Chapter 29 #2
Arthur smoothed his hand over his goatee. “Why don’t you locate a room for the night, and I’ll keep Charlie here for now. I’ll make him a new looser split to tide him over until tomorrow. You can return for him and have dinner before you two go.”
“Dinner?” She gripped her reticule.
“You don’t plan to starve, do you?”
“I brought a pouch of dried venison and biscuits for the road.”
“Very good. You can eat it when you drive home tomorrow afternoon. Meanwhile, I had Mrs. Ruddy order a meal for the two of you from the café, and she should show up here any minute with it. I’ll have her keep yours warm.”
“Dr. LeBeau—”
“Arthur.”
She blew out a breath. “Arthur, I can’t accept your generous offer.”
“It’s a meal, Cora. I even ordered a slice of chocolate cake for the boy.”
Charlie’s eyes widened. “Chocolate?”
The man should be a hawker. “We can’t—”
“It’s too late.” A fox grin twinkled his eyes. “The cook has prepared the food by now. Mrs. Ruddy and I have already eaten. It’d be a shame to see it go to waste. Besides, what’s a meal between friends? You did say we could still be friends?”
How was she to refuse without appearing to be inconsiderate, unappreciative, and wasteful? The man had her boxed in. She acquiesced.
That night, Cora fell in and out of a restless sleep, her arm across Charlie in the small bed.
His arm lay atop a folded rubberized blanket with towels around the edges absorbing the run-off from the melting ice.
Now and then, a moan escaped his chocolate-tinged lips.
Arthur had offered a bit of laudanum for the boy’s pain, but she had absolutely refused to allow it.
Their bellies full from pot roast, potatoes, and carrots, they’d headed over to the boarding house shortly after eating.
Charlie’s drowsiness had saved her from Arthur’s insistence on a game of chess.
Between friends. The man wielded the statement like a legal document.
But it’d been Charlie’s pale face and feverish eyes that had led her to accept Arthur’s offer to drive them to the boardinghouse in his buggy.
It was all she could do to keep him from carrying Charlie inside.
Mrs. Sykes had already asked about the Yankee, the one who’d only stayed one night in the boardinghouse before moving out to Cora’s ranch.
Cora had commented on Ben’s loft over the stable and told the woman how her brother’s friend was away often on cattle drives.
The answer had hardly satisfied the lady, and now the doctor was giving her and Charlie personal attention. Mrs. Sykes would take note of that.
Ben needed to come home. It felt like a year since he’d taken her in his arms and said goodbye.
And that kiss… Even now her cheeks heated and her pulse quickened.
If only he were here. He could sit across the room or even sleep in different quarters as far as she was concerned.
The steady reassurance of his presence would penetrate the floorboards and walls, leaving her safe and secure.
But what if…
There were no what-ifs. Ben was done with laudanum. He was not like her father. And whatever ties he had in Pennsylvania… Surely, the Lord would not have brought this man into her life and allowed her to fall for him if it was to end in their parting.
Cora held Charlie’s shoulder and his good arm. “It’ll be over in less than a minute.”
“Please don’t.” Charlie’s voice faltered.
Arthur grasped the boy’s wounded arm at the elbow and the wrist. “As soon as you get your cast on, we’ll go to the café. See what kind of dessert they have today.”
“I want to go home.” Charlie stuck his lip out.
“You’re a warrior, remember?” Cora fought to transform her grimace to a smile. Two days in the boardinghouse, waiting for the swelling to go down and declining Arthur’s offers of hospitality as best she could. And Charlie thought he was the one who wanted to go home the most? “Warriors are brave.”
Arthur pulled. Snap.
“Oww.” Charlie’s holler echoed through the room. He sank against her shoulder. “It’s over?”
“It’s over.” Arthur maneuvered a sock with the foot cut out over the boy’s hand and onto his injured arm.
Cora kissed Charlie’s head and brushed her hand over his dark hair. “You’ll sleep in your own bed tonight.”
The boy breathed heavily and watched as Arthur dipped strips of coarse cotton cloth in a bucket mixture of water and plaster of Paris and carefully molded them around his sock-covered arm.
By the time he’d finished the cast and Charlie’s arm was in a sling, he was ready to wiggle and bolt out the door.
Arthur handed the boy a dime. “A reward for bravery.”
“I didn’t do nothing.” Nevertheless, Charlie took the dime.
“You lived through the setting of the bone without a whimper. That’s bravery in my book.” Arthur tweaked his mustache. “With your sister’s permission, why don’t you go spend it at the general store?”
“Can I?” He shifted his gaze to Cora. “Maybe I can buy me a knife or something for Ben.”
Arthur’s plastered smile faltered.
“You already have a knife.” Besides, a dime wouldn’t buy a knife, but she wasn’t about to point that out and have Arthur dish out more. “You can go to the store while I walk over to the livery stable for our wagon and horses.”
Arthur reached for his coat. “On second thought, the boy could meet us at the café after he’s finished at the store.”
“Us?” Her eyebrows edged upward. “After I settle our bill with you, Charlie and I are heading home. I want to arrive in plenty of time before dark. We have the dried venison to eat on the way.”
Arthur pinned her with his gaze. “Having one last meal with me would settle your bill.”
“Can I go?” Charlie squirmed.
“I’ll settle my bill proper like. I have no intention of taking advantage of our friendship further.” She lifted her chin.
Charlie looked from one to the other. “I’m all right with venison. But maybe we could take the slice of cake with us.”
She waved her hand toward him. “Go on and wait at the store for me.” No use dragging him into the conversation. She needed to go there and pay a portion of the bill, anyway. Not the whole thing, in case Ben had another use for the money. She shifted toward the door as Charlie left.
Arthur drew his silver watch from his waistcoat pocket. “Two o’clock. Plenty of time to eat and then be on your way to safely arrive back at the ranch before sunset.”
Couldn’t the man take no for an answer? “I can’t be beholden to you any further.”
“You refused to eat with me yesterday after I checked on Charlie’s arm.”
“He needed to rest. Besides, you still had food sent to us.”
“As any friend would do.” He leaned a manicured hand against the doorjamb. “Have I offended you in some way, that you can’t share a meal with me in a public café in broad daylight?”
She blew out a breath.
He pinned her with his devouring gaze. “Was I not a perfect gentleman when I called at your house? Were you tortured by our time spent playing chess and conversing?”
She folded her arms. “You were, and I wasn’t. But Ben and I have an understanding now.”
“What kind of understanding?”
“That we’re going to start courting.”
An aha victory smile lit his face. “Don’t you have to wait for his return?”
“I’m sorry, but I can’t have dinner with—”
“One last meal together. That’s all I ask.
Once he returns and your courtship has officially started, I promise to not even glance your way unless you call upon me.
You owe me nothing either way for the bill.
I’ll instruct Mrs. Ruddy to not accept your money.
I never charged you for my care for your father either. I won’t start now.”
“Why didn’t you ever charge us?” She blinked up into the eyes of…what? A snake-oil salesman, a flatterer, or a man who actually cared?
His smile turned sad as he reached for his hat. “Because, my dear lady, you have captivated me from the moment I first saw you. And I could tell that life had treated you unfairly.”
She stared at him. How was she supposed to reply to that?
He donned his hat and opened the door. “Shall we go?” He held out his arm.
An hour in a café or the finest love sonnets Shakespeare had ever written wouldn’t make a difference. Arthur had lost his suit the night Ben had taken her into his arms.