by Jenna Brandt
Chapter Six
June, Daniel, and Ben reached their destination, prompting June to turn to Daniel and give orders. “I’ll fetch the supplies we’ll need for your leg. Why don’t you go in and sit on the couch while I do that?”
“Can I play with Daniel while he waits?” Ben asked with excitement.
“It’s up to him,” June answered, as she opened the door and ushered everyone inside.
“Sure, but we’ll have to play on the couch. ‘Doctor’s’ orders,” Daniel explained.
“I’m not a doctor,” June corrected.
“As good at doctoring as you are, and with all your knowledge of medicines and such, you should be.”
“Women aren’t allowed to go to medical school, and even if they could, no one would take me seriously. Most people didn’t even trust me when they entered the apothecary in Glenda, asking for my husband to help them. It’s why the business floundered after his death. People stopped coming in and went to the next town over, even though we had been established in Glenda for nearly five years by then. It didn’t matter, they still wanted a man to help them with their medical needs.”
“That’s awful and it shouldn’t have happened to you,” Daniel sympathized. “But at least that’s not the case in Belle. Everyone knows you here.”
“True, but even an occasional person comes in here distrustful. Since there’s no one else working with me, and travel is far to the nearest town, they begrudgingly accept my help. It still bothers me though, that after all of this time of doing this job, I’m still discounted because I’m a woman.”
“It shouldn’t be like that, June. You’re mighty good at your job, and you deserve for people to trust you because of it.”
“Since we’ve established I’m in charge, you need to take a seat, Daniel,” June said with a wink as she moved into the kitchen to gather the items.
Ben came running back into the living room, carrying his trains. “We had so much fun the last time, I thought we could play with them again.”
“Sure, we can,” Daniel said, taking one of the trains from Ben’s outstretched hand.
They played for several minutes together before June returned with the supplies. “Ben, it’s time for your nap. I’ll wake you up when it’s time for lunch.”
“Aw, Ma, I don’t wanna take a nap,” Ben whined with disappointment.
“I know, Ben, but you need to. Come on, I’ll take you to bed,” June offered.
“Can Daniel do it?” Ben asked, looking over at him.
“I can, if it’s all right with your mother.”
June nodded her consent, and Daniel stood up as did Ben, who took his hand and guided him down the hall.
“This is my room,” Ben gestured to the first door. “Miss Mabel got it all ready for me.”
Daniel entered the room filled with a bed, dresser, and a small toychest filled with wooden toys. There was a handmade quilt on the bed, made of squares of blues and greens, as well as a matching lampshade on the lamp on the nightstand.
He wondered if Mabel had made those. Whenever he had been around the woman, she seemed stern and matter-of-fact, not at all the type that would dote on anyone, let alone a child. Of course, the same could be said about him, and this little guy had managed to find a way to get past all of his defenses. Daniel wasn’t sure how or why, but he cared what happened to Ben.
“All right, hop up into bed,” Daniel ordered gently. “We need this to go well if your mother is to ever let me do it again.”
“Would you want to?” the little boy asked with a look of vulnerability in his eyes. “I like having you here.”
“I like being here,” Daniel confessed, pulling the blankets up until they were tucked under Ben’s chin. “Have a good rest.”
“Will you be here when I wake up?”
“That’s up to your mother, but if she’ll let me, I’ll stay.” As he made the promise to the little boy, he realized he meant it. The more time he spent with June and her son, the more he found he liked being with them.
Daniel rejoined June out in the living room. She was sitting on the couch with her hands folded in her lap.
“He really likes you. Ben hasn’t bonded with anyone like that since his father.”
“I really like him too. He’s a great kid,” Daniel said as he joined June on the couch. “You’ve done a great job of raising him so far.”
“It’s hard raising a boy without a father though. I never knew how hard until I was in the thick of it. He wants to do so many things I have no idea of how to teach him, and I’m sure it will only get worse as he gets older.”
“You’re doing the best you can, so don’t be so hard on yourself,” Daniel encouraged.
“Here, let me take a look at that leg,” June said, clearly trying to change the subject. “We don’t want you to bleed all over the place.”
June rolled up Daniel’s leg and made a tsk-tsk sound under her breath. “You didn’t listen to my instructions, did you?”
“What do you mean?” Daniel inquired.
“You didn’t take it easy after you left here yesterday. I can tell you put some strain on this wound or it wouldn’t have opened up like this. Now, it’s worse off than it was before.”
June started to re-clean the wound and remove the torn stitches, every few seconds giving him a disappointed look.
Daniel shifted uncomfortably in his seat, not liking the rebuking effect in June’s glances. “It wasn’t my fault. The ranch foreman needed help loading supplies into the barn, and I didn’t want to refuse. Mr. Turnpike’s place is by far the best ranch I’ve worked for.”
“I understand you don’t want to lose your job, but did you tell the foreman about your injury? I’m sure if you had, he wouldn’t have required you to help,” June argued as she finished re-stitching the wound shut.
