Silver Heart (Historical Western Romance) (Longren Family series #1) Read Online Free PDF Page B

Doctor Horton, my bride-to-be.  She only arrived this afternoon on the train."
                  The doctor tipped his head back to look at me through his spectacles, which had slipped down his nose.  He was a young man, red haired and earnest, and he studied me for a moment before saying, "Quite the introduction to our town, then.  I'd like to commend you, Miss Lucas.  Are you a trained nurse?"
                  "I did very little," I said, feeling nerves flutter in my stomach.  Despite how little there'd been for me to do, I'd had hours of worrying I'd done something wrong.
                  "What you did, you did well.  Cleaning the wound, which not everyone knows to do, and tying it off."  He still studied me, absently polishing his glasses now on his vest.
                  "My mother was a nurse in Boston," I said.  "During the war."  When this didn't make him look away, I added, "I'm trained as a midwife."
                  And that, finally, made him look down at the glasses he held, his mouth tightening just a bit.  Yes, I thought, there's the reaction, and maybe what he had been looking for.   Was I competition?  No, sir, I wasn't.  I had no need to be confronted with another bullet wound, or with snakebite or illness or anything outside the realm of births but often, my admission of my training left men uncomfortable, and now my first day was closing with the local doctor suspicious and local matrons glaring as I galloped past on my not-yet husband's lap.
                  So be it.  I'd done what I needed to do, and wasn't one for letting propriety keep me from doing what was right.
                  And in that minute, Dr. Horton relented.  "It was in the family and it was done well, no harm and no concern."
                  I wasn't sure what that meant, so I merely nodded. 
                  "He should sleep now, and I will take my leave," he said.  "I will see him tomorrow, and you, I presume?"
                  I nodded again, and the doctor left.  Matthew didn't open his eyes and his breathing had evened out and when Mr. Longren touched my arm, I accompanied him back into the kitchen.
                  He sat at the table, strong, long-fingered hands clasped together.  "I wonder if you'd make me a cup of coffee, and join me?"
                  There were roasted coffee beans, and someone had beaten the sugar and broken it out, and the stove was hot.  I set about making the coffee, watching him as the last of the sun went down.  He sat with his back to the kitchen window, his dark curls gleamed in the remaining light and his face was shadowed. 
                  When the coffee was ready, I served it then took a seat beside him at the table.  Once seated, I could see his features again, his bright blue eyes. 
                  "What should I tell you about today?" he asked, his hands wrapped around the mug, despite the heat in the kitchen.
                  "All of it, if I'm to be your helpmate," I said, my attention focused on his hands.  They were strong and rough where they wrapped around the mug.
                  He took a long look at me and nodded.
                  I didn't expect him to begin where he began.  His face was serious and from the sitting room, we could hear Matthew's breathing, heavy and pained despite his sleep. 
                  Still, the first thing Hutch Longren said was, "This morning, I woke up knowing I'd meet the future Mrs. Longren."
                  I caught my breath but managed not to move.  He wasn't looking at me, but rather past me at something I couldn't see.  For a horrible instant, I thought he'd start with what a disappointment the meeting had been.  No reason to suspect that, we didn't know each other yet, it had been a day full of incident neither