed it firmly against her sore jaw. It hurt terribly. Her whole face was hot. If she hadn't known for certain that she'd had diphtheria as a girl, she would have been worried.

Hearing a step behind her, she turned to see Haywood in the doorway.

"I heard you come in," he said, looking her over from head to toe. "You look pretty ragged, Mellie."

Amelia ran a hand haphazardly through her hair and gave him a look of disdain. "Thank you."

Haywood gave a shrug as apology. "You been down in Low Town all night?'' he asked.

Amelia nodded.

"It don't seem much like you," he said. "Nursing the sick."

She glared at him coldly. "What am I supposed to do?" she asked. "Beulah Bowman, Grace Panek, and I are about the only women in town that have had the disease and aren't burdened with small children to tend. Somebody has to take care of those sick people."

Haywood nodded, a spark of admiration in his eye.”I'm just pleased to see it, Mellie. All these years you've had me j thinking that there wasn't a spark of charity in your self-centered soul."

Amelia flung the damp cloth she held at him. It struck him square in the face. When Haywood peeled the wet rag from his skin, to Amelia's amazement he was smiling.

"I thought that might perk you right up," he said. She gazed at him in fury for a full moment, not willing to soften. "Give me my cloth," she said finally. "My tooth is throbbing awfully."

"Let me look," Haywood said, coming closer. "I don't want you to look at it," Amelia replied. But Haywood was standing over her holding her chin down and gazing into the deep recesses of her mouth.

"Oh Mellie," he said. "That's a bad one. I bet it hurts like the dickens."

She pulled away from him. "It will be fine in a little bit," she assured him. "A warm cloth will draw the ache out of it." Haywood looked around the kitchen. "You got any sieve cotton?" he asked her.

"In the pantry," Amelia answered without interest. Haywood opened the door and located what he wanted in a couple of moments. Taking the scissors from the hook, he cut a four-inch square.

"Where do you keep your tea?"

Amelia glanced up at him curiously. "In the can," she said, indicating a group of painted tin canisters on the shelf. "What are you up to?"

"I'm making a poultice for your tooth," he said.

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