Daniel didn’t know how to explain to June that his fellow ranch hands would look down on him and judge him if he used an injury to get out of work. “It’s not that easy, June. I need the men I work with to respect and trust me. We have each other’s lives in our hands.”
“Well, you need to explain to them you wouldn’t be any good to anyone if your leg gave out because you were putting too much pressure on it before it has a chance to mend. You’re more of a risk than a help when you’re working in that condition. If you won’t tell the foreman, I will,” June threatened, securing the new bandage over the wound and rolling down his pant leg over it.
“You wouldn’t dare,” Daniel growled out in anger, trying to stand up, but his leg wobbled from the pain of the new stitches, forcing him to fall back against the couch.
“Try me. I can’t have you pushing yourself to the point of infection, and then keeling over because of your pride. Not after just getting you back in my life,” June scolded, crossing her arms and glaring at him.
Daniel could tell she was serious as a hornet’s nest. It would be even more embarrassing if June marched down to the ranch and did what she threatened to do. The other men would never let him live that down.
“Fine, I’ll tell him when I get back later today.”
“Good, now that we have that settled, why don’t you rest here while I make lunch.”
Reaching out, Daniel grabbed June by the arm to stop her. “You sure know how to get me to do whatever you want, June Bug. You always have.”
Her eyes grew round with surprise at the use of the nickname. “You haven’t called me that since the last time we were together, just before you left me,” June whispered.
He pulled her down beside him and corrected, “You mean the last night we kissed.”
She nodded, her eyes flickering to his lips just for a moment before they flicked back up to meet his green ones.
“You know, that kiss has haunted me ever since I left. Nothing and no one has ever been able to make me feel the way you do, June Bug. You’re like a remedy to a disease I didn’t even know I still had.”
He closed the final distance between
them, his lips claiming hers with his own. The kiss was filled with pent-up passion of unfulfilled years, causing June to melt into Daniel’s embrace. Her body began to quiver as he deepened the kiss and let his hands tangle in her soft, silky hair.
Far sooner than Daniel would have preferred, June broke the connection, her body still visibly shaking from the intimate contact. She stood up from the couch and headed for the kitchen, saying over her shoulder, “I need to go make lunch.”
Daniel realized he must have shocked her, shocked her good and well, but he didn’t regret it. They both needed it, and Daniel realized now, he was glad his leg would keep him in Belle longer than he anticipated. It gave him time to convince June they still belonged together.
Chapter Seven
Gerald Partridge showed up at the apothecary a couple of days later ready to interview June. He carried with him a notepad, a pen, and a tapestry bag.
“Good morning, June, how are you doing today?” Gerald asked as he entered the store front.
“I’m doing wonderfully today, Mr. Partridge,” June said with a smile as she came forward to meet him. “How about yourself?”
“I’m rightly good, and looking forward to putting this story together for the newspaper.”
“Why don’t you follow me into the back part of the house where we can talk.” June guided Mr. Partridge through the section of the apothecary and to the living area.
“We can sit at the table so you have a place to write,” June offered, taking a seat as Mr. Partridge took one across from her.
He placed a list of questions down on the table, and June tried to avoid looking at them. It didn’t seem right to pry into what he planned, even though she was the target of it.
Mr. Partridge started with a few basic questions, confirming her name, age, her family history in Belle, and time in Glenda. Once that was done, he started into the meat of the interview.
“So, June, tell me what made you decide to return to Belle rather than staying in Glenda.”
“Family. I wanted to be closer to my uncle so my son and I could spend time with him. I also missed how comfortable life was here in Belle, and how kind the people are in this town.”
Mr. Partridge scribbled down her answer, then asked his next question. “Why did you decide to start an apothecary here in Belle?”
“It’s what I know how to do. I ran one with my husband in Glenda. Plus, I grew up watching my uncle, a doctor, and how he helped people. I wanted to do the same, and since being a doctor was out of the question, an apothecary seemed like the next best thing.”
“You could have picked midwifery,” Mr. Partridge pointed out.
“That’s true, but my husband thought that an apothecary was something we could do together, and even after having children, I could still help out.”
“You mention children, but you only have the one son, Ben, correct?”
Surprised by the question, June pressed her lips together and averted her eyes. She hadn’t expected to have to talk about that.
June forced herself to swallow the lump in her throat, then finally answered. “Having Ben was difficult, and I wasn’t able to carry any other children to term.”
A look of sympathy mixed with regret crossed the newspaper owner’s face. “I’m so sorry, June. I won’t print that.”
“Thank you. It’s still hard to talk about. I feel like others would judge me if they found out. So many people think that it’s a woman’s sole function to have children. I worry others would think I wasn’t capable of fulfilling my duty if I can’t have more children, though I doubt it matters since I have no plans of remarrying.”
“Why is that? You’re a young widow, most people would assume you would want to marry again.”
