The woman grinned. “I should say not. And I’ll be there help’n you with ’em.”
So, the woman saw the sick and needy as fodder for gossip. Couldn’t her husband see a firm hand was needed? If not as her husband, then as her spiritual guide?
Niall would need to be the one to speak to him about it. All Alice could do was be there to help the folks in The Dells. She could clean wounds and bandage them. Niall’s father even bought a supply of Mr. Lister’s carbolic acid.
The item was so new that it had only started appearing in the hospital at the end of her training. She was pleased to see it when she cleaned the office. Or surgery as Niall called it.
“Did Father tell you what he’d discovered?”
Alice’s attention came back to Niall and the document he held. Probably the will.
The minister shook his head and sighed. “No, not at all. I asked, when he said he’d called you back.” The man’s face reddened, and he looked down at his hands. “He took me to task, I have to say, about how wrong I’d been. Quite humbling.”
Very little was said after that. Niall put a hand under his wife’s elbow and guided her out of the house. Outside, he helped her into the buggy as if they’d been together for years.
She knew the distance from the parsonage to his home was walkable. That he’d used the buggy showed great care for her. One day, that care might turn into deep affection. Maybe even--.
“Well Mrs. MacKenzie, is there anywhere in town you need to stop before we head home?”
Alice pushed silly thoughts of love from her head. Spinsters like her needed to be grateful, not grasping for more than came they’re way.
“Thank you, but no. We can go to your house. I left the bread to rise and need to bake it.”
He grinned. “Already a good wife.”
The tease was back. Since she preferred that side of him to the bitter man, Alice didn’t mind. She only smiled as a response.
His face turned serious, though not with that bitter, black mood. “I expect it would be easier if I moved into your room downstairs. The bed’s so short, though.”
Shock jolted Alice upright, straightening her spine and pulling a gasp from deep inside her. “W-why would you move into my bedroom?”
Niall’s face turned inscrutable. All trace of emotion left his voice, too, as he answered. “When a man and a woman marry, they become one flesh. It is expected that they consummate the union.”
That set a match to Alice’s temper. Typically, she could control it. Today’s events and the emotion of the moment pushed her too far.
“I’m not an idiot! One flesh and such is nothing new.” She seethed as she glared poisonously at her husband. “You know very well I was asking why you expected this to be anything more than a marriage of convenience.”
Emotion blossomed on Niall’s face. Shock and then sadness. That last one pulled at her heart. Somehow, she’d hurt him, and she didn’t know why.
The hurt made his voice thick. Running his left hand through those auburn waves, Niall dislodged his hat. It went tumbling back. Catching it, Alice placed it in her lap.
“I must not be any good at kissing.” Her eyes rounded at those words before tearing up as he continued. “I tried to put my delight at having you with me into the kisses we’ve shared. You are the piece of me that’s been missing, and I want a real and healthy marriage with you.”
No cajoling or logical excuses for consummating their marriage. No, the romantic side of Niall shared his heart with her. Alice felt any resistance melt as she leaned forward. He met her and touched his lips to hers in a kiss that promised forever.
Liftin his head, one word stood between them. “Tonight?”
She didn’t give him a yes or no. Rather than address it so directly, Alice blushed and considered his earlier comment about bedrooms. “I can climb the stairs to our bedroom.”
“Yes, our bedroom.” Niall’s smile was gentle. There was no hint of conquest, only a look of contentment as they pulled up to the back door of the white home.
Immediately, Alice checked her bread. It needed more time to rise. Not long, though, so she fed the cookstove. It would be the right temperature by the time she wanted to bake the loaves.
As she closed the lid of the firebox, arms circled her waist. Breath near her ear tickled.
“A doctor can’t rely on a good night’s sleep. He might be called out at all hours.”
Alice nodded, feeling lightheaded with his nearness. The voice whispered again. “It’s best if I show you our bedroom now rather than leaving that for tonight.
Without waiting for her response, those arms lifted her. Niall held her close to his chest as he moved to the stairs and then up to their room. Before opening the door and entering, he set her on her feet.
With his mouth barely an inch from hers, he breathed out, “Thank you for making this a home.”
Chapter 8
“Now, go straight home, Tommy, and tell your mother what I said about washing this cut.”
Hair flopped against the seven-year-old’s forehead as he nodded. “Yes’m. I promise, Mrs. Doctor.”
Alice smiled and tried to tell him her name. Again. “No, I’m Nurse MacKenzie. Or Nurse Mac, if that’s too difficult.”
The little boy shrugged and ran out of the Potter’s kitchen, slamming the screen door behind him. Dorcas harrumphed.
“Those Sullivans don’t practice no manners. Why, I remember, one time that Emma Sullivan—”
With practiced ease, Alice interrupted Dorcas. “Mrs. Potter, we
