A Prescription for Love Read Free Page A

at him, her shoulders slumped. “You don’t have to say it. I know you’ve changed your mind about hiring me. I understand. If you’ll excuse me.” She choked out the words as she moved to rise.
    Michael placed his hand on her shoulder. “I dislike people speaking for me. Sit back down.” He paced in a circle and came to stand right in front of her. “How long have you had asthma?”
    “My whole life,” she mumbled to her lap.
    He hunkered down in front of her and lifted her chin with his index finger. “What type of treatment has your doctor given you?”
    “Not much. He’s been telling me for years not to strain myself, but instead to stay quiet and calm.” Her eyes filled with tears and spilled over down her cheeks.

    “Has he given you any medicine? Any treatments?”
    She shook her head and wiped her eyes with shaky fingers.
    He sat alongside her. “There are treatments for asthma. A very promising one is Belladonna, which helps with the spasms the lungs have during an asthma attack. Also, there are ways to discover what sets off an attack. A lot of times it’s food or something in the air, mainly trees and grass.” He ran his fingers through his hair. “If he hasn’t tried any of those things, he’s not been practicing good medicine.”
    Heidi sat very still, her eyes widening. “Do you mean I could be cured?”
    He shook his head. “No. Not a cure, but certainly a way to keep your asthma under control.”
    “Is there a doctor in Guthrie who could help me?”
    “Yes, Dr. Kane can help. I’ll speak with him.” He took a deep breath. “Now about the job.”
    Heidi winced. “I understand . . .”
    He held up his hand to cut her off. “No, you don’t. I’ll expect you first thing tomorrow morning. But—” His hand rose again when she began to speak. “—you will have to take breaks during the day, and most of all keep yourself calm.”
    Heidi’s eyebrows rose. “You mean you still want me to work for you?”
    “As I told you before, we’ll try it for a week. Let’s see how you do before we decide anything. I know more than one person with asthma who works every day. I’ll fix up a packet of Belladonna for you, which will help.” He slapped his palms on his knees and stood. “But for now, I think you should retire and get a good night’s sleep. I’ve found proper rest and nourishing food are the best things to counter any illness.”
    “Thank you so much.” Heidi rose slowly. “You don’t know how much the job means to me.”
    Michael smiled and headed for the door. Mrs. Wilson came back from the kitchen. “Good night, Mr. Henderson. Thank you for helping Miss Lester tonight.”

    He tugged at his hat brim, and left.
    Michael adjusted the collar of his coat and lowered his head into the wind as he hurried home. The mystery of Miss Lester continued to grow. What a quandary this had become. The heartbroken look on her face when she thought she no longer had the job twisted his gut. There seemed to be a lot more as to why she came to Guthrie desperate for a job than what he’d discovered so far.
    And to suffer from asthma and have a doctor who did nothing for her, except hand out advice, bordered on criminal. He would see Dr. Kane in the morning to assure himself mixing up a prescription for Heidi would be all right. Several customers had had a great deal of success with the medicines he’d compounded for them.
    He had to remind himself Heidi only worked for him, and his training and experience could help her. Nothing else. In an attempt to protect his once broken heart, he’d steered clear of relationships for years. Memories of his fiancée, twisting her handkerchief, while confessing her indiscretion with another man still haunted him.
    Then, with tears rolling down her cheeks, she’d begged him to go through with their wedding three weeks away because her lover, the father of her unborn child, already had a wife. He shook his head at his foolishness in agreeing. That is,