Blood Blade Sisters Series (30 page)

“You work quickly, Taggart. Nicely done.”

“Mr. Bartlett made it easy, ma’am. I simply saw to it that his proclivities were exposed. I promise you that no one even remembers his lies against Miss Lucy now.”

“We owe you our thanks, Mr. Taggart.”

“It was my pleasure, Mrs. Forrester.”

Richard came in on the heels of Mrs. Krause and sat beside Brynne. “Have you heard about this business with the Bartlett boy? Quite shocking.”

Brynne’s gaze shot to Taggart, who echoed her smile as he nodded to her and left the room.

Chapter Ten

The day had been relatively quiet. Only a few patients with minor ailments had come into the clinic and Brynne had spent most of the morning in Richard’s office, transcribing some notes he’d made about a particularly interesting case he’d worked on. She’d become something of an unofficial secretary, a task that suited her nicely. Especially as it meant she was able to spend more time with Richard.

She’d been trying not to examine her growing feelings for him too closely. Dwelling on them brought the inevitable guilt and frankly, she was tired of feeling guilty. Jake had been dead for four years. It wasn’t a betrayal of him to have feelings for another man. She only wished it didn’t feel like one.

Richard filled the doorway and Brynne stopped in mid-motion, her whole body frozen as he stared at her. A slow smile stretched across his lips and Brynne’s heart flipped. Richard glanced into the hallway over his shoulder and closed the door halfway behind him before he entered the room.

“Hello, Brynne.”

“Hello, Richard.”

She stood as he came around the desk and took the papers from her, keeping her hand in his and setting them aside without glancing at them.

How did the simple touch of his hand render her so senseless? It was both irritating and exhilarating all at once.

“How have you been getting on back here? I trust it hasn’t been too wearisome.”

She looked into his eyes, a smile of her own appearing to match his. “Not at all.”

“Good. I’d hate to chase you away through sheer boredom.”

Oh no. She could never be bored. Not with his fingers caressing her palm, reaching up to skim across the pulse jumping under the tender skin of her wrist.

He pulled her closer. Brynne’s gaze flickered to the door for an instant. What if someone were to see?

Richard’s other hand wrapped about her waist and she suddenly didn’t care if the whole world could see them.

A cursory knock at the door heralded a very flustered Mrs. Birch. Brynne jumped and tried to pull her hand from Richard’s but he kept a firm hold of it. He didn’t seem startled at all by the woman’s sudden appearance. He merely looked at her politely, waiting for whatever emergency had brought her running.

“Dr. Oliver, I’m sorry to disturb you, but a woman has come into the clinic with her two children. They are all ill. I believe it’s scarlet fever, sir.”

Richard was on the move before Brynne could take another breath. “Shut up the clinic. Has anyone had any contact with them?”

“No, sir. As soon as I saw them I put them in the small sitting room off the hall.”

“Good woman. Anyone who has not had the disease must leave immediately. Tell them to burn their clothing when they get home, to be safe.”

Mrs. Birch ran off to carry out Richard’s orders. He turned to Brynne. “I want you to take Coraline and your sister and get out of town, immediately.”

“But I can help, I’ve—”

“No!”

Brynne flinched, startled at his shout. Richard immediately softened and took both of her hands, drawing her close to him. “I wouldn’t be able to live if anything happened to you or Coraline. Go to the country, get away from town until the sickness has passed. If this family has it, then there are others out there and there will soon be countless more. Get to safety.”

He kissed her cheek, letting his lips linger against her skin. “Stay safe and well.”

Richard kissed her cheek again, gave her hand a squeeze, and hurried out.

Brynne’s heart clenched as she watched him go. What if she never saw him again? He didn’t say whether he’d had the dreaded illness or not. And it was exactly like him to go throwing his life away to save others.

Brynne hurried out of the clinic and hailed a hack. Richard obviously didn’t know her very well if he believed she’d sit back and do nothing, and she was well aware that was entirely her fault. She’d been afraid to let him get too close.

Well, Dr. Oliver was about to find out what kind of woman she was.

…

“But Momma, I don’t want to go away.”

