A Midwife Crisis (16 page)

John’s mother always said God watched over fools and children. If that was the case, God must be watching hard this morning because John had to have been the biggest fool to ever walk. His head thumped like a demon from the whiskey he’d consumed, and he deserved every nauseating throb. Unfortunately things were going to get worse before they got better.

He had to face Katie.

She was in the kitchen, if she hadn’t run like hell, and he couldn’t blame her if she had. He’d all but ravished her on the kitchen table, and now he had to face her…in front of his daughter…in the kitchen.

Hell.

He looked down at his wedding ring. He’d planned to wear it until the day he died, figuring he’d never want another woman, but last night had taught him otherwise. He’d wanted Katie. Fiercely, passionately, and shamelessly, he’d wanted her, so what had he done? He took. Without thought of her feelings or desires, he’d taken and would’ve taken it all if she hadn’t gasped in surprise.

Bastards do that. Rogues, ne’er-do-wells, rakes, scoundrels, men of little or no morals take from women just because they want to. And he’d wanted to.

Still did.

Hell.

He headed to the kitchen. If he were an honorable man, he’d allow Katie to return home, but since he’d already established that he had no honor, he didn’t think he’d bring up the option of leaving.

The smell of bacon frying rolled his stomach over twice before he entered the kitchen to face her wrath. He deserved no less.

“Morning, Katie,” he said as soon as he checked to be sure they were alone.

She turned from the stove, her cheeks pink with embarrassment. “Mornin’.”

Their gazes locked for a second before she dropped her eyes and turned back toward the stove.

“I…uh…” He took a deep breath and started again. “I need to apologize for last night.”

She kept her back to him, but stopped moving. “No need,” she muttered.

“Yes, there is a need.” This was harder than he’d thought it would be. “I acted like an animal, and you don’t deserve that. I’m sorry.”

She nodded but kept her back to him, and it was killing him. He couldn’t blame her for feeling humiliated—he’d stripped her to the waist—but it wasn’t her fault.

Now was the time a decent man would offer to let her leave. “I—”

“John,” she said firmly, then finally turned to face him. “It’s all right.”

He wanted to believe her. He also wanted to hold
her and kiss her, and all the emotions he’d felt the night before bubbled up in him again. Then she cracked an egg into the skillet and other things bubbled up, forcing him to run from the kitchen and humiliate himself in the yard.

“Where’s Dr. Keffer?” Caroline asked when Katie set breakfast on the dining room table. She guessed Caroline assumed the help would refer to him by that title.

“John’s taking a walk, I believe.” It was ornery, but Katie couldn’t help herself. Especially since John wasn’t really walking. From what she’d seen out of the kitchen window, he was paying for his whiskey.

She’d paid last night. Based on his apology, he felt guilty for their encounter, but she had no guilt, only sadness. He hadn’t meant to kiss her. She hadn’t meant to want it, but she did, and now every time her future husband kissed her, she’d think of John. She’d remember his touch and the heat of his lips against her breasts and nothing would ever erase that feeling.

It was an accident for him. It was life changing for her.

She returned to the kitchen, surprised to find Julia sitting at the table, hugging her kitten. “Your breakfast is in the dining room.”

“Can’t I eat in here with you, Katie?”

“I thought you wanted to eat at the big table.”

Julia sighed, theatrically. “I can’t do it right.”

“Eat?”

Julia nodded with equal theatrics, then proceeded to explain her eating problems. “I don’t hold my fork
right or put my napkin in the right place or talk when I’m supposed to.” Rolling her blue eyes heavenward, she added, “It’s too hard to eat in there.”

Katie bit back a grin. She didn’t want to eat in there either.

“Cook?”
It was Caroline, and based on her tone, she wanted something.

Katie looked at Julia. Julia looked at Katie and both broke into laughter.

“Is there something you need?” Katie asked, finally forcing herself to return to the dining room.

“Yes,” Caroline said, lifting her chin a haughty inch. “I want you to fix a picnic lunch for Dr. Keffer and me. I think he needs to get out into the fresh air.”

“Please tell me you’re joking,” Caroline said, mouth gaping as she stared at Lightning and his carriage.

