Gunpowder Tea (The Brides Of Last Chance Ranch Series) by Margaret Brownley Read Free Book Online

doomed, her future career as a Pinkerton operative hopelessly in peril. Worse, should Miss Walker file a lawsuit, it could well bring financial ruin to the entire agency.
    Miss Walker’s angry voice cut through Annie’s thoughts. “Doctor, I demand that you leave at once!”
    Annie whirled about to stare at the closed door. If the ranch owner suffered pain or shock, it was not evident in her vocal cords.
    The doctor’s murmurs were steady and calm but too low for Annie to make out his words. She marveled at his patience. As bad as she felt for causing Miss Walker to fall, she felt worse for the doctor.
    It took three men to hold the old lady down just so the doctorcould stabilize her leg. Never had Annie seen such a commotion. Everything she’d ever heard about Miss Walker turned out to be true.
    Something crashed against the door and Annie jumped back. Miss Walker’s voice snapped through the air. “How am I supposed to run a ranch with my leg in the air?”
    “You’re lucky a broken leg is all you have,” the doctor said. “A woman your age—”
    Another crash. “My age, my age. You make me sound like a fossil.”
    The door suddenly flew open and the doctor glanced at Annie before looking back over his shoulder. “I’ll check on you tomorrow. Now get some sleep.”
    He stepped from the room and greeted Annie with a weary nod. He held his hat and black leather case in one hand and closed the door with the other.
    “I’m sorry we didn’t get a chance to talk earlier. I’m Dr. Fairbanks.” Even in the soft yellow light he looked young for a doctor, probably in his early thirties. Despite having to deal with a wildcat patient and the lateness of the hour, his demeanor was calm; only his appearance was ruffled. His ruddy brown hair stood on end and exhaustion showed in his watery red eyes. A stubble beard shadowed a firm, strong jaw and his shirtsleeve was torn.
    “That’s quite all right, Doctor.”
    “And your name is . . . ?” he asked.
    “Annie . . . Annie Beckman.”
    “Pleased to meet you, Miss Beckman.” Something banged against the door and the doctor shook his head. “I should have been a veterinarian.”
    Another thud made Annie jump but the doctor only shrugged.
    “Will Miss Walker be all right?” she asked.

    “It’s a femur break,” he said as if that were answer enough. “Did you know that the femur is the longest and strongest bone in the body?”
    “No, I didn’t—”
    Despite the lateness of the hour, he went on at great lengths about the marvels of the femur bone. Annie was exhausted and in dire danger of falling asleep on her feet. She nevertheless forced herself to listen politely.
    Miss Walker would be well within her right to order Annie off the property. If not, then Mr. Pinkerton would probably summon her back to Chicago the moment he heard how she caused the ranch owner’s accident. Either way, her days on the ranch, and maybe even hours, were numbered.
    Still, she couldn’t stop thinking like an operative. For that reason, she was determined to cultivate a friendship with the doctor. If by some miracle she was allowed to stay, anyone who talked as much as the doctor might very well come in handy.
    “The femur is perfectly engineered,” the doctor continued. “It’s also the last bone you want to break. It does, after all, make up a quarter of a person’s height.”
    “Th-then it’s serious?”
    “Serious enough,” he conceded. “Eighty percent of broken femurs result in a patient’s demise.”
    Annie’s jaw dropped. Covering her open mouth with both hands, she peered at the doctor over her fingertips. “You mean—”
    “Not Miss Walker. She’s too stubborn to die. I should specialize in stubborn patients. They’re a pain in the gluteus maximus but they seldom die, which does wonders for a doctor’s reputation.”
    Unable to make up her mind whether the doctor was serious or not, Annie pulled her hands away from her face.

    He dug in his black bag