Brynne choked back the lump in her throat as she pulled a coat around her daughter’s small shoulders. “I know, chickabiddy. I don’t want you to go away either. I’ll miss you terribly.” She pulled her in for a hug and then tilted the little girl’s face up so she could look into her eyes. “But I want you to be safe and well even more. There is an illness in town, and I don’t want you to catch it.”

“You come too, Momma?”

For a moment, Brynne hesitated. The thought of being separated from her daughter was nearly a physical pain. But she couldn’t leave Richard alone to fight the battle ahead of him, not knowing what might come of him in the process. At least if Coraline was out of the city, Brynne could rest assured that she was safe. She could not say the same for Richard. And she knew she could be of use. She had to do what she could to help.

“I can’t, my darling. I will be fine,” she promised her daughter. “I’ve already had scarlet fever, and you can only get it once. But there will be a lot of people who haven’t had it before, and Momma must stay to help them.”

“With Doc Liver?”

Brynne choked out a laugh at her daughter’s mispronunciation of Richard’s name. It had always been sweetly amusing and with the possibility of not seeing her little girl for many weeks looming, was even more so. “Yes, my love. With Doc Liver.”

Coraline wrinkled her nose as she contemplated what her mother had told her. The lump in Brynne’s throat grew more difficult to ignore. “I stay,” she announced.

“Now young lady, your mother has told you, you must go. We’ll have no more fussing from you,” Mrs. Krause said. She tried to get a firm grip on Coraline, but Coraline was keen to that game. As soon as Mrs. Krause got a hold of her, Coraline went limp. The sudden shift from struggling prisoner to dead weight loosened Mrs. Krause’s hold and Coraline slipped right through her fingers.

“Coraline,” Brynne scolded. “That is enough.”

Coraline jumped up and threw her arms about Brynne’s neck. Brynne scooped her up, holding her close. “Come on now. Brisk up. I know you are sad, but you will have a marvelous time with Aunt Lucy and your grandparents. You’ll get to see the horse farm where your daddy and Uncle Leo grew up. Won’t that be fun?”

“Horses?”

“Yes, there will be many horses there. Perhaps Aunt Lucy can teach you to ride. Would you like that?”

“Ride horses!” Coraline was suddenly squirming to get down, and Brynne relinquished her to Mrs. Krause.

Lucy came down the stairs, a large bag under each arm, followed closely by Taggart. Old Mr. Cotton waited by the carriage door. He’d gallantly offered to accompany Lucy and Coraline on their journey. While there was no real need for him to go, as Cora and Edward would also be there, it was no real hardship to send him along. The more people out of harm’s way, the better.

The Forrester’s carriage pulled up and their footman ran up the steps to help gather the bags. He stopped for a moment to give Brynne a message. “Mr. Forrester said that they’d gone on ahead to arrange passage on the train, ma’am.”

“Thank you, Jimmy.”

Brynne gave her daughter one more firm hug, burying her face in Coraline’s curls. Perhaps she was making the wrong choice. Maybe she should go with her.

Lucy came up and held her arms out for Coraline, who gave her mother a kiss on the cheek and went to her aunt.

Brynne blinked, refusing to let the tears that threatened to fill her eyes show.

Lucy leaned in for a one-armed hug. “Ah, don’t take on so. I’ll take good care of her,” she promised. “You don’t have to worry about anything.”

“She’s my baby. I’m always going to worry about her.”

Lucy laughed. “Well, try not to worry too much then. She’s going to have fun. It’ll be like life on the ranch. Sort of.”

Brynne did smile at that. Mrs. Forrester’s family owned a large horse ranch in Maryland and they were taking Coraline and Lucy there. They’d promised Coraline she could ride the horses and take a trip to the beach. Brynne knew that Coraline was in good hands and would have so much fun she probably wouldn’t miss home at all. But Brynne would miss her every second she was gone.

Taggart finished checking the baggage on the back of the carriage and then held out his hand and helped Coraline into the carriage as if she were a full grown lady. Her cheeks dimpled in delight. Taggart gave her a bow as she settled into the carriage and then turned to help Lucy inside. He took her hand, but instead of climbing inside the carriage right away, Lucy stood for a moment speaking quietly to him.

Brynne frowned and was about to come down the front steps when Lucy turned to wave before climbing inside to settle in with Coraline. Mr. Cotton and Mrs. Krause climbed in next and then they were off.

