Then, he paused before adding. “It does make a difference, actually. I need meals and a clean home. My offer is a job as a housekeeper.”
With difficulty, Alice once again beamed her confident smile and nodded. She didn’t trust herself to speak without tearing up. The travel and disappointment were taking a toll on her.
At her nod, Niall fished a key from his pocket. “Let’s head to the front door. I’ll pull your trunk inside and get you settled before you start supper.”
Extending his arm outward, he indicated she should walk in front of him. Alice stiffened, knowing this was the moment of truth. She took first one awkward step and then another before she heard a gasp behind her. He would tell her she couldn’t do the work. Alice was sure of that.
“Why aren’t you using a cane?”
That surprised her. She turned to him but didn’t speak. Alice wanted to search his face. To discover why he asked that question.
His features showed concern rather than censure. She’d expected doubt to fill his face, not a sort of caring.
“I got rid of my cane when I started nursing school. My hands needed to be free to do tasks.”
A scowl replaced the look of concern. “You’ll need to make a list of foodstuffs to buy. Add a cane to that list. I can’t have my employee harming her hip or knee by being foolish.”
She had a job. His statement let her know that. Gratefully, she nodded and limped her way to the front porch. The three steps up to the wide wrap-around porch appeared more intimidating because she knew he watched her climb them. Regardless, she did it with as much ease as her leg allowed. At the top, Alice resisted the urge to plop down on her trunk for a rest.
Neither spoke. He moved around her to open a screened door. It had a gracefully worked fan design placed behind the screen. Painted green, the color appealed to her even if it did look a little odd against the natural oak of the front door.
No matter that little bit of oddness, the white home and green screen door seemed welcoming to her. Like a home that was waiting for a family. She’d stay and be happy here, even if the owner only tolerated her presence for the comfort she’d bring him.
Her employer opened the oak door before stepping back. He’d obviously been taught manners even if his words had been brusquely spoken so far. The man oozed bitterness. And why did he refuse to treat the people of this community?
Hadn’t he taken an oath to heal?
“Yes, I took that oath. So what?”
Gruff words let her know she’d spoken out loud. After being alone with her dying father, she’d picked up the habit of speaking aloud in the suffocating silence. She’d need to squash that habit quickly or she’d truly offend him.
When she didn’t respond to his challenge, her employer left her standing in a small foyer and focused on her humpback trunk. It contained her last connections to her life before nursing school.
When the consumption finally claimed her father late last year, she’d sold the house and furnishings to pay their bills. With the little bit of money left over, she paid her tuition at the Harrow Nursing School and had enough to cover her room and board.
This job guaranteed a roof over her head and food even if it didn’t allow her to gain experience as a nurse. As she watched the man carefully slide the trunk across the hardwood floor, Alice waited for complaints about its heaviness. When he said nothing, she relaxed. Maybe there was a good-humored man hidden beneath his bitterness.
“We’ll leave that until I can get someone in to help me carry it.” His unhappy tone let her know he’d rather not ask for help.
Was it because he avoided his neighbors? Not that there were many since the house stood on the outskirts of Kilbourne City. She’d seen little of the place as Thad had driven her straight from the depot at the edge of town to this house.
“Follow me, and I’ll show you around.”
The white house with a veranda wrapping around the outside had impressed her with its elegance. The inside of the home surprised her. She’d expected more of that. Instead, comfortable best described it.
Niall led her into a front room that had a large fireplace on the outside wall. The mantel held two candlesticks but no fancy porcelain figurines. The room lacked any knickknacks. Instead, books were stacked on every table. A pile even leaned against the dark green horsehair sofa.
Curious, Alice moved to that pile and lifted the small leather-bound book resting on the top of the tower. She’d expected something dealing with medicine and the title surprised her. In her hands, she held a copy of The Sketch Book by Washington Irving.
It had been a favorite of her father’s. She’d read Ichabod’s and Rip Van Winkle’s stories to him during long afternoons. Holding this book now brought on a sting of tears.
Quickly blinking them away, she turned to the man behind her and gestured with the book in her hand. “Is this a favorite of yours, Doctor MacKenzie?”
He flinched. When she saw the reaction, Alice wondered what she’d done wrong. He didn’t leave her in suspense for long.
“Please, you have my permission to call me Niall. Just never doctor. Especially now that I’m back in The Dells.”
She bobbed her head to let him know she understood and shifted the conversation. “I heard someone else at the depot refer to this place as The Dells. Why that and not Kilbourne?”
When he answered her, the angry tone had disappeared from his voice. “It has to do with
