Dorothy Garlock Read Online Free PDF Page A

speech, which, for some unknown reason, endeared him to the ladies.
    Joe kicked his boots off at the door.
    “Something smells good. Have the good ladies in town brought you supper in hopes of snaring you for their daughters?”
    “Daughters, h-hell. They hopin’ to t-trap me for themselves.”
    “What are you now, Doc? Forty? Fifty? I heard your bones creakin’ when you opened the door.” Joe enjoyed teasing the doctor because he was only thirty-four and his once-dark hair was rapidly turning gray.
    “S-smart-ass. What’re you doing out on a night like this? Can’t be Jill. I saw her yesterday. She’s not due for a couple of w-weeks. Thad thought I should pinpoint it down to the day and hour. I’m good, b-but not that good.”
    “I came to tell you that your new nurse got as far as my place before she got bogged down in the mud.”
    “April is here?” A brief smile fluttered across Doc’s face, then disappeared. “Did you t-treat her to s-some of your smart-alecky humor? If you did, I’ll s-sew up that mouth of yours the f-first chance I get.”
    “I treated her like the gentleman I am. What do you take me for? A country clod?”
    “You said it. I didn’t.”
    “I charmed her. She fell for me like a poleaxed steer. She couldn’t keep her hands off me.”
    “B-bull hockey! She’s too smart for that.”
    “She’s at Pa’s. Jack and I will pull her car out in the morning. She’ll be so grateful she’ll swoon in my arms. Where’s she going to stay?”
    “I’ve put out some feelers. Shirley Poole has a room to let. Only she and her b-brother live in that big old house. I don’t know if she offers meals. She and Miss Asbury would have to work that out.”
    “Marry her and she can stay here.” Joe watched carefully for Doc’s reaction. His expression never changed.
    “And lose out on all the c-cakes and pies I get from the ladies who are trying to s-snare me?”
    “How about Mrs. Bloom? Her son went to St. Louis to find work.”
    “It’s a thought. I’ll s-suggest it to Miss Asbury.”
    “How did you meet her?”
    “You’re awfully nosy about my new n-nurse.”
    “Why not? She’s the prettiest thing to come to Fertile in a long time.”
    “She was r-recommended by a doctor in Kansas City when I went there to take a brushup course. She was working at the hospital and taking care of a s-sick grandmother. She told me that she wanted to eventually work for a small-town doctor where she could get to know the patients. I wrote to her as soon as Miss Franklin t-told me she was quitting.”
    “She’s a lot better-looking than Miss Franklin.”
    “You’re just saying that because she turned you down for Harold Walker.”
    Joe snorted. “She made a play for every single man in town and some that were not single. Even you, for God’s sake. That’s how desperate she was. She caught poor old Harold when he was looking the other way.”
    “Why even me? Hell. I’m the best c-catch in town.” “Bullfoot! I’m the one carrying the stick to keep the women off me.”
    “Don’t play f-fast and loose with my nurse. Hear? I want her to s-stay.”
    “Miss April Asbury can take care of herself. She’ll have you wrapped around her little finger in no time at all.” Joe headed for the door and slipped on his boots. “I’ll get her car as far as our place. I think the road from there to town is hard-packed enough for her to come on in.”
    “Don’t rush off. I was about to offer you a p-piece of Miss Davenport’s chocolate cake or a dish of Mrs. Maddox’s peach cobbler or a hunk of meat loaf b-brought in by Sarah Parker.”
    “Thanks. That’s generous of you, but I’m afraid it would get out that I’m eating the treats the dear ladies bring you and your supply would be cut off. I’d better get back uptown, look up Jack and see if he’s ready to go home.”
    “Jack’s going through a d-difficult time right now.”
    “Pa’s worried about him.”
    “You’re a h-hard act to follow,