Tempted by Molly O'Keefe Read Free Book Online Page A

Waited for his lips to touch hers with a red-hot hope that what she would feel in his touch would diminish how she felt about Steven.
    Please, let it be enough. Let it burn Steven right from my mind.
    “Anne?”
    She jumped back and bashed her head against the post behind her and dropped the handful of bandages into the mud at her feet.
    It was Steven. Standing beside the house, his hat shading his eyes.
    Her heart thundered in her chest, so hard she could not see properly. It was all sparks and lights.
    “Pardon me for interrupting,” Steven said, but there was an edge to his voice. Something hard that she hadn’t heard from him. Ever. And it was directed at Doc Madison.
    “It’s all right,” she said, edging past the doctor. The mud sucked at her boots and she lurched. Both men jumped to her aid, and she shook them both off. “I’m f...fine. What are you d...doing here?”
    Oh, Lord, her stammer. She hadn't stammered in months.
    Steven gestured over his shoulder and she saw a carriage in front of the house. “I thought you might want a tour of the site for the new train station. There’s a crew there now, breaking ground.”
    Of course she wanted to. Of course she wanted to go anywhere with him. But it was unwise.
    For her heart it was unwise. It had been stabbed. Beaten. And it needed rest. It needed a dark room and loneliness so it could recover.
    “I’m afraid there's t...too much w…work here today,” she said. Behind her, Dr. Madison picked up the bandages she’d dropped.
    “I can hold the fort,” he said, coming to stand beside her with his hands full of muddy bandages. “You go.”
    “I need to stay," she told both men, hoping her voice did not sound as rattled and desperate to them as it did to her. She took deep breaths, trying to control the stammer. “Thank you, Steven, for the offer. But I must decline. I wish you a good d...day.” She walked around both men, her arms full, her head down.
    Tomorrow she would lift her chin and smile at both of them. As if everything were as it should be.
    Today she could not.
     
    Steven eyed the doctor in his shirtsleeves, debating what he should say. Anne would have his head for meddling, but he couldn’t stand idly by and watch her get taken advantage of.
    He couldn’t stand by and watch her get married to a chloroform addict to satisfy her curiosity.
    Thoughts of her curiosity had kept him up last night, staring out at the night sky, trying to breathe.
    “How long are you planning on staying in town, Mr. Baywood?” Madison asked, fiddling with the bandages in his hands. Rolling and unrolling them. Like he was nervous. Needed something to do with his hands.
    “The passes have snow, so it will be awhile.”
    “Lovely. Perhaps you’ll be able to attend our wedding.”
    It was like getting shot again. He was amazed his feet were still on the ground.
    You took too long
, was his only thought.
You stood by. Because that is all you do. Freeze when others act.
    “She has accepted?”
    The doctor crossed his arms over his thin chest. He was tall, but skinny. And despite the cool air and the breeze coming down from the mountains, there was a sheen of sweat on his forehead. “Not yet. But I’m confident.”
    “She told me,” Steven said. “About the chloroform.”
    “How...surprising.” The doctor didn't even flinch. His lips tightened, barely. But that was all. And that he cared so little only made Steven angrier.
    “You should be shot, for making her lie for you. For the position you put her in.”
    “Hmmm,” Madison said. “Instead it seems I am to be married. Interesting how this new world of ours works, isn't it?”
    Steven’s hands were in fists, his leather gloves creaking with the force, and the doctor noticed. His smile grew even more smug, if that was possible.
    Madison took a few steps closer, as if daring Steven to hit him. As if asking for it.
    “Tell me, Steven. You've known her longer—has she always been this headstrong?