“I’m content with my son and business. I don’t feel I need a man to complete my life.”
“Many people would consider that a foreign notion, perhaps even irreverent. What would you say to them?”
“That it’s none of their concern. I don’t pass judgment on other’s choices, and I would like to be treated with the same courtesy.”
“Moving onto another subject, tell me your plans for the apothecary?”
“Well, the first thing I want to do is put up curtains to separate the store from the living area. Once that’s done, I want to have two counters built, order some display cases, and obtain a cash register.”
Mr. Partridge scribbled on his notepad, then looked back up at her and asked his next question. “How does it feel to be back in town?”
“Great,” June said with a smile. “I’ve missed living at home since I moved away, but I didn’t know how much until I returned. I’ve caught up with old friends, made some new ones, and plan to join the knitting club as well as the women’s auxiliary.”
“Those sound like great plans, June. You mentioned old friends, and Daniel Wentworth has been seen coming and going from your place. Most of the townspeople are aware that the two of you used to court before you got married and moved away. Is there a rekindling of that courtship? Will there be wedding bells in the near future, despite what you said earlier?”
June could feel her cheeks flush red from the question. Though Mr. Partridge was a friend of her family, she was beginning to realize he didn’t plan to avoid touchy subject matters with her. She supposed that’s what made him a good newspaper man.
“I took care of an injury Mr. Wentworth sustained, and as a ‘thank you’, he fixed my sign.”
“But there have been reports of far more sightings of him over here than just those two times. As a matter of fact, hasn’t he been over here every day this week?”
June squirmed in her chair, not sure if she wanted to confirm his information. Not that she was ashamed of the fact, but simply didn’t want to have it printed in the paper with their relationship being so fresh. “I’ve been keeping an eye on his wound, and making sure he has the medicine he needs for it.”
“Is that the only reason he is coming over?” Mr. Partridge probed further.
“I’m not sure what is or isn’t going on between Mr. Wentworth and myself is of anyone else’s concern. It’s a private matter.”
Mr. Partridge nodded his head. “I won’t press you any further on the matter, June, but you should know, townspeople are talking about it. It’s not good for your reputation as a widow to be having a single man over at your house on a regular basis all alone.”
“We’re not alone. My son is with us.”
“A four-year-old hardly constitutes a chaperone, June, and you well know it. For the sake of your reputation, you should think about making sure you’re only spending time with him in public places, with other people around, at least until you’re good and married.”
June wanted to object to the part about marriage, but she worried if she did, it would make it look like she was carrying on with a man she didn’t plan on marrying at all. The truth was, if Daniel asked, she would marry him. She didn’t need months of courtship to know she still cared about him and wanted to rectify the mistake of letting their relationship end in the past. The problem was, she wasn’t sure if Daniel was interested in marriage. She was too afraid to bring up the subject to him as the last time she had, they had fought. He had bolted, leaving town without even telling her, and she didn’t want a repeat of the past.
In the meantime, she would have to heed Mr. Partridge’s warning. She didn’t want to tarnish either of their names by spending time alone together anymore.
Mr. Partridge had made it clear people were discussing them, and she hated the idea of that. Did they think that she and Daniel were carrying on behind closed doors? Sure, they had kissed a few times, but it had never gone beyond that, and, as a proper, God-fearing woman, she would never let it.
“Thank you for bringing all of that to my attention, Mr. Partridge. I assure you, going forward, you won’t hear any more such reports.”
“I’m glad to hear that, June. If Mr. Wentworth wants to be with you, he needs to do it t
he right way.”
Mr. Partridge finished up the interview, and June escorted him out. Once she was alone, she sagged against the door, frustrated with the situation. She had no idea how she was going to keep Daniel from coming over to her place anymore, especially when all she wanted to do was spend more time alone with him. For now, she would set about her work to keep her mind from the matter.
Chapter Eight
Though Daniel couldn’t do the full physical amount of work he usually did around the ranch, he had managed to find enough light duty work to keep himself busy preventing the foreman from firing him. His leg was mending every day, and soon he would be healed enough that he could work at full capacity. The problem was, Daniel wasn’t sure how he felt about that. A couple of weeks ago, he would have been more than happy to go on another cattle drive. Now that June was back in his life, the urge to wander wasn’t calling him like it used to do.
“You coming with us tonight, Daniel, or are you going to refuse again?” Tyson Forbes inquired.
“He’s too busy chasing after that widow at the apothecary to spend time with the likes of us. He’s over there all the time,” Mark Tanner pointed out. “She’s already got you on a short leash, and it’s only been a couple of weeks.”
Daniel didn’t like the way the men were talking to him, or that they thought they knew what was going on with him and June. He hated being mocked.
To prove them wrong, he marched to the door of the bunkhouse, yelling back at them, “Come on, what are you all waiting for? The liquor at the saloon isn’t going to drink itself.”