Brynne’s heart broke a little as she watched the carriage carry her daughter farther from her. Then she squared her shoulders and went back into the house. There was work to do.

Chapter Eleven

When Richard saw Brynne walk into the clinic, her arms full of bags and parcels, his pulse quickened as it always did when he saw her. But anger and concern were quick on its heels. What was the aggravating woman doing? He had to get her out of there quickly.

He stormed toward her, but she simply thrust her bundles into his arms, gathered her skirts, and mounted the stairs. Dumbfounded, he followed along behind, holding his tongue until they were in his private quarters. Brynne went into the first room in the hallway, a guest room that he’d had rare occasion to use.

Richard dumped the parcels on the bed and rounded on her. “Are you mad, woman? What are you doing here? I told you to get Coraline to safety.”

“Coraline is on her way to the Forresters’ relatives in Maryland.” Her voice broke a little as she spoke and she cleared her throat before she continued.

“I’ve had scarlet fever. And you can’t take care of all the patients who will be coming in by yourself, so don’t argue with me. I’m staying and I’m helping.”

His worry lessened, but only marginally. He still didn’t want her anywhere near his clinic. “I don’t need you—”

“Sir.” Mrs. Birch stood in the doorway. “Three more have come in.”

Brynne nodded. “Quit your bellyachin’. You do need me.” She quickly dug through one of the parcels on her bed and extracted an apron. “Mrs. Birch,” she said as she put it on, “I’ve brought a few supplies that I had on hand. Some Epsom salts, ammonia, and all the barley we had in the house. If too many come, I feared you might not have supplies to feed them all and I know they won’t be able to stomach much more than barley water.”

Mrs. Birch nodded at her in approval and bustled past a flustered Richard to gather the supplies before turning to march downstairs.

Richard stood in the middle of the room, hands balled into fists by his side. Brynne looked at him with a mixture of what looked like amusement and pity. She came to him and took his hands in hers.

“My dear Richard. If you are going to court me properly there are a couple things you might want to know about me.”

She suddenly had his interest. “And what would that be?” he asked, pulling her a little closer.

“First of all, I’m not one to sit idly by when there is work to be done. Secondly, and perhaps more importantly, I can be as stubborn as a mule with a knot in his tail when I want to be. It’s usually best to let me have my way. Saves time.” She smiled up at him and he forgot what his arguments against her staying were.

“Does that mean I have your permission to formally declare my intentions, Mrs. Forrester?” He pulled her even closer, close enough he could wrap his arms about her waist.

She hesitated for a moment before her arms tentatively slid their way up his. “Against my better judgment, yes.”

He leaned down, slowly enough that she could pull away if she wanted to, and pressed his lips against hers. They were as soft and full as he’d known they would be, and so much sweeter. She made a soft noise, something between a whimper and a sigh, and it was all he could do not to take her where she stood.

Brynne pulled away and he felt her loss immediately. She looked up at him, a soft blush staining her cheeks. But the look in her eyes was far from embarrassed. It promised much more than the small taste he’d had.

“We should go see to your patients, Richard.”

He loved the sound of his name on her lips. He wanted to hear her moaning it as he—

“Richard?”

He shook his head. Heaven help him, the woman would be his undoing.

He took her arm and escorted her downstairs.

…

They worked non-stop, caring for the people who came into the clinic ‘round the clock, catching a few moments of sleep here and there. By the end of the week, they were both on edge and ready to collapse. Still, Brynne was surprised when she came upon Richard having it out with a man she’d seen around the clinic once or twice before. The temptation to eavesdrop was great, but she had an armload of linens she needed to deliver to Mrs. Birch.

Brynne hurriedly took them to the infirmary and then went back to Richard’s office. The man had gone and Richard sat behind his desk, his head in his hands.

“Richard! What has happened?” She’d never seen him look so dejected, though his face was flushed with anger. A ball of anxiety formed in the pit of her stomach.

“Close the door.”

Brynne hurried to comply and then sat down. “What is it?”

Richard took a deep breath. “That shipment of supplies I was waiting for…the nitre, acetate of ammonia…nitrate of silver…nearly all my stores are depleted.”

The ball of anxiety turned to ice. They needed those supplies. Their patients needed them. Brynne kept quiet, not wanting to voice what she was afraid he’d say.

