6
They walked arm in arm properly down the street. There would be no cause for talk or impropriety. If they only knew how he kissed her, she thought, thinking about how good it felt to be in his arms and how he had just bathed not several feet from her. Glancing up at him, she saw that he must have been thinking along the very same lines. That devilish smirk on his face, combined with him wagging his eyebrows at her silently, causing Melissa to laugh aloud, drawing several looks from others in the street.
“Behave, young lady!” he teased tenderly, bringing her hand to his lips. “I won’t have you ruin my good name. Rangers have a reputation to uphold.”
“I think you are safe,” she chuckled warmly as he held her hand tenderly, kissing each fingertip.
“I think I maybe a lost cause, Miss Melissa Miller” he whispered, looking directly into her hazel eyes. “Lost, indeed.”
At his devious grin, he stepped back quickly. “Mrs. Miller, what a pleasure!” he called out. “Your lovely daughter kept me safe the whole way here.”
“I’m sure, you rapscallion! Come in, come in!” she waved happily. Melissa was surprised to see how happy her mother seemed today. The scents of cooking filled the house and reminded her of old days long gone.
“Mother, what did you make?”
“A beef stew, fresh bread, and we have a little something sweet for desert,” she said lightly, with a warm smile. “Melissa, pull up a chair for your young man. He’s our guest.”
“Actually, ladies? A true gentleman will never sit down before his lady does. Mrs. Miller?” he said politely, pulling forward the chair for her mother. She beamed happily at him and then proudly at Melissa. That look told her in so many ways that she approved heartily of Gideon.
Melissa put the tureen on the table, along with the bread, so that way they could eat all at once together. She turned back to the shelf to grab the pitcher of water that waited, only to find Gideon still standing with his hand resting on a chair back.
“My lady?” he said proudly, making her blush. Melissa set the pitcher down and sat down gingerly as he pushed the seat forward. He then bent down and kissed her lightly on the cheek, causing her mother to laugh merrily.
Gideon took the seat at the table and held out his hands, indicating that they should say grace. This pleased her mother again to no end. She saw that he had a firm grasp on her hand and barely touched her mothers, just enough to be polite. It was sweet that he felt like she needed to be included. Sweet, tender and touching.
“Would you like to say grace, Mrs. Miller?”
“Please, go ahead, Mr. Ashton,” she countered.
“Lord, thank you for the meal you have provided and the direction you steer us. Grant us peace, patience, fortitude and temperance so we may do right by you. Today and any other day. Amen,” he announced.
“Perfect,” Melissa heard her mother exclaim. “Thank you.”
She stared at her, openly questioning what was going on in a look. Her mother just looked away and smiled. Gideon winked knowingly and patted Melissa’s hand as they broke bread. The dinner was nothing fancy but it was certainly filling. Gideon made sure to tell her mother that it was delicious and reminded him of home, thus bringing up his family. Her mother had instantly caught onto the hook and grasped at it.
“Do tell me, what of your family, dear boy?”
“Well, ma’am. I am originally from West Virginia. My family had become coal miners in order to put food on the table. During the war, West Virginia was a border state, but a lot of us sided with the Confederacy and some with the Union. Either way, if I returned home I would have had to take up coal mining with my family and I just can’t,” he stopped, looking down at his plate. “My pa isn’t too happy about it, but I just can’t go into the mines.”
“Why ever not?” Melissa asked.
“It’s like being buried alive to me. I can’t do it. The blackness, the close walls. It was enough to have fought in the war. I figured that makes me a man, and a man can choose his own path. My path doesn’t take me into a hole to mine in the ground. It takes me to clear open skies where I have freedom to do what I want, to live. That’s how I became a Ranger. Texas was calling and I felt the need to answer.”
Melissa lay her hand openly on his and squeezed at hearing the horror in his voice as he talked about the mines. She had heard tales of collapses and could only imagine what that must have been like first hand.
