What the Heart Wants by Marie Caron Read Free Book Online

of need, and she had reached out to help others. My admiration for this woman was doubling by the minute.
    She took another bite of stew and continued her story. “Cassandra was a miracle baby. She was two months early, and I thought for sure I would lose her and have nothing left of my dear Geoffrey. But thanks to the young doctor attending me, Cassie survived.”
    “What happened?”
    “Well, did you know the common practice with premature babies is to bathe them in ice water?”
    “What!” I was horrified to say the least.
    “I know; isn’t that barbaric! Well, instead, he kept her warm and dry, and…well, you can see the result,” she said as she glanced over her shoulder to where Cassandra was playing jump rope with two of the other girls. “She’s still somewhat delicate. That’s why I had a fit when I found out she’d taken her shoes and stockings off and waded in the creek. She knows better, but…” She shook her head as if to say, “Kids will be kids.”
    “She seems fine,” I commented, trying my best not to stare at Mr. O’Hara’s chest or his face or any other part of him. But I couldn’t help it! In my eyes, his body—at least the parts I could see—was breathtakingly beautiful. His legs, which were still encased in those taut leather britches, appeared long and muscular. His belly was flat, and his chest was smooth and hairless. I had seen men’s chests before, but they were always covered with whorls of wiry-looking hair. Seeing one that was as smooth as a baby’s bottom made my heart skip a beat.
    “It’s the Indian in him. They don’t have a lot of body hair,” Elizabeth stated out of the blue. I blushed. She had obviously seen me staring at his chest. I was mortified! I simply nodded and tried not to look at him again.
    It was late by the time we finished our supper, and by then, Cassandra had tired of playing with her friends and was getting ready for bed. Since this wasn’t his night to tend the livestock, my father was nodding off in his rocking chair, which he had strategically placed where he could keep an eye on me. Soon it would be time to urge him to go to bed without me, and I knew he’d put up a fuss. I intended to stay awake as long as I was needed, to keep an eye on Mr. O’Hara. He still hadn’t awakened, and I was getting worried.
    “Do you think he hit his head?” I asked Elizabeth, who had been busy emptying the dirty water and disposing of Mr. O’Hara’s ruined shirt in the communal fire. She was kneeling next to him now, her fingers around his wrist. I knew she was taking his pulse.
    “No, I think he’s just in shock. The brain goes to sleep sometimes, to give the body time to heal. Well, it’s been a long day,” Elizabeth said then, and she yawned. “If you wouldn’t mind watching him for a few hours, I’d like to get some sleep. Or I could ask Mrs. Cranmer to watch him,” she offered, looking at me as she rubbed her lower back with both hands.
    “No, I’ll do it. Just give me a few minutes to get Papa to bed.” I was back lickety-split, having promised Papa that I’d scream bloody murder if the man even so much as looked at me cross-eyed. I would do no such thing, of course, but I wasn’t about to admit it to Papa. There was no way I was going to lose my nursing position, especially when there wasn’t much else I could do to help. Not to mention the fact that the patient was of such great interest to me that I could barely think of anything else.
    So, even though I knew my curiosity about Mr. O’Hara could get me into trouble, I vowed to take the very best care of him that I could. After all, I reasoned, he was necessary to all of us.

Chapter 5
    I sat leaning against the big wheel of Mrs. Young’s wagon, desperately trying to remain awake, but I was fighting a losing battle. Except for the occasional crackling and popping of the logs on the fires, the camp was quiet. Other than the men standing watch and the herdsmen who were out in the