Ruby (Angel Creek Christmas Brides Book 3)

by Hildie McQueen

  Just when she’d begun to consider making a cup of tea and settling in with a book, the door opened and Trevor Collins stepped in.

  Her breath caught at the sight of him. Not just because she was nervous around him, but also because he looked about to fall over from exhaustion.

  “I must apologize, but I need to sleep a bit. Do you mind terribly if we don’t have supper. The bean soup should be more than ready for you to eat.”

  The soup had indeed been ready hours earlier, but she decided not to inform him she’d eaten a bit already.

  “You should eat something. It won’t take but a moment to make you a proper cup of tea and some toast.”

  Removing his hat, he ran a hand through his dark hair and looked at her as if at a loss for words. There was the purpling of exhaustion under his eyes as he shook his head.

  “I thank you,” he finally said and trudged to the table and sat down.

  Ruby was grateful she’d kept the fire in the stove going, not knowing what was planned for supper and to keep the kitchen warm. The kettle was already on there, so she made quick work of preparing tea. Once the tea was placed in front of him, she hurried back to make the toast.

  Although she knew he was too tired to wait much longer, Ruby took the time to ensure each piece of bread was toasted perfectly. Finding a pot of butter, she slathered it across the top of it and then set the slices on a plate. With a satisfied smile, she walked into the dining room to find her husband bent over with his head on his arms, fast asleep.

  “Doctor Collins, you can’t possibly sleep here.” Ruby shook his shoulder. When he barely stirred, she shook him harder. “Doctor Collins, let’s get you to bed.” She guided him to the bedroom and helped him to the bed. It was no simple task given he was so broad and just his arm over her shoulders weighed her down. Once he finally fell backward onto the pillows, she tugged his boots off and then pulled a blanket over him. It was the same blanket he’d used to cover her.

  For a long moment, Ruby watched him sleep. He was astonishingly handsome. A stray lock fell across his brow adding appeal. His lips were full and well formed and his jawline strong. She imagined if he smiled, they would stretch enticingly. Broad of shoulders and well built. He definitely did not fit her preconceived notions of what a town doctor would look like.

  Although the men her friends married had been rather attractive, in her opinion, Trever Collins was by far the most handsome of all. She wasn’t sure about the blacksmith as he’d been a grimy mess. Poor Anna.

  Chapter Three

  A cough woke Trevor, he pried his eyes open to find he could not see at all. The room was filled with smoke, thick smoke. Instantly he sprung from the bed.

  “Ruby!” He raced down the hall with his arm outstretched. The smoke was dissipating in the front room, cold air filled the space with the door thrown open.

  Coughs sounded. “Phooey, what do I do now?” Ruby’s voice sounded from the kitchen.

  He hurried in to find her scurrying back and fourth from the stove to the back door, waving a kitchen towel with both arms. “My goodness, this is ridiculous.”

  There wasn’t a fire at the moment. Whatever she’d been cooking smelled horrible and was now a charred smoking lump in the center of a blackened pot.

  “Are you alright?”

  “Aaaack!” she screamed and whirled to face him. “Oh it’s you. Yes…sorry. I’m afraid I may have ruined that pot.”

  Upon closer inspection, he almost agreed with her. He took the towel from her, picked up the pot by the handle and took it outside. The snow sizzled loudly, and steam rose when he dropped the hot pot onto the ground.

  When he returned, she stood next to the counter with her hands gripped in front of her chest. Ruby’s bottom lip trembled, and she blinked in an attempt to keep tears at bay.

  “I’m sure it’s not ruined. Once it cools, a good scrubbing will take care of the damage,” he assured her. He looked around the room. There were eggshells on the counter, a partial slab of bacon and a sad excuse for what he assumed was to be biscuit dough.

  “How about we sit for a moment?”

  “I made tea,” she offered weakly. “I’m so sorry.”

  “Please don’t apologize. It’s happened to me more than twice.”