“We are glad you came out this way,” Mrs. Miller said smiling, and she raised her glass of water. “To fresh air, freedom and choices.”
“Yes ma’am! Hear, hear!” Gideon clinked his glass against both of theirs. His eyes met hers over the rim.
“Does your family know you are here?” Melissa asked softly. “Your mother, father? Wife?” Family was a broad term. She hadn’t realized that he could be married and running from a family already. She hated to even bring it up or ask, but part of her had to know. Eleanor Miller gasped at the bluntness of her question, but she did not back down nor look away from Gideon.
“My parents and a brother. There is no wife, Miss Miller,” he confirmed. “Not yet anyhow, someday soon I hope.” He raised his glass yet again in a mock salute. Melissa raised hers as well, staring at him as she sipped.
“Tell us of the war,” Eleanor prompted, interrupting the moment. “My husband was at Shiloh before he came home injured. He was a strong soldier and a devout man.”
“God rest his soul,” he concurred, bringing tears to her mother’s eyes. “Ma’am I was at Vicksburg. Mississippi was quite a bit different than my home. The mosquitoes were so thick, it was like clouds. Those gallinippers filled the air everywhere you turned. Me and some of the boys would blast shells inside our tent to kill them.”
“Oh, my word!” Melissa and her mother both gasped aloud.
“It was quite bad. The mud, the biting bugs, the hunger. It was summer and so humid. Our food had been cut off and we were having to eat anything. Horses, dogs… well, anything.” Gideon stopped the moment Eleanor held her napkin to her mouth.
“Let’s not talk of battle. War is terrible and there is no need for me to paint a picture of it. Let’s talk of happier times, shall we? Or perhaps some music? I saw a fiddle, do you play?”
“My husband did once a long time ago,” her mother said softly.
“I am learning. I prefer a small organ or piano,” Melissa quickly chimed in.
“My pa used to play spoons. I never did though. Tell you what? Since there is no organ here, and I haven’t played the fiddle in quite some time…how about a little song for entertainment? Seems like a shame to draw the night to a close so quickly,” Gideon asked, getting to his feet. “Miss Miller? Mrs. Miller? Care to hum a tune?”
Seeing the light in her mother’s eyes and how she leapt out of her chair, Melissa knew that she needed a bit more interaction to help her heal. Seeing how happy she was having company or having someone to talk to, made her feel guilty. She had pulled back away from her mother to mourn, when she needed her most apparently.
“Mother, you dance first with Mr. Ashton and I shall sing,” she encouraged happily. Her mother nodded happily, scooting her chair in.
“Oh no ladies! I like to dance a lot and twirl my partners. Let’s scoot the table far back for safety,” he teased, making her mother giggle like a young girl. Melissa laughed aloud and helped Gideon move the piece of furniture.
“I’ll be having my dance next with my favorite partner of all,” he whispered across the table as she helped to move it.
“Yes, I believe that to be so,” she replied eagerly with a wide smile, touched by the fact that he was willing and able to whirl her mother around. She could see what it meant to her. The fact that Gideon could see it, acted on it and did it for her benefit? Touched her beyond measure.
Taking a deep bow, Gideon smiled warmly over his shoulder at Melissa. “Sing away, dear. Something lively, maybe?” He took up her mother’s hand and gave her a twirl, causing
her to giggle. Melissa sang several folk songs as Gideon whirled her around the room. She almost laughed because for as much enthusiasm he had, ol’ Mr. Ashton had two left feet apparently! The man could not dance at all like her father had once before the war. She remembered seeing her father whirl her mother round and round the barnyards where they would have socials. This was not delicate nor graceful, but it was humorous and fun! Her mother just laughed and laughed, causing Melissa to smile.
“Enough, enough,” her mother gasped. “Goodness it’s been a long time since I have had to keep up with someone. You sir, were honest. You meant the whole room, did you not?” she laughed, twirling her finger widely indicating that he took the entire floor nearly.
“Melissa, I believe you owe this fellow a dance now unless I have tired him out?” she teased him.
