Strangely, something about it pleased her. He acted like her good opinion of him mattered. After only a day, could she be that important to him?
Her tone coaxed him to look at her. “If you mean the unfair accusation about Milly Murphy, then yes. Mrs. Potter told me about it.”
At the word unfair, his eyes lifted. She inwardly cringed at the pain she glimpsed. “Father helped me find a job in a hospital down in Madison. But, just three weeks ago, he wrote to ask me to come home. He’d learned something and believed it would make a difference. Would somehow change what the community thought.”
The words rushed out of Niall. Then his shoulders slumped. “He never told me what he’d learned. I arrived to find he’d died the night before.”
Chewing her lip, Alice stood silent for a moment. When she did make a suggestion, her voice was soft. “Perhaps he wrote it down for you. Wouldn’t it be wonderful to have a last letter from him?”
Niall bobbed his head and stood. “I’ll gather your goodies from the buggy. Do they all come into the kitchen?”
After that, no more was said about rumors in Kilbourne City. Alice directed her employer in a sort of role reversal. He toted and lifted items onto shelves for her, happily taking orders. Totally unlike other doctors she’d worked with or known.
While they worked, he asked her questions about her past. She shared about her father’s slow death from consumption. “With good reason, my community isolated us both.”
He shook his head in wonder. “Didn’t you consider sending him to a sanitorium?”
This time, her head wagged from side to side. “No, he told me he intended to stay home. That I had a duty to care for him.”
The last sentence was said softly. Niall eyed her without turning his head away from the cans he organized on a top shelf. “Loyal and duty-bound. Makes for a good nurse.”
That helped Alice regain her composure. “I certainly think so. That is if I ever have someone besides you to care for.”
A knock on the door cut off his response. She hoped it would have been sarcastic.
The more he joked, she supposed, the quicker his spirit would heal. Her mother had oft repeated, “Laughter’s the best medicine.”
Thoughts of laughter fled after Alice opened the front door. Dorcas Potter gripped a thin, older man’s arm and scowled. If she didn’t have her hand on his arm like a wife would, Alice might have mistaken the man for her father.
Alice’s gaze moved from that tight expression on Dorcas’ face to the man’s. He gave an apologetic smile and held out his right hand in greeting.
“Good afternoon. You must be Nurse Cordell.” Pausing, he waited for Alice to speak.
Stunned, Alice stared dumbly. The man shifted awkwardly and only continued when Dorcas shook his arm. He grimaced, as if his next words tasted bad on his tongue.
“I’m the Reverend Potter. My wife and I are here to look out for your best interests.”
Dorcas Potter clucked her tongue. “No, we ain’t. We’re here to see that you don’t live in sin, young lady!”
It was Alice’s turn to frown. “We’re all sinners, Mrs. Potter. It’s up to each person to rely on Christ to resist temptation.”
“Well said, Miss Cordell.” The reverend’s face beamed, earning him another shake from his less than well-spoken wife.
“The Bible tells us to avoid lookin’ evil in others’ sight, too.” The woman bobbed her pointy chin to emphasize her point.
Her husband stammered. “Y-y-yes, dear. We must avoid even the appearance of evil. I believe that’s what you mean.”
Turning to Alice he asked, “Could I come in and speak with both you and Doctor MacKenzie? You know, we desperately need his help in this area.”
From a shadow in the hallway, Niall sourly voiced his refusal. “That’s far enough, Reverend. You and your townspeople should look elsewhere for a doctor.”
“But, sir, your father called you back to this place for a reason. Let’s discuss it.”
Niall stepped out of the shadow and approached the unwelcome guests. Just before reaching them at the door, he stopped and gave the preacher a considering gaze. Alice guessed, by his expression, that he was deciding whether he could trust the Reverend Potter.
Crossing his arms over his middle, Niall challenged the man to explain. “Just why can’t we discuss it here, at the door?”
A shrill shriek sounded from Dorcas. When she opened her mouth to speak, her husband rounded on her. Removing the hand that gripped his arm, he shook a finger from his other hand in her shocked face.
“I’ve let you push me about enough today. No more!”
The demur pastor melted before Alice’s eyes. Dorcas cowed easily, as if she had often been reminded of her place. The woman might be a bully and a gossip, but Alice saw that she didn’t actually run her husband. For some odd reason, though, he’d let her bully him this day.
Standing tall and straightening his cotton coat, the man took a step toward Niall. “We will speak, Doctor MacKenzie. Whether you want me here or not, I have an offer to make to you.”
Niall’s only retort was to nod silently and gesture with his arm for the couple to enter. After that, he made his way to the front room without looking back to see if they followed. An action that brought a snort of displeasure from Mrs. Potter.
A soft word or two from her husband hushed her. Alice watched the man direct her with a hand to follow their unwilling host. He brought up the rear as they entered the front room after Niall.
Alice stood in the hallway, undecided about following. After all, the minister wanted to speak to
