Lessons of the Heart (Daughters of the Prairie 2)

“I’ll see her home,” Garth said.

“I’d be much obliged, Mr. Mackenzie,” Doc said, “but you shouldn’t leave your daughter alone.”

“You’re right,” Garth said, shaking his head. “Not sure what I was thinkin’.”

“Doc, don’t worry about me,” Ruth said. “I’m happy to stay here and sit with Mary Alice. I’ll make sure she gets a good supper. Once things are under control at the Hobbs place, if you could send Oliver to tell my parents where I am, I’d appreciate it. I don’t want them to worry.”

“Will do. Keep the child hydrated. She should be fine. But you know where I am if you need me.”

Ruth nodded. She sat down on the edge of the bed, took the cloth from Mary Alice’s forehead, and wiped her clammy face. “Are you feeling better, dear?”

“Yes, ma’am. Just a little weak, is all.”

“Well, that’s nothing to take lightly. You’re to stay in bed. In fact”—she gestured toward Garth—“it wouldn’t be a bad idea for your father to rest, either.”

“Nonsense,” Garth said. “I don’t rest during the day. Work to be done.” As if on cue, he opened his mouth into a giant yawn.

Ruth couldn’t help but let out a laugh. “Yes, I see you’ve been working yourself as hard as you’ve been working your daughter, sir.” She stood and faced him at the foot of the bed. “Off to bed with you, too. If you want to take care of Mary Alice, you need to take care of yourself. She needs your strength, Mr. Mackenzie.”

“For corn’s sake.”

He shook his head, and his blond locks tumbled into his eyes. Ruth resisted the urge to sift her fingers through them and push them back.

“For corn’s sake nothing,” she said, trying to ignore the tingles racing over her flesh as she touched his arm and nudged him out of the room. “I will be here, and I’m perfectly capable of looking after Mary Alice. I’ll see that you both have a hearty meal for supper. So you see, there’s nothing to worry about.”

“You don’t need to cook for us.”

“I am your neighbor, sir, and the neighborly thing to do is to help where I’m needed.”

He shuffled across the front room and yawned again. “I got things to do, Ruth.”

Land sakes, he was a stubborn man. And so handsome he made her skin heat. The image of his lips pressing against hers flashed through her mind. She’d been so concerned with Mary Alice, she hadn’t let the kiss they’d shared enter her thoughts. But now, knowing the child was not in danger, and in the presence of his pure maleness, her stomach twisted and her nipples beaded against her bodice. She exhaled and tried to shrug the sensation off. “It’s the Lord’s day, Mr. Mackenzie. He rested on this day and so can you. Now go.”

He seemed to relent then, and Ruth gazed into his brilliant bronze eyes and saw fatigue. The poor man looked like he hadn’t slept well in days.

“Mary Alice,” he whispered.

“I’ll take care of her,” she said quietly. “Please, you need rest.”

He nodded and ambled toward the bedroom on the other side of the front room.

Ruth returned to Mary Alice and fed her a dipper of cool water. Satisfied the child was resting comfortably, she went to work straightening the front room. How could one man and one child make such a mess? Really, how much effort was it to take a used tin cup to the kitchen and rinse it?

Once the room was in order, Ruth sat down in a wooden rocking chair. What to make for supper? She doubted there was another plucked chicken waiting outside the lean-to.

She sighed and readied herself to check the contents of the pantry when her ears prickled.

A low growl—agonizing, guttural, human—spilled from Garth Mackenzie’s bedroom.

Chapter Six

“Don’t say a fuckin’ word. I swear to God I’ll slit your throat.”

“I-It hurts. I—”

“I said not a word!” Garth pressed his blade against the pale skin of his friend’s throat. The Rebel’s bullet had lodged in Matthew’s stomach. Garth held his friend on his lap like an infant, his dull knife poised at Matthew’s Adam’s apple. If Matthew screamed in pain, he’d give away their position to the Rebs.

Above them, Rebel boots crunched against the ground.