Catching Kent (6 page)

Surprised, he took the spoon from her.
“I can do it myself.”

“
I’m sorry. I meant no
disrespect. Do you forgive me?”

He swallowed the bitter medicine and
gave her the spoon. “There’s nothing to forgive.”

“
Yes, there is. I was
treating you like a child. But I didn’t mean to. I thought your
sides might hurt too much to hold a spoon.”

“
And yet you thought I
could hold a book?” He picked one up and read the title. “Or did
you plan to read it to me?”

Her eyes lit up. “Oh, can I? If you
tell my mother you want me to, I can.”

“
Uh…”

A knock on the door made him turn his
attention from her. Her father and a man carrying a medical bag
entered the room. “Rose, what are you doing here?” her father
asked.

“
I was going to read our
guest a book,” she replied and glanced at Kent. “You said you
wanted me to, right?”

Before Kent could respond, her father
said, “Go downstairs and help your sister.”

Her shoulders slumped. “But I don’t
want Kent to get bored.”

“
He won’t. Your uncle needs
to examine him. Now go.”

With a heavy sigh, she trudged out of
the room.

Her father closed the door and shook
his head. “I swear, she is the spitting image of you, Joel. She
does everything she can to get out of her chores.”

Joel chuckled. “You can’t blame her.
Living on a farm is boring.”

“
Yes, but she doesn’t want
to do women’s work. How is that going to benefit her when she gets
married? Anyway,” he turned his attention to Kent, “this is Joel.
He’s a doctor.”

“
And I’m Dave’s brother,”
Joel added, patting Rose’s father on the shoulder. He sat by Kent
and opened his bag. “How are you feeling?”

“
Good,” Kent replied,
glancing at his body, “all things considered.”

“
Do you know who beat you
up?”

“
No. I’ve never seen those
men in my life.”

“
Dave said they were riding
out of town. I doubt we’ll ever find them. It’s a shame. I hope you
didn’t lose anything important.”

Kent shook his head, a slight lie
since his uncle’s pocket watch had been the most important thing
he’d ever owned. But that had more to do with sentiment than actual
value. Sure, it’d been gold but he had more then enough money to
see him to the end of his life, as long as he was responsible with
it. With a sigh, he leaned his head against the
headboard.

“
This won’t take long,”
Joel told him. “Then you can get back to sleep.”

Kent was about to tell him that wasn’t
why he sighed but decided it didn’t matter. Very little in his life
seemed to matter. He seemed to go through one miserable situation
to another, some of it his doing, some not. And it was hard not to
give into the desire to give up. Still, he managed to go through
the motions as Joel checked him over, answering his questions,
trying to be pleasant. By the time Joel left more medicine for him,
he realized he was exhausted. Ignoring the books Rose brought for
him, he settled onto his back and went to sleep, the one place
where he was free from the battle between hope and
despair.

***

“‘
The tempest surrounded
them as they made their way to the abandoned house that sat on the
hill,’” Rose read from a dime novel the next day.

She shifted, adjusting her skirt. She
wasn’t used to wearing them except for church and special
occasions, but she thought she’d start wearing them more now that
she had someone to impress.

Turning her attention back to Kent who
was asleep, she smiled and continued reading, “‘Though they’d been
warned never to go there, they did, unaware that they were being
watched, unaware that they had sealed their fate. If only they had
known the consequence of their decision, they never would have
stepped foot through the front door.’” She released an anxious
breath. “My sister-in-law Emily is right. This story is hard to put
down. These dime novels are much more entertaining than those
books.”

She glanced at the books on the table
by his bed then turned her attention to him. If Emily hadn’t come
by that morning and shared a couple of her dime novels with her,
she’d be missing out on some very entertaining stories. As soon as
she finished cleaning the downstairs, she’d hurried upstairs in
hopes of reading to Kent. Unfortunately, he was sleeping, but even
so, she pulled up the chair and started in on a horror story that
sounded intriguing. She kept hoping he’d wake up but so far that
hadn’t happened.

She marked the page in the dime novel
and closed it. Leaning forward, she took the time to study his
face. He’d shaved that morning. Biting her lower lip, she glanced
at the partly open door. No one was upstairs. Before she lost her
nerve, she touched his cheek and his chin, noting how smooth he
felt. He had a strong jaw, a very masculine one. Bringing her hand
up to his hair, she gently ran her fingers through it. If she
guessed right, Adam had helped him wash his hair. It was softer
than before and the dried blood was gone.

Her gaze lowered to his lips. There
were some romance stories in the dime novels where the hero kissed
the heroine. She wondered what a kiss felt like. Emily said kisses
were one of the best experiences in the world. Rose traced Kent’s
lips, noting how soft they were. Her heart raced. Did she dare kiss
him? Just to see what it was like? She looked at the door again.
Still no one else upstairs.

She took a deep breath and lowered her
head. She closed her eyes just because it seemed more romantic than
if she was staring at him. Plus, since his eyes were closed, she
could pretend he wanted to kiss her. Maybe she could even pretend
he asked if he could kiss her. Yes, that seemed like a good way to
think about it. Her lips touched his and a thrill of delight raced
up and down her spine.

He jerked away from her and she
straightened up in surprise. “You’re awake,” she said.

“
What are you doing?” He
struggled to sit up but winced and grabbed his ribs.

“
Don’t hurt
yourself.”

She hurried to help him, but he shoved
her away. “What’s wrong with you?”

Startled by his tone, she stopped and
stared at him. “There’s nothing wrong with me. I’m trying to help
you.”

He shook his head. “You’re not
helping.”