Stepping forward, she did notice that Gideon was becoming increasingly pale. “We can have our dance another night, if you are not feeling well?” she whispered as she stepped into his arms. She spied a fine sheen of sweat on his lip and brow.
“I’d never willingly pass up the chance to have you in my arms,” he pledged softly to Melissa, “but I am feeling a might peckish. Maybe something slow, Melissa?”
Nodding, she placed her hand appropriately on his shoulder and felt instant heat rising from him. He felt like a small inferno and was growing more sallow by the minute. “Gideon! You are burning up!” she cried, stepping back.
“What is this?” Eleanor Miller exclaimed, as she stopped humming. “Are you ill?”
“I just need to get back to my horse or get a ride to the ranch,” he admitted, pulling out a chair as he began to shake with chills.
“Gideon? You can barely stand, and you are burning up. What is wrong?”
“It’s just a fever I get every few days. A slight ague that goes away within a day.”
“I don’t believe this is a slight fever, sir! I don’t think you could hold yourself on a horse at this rate for very long.”
“I will be fine, Melissa,” he argued as he headed for the door. “Mrs. Miller, thank you for your hospitality and the company of your daughter. I apologize for cutting the night short.”
“You are not leaving, young man,” her mother ordered with the ferocity of any general in the army. That tone commanded immediate obedience in her home. “There is an extra room and you are welcome to it for the night.”
“I don’t want Melissa to see me like this,” Gideon finally said softly as her mother stepped forward to lay her hand on his head. His body shook violently as he sweated something fierce. His golden blond hair lay wet against his head and it was shocking at how fast the fever had come up. He had been fine twenty minutes ago!
Melissa realized that Gideon must think that she had left the room. Was he delirious? She was certain that he might not have admitted anything aloud if he had known she was there.
“Melissa won’t want a man that gets sick every few days. I mean to court her and have her to wife, if she’ll have me. Never seen a lovelier angel before me,” he bit out between his teeth clacking as he clutched at her mother’s arm. It was horrifying to see his large frame trembling violently like a leaf in the wind.
“Shhhh, you need to rest. Let’s get you to lie down,” her mother prompted softly. “We’ll discuss Melissa later.”
Melissa stared transfixed as he was barely able to walk into the spare room. Her mother kept talking to him, soothing him. Gideon collapsed onto the bed and literally curled up, shaking and trembling. Stepping forward, she walked up to the door only to be shooed away silently by her mother.
“Don’t tell her,” she overheard him plead softly, repeatedly. The tone in his shaking voice broke her heart. “Please don’t tell Melissa. She deserves better than me. Sick and hated because I’m a Ranger with no home. I’ve nothing for a woman.”
“You’ll not be able to hide this from her long, Mr. Ashton. Every few days the illness strikes? Is it malaria?” Eleanor whispered sympathetically.
“Yes. Got hit with it bad at Vicksburg. Doc used to give us quinine to help but it made my ears ring something fierce,” he said moaning. “Although, with as cold as I feel right now? I’d take the ringing.”
“Let me get you some water and another blanket,” she offered.
“Don’t tell Melissa,” he repeated the litany over and over, shutting his eyes. His flushed face was covered in sweat and now grey in color. Gideon’s teeth chattered as he wrapped his arms around himself in an effort to keep warm.
“Mother, what’s wrong with him?” she asked quickly once she had exited the room and pulled the door to. Her mother looked at her evenly, never hiding anything from her.
“Melissa, fetch the doctor and see if he has any quinine. You’re handsome Mr. Ashton has malaria. He will be sick every few days or so, for the rest of his life.”
7
Melissa ran as fast as she could down the dark streets towards the doctor’s office. She nearly tripped as she saw Buchannan Funeral Home at the end of First Street where it met West Street. What if Gideon died? Malaria. Sick every few days? It was horrible to see how violently ill he was. Her heart was breaking and was nearly as painful at the stitch in her side.
