Conner's Contrary Bride by Barbara Goss (accelerated reader books .txt) 📗

Bertie laughed and pointed at the pot on the stove. “We peeled the potatoes, threw them in the pot with water, and now we’re lighting the fire. If we didn’t light the fire, the potatoes wouldn’t cook. Child, you need to light a fire under that man.”

“Bertie, I get your point, and I agree with it, but my problem is that no one has ever courted me, and I’ve never flirted with a man in my life. I wouldn’t know where to begin.”

 “You could start with subtle things like moving close to him, or looking up at him and blinking your eyes. You could suggest a picnic or a walk after dark. Use all of your feminine charms.”

Elsie sighed. “I’ll try.”

Bertie winked. “I’ll keep an eye out for an opportunity to help.”

Each night after dinner, Conner quickly excused himself to go into his small den and close the door. That night, Elsie made sure she got up from the table first.

 Conner gave her an odd look.

“Conner, it’s a beautiful evening. I’d love to go for a walk, but I’ll need an escort. I hear the streets of Hays City can be dangerous for a woman to walk alone.”

Elsie watched his mouth drop slightly, and then he hesitated. Was he thinking up an excuse for why he couldn’t walk with her? Finally, he stood up and put an arm out. “I could use a walk myself, and you’re right—the streets of Hays City are dangerous for unescorted women, even in the daylight.”

Elsie knew they couldn’t—or at least, shouldn’t—walk near the saloons at the end of the street. She could already hear glasses tinkling, a cheap piano playing, and men laughing. So, when they reached the barbershop’s bench, she suggested they sit.

“I need to talk to you.” Once they sat on the bench she said, “I’ve been giving a lot of thought to the land you showed me, and I’ve changed my mind. I think I’d like the one that’s cleared with the little stream.”

Elsie could tell her words pleased him because his eyes grew larger, and he smiled.

 “Are you certain?”

“But Conner, if we have children someday, I’d want the creek or stream somehow fenced off for their safety.”

“Hmm,” he said thoughtfully, “I was planning to build a fence around the whole backyard to keep the critters out of our garden. I could put a gate in it so we could go to the creek if we wanted to.  It’s not a deep creek—more like a babbling brook. I never had children on my mind when I picked out the land.”

Elsie nodded.

 “We finally agree on something,” Conner said. He stood to help Elsie up. “Also, I’ll have you know that Taffy woke me up this morning by kneading my chest.”

“Oh, I’m so sorry,” Elsie cried. “I’m not sure how she gets out.”

“It’s all right. Taffy and I sort of bonded. She can have the run of the house.”

“Really?” She threw her arms around his neck and kissed his cheek without thinking. She felt his arm go around her back and he gave her a light hug.

It was a start.

They meandered back to the house. Elsie asked, “What if the bandit patient dies?”

“That worries me. If they don’t change his dressing or keep it clean, he could die.”

“It wouldn’t be your fault, Conner.”

“I know, but men who rob banks don’t think the way we do.”

Chapter Ten

When Elsie came into the kitchen for breakfast, Conner wasn’t there. She gazed at his half-eaten breakfast and wondered where he’d gone.

Bertie set Elsie’s breakfast down before her.

“Oh, Bertie, it looks so delicious. I’ll soon be gaining pounds on your meals.”

“You could use a few, so just enjoy it. When we move into the new house, I’ll teach you some of my recipes, just in case I retire or something.”

Elsie waved Bertie’s words away with her hand. “I plan on keeping you around forever. By the way, where’s Conner?”

“He had an injured man come banging on the clinic door while he was eating. Such a shame—he didn’t get to finish his breakfast.”

“Was it a bad injury? A gunshot wound, maybe? I heard a lot of shooting last night.”

“Land sakes, yes—there was a lot of shooting last night. The cattlemen must have ridden in. They tend to make a ruckus. After herding cattle for weeks on the trail, they get rambunctious when they finally reach Hays City.

“I don’t think this new patient has a bullet wound, though. I thought I heard the man say he broke his arm. Conner must be putting plaster on it.”

By then, Elsie had finished her meal. “I’ll go to see if I can give him a hand.”

She opened the connecting door and went into the clinic. “Conner!” she called out, but the clinic was empty. Elsie walked out and around to the horse shed to find the horse still in his stall and the buggy and buckboard still parked beside the building. She ran back inside.

“Bertie!” she called, running into the kitchen. “He’s not here.”

Bertie put the dishes she was holding into the sudsy water and ran out to the clinic, wiping her hands on her apron. “Let’s see...” She scoured the room. “His medical bag! It’s gone, too.”

That worried Elsie. Where could Conner have gone without his horse and with his medical bag? Had someone picked him up in a carriage to take him to a patient?

“Bertie, the man who came this morning, did he come in a buggy or carriage?”

“No. From the kitchen window... well, I had only a brief look as I had eggs frying, but I think it was a horse because whoever it was rode by so quickly.”

Elsie paced the clinic floor. “I’m going to the sheriff’s office.”

“Wait,” Bertie