  “Truly?” Her gaze met his and for the first time he noticed how beautiful her eyes were. Mostly green speckled with gold and brown. Certainly a delightful combination. Her eyes were also swollen, as if she’d been crying quite a bit.

  “Yes. I’ve fallen asleep while waiting for something to finish cooking and woken up to find the entire house filled with smoke, like now.”

  Trevor looked about and thankfully the smoke was dissipating.

  He’d only meant to sleep for an hour and obviously it had been longer. It was light outside so that meant it was early morning.

  Since Hank had not come for him, he assumed his patient was not in dire need of his attention at the moment.

  Taking her elbow, he guided Ruby to the front room as he closed the front door. After placing a log on the fire to warm up the space, he motioned for Ruby to sit. She lowered to one of the chairs in front of the hearth and he sat on the other.

  By the way she gripped both hands together, her knuckles turning white, he wondered if they’d break. She didn’t meet his eyes, instead trained her attention to the fire while she waited for him to start the conversation.

  “You are a brave woman,” he started. There was curiosity in her expression when she looked to him. “I admire your willingness to travel so far, to marry someone you’ve never met. I know this has to be quite terrifying.”

  She nodded and bit her bottom lip. “It’s…unsettling. I am not sure exactly how I feel at the moment. Brave however would not be what I’d describe myself as right now.”

  Her long sigh made him want to comfort her. But, they’d barely met and she’d probably be taken aback by any move to touch her.

  “I will be going to check on my patient. I won’t be long. When I return in a few moments, we will have time to become acquainted. Reverend Tilly insisted we consummate the marriage as soon as possible. So I expect we’ll share our bed from tonight on.”

  In Trevor’s opinion, it was best to be straight forward. He’d been tossing how to broach the subject since they’d exchanged vows. Especially after being called away as soon as she arrived and two nights passing since the wedding took place.

  A slow blush grew across her face until Ruby’s cheeks were a bright pink. “I understand and agree we must.”

  By the way her gaze swept over him, it was clear she was assessing his body. She’d not meant it to be sensual by the way she quickly looked away and swallowed. He’d done the same earlier noticing her slender figure, high breasts, and trim waist. The long slope of her neck and delicate throat had taken more of his attention than appropriate.

  “As I said upon meeting, to me you seem too young to be a doctor,” she said with a soft smile. “I expected you to be wearing spectacles and perhaps a vest.”

  “A vest? I don’t believe I own one. As of right now, I don’t require spectacles to see clearly. I’m thirty-three, studied medicine in Virginia. I assure you, I am old enough.”

  Brows lowering, she didn’t seem convinced. “Why did you move here?”

  This was a question he wasn’t sure how to answer. “Perhaps the same reason you did. To get away from the devastation of the war. I heard the west was in dire need of doctors.

  The ticking of the clock on the mantel seemed to get louder as they sat in silence for a few moments.

  “Can you help me prepare for a bath?” Ruby asked. “Not now of course, I know you have to go. It’s just, I am not sure how to do it.”

  “Of course.” Trevor got to his feet, suddenly glad for something to do. Along the back of the house there was a covered area where he kept the wash tub. In the warmer months he bathed outside, but in the winter he rolled the wooden tub into the kitchen.

  He shivered f
rom the cold, that he’d not noticed earlier when taking the steaming pot out. After tipping the tub on its side, he rolled it into the kitchen and set it up in the center of the room. Ruby followed behind, her keen eyes taking in what he did. From the slight cock to her head, it was obvious she took note of his every movement.

  With more care than warranted, he took the largest pot he had and filled it with snow. Then he brought it in and set it on the stove. Ruby fed kindling into the stove and smiled brightly when he nodded in approval.

  Several trips later between them, there was melting snow in the tub and water boiling on the stove in the tea kettle and a large pot.

  “Very well. There you go. I’ll go to the clinic, which is straight out the door here.” He pointed out in the direction of the clinic.