“It’s been stolen. The entire lot. Someone intercepted the shipment before it could reach my warehouse and took every last parcel.”

“Oh, Richard.” Brynne let the horror of the situation sink in for a moment. Then she straightened her spine and stood up. No sense in wallowing. “What can we do about it?”

He looked at her standing before him, his brow creased in confusion, fatigue, irritation? Perhaps all three. But they had no time for any of them.

“Well?” Brynne prompted when he didn’t respond.

Richard rubbed his temples. “There isn’t much we can do.”

“Oh, bosh. There is always something that can be done. These items aren’t exactly rare. Surely there are other places you can get them.”

His frown deepened. “Under normal circumstances, yes. But with the sickness spreading, everyone is running short on supplies. There is a supplier I occasionally use when there is an item I need that I can’t obtain anywhere else…”

“I take it this supplier doesn’t hawk their wares at the local marketplace.”

Richard snorted. “Hardly. But they are very good in getting their hands on hard to get items.”

“Well then. Desperate times call for desperate measures and all that.”

“These times are certainly desperate.” Richard sighed and slammed his hands down on his desk, making Brynne jump. “But any other option would be preferable as it’s very likely that those damn bastards were the ones to steal my shipment in the first place.”

“What?” No wonder Richard looked mad enough to spit nails.

“I don’t seem to have much choice,” he continued. “I’ll set up a meeting for tomorrow. We need those supplies.”

“Well…” Brynne paused as the idea built in her head. “There might be another option.”

“What do you mean?”

“I mean, I might know of another way to get our supplies back.”

“And what might that be?”

Brynne hesitated again. She had no doubt that she’d be able to pull it off. She’d successfully accomplished several similar jobs to great success. However, she wasn’t sure she wanted Richard to know about that part of her life. Ever. She wished Lucy were with her. It was always easier with a little help. Brynne debated telling Richard everything. She could use his assistance. But she couldn’t stand to lose him if the knowledge of her past turned out to be too much.

“I can’t tell you that. You’ll have to trust me.”

“Brynne…”

A shiver ran down her spine when he said her name. Why were names such powerful things? One little syllable on his lips and it sent a jolt straight to her heart. But she didn’t have time for such things right now.

“Look, Richard, you aren’t the only one who knows a few tricks to getting something that’s unobtainable. But…I can’t tell you more than that. Just tell me who these people are, where they can be found. Anything you know about them.”

“No. Brynne, I don’t want you mixed up in this. I’m touched that you want to help, but this isn’t something that you can handle.”

Actually, it was exactly the type of thing that Brynne handled best. She’d be lying if she said she wasn’t a bit excited about the prospect of resurrecting a part of her life she’d thought done and buried. It looked like Blood Blade was going to ride again. As soon as she knew where to go.

If she could only get Richard to cooperate. Brynne studied his face. His jaw was clenched, his mouth set in stubborn lines. His eyes narrowed as if he were trying to figure out what she was up to while making sure he didn’t let any important information slip. Brynne might not be the most experienced when it came to men, but she knew enough to recognize that she wasn’t going to get anything out of him. But there were other ways.

“All right, Richard. I’ll leave it to you.” She gave him a small smile that grew wider when his eyes narrowed even further. He obviously didn’t believe she was going to give up that easily.

She went to him, stood on tiptoe, and kissed his cheek. “Be careful, please.”

Richard’s face softened as he looked down at her. He smoothed his thumb across her cheek. “I will be.” He leaned down and kissed her forehead. “I’ll feel much more secure knowing you are safely out of harm’s way.”

A twinge of guilt wormed its way through Brynne, but she tried to ignore it. She felt the same way. She was every bit as determined to keep him safe as he was to keep her safe. The only difference was, Brynne had years of experience with this sort of thing and Richard, while he might be able to hold his own against whomever he was dealing with, still had one weakness in this scenario. He was the good guy.

Brynne was much more familiar playing the other side of the coin. She’d have to keep her eyes and ears open so she could take care of the situation before Richard got himself mixed up in something he might not be able to control.

Brynne wrapped her arms about him as excitement flooded through her. She’d been playing the part of the well-behaved society marm for far too long.

Now it was time to have a little fun.