“
What do you need?” She
picked up a glass of water. “Are you thirsty?”

“
Leave me
alone.”

She watched as he struggled to
sit.

When he finally managed to settle his
back against the pillow, he was out of breath and holding his ribs.
She shook her head. He was obviously in no condition to do much on
his own and yet insisted on it.

“
I don’t understand you,”
she said, placing the glass back on the table. “You shouldn’t be
pushing yourself so hard.”

“
And you shouldn’t come
into a bedroom without a chaperone to kiss a man you don’t know,”
he snapped then grimaced.

“
You’re in pain.” She
picked up the medicine her uncle had left and poured him a
spoonful. She held it up to his lips.

“
What are you
doing?”

“
I’m giving you something
for the pain. This will make you feel better.”

“
Why do you insist on
treating me like a child?” He gingerly lifted his arm and took the
spoon. Once he swallowed the medicine, he gave it back to her.
“Where’s your mother? Where’s your father? Where are the
others?”

“
They’re busy. I’m done
with my chores, so I came to read to you.” Recalling the dime
novel, she found it on the floor by her feet and picked it up.
“Here it is. My sister-in-law dropped a couple of these off
earlier. I was reading to you. It was the beginning of a wonderful
tale. There is this old curse placed on a house out in the middle
of nowhere and—”

“
I don’t care what it’s
about.” Grunting, he shifted and released his breath.

“
Oh, but you should,” she
protested as she sat back in the chair and flipped the dime novel
open. “You’re the main character. Let’s see…” She scanned the
opening paragraph. “Leonard, that’s his name. But it’s alright
because I’m pretending he’s you, and he’s with his wife. Her name
is…um… Here it is. Fannie. But we’ll pretend she’s me.” Ignoring
the way he rolled his eyes, she continued, “Anyway, they got
stranded at a train station that’s run by a really creepy old man
who refuses to give them a ticket until the next day, and they need
somewhere to stay. They try the inn but it’s full. Oh, wait. I
forgot to tell you that when they were on the train, they were
warned about the old house on the hill.”

“
I don’t care,” he
said.

“
But don’t you want to find
out what happens to us?”

“
No. And there is no
‘us’.”

“
Not yet, but there will
be.”

He blinked several times and shook his
head. “You’re behavior is scandalous. Are your parents aware that
you do this to men you don’t know?”

“
All I’ve done is read to
you.” Really, she didn’t see what was so scandalous about
that.

“
And when I woke up, you
were kissing me.”

“
Oh, that. Well, that’s
alright because we’ll get married. I won’t do anything else until
we’re married so don’t get any ideas. But there’s nothing wrong
with a little old kiss.”

“
How many men do you go
around kissing?”

“
None. You’re the
first.”

He rubbed his head and
groaned.

“
Are you in pain?” she
asked, leaning forward.

“
Please tell me I’m stuck
in a bad dream.”

Amused, she laughed and closed the
dime novel. “You have a wonderful sense of humor, Kent. I just know
we’re going to have a lot of fun together.”

Lowering his hand, he glared at her.
“We aren’t going to have fun together because there is no
‘together’ like you’re saying. As soon as I’m well enough, I’m
getting on the first train out of here.”

“
Then you’ll take me with
you?”

“
No!”

“
But you have to if you
marry me.”

“
I’m not going to—” He
winced and pressed his hand against his ribs. “Never mind. I’m not
up for the fight.”

“
Is there anything I can do
to help you feel better?” she asked, reaching out to touch his
arm.

He shook her off of him and yelled
out, “Someone! Anyone! I need help!”

Surprised, she stared at him. Why
didn’t he accept her offer of help?

Footsteps hurrying up the stairs
alerted her that someone decided to answer him. Disappointed, she
rose to her feet and reached the door just in time for her mother
to arrive. Her mother glanced from her to Kent and sighed. “Rose,”
she began in a low voice, “I told you to leave him alone. He needs
time to heal.”

“
I gave him some medicine.
He was in pain, Ma,” she replied. “I couldn’t let him sit there
clutching his sides like that, could I?” she gestured to Kent who
was taking deep breaths and holding his ribs.

“
Clean up the
downstairs.”

“
I did.”

“
Then go help your pa clean
out the stalls.”

She frowned. “But I’ll smell like the
barn.”

“
That never bothered you
before,” her mother replied.

“
Well, I know but…” She
glanced at Kent then returned her gaze to her mother. She couldn’t
get out of doing some kind of chore, and she might as well be with
the horses. It was better than being stuck in the kitchen.
“Alright. Mind if I slip into my pants first?”

“
Of course not.”

Resigned to leaving Kent for the
moment, she went to her bedroom to change clothes.

Chapter Six

A week later, Adam placed a crutch
against the bedroom wall and turned to Kent who managed to dress
himself, though it took longer than he preferred. Kent had to keep
reminding himself to be patient. He couldn’t expect to be like his
old self in such a short time.

“
You sure you feel up to
going outside?” Adam asked.

“
I have to,” Kent replied
as he finished buttoning the plaid red and white shirt. “Thanks for
letting me wear your clothes.”

“
We’re lucky you fit
them.”

He’d never worn denims or a plaid
shirt before but figured there was a first time for everything. He
slowly rose to his feet, holding the edge of the bed to maintain
his balance. Adam handed him the crutch, and he placed it under his
arm, mindful to take his weight off the injured leg. Joel said it
was healing nicely, and the last thing he wanted to do was delay
any progress. As long as he took things slow, he should be fine. He
looked at the open window and saw it was a nice, sunny day. How he
missed going outside!