  The snow continued to fall in earnest. If it kept up, they’d be snowed in. He wasn’t sure what to do about his patient. Hank would be stuck in the clinic. Although the young man insisted he wanted to be a doctor, it was too much to ask that he remain there snowed in.

  After washing his face and donning his jacket, scarf, and gloves, Trever placed his hat on his head and prepared for the short trek.

  “I don’t plan to be but perhaps a couple hours. If you require anything, let me know.”

  Ruby nodded. “Aren’t you hungry?”

  He went to the cupboard and took a stale dry biscuit. “My helper Hank brought a meal his mother made and we shared it. We have a small stove we use to make coffee and warm up food. I’ll be fine.”

  The snow was high, past his knees as he trudged unsteadily through it to the small one room clinic. He’d built the place just two years earlier not liking to live in the same space as his patients were treated.

  For a couple years, his house had been where people came for treatment. They still did on occasion if he wasn’t at the clinic, but he preferred the separate space, except during days like today, when sloshing back and forth could become quite tiresome.

  The chill and surroundings disappeared when he visualized what the evening would bring. Consummation would happen that night. He’d become Ruby’s husband in true form. They’d be bound body and soul as husband and wife for the rest of their lives. The wind sent him stumbling sideways making Trevor realize the storm was not weakening, but quite the opposite.

  Finally he reached the door to the clinic. Inside it was not much warmer, as the fire in the hearth had gone out.

  “Hank?”

  He looked from the sick man in the bed, who was covered from head to toe, to the far corner where a cot was set up. Upon it was a note and he hurried to pick it up. In Hank’s flourished handwriting that told of years of being privately tutored, the note informed him the patient had died the evening before.

  Whoever the man had been had never regained consciousness, not able to tell his name or what had happened to him. The miner who’d brought him had found him stumbling in the snow.

  Trevor went back to the bed and lowered the sheet to complete the examination. No pulse, no sign of breathing and his pupils were still and fully dilated. He pulled the sheet up over the man and began the process of moving the body. With the weather being so bad, at the moment the best thing to do would be to move him out to the back into a small shelter. It took well over an hour to wrap the body up and move it to the small shack where it would most likely freeze. The unknown man would be buried in the spring as soon as the ground thawed.

  Cleaning up of the space took another hour or so. He boiled water and washed down all the surfaces. The small examining bed would be left devoid of linens until he was sure it was freshened up.

  After the clinic was pristine, he took a step back and inventoried each space to ensure every instrument and item was exactly where it needed to be.

  The dead man’s shoes were in one corner. Trevor grabbed them and set the worn boots outside on the back porch. Over the years he’d collected plenty of clothing, jackets, and shoes that were cleaned by a local woman to be reused and given to people that came through town and needed them.

  More times than not, it was his own patients that required the items.

  Once he was sure everything was in its place, he sat at his desk to consider how to handle things with Ruby. It was clear she did not know how to cook. He wasn’t the best at it either. He could manage, but usually depended on the local eatery across the way for sustenance. Usually the owners, an older couple, kept the bachelors in town well fed. It was doubtful the eatery was serving anything today. If they’d even opened for business, it would be a miracle.

  From what he saw through the window the way the storm continued, if he didn’t hurry home, he’d be trapped in the clinic. Going to the eatery was out of the question.

  The snow on the ground had risen to waist high and Trevor had to fight his way back to the house. By the time he reached the back of it, he was breathless and half frozen.

  “I was beginning to worry,” Ruby rushed to him, her face searching his. “How is your patient faring?”

  “He died,” Trevor replied, at once regretting his bluntness when she paled and looked about to cry. “He passed away peacefully in his sleep,” he added, trying to calm her.

  She sighed and placed a hand on his forearm. “I’m so sorry. How will you contact his family?”

  “I don’t know who...err, what I mean is that it will be impossible to send word until after the storm clears. I require a bath as well.”