The idea had her wiping tears as she raced across the grasses that separated the funeral home from the barbershop. Dogs barked in the distance as she ran up the steps and then banged on the door.
“Dr. McGraw? Dr. McGraw? Please be here!” She rapped on the door again. A yellowed light appeared in the frosted glass and grew brighter. When the door opened, she practically threw herself inside. She had little faith in the man. Her father had passed under his watch, but what other choice did she have? “Do you have any quinine?”
“What?” Dr. McGraw raised the lantern. “Do you know what time it is? Your incessant pounding on the door woke my—”
“I don’t care what time it is!” Melissa exclaimed, outraged. “It’s time for you to come with me or give me quinine! There is a man sick at my house!” She looked around quickly at her surroundings to make sure she had knocked on the right door.
“Unless your patient has progressed to jaundice, he could have waited a few hours. The fever will abate, which is why I’m assuming you had to be here and pound on the door loud enough to wake my son. That man’s fever will go down and he’ll be fine in a few hours.”
“He’s not fine now!”
“Does he have jaundice or just a fever and the shakes?”
“What’s wrong with you? Don’t you care that someone is ill?”
“The body has to run its course. Quinine doesn’t help with the fever; however if you must have it, I’ll get it for you. Turpentine works too, or so I’ve heard. Small doses. If he loses his sight or his ears ring, it’s too much.”
“He can go blind?” she cried aghast. Melissa braced herself on the door sill, feeling another shock to her system. Sick every few days and the medication could make him blind? How horrible it was for a good man to be struck down so brutally.
“It’s temporary and only if you give him too much quinine. Like I said, the fever will fade in a few hours. Let him rest and he’ll be fine.”
Handing her the small jar, Melissa found herself abruptly taking it and turning heel. She was beyond angry at his callous attitude. What kind of bedside manner was that? “Take this medicine, but it might make him blind?” or better yet? “It will fade. He’ll be fine.”
Melissa was not fine.
She was beside herself. Flashbacks of her father feeling bad and then passing away were flying through her mind. What if Gideon was ill enough to die and the doctor was wrong? What if it wasn’t malaria?
What if it was?
He could get sick like this repeatedly for the rest of his life? How did he ever remain so upbeat and happy all the time? She had yet to see him frown or become upset with anyone. He always had a smile every time she saw him. She’d never seen anyone so sick before; what if he didn’t recover?
Melissa ran
through several yards; she was certain that several neighbors would be very upset at the intrusion. The goal was to get back to Gideon’s side and to get him the medicine. Throwing open the front door, she saw her mother’s pale face first.
“No…. Gideon?” she breathed horrified, falling to her knees as they collapsed out from under her.
“No! But you scared the life out of me, child!” her mother scolded with an understanding smile. “His chills have already broke, now it’s just the fever. Did you get the quinine?”
“Yes; did you know that it could make him temporarily blind or make his ears ring?”
“He said as much,” she admitted with a shrug. “I believe he is in his right mind, so we’ll ask him if he wants the medicine. And if not, perhaps we will hang on to it just in case it’s needed again in this house.”
“Why don’t you go in this time,” she invited Melissa. “I think he might be a little upset at first but I’m sure it’s your company he prefers. Not mine.”
Grabbing the fresh water and a clean rag, Melissa pulled up the chair next to the bed where he lay. His beautiful face was ruddy in hue. The pinched look around his mouth was gone and he looked to finally be resting some. Pouring the water in a basin, she soaked the rag and lightly dabbed at his forehead.
“Melissa?”
“Shhhh,” she said tenderly with a smile. “How are you feeling? You look better than you did earlier.”
“Does that mean you finally are telling me that I’m handsome to you?” he cracked through dried lips. “It took me getting sick to hear it? What a shame.”
“You silly man, you had me quite worried,” she admitted, stroking his forehead with the cool water. “And yes, I think you are quite the charmer. I’ve been practically swept off my feet already.”
“But we haven’t danced yet.”
Lawfully Admired Page 5