Read Online Rocky Mountain Man (Historical) by Jillian Hart - Free Book Online Page B

was saying, not placating, but with real caring. “You have your reputation. The doctor promised me he’d stay with you and he broke his word.”
    â€œJoshua, he had other patients waiting for him. Please, there is no need to be so angry. How could my reputation possibly be damaged? Goodness, anyone would do the same if they were me.”
    â€œThen think of your health, dear.” Granny slipped a thick shawl over Betsy’s shoulders, the fine wool wrapped her from chin to ankle. “That will do for now, until we get you home. You’ve been up all night, haven’t you? And with the weather turning, you’ll likely catch cold and fall ill. You let your mama take you home and spoil you.”
    â€œGran, I don’t need to be spoiled. I caused this man’s injuries.”
    â€œNot you, dear, but the bear.”
    â€œBears.” It was important that Granny—that everyone—understood. “I have to make this right. I can’t leave him. He’s too weak to fend for himself, and there are no neighbors close. No one to come if he should need help.”
    â€œThere’s me.” The gleam in Granny’s green eyes said more.
    Betsy understood. Mama was so…well, overbearing. She looked at Mr. Hennessey and saw a mountain man who was of no worth. For, as Mama said, what gave a man more worth than a good-paying job and the sense of responsibility to show up for it every day?
    All anyone had to do was to glance around the dim one-room cabin to realize Mr. Hennessey wasn’t a wealthy man. But he was a worthy one. That was something Granny had to understand.
    â€œI will tend him as well as you would do.” Granny pressed a kiss to Betsy’s cheek and secured the shawl pin beneath her chin. “Now, don’t worry, my sweet girl. This is for the best.”
    â€œNo, I don’t think—” She peered over her shoulder at the man who was more shadow than substance, lost in the dark corner where the light did not seem to reach. Her heart wrenched hard, bringing with it a suffocating pain. “He needs me.”
    â€œHe needs care, and I will give it to him.” Firmly, although there was no mistaking the love warming her stern ways, Granny turned her around and gave her a shove toward the door.
    Exhausted and weak—she hadn’t eaten nor drank—her feet seemed to trip forward and she wound up in her brother’s firm grip. No, this was wrong. She needed to stay. She had to. “Please, Joshua. I can rest here and eat. That way I can be close—”
    â€œYou will do better in your own bed, and he has all he needs.”
    Joshua lifted her into his arms, as if she were a child, and it was tenderness that gentled the fierce frown that made him look nearly as intimidating as Mr. Hennessey at his worst.
    â€œNo, please, you have to let me—”
    â€œYou are what matters to us. Come, let us take care of you. When you are stronger and rested, we’ll talk about you coming back.”
    It sounded reasonable. Even sensible. She was light-headed, she realized, from lack of food. Maybe that’s why she was acting the way she was, as if everything was more intense than usual. Maybe that’s why it felt as if she were breaking from the inside out, as if something vital were being wrenched from her innermost being.
    She strained to look over her brother’s shoulder as he carried her through the threshold, turning sideways so her dangling feet wouldn’t smack against the door frame. She saw that Duncan was awake, twisting his head on the pillow, watching her leave. Struggling to keep her in his sight, although he was too weak to do more. His shadowed face was furrowed, his eyes intensely following her progress away from him, and it was almost as if he couldn’t take her leaving.
    As if he didn’t want her to go.
    Their gazes met and the impact was cataclysmic. As if the moon exploded and the earth