“About what?” John answered, knowing full well what Caroline was referring to.

“You expect me to ride in that?”

Lightning snorted as though her remark offended him, then proceeded to raise his tail and return the offense.

John shrugged. “It’s either that or walk, and the stream I wanted to show you is quite some distance from here.”

“Well,” she said, tucking a blonde curl into her chignon, “if it means that much to you, I suppose I can manage.” Then she smiled sweetly and held out her hand for him to help her climb into the seat.

He wasn’t aware it had meant all that much to him. She was the one who’d insisted on a picnic and when
he agreed to it, he thought it’d include Katie and Julia. But Caroline insisted they didn’t want to go, so he hid his disappointment and hitched up the wagon.

He supposed he should feel sorry for Caroline. She bounced down the road with one hand holding on to her bonnet and the other gripping the seat as though convinced she was going to tumble over backward, and by the time they made it to the stream, “sweet” was no longer the word he would use to describe her smile. Come to think of it, even
smile
wasn’t entirely accurate. Grimace? That was closer.

“Finally we’re here,” she said, reaching for John to lift her from the wagon. When he set her on the ground, she stumbled slightly, landing full against his chest.

“Oh,” she giggled, looking up at him through lash-lowered eyes. “Thank goodness, you caught me.” Then she gave a little squeeze to his arms as though testing his muscles. Was she flirting?

Releasing her, he grabbed the picnic basket and a quilt from behind the seat. Caroline flirting was an uncomfortable thought and not one he wanted to dwell on. “This way,” he said, gesturing to a wooded area near the stream.

She tucked her arm through his and stepped cautiously through the tall grasses. A small waterfall poured from a spring in the side of a hill, cool droplets making a tinkling sound as they landed in a pool of water that flowed into the stream. Mosses and ferns grew in abundance around the spring and the fecund smell of the forest filled the air.

“What a lovely place,” Caroline said as John flipped open the quilt to lie on the ground.

“Katie showed it to me.”

“
Katie?
Oh yes. You mean the cook.”

John opened the basketful of treats Katie had prepared, reluctantly admitting to himself she was the cook. But Caroline said it as though that made her beneath them. “She’s a wonderful cook, but she’s only doing this as a favor to me until my housekeeper returns.”

Caroline joined John on the quilt, taking several minutes to adjust the folds of her gown and pat her hair, until finally giving him an expression that bordered on pity. “Really, John, do you think you should be on such friendly terms with the girl?”

“The
girl’s
name is Katie, and we are friends, and I happen to like it that way.”

She leaned toward him, placing her hand on his arm. “Please don’t be angry with me. I’m just worried for you. You and I are both vulnerable right now.” She lifted her hand to retrieve a handkerchief from her reticule and dabbed at the corner of one eye.

“I miss Lois terribly,” she continued. “Such a dear sister, and it’s only been two years since the unfortunate accident.” She placed her hand back on his arm. “That’s why I just had to come see you.” She dabbed again at the same eye, making him wonder if she only cried from one eye at a time.

“I miss her too,” he said, and he did miss her, but oddly enough, it didn’t hurt as much to say it as it used to.

Caroline touched his wedding ring. “Don’t you think it’s time we both moved forward?”

At the angle she was leaning, any more forward motion
would probably cause her to spill from the scooped neckline of her gown. Pulling his gaze away from her décolletage, he reached for the picnic basket.

“I am moving forward. That’s why I moved here.”

“There’s a difference between moving forward and running away.”

But sometimes the latter can cause the former, though at the moment, the last thing he wanted to do was point that out to Caroline. She was a little too smug with her earth-shattering revelation, and he decided to let her bask in it for a while longer.

A ring of the chime on the front door brought Katie quickly down the steps. It had taken forever to convince Julia that she wasn’t too old for naps and even longer to convince the kitten. Today the kitten’s name was Felicia. Yesterday it was Henry. Since it was still too young to determine whether it was male or female, Julia wasn’t taking any chances. Katie didn’t want to take any chances on the door chime waking either one of them.

“Afternoon, Katie,” Harold said as soon as she jerked open the door.

