Noelle Marchand - Unlawfully Wedded Bride

“Never mind,” she said as her gaze darted to the doctor whose lip twitched with suppressed laughter.

“Where am I?” he asked as he tried to sit up.

Doc stepped forward. “No sudden movements. That’s good. Lie back down. Now, tell me. Does your head hurt?”

Nathan grunted. “Yeah, it hurts.”

Kate slowly edged toward the door.

“How would you rate the pain?”

“Bad enough.”

“That’s to be expected since you were—” the doctor faltered as though trying to find the right words “—hit in the head by a horse about twenty minutes ago.”

Nathan looked at the doctor in surprise. “I’ve been out for twenty minutes?”

More than ready to leave, Kate used their distraction to sneak quietly out the door.

Nathan’s head pounded like the ground after a stampede. Actually, he felt as if he’d been the ground during a stampede, which wasn’t too far from the truth. He’d never felt as much panic as when he’d seen that horse barreling toward Kate. Thankfully, that panic had turned into action so he’d been able to keep Kate from getting injured.

Where did Kate go? he wondered, glancing toward the door. It sure had been nice to wake up finding his hand in hers with her wide blue eyes watching him in astonishment. He frowned. Why was it that he always ended up snapping at the woman?

His mother would be ashamed. Snapping at a person was never allowed no matter how irritable, tired or in pain someone was. Heaven forbid if that snapping was directed at the more delicate one of Adam’s ribs.

He wished the doctor would stop asking annoying questions and let him go. He’d only been awake a few minutes and he already had cabin fever.

The distinguished-looking doctor broke into his thought. “I’d like to observe you for a few days before I let you go.”

Nathan grimaced. “Do you have to?”

The doctor frowned thoughtfully. “Well, you certainly can’t be alone—someone will need to keep an eye on your condition. But I suppose I could tell Kate what signs to look for regarding the concussion.”

Nathan waited as hope began to rise within him. Surely Kate wouldn’t mind letting him stay in the barn a few days. The barn would be a much better place to rest than this tiny room in the doctor’s house where he’d be poked and prodded and bored. The farm would have something for him to do. He might have to sneak around to do it but there would be something, anyway.

Doc nodded at some unsaid thought. “I just might let you go with Kate. I’ll write down some instructions for caring for the wounds you have on your back and head. Make sure you show them to Kate. You’ll need her help to change the dressing.”

He frowned. “What type of wound did you say I have on my back?”

Doc didn’t look up from his tablet and continued to write as he said, “You have some heavy bruising and a laceration. I think the hoof must have scraped you on the way down. The cut is long but thin. I think it will heal without stitches, but you’ll have to be careful.”

Doc ripped the page from the tablet and handed it to Nathan. “Make sure you change the dressing every day. I’ll give you something to ward off infection but it won’t be effective unless you keep everything clean.”

“I’ll be careful,” Nathan promised as he tucked the paper into his right pocket. Now he only had to pray Kate would be like the Lord and extend mercy to help him in his time of need.

Two hours later Kate paused in the entrance of the barn, watching in disbelief as Nathan raked a pile of new hay into the stalls. “What do you think you’re doing?”

He froze, then looked up guiltily. “The stalls needed fresh hay and I was in the barn anyway …”

She took the rake from him. Holding it in front of her threateningly, she said, “You are supposed to be resting not pushing hay around my barn.”

“Yes, but—”

“Doc Williams gave me orders and I mean to follow them even if you won’t.”

He carefully took the rake from her as though afraid she’d wield it against him. Then leaning on it, he gave her a smooth half smile and drawled, “You get the prettiest little lilt of an accent when you’re angry. Irish, isn’t it?”

Kate narrowed her eyes. “Your charm doesn’t work on me, Nathan Rutledge, so you’d better get into the house before I resort to speaking Gaelic.”

“Yes, ma’am.” He tipped his Stetson with a rakish grin and started toward the house, then turned to face her with a curious glint in his eye. “Did you tell Doc we were married?”

“Actually, we aren’t really—” She stopped when he lifted a knowing brow. Instead, she settled for, “Ms. Lettie told him.”

“Ah,” he said as though enlightened. “Don’t think you’re stuck with me forever. When I get a chance, I’ll head back into town and see about the annulment.”

“Good.” She watched him exit the barn and go inside the house, and shook her head. “He’s an interesting man that Nathan Rutledge.”

She looked to Delilah for support but the horse only stared at her. “You’re sort of an odd one yourself but that goes back to him. Why would anyone name a perfectly good horse Delilah? Esther I might understand, but Delilah?” Kate extended her hand to Delilah slowly and attempted to stroke the horse’s nose. The horse lowered her head. Her large nostrils flared, then she sneezed directly into Kate’s hands.

“Oh, gross.” Kate grimaced as she stared down at her slimy palm.

“Isn’t that Mr. Rutledge’s horse?” a voice chirped from behind her. She whirled to find her brother and sister watching her curiously. Her clean hand covered her heart. “You scared me half to death.”

Sean spoke again. “Well, isn’t it his horse?”

Kate looked away from their hope-filled eyes. “Yes. It’s his horse.”

Ellie stepped forward. “So he’s staying?”

“No, he isn’t staying. Well, he is,” she amended. “But only for a short time. He was injured by a runaway horse so Doc asked me to keep an eye on him for a few days.”

Sean grinned. “So he’s here.”

Kate nodded. “He’s inside.”

They whooped and took off running toward the house. Leaving her calling to the empty barn, “He won’t stay long.”

Kate could hardly keep up with the flow of conversation during dinner. Sean and Ellie were coming up with question after question about what it was like to be a cowboy. Nathan didn’t seem to mind but his answers were becoming slower and his eyes seemed to hold the pain he disguised in his face. At the moment, he was smiling. “Of course I’ll teach you to lasso.”

Kate raised a hand to silence the celebration. “I hate to ruin your fun, but Nathan needs some rest. He’s tired and I’m sure he’s in pain. Why don’t you two finish eating while I show him to the barn?”

Neither Ellie nor Sean protested, but instead looked at their newfound hero with concern. Kate lit a candle as the two said good-night to Nathan, who then stepped outside. She waited for the door to close behind them before apologizing, “I still don’t feel right about you sleeping in the barn. What if you start feeling worse?”

“I’ll be fine,” he returned optimistically. “I’ve gotten over worse injuries than this.”

At the barn, she turned to light a lantern hanging there. “I left a few blankets out here earlier for you. Is there anything else you need?”

He was quiet for a moment and she turned to find him staring thoughtfully at his boots with his right hand in his pocket.

“Nathan, are you all right?”

“I was thinking.” He glanced up and shrugged. “I’ve bothered you enough. I don’t need anything else.”

“I’ll have to bother you for a moment. Doc told me to check your eyes before you went to sleep,” she explained.