Read Online Healing Hearts (Easton Series #2) by Anna Murray - Free Book Online Page B

dignity. Thinking about her
strength and humility, coupled with the burning desire in his groin, Jed felt shame.
As he had no way to stop this bleeding, he hurried back to the parlor.

 
      Chapter 10

       H annah
poured cream over her sunrise and huckleberry-dappled oatmeal. Gazing out the
window, she could see pink light pushing streaks across the lonesome starlit
prairie. A coyote howled in the distance.
       She arched an eyebrow at the man
she barely recognized across the breach of table. His usual frosty demeanor had
melted away sometime during his bath the previous evening. He’d asked twice if
she’d be able to sleep, and then he’d come up to give her an extra blanket
– the first time he’d entered his bedroom since it became her territory.
      Now he leaned closer to her when speaking,
as if there were more familial intimacy between them. Was the surge of kindness
due to the terrible death she’d witnessed at the ranch the previous day?
       This morning his speech was
slurred, and his eyes were bloodshot. She suspected he’d taken a nip from the
whiskey supplys. Hannah monitored the bottles, and they didn’t appear to be
down beyond what she’d dispensed to patients. Yet, he could be hiding a supply
. . . or it could be something else. She made a mental note to watch his habits
more closely. At least he’d slept through the night without yelling or
thrashing. She’d worried he might have night terrors after the death at the
ranch. Traumatic amputation was a gruesome injury for any doctor to view, and
it no doubt conjured bad memories in a battle-seasoned surgeon like Rutherford.
      Hannah understood well how doctors
needed a break from pain and suffering when they weren’t working. Rutherford
would send her packing if he knew of her physical inferiority. He saw physical
deficits every day, all day long, and he wouldn’t want to see such liability in
a partner, not to mention in a spouse, after hours of dealing with it on the
job.
       He settled his mug on the table
and his blue eyes rested on her. “Nice day,” he observed. His low voice was a
caress.
       “New day. Quiet,” she whispered.
       “It will stay that way. Babies
arrive during bad weather.”
       She laughed warmly. “It’s the way
of it.”
       “Mishaps too.” He was quiet for a
moment. “But better weather comes, and patients are made whole again, mostly.”
        She nodded.
       His mouth tightened. “I saw too
much death in the field.”
       Her heart lurched, and she yearned
to reach out to him. But what could she say to comfort a man harboring so many
wounds inside?
       He fell silent for a few seconds.
“Yet, scarred men, with lost limbs, went home to loving wives and families, and
many have whole lives today. Disfigurement doesn’t keep them from pursuing
their dreams.”
       Hannah frowned and stirred her
cereal. “It’s easier for a man. Women love men for their character. Men love
women for beauty . . . physical perfection.”
       Doctor Rutherford drew a hand
through his thick hair and appeared to mull over her words. “The greatest
beauty is on the inside. Every man has his own way of considering women. It’s
not always what you think.”
       She shrugged a shoulder. Hannah wanted
to believe him, but she’d not be swayed by wise words from a man who wanted to
impress an underling with his maturity. She had direct experience: Her suitor
had ultimately chosen her perfect sister, after he was made aware of her shortcoming.
       He looked away. “Being whole on
the outside isn’t what makes a man or woman. It’s how they wrangle with what
life throws them.”
       Hannah felt like they were playing
shadow tag with such conversation. He must be speaking of his own internal
suffering, and she wondered what she could do to stop the torture he endured.
She’d be a fool to feel anything for him. She certainly wouldn’t put herself
through a romantic rejection again, but maybe she