“Harold.” She pulled off her apron and patted her hair into her bun. “What a pleasant surprise.”

He cleared his throat, then stretched to look around her into the house. “Is the doc home?”

“No. He’s out for the moment. Are you ailing?”

“No, but I was hoping we could take a little walk. I ain’t seen you much since you’ve been living here.”

“Oh. Well, I’d love to take a walk with you, but Julia’s upstairs asleep, and I can’t leave her.” She motioned
to the chairs on the porch. “Maybe we could sit here for a spell and chat.”

Harold frowned, which Katie was beginning to suspect was a natural state for him, and took the closest seat, leaving Katie to walk around him to the next chair.

They sat in silence for a few moments before Katie finally said, “How have you been lately?”

“Good,” he answered, and she guessed she should be relieved. The last time she and Harold had had a private conversation, he’d shared his bowel problems.

“Well,” she said, hoping he’d take the word as a cue that it was his turn to bring up a topic of conversation.

He didn’t.

Luckily, John’s carriage came wobbling down the street at about that time, delivering a topic of conversation to the doorstep.

“That’s John’s sister-in-law, Caroline,” she said, nodding in their direction.

“Hmmph,” was Harold’s reply.

“She just came from New York City.”

“Hmmph,” again.

Katie had about had enough “hmmphing” to last her, but before she had to do something about it, John guided Lightning to the hitching rail in front of the porch and left the wagon to tie the mule before someone got hurt.

John glanced at the porch and gave a frown not too unlike Harold’s.

“Afternoon, Doc,” Harold said.

“Afternoon, Harold,” John returned, helping Caroline down from the wagon.

She put her arm through John’s and laughed lightly as though they shared some personal secret. Katie looked at Harold and smiled sweetly, wishing it’d been Randy who’d stopped by today instead of Harold. Randy was much prettier.

“Harold came by for a visit,” she said, trying to sound excited. “Wasn’t that nice of him?”

John continued to escort Caroline up the steps to the front door. He nodded in response to Katie’s question, but didn’t say any more on the subject.

“I was hoping I could get Katie to tell me what she’d like for her birthday,” Harold said.

John stopped walking and immediately looked at Katie. “When’s your birthday?”

“Thanksgiving,” she answered, wondering why he was so interested.

“That’s only a couple of weeks away.”

“And we’re hoping she’ll let us know who she’s going to marry by then.”

Harold’s statement snapped Caroline’s attention to the conversation. To that point, she hadn’t even made eye contact.

“Marry?” She smiled as though she and Katie were best friends. “Katie dear, you didn’t tell me you were getting married.”

Maybe that was because, up to that point, she didn’t think Caroline dear, knew her name.

“I plan to.”

“Who’s the lucky man?” Caroline dear asked, beaming up at John as though it was the best news she’d heard in a while.

“I’m not sure just yet.”

“Not sure?”

Katie’s stomach sank. The last person she wanted to inform about her abundance of fiancés was Caroline dear.

“She has three fiancés,” John said, and not with any of the sarcasm she would’ve used if the situation were reversed.

“Three?” Caroline threw her head back in a laugh that was borderline disrespectful. Of course, borderline for Caroline was an improvement.

“And is
this
one of them?”

Harold bristled at her implication but fortunately refrained from commenting.

“Yes,” John answered. “This is Harold Crowley. Harold, please meet Caroline Humboldt.”

“Afternoon,” Harold said.

Caroline giggled behind her hand as she returned the greeting and led John into the house. Where was Randy Kopp when Katie needed him?

“So, Katie?” Harold asked, bringing her attention back to him. “What do you want for your birthday?”

“You don’t have to get me anything, Harold.”

“Now, don’t be silly. A man has to get his girl something for her birthday.”

She wasn’t sure, but she thought he winked at her. Kind of hard to tell and compared to Randy’s wink, it wasn’t much, but she suspected he was flirting.

He was waiting for an answer, so she said, “Why don’t you just surprise me?”

That seemed to placate him and for the next few minutes he thought out loud about what she might
want as he watched her face for a reaction. A new skillet? Some spoons? A measuring cup?

“How about a new apron? A pretty white one with lace and fancy stitching?”