  The distraction worked as she nodded and began to repeat the process from earlier. They began preparations for his bath. While waiting for the water to boil, he decided to start supper.

  “I’ll slice a couple potatoes to roast, we can have them with the leftover bean soup.”

  Ruby followed behind him watching everything he did, and it made him glad to know she was not reluctant to become helpful.

  They had an enjoyable meal, although he could tell Ruby was nervous. No doubt the same reason he’d hurry to bathe as soon as they finished the simple meal.

  Chapter Four

  While Trevor bathed, Ruby paced in the bedroom. Every so often, she’d peer out the window only to see the snow on the ground rising to alarming heights. What would happen if they could not escape the house?

  The day had flown by. She’d bathed in the lukewarm water, which had been heavenly and taken her time dressing. Drying her hair by the fire had been amazingly relaxing.

  Trevor had been gone exactly two and a half hours. She knew this because after bathing and dressing, she’d sat facing the fireplace keeping an eye on the clock and jumping each time there was a noise outside.

  As much as Ruby wanted to get to know her new husband, with each passing moment she became more and more nervous. It was natural of course with what would happen in the marriage bed that night.

  She had to divulge her embarrassing secret. How he reacted to the information would determine how they would proceed forward. Although she’d considered divulging it in their correspondence, it had been much too private a matter to do so. Besides, what if someone else had opened the letter and read it.

  No, this was something she had to do in person.

  Trevor entered the room and she could not believe her eyes. He was shirtless, entirely bare from the waist up. After giving her a cursory glance, he went to the wardrobe in search of something.

  Her mind went blank for a moment, lips parting and breathing elevated at the sight. As he moved, she couldn’t help admiring his wide back and thick arms. When he turned sideways, his flat stomach took her attention next and something in her stomach tumbled. It was as if hundreds of butterflies took flight and celebrated in the air.

  The man was exceptional. Not that she had much experience in seeing men bereft of clothing, but it didn’t take intimate knowledge to admire a well formed physique. It occurred to her this was probably the best time to broach the subject she’d been avoiding. While he searched for whatever it was he was to don.

  “I must admit something to you that may impa
ct how you feel about our marriage. It’s imperative that I do so before anything… physical happens between us.”

  He paused, lifted his head, and scanned her up and down. “What is it?”

  The man was blunt. Although he seemed of an easy nature, not becoming overly alarmed at her almost setting the house on fire that morning or asking assistance with preparing a bath, he did not mince words.

  “Well, you see.” Ruby wrung her hands stopping when he looked to them. “I have not. I should say. I am not untouched. What I mean to say is I was engaged…to a man…he died of course,” she babbled. She needed to stop babbling. “I don’t mean of course, as it was expected. Although being he went off to war, I suppose it was to be expected. Some men returned, he did not,” she finished weakly.

  Trevor’s right eyebrow lifted and he was silent for a few moments. How she wished in that moment that the ground would miraculously open and swallow her whole. It was mortifying to say the words aloud. To admit the lapse in judgment that would impact her for life.

  “I see,” he replied, then turned and took one of the shirts from atop a neatly folded pile.

  When he turned to put on the shirt, her eyes rounded at the view of his broad chest with just a sprinkling of hair down the center.

  It was her first time seeing a man so nude and so up close. Although she’d been intimate with a man, they’d not actually removed all their clothing.

  It had been a hurried unromantic affair with only a few kisses shared before he took her and it was all over. It had been an effort to reassure themselves he would return unharmed, and they’d get married. In hindsight, she’d never regretted it. Not with him dying so soon afterward.

  She lowered her gaze when he looked to her. Not knowing him, she couldn’t decipher if it was interest or disapproval in his eyes.

  “I understand. Things happen during wartime that normally would not. I am sorry for your loss.” He spoke evenly without influx. “It does not affect the fact that I have a need for a wife, nor will it change how I treat you. You have my full respect Ruby.”